Friday, October 28, 2011

Newsletter October 28, 2011


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Stewart Topping's
Newsletter
October 28, 2011
1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you--unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: thatChrist died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, 1 Cor 15:1-4 (NKJV)

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What is True Salvation?

First do we take Salvation as a serious event in our lives?  Do we think that we are good people by going to Church?  Do we think that helping at the Church will help pay for our sins?  The more people I talk to the more I find that people do not take there Salvation that seriously.

Maybe that it takes time to think about it.  Most people don't study the Bible to prove what is said, so they believe what the Pastor says.  Now He may be 100% correct, but how do you know.  When the day comes, you might say "I had no idea it would be this horrible".

Think about these scriptures;

13 You were once dead because of your failures and your uncircumcised corrupt nature. But God made you alive with Christ when he forgave all our failures. 14 He did this by erasing the charges that were brought against us by the written laws God had established. He took the charges away by nailing them to the cross.  Col 2:13-14 (GW).

Here is the big question?  How many times does Jesus have to die for your Failures.  We are told that our sins are failures in our Adamic  nature and when Salvation takes place Jesus replaced that nature with the Holy Spirit, our new nature, by paying the penalty with his life on the cross.

Here is what I want you to think about.  Does that mean that all sins are paid for once and for all at the time of our Salvation.  

Should we continue to ask for repentance, forgiveness, each time we have a failure or should we thanks him each time for the price he already paid for.  When Jesus said it is finished, was his death a one time event


Part 2 " Salvation" next week.

Have a great week in Jesus 
Stewart


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Monday, October 10, 2011

Newsletter October 7, 2011


Newsletter from 
Stewart Topping
October 7, 2011
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Since we have to make decisions everyday, it is important to make all of them correctly.  God is going to help us if we expect Him to.  We must believe that he is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him (Heb. 11:6),  We must want a personal relationship with God before He can help us.  Please read and pray for help and understanding.


Unbelief

Have you ever wondered if the decisions we make affect our relationship with God!

I want to use an example in the Old Testament that is a practical lesson for us today. These verses tell a story about the children of Israel who were led out of Egypt by Moses.  God supplied all their needs during that trip; God was with them day and night, but when it came to the decision to obey God and go across the Jordan River into the land of Canaan they refused. They were afraid of the Giants in the land.  This could be a similar situation with us; where God has taken care of our needs and then God asks us to do something and we decide not to do it. Maybe for some fear of making the wrong decision.  We don’t want to make the same mistake they did.  They spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness until they decided to follow God instructions.

Hebrews 3:7-12 (KJV) 7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, Today if ye will hear his voice, 8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: 9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. 10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. 11 So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.) 12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.

Paul is telling us that if we hear God’s voice, we should not harden our hearts.  We harden our hearts when we don’t obey God.  We can become very cold to the things of God.  This is what happened with the Children of Israel; God supplied all their needs, but they couldn’t trust him with the decision to go over the Jordan River into Canaan.  Therefore they couldn't go over the Jordan River for 40 more years.  God said that they couldn't enter His rest (Canaan) because of unbelief.  

If we go back a little bit in history we find that God made a covenant with Abraham. This covenant contained 3 aspects to it: (Gen 17:7-8)

  1. Possession of the Land: Canaan: (Gen. 12:7)
  2. He would make him a great Nation:  (Gen. 13:14,15,17, Gen. 15:7, Gen 13:2, 24:34,35)
  3. His seed would be blessed: Jesus (Gen. 17:19)

After the covenant God was made with Abraham, sometime later, Joseph was sold into slavery and ended up in Egypt as one of the leaders.  The rest of his family followed him into Egypt because of the famine in the land.  At that time the total number of Jews were 75.  They spent the next 400 years in Egypt and  when Moses led the Jewish people out of Egypt and across the Red Sea they had grown to somewhere between 3 to 3.5 million.   After going through the opening of the Red Sea, it took them between 2-3 months to get to Mount Sinai where God gave them the Law. This gave them enough time to completely understand that God was in the midst of them day and night to take care of them.  But the 400 years in Egypt had more affect on them then the 2-3 months in their trip to Mount Sinai.

What I want to do is show is that the Children of Israel are very much like us.  They had unbelief  and we can to. Sometimes it just takes time to understand that God is real and wants to help us. It could have been easier and quicker for them to obey but they took the hard way.  They were only concerned with their own wants and needs and not their personal relationship with God. God was hoping that since they had grown to a large nation, but in slavery and bondage to the Egyptians that they would be excited to be free and on their way to a new land promised to them; a land of milk and honey with God taking care of them.

Here are but a few of the reasons for the Law?
  1.        He wanted them to worship one God.
  2.        He wanted them to understand that He was a personal God.
  3.        He wanted them to Trust Him; not complain and murmur. 
  4.        He wanted them to depend on him for everything.
  5.        He wanted them to know that He would provide all their needs. 
In a way there is no difference today the way we have gained our freedom from the bondage that we were in.  Moses delivered the children of Israel from bondage to a new country called Canaan which means “Gods Rest”.  We have been delivered from bondage of satan because of what Jesus has done on the cross and we are now citizen of heaven.  Heaven is where we have peace with God and a new relationship.

The Blood placed on the sides and top of the door saved Israel from death when the Egyptians children were killed.  We have been saved by the blood of Jesus.  In both cases it was the sacrifice of a lamb; one imperfect and the other perfect.  Jesus was the perfect lamb and we are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.  The Jews had to sacrifice on a regular basic.  Their sacrifice never took away sin forever.

Hebrews 10:4 (KJV) For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.

Remember that Israel was an earthly people that had earthly promises; they lived by faith in obeying the Law.  Christians are saved by grace and are heavenly people; filled with the promise of salvation by the Holy Spirit.

