Galatians 1:11,12

Galatians 1:11-12 “For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.” We have seen in recent weeks that the gospel is being distorted among the church and it seems to be happening the same way that all biblical doctrines are distorted. Even today, just like back then, distortions of the gospel are arising within the church. But these distortions are always the gospel of man. Man-centered gospel leads to man centered theology, which in turn leads to man-centered worship which, produces more man centered gospel (although it’s not really gospel). You may be reading this and thinking, “aren’t you being a little extreme?” Well, let’s look at some aspects of your local congregation and when they gather to see if this cycle is true; Man-centered gospel verses God-centered gospel. Man-centered gospel—a message that focuses on man being the chief end for which Christ came to die. God-centered gospel—a message that focuses on God’s glory being the chief end for which Christ came to die. Example of man-centered gospel: Jesus came and died for me. Example of God-centered gospel: Jesus came and died for me for the glory of God. This may not seem like too much of a difference but let’s see how this affects your theology. Man-centered theology—a system of theology that makes man the center of all doctrine. God-centered theology—a system of theology where all other doctrines are subject to the doctrine of God. Example of man-centered theology: All events in life are ultimately determined by man. Example of God centered theology: All events in life are ultimately determined by God. This greatly affects our worship. We do not sing of the glory of God but of the glory of man. Man-centered corporate worship—man becomes the focal point of songs, prayers, and preaching God-centered corporate worship—God becomes the focal point of songs, prayers, and preaching Example of man-centered corporate worship: “He took the fall, and thought of me, above all” Example of God-centered corporate worship: “God of wonders beyond our galaxy, you are holy, holy” The problem with man being the center of the Gospel stems from pride, which stems from our sin nature. The gospel is not something that we can afford to get wrong. We are not talking about stuff such as infant baptism verses believers baptism or taking communion every week verses quarterly. We are talking about the message of the cross. That message is the very power of God for those who are being saved (1 Corinthians 1:18). I have said this before and I will say it again—we must preach the gospel to each other as believers. And it can’t be a man-centered gospel. The church in Galatia was experiencing the affects of a man-centered gospel. Paul is writing to the church to clear up the confusion. The gospel that Paul is preaching is not man’s gospel. He received it from the Lord. He was not taught it. Christ revealed it to him. Paul did not learn the gospel from Ananias but received it from the Lord (Acts 9). The gospel as laid out in the bible is the only gospel that has the power to save and sanctify. I cannot say this enough; WE MUST GET THE GOSPEL RIGHT!!

It's getting closer.....

We are almost through with the new cd............I think. Everyone has all parts, vocal and instrumental, fixed to their liking and we are down to the final mixing. Andrew gave us a rough mix sunday night after our concert at the Point Community Church and hopefully the next mix will be final. We're keeping our fingers crossed.

Galatians 1:10

Galatians 1:10 “For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.” We have seen in the last few verses that Paul is astonished at the Galatians hasty turn to another gospel other than what he had preached to them from the beginning. Those in Galatia that taught a gospel other than what Paul had taught were not only attacking the gospel but also attacking Paul’s character. As Paul preaches salvation by grace through faith he is accused of preaching a “easy” gospel. He is not preaching a salvation by “works” but by “faith”. This is contrary to what the false teachers are preaching. This salvation by faith alone would stand against the customs of Galatia. Later on in this letter Paul explains a couple of the things that the Galatians have evidently been sliding back into. In chapter 5 Paul address the circumcision that many were clinging to for salvation by presenting the truth that circumcision and uncircumcision do not account for anything but “faith working through love”. In chapter 4 Paul addresses his concerns for the Galatians in their ritualistic practices in observing special days in order to gain favor. Paul’s main purpose in writing this letter to the Galatians is to once again proclaim the truth of the gospel that salvation is wholly of grace and not of any human effort or work. No one is good enough or can do enough good things to save themselves. Our salvation is, from beginning to end, the work of God. Here in verse 10 we see Paul defending the claims that had been made about him preaching an easy gospel to gain approval with men. By the time of this letter Paul has been persecuted harshly for proclaiming the gospel. The testimony of Paul’s life is sufficient reason for the Galatians to know that he is not seeking the approval of men. Paul had suffered such severe persecution that had he been seeking his own well being, he would not have been a servant of Christ. Paul had faced tremendous hardships, but he was “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing” (2 Corinthians 6:10). Paul did not seek the approval of men but to please the Christ who saved him.

