Everyone should see this blog

www.gretchenjohnson.blogspot.com
it's an amazing website, especially b/c of the blog dedicated to our favorite dog in the world, Sadie!

http://www.tvacres.com/images/flash_dog.jpg

Against all Hope

In Romans 4 Paul tells us that against all hope, Abraham believed. God had promised that Abraham would have many descendants. One problem, he and Sara were old and they had no children. But the Bible says that Abraham believed, and that was credited to him as righteousness.

here is a picture of Abraham.

Is Paul the 12th Apostle?

After Judas hung himself, we see the Apostles looking for a replacement. Why did they need a 12th apostle? What was so important that they needed a 12th apostle?
In Matthew 19:28 there is a promise to the apostles, that they will sit on 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel when Christ sits on His glorious throne. These apostles knew they needed to choose the 12th man, because Judas did not truly belong to the 12.
In Acts 1, we see the apostles choosing Matthias as the 12th apostle. God showed the 11 that Matthias would be the man to be the 12th apostle.
In Acts 12, James the brother of John is killed by King Herod. But we do not see the apostles choosing a 12th?
Many people believe and teach that the apostles got it wrong, that Paul was the 12th apostle. What was the mission of the Apostle Paul?
Acts 9:15, the Lord Jesus Christ said to Ananias, "Go! This man (Paul) is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel." With Paul we see the mystery of this dispensation, never before revealed to Moses, David, Isaiah, and even the 12th apostles. It was that the Gentiles and the Jews would be equal, one new man. We see this in Ephesians 1,3, Colossians 1, and Romans 16:25.
So no, Paul was not the 12th apostle, he was the apostle sent to the Gentiles.
What does this mean? Paul tells us the plans God has for this dispensation, and what God desires for us to do.

July 17th: World Will Never be the Same

We are excited about the new bundle of joy God is forming right now. It is an amazing process, the 9 months of pregnancy. I believe that it is indeed a gift from God. On the other hand, thoughts of sadness and sorrow are for the millions of babies that were murdered before they could experience one second of breath out of the womb. I am also sad that many women are going through this process alone, without a husband at their side.

Biblical thought of the day: Jesus foretold of a terrible day of Tribulation in the future. He said that it would be terrible for pregnant women, having to run away for protection...
I'm glad we don't have to worry about the Tribulation...for Jennifer's sake (and chuggy's, and jill's, and sarah's)

have you hugged a deer today?

Psalm 42:1 "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God."

This is a powerful passage of Scripture. It reminds us of how desparate undomesticated animals are. They are seeking food, water, shelter, and sometimes escape from other predators. And yet, the psalmist compares the desire for water for a deer to the desire we need to have for God.
It is also a convicting truth as well. How often do I long for God the way an animal longs for nourishment? We become so wrapped up in life, in our jobs, with our family, with the newest philosphy, the hippest song, with American Idol, the Winter Olympics, with the 5 for 5 special at Arby's, with Twinkies, with the labor talks of the NFL and how it will impact the future of the Packers...let's get back to what is the important things of life.
This Psalm is very inspiring. "Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God."

So today, if you see a deer, give it a hug. And may it be a reminder of the desire we need to have for God.

Best snack of all time

We love Twinkies here in the Records house. Actually, it's just me. And I only eat one per year. but boy, is that one sure good. Here are some fun Twinkie facts for you.
1)They were invented in 1930.
2)They were first filled with banana cream
3) They were switched to vanilla creme during the banana ration in World War II.
4) Half a billion are made each year.
5) They were named Twinkie after a revelation of a man seeing a road sign for Twinkle Toe Shoes.
Does anyone have a Twinkie story to share?

www.twinkies.com/recipe_list.asp?cid=1&recipetype=Twinkies

Prayer Meetings

I am now ready to die and go to heaven. The reason why I say this is because of a statement I heard tonight. Setting the scene: prayer meeting, around 8:23 pm, deep discussion about jealousy and envy. ok
"i used to be jealous of the San Diego Chicken. And then one week later he got sued for a $1 million."


Followed by total laughter, tears streaming down my cheeks....



I couldn't get past that first part...of all the people to be jealous of in the world...

Why we do not water baptize

Many people get baptized. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Jehovah Witnesses, Catholics, and various Christian denominations teach a water baptism of some sort. Some believe in a sprinking, others in complete immersion. Some believe it is necessary for salvation, others believe that it is a show of faith.

Why is there so much confusion? Who was this practice for?

