NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER

Prayer is one of the most important disciplines a Christian has. It is our only offensive weapon against the "rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." Eph. 6:12

Prayer is also a privilege. It is through prayer that we are able to enter into the throne room of the Father, the Creator of the universe and ask Him to fulfill our needs according to His will.

Its interesting to note that the National Day of Prayer falls on a Thursday this year. Thursday is the day we at TurningPoint have been having our lunch prayer meeting with Pastor David. Each week we bring a sandwich and meet together, for lunch, some fellowship and of course prayer time. We've been praying for the church members and attenders and their families as well as for our government and troops.

Next Thursday, May 7 at noon, I'd like to encourage everyone to come to TurningPoint in honor of the National Day of Prayer. We desperately need to seek the Lord for a great awakening for our nation. That he might bring our leaders to repentance and heal our land.

So if you could, please make a special effort to come to TurningPoint during your lunch hour, even if its just for 15 minutes and join us in praying for our nation.

Thank you and God bless

Rob

LOOK, IN THE SKY, ITS OBAMA'S PLANE NOT OSAMA'S PLANE

Have you heard the latest?? Have you heard about the fly-by in NYC? Absolutely unbelievable. On Monday, April 27, the Obama White House ordered a photo op of Air Force 1 along with 2 F-16 fighter jets to buzz the Statue of Liberty and ground zero from 9/11. What was supposed to be a cute little stunt turned out to panic a city and cost tax payers over $328,000.

This insensitivity caused needless panic with people scrambling from their offices in attempts to get away from what they perceived to be another attack.

But should we really be surprised by this? If you look at Hussein Obama's first 100 days in office, he's spent most of his time campaigning around the world, bashing the U.S., calling us arrogant, shaking the hands of dictatorial socialist leaders and bowing to the Saudi King.

His incredible desire to be liked by everyone as well as his big head have done nothing but embarrass and humiliate the U.S.

Here we have these stupid Democrats running around promising every person in America, everything under the sun. They increase our deficit spending by trillions of dollars to cover their pork barrel pet projects and call it stimulus. Yet our children and grandchildren will spend their entire lives paying for what this Leftwing, spendthrift White House and Congress have created - Massive Debt. Meanwhile, thousands of Americans are losing their jobs at an astounding rate and the Obama White House orders a $328,000 photo op. So you tell me, do you think its ok for Obama to get some keep sake photo's at the expense of taxpayers who are losing their jobs right and left and are barely able to make ends meet?


And as if this wasn't bad enough, they told all the official agencies but forced them all to keep it quiet from the public. They threatened Federal sanctions against the NYPD, Secret Service, FBI & Mayor's Office if the secret ever got out.

Could you imagine the outcry from the liberal media if the Bush White House had done something like this?? They'd be calling for his impeachment. And I think this is exactly what should happen to Obama. As one of my liberal friends told me back in February, while blaming Bush for everything under the sun including getting a hang nail, "well he's in charge so that means he gets blamed for it." I ask, since Obama is in charge, should he not take responsibility for this stupidity of endangering people's lives and step down as president? As it is, the libs want to prosecute Bush White House officials for "torturing" enemy combatants while we were fighting a war.
I say we prosecute Obama officials for declaring war on America.

Now that's change I can believe in!!

Rob

SALVATION - CAN A PERSON EVER LOSE THEIR SALVATION?

Before we move on any further in our study of salvation we first need to look at the question, "Can a person lose their salvation?" There is a lot of controversial teaching on this topic so I want to straighten a few things out before we move on.

Unfortunately, the way many churches teach salvation is that once a person is saved they can also lose their salvation. That it is more of a holy relationship instead of a spiritual birth. This is why many people today believe they can lose their salvation. If the new birth is nothing more than a relationship then certainly a relationship could be lost. Some folks even look at the phrase of being born again as being nothing more than a figure of speech. Their whole view of regeneration is too shallow.

