Thursday, March 27, 2008

Translation vs. Interpretation

There are many reasons why I prefer the King James Version bible over all the others. It is derived from the oldest and most popular text used by the first century church, it is the most beautiful and clearest to read and it holds the verses familiar to my childhood when I accepted Jesus as my Savior. But most of all it is because it is a Translation and not an Interpretation of the original Word of God.

What is the difference?

A Translation takes each word of the original text and rewrites it using words we can understand, in this case English words.
An Interpretation, on the other hand, reads an entire passage and the interpreter does his best to rewrite it to capture the overall theme or thought of the passage.

Why is this important?

Luke 4:4 says; “And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by EVERY WORD of God.”

Proverbs 30:5 says; “EVERY WORD of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.”

EVERY WORD is important not just the “thought” behind them. In an interpretation you lose the Words of God in a Translation they are maintained and kept pure.

Also, when you chose to read an interpretation like the NIV, NKJV, NASB, RSV, NRSV, NJB, TEV, ect., you are relying on the interpreter having perfect understanding of God’s Word. Since this is not possible it would follow that all interpretations would be flawed since their authors are all flawed.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Why Jesus Folded The Napkin


Why did Jesus fold the linen burial cloth after His resurrection?

The Gospel of John (20:7) tells us that the napkin, which was placed over the face of Jesus, was not just thrown aside like the grave clothes.

The Bible takes an entire verse to tell us that the napkin was neatly folded, and was placed at the head of that stony coffin.

Early Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance.

She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, "They have taken the Lord's body out of the tomb, and I don't know where they have put Him!"

Peter and the other disciple r an to the tomb to see. The other disciple outran Peter and got there first. He stooped and looked in and saw the linen cloth lying there, but he didn't go in.

Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, while the cloth that had covered Jesus' head was folded up and lying to the side.

Is that important? Absolutely!

Is it really significant? Yes!

In order to understand the significance of the folded napkin, you have to understand a little bit about Hebrew tradition of that day. The folded napkin had to
do with the Master and Servant, and every Jewish boy knew this tradition.

When the servant set the dinner table for the master, he made sure that it was exactly the way the master wanted it.

The table was furnished perfectly, and then the servant would wait, just out of sight, until
the master had finished eating, and the servant would not dare touch that table, until the master was finished.

Now if the master were done eating, he would rise from the table, wipe his fingers, his mouth, and clean his beard, and would wad up that napkin and toss it onto the table.

The servant would then know to clear the table. For in those days, the wadded napkin meant, "I'm done".

But if the master got up from the table, and folded his napkin, and laid it beside his plate, the servant would not dare touch the table, because..........

The folded napkin meant, "I'm coming back!"

HE IS COMING BACK!

Monday, March 24, 2008

Why Does God Allow Pain And Suffering?

A man went to a barbershop to have his hair cut and his beard trimmed.

As the barber began to work, they began to have a good conversation.

They talked about so many things and various subjects.

When they eventually touched on the subject of God, the barber said:

"I don't believe that God exists."

"Why do you say that?" asked the customer. "Well, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God doesn't exist.

Tell me, if God exists, would there be so many sick people?

Would there be abandoned children?

If God existed, there would be neither suffering nor pain.

I can't imagine a loving God who would allow all of these things."

The customer thought for a moment, but didn't respond because he didn't want to start an argument.

The barber finished his job and the customer left the shop.

Just after he left the barbershop, he saw a man in the street with long, stringy, dirty hair and an untrimmed beard.

He looked dirty and unkempt. The customer turned back and entered the barber shop again and he said to the barber:

"You know what? Barbers do not exist."

"How can you say that?" asked the surprised barber.

"I am here, and I am a barber. And I just worked on you!"

"No!" the customer exclaimed. "Barbers don't exist because if they did, there would be no people with dirty long hair and untrimmed beards, like that man outside."

"Ah, but barbers DO exist! That's what happens when people do not come to me."

