Growth of a New Church

My family has been attending a newer church in Johnson City, TN.  We also attend a closer one part of the time as well.  A family member told us that Grace Advance was going to be having a pastor come to Johnson City.  This was interesting and exciting news!  The closest churches with pastors trained at the Master's Seminary were much too far away to visit.
The name of the church is Immanuel Bible Church, and it's meeting at a business / warehouse type of place.  It's really growing already, and we really could use a larger room to meet in!

It is really neat to have a church where the Bible is not only taught well, but the Pastor is interested in following the Biblical standards for churches it seems.  You might be surprised how rare that is in an area where so many people go to church.  There are lots of churches here in the old South, that's for sure.   There are Southern Baptists, Independent Baptists, Freewill Baptists, United Methodists, Church of God churches, Church of Christ churches, Lutherans, Seventh Day Adventists, etc.
People often use these churches as places to get their social life, because that's what's accepted here in Tenessee.

You will find people that are right on politics and social issues.  Doctrine is a little less well taught, and people love to accept popular teachers that do not teach Biblically.  Obviously this problem isn't just found here in Tennessee.  There is plenty of that to be found in California as well.  I'm not saying that there is no good teaching at all to be had.  When you see all the compromise on the sidelines and up front at some of these places, it makes it very difficult to feel you belong.  I do not advocate not going to church though!  People need to be around other believers if at all possible.  It's good to be a light and encourage people in positive ways if possible.  It is hard to get involved when to do so seems to mean compromise.  That doesn't mean that I shouldn't love brothers and sisters in Christ.

I'm pleased that we have a new church family to add as well, and I hope that I will get a chance to get to know some of them.  The pastor's family are very nice, and if you are looking for a church with solid doctrine and a caring pastor anywhere near Johnson City, you might want to visit and see if this could be your new church home.

You can listen to some messages online already and find a bit more info. about the church at the following link:
http://ibcjohnsoncity.org/

You can also watch this video about Grace Advance:

An Introduction to Grace Advance from Grace Advance on Vimeo.

A Guy Who Was in 180 Movie

Have you watched "180" Movie yet?
If you haven't, then please check it out at http://180movie.com . It's worth your time!

 For those of you who have seen the documentary already, below is a video where Ray came across one of the guys again that he interviewed on a college campus in California. I can imagine it was exciting for him to see that he was in something that has had such a widespread impact and audience!

I wonder how many lives are being saved, and how many people are being impacted by the even more important message found at the end of the documentary?  One day in Heaven, I believe I will know.  I'm thankful for those who are faithful to proclaim the Truth and encourage and make it easier for those of us who are not as courageous to be able to reach out by handing out DVDs, cards, tracts, etc.

My Reasons To Vote for Rick Santorum

I did a couple of videos recently about reasons for my choosing to vote for Rick Santorum for President.    I actually already voted in early voting here in the state where I live now.  Even though no delegates were pledged to Rick already, he can have delegates appointed for him later.

I admit that I did have to read off what I wrote for the video, and the editing didn't work so well that I used. Still, I was so eager to share this that I didn't want to try my other program.

I hope that you will watch this, no matter if you are planning to vote for someone else. This video deals with some issues that are important to me especially as a Christian.

Excellent Links I Hope You Won't Want to Miss

Once again I'm sharing some links that I think are really excellent.


You Don't Use the Whole Horse (This one is really about Rick Santorum.)  - Douglas Wilson
This blog post points out some important issues to think about when making your decision about who to vote for.

Proposition 8 and the New Standard of No Standard  -  Robin Schumacher
I really thought this did a fantastic job of explaining how people make a judgment on moral issues and what should be the basis of our standards and laws.

Introverted - Tim Challies
Really this describes me pretty well, only I may be even more introverted that Tim.  I do not believe I have the talent that he has for writing and blogging, but that's okay.  I'm just me.  This posting he did is really interesting to listen to or read.  Yes, there is an audio version choice.  Please check it out.

Are Roman Catholics Christian - Matt Slick
This is excellent, and it's something that I think a lot of people need to think about.   I find it difficult to respond to people who are Catholics, and I realize I need to be careful now in how I state things.  I do try to be careful generally, but I can make mistakes about commenting my assumptions when I've seen others do the same...like stating for a fact someone isn't a Christian.  Normally I'm fairly careful, but I did have to backtrack just a little recently by letting it be known that I hoped that the person was (and that the person would leave the church if the person was). I still believe what this article mentions about people who hold to the official teachings.  My mistake was stating something as fact.  Still, everything else I said was true, and I need to just be careful not to say as fact what I just think is true.

When We're Together - Song from Courageous

Many of you watched the movie Courageous whether in the theater or on DVD or Blu-ray.If not, then please understand that this is about a father and daughter in the story.  The daughter died in an accident, and the father is remembering her asking him to dance with her.  While I personally don't believe in men and women who aren't married to each other dancing together in a way that could cause a problem, I believe this is different. I also understand not everybody has the same values.  I hope nobody will be offended.

Mark Harris - When We're Together (From The Movie COURAGEOUS) from providentlabelgroup on GodTube.

Dancing In The Minefields (for Valentine's Day)

The following song is especially dedicated to all of the married couples who might look at my blog, although you don't have to be married to enjoy this song.  Valentine's Day is coming up, and I thought this would be a perfect time to share this song that I've shared before on Facebook.   I realize this song has a funny title for such an occasion.  If you haven't heard it before, you will just have to listen to see if it make sense to you.

Andrew Peterson - Dancing in the Minefields (Official Video) from andrew-peterson on GodTube.

Ephesians 5:31 NASB FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH.

The Doctrine of Vocation & the Mission of God - Truth & Life Conf. 2012 @ The Master's College

I'm excited to get to share this message that was given at the Master's College by Kevin DeYoung at a recent conference.  It's about the will of God...practical and interesting I thought.  Well, as an older single person part of it actually made me a little nonplused...hearing about people meeting their spouse at college.  I believe a lot of us can identify with much of what is said though.