Talent Night on Friday!

Friday night at 6:30 p.m. we'll be holding our second annual Talent Night, and you won't want to miss it!

Last year's event was a lot of fun, and Gerry Clark has a full slate of acts that are sure to entertain. And don't forget there will be a dessert auction to help raise funds for summer Kids Camp.

So come along for the show, and years from now you can say "I knew them when..."!

Hope for "Desperate Marriages"

Today I read an interview with Dr. Gary Chapman, who was talking about his new book Desperate Marriages. I was encouraged with his stories and concepts, and if you are in a struggling marriage (or are close to someone who is), I think you'll appreciate this article:

Help for Desperate Marriages: An Interview with Dr. Gary Chapman

Question #8: Why do you have to go to church?

8. Why do you have to go to church?

The Christian life was not meant to be lived alone. We need each other for encouragement. I always shake my head when I hear someone say, “I don’t go to church, I can just go into nature and worship there.” Well, the New Testament believers didn’t follow that line of thinking at all. We are really kidding ourselves if we think we can grow spiritually without being around others who believe the same. The Spirit gives us “gifts” to be used in the church community--how can we do that if we’re not in that community? The Bible tells us to sing together in worship--how do we do that outside of church fellowship? We are to encourage one another--again, how can we do that when we aren’t regularly around other believers? (1 Cor. 12:7; Eph. 5:19-20; 1 Thess. 5:11) Even Jesus Himself didn’t go it alone; the Christian faith is to be lived with others, and that includes regular time at church (Heb. 10:25).

Question #7: What about out-of-body experiences?

7. What about out-of-body experiences?

I don’t know if the Bible really addresses this, but in my humble opinion, I’d be pretty skeptical about these stories. I think when someone is near death, their brain can do some pretty tricky things, and I think they’re more likely hallucinatory than spiritual in nature. Naturally, God does have the power to raise someone from the dead, and there were a few examples in the Gospels of Jesus raising some that had passed away (e.g. Matt. 9; John 11). But it doesn’t say what they saw while they were dead. The Bible tells us what we need to know about the afterlife--and we’re better off getting our truth from that Source rather than sensational or dubious stories. In short, I am 100% sure of the spiritual reality of heaven and hell, but I am very skeptical when it comes to out-of-body experiences. (Heb. 9:27)

Question #8 (last one): Why do you have to go to church?

Question #6: How and why is there hell?

6. How and why is there hell?

Hell was originally created for angels (like Satan) who rebelled against God. God says He will one day send these to eternal punishment there. But sadly, it will also be a place of punishment for people who reject God’s offer of salvation, choosing to live for themselves instead of their Maker. There are a number of folks who believe in heaven, but don’t believe in hell, but this is just wishful thinking on their part. How do we know there’s a heaven? Because the Bible tells us about it. But the Bible also tells us about hell, so it is just as real.

The clincher for me is this: Jesus believed in hell (Matt. 10:28; Mark 9:45; Luke 16:19-31), and so did his followers (Paul, James, John, etc.)(2 Thess. 1:8-9; James 3:6; 2 Pet. 2:4,9; Jude 1:7). If you’re going to claim that Jesus didn’t know what He was talking about when He mentions hell, well…you might as well throw out heaven and everything else in the Bible, right? But we dare not throw anything out. As terrible as it is to think about eternal punishment, it’s a reality. And that’s why we are so grateful to be saved (after all, that’s what we’re being “saved” from).

Tomorrow's question: What about out-of-body experiences?

Question #5: How do you know the Bible is true?

5. How do you know the Bible is true?

There’s a lot to this one, but we can rely on the Bible because of archeological evidence, fulfilled prophecy, historical accuracy, testimonies of those changed by it, etc. And quite frankly, it’s never been proven untrue! The Bible is so unique. It was written over many centuries by many different authors, yet it all holds together and tells one over-arching story of redemption. That’s because its ultimate Author is God Himself (2 Tim. 3:16). My pastor recently preached four great sermons on this very question. If you’re seriously wondering about the Bible (and two of your questions are on this subject), I think you’d enjoy these messages and gain a lot from them! (see sermons from December 7, 14, 28 and January 11).

Tomorrow's question: How and why is there hell?

Question #4: Why confess my sin? What sin?

4. Why confess my sin? What sin?

Sometimes we think, I never murdered anyone or robbed a store or cheated on my wife, so I’m not really a sinner. But the Bible tells us that we’ve ALL sinned (Isa. 53:6; Rom. 3:9-12; 3:23; 5:12). Sin is anything that is contrary to God’s will. That includes biggies like murder, theft and adultery, but it also includes smaller offenses like gossip, coarse joking, lying, pride, deceit, self-centeredness, law-breaking, rudeness, hurtful words…even after being saved, we still deal with sin (though once we have God’s Spirit in us, he will work to slowly “sanctify” us, making us more like Jesus). (1 John 1:8-10; James 2:10)

Tomorrow's question: How do you know the Bible is true?