Instead, we need to be looking at the spiritual birth the way the Bible teaches us; that if spiritual birth, being born again, means God has planted a new spiritual life within you, if it means God made you a new creation, then to lose your salvation would have major consequences. This would mean, if you were to lose your salvation, the whole process of regeneration would have to be reversed. If we look at it from a physical view point, is it possible for a person to be unborn once they have been born? The obvious answer to this question is no. Therefore, if regeneration is an actual spiritual birth, which changes a man at the center of his being, then it cannot be reversed any more than a physical birth could be reversed.

So we must then ask the question Richard Belcher asks in his book on salvation. He says, "Does the new birth affect you externally through a relationship with God and then eventually internally, or does the new birth affect you drastically, internally by the implantation of a new principle of life and then affect you externally in your everyday life because of that internal change?"

When we are saved, the Bible says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation." 2Cor. 5:17-18

When we are saved, we are dramatically changed on the inside. We are spiritually reborn. And this spiritual birth is a work of God not man. So do we think we are capable of undoing God's work? By saying "I'm saved," and then turning around some time later and stating that I've lost my salvation is basically saying I've undone what God has done. I have power over God because I was able to reverse my spiritual birth. This is pretty bold.

Don't forget what Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one." John 10:27-30

NOTE: Did you notice that last part, "I and the Father are one." Here Jesus is claiming He is God. Don't ever let anyone tell you Jesus was just a great teacher. He was much more than that. In fact He is much more than that - He is God. The Jews knew exactly what He meant because the very next verse tells us they picked up stones to stone Him.

So its not that a person can be saved and then lose their salvation. Instead, a person who claims they are saved and then continues living a sinful life, I believe was never saved in the first place. They may have had some "spiritual experience" but if they show no remorse over their sin or claim that God loves them anyway because He created them that way, and they go on sinning, these are folks who were never saved to begin with.

Scripture tells us in 2Pet 1:10a "...be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure..." We need to check our lives and make sure we are living a holy life, that is pleasing to God by obeying His word. And when we do sin, we should be able to feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit upon us. We should desire to repent and seek forgiveness and be cleansed.

If you're going through life thinking you're a Christian, thinking you're saved and yet your life looks no different from the world. You better take another look at your Christian walk. Do you feel remorse for your sin? Do you know what it is that displeases God. Do you desire to repent when you sin?

A person who is truly saved can never lose their salvation. But, what we must ask is, "Are we really saved?" Just double check yourself and "Make your calling and election sure."

God bless

Rob

SALVATION - WHAT IS REGENERATION?

This study in salvation I'm taking from one of Richard Belcher's novels called A Journey in Salvation as well as from Scripture of course.

Salvation begins with God. It is not, nor can it be initiated by man. The human heart must be born again or regenerated and this can only happen through super natural intervention.

In the Gospel of John, chapter 3, Jesus is speaking with a Pharisee named Nicodemus who came to him to seek answers about his miracles. Jesus tells Nicodemus in v.3, "Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." Needless to say Nicodemus is stunned by these words and isn't sure what to make of this. He questions Jesus asking, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter his mothers womb a second time?"

But in verse 7 Jesus tells Nicodemus, "Do not marvel that I said to you, You must be born again."

First lets look at what Jesus is not saying here:
He's not saying - It would be nice if you were born again.
He's not saying - It would be helpful if you were born again.
He's not saying - It would be beneficial if you would be born again.
He's not saying - It is my hope that you would be born again.

Instead, Jesus is making an emphatic statement here that one MUST be born again. Basically He's saying, you MUST be regenerated. This is not optional or open to discussion. Then this raises the question, What exactly is Regeneration?

I) Regeneration is a Birth or a Creation

When you create something new or there is a new birth, it is the giving of life where before nothing existed.

So the new birth is not:
Making something from something else.
The remaking of something old.
The renewal of something already alive.
The reformation of something deteriorating or slipping away.
The revival of something dying.

Here's an example.

There was once a scientist who confronted God and said, "God, I'm now as powerful as you are. With my scientific knowledge I can create anything you can create." So God looking down on the scientist said, Ok, go ahead, lets see you create another earth." The scientist said, "No problem." He reached down and started gathering dirt for his creation, but God said, "Ah, ah, get your own dirt.

So regeneration, the new birth, is not making something out of something that already exists, its something that must be created from nothing.

