Knowledge

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments; His praise endures forever.” Ps. 111:10

“Wise men store up knowledge” Prov. 10:14a

“A wise man is strong, and a man of knowledge increases power.” Prov. 24:5

“But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” James 1:5

Strength

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Phil.4:13

“Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.” Is. 40:31

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Josh. 1:9

“But you, be strong and do not lose courage, for there is reward for your work.” 2 Chron. 15:7

“The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise Him; my father’s God, and I will exalt him.” Ex. 15:2

“The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart exults, and with my song I shall thank Him.” Ps. 28:7

“He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power.” Is. 40:29

“Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Neh. 8:10b

“I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; from whence shall my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” Ps. 121:1-2

Faith

“For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” Phil. 1:6

“For we walk by faith, not by sight..” 2 Cor. 5:7

“Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you even at my mother’s breast. From birth I was cast upon you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God.” Ps. 22:9-10

“‘Shall I bring to the point of birth, and not give delivery?’ says the Lord.” Is. 66:9a

“From birth I have relied on you; you brought me forth from my mother’s womb. I will ever praise you.” Ps. 71:6

“For truly I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, ‘move from here to there’, and it shall move; and nothing shall be impossible to you.” Matt. 17:20b

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Phil. 4:6-7

“In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid.” Ps. 56:11a

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” Prov. 3:5-6

“Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He will do it.” Ps. 37:4-5

“And this is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked of Him.” 1 John 5:14-15

Peace

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” Matt. 11:28

“I sought the Lord, and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.” Ps. 34.4

“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him.” Ps. 37:7b

“Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need.” Heb. 4:16

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and sound judgment.” 2 Tim. 1:7

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam though the mountains quake at its swelling pride.” Ps. 46:1-3

“Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world.” John 16:21

I lift up my eyes to the hills–where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. (Ps.121:1-2 NIV) Similar Posts:

• Scripture for Labor and Delivery
• First Dance
• My Dear Child
• God’s Sustaining Power
• A Call for Prayer

Scriptures for Labor and Birth

“They shall not die prematurely; they shall be immortal till their work is done; and when their time shall come to die, then their deaths shall be precious. The Lord watches over their dying beds, smooths their pillows, sustains their hearts, and receives their souls. Those who are redeemed with precious blood are so dear to God that even their deaths are precious to him. The deathbeds of saints are very precious to the church, she often learns much from them; they are very precious to all believers, who delight to treasure up the last words of the departed; but they are most of all precious to the Lord Jehovah himself, who views the triumphant deaths of his gracious ones with sacred delight. If we have walked before him in the land of the living, we need not fear to die before him when the hour of our departure is at hand.”

Good bye my friend.Similar Posts:

• My First Benediction
• There I Find Delight: Psalm 119:1-8
• Scripture for Labor and Delivery
• Scriptures for Labor and Birth
• A Call for Prayer

I shall not mourn

SBC Voices is going to give away some books!

Institutes of the Christian Religion – John Calvin
The Meaning of the Pentateuch – John Sailhamer
The Trellis and the Vine – Colin Marshall and Tony Payne

You have three different ways to get in the contest:

1) List your full name, first and last, in the comment section of $100 BOOK GIVEAWAY! at the SBC Voices website (not here).

2) Tweet this- “RT @matthewsvoboda RT for a chance to win: $100 Book Giveaway http://sbcvoices.com/kicking-off-2010-right-100-book-giveaway/”

3) If you have a blog, write a post telling people about the Giveaway. (it doesnt matter how long the post is as long as it is linked back to sbcvoices.com/kicking-off-2010-right-100-book-giveaway.

Your name will be put in the drawing according to how many of those 3 things you do!

The giveaway will end next Wednesday 1-20!

(To ensure no one tries to enter via my site, comments on my post will be closed)

H.T. Ben of Founder and PerfecterSimilar Posts:

• It’s not what you say…
• Devotional Christian is giving away 22 Devotional books
• Something else to add to my never-ending wishlist, which I’ll never read
• Everyone loves stats
• Trackback for beginners

Another book giveaway!

