A New Creature. . . an Apostolic Pentecostal blog

Yesterday on Facebook I shared a comic that I though very funny.  Here is a link to it: http://xkcd.com/1111/ There is an associated page or site to xkcd.com, called “What if: ANSWERING YOUR HYPOTHETICAL QUESTIONS WITH PHYSICS, EVERY TUESDAY.” One of the questions tackled is: What would the world be like if the land masses were spread out the same way as now - only rotated by an angle of 90 degrees? Within that page was a mention of the “Bodele Depression” in Chad feeding the Amazon rainforest a huge fraction of the mineral nutrients required for the plants in that fertile area to grow. I was intrigued.  I had never heard of the Bodele Depression. . . isn’t the Internet wonderful. . . the information available at your fingertips.  I began to research. The Bodele Depression is the now exposed bottom of a prehistoric lake, about the size of the present Lake Erie in the United States, which largely disappeared several thousand years ago.  The present l...

John 3:5-6 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. (6) That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. We clearly must be born again. Entering into an intimate relationship with God is no causal occurrence. No simple prayer, or repeating of an ancient creed will transform our flesh from corrupt to holy. By our sins we deserve death. By our sins we die. Nothing less than rebirth will restore us into communion with God. But we are not beings of mere flesh. We are flesh and we are spirit. A child’s body grows and develops, as does it’s mind. Sin corrupts the spirit as well and as completely as it corrupts the flesh. This is why both the flesh and the spirit must both be part of the rebirth process. . . This is why both the flesh and the spirit must both be reborn in baptism. To renew the flesh without also renewing the spirit is futile and o...

Does belief in Christ make you a Christian? Does belief in Kentucky make you a Kentuckian? To be a Kentuckian, you must live in Kentucky. You must pay taxes in Kentucky. You must have an address in Kentucky. You cannot merely believe that Kentucky is a nice state. You cannot simply agree that Kentucky is a nice place to live. To be a Kentuckian, you must live in Kentucky. Likewise, to be a Christian, you must live in Christ. . . You must follow His teaching. . . You must obey His commandments. You must abide in Him. To be a Christian, Jesus must be an integral part of you. . . You cannot merely believe in Him, and be of Him. . .If you believe in Christ, you must also believe in His Words. If you believe in His Words, you will follow and obey His words: John 12:44-48 Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me. (45) And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me. (46) I am come a light into the world, that whosoev...

James 5:16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. I am convicted sometimes. . . My Pastor, and others encourage us. . . exhort us to pray large prayers. We gather together as a body each Thursday night for family prayer, and I sometimes feel guilty when I spend much of that time in prayer for my family. It struck me last night, while in prayer. . . while praying for my family, that we are to reach people for Christ, and to grow His kingdom. If each one of us reaches, only one other person the size of God’s kingdom is doubled. And while many have dreams of evangelizing, and converting cities to Christ. . . the reality is that for many, our own families are, by the reason of their familiarity, and proximity, and relationship to us the most fertile ground to be found. I want to pray big prayers, but often I have trouble bringing forth much passion, and fervency for a p...

As far back as my memory goes into the dim reaches of my youth, I have loved wildlife. One story my mother often related to me, was of her listening in as my best friend, Bob Adams, who lived right across the street and I talked as we played when we were 4 or 5 years old. I said to Bobby, “Isn’t nature wonderful”, Bobby replied, “What’s nature?” I remember my mother had a very pretty flower garden, along our east property line. I remember sitting on our little patio in the early mornings, watching as robins hunted for worms, and insects in my mom’s little garden. We lived not far from a dry gravel pit. It was a hole in the ground 10 or 12 feet deep, covering maybe 20 or more acres or so. I say dry, but there were semi-permanent wet spots in the bottom of it. These low areas, being so close to the water table, would have 6 inches to maybe a foot of water for 50 weeks out of the year. Too shallow and impermanent for fish, but there were tadpoles galore, and because of the abun...

Malachi 4:2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. Continuing my study of the ‘fear of God.’ I can feel my former pride rise up at the thought of my ever being described as by this phrase as. . . ‘calves of the stall.’ In my former mind I would absolutely reject being portrayed by such a idea. The indignation of being compared to a kept animal, whether it be a calf or a sheep, was strong within me. It all has to do with being willing to bend your will. . . your desires. . . your pride to another. The necessity of relinquishing your cherished free will, and independence, and submitting to the will of God is the very foundation for being a follower of Christ. . . not my will, but thy will Lord. In my former pride, the parallel concept of having a Lord was just as despised, as being being compared to a calf in a stall. A calf running free on the range, spawns ...

We are bombarded with messages all day long. Each web page we click on, has a cloud of advertisements bumping into our awareness, like gnats swirling. . flashing. . .dancing. . . parading. . .marching. . .flickering buzzing whispering. . .and on and on and on. . . annoyingly continually touching us. . . brushing up against us. . . bothering us. . .WHY SHOULD I CARE??? Give me a reason to be interested or get away from me. . .get out of my face. . . There has to be a reason for me to care. . .my message. . .our message is lost in the cacophony messages inundating people with. . . JUST TELL ME WHY SHOULD I CARE ABOUT GOD. . .GIVE ME A REASON TO CARE ABOUT SPIRITUAL THINGS. . . It is really very simple. . Every problem of life has a Spiritual answer. God is a Spirit. He has manifested Himself to mankind in various ways, but He is before and after everything else a Spirit. He is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. . . Therefore Spirit~ual answers are God answers. Marriage ...