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Posts Tagged with Bible

Advent Devotional (Week Two)

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Introduction: Is the Christmas season more like a full-throttle, peddle-to-the-metal, the wind blowing the patio furniture into the neighbors’ backyard kind of feeling?

I have not been consistent in my life to build much of a Christmas tradition. As a pastor, I’ve unfortunately treated the Christmas season as more of an important and good interruption to a preaching series. I am not suggesting that we should pick up traditions just for the sake of picking up traditions, however, I’ve learned that the modern Protestant like me likes to protest for the fun of it. Sometimes to my shame.

Last year I received a book on the church calendar for Christmas that has been sitting on my desk in my home office. When the outside temperatures were still reaching 90 degrees, long before I normally think of eggnog and candy canes, I opened that book and began reading. I read it with caution, but with the hope of learning how the larger Christian community views holy days. I’ve learned a lot.

For example, this advent devotion is a result of reading that book. Historically, I would step out of my current preaching schedule the week before Christmas and get right back to it as soon as possible. Understand this, I like preaching expositionally, I think it’s a greater discipline for me than to preach topically. Yet there is something good for the soul to reflect with Christians around the world on the same subject at the same time.

Don’t get me wrong here. I think we are right to protest the popish shenanigans of Roman Catholicism. But I have to be reminded that there was a church before Roman Catholicism and there is a church now. The protestant reformers were aiming to reform what had gone wrong. They were not protesting the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

So, sit down with your family again this week and reflect on the Christ with me.

Sunday, December 8, 2024
Question: What does the name Immanuel mean?
Answer: The name Immanuel means “God with us.”
(- Read Matthew 1:23)

Find time today to talk about the morning worship service. What songs do you remember singing? Can you recall any phrases that were especially meaningful to you? Do you remember the sermon text David preached from? What was the main subject? Do you need to make some adjustments to your life?

Read: John 14:27

Monday, December 9, 2024
Webster defines PEACE as “In a general sense, a state of quiet or tranquillity; freedom from disturbance or agitation; applicable to society, to individuals, or to the temper of the mind.”

How are you at being free from distractions or agitation?
What keeps you from living at peace with your family, your church, or yourself?

“In the world
you have tribulation, but take courage;
I have overcome the world.”
(John 16:33b)

Tuesday, December 10, 2024
This word “peace” assumes silence or quiet; as, peace to this troubled soul. In the Psalms, we often see the word “Selah”. This word is not fully understood in English but at best it is a type of musical notation for the singer to stop speaking for a moment, reflect upon what you just said or heard, meditate on that. We are not normally very good at being quiet. What could you fast from today? It could well be a good thing that you set aside today and obey the Holy Spirit’s instruction to “REST”

READ Psalm 46:9-11
“Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah.

Wednesday, December 11, 2024
Read: John 14:27
“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.” (NASB)

What do you remember about the sermon on Sunday?

Join others today at 2 PM, 5:30 PM, or 7 PM to pray for our church and our community in the Thanksgiving Room of Eastside Baptist Church. We will pray for the revival of God’s church and the conversion of sinners.

Thursday, December 12, 2024
Compare Isaiah 9:6 and Luke 2:14

What is the blessed hope in these Scriptures?
How should we conduct ourselves until He returns?

Friday, December 13, 2024
Sing or read: What Child Is This

Saturday, December 14, 2024
Prepare for the Lord’s Day Gathering. Do you plan in advance what you will wear to church on Sunday? Many years ago a pastor friend of mine, who is no longer living, explained to me why he always wore a tie when he preached. It had a profound impact on me. I can’t remember the last time I attended church without wearing my best clothes. Consider how you might dress if an earthly prince invited you to eat at his palace. Would you give any consideration as to how you might dress? If you say no, you likely think too highly of yourself. You are invited to the Lord’s Table on Sunday to commune with Him. Yes, it’s true, you can come to the table without your best clothes, but consider how what you wear could reflect what you think about God.

The catechism question for Sunday, December 15, is…
Question: Who is the Prince of Peace
Answer: The Prince of Peace is Christ the Lord.

  • Isaiah 9:6-7

Sunday, December 15, 2024
Plan to attend at least two (if not all) of the following opportunities to gather with each other today.
9:15 AM: Sunday School
10:30 AM: Morning Worship
5:30 PM: Membership Meeting

Psalm Singing

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And they will sing of the ways of the Lord,
For great is the glory of the Lord.

