Who Was Phineas Bresee? (part one)

 One of the leaders of the late 19th Century church in America was Phineas Bresee, an anointed preacher and pastor of the holiness movement that was so prevalent in those days. However, like all good things, those churches got legalistic and full of the ideas of man, so Bresee left the Methodist Church and began the Church of the Nazarene in 1895. Now, more than 125 years later, the Nazarene Church remains a solid, Biblical group of Bible-believing people.

What did Bresee believe as foundation for his new group of churches? I take a look at his life through the eyes of Carl O. Banks, author of Bresee's biography.

Apologetics - Helping You Understand God's Word Better

Several weeks ago I created a video with a few comments on the heals of an outburst of riots and protests in most American cities. While I was putting together the notes on the topic, I realized that we all need help on a regular basis to understand our world in which we live better. The best way to do that is to know God's word better, for it will shine the light on troubling issues we encounter.

 Here is that video: 

"Resurrection, Judgment and Destiny"

Kicking Over Sacred Cows, Part 2

Ever hear someone holler "I bind your Satan!"? Or how about - in a prayer - , "I loose money into my bank account"? It is part of a popular nomenclature in the Church to spiritually bind and loose. The problem is it is a prayer practice that is taken out of context. In this video I address this issue. Please watch!

Kicking Over Sacred Cows, Pt. 1

A big stumbling block in the life of many Christians is accepting doctrines of men as a doctrine of God. Some are worse than others, however, believing everything you hear from the pulpit, whether it be the one at your church or one that uses the small screen to minister, is not good. We all must use discernment and go back to the Bible to check out those things. In part one of this series, here is a great brother-in-the-Lord, Justin Peters discussing the notion that we must pray to get God to intervene in a situation. What Justin says is that God never leaves, he's always involved. Please watch:

Trials? Count It As All Joy!

My wife is the senior pastor of the First Church of the Nazarene in Sacramento. On this Mothers' Day weekend she recorded an excellent message, targeting mothers, yet very applicable to all of us. It dealt with the anxiety and trials experienced by women with children now at home, trying to "go to school"remotely, while mom has her own job or jobs to tend to. This is a message worth your time to watch/listen to!

Benefits of Justification

Did you know there are benefits to being justified in the sight of God?

There is and in this video, I expand on what the Word says in Romans Chapter 5 on this topic.

13 Indictments of Romans 3

Today I recorded a video devotion from my "Just A Word For This Moment."

It deals with what Dr. John MacArthur calls the "13 Indictments of Romans Chapter 3" It helps explain why people do wicked and stupid things.

Hope you like it.

The spirit of antichrist at work today?

Pastor Roger Davis from Sun City Center, Fla., is a man I hold in very high regard when it comes to study of the Bible. Today he offered an interesting thought in his daily email:

I John 4:3, "And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God:  And this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof you have heard that it should come, and even now already is it in the world."

The spirit of antichrist was in the world then and it still is today.  That spirit of antichrist motivated Pharaoh, Nero, Hitler, and countless others throughout history.  Notice the verse says "it" and not "he."  The spirit of antichrist is laying the ground work for the person of Antichrist.  

Don't think that everything will be fine one day and then suddenly when the tribulation period comes everything will be bad.  There will be a period of transition paving the way for the Antichrist and his system.  We may be in the beginning of that transition period.

I have heard for years that no incumbent president has ever lost a presidency in good economic times.  Prior to this pandemic we have had great economic times.  

In my opinion, the leftist media, the power elites, the socialists, the political extremists, and the globalists are joining together.  They are unwittingly being deceived by Satan to do his work.  The plan is to destroy our nation economically in order for them to control the presidency, the congress, and eventually the whole world.

What do you think? Leave a comment....

Resurrection Sunday: Just like the tomb, church buildings are empty

When the women had the spices and the aloes on the morning of the first day of the week following the Jewish sabbath about 2000 years ago, then expected to treat the beaten body of Jesus of Nazareth in a tomb, hewn in rock. But, when they arrived at daybreak, the door - a huge stone- was rolled away and there was no body.

Like, our church buildings this day, it was empty.

This morning I had a friend via Facebook remind me the real church is us - the buildings, today's tombs, if you will - are empty. The Spirit of the living God are living inside of us. Thus, HE IS ALIVE!

If you have no fellowship of believers you are a part of, I invite you to click HERE and be a part of our special group. When we can open the door after "Shelter-in-Place" is lifted come visit at 28th and S Streets in Midtown Sacramento.

Question to ponder:
Are we predestined to know Christ? Answer

What is "Righteous?"

What exactly does it mean to be righteous? Are we able to attain the righteousness that God demands? 

WATCH

I can tell you that you cannot obtain it on your own. You will need help!

The first in my series of devotions "Just A Word For This Moment."

How To View This Corona Virus Quarantine.

Why This Blog?

The words "Sola Scriptura" simply means "by Scripture Alone" in English. In other words, The Bible is the sole infallible source of authority for Christian faith and practice.

Today we see many people seeking after another source of entertainment and they turn to the church. Their meetings get overly emotional, spiritual and, well, plain goofy. I'm glad folks want to turn to God for answers in life, but care must be taken on where you attend worship services.

Too many preachers offer what amounts to good advice. I call it a "therapeutic gospel." Everything is meant to appeal to happiness in life.

Now, you may say, "What's wrong with that? I want answers to life! I want to be happy!"

But, too many churches approach Christianity in what is really an American worldview: What can I get out of this? How can I get my bills paid? How can I stay healthy? The scriptures in the Bible are mentioned and lots of good advice given, all appealing to our human nature.

The issue is that true joy, true happiness comes with a close relationship with the living God, in the form of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. And, this is an ongoing relationship, too. It comes from studying the Bible, a life of prayer and fellowship with like-minded believers. Sure, God wants to meet our basic needs but attitude of a true believer is :

What can I do for God, for others, for my family as opposed to what do I get out of this church thing?

What this blog is intended to do is to help you turn to a true Christian life via Sola Scriptura or the sole authority for believers. We don't need extra-Biblical experiences, we don't need high-emotion worship services. We just need Him!

Keep coming back for insights into this kind of life.

Is COVID-19/Coronavirus a judgement of God?

Hard to ask that question, correct?

But,  Justin Peters, one of our nation's top apologists, took a swing at that question: