Galatians

This Sunday Mr. Brown spoke about Galatians. We also read the whole book together as a church.

There are three questions we need to ask ourselves when we read this book.

1. What effect will this book have on our lives?

2. Why does Paul use such strong language?

3. How should we respond to such strong language?

For the first question I hope that the effect will be that we will want to love God's law, and obey His Word even more.

For the second question, Paul speaks with urgency, because he wanted the Galatians and us to repent, and turn from our evil ways, before it is too late.

O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?

Galatians 3:1

For the last question we read Galatians with our hearts open to learning, as we should do with the whole Bible.

Here are some of my notes that I took on Sunday:

-There are specific men who spread false gospels. There are many false gospels today. Here is one for example: If you just pray a prayer to God you will be saved. The false gospels are just to please men. People can make a lot of money by spreading the false gospel just because it pleases men.

-It is a sweet thing to have God as your Savior. It won’t always be easy in this world if you’re a Christian, but you will have God’s peace in your heart.

Mr. Brown, made many points and spoke about how Deuteronomy relates to the book of Galatians. My Dad and I will listen to the sermon again so I can take more notes. I will post more notes for this sermon report tomorrow.

Am I My Brother's Keeper?

This Sunday, Mr. Horn, preached about Deuteronomy 21:22 through Deuteronomy 22:8.

Am I My Brothers Keeper? Yes! I am my brother’s keeper. The word brother does not only mean your blood brother, it also means any one around you is your brother. The first act of being your brother’s keeper mentioned in this text is in 21:22-23.If a person does something deserving of death, you should hang him from a tree. You are not supposed to leave him hanging on the tree over night. The same day that you hang him is the same day you’re supposed to bury him. This may not seem like an act of kindness, but it will put fear in the people of the city. They will know what will happen if they did the same thing that the person did who is hanging.

In chapter 22, verse 1-3 we are told that if we see someone’s lost property we are to get it, take care of it, and keep it in a place where every one can see it, and wait for the owner to come, and claim it. We are not to keep lost property hidden, or keep it for ourselves.

In chapter 22, verse 4, it says that if we see our brother’s animal struggling under its load, we are to lessen the animals load and help it.

In chapter 22, verse 5, it says that it is an abomination to the Lord for a man to wear a woman’s clothes, or for a woman to wear a men’s clothes (even clothes that are made for a woman but look like mans clothes). Mr. Horn explained that this verse is speaking about roles. If a woman puts on clothes to do something that is a man’s role, then that is wrong. It also goes for men. So is it wrong for a woman to wear pants? This is a very hard question to answer. Mr. Horn also explained the history of women wearing pants. During World War II woman started to wear pants because they wanted to work like men. Before that, a feminist also introduced a type of pants because she wanted to be free from women’s clothes. A feminist is a woman who wants to be equal to a man. It was not too long ago that no woman would ever even consider wearing pants. In my family my mom and sister wear dresses and skirts. I like that.

Some people think that clothes are not important to God, but everything is important to God, even our clothes. God knows the amount of hairs on our head. But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. (Luke 12:7) If God knows and cares about details like our hair, then it is obvious that he even cares about our clothes. We should be careful to please God with our clothing.

Than in chapter 22, verse 6-7, it says that if you happen upon a nest with a mother bird sitting on eggs, or chicks you are not allowed to take the mother you are only allowed to take the eggs, or chicks for your own purposes, but you are not allowed to take the mother. If God cares for the birds, how much more does he care for us? If God cares for animals, then we should care for those around us because people are more valuable than animals.

Lastly, in chapter 22, verse 8, it says that when you build your house (with a flat roof), you have to make a railing around the edge of the roof to keep any one from falling off. How is this being your brother’s keeper? You protect his life. This also means we need to make all dangerous places on our property safe.

I learned many things from this message. Most of all, I learned that I need to be conscious of everyone around me, not just my own family. I need to care for my fellow man and help anyone who has a need.

