The Gospel Divides Campus Ministry

On October 29th, Christianity Today published an article titled, Not All Evangelicals and Catholics Together. To be honest, it is quite refreshing to see some Protestants still believe the Gospel is worth not only defending, but also see the Gospel as what defines a Christian. For far too long many have taken the position stated by Timothy George in the article.

"The gaping divide between evangelicals and Catholics is ecclesiology and authority, not justification and salvation, as important as that debate remains," George said. "There is enough commonality that evangelicals and Catholics with a living faith can recognize one another as brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ with a common Lord and common grace that brought them together. The hard issues are questions related to the church, such as the Petrine office [the papacy] and the Eucharist. Those discussions will occupy us for the next 100 years."

So the Gospel will not be the center of discussion, nor the idea that man needs the imputation of Christ's righteousness alone through faith alone. In other words, Christ's life being given to the believer as a free gift as opposed to the sacramental system of Rome is not enough to divide a true religion from a false one.

I have seen this personally in churches I have attended. This is not merely an academic debate but a debate which affects the life of the local church.

Reformation Weekend MP3s

Fred Malone's messages from this past Reformation Weekend is now available. Go here for the MP3s. Richard Smith, Associational Minister of the Spurgeon Baptist Association of Churches, has written in this week's newsletter.

2009 REFORMATION WEEKEND

The 2009 Reformation conference this past weekend in St. Francis was without doubt a time that many spent soaking in the goodness and glory of God. Dr. Fred Malone was the speaker and he spoke on the five sola’s of the Reformation. He wove the teaching of Luther and Calvin with that of Scripture and gave those who were listening a picture of how God uses His Word and servants to literally change the world. The first session was on Sola Scriptura or the authority and sufficiency of the Word of God. He said that many hold to the inerrancy of Scripture and yet reject the teaching of Scripture as to its authority and sufficiency. Yet during the Reformation it was Luther and Calvin’s adherence to Scripture as God’s Word and their highest authority rather than the traditions of men that God used and honored to bring true revival. It was only then Scripture was the authority and believed as the Word of God that Luther searched it for what the righteousness of God really was and so the Gospel of grace alone through faith alone began to be trumpeted across the land by the preachers of it. Without going into detail on each session, Dr. Malone connected each sola with the others and set out the glory of the Gospel of Scripture which is indeed by grace alone through faith alone so that it may be by Christ alone to the glory of God alone.

The recordings of these sessions can be listened to at www.fbcstfrancis.org and are certainlyworthy to be listened to. After each session there were people talking about the things of the Lord and the content of the sermon. In other words, true fellowship around the Scripture was found. The conference was truly a feast for the soul in terms of the teaching, preaching, and the fellowship. While the signs on I. 70 say that Colby is the oasis of the plains, I certainly found that First Baptist Church of St. Francis was an oasis this past weekend. The church has also been blessed with good cooks and so there was a lot of good food supplied for those who attended. As the host pastor J.W. Glidewell of First Baptist in St. Francis put it, there was plenty of food for both the soul and the body. I would urge all who can to make plans to attend this conference in St. Francis next year.

Science Discovers They Are Wrong Again

What's wrong with this first sentence of this YahooNews story.

A 35-mile rift in the desert of Ethiopia will likely become a new ocean eventually, researchers now confirm.

So now we have a confirmation among scientists that something might happen. A couple of paragraphs down the article states,

"We know that seafloor ridges are created by a similar intrusion of magma into a rift, but we never knew that a huge length of the ridge could break open at once like this," said Cindy Ebinger, professor of earth and environmental sciences at the University of Rochester and co-author of the study.

So they never knew this? Ummm really? Perhaps it is because most scientists are taught science from a naturalistic, materialistic old earth model?

The fact is, there is nothing new here. First, Biblical Creationists have been offering models that explain this for a long time. Second, even non-Creationists have had to admit that much of their scientific understanding of life in general and geology in particular has been flawed.

Years ago, either Nova or one of the other PBS programs went to Mt. St. Helen after her 1980 explosion. I remember watching scientist after scientist admitting that their predictions were all wrong. Why? Because in my opinion they were all taught the evolutionary model of the earth. They unwittingly brought with them to the field the close-minded academic view of Earth's history. Now we all do that, but to what extent is another question.

Today, Bob Gonzales, Dean of Reformed Baptist Seminary, offers a Blog post that I think may be of service to the Christian, who desires to be faithful to the Bible and yet desire not to come to the scientific world with false presuppositions.

Follow the Money to Gore's Pocket

As they say, "Follow the money." The NY Times is reporting Al Gore to be profiting from Global Warming. The article states,

Critics, mostly on the political right and among global warming skeptics, say Mr. Gore is poised to become the world’s first “carbon billionaire,” profiteering from government policies he supports that would direct billions of dollars to the business ventures he has invested in.

I wonder if the earth is going to get a little warmer due to the printing of all that money. Perhaps the Pay Czar will cut his profits by 90% since it is just not fair he gets to be a billionaire, and we don't.

