Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice.

John 13:38

Describe one of your favorite moments?

The words of Jesus recorded in Scripture are among the greatest gifts God has given us. The one through whom all things were created, and from whom all things derive their meaning, speaks.

But what is the meaning of these words? How do we unwrap this gift? Faith comes through hearing, certainly, but we have to make sense of what we hear. We want to know not just the words of Jesus but the sense behind them, and here we get into deep water. In the use of words, He is greater than Homer, Shakespeare, and Dante, more profound than Aristotle, Confucious, and the Buddha.

At our three-day annual conference this year, Scott Hahn, Jimmy Akin, Tim Staples, Father Sebastian Walshe and many others will swim in these deep waters. It’s going to be wonderful. These speakers are not just scholars but are disciples who have spent their lives listening to Jesus and trying to understand

We might make big promises- especially to God. But when we find ourselves in a difficult situation where our promises matter most, can we uphold them? Jesus knows that sometimes our talk is bigger than our actions. And sometimes He gives us opportunities to see where our words get ahead of us to gently remind us to choose our promises carefully.

Lord, thank You for Your faithfulness. Even though I have let You down, Your promises never fail. Teach me to be wise in my words, so that I may make only the promises that I can keep. And give me the power to persevere and see my promises through, even when it seems difficult or impossible. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Lou Diamond Phillips: A Hollywood Survivor Navigates Fame, Family, and Legal Battles – Louis Diamond Phillips, born on February 17, 1962, in the Philippines at the Subic Bay Naval Station, has etched an unforgettable mark on Hollywood. From his iconic portrayal of Ritchie Valens in “La Bamba” to his roles in a diverse range of films and television series, Phillips’ career has been a testament to his versatility and talent.
Phillips’ early life was shaped by his multicultural background. Born to Lucita Umayam Aranas and Gerald Amon Upchurch, a Marine KC-130 crew chief, Phillips’ heritage is a blend of Scots-Irish and Cherokee descent on his father’s side. His father passed away when Phillips was young, leading to his adoption by his stepfather and the surname change to Phillips. Growing up in Texas, Phillips graduated from Flour Bluff High School in Corpus Christi in 1980, later earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Drama from the University of Texas at Arlington.
Phillips’ career took off in the 1980s with his breakout role as Ritchie Valens in “La Bamba” (1987). This biographical drama showcased Phillips’ ability to capture the spirit of the young rock ‘n’ roll star, earning him widespread acclaim. The following year, he starred in “Stand and Deliver” (1988) alongside Edward James Olmos. Phillips’ portrayal of Angel David Guzman, a gang member who transforms under the guidance of a dedicated math teacher, garnered him a Golden Globe nomination and an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male.
The success continued with “Young Guns” (1988), where Phillips played the outlaw Jose Chavez y Chavez. The Western, featuring an ensemble cast including Emilio Estevez and Kiefer Sutherland, was a hit, leading to a sequel, “Young Guns II” (1990), where Phillips reprised his role. In 1996, Phillips made his Broadway debut in the revival of “The King and I,” playing King Mongkut of Siam. His performance earned him a Tony Award nomination, further solidifying his reputation as a versatile actor capable of commanding both screen and stage. That same year, he starred in the action film “Courage Under Fire” as Staff Sergeant John Monfriez, a role that won him the Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Supporting Actor.
Phillips’ career in the late 1990s and early 2000s saw him taking on a variety of roles. He starred in the comedy-action film “The Big Hit” (1998) as Cisco and the drama “Brokedown Palace” (1999) as Roy Knox. His television work during this period included a recurring role in the sitcom “George Lopez” and a stint on the first season of “24” as secret government agent Mark DeSalvo. In 2003, Phillips made a cameo appearance alongside Harrison Ford in “Hollywood Homicide.” The mid-2000s also saw him exploring other facets of his career, including winning the second season of the NBC reality series “I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!” in 2009. He also hosted “An Officer and a Movie” on The Military Channel, where he interviewed military and intelligence community members.
Phillips’ role in the TV series “Longmire” from 2012 to 2017 as Henry Standing Bear, a Native American and the best friend of the titular character, showcased his ability to bring depth to complex characters. His performance was widely praised and became one of his most memorable television roles. In the 2010s, Phillips continued to diversify his career. He appeared in the music video for Imagine Dragons’ “Radioactive” in 2012, which went on to become a massive hit on YouTube. In 2015, he played Luis “Don Lucho” Urzúa in “The 33,” a film about the 2010 Chilean mining accident, further demonstrating his knack for portraying real-life characters with authenticity.
Phillips has also ventured into writing and directing. He co-wrote the screenplay for “Trespasses” and HBO’s “Dangerous Touch,” and penned the feature “Ambition.” In 2019, Aethon Books published his debut novel, “Tinderbox: Soldier of Indira,” a science fiction retelling of a Hans Christian Andersen story, illustrated by his wife, Yvonne.
His personal life has seen its share of ups and downs. Phillips married assistant director Julie Cypher in 1987, but they divorced in 1990. He then had a brief engagement with actress Jennifer Tilly. In 1994, he married makeup artist Kelly Phillips, with whom he has three daughters. Their marriage ended in 2007 after a prolonged separation. Phillips later married makeup artist Yvonne Boismier in 2007, and they have a daughter together. Phillips has also been involved in legal issues, including arrests in 2006 and 2017 for disturbing the peace and reckless driving, respectively. Despite these challenges, he has remained a dedicated actor and activist, serving on the advisory council of The Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment and being actively involved in Native American causes.
Throughout his career, Phillips has received numerous accolades, including the Independent Spirit Award, Tony Award nomination, and a Blockbuster Entertainment Award. His commitment to his craft and his ability to navigate both Hollywood and Broadway have made him a respected figure in the entertainment industry. Phillips continues to work in various capacities, from acting to writing, and remains a prominent figure in Hollywood. His journey, marked by significant achievements and personal trials, offers a rich narrative of perseverance and talent in the ever-evolving world of entertainment.

