A Great Read!

So I am reading "The Gospel According to Jesus" by John MacArthur, I recommend this book to any christian. This book will change your life, I promise! Here is an excerpt to wet you appetite:


" This book grew out of seven years of study in Gospels. As I immersed myself in the gospel Jesus taught, I became acutely aware that most of modern evangelism-both witnessing and preaching-falls far short of presenting the biblical evangel in a balanced and biblical way. The more I examined Jesus' public ministry and his dealing with inquirers, the more apprehensive I became about the methods and content of contemporary evangelism. On a disturbing number of fronts, the message being proclaimed today is not the gospel according to Jesus.


The gospel today holds forth a false hope to sinners. It promises them they can have eternal life yet continue to live in rebellion against God. Indeed, it encourages people to claim Jesus as Savior yet defer until later the commitment to obey Him as Lord. It promises salvation from hell but not necessarily freedom from iniquity. It offers false security to people who revel in the sins of the flesh and spurn the way of holiness. by separating faith from faithfulness, it teaches that intellectual assent is as valid as wholehearted obedience to the truth.


This "new" gospel has spawned a generation of professing Christians whose behavior is indistinguishable form the rebellion of the unregenerate. Statistics reveal that 1.6 billion people world wide are considered christian. A well publicized opinion poll indicated that nearly a third of all Americans claim to be born again. Those figures surely represent millions who are tragically deceived...


Why should we assume that people who live in an unbroken pattern of adultery, fornication, homosexuality deciet, and every concievable kind of flagrant execc are truly born again? Yet that is exactly the assumption Christians of this age have been taught to make. They have been told that the only creteria for salvation in knowing and believing some basic facts about Christ. They hear from the beginning that obedience is optional. It follows logically, the that someones one-time profession of faith is more valid than the evidence of that person's ongoing life style in determining whether to embrace him or her as a true believer. "

These are just a few parts of this book. I am not too far in but it is really amazing. It is definetly a hard read because it is convicting and full of truth, however, now more than ever do Christians need to be clinging to the bible and not to this world. It is not our place to be the judge, but we need to be presenting the most accurate gospel so that we are not leading people astray. I pray that each one of you would have a hunger for the truth and a desire to have a clear and precise understanding of the gospel!

Fall 08

Here are some fun pics this fall...

Tagged, (better late than never)!!

Amanda tagged me, but we have been out of town, so here it is:

Here are the tagging rules:

1. Post the rules on your blog
2. Write 6 random things about yourself
3. Tag 6 people at the end of your post
4. If you are tagged, DO IT and pass it along

1. I was probably considered a nerd in high school. It's ok though, I was proud of it. I love to learn, I love school supplies, and why is it so bad to have your backpack packed for the next school year in week 3 of summer! Preston claims that he rescued me from my "nerdness", but it is still there!

2. I have a small obsession with "The Hills", DON'T JUDGE ME! It is a show on MTV about Lauren Conrad and her friends, Yes, it is a reality show about nothing! I can't help it, who does not want to be young, wealthy, and in California? Ok, maybe not all of you, but it would be a blast, for a little while at least.

3. I think that I might be considered an "art slut", I like all genres of art. I like sewing, drawing, painting, scrapbooking, making cards, doodling, photography, painting murals, anything that I can get my hands on I like to to do. I do not think I could just pick one and do it for the rest of my life.

4. I got braces when I was in the fourth grade. I am not quite sure what my dentist was thinking, since I had not even lost all of my teeth yet. Well, I do know what he was thinking, I sucked my thumb until I was 9. My mouth was so messed up. I had an enormous overbite and the only way to get me to stop was putting in a "gate". Which was placed in the top of my mouth and would not let my thumb rest there. This was done along with my braces... made for great pictures! The one thing I remember the most about braces, was "THE CHAIN" ! That was probably the most painful thing I have ever felt. It was a group of the colored rubber bands, but they were all connected so they brought your teeth closer together. OUCH!

5. I am reading "Same Kind of Different As Me". It is a great book, but it is really sad. I had to skip over some of it because I could not read it.

6. I am a Lion through and through. At Pine Cove, you have to take a personality test. There are Lion, Beaver, Otter, and Retriever. The qualities pretty much match the animal. Well, I am very much a lion:

Lion- This personality likes to lead. The lion is good at making decisions and is very goal-oriented. They enjoy challenges, difficult assignments, and opportunity for advancement. Because lions are thinking of the goal, they can step on people to reach it. Lions can be very aggressive and competitive. Lions must learn not to be too bossy or to take charge in other's affairs.
Biblical Example: Paul
Case Study: Acts 9:3-19
Strength: Goal-oriented, strong, direct
Weakness: Argumentative, too dictatorial
Limitation: Doesn't understand that directness can hurt others, hard time expressing grace

One of my biggest strengths/weaknesses is that I am a very critical person. It can be a good thing, ( I tend to have a lot of self-motivation and discipline) but most of the time it is a weakness. I seem to always find the bad in people, and I can be very skeptical. However, I know that God makes no mistakes and I am always praying that God would use those characteristics in me to glorify him!

If you want to learn about your personality type you can go to smalleyonline.com

I am tagging:
1. Jenn Crouse
2. Jessica Schmale
3. Tonya Leiva
4. Ashley Parks
5. Jenn Sapaugh (again)
6. Glenna Harding (again)