Bezalel (or Bezaleel) means “in the shadow [protection] of El.” Bezalel is described in the genealogical lists as the son of Uri (Exodus 31:1), the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah (I Chronicles 2:18, 19, 20, 50). He was said to be highly gifted as a workman, showing great skill and originality in engraving precious metals and stones and in wood-carving. He was also a master-workman, having many apprentices under him whom he instructed in the arts (Exodus 35:30-35). According to the narrative in Exodus, he was definitely called and endowed to direct the construction of the tent of meeting and its sacred furniture, and also to prepare the priests’ garments and the oil and incense required for the service.

But I think a more accurate description would be to say that God was the Architect, Moses was the Project Leader and Bezalel was the Contractor.

Similar Posts:

• archshrk is an Architect
• For Sale in San Diego
• Proof That God Exists
• Craig’s List Assault
• I don’t want their love

Bezalel

The problem is not that there’s too much conservatism: it’s that there’s a lot of unfounded, flabby conservatism running around with plastic fishes attached to it rather than a robust, young, and dangerous conservatism riding around on the fat, noisy Harley which is the Gospel.

’nuff said.
Similar Posts:

• 36
• Hello world!
• Bibles anyone?
• Ministry – When and Where we Meet
• Christmas Wagon

Single greatest quote of all year

The Brick Testament is the largest, most comprehensive illustrated Bible in the world with over 3,600 illustrations that retell more than 300 stories from The Bible.

Launched first as a website in 2001, then as a published book series in 2003, The Brick Testament project is an ongoing one-man labor of love, constructed and photographed entirely by The Rev. Brendan Powell Smith.

391 stories with 4,214 illustrations. More to come…

- CONTENT NOTICE -
The Bible contains material some may consider morally objectionable and/or inappropriate for children. These labels identify stories containing:

N= nudity
S= sexual content
V= violence
C= cursing

HT: David A. Porter
Similar Posts:

• The Manga Bible: From Genesis to Revelation
• Competitive Ad Filter
• ESV bible on your iPod
• Word of God – word for word
• Blessinz of teh Ceiling Cat

The Brick Testament

Dear beloved sponsors and friends of Good News India. We have never seen anything like this. We knew that Orissa was the most resistant and hostile State in India as far as the Gospel is concerned. And we brushed off the continuous threats and harassment we faced as we went about His work. But none of our staff imagined that they would see this kind of carnage…. And it seems to be totally under the radar of the Western Media ….

Let me explain…. A militant Hindu priest and 4 of his attendants, who were zealously going around the villages of Orissa and ‘reconverting’ people back to Hinduism, were gunned down by unknown assailants in Central Orissa last weekend.

Immediately the Christians were blamed.. The cry rose up…’Kill the Christians!’ And the horror began…. In the past 4 days, we have first hand witness to hundreds of churches being blown up or burned and many, many dozens of Christian tribals have been slaughtered. For no other reason than they bear the name of Christ.

Night and day I have been in touch with our Good News India Directors spread across 14 Dream Centers in Orissa… they are right in the middle of all this chaos. In Tihidi, just after the police came to offer protection, a group of 70 blood-thirsty militants came to kill our staff and destroy the home. They were not allowed to get in, but they did a lot of damage to our Dream Center by throwing rocks and bricks and smashing our gate, etc.

They have promised to come back and ‘finish the job.’ Our kids and staff are locked inside and have stayed that way with doors and windows shut for the past 3 days. It has been a time of desperately calling on the Lord in prayer.

More police have come to offer protection. In Kalahandi, the police and some local sympathizers got to our dream center and gave our staff and kids about 3 minutes notice to vacate. No one had time to even grab a change of clothes or any personal belonging. As they fled, the blood thirsty mob came to kill everyone in the building. We would have had a mass funeral there, but for His grace. In Phulbani, the mob came looking for Christian homes and missions. The local Hindu people, our neighbors turned them away by saying that there were no Christians in this area. So they left.. We had favor. The same thing happened in Balasore.

