Growin' Up Gregory

We have made it halfway through our Summer Light Small Group Bible study on Radical by David Platt and I must admit it has been very enlightening and eye opening.  Today's devotional has us imagine a scene in parts of the world that are unfamiliar to many of us here in America.  You're putting on dark clothes and a hood and heading to secretive place at night.  You then pile into a small room with 60 people in it of all ages sitting on the floor or small uncomfortable stools.  But they all have their Bible in their laps as they try to study it from the one dangling light bulb in the room.  They have no special music, no cushioned seats, no heat/AC.  It's just the people and God's Word....and it's enough. Whoa!  How radical would that be to see in a church here in the USA?  How many of us if we visited a church that had no music, no band, no cushioned pews, no AC, or the other comforts we have become so used to would come back to that church?...

This week Pastor Robert continued our walk thru Joshua as he is taking over command of the Israelites after the passing of Moses in the desert.  These verses show us how God calls us to follow him through faith, and the components of a Godly plan. He started with v.10 this week but I want to refer back to v.9 for a little better understanding.  V.9 ends with "For the Lord you God is with you wherever you go."  V.10 states "And Joshua commands the officers of the people."  We can see here that Joshua has received his instructions from God.  And then, upon hearing God's plan he immediately commands the people.  There was a promptness to the plan he had for them.  As parents, we teach our children to obey us immediately.  When we tell them to stop, we want them to stop right then instead of running out into the road; or to stop before touching a hot stove or grill.  The same holds true if we command them to go to their room, thi...

I just read an article that the democratic party is pushing for a bill named Equality Act of 2015.  Now since the bill is named equality, one would have to infer that all people would be covered under such a bill.  I mean after all, that's fair and equal.  With that being said, how many democrats, and how many Americans, support the equal treatment of those mentioned here:  "Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God." - 1 Corinthians 6:9-10.  Democrats, if you're going to be equal, you can't leave anyone out.  So do you really want sexually impure, STD ridden, multiple children by multiple partner, possible bestiality practicing people; idolizers; people who cheat on their spouses; thieves and crooks; money hungry greedy people; drunks; partiers; and cheats to be included in your homosexual equalit...

I got hit right between the eyes by the daily devotional from Our Daily Bread over the weekend.  If you know me and you read the title, you may have a slight idea why since I have a tendency to like things "my way".  V.1 tells us that Naaman was a commander of the army and is pretty close with the King of Syria making Naaman a rather powerful man.  But he was not a perfect man, he had an incurable disease, leprosy. Vs.2-4 tell us of a little girl from Israel who had been taken captive by the Syrians.  She told Naaman's wife that there was a prophet from Israel who could cure him of his leprosy. Vs.5-7 tells of the letter, gold, silver, and clothing that Naaman took to the King of Israel.  But the King became distressed because he did not have the power to heal anyone since he was not God. V.8 Elisha overhears the distress of the king and offers to heal the man so that they can see there is a prophet in Israel.  Vs.9-12 Naaman comes to El...

It was good have Robert Chapman back in the pulpit this week at Tabernacle after allowing a brother in Christ to speak last week.  This week's sermon grabbed my attention from the start, as I figure it would many people.  What do we view as success?  But the question dug deeper.  What do you see as a success in your Christian life?  How successful are you in your spiritual life?  The fist part of the question was easy, the fruits of the spirit can help us determine what success is in our Christian lives.  But when asked how successful we are being, that brings a reality check, a measurement to determine if we are WORKING to be successful, or WISHING to be successful. As a bit of background info for anyone not familiar with this passage, the Israelites who were God's chosen people, were headed towards the promised land.  God had promised it to them many years before but they turned from him and to their own wicked ways and were forced to wan...

After seeing the video of one of Planned Parenthood's top doctors, Deborah Nucatola, talking about selling aborted baby parts I was shocked.  I mean she even talks about not crushing the heart, lungs, or liver.  It's crazy.  I mean I really think she sees those unborn babies the way my high school biology class looked at the pig we dissected.  As I was watching this story on the news, if it had not been so upsetting it would have almost been amusing.  Planned Parenthood's comment was something to the effect that "These claims are disturbing and outrageous."  Claims?!?  What claims?  The doctor is on video camera talking about selling dead baby body parts!  Having to potentially investigate this and possibly take it a to trial is a colossal waste of money.  Everyone was ready to convict Ray Rice immediately as soon as we saw the video of him in the elevator with his girlfriend (now wife) striking her.  B...

Dr. Tommy Vaughn spoke at Tabernacle Sunday morning so I'd like to revisit and share my take on his sermon.  It focused on a potential source of conflict in our lives, The I Am (God) vs. the I am not (Satan).  Satan is alive and well in the USA.  This is clearly evident based on events that have taken place over the past few weeks.  There was the tragic murder of nine people, at a church of all places, in Charleston which was fueled purely by racial hatred.  Then the decision by the supreme court to legalize homosexual marriage, which is clearly outlined in the Bible as being against God's will.  Not to mention the beheading of Christians by ISIS. The text is from Matthew 14:22-33 which is most commonly known as the story of Jesus walking on water.  This story takes place during Jesus' Galilean ministry shortly after learning of the beheading of his friend, John the Baptist.  This also follows the feeding of the 5,000+ where Jesus showed his pow...

In Acts 8 Philip crosses paths with an Ethiopian. He overheard him reading from Isaiah 53:7-8 about the sheep being led to slaughter. Philip asked him "Do you understand what you are reading?" To which the man replied "How can I unless someone explains it to me?" Isn't that where many of us are? We want but don't know how to obtain. We want to be in shape but don't want to work out and right; we want to be rich but don't want to work hard or save; we want to be "good people" ... but don't want to follow God's commands and study his word daily. There are numerous resources of biblical information online to help us understand the Bible. Or get a study bible to help break down passages that are difficult. God's word is not intended to be complicated but it can be difficult for young believers (babies in Christ) to fully understand some things. There are things I haven't fully grasped so I continue to study and try to le...

"Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral not idolaters not adulterers not male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thrives nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God." - 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 Dear World, Homosexuality is wrong. I encourage you to stop celebrating it along with other sins that we glorify in society today. Dear Christian Brothers & Sisters, I'm encouraged by the passion that has been awoken in many of us by the recent Supreme Court ruling. However, we must remember to study these verses fully as they include many more sins. The reason the world won't listen to our arguments for Godly biblical marriage is because we post these arguments in our big houses from fancy phones (greed), while bashing people for their beliefs (slanderer) not correcting out of love but out of self-righteousness, while many of still fee...

We were out of town for the 4th yesterday so I didn't get to attend a traditional church service but we did watch Dr. Charles Stanley on TV.  He's a really good preacher and student of God's Word, but I would not consider TV a viable substitute for corporate worship on a permanent basis.  That is partly due to my lack of attentiveness and how much more difficult it is to take notes and learn from someone on TV than in person. His sermon was titled, A Call to Prayer.  And in this passage of scripture, the Lord is appearing to Solomon (one of the wisest men in the Bible).  Verse 14 outlines the call to prayer here. 1.  In prayer, we are called to humble ourselves.  Now what does it mean to humble ourselves?  Well we have to do away with pride, with thinking what it's all about me.  We must realize that all of our achievements and successes in life are not on our own merit but are from the mighty power of God.  We are not to think highly of ...