One key passage that helps us understand God is found in Ephesians 3. The Apostle Paul tells us that he was given the mystery of the dispensation of grace, the church age. It was not revealed to anyone else in the past, but is now being revealed. One grievous error in many churches is that they believe Matthew 28 was the last message Jesus gave his followers. They do not realize that all of Paul's letters should be "red letter", because Jesus Christ gave Paul the message of the Dispensation of Grace. The mystery is that the Gentiles and Jews are now equal, this is something we do not even see in Acts 2, as it was still God dealing with Israel.
Paul lets us know that it is not the physical rituals of the law that God wants, but the spiritual realities He has replaced with. For example, Pauls says in Ephesians 4:4-6 that there is only one baptism for today. In 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 Paul tells us that we are baptized into the Body of Christ by the Holy Spirit. Yet, in Ephesians 1:13-14 Paul writes that the Holy Spirit enters us at the moment of faith, of salvation. Paul even says that (1 Cor 1:14-17) that Christ did not send him to water baptize. If he is the apostle to the Gentiles (which he claims to be), then in our following of his example (1 cor 11:1) we should look to his ministry as an example in this dispensation.

She Passed

Congrats to my sister on passing her boards. Look how happy she is after coming out of the examination room. If you look closer, you can see all the study materials she used in preparation.
Jenn and I are excited that she is moving out to NJ to be our pediatrician. We are looking forward to chuggy giving our new baby and Sadie their vaccinations. Congrats Chuggy!

What's in your Wallet?

Give Me $10,000 or Sadie GeTs iT!


How much are you worth? If something bad were to happen to you, how much would your spouse pay to get you back? If your favorite puppy would be stolen, how much would you pay to get her back? I love my dog, but if the price is to high, someone else can have that wonderful dog that loves to jump and lick human skin. There is always a price that we would be willing or not willing to pay for a dog. But what about humans?
The Bible tells us that we are very valuable to God. So valuable, that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, paid the ransom that we owed. This ransom cost Jesus everything. He did not withold anything from us. Romans 3:22-28 tells us that we receive this sacrifice through faith, not by works. It is a fascinating study, and I recommend that you pull out a Bible and read it.

The only way to heaven is putting your faith and trust into the finished work on the cross, the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The moment of salvation, you have been forgiven, and the ransom of your sins has been paid. Amen.

What Makes me Special

Because I have been receiving heat to not only update this mindless tomfoolery, but also to write about why I am weird, I will answer my critics.
Why I am unique:
1) when i was a little baby the nurse stuck needles in my eyes. to this day, i am afraid of hospitals and needles
2) I believe in conspiracies (JFK, Northern Galatia theory of Galatians, pop rocks and pepsi, how did Senator Palpatine become the Emperor (Darth Sidious and when did everyone know?) did Leia really know Luke was her brother? )
3) i loved watching the old Dukes of Hazzard, just enjoyed the good ole boys (that is Tom Wopat, Luke Duke)
4) some people think i obsess about food, like what i am going to eat for the next meal. but this goes back to my early infant state, when i was unable to eat. also when i was a little lad, i would cry when the spoon hit the bowl, i knew the food was almost gone.
5) i love popcorn, so much i like to eat it everyday. i even bought a popper off of ebays

feel free to add what I omitted

Just put the bunny Down

So once again, I have encountered a "famous" person. See, I was raised in southern Illinois, a rural area. We never encountered anyone who was in
TV or the movies. So when I come across people in NYC, I am always a little suprised. It has been well noted in other blogs, that I have seen Adam Sandler, Jack Nicholson, Alyssa Milano, Joe Torre, and President Bush's motorcade. Now to be added to this list: Mr Nicholas Cage.
As Ben and I were walking down 5th ave, i heard this whispering "nic cage, nic cage". I look up to see Mr. Nicholas Cage and his wife? (we don't really know who was with him because we couldn't believe it was him). Mr. Cage made eye contact with me and we kept walking in the opposite direction. The funny thing is, in NYC, everyone looks down or straight. Therefore, he could virtually go unnoticed while walking down 5th ave without a disguise. However, I am from rural Illinois, so I try to be nice to everyone. Therefore I am always looking to say hi or give the proverbial nod of the head. Anyway, this is the face I saw, maybe with less smirk.
The funny part of the whole story is Ben kept referring to him as "Nic Cage" (as if he knows him personally)!!

Famous Places II

We also saw the soup kitchen that was made famous by Seinfeld. If you didn't follow the three rules, then he would say "no soup for you"

Famous places

this is the famous diner from Seinfeld.
Ben and I had a nice breakfast there. The outside is actually called Tom's Restaurant. the inside looks nothing like the real diner, but it's really good food. we had breakfast, and it was fast and good tasting. 2 Thumbs Up.