Red Eagle or William Weatherford (1780 or 1781 – March 24, 1824) was a Creek chief. One of many mixed-race descendants of Southeast Indians who intermarried with European traders and later colonial settlers. Red Eagle was of mixed Creek, French and Scots ancestry.
He was raised as a Creek in the matrilineal nation and achieved his power in it, through his mother’s prominent Wind Clan, as well as his father’s trading connections. After showing his skill as a warrior, he was given the war name of Hopnicafutsahia. The Creek War (1813-1814), also known as the Red Stick War and the Creek Civil War, was a regional war between opposing Creek factions, European empires, and the United States, taking place largely in Alabama and along the Gulf Coast.
Red Eagle became increasingly concerned about the influx of European Americans onto Creek land and eventually led a group known as “Red Sticks,” bent on protecting their land, their way of life, and their people from intruders.
Eventually the smaller forces of Red Sticks and the larger opposing forces led by General Andrew Jackson came against each other. The conflict ended in the decisive defeat of the Red Sticks at The Battle of Horseshoe Bend, near modern-day Dadeville, Alabama. Terms were drawn up that provided far less land than the Creek tribe had previously held.
The quote attributed to Chief Red Eagle reads, “Angry people want you to see how powerful they are.
Loving people want you to see how powerful YOU are.”-End ID] ❤

Cheyenne Dog Soldier, 1840. The Dog Soldiers were the Cheyenne Elite, they formed their own bands within the Cheyenne Nation, they often gave their own lives to protect their women and children, they were very much feared by the white Soldiers, and their Native American Foes, Pawnee, Ute, to name but a few, however, they where honoured Allies of the Lakota Sioux, and the Arapahoe’s, Comanche’s and Kiowa’s, the mention of the words “Cheyenne Dog Soldier”, put Fear into the most hardest of white Soldiers, they are still the most famous warrior society on Earth today. AHO. Please (follow + ) us to know more things that knowledge cannot be found in books, school ! Thank you for your interest ❤️

“Sioux Chief Long Wolf & Family”, ca. 1880.
~ “A Stranger Hears Last Wish of a Sioux Chief
Long Wolf went to London with Buffalo Bill’s show and died there in 1892. Thanks to the struggles of a British homemaker, his remains will be returned home.”
May 28, 1997 |WILLIAM D. MONTALBANO
TIMES STAFF WRITER
BROMSGROVE, England — “After a restless century in a melancholy English graveyard, the remains–and the spirit–of a Sioux chief named Long Wolf are returning to his ancestral home in America because one stranger cared.
The stranger is a 56-year-old English homemaker named Elizabeth Knight, who lives in a small row house with her husband, Peter, a roof repairer in this Worcestershire village near Birmingham.
“I am a very ordinary sort of person,” she said.
The sort who writes letters, not e-mail, who makes no long-distance phone calls, has no fancy degrees, has little worldly experience, who never gets her name in the papers. The sort who turns detective and historian and raises a transatlantic fuss because her heart is moved and her sense of fair play is outraged.
This is the story of how heirs of Middle England and the Wild West have joined forces to fulfill a dying wish made more than a century ago.
For Knight, the story began the day in 1991 that she bought an old book in a market near her house. There was a 1923 story by a Scottish adventurer named R. B. Cunninghame Graham that began this way: “In a lone corner of a crowded London cemetery, just at the end of a smoke-stained Greco-Roman colonnade under a poplar tree, nestles a neglected grave.”
In the grave, under a stylized cross and the howling image of his namesake, lies Long Wolf. He died at 59 in a London hospital on June 11, 1892, the victim of bronchial pneumonia contracted in what was then a crowded, dark, gloomy, industrial city as far as anywhere on Earth from the Great Plains of North America.
“I was moved. I kept taking the book down, imagining Long Wolf lying there amid the ranks of pale faces

“Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain’t goin’ away.” —Elvis Presley, Cherokee
History is not there for you to like or dislike. It is there for you to learn from it. And if it offends you, even better. Because then you are less likely to repeat it. It’s not yours for you to erase or destroy.

Elvis

American Indian Dog
It’s not a wolf, and it’s not a coyote; it’s an American Indian dog. known for its long, pointy ears, thick coat, intense stare, and impressive build.
These working companion animals were almost lost to history after our American Indians were segregated onto reservations, and often left without the resources necessary to maintain the ancient breed.
According to the experts at Animal Corner, the Native American Indian Dog is believed to be up to 30,000 years old. Yes, it’s possible that the breed shared parts of North America with some of the earliest Native Americans to inhabit the land. Some specialists have theorized that the Native American Indian Dog breed could even be the missing link between wolves and the modern dog as we know it today.

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚 –𝐍𝐨 𝐅𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐡
Lakota 89 years of age living at Pine Ridge Reservation and a well known associate of Chief Sitting Bull sang the following. He stated that Sitting Bull sang this soon after the Custer
Fight June 1876. This same song with words and melody was adopted by the Lakota as “parade song” and it is still in use to this day whatever
occasion demands.
“Kola taku otehika Friends things (troubles) most difficult
Imakuwa pe pursue me Hena kowakipe sni le waun of these fearless of i live (survive)”
No Flesh sang the following song. Sitting Bull sang this while he wasen route to Was’_ington, D. C., on Tribal matters pertaining to the cession of Black Hills Country.
“Kola taku yakapelo
Friends what are you talking about?
Pahasapa kin mitawa yelo
The Black Hills belong to me
Epin na blihe miciye
Saying this I took fresh courage.”
– 25 Songs made by Sitting Bull, compiled by Robert High Eagle 1928.

‘Throughout history, long hair has been more than just a style—it’s been a potent symbol of masculinity and strength across diverse cultures. From the valiant Greeks celebrated in epic poems for their majestic tresses to the fierce Norse and Native Americans revered for their glossy manes, and the stoic Japanese samurai who regarded their hair as a badge of honor, lengthy hair has always had significance. Vikings proudly displayed their braided hair, and for a samurai, to lose his hair was to lose his dignity.
In stark contrast, the cutting of hair was often used as a method of humiliation for captured warriors, reducing their sense of beauty and honor. This tradition persists subtly in modern military practices, where new recruits are shaved bald to diminish their individuality and ensure conformity.
The preference for short hair emerged in the Roman period, between the 1st and 5th centuries AD, primarily for practical battlefield reasons—it prevented foes from seizing a soldier by his hair and improved the ease of recognizing allies.
Today, despite its deep historical roots connecting long hair with freedom and masculinity, men who choose to keep their hair long often encounter ridicule or are disparagingly labeled as effeminate. This is a significant misunderstanding of the historical context, where short hair, now seen as the norm, deviates from the age-old emblem of masculine strength and autonomy.

Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

James 4:3

What are you passionate about?

God!

God knows our hearts. He knows not only what we ask, but why we ask. And when we ask with impure motives, seeking God only as a means to achieving our selfish desires, He gently corrects us. It is God’s desire that our hearts would turn to Him, for His sake, and be satisfied with Him. And in turn, He helps us to overcome our selfish desires as we set our minds on heavenly things.

