Book Review: Erasing Hell

Erasing Hell: What God Said About Eternity, and the Things We've Made Up

By: Francis Chan & Preston Sprinkle

Published: July 5th 2011 by David C. Cook

208 pages

Genre: Christian, Religion, Non-Fiction, Spirituality

Source: Personal Kindle Library

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository | Booksamillion.com )

*Note: The above links to Amazon, Book Depository, and Booksamillion.com are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--How could a loving God send people to hell? Will people have a chance after they die to believe in Jesus and go to heaven?

With a humble respect for God's Word, Francis Chan and Preston Sprinkle address the deepest questions you have about eternal destiny. They've asked the same questions. Like you, sometimes they just don't want to believe in hell. But as they write, "We cannot afford to be wrong on this issue."

This is not a book about who is saying what. It's a book about what God says. It's not a book about impersonal theological issues. It's a book about people who God loves. It's not a book about arguments, doctrine, or being right. It's a book about the character of God.

Erasing Hell will immerse you in the truth of Scripture as, together with the authors, you find not only the truth but the courage to live it out.

I've had Erasing Hell in my possession for quite some time, but considering the topic I've put off reading it. Who wants to read about hell? I really didn't. But Husband and I have been talking about how there is a general lack of the fear of the Lord in our country lately it seems, and how it would do us both good to spend some time dwelling on this subject. What better subject to instill some Godly fear than hell? And so thus I decided it was time to pick this one up.

Francis Chan...wow. He certainly has a way with words. In all of the books I've read by him, I'm always impressed with his ability to be honest with himself, honest with his readers, and honest with God. He's not afraid to put himself and his short-comings out there on display in order to learn something about himself and in order to use that as an example to teach others. It's really impressive.

Francis Chan & Preston Sprinkle admit upfront that truthfully they do not want to believe in hell as a real place. They don't want to think about people that they know and love possibly ending up there after this life is over. But they don't stop at what they wants to believe. No, they move into the Scripture and search it for what God says about hell and about eternity.

What was really impressed upon me while reading Erasing Hell was how much this subject is dependent upon a proper understanding of God. The authors do a great job of showcasing God's character and nature throughout this scary and unpopular topic. While the first several chapters truly focus on the Scripture surrounding the topic of hell, the last two chapters had the most impact upon me. These chapters focused on some difficult questions concerning God and how we interpret God with our limited human minds. These chapters forced me to be honest with myself about how I think I have a right to determine what is right, and just, and loving.

Erasing Hell really does dwell on some tough subjects, but as the authors say and is listed in the description above, "We cannot afford to be wrong on this issue." I highly recommend this book to anyone who is undecided on this topic, to anyone who needs a look at the deeper nature and character of God, to anyone who needs a good dose of the fear of the LORD. To well...anyone.

Please note that of the other books by Francis Chan that I've read, Erasing Hell seems to be the most academic in nature. The authors obviously put a lot of research into this topic, but truthfully, you need to be willing to do some research on your own, specifically from the Bible, to form your own beliefs from God's Word.

Erasing Hell gets a good 4.5 stars from me. Have you read Erasing Hell? If so, what did you think? Let me know!

This review was first posted on Somewhere Only We Know.

Book Review: Love & Respect in the Family

Love & Respect in the Family: The Transforming Power of Love and Respect Between Parent and Child

By: Dr. Emerson Eggerichs

Published: November 5th 2013 by Thomas Nelson Publishers 208 pages

Genre: Self-Help

Source: Publisher via NetGalley (Thank you!!)

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository | Booksamillion.com )

*Note: The above links to Amazon, Book Depository, and Booksamillionc.com are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--Children need love. Parents need respect.

It is as simple and complex as that!

When frustrated with an unresponsive child, a parent doesn't declare, "You don't love me." Instead the parent asserts, "You are being disrespectful right now." A parent needs to feel respected, especially during conflicts. When upset a child does not whine, "You don't respect me." Instead, a child pouts, "You don't love me." A child needs to feel loved, especially during disputes.

