What I Believe

This is a pretty thorough summary of what I believe. I tried to have proof-texts for everything, some shorter texts are quoted. For the others, clicking on the links takes you to the texts in English Standard Version on gnpcb.org - to save time if you want to look up a verse.

I believe in the eternality, (Ps. 90:1-2)

tri-unity, (Matt. 28:19-20)

omnipotence, (Gen. 17:1)

omnipresence, (Jer. 23:24)

omniscience (Ps. 50:11, Acts 1:24)

sovereignty (Job 42:2,Prov. 16:33, Rom. 9:10-29)

and God-centeredness (Ps. 23:3, Isa. 48:11)

of God. (Ps. 46:10)

I believe that Jesus Christ is God's eternally begotten Son, and is One with God.
(John 1:1-3,18; John 10:30)

I believe God created the universe by the word of His power, in six literal days, (Genesis 1, Hebrews 11:3) and that man is created in God's image to glorify Him, (Isa. 43:7) but fell into sin. (Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned - Rom. 5:12)

I believe in the total depravity/sinfulness of mankind since the fall. I believe that every person, excepting Jesus Christ, is born in sin

("Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. - Ps. 51:5 )

I believe that the root of sin is preferring other things to God. because of the hardness and blindness of our hearts to His glory, and so failing to glorify Him as He deserves. (Rom 1:18-23, 3:23)

I believe that since the fall, all people born are spiritually dead, and are powerless to do anything good until they are born again. That unbelievers can do nothing to please God, even in what may appear to be good deeds.

("For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.”- Rom. 14:13)
("Those who are in the flesh cannot please God." Rom. 8:8)

and that man by himself cannot even choose to believe in Christ, until God gives new birth to his spirit and gives life to his dead soul. (Eph. 2:1-3)

I believe that before God created the world, He chose whom He would save, (Eph. 1:3-12) not based on their personal merit, but based wholly upon His free and sovereign grace.

(For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. - Rom. 9:15-16)
…that God elected some to salvation and others to destruction, in order to display both the glory of His mercy and the glory of His righteous wrath. (Rom 9:18-24)

I believe that God has not merely provided a way of salvation and left it up to mankind to choose to be saved, but that He has provided a way of salvation in His Son Jesus Christ, and provides for His elect all that is required of them to be saved – new birth/new heart, repentance of sin and faith in Jesus. (Eph. 2:1-9, Ezek. 11:19)

I am saved, not because I chose to believe in God, but because He chose me and enabled me to believe in Him by giving me new birth.
("But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God." - John 1:12-13 ESV, Acts 13:48, Rom 8:28-30, James 1:18, I Cor. 1:27-30)

I believe in the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ, and that His finished work of dying on a cross bearing God’s wrath for our sins and being raised for our justification is all-sufficient to save those who trust it wholly. (Rom 3:21-26, Rom. 4:5, 23-25, 2 Cor. 5:21)

I believe that hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ is absolutely necessary for people's salvation, ("For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”- Rom. 1:16-17)

I believe that faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ is the only way to God, and not any other religious practice, no matter how sincere its followers may be. (John 14:6)

I believe that a person must be born again in order to believe the gospel, and that this is a work of God - specifically the Holy Spirit - that precedes and enables faith. (John 1:13, 3:1-8)
I believe that God saves people by opening their heart to the message of the gospel
(Acts 16:13-14, I Thess. 1:4-5, 2 Thess. 2:13-14)
and drawing them by a kind and sovereign grace to believe. Without this, no one would be saved. Those who do not believe when they hear the gospel, do so because they are blinded by Satan. (2 Cor. 4:3-6)

I believe that born-again children of God will persevere in faith to the end. (Col. 1:23)

(Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. – 1 Cor. 15:1-2)

and that believers sin, but do not continue in a lifestyle of sin. (I John 1:8-9, 1 John 3:4-10)
I believe that God will not lose those whom He has sovereignly saved. (John 10:27-30) and that this truth is not a license to live in un-checked sin because we “will still be saved,” Such an attitude comes from one yet unsaved, because "once saved, always saved" also means "once believing always believing". (1 John 2:24-25) Those who are saved will be kept by God, not just in a mere state of security, but kept in His grace that will work to sanctify their lives, enabling them to keep on believing to the end.

I believe that being a child of God does not make one exempt from trials, sickness, poverty etc., but that God uses these things in the lives of His children to discipline/train them and make them more like Christ. (Heb 12:5-11, Rom. 8:28)

I believe that baptism is, spiritually, the event in which believers are “put into” the body of Christ, (2 Cor. 12:13) represented outwardly by an event in which believers are physically "put into" water in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. (Matt. 28:19-20, Acts 8:36-38)

I believe that women should not be pastors or leaders of the church. (I Cor. 14:3-4) That women are called to teach other women, esp. older to younger (Titus 2:3-5) but not men. (2 Tim. 2:12)
I believe a woman's calling is to be centered on the home.

I believe in the existence of Satan and demons, who continually work to keep unbelievers from believing and tempt believers to sin. (Luke 8:12) but that they do not hinder God’s sovereign design. (2 Cor. 4:3-6.)