One of the other things that bug me about this article is that it admits that critics are "mostly on the political right and...skeptics". I am always being told by the Left that there is no bias in the media, yet why would the Left not be just as skeptical about this. They are always accusing the Political Right of doing these things as immoral. Is this story only being written because they have to and not because the NYTimes is curious about the corruption of the Political Left. Oh, wait. They are the Political Left.

So you might be thinking, "Gee Howard. They wrote the story, which proves they are not biased." Ummm, this story is old my friend. The fact is, we have all known about this for a very looong time, and it didn't start with Al Gore.

In the early 90s I remember watching a French scientist on C-Span challenging the scientists at Dow in their support for laws restricting the use of CFC as a refrigerant. This French scientist explained that CFC was non-toxic and non-carcinogenic. Dow was seeking to use refrigerants that were toxic and carcinogenic.

He raised the obvious question. Why? The answer is simple for those of us, who have refrigerators from the 50s. CFC lasts a loooong time. The newer refrigerants do not last as long and cause the compressors to break down sooner. So in the mane of saving the planet...well...just follow the money.

Director of Abortion Clinic Becomes Prolife

I don't really know for certain what is meant by "conversion" and being free from "guilt" in this video, but one thing is for certain, this woman has abandoned the murder of children.



What is interesting in the referenced court case is that the former Director is being sued because something she might reveal would cause "irreparable harm". Now it is one thing if someone reveals secret information as to what spices are in KFC's special sauce or breading. It is quite another if someone reveals tactics to get more "abortions in the door". The irony in my mind is that the Political Left always claims that the Right is judgmental. Yet here is a case of the Left taking someone to court to have a judgment pronounced against a potential action.

Building Bridges With Islam

Just thought this might be an interesting story for those concerned about Islam's spread into the West. The Guardian UK is reporting that "Matrix Producer" Barrie Osborne, who was "part of the Oscar-winning team behind the Lord of the Rings films", will be working on a movie about the life of Muhammad.

Osborne told Reuters that he envisages it as "an international epic production aimed at bridging cultures. The film will educate people about the true meaning of Islam".

Since most Hollywood types are afraid of telling the truth that would lead to political incorrectness (especially if it involves Muslims rioting), I have to wonder how one could attempt to do such a movie with the intentions of building bridges. Islam only desires freedom when it is in the minority. That is just an obvious truth for anyone to see if they are willing. So will Osborne truly show Muhammad as he truly was? I guess we will see. Though, I wouldn't hold my breath.

Reformation Weekend

We had a little scare last Saturday. Our water heater began leaking on the floor. If you notice the space in the picture, there just is not room to put a new one back in the same place. So we had to go online and purchase a tankless water heater. We managed to limp along during the week hoping the equipment would arrive before the weekend by sticking pans underneath to catch the water.



On Thursday afternoon the equipment arrived. So you can guess what I did that night and Friday morning in order to make certain we were able to get away for the Weekend.

In Goodland, my daughter noticed some funny signs. I guess vacuums really suck at this car wash.


Here is some wise advice on the other side.


Apparently someone had too much to drink.


Here is Pastor Fred Malone. So far we have listened to his messages on Scripture alone, Grace Alone and Faith Alone. Pastor Malone is very gracious. He was of great encouragement to several of us, who desire to see churches come back to the teachings that flow from Scripture Alone. Although Pastor Malone was doing an overview of the topics, he didn't sidestep issues either. He interacted with the Medieval Church's response to the Reformation and applied several of the historical lessons learned to some of the problems we are seeing in today's Evangelical church. Basically, we need a rediscovery of the Five Solas of the Reformation and all that entails.


Here is Pastor Glidewell (my pastor in the middle) and Pastor Brett Scollard of McCook, NE.


Paul Veal could have been in the picture as well, but for some reason he was not able to make it. You missed out man! :-)

A Reminder For This Weekend

Once again I am amazed at my pastor. This year's Reformation Weekend (Oct 30th - Nov 1st.) at First Baptist Church, St. Francis, will have as its guest speaker, Fred Malone.

A short bio from The Institute of Reformed Baptist Studies,

Dr. Malone is a graduate of Reformed Theological Seminary with an M. Div. (1974) as well as Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary with a Ph. D. (1989). He has served as pastor of First Baptist Church, Clinton, LA, since 1993. He also serves on the Founders Ministries Board and the Administrative Council of the Association of Reformed Baptist Churches in America. Dr. Malone has retained membership in the Evangelical Theological Society for many years. His publications include The Baptism of Disciples Alone as well as many articles. He is happily married to Deborah for almost 40 years, having has three grown children and three grandchildren.

He will be speaking on the Five Solas of the Reformation. If you are able to come, please do!

Click here for location.

Daves Highway

Here are some kids with some talent. Kuddos to the wife for pointing them out to me.

Now 9-Year-Olds Are Scoring Fancy Shots

OK, I thought that last goal was ridiculously crazy. I mean, I have been watching hockey a loooong time. I have even tried out for Mini-One-on-One at the very local level (I wasn't that good). Mini-One-on-One has been a staple of Boston Bruins hockey. I have never seen anyone pick up the puck on their stick to score. Yet here is a nine-year-old that does it. Watch the goalie. He is absolutely clueless.