But here's the rub: An unloved child (or teen) negatively reacts in a way that feels disrespectful to a parent. A disrespected parent negatively reacts in a way that feels unloving to the child. This dynamic gives birth to the FAMILY CRAZY CYCLE.

So how is one to break out of this cycle? Best-selling author Emerson Eggerichs has studied the family dynamic for more than 30 years, having his Ph.D. in Child and Family Ecology. As a senior pastor for nearly two decades, Eggerichs builds on a foundation of strong biblical principles, walking the reader through an entirely new way to approach the family dynamic. For instance, God reveals ways to defuse the craziness with our children from preschooler to teen, plus how to motivate them to obey and how to deal with them when they don't. In the Bible, God has spoken specifically to parents on how to parent. This book is about that revelation.

I’m not a parent yet, so I might have a skewed perception of this book. Husband and I do plan to try to expand our family in the near future, so that combined with how much I enjoyed Love & Respect (about the husband and wife relationship) made Love & Respect in the Family a perfect choice for me. As with Love & Respect, some of these principles discussed in this book are obvious, but the way Dr. Eggerich spells it out makes so much sense and clarifies a lot.

Dr. Eggerich points out that when a parent and child get into it you never hear a child say, “you don’t respect me,” and you usually don’t hear a parent say, “you don’t love me.” No. The child says, “you don’t love me,” while the parent replies, “you’re being disrespectful.” This was such a revelation for me--and SO true! Dr. Eggerich even follows it up with another obvious point—it is the parent’s job to be the mature one in these "Family Crazy Cycle" situations. The parent is the one who has years of experience on the child. The parent is the one who should be mature enough not to lower themselves to the antics of children. This makes so much sense to me as to why parents and children have the strained relationships that they sometimes have—the parents never grew up. They never matured. They are still selfish and self-centered creatures who haven’t learned that they have to take the high road in order to avoid the "Family Crazy Cycle" that Dr. Eggerich discusses.

Truthfully I should have written this review the day I completely the book. I feel like I’ve forgotten so much of the wonderful text already, which indicates to me that this is a book that I will need to read more than once. Dr. Eggerich does a good job showing you how to exit the "Family Crazy Cycle" and some great parenting advice that is indeed extremely applicable. And he does it in a way that both shows his own parenting successes and failures. He’s the first to admit that he and his wife did not parent perfectly—as no one can. He’s not arrogant with his advice and forceful in saying “this is what you must do in order to be a good parent.” Yet his advice is both Biblically based and common sense.

Love & Respect in the Family is another book that I think every person ought to read. If you are a parent, if you had a parent, if you ever plan to be a parent. Love & Respect in the Family is broken down into easy to understand concepts that will make a big impact on your family if put into practice. Not being a parent myself, there were a couple of things that I wonder about, but time will tell for me. I’m giving Love & Respect in the Family an easy 4 stars. My only negative was that I thought the book felt complete at about the 75% mark. While the remaining portion still held valuable information, I felt it was time to wrap things up. Have you read Love & Respect in the Family? What did you think? Let me know!

This review first appeared on Somewhere Only We Know.

Book Review - The Power of a Praying Kid

The Power of a Praying Kid

By: Stormie Omartian

Published: July 1st 2005 by Harvest House Publishers

100 pages

Genre: Christian

Source: Personal Library

( Goodreads | Amazon | The Book Depository | Booksamillion.com )

Goodreads description--New from bestselling author Stormie Omartian! A look at prayer through little eyes.

"The Power of a Praying(R) Kid "is a fun and "kid-friendly" approach to prayer for a very- special audience. Written with young hearts in mind, this short, easy-to-read book for 7- to 12-year-olds helps children learn to talk to God in a way that is meaningful and relational.

Interactive call-outs, sample prayers, and places to record their own words to God are sprinkled throughout the pages. Moms and Dads as well as children will love the message of this book for growing-up kids...God wants to hear from them and He listens to their prayers.

It's no secret that I love The Power of a Praying...series. I hasn't really been a goal of mine to read them all necessarily, but I can't help but grab whichever one applies to my current situation. I grabbed The Power of a Praying Kid and The Power of a Praying Teen for my kids' Bible class that I teach on Wednesday nights. So far we've only done the first two chapters but both classes went really well.