Big Words

I must admit to all of you that I am extremely illiterate when it comes to talking about computers. I know what a monitor is and a keyboard and a mouse. I know what CD-Rom is and I know just enough to check my email and blog. That's about it. Pentium, mega-bites, ram, modem, gigahertz, and Celeron are all words that I have heard but just really don't have a clue what they mean. I have no interest in finding out either. I just found out the other day by experience that you can't play MP3 stuff on a regular CD player. But some of you know what all of these words mean and are probably laughing at the fact that I don't. You may think it is crazy that I am probably using all of those things as I type right now and don't even know it. How in the world could I grow up surrounded by computers and not know what these things are? There are computers at my house, at the office, in my cell phone, on the engine in my car, and we even use one in our church services. How could I be around so much technology without knowing the language? The answer is simple--I just don't care about any of it. I don't care about my computer. I am just using it to serve myself. I don't care what goes on inside of it as long as I can depend on it and it works for me. Hopefully by now this is sounding familiar and you are getting the point of this post. But for those of you who think that this is just more proof that I'm clueless, I will spell it out for you. Justification, sanctification, regeneration, election, propitiation, glorification, the Trinity and imputation should be as common language to Christians as gigahertz and modems are to the technologically advanced. Baseball players know what the DL is, football players know what a touchback is, and christians should know what justification is. There are thousands of terms that we use everyday to explain and communicate our passions. How often do we ignore the truth of God's word because we are too lazy to find out what words like propitiation mean? I think the truth is that we don't know because it has never been taught or we don't care. God's word is not burning in the hearts of pastors so they begin to do cute things to make up for it. To think of what we have traded for humor makes my stomach turn. One of my grandfathers fought in WW2 and the other fought in Korea. When they stepped on the battlefield they knew the hand signals. They knew the codes and they knew the manuevers. They knew the language. We are at war. We better know the codes and we better know the language. Because we must be able to use the full armor of God or we will die.

Busy week

I would like to apologize to the few faithful devo readers. It has been a busy couple of weeks and I have just not had time to write them. But next week is looking better so hopefully we will be back to Galatians. Later Taters......

Why do we want to believe it?

In all of my study of "The Da Vinci Code" refutations I am yet to see anyone answer this question; Why do people want to believe it? This question staggers me more than the claims in the book. We know what Dan Brown says and we know what prominent theologians and every pastor with a blog says, but none of them answer this question. (at least none that I've seen. They may be out there but I haven't seen them.) Here are some thoughts on why I believe people want to believe it. Not why they believe it, why they want to believe it. 1.) Everybody loves a conspiracy.--I must admit that I myself would rather watch "Conspiracy" on the History Channel to see the theories about the JFK assasination than study his credentials to be president. Who doesn't love a good UFO story?! Does anybody remember the guy who worked at Area 51 that came out talking about the aliens he saw only to be dismissed as having never worked there. I have watched hours of that stuff. 2.) It is much easier to justify my actions if the standard has been lowered.--All sinners look for justification, just not at the same place. Our only hope as sinners is the righteousness of Christ. There is no hope offered in a fallible Christ. Many people find justification for their actions in believing there are no absolute truths. Let's be honest, this is exactly what this boils down to. 3.) There is power in numbers.--Over 40 million copies sold, translated into 42 languages. The average reader has a tendancy to think they are somewhat "smart". "If 40 million people are buying it, it must have something to it." People don't want to be ignorant of religion or history, they just are. When was the last time you knew of a church history book selling over 40 million copies. After picking up this fictional book most readers will retain small, seemingly insignificant statements from this book and assume them as fact. If I read a fictional book about a teenager in a gang on the streets of New York, I don't assume that teenagers, gangs, and New York are fictional. I could go on and on but there really is no need to. I am sure that you have reasons why if you think about it. Tonight my youth are going to learn about the Council of Nicea. ha, ha. I couldn't imagine ever hearing that in youth. Ignorant kids make ignorant adults.