Polygamy - Deuteronomy 21:15-17

Two Sundays ago, our church elder, Mr. Brown, talked about Deuteronomy 21:15-17. These verses are giving us instructions on what to do when there is as man that has two wives; one loved, and the other unloved, both giving him children. When the time comes to give the inheritance to the first born son, who will receive it? The true first born belongs to the unloved wife. The father wants to give the inheritance to the first born of the loved wife, but in vs.17 it says that you have to give the inheritance to the true first born (even if it’s the son of the hated wife).

Mr. Brown said that a man (or anyone) cannot act on his emotions. He must act in obedience to Gods Word. Mr. Brown also said that there is not one verse in the Bible that directly says that polygamy is wrong, but it is full of principles that do. We see that God only wants men to have one wife. How many wives did God give Adam? Only 1!

Also, in every situation in the Bible where a man had more than one wife, there were marriage problems and problems between all the children. Polygamy is wrong!

One thing I learned is that when the Bible does not say that something is specifically wrong, we must look at all the principles laid out in the whole Scripture. Based on these principles we can know what is right or wrong.

Put Away the Evil From Among You

This Sunday, our elder, Mr. Horn preached a sermon entitled, "Put Away the Evil From Among You" (Deuteronomy21:18-21).

"If any man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey his father or his mother, and when they chastise him, he will not even listen to them, then his father and mother shall seize him, and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gateway of his home town. "And they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey us, he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ "Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death; so you shall remove the evil from your midst, and all Israel shall hear of it and fear," (Deut. 21:18).

(v.18) This passage tells us what to do with a rebellious son, who is starting to effect the community, and won’t obey his father or mother even though they discipline him.

(v.19) In this verse it states that they must physically take him to the leaders of the city, in public, where every one can see and understand what is going on.


(v.20) They had to tell the leaders of the city that they can’t control their son any more.

Mr. Horn said that there had to be three witnesses to prove that the son is rebellious. Since the wife has to conform to the husband, the parents only count as one witness.

(v.21) Once the parents proved that the son was rebellious all the men of the city were to stone him with stones. The first witness was to throw the first stone (the father). The wife is spared of this awful pain. They did this so that the everyone in community would hear about it, and fear of what would happen if they too were to rebel and not submit to the authority of their parents and community.

God is showing great love to his people by clearly explaining what to do in these situations. Sometimes a rebellious child will influence the other children in the family and this is to prevent that. Also, before he is stoned, the parents already have disciplined him, but the child refuses to submit. The rebel is also probably causing many terrible problems in the community. If he is left alone he will probably commit crimes like murder.

In our society, we don’t do this anymore, but if it was done, then we would probably not have so many rebellious children.

Mr. Horn said that if you fear God and love your children you have to discipline them, whether you like it, or not.

I learned that I have to honor, and obey my parents now to keep from getting to the point where they can’t control me any more, and not to obey because I have to, but because I want to obey what they tell me. To obey and please my parents is to obey and please God and then He will bless me.

The Mysterious Islands

Tonight most of the families in our church and alot of other people will watch the movie, "The Mysterious Islands." We will be leaving home early so we can get good seats.

Here is some information of the movie from the Vision Forum website:

At the far end of the world, there exists a strange and unusual chain of islands, resting above vast tectonic plates.

This is the world of the Galápagos Archipelago, home to salt-spitting marine iguanas, flightless cormorants, and giant tortoises that can live to be more than 150 years of age. It is also the birthplace of Darwinism, for here in 1835, a young Charles Darwin began to formulate a theory which would turn the world upside down. More than a century and a half later, these mysterious islands remain at the center of a controversy that has shaped the way modern men perceive science, religion, and life itself. The unique ingredients found on the Galápagos have led many of Darwin’s followers to describe it as Darwin’s Eden — a “laboratory of evolution.”

Now, for the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth and the 150th of his seminal work, On the Origin of Species, Doug Phillips leads a team of Christian scientists and investigators to this “ground zero” in the war of the worldviews. Seen through the eyes of 16-year-old Joshua Phillips, who joins his father and noted researchers like Dr.John Morris of the Institute for Creation Research, The Mysterious Islands is the story of one boy’s search for answers to the great controversy of the modern world. It is a refreshing father-and-son adventure that combines cinematically breathtaking footage with high adventure. The quest: to determine whether the Galápagos Islands are a laboratory of evolution, or a testimony to creation.

