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A Daily Devotional: The Word of God Reforms Everything

Last October I had the privilege to participate in another devotional project that is now available. Daily you can visit this website for thoughts on repentance. Visit daily to spark your spiritual attention upon the word of God and be encouraged by the many faithful men of God in our day reflecting on a most significant day in church history 500 years ago, now simply known at the Reformation. This work of the Holy Spirit to do a work of repentance among God’s people is a longing hope of mine in our day too.

When I think about reformations in years past I find that people were asking better questions than I usually would ask. If the starting point is not aimed in the right direction then the end result may be anything but reformation. Today, are we asking the right questions? Do our questions cause us to search Scripture for the answer? Are we pleased when God gives us clarity in Scripture to our questions?

Today’s devotional is focused upon Acts 4:12 “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”

What Is at the Heart of the Reformation? from NCFIC on Vimeo.

Consider joining me at Ridgecrest in North Carolina this fall, October 26-28, for the National Center for Family Integrated Churches conference on Repentance.

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New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). (Ac 4:12). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

 

Preaching on the Lord’s Day

Every Lord’s Day I gather at 204 Eastland Drive North to preach or hear preaching. Here are links to the past Lord’s day preaching.

I’m currently preaching through Philippians (in the mornings) and 9 men (in the evenings) from the church body are preaching through the book of Ephesians. Both services are streamed live and archived for future referencing and or listening to the local teaching of Eastside Baptist Church.

 

It Is A Safeguard For You

“Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you.” (Philippians 3:1)

There is a popular thought in the world that hearing the instructions of Scripture are out dated or not needed so much. But the principles of Scripture says otherwise.

The Apostle Paul is clear that it is no trouble for him, and that implies it is not to much for the hearer, to hear this news again.

My sermon from Lord’s Day, March 12, 2017 entitle A Safeguard for You addresses this for the corporate church body, the household and the individual.

Sermon Excerpts:

Full Sermon:

Zach Hunter Preaching at Eastside Baptist Church

Tonight at 6:30 p.m. Mountain Time, Zach Hunter, pastor at Jackpot Baptist Church in Jackpot, NV will we preaching in our series through the book of Ephesians. Don’t miss out on this. May it be a blessing to you that you would gather with us in person tonight at 204 Eastland Drive North in Twin Falls.

If unable to gather with us in person join us via streaming here. Be sure to sign our guestbook that you are watching online HERE. Thank you.

Over the Weekend

This past weekend at the church house (Eastside Baptist Church) in Twin Falls, Idaho. Video and audio of all gathers are archived HERE.

Right now, there is a renewed interest in two primary gatherings of Eastside Baptist Church.

The Mid-week Prayer Gathering is a time devoted solely to corporate prayer. The past month several months have seen increased participation in person and online. As many as 25 people of all ages gathering together for prayer and an average of 4 households from out of town logging in online to pray (log-in for this is password protected, contact Paul Thompson for instruction and password).

The other gathering steadily growing is the Sunday evening gathering. For the past three weeks 9 men in the congregation are doing the teaching. Attendance has been in a steady increase as this progresses on. Before beginning the book of Ephesians an average of about 12 people would normally return on Sunday evening. Last night, we reached an all time high for a regular Sunday evening gathering of more than 50 people and 9 households logged in online from all over the region.

Lord’s Day Morning
Speaker: Paul Thompson
Text: Philippians 2:12-13
Sermon Title: Salvation; the Sweet Word

Lord’s Day Evening
Speaker: Chuck Kastl
Text: Ephesians 1:15-23
Sermon Title: Wisdom and Power

Everything Is Wrong If We Don’t Get This Right

Published in the Twin Falls Times News on Saturday, February 4, 2017

———————————————–

There is little argument that the most familiar name in all of history is a man named Jesus.

What is at stake however, is who this Jesus is.

The Muslims have a Jesus, the Mormons have a Jesus, the atheists have a Jesus, Jehovah Witnesses have a Jesus, Universalists have a Jesus, and evangelicals have a Jesus. It may not be popular to talk about it, but all of these (and more) have at the core, a different Jesus.

What do you do when there is not enough space in the column to show how different all beliefs are? You look at one source and compare all others to that Jesus. I will do this by looking at the Jesus of the Bible.

Consider a few claims made in the bible…

  • Jesus is the third person of the one triune God (John 14:16, 24)
  • Jesus is the one and only begotten son of God. (John 1:14)
  • Jesus is the creator of all things. (John 1:3)
  • Jesus is the image of the invisible God. (Colossians 1:15)
  • Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Jesus. (John 14:6)
  • Jesus is the redeemer of repenting sinners. (Matthew 1:21)
  • Jesus is uncreated. (John 1:3)
  • Jesus is Lord (Philippians 2:11)

If we get this wrong: that Jesus is eternal, uncreated, creator, redeemer, the image of the invisible God, and more claims made in the Bible, we get everything wrong. Everything!

Don’t just take my word for it. Look at the Bible and compare this Jesus with the Muslim Jesus, the Mormon Jesus, and a secular Jesus.

Honest and truthful conversation today is what is most needed. It helps us unearth truth. It is more helpful to acknowledge that there may be some things that appear to have similar emotions and thoughts, but faiths built on feelings rather than truth is the most dangerous action one could ever take. It is a clear truth: we don’t have the same Jesus.

The same Jesus cannot be the Jesus of Bible and at the same time truthfully be the same Jesus of all the others.

Don’t get this wrong. If truth is being pursued, then search with all of your being for truth.

Come, let us speak and listen honestly.

SermonAudio.com

Since May of 2010, Eastside Baptist Church has been archiving sermons from Sunday morning gatherings. Currently there are over 330 sermons available in .mp3 downloadable files.

I want to share with all of my pastor friends and members of churches looking for a place to archive sermons to give consideration to SermonAudio.com.

We began using SermonAudio.com for a few reasons.

  • Some friends of Eastside living out of state paid for the first year of expenses (and have paid for it every year since.SermonAudio
  • The uploading of sermons to SermonAudio.com is easy and convenient for the low level tech users (like me).
  • It’s easy for those looking for your sermons to find them easily. SermonAudio.com archives, categorizes, offers storage for .pdf uploads, easy searching for any past sermons, a personalized page for your church, easy sharing of sermons in all social media outlets and embedding into personal blogs and church webpages. It is really easy.
  • SermonAudio.com is host to some of the best preaching in the land today. Ministries and preachers such as, Grace to You, Answers in Genesis, Joel Beeke, Steve Lawson, Voddie Baucham and many more…

If you sign up right now, SermonAudio.com will wave the one time setup fee of $150.00 and you can sign up for only $1.00. Click HERE for more details and registration link.

I would be happy to answer any questions you might have about how I find SermonAudio.com useful in my preaching ministry.

Covenant Keepers for 30 Years (and counting)

Location: First Baptist Church, Clovis, NM
Date: December 20, 1986
Occasion: Marriage of Paul Robert Thompson to Teresa Renee Culberth

This annual celebration of our marriage grows sweeter as the days fly by.

December 20, 2016 makes December 20, 1986 seem like decades ago (3 to be exact). I am pleased that God would give me this kind of grace in my life.

Following is an attempt to express myself with rhyming words…

paulrenee
(engagement photo)

Of all the sons of men, how could I be him?
Look! is what I do when she walks in!

Neither of us would have mapped out this path like ours.
But how could this journey be better than ours?

My pulse races when she looks at me.
How can this still be?

A third decade of wedded years.
I can hardly write a poem without tears.

Do you see me with that grin?
I would do it all again and again!

paulrenee01

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