Galatians 1:6-9

Galatians 1:6-9 Galatians 1:6-9—I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or and angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preach to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. I wish there was some way to simultaneously cast these verses into the hearts and minds of all Christians, especially since the recent uprising of the “Gospel of Judas”. Many questions are being raised about things such as “The DaVinci Code” and the “Gospel of Judas”. This is good in one sense and bad in another. It is good because it is calling us to give an account for the hope that we have (1 Peter 3:15) which in turn drives us to understand why we believe what we believe. It is bad because most doubts and fears are not coming from the world, but from within the church. There is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9). Evidently, the 21st Century is not the first time that the Gospel has taken fire from false teachers. Paul tells the Galatian church, “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you……and are turning to a different gospel”. Paul was astonished at the turning away of the Galatians. Those who are not in Christ are naturally going to turn aside from the true Gospel. It is part of our depravity (Romans 3:12). We have had God’s word for hundreds of years and yet because of our lack of knowing it, we are shaken by the claims of “new discoveries”. Galatians 1:6-9 is a perfect picture of what Paul would have to say to the Church of America. Throughout all of Paul’s letters he is constantly preaching the gospel to the church. You may think that this sounds odd because the church should already know the gospel, right? But for different reasons, we must continue to preach the gospel to each other as believers. Preaching the gospel is not only the means by which salvation comes, it is also a part of the means of our sanctification. The same message that brings us to God is the same message that continues to keep us with God. Steven Curtis Chapman once wrote, “No heart loves greater than the one that is able to recall the time when all they knew was shame.” There are none who cherish the gospel more than those who know the gospel. Paul pronounces a curse to all those who would distort the gospel or preach a gospel contrary to the one that he has preached. The gospel that Paul preached was a crucified and risen lord. The word “accursed” is translated from the Greek word “anathema”. Anathema carries some weight with it. You can see the importance of the gospel when you understand what Paul pronounces over those who distort it. If someone is anathema they are, “cut off from salvation”, or “damned”. This should tell us something about the importance of getting the gospel right, and preaching the gospel to each other. Paul felt so strongly about the power of the gospel that to distort it or to turn to another gospel would be spiritually suicidal. I hope that the recent attention that the media has given to false gospels and fictitious claims would not turn your head. These are neither new findings nor is this the first time these issues have come up. It doesn’t take a historian or theologian to refute these claims. It just takes the church being the church.

Recording Drums...again

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Originally uploaded by AndrewD300.

Hey everyone... Andrew here. I'm in the process of laying down new drums tracks for the new album. Since Josh decided to redo his vocals, it gave me enough time to get the new drums recorded. So far, so good! I'm halfway done, and should have all tracks completed by next Tuesday, if all continues to go well.

Click on the picture to be taken to a gallery of pictures of the set up in the makeshift recording space I'm using.

Wednesday Devo

It has been a busy week and it is about to get busier. I haven't had time to write a devotion for the website but I ran across and article by John Piper that you don't want to miss out on. The article is about repentance and it is something that we as amercians can definitely use to hear more about. Check it out. You won't be sorry. http://www.desiringgod.org/library/fresh_words/2006/041906.html A little side note: I am going to hear John Piper speak this friday in louisville. I will tell him you guys said "hey".