The Power of a Praying Kid is written in easy to understand words, phrases, and concepts so that even a child below teen years should be able to understand it. I love the simplicity of the messages provided in this book. Stormie Omartian set up this book to act as a sort of prayer journal for young children. I love the idea of starting children out early with focusing on their prayer lives. While this was something that I was told I needed to do as a child, I didn't really grow and cultivate my prayer life until adulthood.

The Power of a Praying Kid isn't very long at all, so it shouldn't be too daunting to children. And I think it will serve as the perfect introduction to the next book, The Power of a Praying Teen. Included in the book are short prayers from other children and sections about the answered prayers of various children, as well as common things children of this age group think and pray about. Also in keeping with the other Power of a Praying...books that I've read, Stormie Omartian adds Scripture at the end of each chapter dealing with that specific topic, a short prayer over the topic, and space for the child to add to the provided prayer.

My only complaint is the short section early on in the book where Ms. Omartian discusses "how to become a Christian." I don't agree with her breakdown of the process as Scripture lays it out. As I always say in my reviews of any kind of religious book, we must consult the Source and the Standard (The Bible) for the answers to any questions that we have. Because of this, I highly recommend this be a book that an adult/parent/teacher/etc go through along with the child/children instead of just saying, "Here's a book about prayer. Read it." It needs to be interactive with children of this age.

The Power of a Praying Kid gets 4.5 Stars from me. Have you read The Power of a Praying Kid? What did you think? Let me know!

This review was first published on Somewhere Only We Know.

Baptism: Going All In

I want to start this discussion about baptism by putting all my cards on the table and stating there has been way too much debate about this topic from those of us trying to follow Jesus.  These debates do nothing but lead to confusion to others who are trying to learn the Truth, and the conversations are muddied with people's opinions and traditions which accomplish nothing except to turn the whole discussion into nonsense.  The act of baptism is one of the simplest and most precious gifts from God, and it's time we all get on the same page about how Jesus gave us the example in the New Testament of how it is to be understood.  The early Christians in the Bible also understood what baptism means, and we can use their example to make sure we can all agree.

So, simply enough, let's start with a definition:

Baptism-  Greek origin-  baptisma, baptizo- to immerse, to submerge (sinking a boat permanently), to wash one's body (bathe), to make clean

One of the earliest recorded uses of this word outside of the Bible in its correct form is found in a recipe for making pickles.  Nicander, a Greek poet and physician, wrote in 200 B.C. on how to change a cucumber into a pickle--he first describes that you have to bapto ("dip"- not the New Testament usage) the vegetable into boiling saltwater, then you have to baptizo ("submerge"- the word used in the New Testament) into a vinegar solution for a longer period of time.  Interestingly enough, the first usage- bapto -denotes a temporary cleansing, while baptizo denotes an act that is going to cause a permanent change to the cucumber.

In the Old Testament, there are plenty of examples of sprinkling and full immersion into the water for purification purposes.  If you'll refer to those examples given in Leviticus for the priests, and several examples throughout the Old Testament, you'll quickly see that sprinkling was reserved for purification from leprosy or other various skin lesions, and this was usually done with oil.  Immersion had a special purpose though, and it had much more serious meaning.  The priests themselves had to fully submerge their bodies and cleanse themselves before they could enter the presence of God to offer sacrifices for their sins and the sins of the people.  They would also have to "baptize" themselves if they had defiled themselves by touching a dead body.   There were pools that enabled the priests to fully submerge their bodies outside of the Temple, and they would also often have a deep tub dug into their homes in order to fulfill this type of cleansing. 

Now, let's fast forward into the New Testament with the baptisms being performed by John.  First, the Greek baptizo is being used, so we know he is actually submering people into the Jordan River.  His message is a message of repentance from sins, and not of cleansing from skin ailments, so Hebrew culture would fully understand the implications of being submerged versus being sprinkled.  These people wanted a permanent change, and not a temporary cleansing.  When Jesus presents himself before John asking to be baptizo, this should be all that we need to know to in order to follow him.  Jesus allowed John to fully submerge him into this dirty river water (by our standards), and immediately God sent the Holy Spirit to proclaim how pleased He was with His Son.  Something changed that day, and most of us would agree this is where Jesus' ministry truly began.  This should be our first real reference on what baptism should mean to someone trying to follow in Jesus' footsteps.