Louis Berkhof in his book, Systematic Theology says the following about the new birth:

"The subconscious implanting of the principle of the new spiritual life in the soul which effects an instantaneous change; intellectually, morally, emotionally in the whole man which enables the sinner to respond in repentance and faith to the outward or public proclamation of the Gospel."

II) Regeneration is a Second or Spiritual Birth

This means that to be a Christian, one must be born twice. Continuing in John 3:5-6 Jesus notes for Nicodemus the significance of the two different births. He states, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water (physical) and the Spirit, (spiritual) he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, (physical) and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." (spritual)

What Jesus is saying here is that in order for anyone to enter the kingdom of Heaven he must be born, not only physically but spiritually as well; He must be born from above. This also goes hand in hand with other passages of Scripture:

1John 5:4-5 "For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world - our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?"

1John 4:7 "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God."

1John 2:29 "If you know that He is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of Him."

1Peter 1:22b-23 "...Love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God."

And there are many more passages that talk similarly about the second birth.

III) Regeneration is a Mystery to Men

How regeneration actually occurs we will never really know this side of Heaven. All we know for sure is that we are to proclaim the good news to the whole world and as people hear it, God will regenerate the hearts of some and they will be born again.

Back to our passage of Scripture in John 3, Jesus says in verse 8, "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."

So what's Jesus saying here? That salvation, the new birth, regeneration is the sole work of God and that the secret things are of the Lord.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Richard Belcher sums it up this way:

"A Christian is one who has been moved upon by the Holy Spirit in a manner which man cannot explain whereby a deep internal change has taken place so that he is a new creation through the imparting of a new principle of life by the Holy Spirit of God whereby also one's outward life is changed in a very noticeable and drastic manner."

I'll just add one more passage of Scripture to that:

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." 2Corinthians 5:17-21

Amen and God bless

Rob

Celebration Sunday

Today was Celebration Sunday at TurningPoint. We celebrated our second anniversary in our current location. The day was filled with great worship, plenty of food, fun and fellowship and even a concert by our own praise team. We also had a girls trio who came up from Riverbend and sang a couple of songs for us. All in all the weather remained beautiful this year and a good time was had by all.

But I'd like to focus on this morning's message by Pastor David as he preached out of James 4:13-17. This passage is about boasting about tomorrow. James talks about how we often make plans to do something or go somewhere in the future yet we can never really be sure whether or not those plans will come to fruition because we never really know what tomorrow will bring.

Pastor David taught that counting on the future is unwise. James 4:13 says, "Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit..." By saying this, man acts as if he is in control instead of God. This is foolishness because as James goes on to say in verse 14 "you do not know what tomorrow will bring..."

James tells us in verse 15 that instead of boasting in our own man made plans we should say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." No matter how we plan we just don't know what the future holds. Pastor David made a great analogy, he said, "To God, eternity is like an open map and He sees it all. To man, eternity is like an open labyrinth and he only sees where he is."

Does this mean we should stop planning then? Of course not. James is not telling us to drop out of life. We just need to make our plans aware that God is in control and not us.

Before you were born God knew every thought you would think and every word you would speak. All our plans should wait until God either opens the door or closes it. This does not mean sitting around doing nothing. Pastor David said we need to live life now, doing what God wants us to do while we wait on His response to the plans we've made.

So remember, It is God who governs our lives and not chance. Recognition of God with regard to the future is true wisdom.

Hope you all enjoyed our Celebration Sunday as much as I did.

God bless

Rob

Right Wing Extremist and Damn Proud of It

Have you heard all the rage over the report issued by the Homeland Security, Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A). (Intelligence?? Now there's a real contradiction in terms.) On April 7 the nine-page document titled "Right wing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment" was released classifying many Americans as well as Veterans returning from war as Right Wing Extremists and possible enemies of the state. Below is how the report speaks about our honored veterans:

"The Department of Homeland Security assesses that right-wing extremists will attempt to recruit and radicalize returning veterans in order to exploit their skills and knowledge derived from military training and combat. These skills and knowledge have the potential to boost the capabilities of right-wing extremists including lone wolves or small terrorist cells to carry out violence. The willingness of a small percentage of military personnel to join right-wing extremist groups during the 1990s because they were disgruntled, disillusioned or suffering from the psychological effects of war is being replicated today."