Man's Big Inventions

My friend and his brother visited me from LA. We had a great time all weekend. The next few posts are dedicated to the happenings and misadventures of our time together.

This is the GW bridge, an amazing manmade structure. On Saturday afternoon, in the middle of a nasty rain, I was on the bridge getting over to JFK. All I thought about was that this bridge didn't give me to much security. Of course, those aren't the thoughts that one wants when crossing the bridge.

The only security that we can be assured of is through Jesus Christ. The Bible says that nothing can separate us from his love!

Jerusalem

in Exodus 19, God tells Moses that he is making a holy nation from the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jacob's name was changed to Israel (because he wrestled with God), and he had 12 sons who became the 12 tribes of Israel. In 2 Samuel 7, David is promised that his kingdom and thrown would last forever. For the next 1000 years, the Israelites awaited the Messiah, who would be the king from the line of David. Folks, it's not a coincidence that Jesus Christ fulfilled so many prophecies about his coming to earth. Throughout the Scriptures, God progressively reveals His plan. Born of a virgin, born in Bethlehem, raised in Nazareth, escape to Egypt, and God with us are just some of the prophecies he fulfilled.
Through Jesus' earthly ministry, we see that he ministered to the Jew exclusively. We see that God's plan was that Israel would be saved, and that Israel would reach all the nations for God. This is evident in Matthew 28 and Acts 1-7, where God is still working with Israel as his people. It's not until the stoning of Stephen that we see a change. The book of Acts is really the rise and fall of Israel. In Acts 9, God saves Saul, a Jew with Gentile rights. He is the chosen vessel to go to the Gentiles. Wait...one question? "Great Commission" ? Didn't Jesus already tell his 12 to go to the Gentiles? Why in the world did God choose Paul to be the chosen vessel? If Paul is preaching the same message as Peter, why didn't Jesus tell Paul to go talk to Peter, he can help you. If Peter is preaching the same message as Paul, why does Paul claim in Galatians 1 that he didn't go speak to anyone, especially Peter for at least 3 years. If Paul is preaching the same message as the "12", why does he (Paul) claim to personally have received the dispensation of grace? Why does Paul use the word musterion or secret, to explain that God revealed this dispensation to Paul (not spoken about in the O.T., the gospels, or even Acts 1-8)? (Romans 16:25, 1 Cor 2:7, Galatians1:13-17, Ephesians 1:9-10, Ephesians 3:1-11, Colossians 1:25-27).

Paul went to the Jew first in the early part of his ministry. At the end of the transition period, he makes the statement that as a nation, God has postponed his dealings with Israel. Acts 28: 26-28, Romans 11:25. We also see that Paul participated in many Jewish ceremonies and rituals, that a) he stopped doing later in his ministry b) he wrote that he quit doing it c) he either de-emphasized it or used negative language in describing it
this includes
a) water baptism (Paul says he is glad he only did 2 or 3 people/families (how many churches would say this in 2006? )) replaced with spiritual baptism at the moment of salvation 1 Cor 1:13-17, 1 Cor 12:13, Ephesians 4:4, Titus 3:5-6
b) speaking in tongues (unknown languages) 1 Cor 13:8
c) healing (Phil. 2:25-30, 1 tim 5:23)
d) circumcision (replaced with spiritual) Romans 2, Col. 2
e) meeting on the Sabbath ( 1 Cor 16, now they meet on the 1st day of the week, instead of the last day), Col 2:16
f) dietary laws (col. 2:16, 1 Tim. 4:4) Peter doesn't receive his vision about meat until after what? (Pauls' salvation) Peter doesn't receive vision about Gentiles being clean until when? (Paul's salvation)

So where does this leave Jerusalem? the Jew today? Paul says in Romans 9-11 that an individual Jew can put his or her faith in Jesus Christ and be saved. just like a Gentile, (American, Canadian, Filipino, Korean, Costa Rican, Arab, Mexican, etc...you get my point.
But as God promises, He will resume his relationship with Israel someday. We know after the rapture, there will be a renewal in Israel. God will save 144,000 from the 12 tribes of Israel. There will be a terrible persecution in the earth (Matthew 24, Daniel 9, Revelation 3-19). This 7 year period will be unlike anything ever experienced. But God will be faithful. Christ will come down on the Mt. of Olives (Zech 14:4, Acts 1:9-12) and set up His kingdom on earth for a 1000 years (Revelation 20:6). Jerusalem will one day be devoted to Jesus Christ again!! Praise God for these promises, that He is faithful indeed.

Some famous people were born around this once and yet future Holy Land. David, son of Jesse. Jesus son of God son of man, and Natalie Portman.