 



 

Matthew 3:13-17

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John.  But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and you come to me?”

 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.

 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.  And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

 



Being baptized in this way is one of the first real ways we get to celebrate our new life and share in something that Jesus himself did as well.  The early believers understood this, the apostles taught this, and every example of baptism in the New Testament is a person who decided to follow Jesus' teachings because they believed he was who he said he was, and then they wanted to be purified from their past sinful life.  Referring back to the Old Testament priests above, baptism was the purification ritual used in order to wash oneself clean of wrongdoings and exposure to dead flesh--in the New Testament we see it become the burial of the dead flesh (your old sinful life), and it remains to be the ritual used for the cleansing of sin so the believer can approach God's throne.  Let's take a quick look at how Peter instructed the people of Jerusalem on how to be saved after they became convicted of actually crucifying their long awaited Messiah:

Acts 2:37-41

When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.”  Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

There is no question here on whether baptism should be done or not; Peter specifically instructs them to repent (turn away from their sins) and be immersed for the forgiveness of their sins.  There are several people who state that baptism is only a symbol--I know, I used to be one of them--and it is a symbol for sure.  It's a ritual started by God in the Old Testament for purifying priests, and given to us by Jesus as a means for cleansing us from our old life.  So sure...it's a symbol, but it's not ONLY a symbol.  It must be done as part of the contract God has offered us. 



Did you ever think of God as giving you a contract to sign?  He operated in contracts--the Bible calls them covenants.  He had one with Adam, he had one with Abraham...Moses....David...Solomon....all the kings and prophets actually.  This relationship He forms based on "you do this for me, and I'll do something for you" is a very real principle seen throughout the Bible.  The current standing contract that He has for us was given to us through Jesus: repent, be baptized, you will be saved.

We definitely don't want to understate the importance of Jesus' death here....without a doubt, his crucification provided the way to eternal life for every person.  There is no contract at all without his death, and his blood is what provided the covering of our sins;  there was truly nothing we could do to be saved without this pinnacle point in history.  No action on your part would ever get you closer to God unless Jesus died on that cross--you were alone and separated from God until you reached the belief that Jesus died for you--to save you.  So once you reached that conclusion, and you prayed to tell God you believe....what did God tell you to do?  How did Peter explain it above?

Let's look at what Jesus says about it all.  John 3:16 is used by most people who hold the conviction that all you have to do is BELIEVE in Jesus, and you will be saved. 

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

Did you ever wonder what it really means to believe in Jesus?  Is it just believing that he existed?  From the book of James, in the second chapter, it's apparent that the believers he is addressing are being lazy in their faith because they are stating they believe in one God, and that is enough to save them.  James tells them that even the demons believe in God and fear him, but that isn't enough to save them.  He continues with saying faith without good works is a dead faith--that means, it was once alive, but now it's nonexistent. Believing isn't enough, and it's not all God asks of us. 

Now look back at John 3:16--whoever believes in God's son will have eternal life.  Is it possible that "believing" in Jesus means not just believing he exists, but that we are to believe in what he says as well?  John 3:16 has been used as a defense, a weapon even, to prove that believing is the ONLY thing that can save you, but I want to take it a step further and say that believing in Jesus and doing what he says is where your salvation comes from ultimately--believing in him enough to obey him fully.  The problem with people using John 3:16 as a defense is that they apparently aren't reading the entire third chapter of John, and they are only picking a single verse to prove their opinions.  The entire first part of John 3 is where Jesus is explaining to Nicodemus how to be born again through water and the Spirit.  He is speaking very vaguely at this point, but he will clarify this to the disciples later when he asks them to go into the world and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  What did we see the disciples go out and do after this?  They were submerging people in water after those people came to the realization of who Jesus really is--not just telling people they could be baptized if they wanted to be as a cool add-on option.  Once a person believed, it was taught they must be baptized to clease them of their sin.   Not that this is some magic water ritual, but it was what Jesus asked them to do in order to be saved--the key is obedience. 

