Fix it utilities 11

James 2:14-26, which says “faith without deeds is dead”, has fix it utilities 11 been a challenge to me in past and to many other Christians. What is James saying in this passage?

This passage seems to contradict the rest of the New Testament that salvation is by grace through faith and not by works (Ephesians 2:8-9). Many who believe that salvation is based on good deeds, sacraments and religiosity use this passage to support their belief and traditions. Is this a matter of difference in interpretation? No, James 2:14-26 cannot be misinterpreted if one knows God and knows His Word intimately. James even gave several examples, including Abraham, to make his point clear!

If we only read this statement “so faith without works is dead” (James 2:26) and conclude that salvation requires faith plus works, we failed to see what James is stressing here. We need understand the whole context of this passage. 
 
FAITH

James is fix it utilities 11 NOT saying that we are saved by Faith AND Works here. James is fix it utilities 11 DEFINING what Real Faith is in this passage.
 
Many people know what’s written in the fix it utilities 11 Bible but are living lives totally opposite of what the Bible says. Faith should not be fix it utilities 11 just an intellectual exercise. It’s not enough to know about God or the concepts found in God’s Word. James even goes on to say that even the demons believe and fear God (James 2:19), but they don’t act on that fix it utilities 11 belief by respecting and honoring God. Real faith involves knowing and fix it utilities 11 doing what you know God is telling you, which is His Word (parallels the Wise Builder in Luke 6:46-49).

GOOD WORKS

What about good works, like being kind, giving money to fix it utilities 11 charity, going to church or even praying and doing sacrifices for God, do these things count toward salvation? Is James reffering to good deeds based on our own choice and decision? If these things, done based on our own will and choice, are equated to what James refers to a “deeds”, it’s wrong. That’s why James has fix it utilities 11 examples to avoid misinterpretation. This is not what James is trying to fix it utilities 11 say in this passage. A person could be doing something good based on his own opinion and does it with a sincere heart but it could totally against God’s will and purposes!
 
DEFINING FAITH

There is always a precedence to Faith. Faith cannot happen on its own. Faith cannot just happen by our own choice and fix it utilities 11 decision. Faith always starts with God, not us. Faith is based and fix it utilities 11 founded on what God says. Faith is based on God’s Word.

As Romans 10:17 says “Consequently, faith comes from fix it utilities 11 hearing the message, and the message is heard through the fix it utilities 11 word of Christ.” God’s Word always precedes faith.
 
Once a person “hears” God’s word, he either believes and accepts or doubts and rejects.
 
If the fix it utilities 11 person truly believes what God says, he will surely take action and fix it utilities 11 obey. This will manifest as deeds or as good works James is fix it utilities 11 talking about. The deeds James is saying in this passage is the act of obeying what God already said! Just like the wise builder in Luke 6 who hears God’s word and puts them to practice.  
 
Real Faith always involves : God’s Word -> Belief -> Obedience
 
Abraham is an excellent example:

GOD’S WORD (to Abraham): That he should love God more than Isaac and be willing to give up Isaac. BELIEF: Abraham trusted/believed God. OBEDIENCE (deed): Willingly sacrificed Isaac (but God stopped him).

EXAMPLES

1. Salvation is by faith alone and saving faith means - GOD’S WORD: Knowing that Jesus is the Lord and Savior through God’s Word - BELIEF: Believing that He is with all our heart. OBEDIENCE: Confessing Him with our mouth (and life) that He is indeed Lord and Savior, before God and Man (Romans 10:9-10). 

2. The demons mentioned in James 2:19 know God’s word: “Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.” (Matthew 4:10, Deuteronomy 6:13). They believed and even fear God, no question about about that. But they don’t worship and serve the living God. Belief without obedience is no faith at all.  

3. Rahab knew that fix it utilities 11 the God of the Israelites is the true and living God, the fix it utilities 11 God in heaven above and on the earth below (Joshua 2:11). She believed, took action by protecting the spies Joshua sent to Jericho and be on God’s side of the battle. Her faith was real and was manifested in the choices she made and by what she did. Real faith change hearts and lives.