Psalm 138:5 (NASB)

For several years Eastside Baptist in Twin Falls, ID has included Psalm Singing in our mid-week prayer gathering and in recent years we now begin our Lord’s Day corporate worship service with a Psalm. There is really a recovery or revival of Psalm singing in the modern Baptist church.

Beginning on May 5, 2024, we will devote the first Sunday evening of each month to Psalm singing. I hope you will consider joining us for this gathering. Psalm singing can be complicated and simple. Complicated for the generations who have not been trained in Psalm singing and simple because many times the Psalms can be sung to familiar tunes.

Why sing the Psalms?

First, it is Biblical. Think of it. It’s a book in the bible with a collection of songs. They were collected through the years of God’s people and considered a sacred collection of words inspired by the Lord God Almighty, Himself. We are even commanded by God to sing the Psalms; both Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16 instruct the church to sing “psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs…

When the church sings the Psalms she is singing what the historic church has been singing and has been singing throughout the world. Christians is other epics of time and who speak other languages and of all ages are tied together with similar songs.

These Psalms are Biblical, common property of the church, and of all songs sung in churches, these songs are always theologically accurate. This is among the most comforting reasons to sing the Psalms. They stir the body, mind, and soul while glorifying God.

If you are in the Magic Valley on the first Sunday night of the month and your church is not meeting, join us at 5:30 p.m. to sing the Psalms at our monthly Psalm Sing. May the church rejoice!

Eastside Baptist Church
204 Eastland Drive North
Twin Falls, ID 83301

Your Local Drug Store

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Walgreens and CVS are the new Planned Parenthood. Even if your state has strict protections for the preborn, these two pharmaceutical giants are willing to join their names to those who have no fear of God and no respect for their neighbor. They cannot be trusted with your health.

If they are willing to supply the nation with drugs that murder babies in the womb, what else are they willing to inject into the human body?

In Twin Falls, Planned Parenthood is no longer providing induced abortions. This is a blessing from God, but it will not be long before there will be many more locations and more acceptable locations for babies to be murdered. The murder mill industry has pivoted from the clinic to the pharmacy to the living room.

Here are some phone numbers for local Walgreens and CVS drug stores. They need to hear from us. They need to know that this is not acceptable.

Twin Falls:

Burley:

Walgreens and CVS announced last week that they will begin providing mifepristone (abortion pills). You will be told that the pill is not available in Idaho because of the strict abortion laws. This is true (for now) but these stores are part of a national attack on the most innocent neighbors we have. These local pharmacists need to hear from us now.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/01/health/cvs-walgreens-to-dispense-abortion-pill-mifepristone/index.html

Who Wrote the Bible? (fwp-003)

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In this podcast I encourage parents to train their children to think highly about the Bible. This collection of ancient books contains all we need to know about life and holiness. Listen in and teach this question/answer to your children.

Q: Who wrote the Bible?
A: God used holy men who were taught by the Holy Spirit to write the Bible.

I Am He

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I’ve been preaching through the book of Isaiah for over a year and a half now. I have come to the forty-third chapter and the great news of the unchangeable Gospel is as strong as one can find anywhere in the sacred text of the Holy Bible, the only authoritative word to know God.

In the middle verses of this chapter Isaiah paints a word picture of all the nations gathered together and all peoples are given the opportunity to state their case on who their god is. He instructs those who have given themselves to false or strange gods to declare what their gods have done. He instructs those who are His people to declare what their God has done. He welcomes all to present their case so they might be justified and that their god gets to be fairly presented.

This is not something that the Almighty God is required to do, it is more that those who are blind or deaf to truth can see that their false gods are just that, impostures. It is a kindness from God to extend His mercy to those who have given themselves to the counterfeit.

This fabricated, propped up god, comes in many forms. Perhaps you have given yourself to one of the many pretend gods?

God has been kind to give a witness of Truth. He has given the nations a people who bear His name to advance His glory to all, the church. And of course He has given His only begotten son, Jesus the Christ, as described by the Bible, to stand as a witness of His glory to all nations. In Isaiah forty-three He also even shows his triune nature by revealing to the reader that there is one, and only one, God. He is identified by God as “My Servant” and He declares that “Before Me there was no God formed, and there will be none after Me. I, even I, am the LORD, and there is no savior besides Me.” (Isaiah 43:10-11)

That one phrase, “I am He”, is not to be missed or passed by so quickly.