New Cd Update

After listening to the rough mix of the new JMB cd I have to admit that my vocal performance is quite lacking. I am going to re-record my vocals which will push back the release date. The new release date is ......whenever. I was so worried about getting good mic levels and hitting the right notes on the first time through that I didn't feel the songs at all. I didn't sing them like I believed them. I didn't realize how dead it was until the rough mix. I will say that Andrew has done a superb job of mixing the instruments. I have said this before and I will continue to say this until it ceases to be true; I get to play music with my favorite band. Not everyone can say that. These guys are my favorite musicians. I couldn't imagine playing without them. You are a lucky man Josh Martin!

Galatians 1:4,5

Galatians 1:4,5 Galatians 1:4,5—who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. It’s very easy to pass over greetings when we read the bible but this is the third week and we are still looking at the greeting. I told you this would take a while! The reason we are still in Paul’s greeting is because it is so jam-packed with truth about the glorious things of God. His authority and death defying power (v.1), his grace, peace and lordship (v.3), and now in verses 4 and 5 we see other incredible truths. Right away we notice what was done for us. Christ gave himself for our sins. After all, noticing what affects us is part of being human. By nature we are self-absorbed people. But through the Spirit we are awakened to the glorious truths that the taking away of our sins happened because it glorifies God, not because it glorifies us. You can look at Christ’s taking of our sins in two ways. One is biblical and the other is not. You can say, “Christ took away my sins! I must be glorious!” Or you can say, “Christ took away my sins! He must be glorious!” Now, none of us would openly say, “I must be glorious!” but if our view of the cross centers on us rather than on the glory of God, we have already said this in our hearts. Yes, Jesus loves us. Yes, Jesus took away our sins. Yes, we get the benefits of the cross. But He must get the glory. The glory of God is the ultimate reason for the existence of everything. Christ “gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age.” There is an age coming that is not evil. It is an age where those in Christ will look upon his face and not die. It will be an age where the glory of God will be so much more than we could ever dream it to be. Our wandering hearts and wandering eyes will be so satisfied with what we see and feel that nothing will enter our being that does not directly flow up in praise to Him. Christ came to deliver for Himself the church that they might be to the praise of His glory (Ephesians 1:12-14). Christ gave himself for our sins and delivered us from this present evil age and this all happens because of the will of God. The fact that those in Christ have been delivered is owing completely to the will of God. It is not owing to any good work we have done. We can’t pray enough. We can’t read our bible enough. We can’t do enough good things. We cannot avoid enough bad things. You can’t lay down your life for the Kingdom of God enough. Our salvation is owing to the fact that God in his sovereignty has chosen to save sinners. We are saved because it is his will to save us, not because it is ours. We can want to be saved all day long but if God in his Grace had chosen to not save sinners, our desire to be with him would be useless. Paul explains this in detail in Ephesians 2. It was God’s will for Christ to go to Calvary and die for sins. It was God’s will for His own son to die a death that he did not deserve. It was God’s will for Judas to betray Christ. Many of you will struggle with these truths and I struggle with them sometimes myself but the bible is very clear that these events came as a result of God’s ordaining that they be. Nothing catches God by surprise. He is not removed from his throne because of disobedient men. Joseph was sold into slavery because it was God’s will. He told his brothers, “You meant this for evil, but God meant this for good” (Genesis 50:20). He didn’t say “God turned this into good”, he said, “God meant this for good.” God is sovereign over all things. Nothing can escape his hand (Deut. 32:39). Paul closes his greeting by stating that God gets the glory for all of this. The ultimate end in all that has been said and done is the glory of God. We must never claim the glory that comes from our being saved. It must always flow directly to God. No one is good enough to save themselves. We get the benefits, He gets the Glory. Christ took our sins, he gets the glory. We are delivered from this present evil age, he gets the glory. He saves sinners like us because it is according to his will, he gets the glory. Glory will flow forever and ever, and he gets that glory!

Am I really saved?