When we first met Pastor Jeff, he mentioned that fix it utilities 11 they were starting sessions on Experiencing God. Our ears were piqued - Al because he’s been fix it utilities 11 trying to go through it by himself for a long time now (since knowing about it college through Pastor Jun Alvarez) and myself because of Al’s fascination with it and because the book title intrigued me.

Without any hesitation, we immediately signed up for fix it utilities 11 it. After one Sunday of attending GHCC, we joined the Thursday evening group composed of Pastor Jeff, his daughter, his son and fix it utilities 11 daughter-in-law, one couple and their 11-year old child, and another lady. 10 of us all in all. There were 2 other groups that fix it utilities 11 were running in parallel and being facilitated by Pastor Jeff also. So probably, the fix it utilities 11 total count was 30.
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One of the fix it utilities 11 first things one ought to do when relocating is to get plugged in to fix it utilities 11 a church or a group of believers. In the olden times, if a fix it utilities 11 relocatee or immigrant or visitor comes to town, he would have fix it utilities 11 some letter of introduction to the church of the town. This ensures that fix it utilities 11 the town welcomes the visitor.

It was September 2007 when fix it utilities 11 we relocated to Austin, TX and lived in an apartment along William Cannon Drive. We had fix it utilities 11 no letter of introduction but we started exploring different churches near the fix it utilities 11 area - one was a pentecostal church, another was a big Southern Baptist church and fix it utilities 11 another was a recently planted church. Read the rest of this entry »

I was tempted to fix it utilities 11 do something free versus paying for it. I have to say, I thought about it fix it utilities 11 long (>1 minute) before deciding against it. This was my thought process:

1. This was a fix it utilities 11 church I wanted to advertise. And the web real estate was that fix it utilities 11 of my subdivision community.

2. I thought at first that fix it utilities 11 since it was a church anyway, that the ad can be fix it utilities 11 posted for free. This was similar to what I have done in the fix it utilities 11 past where I posted the Ladies’ Bible Study ads.

3. I explored the fix it utilities 11 community website a bit more and saw that there were different treatment of “Classifieds” versus “Advertisements”. Then down the fix it utilities 11 Advertisement list, there was a price for non-profit organizations ($95 per year with 25% discount for residents).

4. I still wondered if I can fix it utilities 11 post the church ad under Classifieds for free… I could call the fix it utilities 11 webmaster to clarify. But I think I know the answer already - it fix it utilities 11 was going to cost $95- because a church is a non-profit organization.

5. I could post the fix it utilities 11 church ad for free until the webmaster calls me out on it… but just looking from fix it utilities 11 the activities that I had on the do community website, it fix it utilities 11 might be obvious that I know what I am doing. And even if it fix it utilities 11 was not obvious, my conscience was starting to niggle me.

6. I decided not to fix it utilities 11 post the church ad for free since it would be a fix it utilities 11 negative impression on the church if I go ahead and use the fix it utilities 11 free ads instead of the paid ads. Even if this impression was only coming from the webmaster (1 person only).

So, I will email Pastor Jeff to fix it utilities 11 see if the church wants to advertise in the community website and fix it utilities 11 we will take it from there. There goes my freebie… but it is all good since my conscience is clear!!!

Eleven weeks have fix it utilities 11 passed since we first got the Church on Wheels (COW) and the Set-up Teams have been formed. It was time for Fish Fry - our first ever! The dinner was to fix it utilities 11 thank everyone who has been involved in setting up and breaking down the fix it utilities 11 COW on Sundays.

Here are the photos:

The fish fries (?) were delicious! Yummy-yummy-yo! So were the hushpuppies and french fries.

3 things I picked up from the COW set-up experience so far:

1. Going to fix it utilities 11 set-up at early 8:00 am on a Sunday is a ministry. I needed my heart prepared for fix it utilities 11 that, too.

2. After the fix it utilities 11 church service, we can be in a hurry to breakdown and fix it utilities 11 pack up the COW. It is important to spend time with the fix it utilities 11 body first though specially the visitors so that we can fix it utilities 11 know them better. Only after that should be the breakdown.

