Category Archives: Miscellaneous Posts
Jamaica Mission Trip 2015
Greetings and praise the Lord of heaven and earth. He does all things well. God provided More than I could have considered in 2014, including the provision of a 6 week period before this trip to enjoy time with my family by blood and with family at Poquoson Baptist Church, and time to pray, read, and seek the Lord . I love the people of Jamaica and long to see them saved, and pray that God will do that which only He can do; save souls, forgive sin, draw men to His Son Jesus Christ. I started this mission by driving to Athens Ga to stay with my friend, Bobby Mcreery and his family. While in Athens we were able to share the Gospel with hundreds of UGa students as they walked the streets outside the bars in Athens on New Years Eve. We encountered many that expressed their hatred towards the Gospel, thinking it foolish that they would be judged by God, and were in need of salvation. Just as many would make some claim of having a relationship with God, yet were surely not seeking holiness, nor hungering and thirsting after righteousness. Instead they were openly displaying their friendship with the world and all the pleasures it offers, living as if they could party endlessly. We pray that many will consider what they heard and what they said and what they did in response to God’s command to repent and be converted ; Or how they were invited and pleaded with to be reconciled to God.
We arrived in Montego Bay Jamaica Tuesday January 6, checking into a hotel about 2 miles from Sam Sharp Square, the town center in Jamaica. We started with 7, and in the next three weeks more than 20 men and women joined us for whatever amount of time they had. While in Jamaica, and by the generosity of some of the families on the outreach, we had a rental van for 6 days, allowing us to travel and share the Gospel in Montego Bay, Falmouth, Ocho Rios, Kingston, Negril, Lucea. During this time we distributed approximately 200 Bibles and 70,000 Gospel tracts, we preached, and sang hymns. Often we were asked to pray for some. We disputed much with many Seventh Day Adventists, Jehovah witnessws, Oneness Pentecostals, and Rastafarians. Like Paul spoke of Athens, this is a very religous group of people, and having a form of godliness but lacking the power thereof. All of these religions are built on self righteousness, and result in multitudes baptized yet living like devils. When asked if they are at peace with God, the most common answer is, ” not yet “, meaning not yet baptized. Each of these aforementioned religious are designed to keep men and women from the cross, distracting them with busy-work, and rule keeping, knocking on doors, and explaining prophecies. Jesus reurned to heaven , in a sense, by way of the cross, through His sinless life, atoning death on the cross, and His resurrection. He is the way, the truth and the life.
The Gospel is the – power of God- unto salvation for those who believe. The righteous are justified by faith. Our team would increase and decrease, with 16 about the max, and never less than 7. All too soon Jan 27 had arrived and we all departed for our own destination. I returned to Orlando Fla. and spent several days working with my friend John Baros, at the OWC abortion clinic. We rejoiced that several women chose life, and 2 went to a local pregnancy counseling center. John received a message that both of these womwn were indeed pregnant and had declared they would keep their baby, and they were enrolled in a system which would provide help. Leaving Orlando, I traveled to Claremont N.C. where I stayed with my dear friends Ronnie and Debbie Graham. Saurday I reached home, and by God’s mercy, grace and good providence, worshipped on the Lord’s Day with my brothers and sisters at Poquoson Baptist Church.
* NEW * Conversation with a secular atheist
After a recent day of preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ at University of Albany SUNY, a young woman left a message to protest our presence at her school, and to voice her disagreement with our message. I do not know if I personally spoke to her while I was there, nor what she looks like, and I think she does not know who I am, except that I was one of the group that preached there. This began a series of messsages back and forth. I thank God for allowing me to share the Gospel with her. I did not respond after her final response. I would have, but we don’t always have to have the laat word. I leave her soul now in the hands of God. May He grant her repentance and saving faith in Jesus Christ. Please pray for her.