If we are honest with ourselves, we have all asked ourself this question at some point in time. Especially when we begin to struggle with a particular sin. One thing is for certain, we are saved by grace alone and our salvation is not a result of any work. If we are saved, then doing good things didn't save us. In the same way, doing bad things won't "unsave" us. So if our salvation is strictly of grace, how can we know if we are saved? We are saved by repenting of our sin and placing faith in whatChrist did in the crucifixion and resurrection. This is all of grace. When I talk to anyone about being a christian, we talk about Jesus being savior and lord. Most of us would talk about Christ being both of those things. And if we are saved, then Christ is both of those things. But how do we know if he is savior and lord of our life? There are several ways of testing ourselves that are found in 1 John. Romans 8:16 speaks of the Holy Spirit bearing witness with our spirit so we can know that we are God's children. Their is an inward assurance given by the Holy Spirit but sometimes we don't "feel" it and start to doubt our salvation. Here is an old post that may help you if you are struggling with this. Jesus is to be our lord and savior and TREASURE. A true believer will treasure Christ above all things. They will at least have a desire to know him more and live for him. Where Your Treasure Is Matthew 6:19-21—Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where they can be eaten by moths and get rusty, and where thieves break in and steal. 20Store your treasures in heaven, where they will never become moth-eaten or rusty and where they will be safe from thieves. 21Wherever your treasure is, there your heart and thoughts will also be. (NLT) I believe that no other verses in the bible will bring a man to examine himself more than these particular verses. This small passage of scripture crashes on our soul like the waves of a hurricane, consuming every aspect of our life and if taken to heart, will allow Christ to cleanse us from our own selfish desires. Where is your treasure? With whom or what do we spend countless hours? If we take a look at the words and actions of Jesus, we find one common denominator and are able to see the treasure of His life. Everything that Jesus did or said portrayed His love for the Father. The Father was Jesus’ treasure and his heart remained with the Father. Jesus was not looking for approval in the eyes of man nor was he looking to astonish them. He simply loved His father and because of His love for Him, He loved us. If you remember, the Sadducees and the Pharisees questioned Jesus about which commandment was the greatest. Jesus replied “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind.” Jesus was not in love with serving the Father. Jesus was not in love with the attention that followed Him as He served the Father. He simply was in love with the Father. It is not our responsibility to determine the treasures of others but to only decipher our own. Only one thing will last throughout eternity. Will this be your treasure or will your treasure fade and rust away with time? Take a look at your heart and what it stands for. Where are your thoughts? There is your treasure. It’s that simple. No amount of reasoning can change that.

New Blog

Hey everyone! I just wanted to say tell ya'll (that's you all for the yankees out there) that I have started my own blog. It's called "the musings of a reformed bassist" and you can get there by clicking on my name over to the side, I think. Although I don't post very often on this site, I plan on posting everyday, or multiple times a day on my new blog. I was going to wait until college started to start blogging but I've decided to go ahead now- it's not like college is the start of my life or anything! I just started this blog today so don't expect much now- maybe you should give it a few weeks so you won't be disappointed once you get there. Side note: I am an awful speller so I constantly have dictionary.com pulled up as I type and I was checking my spelling of "disappointed" just now and the definition that it gave me was "Thwarted in hope, desire, or expectation". That sounds cool. Anyway- that's all I got- check out my blog!

The Gospel of Judas

Matt Perry is the pastor of Boone's Creek Baptist Church in Lexington, KY. He has written an article on "The Gospel of Judas" on his blog. I recommend checking it out. www.bromattsblog@wordpress.com