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is once again forcing postal workers to work on Sunday. In fact, the USPS refused to give our postal worker client an accommodation to continue going to church on Sunday.

We’ve been fighting – and WINNING – these types of cases for decades. And we’re currently representing numerous clients defending their right to go to church. We just won for one of our USPS clients and are sending a demand letter for another one TODAY. We helped win at the U.S. Supreme Court last year to protect your right to go to church on Sunday, and we’ll go back to the Supreme Court if necessary.

Church is essential, and our constitutional rights to religious liberty MUST BE PROTECTED. If they can block you from going to church, what’s next?

This is a critical moment to stop these attacks on faith and defend religious liberty in court.

As we send our demand letter TODAY to protect your right to go to church and religious liberty, take action with us.

Lord, too often my own desires and priorities get in the way of truly seeking You. Please transform my heart and renew my mind so that I may be more like You. Help me to put away selfish ambitions and lustful pursuits, and instead desire more of what is true, good, and right. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

June 12, 2024 View in browser
The Epoch Times
A wave of major Supreme Court decisions is expected in the next several weeks as the 2023-2024 term comes to an end this month.
The Court’s calendar has marked two days for potential opinion releases but will likely add more to the calendar. So far this term, the justices have released 32 opinions, or a little more than half of the 61 oral arguments they heard this term.

The U.S. Supreme Court in Washington on May 29, 2024.

Among the cases pending are ones related to presidential power, the events of Jan. 6, 2021, abortion, gun rights, social media, and administrative authority.
“This term stands to be a critical one in articulating the proper role of the separation of powers and the limits on the federal government,” Judicial Crisis Network President Carrie Severino told The Epoch Times.
Former President Donald Trump’s appeal in his Washington, Jan.6-related case is expected to set game-changing precedent for presidential immunity while potentially bearing on the success of DOJ’s case against him. Experts have speculated to The Epoch Times that the justices will refine the legal scope of presidential immunity while remanding the case for further consideration in D.C. District Court.
Another case has challenged the Justice Department’s attempt to use a financial reform law to charge many Jan. 6 defendants. The Court’s ruling could bear on prior convictions as well as Trump’s trial in Washington.
Separation of Powers refers to the idea that each branch of the federal government has its own territory of authority. While the Constitution sets up checks and balances, various cases are questioning how the extent to which different branches affect each other.
Four major cases related to administrative power have gone before the Court this term. Two of them—Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and Relentless Inc. v. Department of Commerce—could lead the Supreme Court to overturn a decades-old precedent known as Chevron deference.
Chevron deference generally refers to the idea that courts should defer to an agency’s interpretation of their authority under laws passed by Congress. The decision has been cited in thousands of cases and its undoing is expected to change the landscape of litigation for challenges to regulation.
Administrative law courts, or in-house tribunals for administrative agencies, may suffer a significant setback depending on how the Court rules in S.E.C. v. Jarkesy.
In May, the justices indicated they wouldn’t default to an anti-regulatory stance in these types of cases. One of the most conservative justices, Justice Clarence Thomas, penned the majority opinion upholding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s controversial funding mechanism.
The Biden administration is also asking the Court to lift what they say is an overbroad injunction on their ability to communicate with social media companies. Missouri and others have sued the administration, alleging that it coerced social media companies to do its bidding in content moderation related to COVID-19.
Other social media cases—Moody v. NetChoice LLC and NetChoice LLC v. Paxton—could help set parameters for how far state legislatures can go in regulating social media platforms’ content moderation.
Gun rights and abortion are back at the Court this term with controversial cases about the abortion pill, bumpstocks, firearm ownership for domestic abusers, and how federal law may or may not force physicians to perform abortions.
—Sam Dorman
NORTH DAKOTA REDISTRICTING DISPUTE
The Supreme Court has invited the Biden administration to submit a brief with its views in an ongoing redistricting dispute in North Dakota.
The state appealed a lower court decision upholding its creation of two new, minority-majority subdistricts. Although the state agreed with the outcome, it said the lower court’s reasoning was incorrect.
The Voting Rights Act (VRA), which was enacted in 1965 and prohibits racial discrimination in voting, is at the core of the dispute. The state of North Dakota sees the lower court decision as flawed because it assumes that attempting to comply with the federal VRA justifies racial discrimination in validating the new subdistricts.
Two Republican-affiliated voters tried to challenge the redistricting plan, which was approved by the state legislature, but U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota dismissed the voters’ lawsuit at the behest of the state and the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation.
Doug Burgum, the state’s Republican governor and former 2024 presidential candidate, filed a reply brief in May stating that “as a matter of first principles,” the state is unable to defend the basis of the summary judgment.
Quoting Justice Clarence Thomas, the brief stated that if complying with a federal statute requires the state to engage in racial discrimination, “the proper conclusion is not that the statute excuses the state’s discrimination, but that the statute is invalid.”
Burgum asked the Supreme Court to review the basis of the lower court decision. More than a dozen other Republican-dominated states filed a brief supporting the voters in April, telling the Supreme Court “the stakes are high” and that states need to know what the VRA means.
The case came after years of court decisions surrounding the VRA, including in Alexander v. South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP. In that case, the justices decided in May to uphold a redistricting plan in South Carolina.
Election lawyer J. Christian Adams told The Epoch Times: “You are not allowed to create them solely on the basis of race. Even if the Voting Rights Act requires that you’re not allowed to just say, ‘Okay, let’s make a black district.’ It’s more complicated than that.”
He described this area of law as “the most complicated … in the entire country.”
—Matthew Vadum and Sam Dorman
BOOKMARKS
Hunter Biden has been convicted of all three charges in his Delaware gun trial. Mr. Biden faces up to 25 years for having lied about his drug addiction in order to purchase a gun in 2018.
Microsoft has been forced to tighten cybersecurity measures for its Recall program, which takes constant screenshots of user’s computers. The program will now be disabled by default, and will require facial recognition to install.
An internal investigation at the DOJ revealed that it had no communications with the District Attorney of Manhattan on President Donald Trump’s N.Y. case. The DOJ had been accused by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and others of colluding with the Manhattan DA.
Economists at the World Bank say the United States is pushing global economic growth. Global growth rates are expected to reach 2.6 percent, instead of the predicted 2.4 percent.
A former AI researcher has warned that China could weaponize the latest developments in the technology. He expects AI to reach human levels of processing power by 2027.