"Exactly!" affirmed the customer. "That's the point! God, too, DOES exist!

That's what happens when people do not go to Him and don't look to Him for help.

That's why there's so much pain and suffering in the world."

Friday, March 21, 2008

Sunrise Service

To celebrate the glorious resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, we will be holding a Sunrise Service starting at 7am Sunday morning 3/23/08. Everyone is invited to attend. Following the service we will be enjoying a lovely breakfast made by the ladies and teens of the church. I hope to see you there! For more information contact Pastor Jay McCaig @ 407-891-8688

Thursday, March 20, 2008

FREE Movie Night, Friday 3/21/08!

Please join is at Crossroads Baptist Church for a free viewing of “The Passion Of The Christ” This Friday, 3/21/08, at 7:00pm. This is a rated “R” movie for necessary, gratuitous violence. We will also be showing an age appropriate movie in the nursery for our youngest visitors.

This movie, although heavenly contaminated with unbiblical catholic doctrine, helps paint a picture of the torture our Christ endured so that we may enjoy the free gift of salvation from our sins. You do not want to miss this exciting presentation.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

WOW, what a great week this has been!

WOW, what a great week this has been! In addition to many positive developments at church Bro. Jim and I have seen over 25 men find salvation in the jail ministry with a couple of dozen more rededicating their lives to Christ! We are so blessed to be used by Him.

One of the many positive developments at church is the reformation of the choir. The “New & Improved” choir will be making their debut on Easter Sunday. Hope to see you there!

Friday, March 14, 2008

Does Spanking Make Your Child A Sexual Deviant?


You may have heard about a recent study that claims that children who are spanked have a greater chance of growing up to be sexual deviants. This study, completed by the ethically questionable Family Research Laboratory at the University of New Hampshire-Durham, claims that 75% of children who are spanked will grow up to have sexual deviant issues. This mirrors other claims made by other overtly anti-Christian, liberal groups of late.

What the reports do not tell you about this study and the others like it is that they include in their studies ALL forms of corporal punishment including, punching, biting, kicking, burning, and beating with objects like electrical cords. One study even included children who were burn with electrified lamp cords. No attempt has ever been made in these studies to differentiate between the loving spanking, described in the Bible and physical torture.

Now we have the dilemma of whether to trust these obviously corrupt studies or to trust the Word of God.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Can A Divorced Man Be A Pastor?


Although divorce is never God’s will for a marriage it, like all sin, is forgivable and recoverable from. Why then do so many church leaders venomously teach that a divorced man can not be a pastor? Back in the middle of the last century churches were faced with the problem of rapidly rising divorce rates. Instead of taking the Word of God at face value church leaders began to do what they have done so many times in the past, twist the Word to fit their particular set of values. In doing so they made divorce the “unpardonable” sin.
Most of the controversy stems from I Timothy 3:2 that states a pastor (Bishop) must be the “husband of one wife”. Although this verse has nothing to do with divorce many use this as the only basis to exclude God called men from the pulpit. This verse is clearly speaking of polygamy and the faithfulness of a man to his wife. Consider the following points;

1. Since God will never call a man to something that contradicts His Word, the fact that many divorced men are called by God to pastor is proof of the error of the interpretation that divorce excludes a man from the pastorate.
2. Those who fail to properly interpret the Word are at odds with II Timothy 2:15
3. The process of divorce, as described by Christ, ends the marriage thus making the woman no longer the wife. Those that say that an ex-wife is still a wife to be counted in regards to I Timothy 3:2 deny Jesus’ power and authority over marriage and the dissolution of such.
4. Polygamy was at the time of the writing as it is still is today a problem in our own country as well as other parts of the world.
5. Most that teach this hateful doctrine use it as a way to elevate their own standing, by making themselves look better in contrast to others who are beneath them. That some how they are better or more pure than everyone else and that is why God has called them to be pastors. Yet God says he uses the foolish and weak, not the high and mighty.
6. And most importantly those who claim this divorce exclusion doctrine deny Jesus’ ability to forgive and forget our sins. They claim that Jesus can forgive murder (Paul, David, Moses) but not divorce. That a man that kills his wife is eligible for the pulpit but not one that divorces. This lacks the common sense of the scripture and limits God’s ability to restore the sinner. Limiting God’s power is blasphemy.