In the New Testament when Jesus asked the Roman officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees who they were looking for, they said, “Jesus the Nazarene.” Jesus answers “I am He.” This alone is not that unusual, unless the reader keeps reading. The New Testament book of John records that Jesus said, “I am He” the Roman offers “drew back and fell to the ground (John 18:5-6).” This is a witness to the nations that this Jesus is unlike all others.

Whatever fake god you have been bowing down to has been exposed for the sham that it is. Only God can have this kind of impact on a people when He bears witness of deity. His eternal deity. Not a man who became God or earned the right to become a god. Not a god who was once a man. No, this eternal deity “who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, by emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.” (Philippians 2:6-7)

This coming Lord’s Day I hope you will find yourself willing to examine truth without the fear of what men might say about you. The Magic Valley is blessed with many Bible believing, God fearing churches who will open their Bibles and preach this truth this weekend. Gather in one of those churches and be set free from the bondage of your sin. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, as described by the Bible, and be saved from the idolatry of following a spoof. If you don’t have a church to gather in this weekend then consider gathering with Eastside Baptist Church, 204 Eastland Drive North, Twin Falls, Idaho.

On Monday, September 9, 2019 there is an opportunity to hear what several religions think about the person and nature of God. At 6:30 p.m in the Shields building room 118 on the campus of the College of Southern Idaho there will be an open forum discussion among many different religions about God. Come hear the difference. Learn that the god of Mohamad, the god of Joseph Smith, the god of Humanism, and the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are entirely different.

Come hear and see.

Special Guests at Eastside Baptist Church

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This coming Lord’s day at Eastside Baptist Church we will have two special guest speakers.

July 14, at 10:30 a.m. Scott Brown, pastor of Hope Baptist Church in Wake Forest, NC and president of the National Center for Family Integrated Churches will be preaching. Scott and Deborah Brown are the parents of 4 children and have 17 grandchildren.

____________________________

July 14, at 6:30 p.m. one of our missionaries to Senegal, West Africa will update us of the ongoing gospel work. Matt is a former pastor of NorthRidge Fellowship in Jerome, ID. Matt and Gayle have 3 children.

Both opportunities will be of a blessing to you and your family.

Death is Swallowed Up

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My column from yesterday in the Twin Falls, Times News:

_______________________________

The life of Jesus, the Christ, as described in the Holy Bible alone, has been historically documented with multiple eyewitnesses of His resurrection, bearing evidence of this real person. On this historic weekend, remembered since the first generation of Christians as the Lord’s Day, this same Jesus would put death forever under His foot.

“O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory” (Hosea 13:14)

If you have not already made plans to gather with a New Testament church, ordered by the Bible, you should consider this today. Be sure it is a church that is submitted to the Lordship of Jesus and is governed by the authority of the Word of God.

Here is how the apostle Paul spoke of this great victory to the church in Corinth.

“But the glorious fact is that Christ did rise from the dead: he has become the very first to rise of all who sleep the sleep of death. As death entered the world through a man, so has rising from the dead come to us through a man! As members of a sinful race all men die; as members of the Christ of God all men shall be raised to life, each in his proper order, with Christ the very first and after him all who belong to him when he comes.

Then, and not till then, authority and power, hands over the kingdom to God the Father. Christ’s reign will and must continue until every enemy has been conquered. The last enemy of all to be destroyed is death itself. The scripture says: “He has put all things under his feet.” But in the term “all things” it is quite obvious that God, who brings them all under subjection to Christ, is himself excepted.

Nevertheless, when everything created has been made obedient to God, then shall the Son acknowledge himself subject to God the Father, who gave the Son power over all things. Thus, in the end, shall God be wholly and absolutely God.

To refuse to believe in the resurrection is both foolish and wicked.

Further, you should consider this, that if there is to be no resurrection what is the point of some of you being baptized for the dead by proxy? Why should you be baptized for dead bodies? And why should I live a life of such hourly danger? I assure you, by the certainty of Jesus Christ that we possess, that I face death every day of my life! And if to use the popular expression, I have “fought with wild beasts” here in Ephesus, what is the good of an ordeal like that if there is no life after this one? “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”

Don’t let yourselves be deceived. Talking about things that are not true is bound to be reflected in practical conduct. Come back to your senses, and don’t dabble in sinful doubts. Remember that there are men who have plenty to say but have no knowledge of God. You should be ashamed that I have to write like this at all!” (1 Corinthians 15:20-34 Phillips Translation)

Have a blessed Resurrection Day!