Believing in Jesus enough to obey him is where true salvation has been provided for us by God in today's world.  Saying you believe Jesus is real isn't enough, and you won't be fulfilling the roles he has asked you to fill.  The result of that kind of life is exactly what we are seeing in America today, where people are claiming to be Christians, but you can see no proof of that in the life they live.  This type of person is actually doing more harm than good to the name we are supposed to bear.  Jesus said he would know who truly belongs to him by seeing which of us bear fruit...those who obey and do the job he asks us to do.

If you've ever been told that baptism isn't important--or not necessary to be a Christian--I really want you to search the scriptures to find where that is stated.  The more you search, the more you will find just how important it is.  You'll find more proof on why it should be done, and you won't see any place at all in the Bible where it is described as optional.  This is something I want you to investigate and apply to your own life.  This isn't a cause for debate; it's about doing the things God has asked you to do to be saved.  We'll examine this more later, but the most important point I want you to take away from this is if you're a person that states "Jesus never said to be baptized" or if you're confusing people by telling them baptism is just a choice and isn't necessary, then you've set yourself against God's word and you're misleading people.  If you have people in your life preaching or teaching that it's optional, then they haven't read God's word enough to understand it, and you should flee from that setting or have a serious discussion with those who are misleading others.  The seminaries or organizations that teach this base their teachings off traditions that were formed centuries long after the Bible was completed, and they will often even try to quote people from the AD1600-1800's trying to prove their case.  To be a true follower of Jesus, you have to get used to not listening to opinions and really researching what the Bible says on the topic.  Don't fall into the trap of hearing someone say, "Jesus didn't really mean what he said there...but some monk in the year 1713 cleared that up for us."

You'll never make a pickle by sprinkling a cucumber.  There is a real change that takes place once you decide to be submerged in the water that Jesus has asked you to step into and follow him.  The water itself hasn't changed you, but obeying your Lord has made the real change.  Examine your life, and if needed...step into the water today.



Now I want to hear from you!  What are some of your favorite scriptures pertaining to baptism?  Were you told it was optional?  Why do you think there are so many options other than real submersion when the word itself means to go under? 

 

How to Believe In Jesus

We've all seen the pamphlets or read the tracts that explain how to become a Christian--how to be saved--but for the majority of people, it wasn't a publication that led someone to their salvation...this blog included.

For most of us, we were led by another person.  Think back in your life--was it a family member, a friend, a preacher or teacher, or even indirectly by hearing another person's testimony?  The first lesson I want you to remember is how hugely important it is for you to communicate with people.  Don't depend on tools and presentations.  You are the light in this world.  With this calling also comes the responsibility of making sure the people you talk to about your faith are properly educated.  This is where the second lesson comes in.

Building on the ideas in the last entry here, I've requested that you forget everything you were ever taught from some other source about your faith other than the Bible.  This is a vital first step for none other than the fact that you've most likely already learned in your life that secondhand and thirdhand information is quite often incorrect.  There are a ton of issues that have divided the followers of Jesus today--and we'll touch on many of these issues in the future--but once you realize these divisions have been born out of interpretations of certain people defending their own beliefs or agendas, you'll also realize why so many people today want nothing to do with anything that wears the label of "Christianity."  I already know this article can also be accused of being just another interpretation, but I promise I will only present the Scripture here, and if we ever come to an issue that has questionable interpretations, I will plainly state that "I'm not sure," and we'll openly discuss these issues together.

However this topic--Becoming a Christian--is the most basic and the firmest foundation of everything we believe, and if we can't agree on how to become a child of God, then we really aren't fit to be His children at all.  He has plainly told us, and if we can't obey Him and do it His way, then we can't be called His followers.  While we're on the topic of obedience, keep that word on the tip of your brain...but as I said before...forget everything else you've ever known.  Drop the labels you've put on yourself, stop associating yourself with something that Jesus would see as a division, and let's dive into the Scripture together:

HOW TO BECOME A FOLLOWER OF JESUS

1. Believe He is the Son of God that was sent to save the people of this world.
2. Follow His command and be baptized to bury your old life and cleanse the new one.
3. Pray without ceasing in order to form a real relationship with Him.
4. Study the Bible in order to understand what YOU are and what your responsibilities are.
5. Do what He asks you to do and don't look back.
6. When you sin, confess the sin to Him and turn away from it.
7. Love and serve others every chance you get.