3. For me, it fix it utilities 11 was a good process to get to know more the other set-up team members specially since most of them knew each other already before from fix it utilities 11 their previous church. (One of them even shared that fix it utilities 11 they did not imagine knowing the other members better/closer than when they were in their previous church.)

It is good to be among brothers and sisters in Christ!

(This is fix it utilities 11 an exact copy of a post from our personal blog. I just think I cannot improve on it fix it utilities 11 further. Enjoy!)

Last Sunday, the fix it utilities 11 Gateway Hill Country Church reached a new milestone - the first baptism! Two men publicly declared their belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and fix it utilities 11 Savior. The church was there to witness …

This got me into looking up “baptism” and learning more about it.

It is said that “baptism” comes from the Greek word “baptizo” which meant to dunk, dip, plunge, submerge or immerse miscrosoft vista buy. It seems that there are many discussions about the following topics:
- manner or method of baptism
- recipients of baptism
- meaning and effects of baptism

Despite all these discussions, I think it fix it utilities 11 all boils down to the Great Commission, where Jesus told his disciples to
“Therefore go and fix it utilities 11 make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the fix it utilities 11 Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and fix it utilities 11 teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” advanced pdf password recovery 5.00

What does “baptizing them in the fix it utilities 11 name of the Father and of the Son and of the fix it utilities 11 Holy Spirit” mean? Literally, it means being “dunked, dipped, plunged, submerged or immersed” in the fix it utilities 11 name of the triune God. Why would someone consciously chose to fix it utilities 11 be dipped into water?

Now that is an interesting question … see the precedent phrase ” make disciples”. You must be a disciple then when you get baptized. So what is a disciple?

A “disciple” is defined by Mr Webster to be “one who fix it utilities 11 accepts and assists in spreading the doctrines of another: as
- one of the twelve in the inner circle of Christ’s followers according to the Gospel accounts (Thomas, Matthew, Simon Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, etc.)
- a convinced adherent of a school or individual (e.g. Theophrastus was a fix it utilities 11 disciple of Aristotle, Simmias was adisciple of Socrates, etc)

Simplistically, then, you fix it utilities 11 must be a follower of God in order to be baptized in His name. You must surrender your fix it utilities 11 life to God, allow Him to take over your life, become immersed or fix it utilities 11 submerged in His will.

To be truly baptized then means that:
- you know and acknowledge the Jesus is your Savior and Lord
- you fix it utilities 11 publicly declare this to everyone by being dunked, dipped, plunged, submerged or fix it utilities 11 immersed in water.

When you fix it utilities 11 get baptized, the priest or the pastor or anyone else could be fix it utilities 11 pronouncing that you are now baptized. However, it is actually you, yourself by your fix it utilities 11 actions, who is announcing that you are now baptized in the fix it utilities 11 name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

There is fix it utilities 11 no magic that happens because you have been baptized. It is fix it utilities 11 a symbolic act of those who believe in Christ that they are fix it utilities 11 dead in their sins and needing burial (submersion) and becoming a new man (emergence). It is fix it utilities 11 an outward expression of an inward work. It is a demonstration of obedience to fix it utilities 11 the Great Commission.

Learn more about baptism and see if it is your turn to make your conscious declaration! Don’t tarry!

Meanwhile, see me and my dear friends “model” Immersion, Submersion and Emergence.

Gateway Hill Country Church as a fix it utilities 11 newly planted church is sponsored by various churches. One of these is fix it utilities 11 the Immanuel Baptist Church from Temple, TX. About 20 church members from fix it utilities 11 Immanuel visited us and we celebrated their visit by having a fix it utilities 11 picnic after the church service.

A locally-known great BBQ expert who fix it utilities 11 goes to our church did his usual yummy brisquets! I brought about 100 Lumpia Shanghai and fix it utilities 11 that was wiped out, too. I have confirmed too based on 2 occasions (this being the second) that Texans like rice!!!