LONG HAIR
Traditionally, long hair was always a symbol of masculinity. All of history’s great warriors had long hair, from the Greeks (who wrote odes to their heroes’ hair) to the Nordic, from the American Indians (famous for their long shiny hair) to the Japanese. And the longer and beautiful the hair was, the more manly the warrior was considered. Vikings flaunted their braids and samurai wore their long hair as a symbol of their honor (they cut their braid when they lose honor).
When a warrior was captured, his mane was cut to humiliate him, to take away his beauty. That custom resumed in what is today military service. There when new soldiers begin their training the first thing they do is cut their hair to undermine their self-esteem, make them submissive and make them see who’s boss.
The Romans were the ones who “invented” short hair so to speak, between the 1st and 5th centuries AD.. In battles they believed this gave them defensive advantages, since their opponents couldn’t grab them by the hair. This also helped them to recognize each other in the battlefield.
Short hair on men is a relatively new “invention” that has nothing to do with aesthetics.
But today we often see men being humiliated, sometimes called “gay” for wearing long hair, not knowing that short hair is actually the “anti-masculine” and is a repressive social imposition, while long hair symbolizes freedom

According to thy name, O God, so is thy praise unto the ends of the earth: thy right hand is full of righteousness. Psalm 48:10

Have you ever been camping?

It is inspiring to see the power of God displayed throughout creation. The mountains, the stars, the storms, all declare His glory. And it is comforting to see God’s righteousness in His actions. He wields His power justly and rightly, according to His character. As He imparts His righteousness on us, His power sustains us.

That good thing which was committed unto thee kept by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us. 2 Timothy 1:14

When do you feel most productive?

Cling to Jesus as a branch to a vine. Engrave God’s word on the tablet of your heart. We’ve been given a great treasure, the knowledge of God and His saving grace. And it is something that is worth holding on to and protecting. And God gives us His Spirit, to guard our knowledge by His wisdom so that we do not lose hold of what we’ve been given.

Lord, thank You for opening my eyes to the truth of Your grace. Please fill me with Your Spirit, so that Your wisdom may never depart from me. May Your truth grow deep roots within my heart, and may you open my eyes and mind to be always discerning and watchful for the temptations and lies that would try to steal Your truth away from me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye. Matthew 7:5

When we are quick to judge others, we often find that a moment of self-examination is in order. It’s not that we should remain silent when a loved one is caught in sin. But we must be sure that our own shortcomings do not prevent us from offering sincere and beneficial help. When we are blinded by our own sin, we risk inflicting more harm on those we wish to help.

Dear Father, thank You for Your deep well of forgiveness. Please search my heart and reveal any sins to confess even as I prepare to intervene in my loved one’s situation. Cleanse me by Your righteousness and fill me with Your grace so that I may see with wisdom and truth, and act with love and mercy toward others. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Having faith in God is complicated: in happy, positive times, it is easy to forget that God carried you along the way, and in difficult times it is easy to blame Him. I have looked at my faith from a narcissistic lense too often, desiring a reward for being faithful to God. I forget that faith is the reward. Believing in the Lord is what gives me peace and joy, hope and power. In happy times or times of any trouble, we are comforted by God (2 Corinthians 1: 3-4). Let us rejoice in His holy name!

Holy, holy, holy Lord. God of power and might. Heaven and earth are full of your glory. The hope I feel for the future with you knows no bounds, my Lord, and I aim to please you with every moment of my life. Forgive me for my transgressions and doubts, but I pray to you with a resolve that I did not feel before. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.

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FULL ISSUE • RESOURCES • GIVE
Fear of the Lord
John’s Fear of the Lord
Sunday, April 28 | Revelation 1:9–18
On the Go? Listen Now!

Fear of the Lord is an important part of worship in the book of Revelation: “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water” (14:7). “Who will not fear you, Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed” (15:4).

This truth is seen and the tone set at the very start of the book, in John’s vision of the risen Christ. When he saw Him, he “fell at his feet as though dead” (v. 17). A mere man like John should feel overwhelmed upon seeing a vision of the incarnate and glorified Christ. Awe, reverence, and a sense of God’s greatness literally knocked him out!

What did John see (vv. 12–16)? Christ appeared “like a son of man,” a Messianic allusion (Dan. 7:13) and Jesus’s favorite name for Himself in the synoptic Gospels. His robe with a golden sash indicates His role as both priest and judge as well as His kingly status. His white hair signifies wisdom, dignity, and eternality. His eyes of blazing fire represent penetrating insight and omniscience. His feet of glowing bronze symbolize victorious strength. The two-edged sword in His mouth is the Word of God (Heb. 4:12). His face shining like the sun suggests God’s glory.

Christ placed His hand on John and reassured him, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades” (vv. 17–18). How incredibly comforting! The eternal Lord of the universe has won the victory and is on our side.


Go Deeper
John experienced his vision on the Lord’s Day, that is, Sunday (v. 10). In what ways have you experienced the fear of the Lord during your church’s Sunday worship services?

Pray with Us: Dear Jesus, You told John, “Do not be afraid” (Rev. 1:17). What comforting words! We praise You for Your victory over death, for bringing us freedom from sin, for taking away worldly fear, and giving us godly fear. Bless Your holy name!

🇮🇱🙏⛪🇮🇱🙏⛪🇮🇱🙏⛪🙏🇮🇱⛪Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward them for what they have done.” Proverbs 19:17

What are your favorite emojis?

🇮🇱🙏⛪🇮🇱🙏⛪🙏🇮🇱🙏⛪🇮🇱🙏
The Lord by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens. Proverbs 3:19

How can we begin to measure the mind of God? Even as scientists learn, piece by piece, how the universe and the earth work, we realize the complexity and order of creation. We realize how little we know, despite how much we’ve learned. And none of it is an accident. Each process, each atom, each scientific principle, has been laid down by our Creator to display His glory and power.

God, my words cannot describe how awesome You are. As I look into the heavens, I marvel at Your vast power. And as I meditate on the makeup of the earth, and all of the plants, animals, chemicals, and processes that form our complex ecosystem, I appreciate Your infinite wisdom even more. You are wise, powerful, and magnificent indeed! In Jesus’ name, Amen.

