Posts by Webmaster

A Poem on Suffering by a Chinese Christian

Only a seasoned Saint, who has suffered much for his faith could write the Poem that follows. Zhang Rongliang has spent 1/4 of his life in Chinese prisons for the crime of preaching Jesus. He has been beaten, tortured, starved, humiliated, worked hard and endured countless other forms of punishment simply because he refuses to denounce Jesus and he leads others to Christ. Reflect on these words about suffering and see if they give you a new insight into the…

Scripture Prayer Guides to help invigorate your Prayer Life

While preparing for a sermon I ran across this great set of scripture saturated prayer guides from SIMUSA to help Christians pray for a whole host of topics and people. Check some of them out based on where you would like to learn to pray more scripturally informed prayers. Worship Give Thanks to God Praise God through the Psalms 1 Praise God through the Psalms 2 Praise God through the Psalms 3 Worship God with a Focus on His Attributes…

What does it mean to be the temple of God?

“Learn [as follows]. Having received the forgiveness of sins, and placed our trust in the name of the Lord, we have become new creatures, formed again from the beginning. Wherefore in our habitation God truly dwells in us. How? His word of faith; His calling of promise; the wisdom of the statutes; the commands of the doctrine; He himself prophesying in us; He himself dwelling in us; opening to us who were enslaved by death the doors of the temple,…

A Great Article on Life and Liberty in light of Alfie Evans

David French, an excellent writer at the National Review put out a great piece on how politics and philosophy, or the loss of them, can lead a great nation to commit atrocities that we wouldn’t expect in a democracy. Read the piece, it is worth reflecting on how worldviews shape our lives and governments. Alfie Evans Foreshadows a Dark American Future https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/04/alfie-evans-case-americas-future/

April 25 Update on Disaster Relief Work in Tarboro, NC

Good morning! The following is a message for you from Jerry and Faye Hop, to update you on the mission trip: We are coming to an end of our three weeks. While here our group of 23 has finished the work in two houses. We have two other houses almost to the finished point (and are hopeful we will come close to finishing them); and one that still needs a lot of work done but we have made good progress…

Update from Faye Hop

[title: Our DRS Tarboro Work Crew’s Update#1] News from Tarboro: April 11, 2018 Good afternoon! The following is an update from Faye, who is working with the Brouwers and Laningas on a team with World Renew in N.C. We had an uneventful flight here, and are well into our first week. We are doing well. The weather has been cool which has been nice for work. The weekend is supposed to be warmer, good for relaxing! Arlene Veenstra and two…

Turkey Must Release Pastor Andrew Brunson from Prison! | Sign this petition!

For those who aren’t aware, Pastor Andrew Brunson is an american missionary in Turkey for the last few decades. He was charged with “Christianization” and Turkey is trying to put him in prison for the rest of his life. You can put pressure on the Dept of State and President Trump by letting your voice be heard on this matter: Join this petition! U.S. Department of State: Turkey Must Release Pastor Andrew Brunson from Prison!: http://www.citizengo.org/en/160198-free-pastor-andrew-brunson-turkish-prison?tc=gm

Who watches porn?

Here is a great article by one of the ministers in our Classis. In the article, Rev. Dr. Stringer notes that 1) Those without a purpose; 2) Those who experienced sexual abuse in their past; 3)Those who feel shame are far more likely to be consumers of pornographic material than those who understand who God has made them to be and what he is calling them to do. When we are grounded in our new identity in Christ we are…

Daily Worship and OT Laws – How eating and washing our clothes can be times for spiritual reflection

Recently I was reading through a Bible Encyclopedia. (Yes, I know, I am a geek reading an encyclopedia, but even as a 5th grade boy I was fond of encyclopedia’s. I read an entire set that year.) It is amazing the kinds of things you can find in a well written encyclopedia. Here is a case in point, from the Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible: “Many social customs had a religious significance in OT days. For example, the prohibition of…