Galatians 1:2,3

Galatians 1:2,3 Galatians 1:2,3—and all the brothers who are with me, To the church of Galatia: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. The whole law is summed up by Jesus in Matthew 22:34-40. We are to love God and love each other. If the whole law can be summed up with those two commandments, then I believe that everything that belongs to Christianity can be summed up in the greetings of Paul’s letters. “Grace to you and Peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Why not just say, “Hope things are going well”? Or “how’s things at the church”? Since the bible is the inerrant word of God, there must be a reason why Paul would always address his letters with the pronunciations of Grace and Peace—Romans 1:7, 1 Corinthians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 1:2, Galatians 1:3, Ephesians 1:2, Philippians 1:2, Colossians 1:2, 1 Thess. 1:1, 2 Thess. 1:2, 1 Timothy 1:2, 2 Timothy 1:2, Titus 1:4, Philemon 3. Why does he do this? Why is this important? Well, Paul isn’t here to explain himself but it speaks mountains to me. Grace. Just think about that word and all that it carries with it. Our salvation was bought with a price and that is grace (1 Corinthians 6:20). Saving faith is a gift from God and that is grace (Eph.2: 8,9). We were granted repentance and that is grace (2 Timothy 2:25). We were resurrected from spiritual deadness and that is grace (Eph 2:5). We have been predestined, called, justified and glorified and that is grace (Romans 8:30). God will finish what he starts in us and that is grace (Phil. 1:6). Think about it. That is enough to make a Baptist shout! But what is so amazing about grace is that it is greater than our sin. Grace does all of the things listed above because it is greater than our sin. Praise God! Our sin is disgustingly vile and gross and we need to feel that. The cross will not mean to us what the cross really is if we do not get that. Our sin requires punishment and Christ paid for it on the cross for all who would repent and believe. This is the breath-taking amazement of grace. Grace is the avenue in which all spiritual blessings are bestowed upon us. We receive these blessings only because grace is indeed greater than all our sin. Grace removes sin. Peace. Who doesn’t want this? Peace comes as a result of trusting in the claims of the Gospel. If you are in Christ, then you are at peace with God, period. Romans 5 is an incredible chapter with incredible truths that we often times would dismiss as unbelievable. We don’t always feel like we are at peace with God. Sometimes I struggle to really believe this. How often do we feel like God is mad at us for not doing our daily devotions? How often do we feel like God is mad at us because we didn’t pray all day? Sometimes I think we would rather have the law than grace. Our emotions can really mess with our minds. That is why regardless of feelings, we must trust biblical claims. Paul claims in Romans 5 that through Jesus Christ we have “now received reconciliation”. NOW! Not later. NOW! Let that speak peace to your soul and thank God for that peace that he has provided through his son. We were all enemies of God at one time (v.10) but through the gracious gifts that Jesus purchased for us on the cross, we are now his friends. Do not let our own personal “laws” abolish this truth in our heart. If you are truly Christ’s then you are at peace with God. Knowing this helps to empower you to live the life of faith. Just as Paul pronounced his blessings on the church at Galatia; so I pronounce mine on you as we conclude. “Grace and Peace to you.” May God grant you grace that overcomes the death-grip of sin and peace that calms the stormy waters of your soul. God bless you.

Recording Update

Ok........So I haven't posted on here in a while and I don't use a lot of big words like Josh does in his devotions, but I will give you an update on what is going on with the recording. Josh and Derek came over yesterday 4-6-06 and we finished all the vocals, so we are now ready to ship the product over to Andrew to begin mixing. I know it has been longer than expected for this to be ready, but I will take the blame for this one. However, I am real excited to hear the final product. Andrew did a great job on mixing the live project and I have no doubt that he will do even better with this one. Till next time. Kelly