@delanaforsyth

Jesus gave us the most important commandments that we are to live out in our lives as Christians. The first one: We are to love God with all of our hearts, souls, and minds. The second one being that we are to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. It should be no surprise that the greatest commandments of all have to do with love. Everything that is to do with God is all about love. God created us out of love and He redeemed us out of love. We are where we are, as His children, because of the love of God.

You cannot be a child of God if you do not have the love of God in your heart. But the love of God is not just about saying that you have it. It has to be evident in your thoughts, beliefs, and actions. You may not have it all figured out but you will learn as you go. This is why we have the Bible – it helps us grow in the knowledge of God and what His love really means. We express our love for God through communicating with Him regularly, studying His word, and obeying His commands.

We also express our love for God through loving people. There is no way you can claim to love God if you harbor resentment and hatred against people. It can be hard to let go of the hurtful things that people have done to us, but forgiveness sets us free. Forgiveness is a godly action because we are emulating what God did for us. God is more than capable of healing our brokenness and helping us find the strength to forgive those who have wronged us.

Part of being a Christian is humbling ourselves and realizing that without God, our lives truly mean nothing. We are to acknowledge that we have made a conscious choice to turn away from the bad deeds and sinful habits, and we have turned to the holy life God has presented before us. God had to forgive us of our sins first in order for us to be qualified to live this life. We are to never forget of this great forgiveness that God promised the children of Israel all those years ago. Repent from all evil ways, and choose to be transformed by the love of God and His Word.

Father, I humbly present myself as one who has chosen to turn away from their sinful ways. It is a choice I made when I chose to follow you and Lord, it is a choice I intend to abide in. Father, help me to walk in a way that is worthy of this calling. Thank you for your patience, O Lord, and for never going back on your promises. Were it not for your forgiveness, O Father, I don’t know where I would be. I humble myself before you, O Lord, and pray that I abide in you and nothing else. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great. Luke 6:49

When is the last time you took a risk? How did it work out?

I walk out in support of Israel!
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. It is bordered by Lebanon to the north, Syria to the northeast, Jordan to the east, the Red Sea to the south, Egypt to the southwest, the Mediterranean Sea to the west, and the Palestinian territories – the West Bank along the east and the Gaza Strip along the southwest. Tel Aviv is the financial, economic, and technological center of the country, while its seat of government is in its proclaimed capital of Jerusalem, although Israeli sovereignty over East Jerusalem is unrecognized internationally.

God’s word is a precious resource for us- but only if we use it. Scripture is a firm foundation for all areas of life- family, work, and community. When we try to build these things up without the wisdom of God’s word, we are vulnerable to the shifting sands and shaky ground of human thinking and feeling. Only God’s word provides a sure foundation for our lives.

Father, thank You for the gift of Your word. I pray that as I read and study, You would give me wisdom to not only understand Your word but to apply it. Show me how I can use Your instructions and insights in all areas of my life so that when storms arise around me, I may remain firm in Your truth. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Today With Allen Jackson Daily Devotional
Authority In the Cross
Romans 6:6 (NIV®)
We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.

We are hardwired toward ungodliness. Have you noticed? We don’t need classes on how to be selfish, stubborn, or impatient. We’re just naturally good at those things! This verse, however, has great news: We have been given authority over our carnal nature. But many of us seem to be unaware of the authority that has been given to us. We think whatever authority we have is derived from the correctness of our doctrine, the group to which we belong, or the sign on the building where we gather. Our authority is much greater than any of those things because it is anchored in the redemptive work of Jesus of Nazareth. When you are faced with your carnal nature—and you will be—remind yourself that you are no longer a slave to sin because your old self was crucified with Jesus. That’s an amazing promise!

THINK ABOUT IT
We are born with carnal, selfish minds. But God gave us a way to overcome our selfish nature through our faith in Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and the power of His Holy Spirit.

PRAYER
Heavenly Father, I rest in the authority You have given me through Your Son, Jesus of Nazareth, and His death and resurrection. I place my ungodliness at the foot of the cross and remind myself that I am no longer a slave to my carnal nature. Thank You for Your faithfulness to me. In Jesus’ name, amen.

📖 Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein. Hebrews 13:9 📖

What place in the world do you never want to visit? Why?
Sometimes, we needlessly complicate our faith, and that can quickly put us on the wrong path. Fad teachings and new doctrines seem to emerge every day, but we already have God’s word and we already have the Lord’s Supper. We need not reinvent our faith with extraneous rituals, they only lead to polluted doctrine. Instead, let us hold to the simple gatherings and foundational truth that we have already been given.

Lord, thank You for revealing Yourself to me in Your word, and thank You for the simple communion that I share with my fellow believers. Please work in these things to build me up, so that I may be satisfied in You. Give me the wisdom to discern unsound doctrine, so that I may remain steadfast in Your truth. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

The fall of Man was a terrible time. Not only had man disobeyed God, but they had lost the freedom, peace and comfort in having a relationship with God. Once they made the mistake and discovered they were naked, Adam and Eve ran to hide when God came to look for them. They hid because they were ashamed – they were ashamed of what they had done. Despite the fact that God was looking for them, Adam and Eve felt that they couldn’t face Him. Not after what they had done.

That is what sin does to us. It makes us feel as if we cannot commune with God. When we make mistakes, the devil tries to take advantage of them and make us feel like we are less than who we actually are. The devil is bent on causing a divide between us and God. He will go at any length to do so. When we slip up and disobey God, the devil jumps in, ready to condemn us and make us feel like we are unworthy. If we are not knowledgeable of God’s love and His everlasting mercy, we will end up falling for the enemy’s trickery. The moment the enemy manages to make us feel less, he will keep on beating us down until we believe it.

God doesn’t want us to see ourselves in that light. There is nothing we will gain from beating ourselves up. God doesn’t delight in seeing it. That is not what He desires for our lives. When we make mistakes, we need to realize that God has forgiven us. This does not mean we deliberately repeat the offense. No. It simply means that we should focus our eyes back on Christ, and keep on moving forward. Guilt is not from God and neither is condemnation.

It takes wisdom to understand the importance of keeping peace with everyone in your life. Only a fool will take delight in starting quarrels and stirring up dissension among people. There is nothing to benefit from strife; all it brings is pain, discomfort, and sorrow. Why would one want to live like that? When you have godly wisdom, you will know when to confront and when to draw back. Godly wisdom will also help you confront a person in a respectful, yet firm, manner. You do not need to insult a person in order to get your point across – that is foolishness. We often find it necessary to insult people we think are below us – call center assistants, customer service, waiters, employees, etc. Every heart matters and the words you speak will either break or build a heart. Wisdom will guide you in speaking effectively without causing strife with another person.