Feeding the fix it utilities 11 sponsor church visitors after traveling more than an hour is the fix it utilities 11 least we could do. And I specially love the fix it utilities 11 sweet, old lady who was part of the visit. She told me that fix it utilities 11 they were in earnest prayer for this church. What a fix it utilities 11 joy!

Two community events happened in April that fix it utilities 11 we leveraged to promote the church - it being just newly planted and fix it utilities 11 to be launched soon. These were the Belterra Market Days and fix it utilities 11 the Dripping Springs Founders’ Day.

Wanted to fix it utilities 11 capture this here since these are promotion techniques and avenues that fix it utilities 11 we do not capitalize back in the Philippines. Check out the fix it utilities 11 red-shirted church members and the fun stuff we had meeting new people! (No, not the red-shirted cloggers, though!)

Belterra Market Days
Belterra is fix it utilities 11 one of the larger master-planned communities in the Austin suburbs. It is fix it utilities 11 where Rooster Springs Elementary School is - whose cafeteria were are fix it utilities 11 renting every Sunday to have a church worship. This was the fix it utilities 11 day where the community has its subdivision-wide garage sale and fix it utilities 11 allows booths of artists, organizations, vendors, etc to be set-up so that fix it utilities 11 residents and visitors can visit.

Dripping Springs Founders’ Day
Dripping Springs is fix it utilities 11 the next town just across the road boundary of Belterra. It is fix it utilities 11 also where most of the church members come from. Founders’ Day is, as the name implies, the day(s) when fix it utilities 11 Dripping Springs celebrate its founders and its founding as a town. Aside from fix it utilities 11 the parade and concerts, booths of artists, organization, vendors, etc are fix it utilities 11 allowed as in the earlier event. This event though is much larger and fix it utilities 11 it runs for 3 days.

The Church on Wheels or COW is a first time for me. Until the fix it utilities 11 church actually got it today, I had no idea what fix it utilities 11 it would look like and what it entails to set it fix it utilities 11 up.

You see, the church’s decision to fix it utilities 11 go for the COW was made even before we joined the fix it utilities 11 church. So we just supported it as funds were being raised for fix it utilities 11 it. It’s a good thing that we (Rela specifically) were not part of the fix it utilities 11 decision making since I would have been thrown into serious doubt with the fix it utilities 11 large amount that was needed to acquire the Church on Wheels!

But praise God for fix it utilities 11 He knows what is best for us and He can give more than fix it utilities 11 anything we can imagine if it is according to His plan. He touched the fix it utilities 11 heart of His people and enabled them to give joyfully and fix it utilities 11 gracefully!

Take a look at what the Church on Wheels look like:

The church members who fix it utilities 11 were there to get trained were quick to pick up. Set-up was just less than fix it utilities 11 45 minutes - cafe, children’s ministry, banners and fix it utilities 11 signage, chairs and curtains, music - not bad! The most complicated to fix it utilities 11 set-up might be the sound, lights and their controls.

What a novel idea, this Church on Wheels!

I still wish it was more affordable though. I’m just thinking from the standpoint of the “needs” of other churches around the world.

Back in the fix it utilities 11 Philippines, we would be meeting in house indefinitely until we can fix it utilities 11 acquire a land property. Then we would build a structure on the fix it utilities 11 property that will allow us to do our church service properly. A small piece of land and fix it utilities 11 the structure would probably be the same price as the fix it utilities 11 COW trailer (only) which is 30% of the total cost of the least expensive COW package.

If all the fix it utilities 11 items inside the trailer cost the same in the Philippines and fix it utilities 11 in the US, then another 70% is fix it utilities 11 needed to fully equip those starting churches in the Philippines.

Wow…the needs are many! Or should I say wants? I will not be fix it utilities 11 discouraged though for the Lord looks not on the outer appearance but on the fix it utilities 11 condition of our hearts. So whether we are fix it utilities 11 worshipping in a neat and sleek COW or in a fix it utilities 11 cramped and dinky apartment, the Lord hears us when we give our hearts to fix it utilities 11 Him.