Baylor University

my big brother and his wife are down at Baylor (waco, texas)
Nathan is someday going to be in NYC, directing under the big lights. He is my big brother. I owe much of my (little) athletic ability to the beatings I took as a small lad. Our favorite games were whiffle ball, basketball, and football. yes we played 1 on 1 football.
in whiffle ball, we would spend 30 minutes picking MLB all star teams, and another 30 minutes setting up our own homemade "Green Monster."
maren's a great girl, we all love her. she is german and i love bratwursts, so it all works out.
nathan loves legitimate theatre. he is doing a great job at Baylor, and hopefully he will be out here in NYC someday.
i hope he stars someday with tom wopat. who is tom wopat?

Our baby Sadie

Our baby Sadie is the cutest little puppy in the world. However, disobedience and bad behavior is not that cute. She brings us much joy in our life. However, sometimes she is bad. Jenn likes her, but she doens't want anyone to know it. Sadie loves her little mommy. We have had little ones over in the three years here, and Sadie is wonderful with little children and babies. So we are not worried at all about having her with our baby.
Sadie's typical morning: wake up, come in and wake us up, go downstairs and hang out, 15 minutes later she is back in bed for the entire morning.
(if it rains, she never even gets out of bed)

WHAT MUST I DO TO GET TO HEAVEN?

Many people believe that at the end of their life, God will judge their works. If the good outweighs the bad, then they are accepted into heaven. Many people, when asked why they are going to heaven, quickly point out that they have never murdered anyone. They compare themselves to other people.
Is this thought correct? Does the Bible teach that we can make it to heaven on our own merit?
The Bible tells us that God is perfect, He is holy and blameless. It also tells us that we are not. We have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God. Everyone of us has done something wrong. Over the course of our lifetime, we have all told lies. We have stolen or cheated. We have gossiped or approved gossip. We have lusted after people or coveted material possessions. When you start thinking about all of the sins we have committed, can we really say with a straight face, "I'm a good person"? Of course not.
The Bible says that we are condemned through the sin of Adam. Everyone of us has sinned and we are not worthy of heaven.
Under the law, God accepted animal sacrifices as a temporary covering for their sins. We know it was temporary, because every year they would have to sacrifice another animal. The Bible also teaches us that the blood of animals cannot take away the sins of the world.
We see the ultimate sacrifice through the Son fo God, the Lord Jesus Christ. This death was prophesied over 1000 years before Jesus Christ. In fact, we see over 30 direct prophecies about Jesus Christ. All of these were fulfilled literally. It was not coincidence. It was not dumb luck. Jesus died and rose again on the 3rd day.
The next question is this: If Jesus died for the sins of the world, then isn't everyone saved? God gives us the opportunity for salvation. He provided the way for mankind to achieve heaven. And the Bible says it's not by our works, but by His Grace upon our faith.
Many people think they are going to heaven because they go to church. They think that water baptism has saved them (or even confirmed them). They think that circumcision or following the law can save them. We see that salvation has always been by grace through faith. We see this with two specific people.
1) The thief on the cross did not have time to go down and be water baptize nor did he have time to do any good works. Yet Jesus told him that he would be with Jesus that day in paradise.
2) The jailer in Acts 16:31 asks Paul what he must do to be saved. Paul did not respond with a
) let me check and see if you were elected,
b) umm you need to be water baptized before you can become saved
c) have you been circumcised yet? (did he check?),
d) NO, he responded with this simple statement: Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved.
I tell you the same thing: If you want to go to heaven, if you want to have confidence in eternal life...."Believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross, that he was buried, and that he rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures. The moment of true belief, the Bible says that the Holy Spirit seals you, baptizes you into the Body of Christ, circumcises your heart, indwells you...etc. The moment you believe, you are a child of God, not based on your works, but based upon the faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross.
It is the best choice you could ever make!

Brett: Please Come Back

The biggest news of the day comes from Mississippi, where Brett Favre mentions that he might not have the mental desire to play another season in Green Bay. Brett has been very blessed in not having a main injury. Many legendary quarterbacks have had their careers or even seasons cut short by injuries, and he has not. The Packers had a rough season, but you cannot put the entire blame on Favre's play. What is disappointing, however, is all these 'haters' (sports talk radio) who disrespect Favre.
The greatest mark of a legend, is what did his peers think of him. Brett Favre is for sure, the most popular player in the NFL among his peers. There is more respect and love from other teams than for any other player. He is the type of player that you can enjoy watching for years. Do I think he's coming back? Yeah, I do. Would I be suprised if he quits? Possibly. But one great testament to Brett, money and records are not the reason he plays football. He will come back if there is a desire to play.