This beautiful, ninety-minute documentary takes viewers deep beneath the ocean waves, among hundreds of white-tip sharks, into volcanic craters with giant lizards, and to the unusual habitat of the Blue-footed booby. Featuring the only team of Creationists and Christian scientists to shoot a documentary on the Galápagos in 2009 — Darwin’s anniversary year — the film brings a fresh perspective on the Theory of Evolution and presents stunning cinematography of one of the most desolate and fascinating locations in the world.

Proverbs 9:10

Proverbs 9:10

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom:and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.

What this means to me:
If you want wisdom, you must first love and fear the Lord. To have understanding of his Word,the Bible,you must ask God for it,and read the Bible every day, which will give you knowledge.

The Gospel

It’s important for Christians to be able to understand, and explain the Gospel.

First, what is the Gospel? The word Gospel means Good News.

Now, what is the Good News? In order to understand the Good News, we must understand who God is. God is the Creator of the world and universes. He is eternal, he never ends. He is the beginning and the end. God created every thing in six days; he created the first humans, Adam & Eve on the sixth day.

God inspired certain men to write the Bible.

Now what is the bible? The Bible is the word of God; it has no mistakes. The Bible is the manual for our lives. The Bible contains Gods rules for our lives which we must obey to be able to go into heaven.

This now leads to the question, What is heaven? Heaven is a place where there is no death, sadness, sickness, and hunger. It is eternal paradise living with God and all people who throughout time have loved and served Him.

Now I will tell you the story of how sin began:

When God created Adam and Eve he told them that they could not eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. He said that if they did eat the forbidden fruit they would die. Later Eve disobeyed and Adam followed in disobedience to God by eating the forbidden fruit. Since Adam was the first human created, through him we inherited a sin nature and death. We are Adams descendants and we all inherited the curse of death that he received. The wages of sin is death ;but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

God in his great mercy and love towards us gave us a way to escape the punishment for our sins.
We are all sinners and deserve to go to hell .But God loved us enough to send his only son, Jesus, to die on the cross for our sins. Jesus was born through a virgin,Mary, and lived a life a complete obedience. He lived a life that none of us can ever live and God counts his righteousness as our own. Jesus paid the price for our sins. He was beaten, and nailed to a cross and hung bled and died for us.

This is not the end of the story, because after three days, he arose from the grave, alive and showed himself to many. He then ascended into heaven where he awaits for those who believe and trust in him. Now, we also can have eternal life if we receive the salvation he offers us and walk in obedience to the laws he gives us.

God made a way for us to go to heaven, to escape the punishment of eternal damnation. We can receive his gift of salvation by recognizing that we are unworthy to stand before God because of our disobedience to his laws. We have to repent from our sins, and completely reject them. Then we must accept Jesus as our only Savior. He is the only one who can save us and not anything we do.

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
II Peter 3:9

Father & Son Retreat 2009

Last weekend my Dad and I attended our church's annual Father and Son Retreat. It was great being with my Dad and other fathers and sons. We heard many messages from men in our church. I learned many things about being a godly son, such as honoring my father, learning self control, having a pure heart and not trying to fit in with the rest of the world.

My favorite part of the activities was the Scottish Olympic games. I will write more about the retreat later. Enjoy my pictures.

Our Baby

Our little baby, my brother or sister died in my mom's womb. My mom was 12 weeks pregnant. We were very sad, but my Dad and Mom trust the Lord. I will one day meet my little brother or sister in heaven. My Dad and Mom feel that the baby was a little boy.

The baby

Guess what? My mom is pregnant and she's about two months now. Can you believe it? I'm going to have a new baby sister (or brother!)

ChristiansUnite.com Daily Bible Trivia
Today's Category: The Early Church
Today's Quiz: James and John

1.) Who was the father of James and John?
Zechariah
Zerubbabel
Zacchaeus
Zebedee

2.) What were James and John doing when Jesus called them?
They were fishing.
They were begging outside the temple.
They were gleaning wheat in the fields.
They were mending tents.