Submitted on 2014/10/02 at 11:21 pm
I was the one standing up to you for several hours at the University at Albany. You are a malicious hate group and you do not belong in a place of learning. I will be spending much of my time this semester ensuring that next time you come here, you will either not be allowed on campus, or will face severe opposition once you get there. I sincerely hope that you re-evaluate the hateful things you said at my university on monday. I would like to remind you that this university is home to may of the students who attend there, and there is nothing loving about breaking into someone’s home to threaten them with eternal torture. My heart breaks for your children, your congregation, and every student who is assaulted by your bile. |
On Sun, Oct 5, 2014 at 10:37 PM, don Karns wrote:
I was one of the group of preachers who obtained a permit, from your school and stationed ourselves at the location specified by your school, and then spoke of what God has revealed to man through the Bible. We did speak of sin, righteousness, and judgment of God, but we also spoke of God’s love, Grace, and mercy. To prohibit free speech at public venues would be to discard the US constitution, or at least remove what it says a about free speech or freedom of religion. As it was, you were free to speak against what was said or to walk past. God, and not me, threatens those made in His likeness, with eternal punishment. But He also invites those He has created in His image to enter into a relationship with Him, and offers eternAl life to all those that repent and believe the Gospel. And so it is God, His Word, His judgment, punishment, and plan of salvation you stand against. How can we escape if we neglect so great salvation? It was first spoken by the Lord and was confirmed by those who heard Him. God did not send His Son into the world that He might condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. Anyone who believes in Him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is condemned already. This, not because we came to your campus, but because being made as God’s image bearer, you and all men have missed the mark, and worshipped and served the creation and not the creator, who is blessed forever.
And so God now commands all men everywhere to repent
for He has appointed a day in which –
He will judge the world in righteousness
By the man He has appointed.
He has provided proof of this to everyone
By raising Him from the dead.
Jugment, punishment, and salvation are all of God. I am not your enemy. I plead with you in Christ’s behalf,
Be reconciled to God.
On Mon, Oct 6, 2014 at 4:51 PM, Don Karns wrote:
I understand that you and I disagree about many things. But why are you So angry and hateful? Don’t you realize that – to silence others might restrict your own views. Thankfully at this time close minded people can’t silence disagreeing viewpoints in public Places. So if your group or administration would restrict freedom or religion they would still have to deal with the law as it exists. Maybe there are some students on campus who still have feelings of guilt and shame and have a great need to hear about the way of peace with God and salvation. The like-minded thoughts of your group is still a small but vocal circle. We enjoy visiting Albany. The students there are open about their belief or lack of belief. We don’t consider them a lost cause or a waste of time. I would encourage you to go to sye’s website www.proofthatgodexists.org and ask him to debate.It makes sense that one who is certain God does not exist could discuss this calmly and rationally. Debate is not my strong suit. To me, when you say”there is no God”You make an absolute statement while denying absolutes.In the same manner if you were to { say } there are no words, I would not debate that; it would be senseless.So thanks for responding, I hope you can keep calm. I am not your judge nor your enemy. You are not the only one with this worldview. I meet professing atheists all the time. I don ‘t get Angry, or hate them, I love them, and the same for you.don Karns Sent from my iPhone
From: Jessica Cooper
Date: Monday, October 6, 2014 7:51 PM
To: Don Karns
Subject: Re: Thanks for your comment
Size: 18 KB I’m not hateful, but I am angry. I’m angry that you can come to my campus, threaten my friends with eternal torture, and leave thinking you did something “loving,” I’m angry that you accuse me of attempting to drown out freedom of religion and freedom of speech when you are the ones who want to ban the teaching of real science, stop people who love each other from getting married, and force your cult onto everyone who doesn’t believe. All in the name of “love.” The only reason anyone would be feeling guilt and shame on the day you came to our campus is because you guilted and shamed them. I will not restrict freedom of speech on public streets and buildings, but when you come onto U Albany campus, you come into the homes of thousands of students who do not deserve to be threatened and jeered at as they go about their lives. I am an atheist. I am very happy and I don’t need your god. Furthermore, I don’t need a hateful religion that science has utterly and completely decimated. Especially not one that comes into the homes of young people to threaten them with eternal torture. I wish I could save you from this ideology. I wish you would respond to the evidence, I wish there were any facts at all that could convince you that the evil book you follow is a mass of lies. But I can’t do that. Because apologists like Sye and yourself will not accept evidence. They won’t tell us which facts will prove them wrong. It’s clear which facts would prove evolution wrong (fossils in the wrong strata, children with no genetic similarities to their parents, an animal giving birth to an animal of another genus) but the “god” proposition is unflasifiable. It’s also a proposition which ruins people’s lives every single day (gay teens kicked out of their homes, children denied medical care, women denied agency, careers, the right to be free). So I damn well have a right to be angry.