So, here we have a report from Janet Napolitano and more specifically backed by the Barack Hussain Obama's, Department of Homeland Security portraying our veterans as as posing a bigger threat to this country than Al-Qaeda terrorists or genuine enemies of this country like Kim Jong Il of North Korea or Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran. They wouldn't write anything about these crooks like this. They wouldn't write anything about Osama Bin Laden like this.

It is absolutely amazing to me how much Hussain Obama and his cronies in Washington hate America as it was founded. The report also defines right wing extremism to mean:

Right wing extremism in the United States can be broadly divided into those groups, movements, and adherents that are primarily hate-oriented (based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups), and those that are mainly anti-government, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely. It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration.

Wouldn't it be amazing if the liberals of this country would look at real terrorists the way they look upon conservatives? With Islamic fascists and other terrorists around the globe they want to hold hands, love everyone and sing Kumbaya. Yet here at home they want to take conservative American's, their fellow citizens, and ship them to Gitmo.

Just like the typical leftist they are, Barak Hussein Obama or Janet Napolitano put together this Department of Homeland Security report, proving they are nothing but extreme partisan radicals, and they're ready to go to war with a domestic enemy, conservatives, that they consider to be a greater threat than Iran, China, North Korea, Venezuela, Russia, or any other nation that threatens the United States. The message coming out of Washington by the Barak Hussein Obama administration is that conservatives are the biggest threat to America.

In one of his recent radio broadcasts, Rush Limbaugh said the following, I think I'll send Janet Napolitano a quick little note saying, "Madam Secretary, given your latest report from the Department of Homeland Security, don't close Guantanamo Bay, Club Gitmo. Keep it open so you can ship all the right-wing extremist Americans, former military members down there when you capture them engaging in whatever anti-American activity you dream up."

I couldn't agree more. I think this is something all of us right wing extremists should do. Let her mailbox get filled with 50 million or so letters like this and maybe she can see the foolishness of her statements.

The list of items presented in this document is extensive. For example, if you own a gun, own a Bible, are against abortion or homosexuality, you are guilty of being a right wing extremist. There is no question that these communists in Washington right now are out of control and out to destroy our nation and Christianity.

The left has always supported anything that is against Jesus Christ. They will say they believe in God - but what god?? Mention God and that's ok, but mention the name of Christ and today you're being labeled an enemy of the state.

Do you realize that this document lists everyone who agrees with the constitutional founding of our country as a Right Wing Extremist. That means our founding father's, if they were alive today, would be in danger of extremism and would be closely watched by the Department of Homeland Security.

Thank God for these TEA parties. Maybe America is finally starting to wake up and realize that our freedoms are little by little being stripped away.

God bless

Rob

HE IS RISEN!!!!!!

Praise the Lord!!

As this is the greatest day in the history of the world! Because Christ arose from the grave and defeated death, we who are sinners can now freely approach the Throne of Grace in repentance and faith and receive eternal life. There has never been, nor will there ever be again, so precious a gift.

Below I've taken a few different passages of Scripture and tried to encapsulate the true Easter story for everyone. Not only has He risen from the dead but He will one day soon return to call all of His elect home. Enjoy the verses below. Then turn up your speakers as I've embedded a couple of video's from the Accapella Christian group, GLAD. If you love Accapella singing, these guys are the best and these two songs are a real blessing. They follow right along with the Easter theme. Enjoy

"Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from Heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, 'Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, as He said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead, and behold, He is going before you to Galilee; there you will see Him. See, I have told you." Matthew 28:1-7

"Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw Him they worshiped Him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in Heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
Matthew 28:16-20

"And when He had said these things, as they were looking on, He was lifted up, and a cloud took Him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into Heaven as He went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, 'Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into Heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into Heaven, will come in the same way as you saw Him go into Heaven"
Acts 1:9-11

Praise God!! Now scroll down, turn up your speakers and enjoy some great Easter music from GLAD.

God bless and have a great Easter.

Rob