God

Quality Assurance

Posted on by Shannon

We live in a society where the quantity of words is more common than the quality of them. “Talk is cheap” and “Actions speak louder than words” are common phrases. And while these have some merit in the right context, it is of great importance we do not undermine the value of speech.

God places eternal authority on value of words, Christ himself is referred to as “the Word” in John 1:14. And he put great emphasis on the quality of our words throughout his ministry. In Matthew 15:18 he warns, “But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man unclean.” This admonition is continued in the book of James regarding speech, “If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.” (James 1:26). Christ also confirmed the eternal existence of God’s word in Matthew 24:35, “Heaven and earth will pass away but my words will never pass away.” Continue reading →

A Father’s Sacrifice

Posted on by Shannon

One morning in September 2008 Thomas Vander Woude, a retired airline pilot who now kept a farm in Northern Virginia, was working his 26 acres with his 20 year old handicapped son Joseph by his side. When they had separated to do other chores, Joseph walked on a damaged septic tank cover and broke through, falling into the almost full 8 foot deep tank. Seeing the accident from a distance, Vander Woude rushed over to assist his youngest son. Unable to pull him from the tank, he lowered himself into the sewage and treaded beside him to help keep Josephs’ head above the waste, but he was still sinking. Vander Woude then made the decision to dive under the sewage and raise his Down syndrome afflicted son up on his shoulders to free him from drowning. When rescuers finally arrived they pulled Joseph out, injured but alive. His father Thomas though was dead, suffocated under the waste. Continue reading →

Vision

Posted on by Shannon

The world cries out for men of vision. Great problems of society long for solutions. Elections loom and we look for leaders with solid ideas. People listen to those who speak with wisdom and foresight. Visionaries of the past are still honored today. If there is no vision, there is decline and corruption (Prov.29:18).

The secret to wise vision is the wisdom only God can give. For eighty years Moses had the wrong vision. God had to break him before he paid attention to the correct one. Even then, he complained and objected to God’s vision. But he soon agreed, and gave himself to his new vision for his final 40 years on earth. And what a great leader he was! God must break us before He can instill His vision into our hearts. Continue reading →

A Taste of What’s to Come

Posted on by Shannon

Over the last two weekends we’ve enjoyed some lovely special events. Last week was Young Adult Weekend, with 30-40 energetic guests among us, and a special speaker (Jay Manimtim). There was close fellowship, challenging lessons, enthusiastic singing, and good food. This weekend we witnessed the wedding of two Christians who are very dear to us. Their two families came together with good wishes for the marriage of their children. Many of their friends and brothers and sisters in the Lord were present to make it a special day. And this morning we are very happy to have Shawn Redding preach the sermon. Shawn and Donna, of course, are loved by the entire congregation. Continue reading →

A Reason to Believe

Posted on by Shannon

I am always interested in reasons to believe in God, and one such reason is science’s law of biogenesis.  But before talking about biogenesis, we should define what makes a scientific law a law in the first place.  A scientific law is a discovery achieved through extensive investigation which consistently points to one conclusion.  The laws of science explain how things work in nature all the time, without exception.  The most common scientific law that I can think of is the law of gravity; when we let go of something, we know where to look for it – it’s down there.  The difference between a “law” and a “theory” is that a scientific law points to one conclusion; all the time.  A theory points to a possibility among many possibilities. Continue reading →