JD Cooper
On Mon, Oct 6, 2014 at 11:22 PM, Don Karns wrote:
OK,I m glad to hear you want speech restricted only on public campus property and not at all public spaces I don’t see the difference, but you obviously do. Public universities have always been a place where different world views are debated. Before your time the radicals and socialists were always protesting. UCal Berkely even has a metal plate inscribed “on this spot, no power on earth can restrict a persons speech. U Va was founded by T. Jefferson, and the school charter, specifies that it will be a school known for free speech and differing views.This hate speech talk,Could you please,Tell me what the standard is, and who sets the standard.Is the Bible hate speechIs the Quran hate speechIs the university code of conduct hate speech?Stalin, Mao, and Pol Phot were all atheists, communists – they each murdered millions. So can we agree that atheists can be hateful?Jesus Christ did not set aside the law, but He did say ” let him who is without sin cast the first stone”. So a true Christian has as his weapon Gods Word, and his faith and the Holy Spirit.Obviously there have been many cases where men calling themselves Christians have lived contrary to Jesus teaching. But that doesn’t make His teaching wrong, and it doesn’t mean that those who follow His teaching are wrong. I love science. I spent my life in engineering, working in the Navy’s nuclear power program 6 years then 28 years at Surry Nuclear power station. I love the order found in studying science and how we can use it to learn how to use what exists and invent, predict. and harness our environment. But we can’t create anything ex nihilo.My faith allows for this ,1) It is logical that God can create things from nothingGod is omnipotent2) it is logical that God can reveal things to His creation3) God’s revelation has been preserved because God acts to preserve itI see nothing illogical in believing thisYou obviously have a different line of thought as far as creation, order, logic.If you were to think through all this, would your line of thought be logical, or emotional -?Thanks, I asked Sye if he would consider a debate. He was open to scheduling one. Would you or your secular club be interested in having your spokesman for your group or bringing in a spokesman for secular humanism or atheism?You are attending what I would describe as the Caesars Palace of university’s. Of all the schools I visit, yours is the grandest. Your school may have the funds to sponsor a debate.My faith is not a blind faith nor a line of thought. My life had been changed by God through Jesus Christ , His life, death, and resurrection, and by the Holy Spirit. I fully acknowledge I can not change your mind or anyone else’s mind. Unless God acts, a person will live and die and be judged.May God grant you repentance and saving faith.Could I pray for you? You have not spoken of your background.Thanks,Don KarnsSent from my iPhone
From: Jessica Cooper
Date: Tuesday, October 7, 2014 3:39 PM
To: Don Karns
Subject: Re: Thanks for your comment
Size: 33 KB Three basic things I want to address in this email. One, regrettably, my school does not have the sort of funds to bring someone with the notoriety of Sye to the campus, and my smallish, and quite new student group doesn’t have the influence to set such a thing up at this time. I really do wish that was a thing we were capable of doing, but it just isn’t right now. Two, also in regards to presuppositional apologetics, I’m actually going to try to help you for a second. Presuppositional apologetics, as it is practiced by Sye and his ilk is very unconvincing to the nonbeliever, because in all cases you must assume god at the outset to make any claims. It’s a non starter. I know that this type of apologetic seems convincing because there is no way for people to counter the apologist without the apologist turning their words around, but most people recognize a circular argument when they see one. Sye fails to define what he means by most of his definitions, and often twists words which do not mean the same things so that they look like equivalents. I encourage you to take a look at his website through the eyes of a nonbeliever and ask yourself some serious questions about whether or not these arguments hold any sort of water. Mr. Bruggencate is a master of trick questions, to be sure, but all he can prove is that there is a fuzziness about language that makes it easy to trick people. Furthermore, even if you stretch his arguments as far as they can possibly go, they can only suggest that their might be a non-interventionist deist “god,” and make absolutely no attempt to prove that the bible is anything more than a book of fairytales. You