2 Corinthians 5:5 (KJV) 5 now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit
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Earnest of the Spirit is a down payment, in this case this down payment is for our salvation and for our future home Heaven.

Ephesians 1:13-14 (KJV) 13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

There were many trials along the way for the children of Israel.  Stop and think about the needs of 3-3.5 million people; Housing, clothing, water, food, and of course their health.  The county was also a desert. Sometimes I think we are very similar to the Children of Israel in that we sometimes want to do our own thing.  But it is important to have a positive attitude towards God.   We should believe that God will provide us with food, clothing and housing, just like he did for the children of Israel?

Philippians 4:19 (KJV) 19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7 (KJV) 6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Trusting in God for our daily needs builds a solid relationship with God; if we trust Him to take care of our basic needs shouldn't we trust Him with all our needs.  We need to make sure that our decisions are in line with Gods Voice.  We need to listen and obey his voice.  It will take time, but it is possible.  If not we can be wandering without direction for a long time.

"Life isn't about how you survive the storm,
But how you dance in the rain"

Monday, October 3, 2011

Newsletter for September 30, 2011


Stewart Topping's
Newsletter
September 30, 2011

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YES WE CAN UNDERSTAND THE BIBLE!



Stewart, what is exciting is that God has a plan for each of us and has placed it in the Bible for us to read and understand. 

  • Why don’t we know more? 
  • Why don't we know what we believe?

You will see in the following survey by the Christian Post; that those in the survey don't know the truth about salvation. How could they  if 72 percent think that there are many ways to Heaven.  Maybe we are too well off.  Maybe there are too many things that take up our time, TV, Movies, Shopping and Places to Travel.  The Nation of Israel always had a problem with their relationship with God and suffered when they had wealth and prosperity.

One of the biggest problems we face is not spending enough time reading the Bible.  It seems that we allow others to give us their understanding.  What is that old saying? “If you don't use it, you will lose it".  Since we don’t spend the time to understand we are left in the hands of others to teach us.  Some may not be teachers.  Do these people actually study or do they get there material from prepared sermons or other books . We need people who hear from God.  We then need to prove what we hear and study the bible.

Today Christians don't seem to want to spend the time to study to find the truth.  Reading is not studying. We might get a warm fussy feeling, but do we understand what we have read. We need to know God's will. We can change things by setting aside time each day to study.  We can change the next survey from a negative one to a positive one.  The lack of understanding is why so many Christians think there are many ways to be saved. Read this survey.

Here is a survey by the Christianity Post:

Many Americans Say that accepting Jesus as their savior is Not the Only Way to heaven.

Most American Christians believe many religions can lead to eternal life and among them, the vast majority says you don't even have to be Christian to go to heaven, a new survey shows. Sixty-five percent of all Christians say there are multiple paths to eternal life, ultimately rejecting the exclusivity of Christ teaching, according to the latest survey conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.

Even among white evangelical Protestants, 72 percent of those who say many religions can lead to eternal life name at least one non-Christian religion, such as Judaism or Islam or no religion at all, that can lead to salvation.  Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr., President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary called the survey results "a theological crisis for American evangelicals," according to USA Today.

Why is this, because believers do not want to study?  We can understand because we have the Holy Spirit, the same power that raised Jesus from the Dead.  We need to trust Jesus in order to understand the words he wrote through people who were inspired by the Holy Spirit.

Look at this verse and consider it as a promise to you and me.

John 14:25-26 (GW) 25 “I have told you this while I'm still with you. 26 However, the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything. He will remind you of everything that I have ever told you.

Here is an article I came across that sums up my point. 

Please read and think about how much time you put into your relationship with God.

DO YOU UNDERSTAND?
By Cornelius R. Stam

"This was the question Philip asked of the Ethiopian prince as he sat reading from Isaiah's prophecy,Acts 8:30 (NKJV) 30 So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, "Do you understand what you are reading?" and it is a question which we should continually keep asking ourselves as we read the Holy Scriptures.

There are always those among God's people who do not much care whether or not they understand what they read if only it warms their hearts! To them the Bible is little more than a fetish. Taking only those Scriptures which appeal to them, and leaving the rest, they actually feel themselves quite spiritual and often talk about believing the Bible whether or not they understand it!

But such "spirituality" is far from genuine, and such "faith" is blind and superstitious at best. While it is true that the Bible teaches many truths which we believe, although they are beyond our comprehension (such as its opening verse!), yet how can we believe what the Bible says unless we understand what it says? God would have us understand what we read and believe it intelligently.

Indeed, true faith will want to know and understand more and more of God's Word. One who does not care whether or not he understands what God has said is not truly interested in knowing what God has said. His faith is based on his own will rather than on God's Word, for regardless of the meaning of Scripture, he will take any passage that suits his fancy and use it as he wishes. How great an emphasis God Himself places upon the importance of understanding His Word!

On one occasion, when our Lord saw the multitudes, He "was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things 

Mark 6:34 (NKJV)  "And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd. So He began to teach them many things. . And now that the secret of God's "eternal purpose" has been made known, how much more reason there is to study the Scriptures, with a view to understanding them! How Paul, by the Spirit, emphasizes this, as he writes of his prayers for the saints"

Eph. 1:17,18 (NKJV) "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him: "The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of His calling..." .

What a verse … what a promise.  Can you see what Paul is telling us?  I hope so, because we can change the world, one by one. Recommit yourself to finding the truth and sharing it with others .  You can go to our website to find articles on a variety subjects. 

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Study Scripture

 2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV)

"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needed not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth"

Ephesians 4:14 (NKJV)

“that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting”,

1 John 2:27 (NKJV)

“But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him”.

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