Galatians 1:1

Galatians 1:1 Galatians 1:1—Paul, an apostle---but not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the Dead— When Paul states to believers that he is an Apostle it is more than just simply saying, “Josh Martin, youth minster”. The age of the apostles was an incredible time. There are some today who believe that the apostolic age has never ended, but I would disagree. If you press me I will give reason why, but that is not the goal for today. The term apostle simply means “messenger” or “one who is sent”. An apostle is one who gets sent by someone or some organization to do a particular task or deliver a certain message. In one sense, we could say that during the 60’s Adlai Stevenson was an apostle of John F. Kennedy. Adlai Stevenson was the press secretary for the president. Adlai was given a message to give to the press about the Cuban Missile Crisis. Adlai would be an apostle in this sense because he was sent out to deliver a message. We do not use this term often because when we refer to the word apostle we are talking about the Apostles sent out by Jesus. This is what Paul is getting at right from the start of his letter to the Galatians. Paul states that he is an apostle, but—he is not an ordinary messenger. He states the he is not an apostle sent “from men nor through man”. He does not want to be classified as one who was simply sent as we would send off missionaries today. He doesn’t want to be classified with those whom the church may send for a particular reason. The message that Paul was carrying was the message that makes up most of the New Testament. When Paul wrote to the Galatians he claims to be writing the very words of God! This is not an ordinary messenger! This is the one who brings the message of Salvation to the Gentiles. Paul was the direct avenue for sharing this gospel with the Galatians. Praise God for sending us such a messenger! Paul speaks of being given the stewardship of God’s grace for the Ephesians and how this was given to the apostles and not just anyone (Ephesians 3:1-5). He also tells that this is all of God’s grace and not by any credentials that he possessed. The apostles sent out by Jesus were not sent in the same way that we are sent. The foundation of the God’s household is the Apostles with Jesus Christ as the cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20). Something that may seem out of place but holds great significance is the last part of verse1. “Who raised him from the dead” seems at first like added information. What does this have to do with the rest of his greeting to the Galatians? Why throw those words in the sentence? First of all, a risen Christ is very important to Paul. It is important to all who are in Christ, but for Paul, it was a visual (or should I say blinding) reality. Paul was converted after Christ had risen. Paul was not speaking as one who had faith only, but as one who had witnessed first hand that Christ had risen. He did not walk alongside Jesus like the other Apostles and this proved to be a point of contention for many people because Paul was not ordained to the office of apostle while Christ was a mortal. To deny the authority that Paul exercised would be to deny power of the resurrected Christ. Secondly, Paul recognizes the fact that Christ is supreme over all things and wants to state that from the start. Paul was exclaiming that he was sent by the supreme authority and that his words should be taken as directly from that authority. Through his resurrection, Christ proved that all things are subject to him—even death. There is not one thing that happens in life that is not under the authority of God. The same God who sends food and famine, sun and rain, tsunamis and drought, life and death, the God who gives and takes away is the same God who is speaking through Paul. His words are not to be taken lightly. I believe that Paul addresses the resurrection here so that all who read would know that these words are to be the authority to which we answer. All things are subject to him without exception. So the question that we will look at every week until we are through this book is—So What? Why does this matter? This matters because the same Christ who made Paul an Apostle and rose from the dead is the same Christ who has called us by name unto Salvation. Therefore, we must gain from this verse that the words of Paul are not only words from Paul. Many will write off the letters of Paul and the theology he taught because they do not believe them to be the word of God. We will see in the coming weeks Paul’s own defense for why His words are from God. Heed the words of God as they have come from Christ through this apostle. They are authoritative. They are inerrant and infallible. They are the very words of God.

The Book of Galatians

We are going to start going through the book of Galatians for our Wednesday devotions. We will probably be in the book for quite a while. Anytime you systematically go through a book it takes time. But I have found that this is how I learn and grow. Hopefully you will too. God Bless!

Freedom Experience Benefit Concert

I, for one, had a blast at the Freedom Experience benefit concert this past week. Despite being a little under the weather, I still had a great time. There was a GREAT crowd on hand for a Tuesday night in Pleasureville. I'd like to say THANKS to everyone who came out and donated to the cause. We raised a very healthy amount of money - praise God! We hope you enjoyed the new songs! Leave a comment to let us know some of your favorites. 'Til next time.... -Andrew

Who' it gonna be?

LSU, Florida, George Mason, UCLA Give me your picks.