will never convert someone with presuppositional apologetics, you will only annoy them. I was asked when your preachers came to campus whether or not I believed in absolutes, and Mr. Bruggencate asks the same questions on his website. He fails to offer the answer I feel most honest scientists and philosophers would give. It’s also the answer which seems most correct in my mind. Absolutes exist as a construct of a mind, while they are not real in any physical sense, they offer us a framework to use to establish how reality really works. Like pixies, just because we can imagine them in our brains doesn’t mean they exist in the world. Thirdly, I think making threats is hate speech. You came onto campus and threatened to torture those who disagree with you. I take issue with your threats of violence. You think it is okay to threaten to threaten young people just because you hide behind the Bible and “god” when you do it. But it’s not okay. You are threatening to burn seventeen and eighteen-year-old children, and I’m sick and tired of people rolling over and letting you do it because you call yourselves people of faith. Even the founding fathers (many of them SECULAR) were opposed to extending the freedom of speech to cover open threats, I’ll link you to the wikipedia page describing the most common exceptions to free speech. Even though I think you’ve also covered false statements of fact and fighting words, my real issue is the making of very serious and grave threats. I can only find solace in the fact that your god is a myth and your threats are completely and totally empty.
If Jesus has changed your life, and this is what he has changed it to, then he is a very malicious and evil man to have done this to you, and to all the people around you. Why bother praying for me? Clearly god does not want me saved or he would send me evidence. And clearly, I don’t want to be saved either. You can certainly pray for me if you like, because I believe you are very literally doing nothing but wasting your time.If you would like me to link you to some good refutations of Sye’s version of apologetics, nothing would make me happier, however the refutation above is just my own personal take on one of the things I was asked when your group was terrorizing my campus.Best wishes,JDOn Tue, Oct 7, 2014 at 10:15 PM, Don Karns wrote:
Well now, you declare things so much more clear and understandable when you are not angry. My name is don. i travel all around the country at many schools and share the Gospel. i hope to this message to three points, even if it challenges me to be so brief.
1) pre suppositional apologetics will not save anyone. The intent is to demonstrate the inconsistency of a non Christian worldview. There is no law or requirement to be consistent. It is only to be hoped and prayed for that if a person would see inconsistencies in their thoughts, then we could share the Gospel with them, so they don” run to Buddism or pantheism or any other ism.
You say Sye assumes (presupposes) God from the beginning to make any claims. The atheistic worldview also presupposes somethings before they can make any claims. All worldviews start with what they believe or presuppose. The line of thought is that if you would take your worldview and examine it thoroughly, it would prove to be logical and comprehensible. And if it can not be at all times logical and comprehensible, if, you desired to be consistent, you would discard that worldview. that is all the apologetic does. It does not speak of Jesus or salvation. The Christian worldview deals with the natural and empirical and with the supernatural and metaphysical. All worldviews must concede the human mind encounters both physical revelation and metaphysical information. All men use not only their five senses but they also know from induction and inference. If you cling to a worldview that excludes anything you can not use your five senses to validate, you could not honestly proceed because something must interpret what is sensed.
2) I have never nor any of my friends made a personal threat, in fact as Christians we pray for those who curse us. But if we declare what God has said, it is meant as a warning. We preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified, and He did not come into the world to condemn it but that the world might be saved by Him. I understand you don”t want to be saved. And i know i can not change your mind. So as I pray for you i pray that God would soften your heart and make Himself known to you, and make yourself known to you. We don’t threaten anyone we love them and want the best for them. The Bible offers warnings, so that we are without excuse. God doesn’t just punish, but He warns and He loves and He saves.