I believe in the existence of angels. (Heb. 1:13-14)

I believe that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who came to this earth long ago, will come again and take his people to be with Him forever. (1 Thes.1:9-10, 1 Thes. 4:14-18)

I believe that the final destiny of unrepentant sinners is eternal separation from God in the lake of fire along with the devil and his own (Matt. 25:41),

and that the final destiny of believers is eternal dwelling with God in the new heavens and new earth. (Php. 3:20, Heb. 11:16, 2 Pet. 3:13, Rev. 21)

I hope this is edifying to my readers. Thanks to anyone who took the time to read through it.

All Scripture is from the English Standard Version.

(When we came to Glasgow Village Guyana for our second mission term, God providentially provided us a house to rent by the Berbice River. Living by the river has added plenty of variety, amusement and beauty to our lives over the past three and a half years, and we captured much of it on camera)

It's morning on the river. You never know what might float by - a stray clump of plants...

"MINIATURE ISLAND"

...or something bigger,

"EARLY MORNING -BAUXITE BARGE"

...or something really big!

"TWO SHIPS PASSING IN THE DAY"

By the river, we see God's beautiful creation and are reminded of His covenant...

"END OF THE RAINBOW"

and we see... things mankind created which sure don't match God's creation!

"LOADING OF THE BARGE"

(Sometimes they make a nice picture all together!)

"'STILL LIFE - BULLDOZER, BARGE and RAINBOW'"

I love stormy days by the river. Storms are glorious

"The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty.
His way is in the whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. - Nahum 1:3 ESV

"GIRL BY RIVER ON STORMY DAY"

And peaceful days are glorious.

"BLUE SKY OVER RIVER"

"DADDY AND MOTHER AT RIVERSIDE LATE AFTERNOON"

"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork..."
- Psalm 19:1 ESV

"MARBLED SKY"


"SUNSET CLOUD AND SWIFTS"


"FIERY SKY"

A Little Picture of Perseverance

A Little Picture of Perseverance

May 30, 2006

On Sunday I was with Mother in the car - now I have to explain to any readers our unique situation. We have a little church that meets in a decrepit building on the corner of the main road. (It's decrepit partly because we don't own it, and every service we have no assurance that it won't be our last one in the building - so we don't spend much money on upkeep. We are trying and praying toward buying the building but the owner is a rather moody Hindu man who wants more money out of us than we can give. Thankfully, neither he nor his demands are greater than our God.) Anyway, after service mother was taking a lady home in our car while everyone else waited at the church - except for me. I decided to go along. It was raining, and after dropping off the lady, we were going along the muddy road back toward the church building when we saw a sight. Both Mother and I wished we had the camera, but a word picture must suffice:
A young boy of about seven years was coming down the road. He was barefoot and wearing only underpants (which is very normal in Guyana - and probably better for walking in the rain!) He had probably just ridden the family bike to the local shop to buy ice and was now returning. The bike was a full-size adult bike and he was pushing it with both hands. His head was slightly down, gripping the top of the bag of ice between his front teeth, while rain streamed down his face. His face was a picture of grit and determination as he slowly pushed the bike toward home. What a picture! I hope his mother thanked him when he got home.
Sometimes life is like that.
What kept that boy going? The command of his parent and the end of his trip - home! (and maybe a soft drink with ice when he got there.) Something better awaits believers in Christ - God. Our dwelling place, our eternal home and our fountain of delight forever. He will fill us with joy in His presence, with eternal pleasure at His right hand.
And if we have to tramp barefoot through mud in life, our hands so full, we wish we had three... we can keep on going, one step at a time. Jesus will keep us persevering in grace and our God will bring us safely home. I know that no analogy is a perfect one - our lives aren't always tramping through mud. There is earthly joy many times in our way. But when we have to drudge, the joy of the Lord is our strength and the end of the journey is our hope.

"...strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God." - Acts 14:22 ESV

Banana Bread

This recipe for banana bread is my favorite. I have made it countless times, and know the ingredients by memory. It is great for using up overripe bananas, great for a snack, and great for a simple encouraging gift to a neighbor or friend. Plus, it's naturally sugar-free!

- 1/3 cup sour milk (if you don't have sour-milk, or buttermilk put a tsp. or so of vinegar or lemon juice in bottom of measuring cup and fill with milk and let sit. Do this first)
- 3 very ripe bananas
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil

In medium bowl, mash bananas with fork, stir in vanilla. Set aside.

In mixing bowl, combine
- 1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. baking soda
Make a well in center. Set aside.

Using fork, beat eggs into banana mixture; stir in sour milk and oil. Dump wet mixture into flour mixture, stir only until combined. Put batter into greased bread or muffin pans. Makes two 7x3 loaves, one 9x5 loaf, or a dozen+ muffins. (approximation)

Bake at 350... till done. (Toothpick inserted in center comes out dry, or edges are brown - around 30-45 minutes for loaves, 15-20 minutes for muffins) Remove from pans, let loaves cool before slicing.

Options:
- For non-wheat, substiute 1 1/2 cups brown rice flour, 1/4 cup tapioca flour, and 1 tsp. xantham gum for the whole-wheat flour.

- Drizzle honey on top of loaves before baking for added sweetness and a nice brown top.

- Put 1/2 tsp. vanilla and add 1 tsp. of cinnamon to flour mixture.

- Substitute leftover papaya or overripe plantain for part of the bananas. This is best with the cinnamon option.

- Add chopped dates to the flour mixture

"Wheat and Non-Wheat Banana Bread"

For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer. - 1 Tim. 4:4-5 ESV