The God I serve is a loving God that will use any who truly repent and turn their lives over to Him, regardless of past sin.

Saturday, March 8, 2008

What Does 3,800 Look Like?


Everyday in America over 3,800 babies are murdered in America by abortionists. Most people you talk with will say that they think abortion is wrong but very few can describe for you the how big the problem really is. We decided to help our community by placing 3,800 pink & blue flags on the church yard so everyone would have a visual point of reference for this huge number. We were amazed by what we saw. The view was overwhelming. As people stopped and asked what we were doing you could see the stunned expressions on their faces as they realized that each of those flags represented a baby that would be murdered today.

How can we expect God to continue to “Bless America” when we are slaughtering our youngest citizens? This is an election year, do your homework, find out where each candidate stands on this issue and vote accordingly.

Maybe you or someone you know has had an abortion. The bad news is you or they are probably suffering from depression and a host of physical issues as a result, things the ghouls at the abortion clinic failed to inform you about. The GOOD NEWS is that Jesus is the God of second chances. He can forgive you of the sin of murder just as quick as he can any sin. You must repent of all of your sins and trust Him to be your Savior. The price for your salvation was paid over two thousand years ago when Jesus died on the cross. All He is waiting for now is for you to accept it.

Monday, March 3, 2008

John's Story From Jail

Names have been changed in this account for safety reasons.

While teaching at the Osceola County Jail I met a young man named John. John explained to me that he had been arrested for dealing drugs in St. Cloud, and was trying to get his life back on track. Prior to being incarcerated John said that his life consisted of women, money, & drugs but now he had received the Lord as his Savior and had been attending the weekly studies for a few weeks now. John told me that something I had said the previous week had touched a cord with him and he wanted to share his experience with the class.

The previous week I had made a passing comment about fasting in response to a question that was asked. Not a long dissertation but simply a comment that fasting was one tool that helps a Christian tap into the power of God. Prior to this John said that he thought of fasting as foolishness and something only “fanatics” did. Nevertheless he decided to give it a try. John prayed and felt led to fast until midnight the following day. Breakfast went well, as did lunch time. By supper he was beginning to feel the pangs of hunger greatly intensify and by 11:30 he was getting sick to his stomach. He began to think that fasting was not for him, he was not feeling any closer to God he was just feeling sick. At midnight he ate some crackers and immediately vomited them back up. He was feeling very discouraged when he realized that it was not God that was making him sick it was Satan. John felt the overwhelming urge to pray and within 10 seconds of praying the nausea and hunger left him. John also said that he sleep better that night than he ever has in his life (sleeping in jail is not normally restful sleep).

The next morning John arose and walked out of his cell, looking down into the common area he said that he had a sense of clarity that he never had before. Instead of looking at the men below as a group of inmates he was looking at them now as individuals, each one precious to Jesus. Rules in the jail prohibit inmates from congregating in groups of more than 4 so he went and found 3 other inmates who he knew to be Christians and asked them to pray with him. By the time they were done praying their small prayer group had grown to over 25 men, huddled around praying out to Jesus. The corrections officers, unaware of what was going on broke in and began pepper spraying the prayer meeting. Even this did not dissuade John who said that knew that was also Satan clouding the minds of the guards.

Please pray for John and the others in The Osceola County Jail. Many are saved who have fallen to by the wayside and many more have never heard a clear presentation of the Gospel. Also, please pray for Jim and I as we continue to take the Gospel into this institution. We saw another 5 souls saved this week.