Created in the Image of God

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Following is my “Pastor’s Corner” column scheduled to appear in the Twin Falls Times News on Saturday, April 6, 2019. If they agree to print it, it will be printed the day before a special feature on transgender citizens in the Magic Valley. To my neighbors who identify as a transgender person, you will find the church of the Lord Jesus Christ loves you enough to speak the truth on these matters. All of humanity should live with peace that God speaks into all passions with truth so we might live in greatest joy by glorifying God in obeying Him.

____________________________________

Created in the Image of God
-by Paul Thompson-

As a Bible believing preacher of a local church, I hold to truth held by the authority of the Holy Bible. Meaning everything is up against this plumb-line. The growing confusion in our culture will continue to unravel the fabric of a pleasant and happy society that governs how we live our lives and how society exists when that same society wants to invite ideas foreign to the laws of nature.

When one considers the most basic starting place for a secure and happy estate, the Bible shows that God’s creation is in happy existence when it obeys God. If one chooses to disobey God, then it would be right to conclude that disobedience of God’s created order would invite unhappiness.

The Bible is clear, God created male and female. In humanity, that is all he created.

Think about God’s creation. He created all things and established them.  Day and Night are established. Fish and birds are established. Cattle and insects are established. Humanity is altogether established. The sun is never the moon. Water is never air. Male is never female.

In creation of mankind, the bible clearly describes humanity as male and female. The Bible does not offer another philosophy or path. It is clear that man will want to pervert this truth, but this perversion can not be argued as a biblical truth.

To say that gender no longer matters is to speak against the spoken order of humanity created by God in His image. To speak against the order of God is to say gender no longer matters, the distinctives of male and female are merely socially influenced rather than Holy and unchangeable.

If the sexes were interchangeable or not fixed, this would  place the perception of sinful humanity as superior to Holy Almighty God. This attitude places man as the supreme and not God, who is altogether different.

To suggest that there is a fluid transition of the sexes, depending upon how one feels, is unscientific. One would have to reject the scientific clarity of male and female. If one is a male, he will not need to have hormone therapy to manipulate his scientific DNA. If one is female, she does not need to have her anatomy surgically adjusted to match the female gender.

1 Cor. 6 lablels men behaving/dressing feminine as an abomination. With this conclusion regarding men behaving effeminate, it is accurate to conclude that it is also an abomination for a woman to behave/dress masculine. This encompasses the expression of gender identity through clothing, hairstyle, makeup, mannerisms, or even surgery.

To undergoing “sex reassignment surgery” is actually a statement of rejecting the identity of the birth gender. It is a logical flaw to suggest that the gender one was born with is not the correct gender. To undergo reassignment is to acknowledge the current, reject it, and then assign an altogether different gender.

If a  blind DNA test were done for Bruce Jenner, the science will tell you he is a male; in spite of his claim, dress, mannerisms, and choice of public restroom. He is a man and cannot be anything but a man, ever. To claim otherwise is an abomination against the image of God.

The duty of the believer in the bible is to exegete the text. In other words, the authority of the text governs the conversation. If the bible says that God created humanity male and female we must let the creator instruct the reader. The reader doesn’t have permission to impose his or her feelings above the authority of the text.

The church that claims the bible to be the “word of God” has no other choice but to accept what God has revealed. To reject this authority or equate other books equal to it is to not be Christian.

As it was from the beginning, so it is to this very day.

(For further reference see Genesis 1:28-29; Genesis 2:23-24; Matthew 19: 3-6; Mark 10: 6-9; Ephesians 5:28-32; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11)

Pastor Paul Thompson is the preaching pastor at Eastside Baptist Church in Twin Falls, Idaho. Eastside Baptist Church gathers on Sundays at 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. www.esbcTwinFalls.com You can email Paul at paul@esbcTwinFalls.com

And Read it…

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“Seek from the book of the LORD, and read…”

Isaiah 34:16

It’s not enough to have a Bible, it’s not enough to know where your Bible is, it’s not enough to have a Bible app on your mobile phone, it’s not enough…

Seek from the book of the LORD, and read it…

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