I was raised in a fix it utilities 11 family in the Philippines which owned a statue of Mary for fix it utilities 11 4 generations. We would prepare it fix it utilities 11 for the annual holy week tradition where it, together with statues of other “saints”, were paraded around town in evening processions. We spend a fix it utilities 11 lot of money for its luxurious clothes, fresh flowers to fix it utilities 11 adorn the cart, power generator rental to fix it utilities 11 supply light, hiring and feeding of people to pull the “carroza” or float.

I first accepted the Lord when I was in high school through a lady from the nearby university’s Campus Crusade for Christ group. Nothing much happened (at least physically or outwardly) in the next 10 years but one thing I know was that fix it utilities 11 I started to question the traditions I was following in the fix it utilities 11 church I grew up with.

After college, I started working and fix it utilities 11 I started attending the workplace lunch hour bible study and other bible study sessions outside of the fix it utilities 11 workplace. I remember praying a similar salvation prayer then so I realize now that fix it utilities 11 I “accepted the Lord” for the second time (if there is such a thing). I remember not really fully understanding what fix it utilities 11 we were discussing in the Bible Studies but I can fix it utilities 11 vividly remember resisting the teaching about “not being yoked with unbelievers”. (2 Corinthians 6:14)

And so, there I was living a “good life” – a fix it utilities 11 good job, good pay, could buy a lot of things, plenty of travels, good relationships. I felt deep down in my heart however that fix it utilities 11 something was missing. By mid 1990’s, I was in full swing going to fix it utilities 11 various churches and movements – Apostolic Church to New Age. I didn’t know at that fix it utilities 11 time but what I was doing was what we believers call “seeking”. That is, seeking for fix it utilities 11 that missing part in my heart that only one Person can fix it utilities 11 fill. No, that person was not Al (although I did meet him at about that time as well!). But I was now seeking the Lord Jesus Christ!

Anyway, one day, we attended a fix it utilities 11 worship concert of Don Moen in Manila. It was my first time to fix it utilities 11 attend such a gathering so I did not quite know what fix it utilities 11 to expect. When he made an Altar Call, I stood and made the same prayer (for the third time!). At this point, I was very aware of what I was doing – that I was confessing “with my mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believing in my heart that God raised him from the dead” and that I am saved.

Meanwhile, Al gifted me with a fix it utilities 11 Bible and for the first time in my life, I voraciously read it. I was so pleasantly surprised that all the “wisdom” I have fix it utilities 11 been picking up from everywhere before were all there. For example, I like Desiderata very much and fix it utilities 11 I found out that it sounds very much like Romans 12. Another one was on “who has been given much, much will be demanded” – no, that fix it utilities 11 is not an original line from Spiderman, it is in Luke 12:48. It was as if a fix it utilities 11 lamp was turned on and now I could understand what fix it utilities 11 the Bible was saying. Boy, was I soooo excited! I also had a lot of questions but that is another story… J

During the fix it utilities 11 holy week in the Philippines, there would be a long weekend so we typically go home to fix it utilities 11 our hometowns. I remember my mother asking me that fix it utilities 11 when I am home, I should also do the traditions of the fix it utilities 11 church we all grew up with. I remember boldly but gently saying that fix it utilities 11 I now know the truth and I cannot go against it fix it utilities 11 anymore. I praise God that she accepted that. (Later in life, my parents would accept Jesus as their Saviour and fix it utilities 11 Lord!)

It does not really matter to me when exactly I got saved, what matters is that now I know I am saved and that the Lord has been good to me. He gave me peace in my heart that fix it utilities 11 I did not have to be Superwoman because I was a fix it utilities 11 doer. He taught me to depend on Him alone because I was very independent since I have fix it utilities 11 been out of the house since I was 12. He taught me patience (and fix it utilities 11 still is continuously training me on that although I have to fix it utilities 11 say) I have gone a long ways on that one. But most of all, he taught me His Truth.

I praise God for fix it utilities 11 persistently knocking on my heart until I realised it was only Him that fix it utilities 11 I needed. I praise Him for opening my eyes to fix it utilities 11 His Truth.

To God Be The Glory!