Dear God, it can become hard to think clearly when I am caught in tense situations. Father, I pray that if I am ever caught in a tough situation, may I think clearly, guided by your wisdom, and not by my emotions or my feelings. May I always have it in my heart to want to be at peace with everyone; and may you help me live this out. I cannot do it on my own power. I know that maintaining peace with my neighbors is attainable, through you, O Lord. May you guide me accordingly, with your wisdom at the front of my mind. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name: the righteous shall compass me about; for thou shalt deal bountifully with me. Psalm 142:7

Sin takes many forms. Pride, greed, lust, envy, and more. But all sin leads to bondage. All sin imprisons us. And even as Christians, our enemy continues to set traps of temptation for us, hoping to bind us once again. And every time, it is God who breaks us free, on our day of salvation, and each time we stumble. And when He rescues us, His glory is revealed when others see us living liberated lives.

Lord God, thank You for saving me and rescuing me from my bondage to sin. Sometimes, I stumble or wander back into those familiar chains. Please break me free once again and guard my heart and life. Surround me with Your righteous ones, so that I may be better defended against the enemy as I move forward proclaiming the goodness of Your name. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

By Spreading the Word of God!

How do you use social media?

Growing up, the Bible was in my bedroom but seldom opened. I believed in Jesus and cannot remember a time I felt as if God didn’t exist. God just was. However, I did not follow Him as Lord and Savior growing up. In God’s lovingkindness and faithfulness to me, that changed over time. Far from being a God who “just was,” I discovered that he is “the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come” (Revelation 1:8).

As different opportunities arose, I heard more of God’s Word through circumstances, through other believers, through music, and for myself as I started to open up the Bible and engage with it more. What I found was a book that was the very word of God, which is “alive and active… sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

Here are a selection of verses that have shaped my walk as a follower of Jesus. May they bless you as much as they have encouraged and sustained me.

Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Matthew 5:9

What does it take to be a peacemaker? It takes a child of God, one who reflects His image and character. For it is only through the unconditional love of God that we can know peace. And when we live in that love and pass it on to others, without judgment and condemnation, we invite others to experience His peace.

Father, thank You for the peace that You have given me by saving me and making me Your child. Lord, help me to see others as Your children, and to overflow with Your love, so that through me they may see Your peace at work in my life. Use me to draw others into Your love and into Your peace. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Teaching American History


EXPAND TIMELINE
“The Bible,” from Christianity and Liberalism
by J. Gersham Machen
December 31, 1923
EDITED AND INTRODUCED BY SARAH MORGAN SMITH, ELLEN DEITZ TUCKER, DAVID TUCKER

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PART OF THESE CORE DOCUMENT COLLECTIONS

Religion in American History and Political

STUDY QUESTIONS
What does Machen mean by the inerrancy of the Bible? Why is it important to him?
How does Machen’s view of inerrancy differ from Fosdick’s?
Introduction
J. Gresham Machen (1881–1937) was the last of a long line of Presbyterian theologians at Princeton who thought of themselves as upholding the traditional teachings of the denomination. In chapter four of Christianity and Liberalism (printed here almost in its entirety), Machen asserted that the Bible as both God’s revelation and as inerrant was essential to Christianity. He contrasted this view with the view of religious liberals (e.g. Harry Emerson Fosdick, see document 19), who he argued placed human experience at the center of religion. In noting that nature was part of God’s revelation, Machen echoes a traditional view, which we have encountered in detail in Palmer, “Baconianism and the Bible”(see document 11). Writing several decades after Palmer, however, in a world of increased secularism and scientific influence (see documents 14 and 16), Machen felt the need to argue for the authority of the Bible, an authority Palmer could take for granted. The writings of Machen, Fosdick, and Dixon included in this collection were part of the modernist-fundamentalist controversy of the first decades of the twentieth century. In large measure, that controversy still defines America’s religious world and influences our politics.

—Sarah Morgan Smith, Ellen Deitz Tucker, David Tucker
Chapter 4: “The Bible”
Modern liberalism, it has been observed so far, has lost sight of the two great presuppositions of the Christian message—the living God, and the fact of sin. The liberal doctrine of God and the liberal doctrine of man are both diametrically opposite to the Christian view. But the divergence concerns not only the presuppositions of the message, but also the message itself.

The Christian message has come to us through the Bible. What shall we think about this Book in which the message is contained?

According to the Christian view, the Bible contains an account of a revelation from God to man, which is found nowhere else. It is true, the Bible also contains a confirmation and a wonderful enrichment of the revelations which are given also by the things that God has made and by the conscience of man. “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handywork”1—these words are a confirmation of the revelation of God in nature; “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”2—these words are a confirmation of what is attested by the conscience. But in addition to such reaffirmations of what might conceivably be learned elsewhere—as a matter of fact, because of men’s blindness, even so much is learned elsewhere only in comparatively obscure fashion—the Bible also contains an account of a revelation which is absolutely new. That new revelation concerns the way by which sinful man can come into communion with the living God.

The way was opened, according to the Bible, by an act of God, when, almost nineteen hundred years ago, outside the walls of Jerusalem, the eternal Son was offered as a sacrifice for the sins of men. To that one great event the whole Old Testament looks forward, and in that one event the whole of the New Testament finds its center and core.  Salvation then, according to the Bible, is not something that was discovered, but something that happened. Hence appears the uniqueness of the Bible. All the ideas of Christianity might be discovered in some other religion, yet there would be in that other religion no Christianity. For Christianity depends, not upon a complex of ideas, but upon the narration of an event. Without that event, the world, in the Christian view, is altogether dark, and humanity is lost under the guilt of sin. There can be no salvation by the discovery of eternal truth, for eternal truth brings naught but despair, because of sin.  But a new face has been put upon life by the blessed thing that God did when He offered up His only begotten Son.

An objection is sometimes offered against this view of the contents of the Bible. Must we, it is said, depend upon what happened so long ago? Does salvation wait upon the examination of musty records? Is the trained student of Palestinian history the modern priest without whose gracious intervention no one can see God? Can we not find, instead, a salvation that is independent of history, a salvation that depends only on what is with us here and now?