All our dream centers are under lock down with the kids and staff huddled inside and police outside. The fanatics are circling outside waiting for a chance to kill. Others were not so fortunate. In a nearby Catholic orphanage, the mob allowed the kids to leave and locked up a Priest and a computer teacher in house and burned them to death. Many believers have been killed and hacked into pieces and left on the road…. even women and children. At another orphanage run by another organization, when this began, the Director and his wife jumped on their motorbike and simply fled, leaving all the children and staff behind. Every one of our GNI directors that I have spoken to said: ‘We stay with our kids…. we live together or die together, but we will never abandon what God has called us to do.’ More than 5000 Christian families have had their homes burned or destroyed. They have fled into the jungles and are living in great fear waiting for the authorities to bring about peace. But so far, no peace is foreseen.

This will continue for another 10 days…. supposedly the 14 day mourning period for the slain Hindu priest. Many more Christians will die and their houses destroyed. Many more churches will be smashed down. The Federal government is trying to restore order and perhaps things will calm down. We ask for your prayers. Only the Hand of God can calm this storm. None of us know the meaning of persecution. But now our kids and staff know what that means. So many of our kids coming from Hindu backgrounds are confused and totally bewildered at what is happening around them. So many of their guardians have fled into the jungles and are unable to come and get them during these trying times.

Through all this, I am more determined than ever to continue with our goal: the transformation of a community by transforming its children. Orissa will be saved… that is our heart’s cry. If we can take these thousands of throw-away children and help them to become disciples of Jesus, they will transform an entire region. It is a long term goal, but it is strategic thinking in terms of the Great Commission. What can you do? First, please uphold all this in fervent prayer. Second, pass this e-mail on to as many friends as you can. We must get the word out and increase our prayer base for this is spiritual warfare at its most basic meaning. We are literally fighting the devil in order to live for His Kingdom. The next 10 days are crucial. We pray for peace and Thank you for taking the time to read this.

More info can be found at www.efionline.org and YWAMSimilar Posts:

• Rudolph the Anti-Gospel Reindeer
• Shopping for Corbin
• They Might Be Giants Win Grammy
• Serving Children
• Voice of the Martyrs

CHRISTIANS, MISSIONARIES in INDIA

I would like to add that Wendy’s mum (June) and dad are elderly people and it must be absolutely hellish for them to be going through this with their only daughter and youngest child, especially as they lost one of their sons (though not to cancer) some years back, so I’m asking for extra prayers for Wendy’s parents as well as Wendy

Thanks, Nancy Jean (in Seattle)Similar Posts:

• Prayer for Persephannie
• Help for Keerthana
• My friend, Wendy McLean
• Bloggers are people too
• Grandma Paula

Prayers for Wendy

When they provide bible verses that support their opinion, it’s called reading scripture “in context”.
When you provide bible verses that support your opinion, it’s called “cherry picking verses”.

When they make a distinction between two slightly differing concepts, it’s considered “scholarly”.
When you make a distinction between two slightly differing concepts, it’s considered “semantics”.

When they present their interpretation of Scripture, it’s called “what God’s word says.”
When you present your interpretation of Scripture, it’s called “heresy” or “a doctrine of demons”.

What it all boils down to is that when it comes to illusions of infallibility, Rome is in very good company.

HT: chaela on Christian Forums, which isn’t very Christian. BTW – I shant be returning to CF. its too chaotic and full of worthless posts. The posts worth reading and contributing on require 100+ posts to comment on and that’s just not worth it. Good luck to those that stick with it. I for one, have better things to do with my time — LIKE MINISTRY. [/end sarcasm]

P.S. be sure and visit Blogogetics.com for some less argumentative apologetics

Similar Posts:

• to exegesis or exegete
• Once saved, always saved
• 11:11 Prophesies
• Women and Headcoverings
• Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms

Some things to remember when engaged in apologetics debates

Pastoral Thoughts on Politics

1 Samuel 8:7 “The LORD said to Samuel…they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.” The Biblical worldview combined with the common grace of general revelation teaches man that God is King and ruler over the earth and that mankind ought to worship and serve him as governing King over our lives, families, and societies.

Similar Posts:

• Resolutions and God’s Grace
• New Year – New Resolutions
• Jonathan Edwards Resolutions
• What’s your theological worldview?
• Merry Christmas!

Pastoral Thoughts on Politics