3.) What was the relationship of James and John to Simon Peter before they became disciples?
They were all cousins.
They were partners in a fishing business.
They were friends - they gleaned together in the fields.
They had never met each other before they met Jesus.

4.) Who did Jesus heal on the occasion when He allowed only Peter, James and John to go with Him?
A blind man named Bartimaeus.
The madman of the Gazarenes.
The woman with the issue of blood.
Jairus' daughter.

5.) Jesus surnamed James and John Boanerges which is...
Sons of thunder.
Sons of lightning.
Sons of light.
Sons of the Most High God.

6.) Who was the other disciple that Jesus took up the mountain with James and John when He was transfigured before them?
Thomas
Bartholomew
Peter
Matthew

7.) How did the other ten disciples react when they heard James and John asking Jesus if He would grant them to sit at the right and the left of Him in glory?
They were furious.
They were indignant.
They pointed out to them that it was not for Jesus to grant this.
They ran a raffle to allot themselves other places to sit near the throne.

8.) Why did James and John offer to call fire down from heaven to consume the people of the village in Samaria?
The people there were worshipping Baal.
The people there tried to kill Jesus.
The people there did not make them welcome.
The people there did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah.

9.) What direction did Jesus give to Peter, James and John in the Garden of Gethsemane?
Stay here and keep watch.
Stay here and sleep.
Go and prepare us the Passover, that we may eat.
Go to Jerusalem, to Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the world.

Add A Bible Trivia Quiz To Your Site!

ChristiansUnite.com Daily Bible Trivia
Today's Category: The Early Church
Today's Quiz: James and John

1.) Who was the father of James and John?
Zechariah
Zerubbabel
Zacchaeus
Zebedee

2.) What were James and John doing when Jesus called them?
They were fishing.
They were begging outside the temple.
They were gleaning wheat in the fields.
They were mending tents.

3.) What was the relationship of James and John to Simon Peter before they became disciples?
They were all cousins.
They were partners in a fishing business.
They were friends - they gleaned together in the fields.
They had never met each other before they met Jesus.

4.) Who did Jesus heal on the occasion when He allowed only Peter, James and John to go with Him?
A blind man named Bartimaeus.
The madman of the Gazarenes.
The woman with the issue of blood.
Jairus' daughter.

5.) Jesus surnamed James and John Boanerges which is...
Sons of thunder.
Sons of lightning.
Sons of light.
Sons of the Most High God.

6.) Who was the other disciple that Jesus took up the mountain with James and John when He was transfigured before them?
Thomas
Bartholomew
Peter
Matthew

7.) How did the other ten disciples react when they heard James and John asking Jesus if He would grant them to sit at the right and the left of Him in glory?
They were furious.
They were indignant.
They pointed out to them that it was not for Jesus to grant this.
They ran a raffle to allot themselves other places to sit near the throne.

8.) Why did James and John offer to call fire down from heaven to consume the people of the village in Samaria?
The people there were worshipping Baal.
The people there tried to kill Jesus.
The people there did not make them welcome.
The people there did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah.

9.) What direction did Jesus give to Peter, James and John in the Garden of Gethsemane?
Stay here and keep watch.
Stay here and sleep.
Go and prepare us the Passover, that we may eat.
Go to Jerusalem, to Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the world.

Add A Bible Trivia Quiz To Your Site!

Our Grand Adventure...well, sort of!

Three nights ago me, my sister Merisa,and my younger brother, Nathan, planned to set up our tent in our backyard. We put an electric cord from the house to the tent,and plug up a lamp in it. Our mom didn't think it was safe.

The next day our dad bought us a flashlight. The we couldn't find batteries for the flashlight! I finally found some batteries (from my brothers lightsaber.)

We started our night out by playing a board game inside the tent. After that we each read a book. Our batteries started to go dead in our flashlightso we turned off the flashlight and crawled into our sleeping bags.

After a few seconds I started to sweat like crazy and so was my brother!