There are several different beliefs out there on "how to make it into Heaven", but using the outline above I will update the site over the next few weeks to explain each example with Scripture to follow.  We have to first agree that Jesus was telling the truth during His time on earth, and once that's established, it's all about following the commands He gave us on how to follow in His footsteps.  These topics will be open to discussion, but it is vitally important we only focus on the Scripture to support this journey. Until the next update, think about each of the points above and compare them to what you currently believe.

Love you buddies,

Russ

Forget Everything You've Ever Known...

From this moment on, I want you to forget everything you've ever learned about your faith from someone else.  Just remember that moment you felt called...the moment your heart nearly exploded out of your chest...the moment you knew the rocks would cry out if you didn't respond to the Spirit urging you to follow Jesus.  Now, think about what you did next.  You felt God speak to you directly and invite you to follow Him, so you took the first step in knowing Him by doing what?  For the majority of us, we probably went to listen to someone else to see what they had to say about it--and usually we just got a lesson about the walls falling at Jericho, or Adam and Eve eating a piece of fruit, or if you're lucky, maybe you heard a lesson about Jesus and why he was here in the first place...maybe...if you were lucky.


To the point now, you experienced a moment in your lifetime when the Creator of the entire universe took an interest in your life, asked you to be a part of His family to which you said 'yes', then  you felt it was necessary to go find out from other sources what had just happened to you.  Sound familiar?

Right now is the time for you to take the responsibility of focusing your prayer life on God's will and immersing yourself into His Word to see exactly what He wants you to learn from Him.  I know it seems like a huge responsibility at times, but it is your job; and I will add it's a job you are going to be overly pleased with some day...but for now, don't be caught sleeping.  You have responsibilities--it is up to you to work out your own salvation--and lucky enough, you know exactly who provided that salvation for you.

Get busy!

Russ

2Peter 1:3-11:

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge;  and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness;  and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.  For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.

 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble,  and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

What is BrightlySalted.com?

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."    -Matthew 5:13-16

Official Logo For BrightlySalted.com (April2013)
(Click on picture, then right click to set as wallpaper)





A lot of time has passed since Jesus spoke these words, and since that time a lot of people have added and taken away from his words in an attempt to make his teachings fit every person.  In my younger days, I saw the church as a building with a preacher, a choir, pretty windows, brass offering plates, and nice people.  Now that I'm older and have the understanding that the church isn't a building at all--rather the collection of Jesus' followers--I've had to examine a lot of the views I learned as a child and compare them to the Word of God, the Bible.  I am ashamed to say a lot of the things I heard as a child or even concluded for myself at various times didn't measure up to the teachings of Jesus.  I'm positive there have even been times in my past when I was in the role of a teacher, and I have taught the meaning of the Scripture incorrectly.  This is partly why this site has been created--to clarify my errors, to right my wrongs, and more importantly, to examine the Word of our God completely.  

I intend to publish my assembly lessons and sermons here as well as my thoughts on world events, but more than anything, I want to use this site to connect with old friends so we can discuss our faith.  I want us all to be able to investigate our questions together, and find the answers God has for us through His Holy Word.  Hopefully we'll make some new friends along the way too.  

At this time, I only plan to publish here a couple times per month, but there may be occasions where a weekly update is warranted...either way, don't worry about me filling your inbox up with constant emails.  This site is just as much for you as it is for me.  Feel free to send me your prayer requests, and I highly encourage you to send me questions on areas where guidance may be needed.  We'll ask God together to lead us.

For now, I'm just asking you to fill in the subscribe box to the right, hit the "Like" button, and feel free to send any study topics you want to research with me.  We'll get to see this site grow together as I add features in the coming days.

Just a pilgrim here,

Russ