The objection is not devoid of weight. But it ignores one of the primary evidences for the truth of the gospel record. That evidence is found in Christian experience.  Salvation does depend upon what happened long ago, but the event of long ago has effects that continue until today. We are told in the New Testament that Jesus offered Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of those who should believe on Him. That is a record of a past event.  But we can make trial of it today, and making trial of it we find it to be true. We are told in the New Testament that on a certain morning long ago Jesus rose from the dead. That again is a record of a past event. But again we can make trial of it, and making trial of it we discover that Jesus is truly a living Savior today.

But at this point a fatal error lies in wait. It is one of the root errors of modern liberalism. Christian experience, we have just said, is useful as confirming the gospel message. But because it is necessary, many men have jumped to the conclusion that it is all that is necessary. Having a present experience of Christ in the heart, may we not, it is said, hold that experience no matter what history may tell us as to the events of the first Easter morning?  May we not make ourselves altogether independent of the results of Biblical criticism? No matter what sort of man history may tell us Jesus of Nazareth actually was, no matter what history may say about the real meaning of His death or about the story of His alleged resurrection, may we not continue to experience the presence of Christ in our souls?

The trouble is that the experience thus maintained is not Christian experience. Religious experience it may be, but Christian experience it certainly is not. For Christian experience depends absolutely upon an event. The Christian says to himself: “I have meditated upon the problem of becoming right with God, I have tried to produce a righteousness that will stand in His sight; but when I heard the gospel message I learned that what I had weakly striven to accomplish had been accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ when He died for me on the Cross and completed His redeeming work by the glorious resurrection.  If the thing has not yet been done, if I merely have an idea of its accomplishment, then I am of all men most miserable, for I am still in my sins. My Christian life, then, depends altogether upon the truth of the New Testament record.”

Christian experience is rightly used when it confirms the documentary evidence. But it can never possibly provide a substitute for the documentary evidence. We know that the gospel story is true partly because of the early date of the documents in which it appears, the evidence as to their authorship, the internal evidence of their truth, the impossibility of explaining them as being based upon deception or upon myth. This evidence is gloriously confirmed by present experience, which adds to the documentary evidence that wonderful directness and immediacy of conviction which delivers us from fear. Christian experience is rightly used when it helps to convince us that the events narrated in the New Testament actually did occur; but it can never enable us to be Christians whether the events occurred or not. It is a fair flower, and should be prized as a gift of God.  But cut it from its root in the blessed Book, and it soon withers away and dies.

Thus the revelation of which an account is contained in the Bible embraces not only a reaffirmation of eternal truths—itself necessary because the truths have been obscured by the blinding effect of sin—but also a revelation which sets forth the meaning of an act of God.

The contents of the Bible, then, are unique. But another fact about the Bible is also important. The Bible might contain an account of a true revelation from God, and yet the account be full of error. Before the full authority of the Bible can be established, therefore, it is necessary to add to the Christian doctrine of revelation the Christian doctrine of inspiration. The latter doctrine means that the Bible not only is an account of important things, but that the account itself is true, the writers having been so preserved from error, despite a full maintenance of their habits of thought and expression, that the resulting Book is the “infallible rule of faith and practice.”3

This doctrine of “plenary inspiration”4 has been made the subject of persistent misrepresentation.…

As a matter of fact, the doctrine of plenary inspiration does not deny the individuality of the Biblical writers; it does not ignore their use of ordinary means for acquiring information; it does not involve any lack of interest in the historical situations which gave rise to the Biblical books. What it does deny is the presence of error in the Bible. It supposes that the Holy Spirit so informed the minds of the Biblical writers that they were kept from falling into the errors that mar all other books. The Bible might contain an account of a genuine revelation of God, and yet not contain a true account. But according to the doctrine of inspiration, the account is as a matter of fact a true account; the Bible is an “infallible rule of faith and practice.”

Certainly that is a stupendous claim, and it is no wonder that it has been attacked. But the trouble is that the attack is not always fair. If the liberal preacher objected to the doctrine of plenary inspiration on the ground that as a matter of fact there are errors in the Bible, he might be right and he might be wrong, but at any rate the discussion would be conducted on the proper ground. But too often the preacher desires to avoid the delicate question of errors in the Bible—a question which might give offence to the rank and file—and prefers to speak merely against “mechanical” theories of inspiration, the theory of “dictation,” the “superstitious use of the Bible as a talisman,” or the like. It all sounds to the plain man as though it were very harmless. Does not the liberal preacher say that the Bible is “divine”—indeed that it is the more divine because it is the more human? What could be more edifying than that? But of course such appearances are deceptive. A Bible that is full of error is certainly divine in the modern pantheizing sense of “divine,” according to which God is just another name for the course of the world with all its imperfections and all its sin. But the God whom the Christian worships is a God of truth.

It must be admitted that there are many Christians who do not accept the doctrine of plenary inspiration. That doctrine is denied not only by liberal opponents of Christianity, but also by many true Christian men. There are many Christian men in the modern Church who find in the origin of Christianity no mere product of evolution but a real entrance of the creative power of God, who depend for their salvation, not at all upon their own efforts to lead the Christ life, but upon the atoning blood of Christ—there are many men in the modern Church who thus accept the central message of the Bible and yet believe that the message has come to us merely on the authority of trustworthy witnesses unaided in their literary work by any supernatural guidance of the Spirit of God. There are many who believe that the Bible is right at the central point, in its account of the redeeming work of Christ, and yet believe that it contains many errors. Such men are not really liberals, but Christians; because they have accepted as true the message upon which Christianity depends. A great gulf separates them from those who reject the supernatural act of God with which Christianity stands or falls.

It is another question, however, whether the mediating view of the Bible which is thus maintained is logically tenable, the trouble being that our Lord Himself seems to have held the high view of the Bible which is here being rejected. Certainly it is another question—and a question which the present writer would answer with an emphatic negative—whether the panic about the Bible,5 which gives rise to such concessions, is at all justified by the facts. If the Christian make full use of his Christian privileges, he finds the seat of authority in the whole Bible, which he regards as no mere word of man but as the very Word of God.

Very different is the view of modern liberalism. The modern liberal rejects not only the doctrine of plenary inspiration, but even such respect for the Bible as would be proper over against any ordinarily trustworthy book. But what is substituted for the Christian view of the Bible?  What is the liberal view as to the seat of authority in religion?

The impression is sometimes produced that the modern liberal substitutes for the authority of the Bible the authority of Christ. He cannot accept, he says, what he regards as the perverse moral teaching of the Old Testament or the sophistical arguments of Paul.  But he regards himself as being the true Christian because, rejecting the rest of the Bible, he depends upon Jesus alone.

