K. Bruce Ford, director of the Eagle Rock Junior High Choir, inserted this song into the program for the Spring Concert on Wednesday night.

I really appreciated listening to my daughter sing this song with others:

God Is Our Refuge (Allen Pote/lyrics Jay Johnson)

Magnificent.

Ken Ham is the speaker, Sunday morning, 10:15 am, at Community Bible Church in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  The title of his message is Already Compromised: Contamination in the Christian Church.

Ken has been making news recently by being kicked out of homeschool conferences.

“Without a single fault”

Does that describe you?  This phrase is in the Bible.

For adults in Idaho Falls, we are studying I Corinthians on Sunday mornings, 10:45 am.  We are examining Galatians on Monday mornings, 7:00 am.  And we are discussing Colossians on Wednesday nights, 6:30 pm.

For teens in Idaho Falls, Beau Floyd, our pastoral intern, is leading a study in Exodus on Thursday nights, 6:30 pm.  He is teaching Revelation on Sunday mornings, 9:30 am.

Now in providing that commercial blurb, let me get back to the Bible phrase, “without a single fault.”  We are going to talk about that phrase tonight in Colossians 1.

As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault (Colossians 1:22, NLT)

Do you believe that this kind of amazing reconciliation is available for you?  And as a saint living within the I-15 Corridor, am I able to say because of the work of Jesus Christ in my life that I am without a single fault?

Apart from Christ, I was once a hostile enemy of God.

Union with Christ, I am now without a single fault.

Good news?  How can it get any better than that?  This is the faith that I will continue in, grounded and steadfast.  What needs restored?  Why let anyone move you away from the hope of this gospel?

It’s Jimmer Fredette.

Jimmermania all the way, man.

The spotlight is on him tomorrow night in New Orleans.

Today, Christy over at Time writes a newsbrief, “Was God’s wife edited out of the Bible?” 

This is my yawn for the day.  This is old news for the I-15 Corridor in America.

I can imagine female blogs in the Corridor discussing polygamy (mostly the present mess or the ancestral entanglement), but Christine wants to discuss the art of Big Love over at Christianity Today.  Today she does.

And this is my surprise for the day.

Last night, after arriving home from the church office, I pulled World magazine from the stack of mail.

I flipped through the magazine and settled on the short post of interest to me.

Beck, Jesus, and Me – Should man rule himself?  The Bible says no by Marvin Olasky

Marvin and Glenn do propose two different views for overcoming evil in our country and in the world.  Give it a read.

 Introduction:

In our auditorium there are three sections of padded chairs: (1) the eastern section, (2) the middle section, (3) and the western section. Why don’t you imagine with me this morning that these three sections represent three groups of people in their beliefs about a Creator.

The eastern section could represent those who believe God is a Creator but that He is not necessarily distinct from His creation. They would say that God created with preexisting, eternal matter the universe as we know and see it. In fact, God eternally coexisted with myriads of other preexisting spirits. Therefore, as they worship God as Creator, it is not in the sense that God is of an altogether different species than created humans. Logically, this makes possible the continuous development of other gods and semi-gods also posessing creative power. This is a belief that stretches back further than the Bible put on parchment.

Let’s say the middle section identifies with a vast group of people who might entertain the thought of a Creator—as an original cause for everything that they see around them—but they tend to be more agnostic in their beliefs. They are reticent in declaring a God who communicates clearly through the natural world or through any spiritual book. And quite frankly, this is a comfortable position for them because they really don’t want to be accountable to any Creator God.

Last of all, the western section acknowledges that there is a Creator God, who created ex nihilo. These are Latin words associated with an ancient tradition that God creates “out of nothing”. He just speaks and “Walla!” things come into existence. This being the case: the Creator is distinctly set apart from his creatures. He is sovereign over His creation and this never changes.

In this very simplistic description of three basic beliefs about God as the Creator, which section best represents you? The eastern? The middle? Or the western? And be careful in how you answer that question because the answer to that question shapes your whole worldview. It shapes your destiny. (more…)

Here are three amigos amigas from our church family.  One of the brothers in our church played on the basketball team, “Idaho Taters” in a fun spiff with the Harlem Ambassadors last night at the Idaho Falls High School Gym.