3)i will continue to pray for you. i don’t think you are a waste of my time. i think you are made in God’s image and i think you have a value that come from this, and it is not from how rich or smart or popular you are. And that is why i can honestly say i love you. But i can say i like you too. You are very smart and not timid about stating what is on your mind.
don
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Don, I’m certainly still angry. I think what you do is the closest thing you can do to actual evil. The gospel is an extremely malicious and awful document, and I would very much enjoy never hearing of that particular brand of nastiness again. Presuppositional Apologetics fails utterly to demonstrate anything at all. Firstly, as I stated in my last email, it doesn’t have anything at all to do with the bible or christianity. It fails not only because it processes false equivocation and the vagueity of language as proof, but also because it fails utterly to even mention the thing which it attempts to prove. My mother and I sat down together last night and went through the entire process of working our way through Sye’s website. We pointed out so many leaps of logic, but the one that stuck out the most firmly is when Sye defines “god” as the laws of logic and morality, then in the next page immediately jumps to the immoral and illogical Christian god. I understand that these types of games are amusing and affirming to those who are already Christians, but anyone with an alternative view can see that these types of logic games are extremely fallacious and jump to entirely unwarranted conclusions. This apologetic is a total and complete failure. It’s not persuasive and it’s not evidence.
I disagree that “metaphysical” exists if your definition of “metaphysical” includes “supernatural” or “spiritual.” These things are simply chemicals in your mind. YOU are simply chemicals in your mind. That’s a beautiful thing. It’ exciting that we come from such basic and simple material, yet, through evolution and constructed social meaning-making we can become a species capable of doing the sorts of things that humans do. (science especially) I reject the metaphysical, the spiritual, the supernatural, we are all material. You’re an animal, you’re a collection of chemicals, you’re just matter, and that’s what makes it impressive that you can exist in the way that humans do. Science is how we determine what is real, and our senses are a huge asset in understanding the world around us. Your subjective emotional response to ancient fairy tales is not a good way to know things about the world. It’s a TERRIBLE way to know anything.
Further, I was there when you made threats. I saw you make them. You made those threats toward me and my classmates. Telling me your imaginary friend is going to torture me forever if I refuse to worship him is the same thing as saying that you will do the torturing yourself. That’s an evil thing to do, and I am deeply offended that you call it love. Ask yourself this, if God wanted us to be saved, why would he sacrifice himself to himself in order to forgive us? Why not just forgive us? In relation to the “logical” validity of your god, that’s nonsensical. If God is omnipotent, can he create an object he can’t lift? Can he create a god more powerful than himself? Can he eliminate evil? If he can, and doesn’t then he is evil himself, no question about it. God fails logically on so many levels that pre-sup apologetics doesn’t even begin to address.
In short, it’s all bullshit. Total lies that you believe because you were brainwashed as a child. That’s it. Plain and simple. If god loved me, he would give me a single shard of evidence that he existed. If he loved me, than he would not have created hell, and condemned me to it just for being who I am. If god created me, then he created me an atheist. If god exists, he knows what would convince me, and yet never shows me. If god exists then he is a god that wants me to go to hell. And I would much rather be tortured for eternity than worship that monster.
Please reconsider your decision to obey this evil concept,
JD
On Wed, Oct 8, 2014 at 6:19 PM, don Karns wrote:
On Wed, Oct 29, 2014 at 7:46 AM, don Karns wrote:
On Thu, Nov 6, 2014 at 3:45 PM, Don Karns wrote:
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I’m so unbelievably used to hearing this form evangelicals. As soon as I point out that your god does not fit the standard the bible sets for love or morality, you jump straight into the “oh it’s just MY faith” “it’s my kind of love” “Jesus’s love doesn’t have to follow the laws of the holy book I believe in.” That’s a load of bullshit.
You always want to make out like atheists live in “sin” because we don’t believe in the same fairy tales you do. You bring up “beer and drugs” like you think that’s the sort of thing I use to cope with my separation from God. Guess what? I’ve never had more than a single beer in one sitting. The only drugs I ever took were prescribed by my doctor to manage pain from surgery, and I took them when I was eight. Get off your moral high horse for a minute and LISTEN. If you would stop accusing me of sin for five damn minutes and listen to what I’m actually saying you’d realize that I’m trying to HELP YOU.