This impression, however, is utterly false. The modern liberal does not really hold to the authority of Jesus. Even if he did so, indeed, he would still be impoverishing greatly his knowledge of God and of the way of salvation. The words of Jesus, spoken during His earthly ministry, could hardly contain all that we need to know about God and about the way of salvation; for the meaning of Jesus’ redeeming work could hardly be fully set forth before that work was done. It could be set forth indeed by way of prophecy, and as a matter of fact it was so set forth by Jesus even in the days of His flesh. But the full explanation could naturally be given only after the work was done. And such was actually the divine method. It is doing despite,6 not only to the Spirit of God, but also to Jesus Himself, to regard the teaching of the Holy Spirit, given through the apostles, as at all inferior in authority to the teaching of Jesus.

As a matter of fact, however, the modern liberal does not hold fast even to the authority of Jesus. Certainly he does not accept the words of Jesus as they are recorded in the Gospels. For among the recorded words of Jesus are to be found just those things which are most abhorrent to the modern liberal Church, and in His recorded words Jesus also points forward to the fuller revelation which was afterwards to be given through His apostles. Evidently, therefore, those words of Jesus which are to be regarded as authoritative by modern liberalism must first be selected from the mass of the recorded words by a critical process. The critical process is certainly very difficult, and the suspicion often arises that the critic is retaining as genuine words of the historical Jesus only those words which conform to his own preconceived ideas. But even after the sifting process has been completed, the liberal scholar is still unable to accept as authoritative all the sayings of Jesus; he must finally admit that even the “historical” Jesus as reconstructed by modern historians said some things that are untrue.

So much is usually admitted. But, it is maintained, although not everything that Jesus said is true, His central “life-purpose” is still to be regarded as regulative for the Church. But what then was the life-purpose of Jesus? According to the shortest, and if modern criticism be accepted the earliest of the Gospels, the Son of Man “came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). Here the vicarious death is put as the “life-purpose” of Jesus. Such an utterance must of course be pushed aside by the modern liberal Church. The truth is that the life-purpose of Jesus discovered by modern liberalism is not the life purpose of the real Jesus, but merely represents those elements in the teaching of Jesus—isolated and misinterpreted—which happen to agree with the modern program. It is not Jesus, then, who is the real authority, but the modern principle by which the selection within Jesus’ recorded teaching has been made. Certain isolated ethical principles of the Sermon on the Mount are accepted, not at all because they are teachings of Jesus, but because they agree with modern ideas.

It is not true at all, then, that modern liberalism is based upon the authority of Jesus. It is obliged to reject a vast deal that is absolutely essential in Jesus’ example and teaching—notably His consciousness of being the heavenly Messiah. The real authority, for liberalism, can only be “the Christian consciousness” or “Christian experience.” But how shall the findings of the Christian consciousness be established? Surely not by a majority vote of the organized Church. Such a method would obviously do away with all liberty of conscience. The only authority, then, can be individual experience; truth can only be that which “helps” the individual man. Such an authority is obviously no authority at all; for individual experience is endlessly diverse, and when once truth is regarded only as that which works at any particular time, it ceases to be truth. The result is an abysmal skepticism.

The Christian man, on the other hand, finds in the Bible the very Word of God. Let it not be said that dependence upon a book is a dead or an artificial thing. The Reformation of the sixteenth century was founded upon the authority of the Bible, yet it set the world aflame. Dependence upon a word of man would be slavish, but dependence upon God’s word is life. Dark and gloomy would be the world, if we were left to our own devices and had no blessed Word of God. The Bible, to the Christian is not a burdensome law, but the very Magna Charta of Christian liberty.

It is no wonder, then, that liberalism is totally different from Christianity, for the foundation is different. Christianity is founded upon the Bible. It bases upon the Bible both its thinking and its life. Liberalism on the other hand is founded upon the shifting emotions of sinful men.

FOOTNOTES
1. Psalm 9:1
2. Romans 3:23
3. This is probably a reference to Machen’s predecessor at Princeton, A. A. Hodge (1823–1886).  Chapter three of Hodge’s Outlines of Theology (1860) is “The Rule of Faith and Practice,” which argues that “the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, having been given by inspiration of god, are the all-sufficient and only rule of faith and practice, and judge of controversies.”  Hodge spends much of the chapter criticizing the “Romish” or Roman Catholic approach to the Bible.
4. Machen defines this term in the next paragraph.
5. Machen referred here to what some saw as attacks on the authority of the Bible because of the claims of modern science and the results of the “higher criticism” that subjected the Bible to philological and historical analysis.
6. giving insult or treating contemptuously
PRIOR
The Bible

The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein. Psalm 111:2

Describe a positive thing a family member has done for you.

If you’ve ever visited an art museum, you know that some pieces are so expertly made that they make you stop and think. They invite you to consider the artist’s mind, passion, and purpose as you take in the intricacies of the finished work. God’s creation, from vast galaxies to delicate flowers, instills the same wonder in all who seek to know Him.

God, You are magnificent and awesome. As I look at the beauty of creation around me, I am overwhelmed by the power of Your hands and the creativity of Your mind. You’ve built beauty and grandeur into everything that You have made, and seeing Your work makes me want to know You even more. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Marriage is meant to be one of the earthly representations of love. When a man and woman decide to come together as one, as one unit, one flesh, one family, and they decide to take on the world together. The best marriages are the marriages that are rooted in the love of God. Couples who choose to make Christ the center of their relationship make the journey slightly easier for themselves. Marriage is an illustration of God’s relationship with the church – we are the church.

Patience and forgiveness are major parts of marriage. Without them, no marriage is able to survive. You need to understand that there will be times where your spouse will disappoint you and you will disappoint your spouse. You will discover things about each other that will require a lot of adjusting. There are times where you will share opposing points-of-view. Instead of burning the house down with words of anger, you will have to work out your issues in love. Love is more than a feeling. It is more than the butterflies or sweet sensations you experience in your stomach. Love is a choice. Every day, you make the decision to love you partner and work with them as a team.

Love means that you are well aware of your partner’s flaws and shortcomings but you choose to see the better parts of them. Marriage is a joint effort at becoming better people. You challenge each other. You cheer each other one. When one of you is down, the other one pulls them up and vice-versa. Marriage is not 50/50. It is not about splitting the effort in half. Marriage is 100/100 – you both have to be all in all the time.

Prayers: We can’t walk out of our marriage because You said what You put together may no man take apart! I thank You for being here with us both and every marriage You have put together in Jesus name Amen