My sister left to sleep in her room because it was so hot. When she opened the door to her room the door squeaked so loud it woke up my mom.M y mom asked Merisa why she was back inside the house and where we were. She told her that she had come back because it was so hot and that we were back in the tent roasting. My dad had heard Merisa explain and told her to call us to come back inside to sleep.

When we were back inside our dad told us that he did not want us to sleep in the tent because it was so hot,but that we could sleep there the next night if it wasn't so hot.
The next night was perfect but no one wanted to sleep inside the tent with me so I slept there alone. This time I had a fan inside but I didn't need it because it was cool.
In the morning I woke up feeling refreshed and energetic. It was a great adventure.
MISSION COMPLETE!

The snake

A few days ago I went outside to cover my chicks cage because it was starting to rain.

When I got to the cage the chicks were all huddled up in a corner of the cage away from the sleeping boxes peeping wildly. I started to try to push them inside the sleeping boxes, but they kept jumping back into the corner. Then in one of the boxes I saw a huge snake. It was longer than 5 feet. The snake was posing for a strike at my arm.

As soon as I saw the snake I opened the cage door and let the chicks loose. At the same moment it started to pour. Some of my chicks ran under our shed while others ran under the bushes.

I ran to the house to get my gun and then I ran back to the cage. The snake inside the box was coiling and uncoiling. I wasn't able to aim at the head because it was moving so much so I just shot it's body. The snake started moving like crazy.

I had to shoot it several times before it tired out. I finally was able to aim at the head and kill it.

It took about 15 minutes to catch all the chicks (I have 20 chicks). I had to put them in a smaller cage that I had used when they were younger.

The next day I noticed that one of the smaller chicks was just standing around and occasionally sneezing. I took it to my room and kept it wrapped up in a towel and let it sleep in my room for the night. The next morning it seemed better and I let it go with the other chicks. I threw away the snake. I don't know if it was poisonous or not,but it had a triangle shaped head,and I have read that means it was poisonous.

Daniel Part II

What I have learned from Daniel:

(1) Always do whats right even when no one is watching you.

(2) Don't give in to peer pressure.

(3) Obey God rather than man even though you may lose your life.

(4) Have self control.

(5) Have godly friends.

Daniel

In our family bible study my Dad has chosen to read the book of Daniel. So far we have read chapters 1,2,and 3. We see in chapter 1, that Daniel was very wise in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge,and able to understand science,and able to learn the language of the Chaldean's.(verse 4)(His father and mother must have been wonderful parents to have taught him all that).But I'm getting ahead of myself. Here let me type it here from the Bible;In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Neb-u-chad-nezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king od Judah into his hand, with art of the vessels of the house of God: which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of the god; and he brought the vesses int the treasure house of his god. And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel and of the kings seed, and of the princes;

We see that Daniel and his friends were forced into Babylon and they did not go their on their own. They had many tests that would prove to God if they were faithful or not to Him. Their first test was of food. This must have been a hard test because I love good food and the king must have had a lot of good food. Daniel and his friends were Jews so that means they were not allowed to eat many different foods like pig meat, shell fish, shrimp, etc. I think that the king may have had these foods on his table. Daniel had a lot of self control. He must have been hungry with the long trip and was tired, but he remembered who he was and his God.

The king had told him to eat these foods but that would have been breaking God's law to the Jews. Daniel could have eaten them because no one was there to see him except his friends, but still he wanted to honor God and obey his law.

To be continued...

My First Memorial Day at the Brown's Farm

My mom sent this smilebox to our family and friends. It is of our first Memorial Day at the Brown's Farm.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

The Move

I'm finally writing in my blog again!I haven't been able to write because we just moved to another state. I never had a chance to write. We were really busy packing, and getting ready. It took us 6 days to drive to our new home. My little brother and I stayed in the truck for most of the trip, so my sister was really bored in the car without us.

I am glad that God protected us and we had no accidents or trouble on the road.

The people here are very friendly. Our neighbor helped us unpack the truck. So now my mom is decorating the house. We've been painting a lot too. This is it for now.