There are massive chunks of your emails, especially this last one that are so disjointed and chaotic that I can’t even understand what the hell you’re talking about. You keep saying you don’t care about winning this argument, presumably to shield your ego from the fact that you can’t win this argument. Further, despite saying in your very last email that love is not jealous, you consider to insist that god is love, and jealous. And then you try to defend god for his monstrous and petty jealousy. What is wrong with you? Why would you defend this monster? You condemn other evil jealous mass murderers, why not condemn this one? Are you so afraid of a finite life that you can’t acknowledge the truth about the god you obsess over?
You have to admit that if your god is not real, you are wasting the only life you had on harassing young people. I’m trying to help you out. There’s no evidence that your god exists and if this is the only life you have, you’re going to leave behind a legacy of hate speech and intolerance. Why would you want that? Further, if your god really does exist and does love humanity, and is “good,” why would he condemn anyone for disbelieving, or for not proselytizing? If he would condemn you for something that innocent, he’s an evil monster. Why would you ever want to worship an evil deity. I would rather burn eternally in hell than I would worship a god who would condemn me for my disbelief. I say this because I have standards. I would not support an evil murderous dictator on earth. I would not worship one in heaven.
I sincerely wish you and your children good luck,
JD
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On Thu, Nov 6, 2014 at 8:20 PM, Don Karns wrote:
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Bullshit. I’m sorry, but that’s some serious bullshit right there. Read through that last email, see if you find a fact that can actually be affirmed, then email back. That wasn’t even a response to what I said, it’s just word vomit.
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Final note, Jessica is not unique on today’s college campus. Students there quickly come to believe in atheistic moralism, demonstrating hypocrisy, in their tolerance of everything except the Christian worldview. Thre is a great need of the Gospel on the American college campus. The contemporary Christian campus ministries are only tolerated if they will not confront the idololatry and sin on campus, and present the Gospel as a social or self help improvement group. The truth is, Jesus calls us to deny ourself, to pick up our cross daily and follow Him. His warning is clear, ” Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets.” The staff at most universities are not permitted to share their faith in Christ. I encourage all true Christians to pray for young people today, and if possible share the truth of the Gospel with them through conversation or a Gospel tract. This is the next generation. May God hear the prayers of His people and do a work that only He can accomplish.
Meet John
Preaching the Gospel Fall 2013
The Gospel is desperately needed in this nation in this generation. I thank God for the Gospel for it is the power of God unto salvation for all those who believe. At abortion clinics, at the universities, the Gospel is the means by which Almighty God had provided to confront and change an evil world. Downtown areas like Newark and Trenton N.J, have a great need of the blessed hope that is found only in Jesus Christ.
Eighteenth Century advice to preachers
John Berridge advice to itinerant preachers
John Berridge of Everton was an ordained preacher in the Church of England in the eighteenth century, a contemporary of Whitefield, Wesley, and Howell Harris. After several years of preaching while still unconverted he was born again and upon seeing God’s grace in his life he began to preach wherever he could find a crowd, six days each week and still Pastor his flock in Everton. He advises those that preach with the following exhortation:
As Paul was, so be thou a fool for Christ’s sake, yea the very scum and off-scouring of all things. The preacher must be prepared to lose the world’s esteem. Happy is the man who has lost it wholly and honestly. Secret prayer and the study of scriptures are foremost when preparing to preach. His advice was to ‘ Look simply unto Jesus for preaching food;’ and what is wanted will be given, and what is given will be blessed, whether it be a barley or a wheaten loaf, a crust or a crumb. Your mouth will be a flowing stream, or a fountain sealed, according as your heart is. Avoid all controversy in preaching, talking, or writing; preach nothing down but the devil and nothing up but Jesus Christ. Much reading and thinking may make a popular minister, but much secret prayer must make a powerful preacher.
Berridge had simple rules in preaching;
The open-air preacher must be wise and not preach in working hours. He must conclude before six in the morning and live as his host usually lived. He was not to allow people to give him treats. He was not to rail against opposing clergy. A host must not be kept up late at night in order that they can rise early in the morning. An itinerant preacher should leave immediately after breakfast and morning family prayer are over. If possible he should not dine where he preaches in order to save the people expense. The preacher must be prepared to trust God to open the way as He did for the children of Israel through the wilderness. A rural dean or rambling bishop must be able to preach without notes and have a great desire to spread the Gospel. Overall the preacher must feel the need of God’s grace throughout the whole of his life.
I see it now, and do confess,
My utter need of Jesus’ grace,
And of his Spirit’s light;
I beg His kind and daily care.
O Lord my heart and tongue prepare,
To think and speak aright.
Prepare my tongue to pray and praise,
To speak of providential ways,
And heavenly truths unfold;
To strengthen well a feeble soul,
Correct the wanton, rouse the dull,
And silence sinners bold.
The theme of Berridge’s Gospel preaching was regeneration, in contrast to what he considered the normal preaching of morality. A moral conduct shall avail him nothing, without a new birth, a new nature from above. He firmly believed that the preaching of the law was important, for that will ‘make you feel the scores’. The law was preached before the Gospel: ‘Fresh plowing also must go before every fresh seeding’; the law before the Gospel. His advice to a young preacher is this: Begin with laying open the innumerable corruptions of the hearts of your audience; Moses will lend you a knife, which may be often whetted at his grindstone. Lay open the universal sinfulness of nature; the darkness of the mind, the frowardness of the will, the fretfulness of the temper, and the earthliness and sensuality of the affections. Speak of the evil of sin in its nature; its rebellion against God as our Sovereign, ingratitude to God as our benefactor, and contempt both of His authority and love… lay open spirituality of the law, and its extent, reaching to every thought, word, and action, and declaring every transgression, whether by omission or commission, deserving of death. Declare man’s utter helplessness to change his nature, or to make his peace. Acquaint them with the searching eye of God, watching us continually, spying out every thought, word and action, noting them down in the Book of remembrance, and bringing every secret thing into judgment, whether it be good or bad.
When your hearers are deeply affected with these things ( which is seen by the hanging down of their heads ) preach Christ. Lay open the Saviour’s almighty power to soften the hard heart, and give it repentance, to bring pardon to the broken heart, a spirit of prayer to the prayerless heart, holiness to the filthy heart, and faith to the unbelieving heart. Let them know that all the treasures of grace are lodged in Jesus Christ for the use of the poor needy sinner, and that He is full of love as well as power; turns no beggar from His gate, but receives all comers kindly; loves to bless them, and bestows al His blessings tithe free. Farmers and country people chop at that. Here you must wave the gospel flag, and magnify the Saviour supremely, Speak it with a full mouth ( ore rotundo ) that this blood can wash away the foulest sins, and His grace subdue the stoutest corruptions. Exhort the people to seek His grace, to seek it directly, seek it diligently, seek it constantly, and acquaint them that all who thus seek shall assuredly find the salvation of God. There are many distractions but Christ is all powerful. Not only is Christ the message but He is also the reaper.
Abortion in Tidewater
Abortion
Help in needed with local sidewalk counseling, local sidewalk prayer/presence, and prayer from home during the times of murder or for God’s blessing on the endeavour. Prayer is powerful. Please pray that God would bring an end to abortion here locally and around the country
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Newport News: Suzanne Saunders 757 725 4111
Southside : Cheri Britt 757 3346149
Address of clinics :
Peninsula Medical Center for Women : 10758 Jefferson Ave.
Hillcrest Clinic : 1600 E Littlecreek Rd, Norfolk Va
Tidewater Women’s Health Clinic : 891 Norfolk Square, Norfolk Va
Planned Parenthood : 515 Newtown Rd, Virginia Beach, Va.
Heavens declare the glory of GOD
Psalm 19:1-6 (NASB)
1 The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.
2 Day to day pours forth speech, And night to night reveals knowledge.
3 There is no speech, nor are there words; Their voice is not heard.
4 Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their utterances to the end of the world. In them He has placed a tent for the sun,
5 Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber; It rejoices as a strong man to run his course.
6 Its rising is from one end of the heavens, And its circuit to the other end of them; And there is nothing hidden from its heat.
cooperj