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The Three Theological Systems of Christianity

An Overview of Christian Doctrine Using Calvin's T.U.L.I.P

The Apostle Paul warned the church, especially in the Book of Acts, that when he would leave the church for the last time, grievous wolves would come in.  These wolves would take many sheep away from the pasture and slay them.  But down through the ages, there has always been a church; many times just a remnant church.  The Roman Catholic Church tortured and murdered many of the true churches in the mountain valleys of the Piedmont in the Alps Mountains and in several other places.

But when in the 1500s the Protestant churches broke away from the mother church; two main theological systems developed:  Calvinism and Arminianism.  There were many debates and terrible fights developed between these two main divisions of Christianity.  But there has always been the third view -- the covenant view -- that churches have held to and believed.  It has to do with the covenant; the covenant that was made and swore to by God the Father.  Covenant Theology is the answer to the arguments that have followed since the Reformation.  It is a synthesis of the Reformers, accepting elements of truth from both sides while rejecting errors of both.  It is this view that we present to you, thanks to Jim Jester. 

By Pastor Mark Downey

March 18, 2012

Scripture Reading:  Revelation 2:1-4

he exact phrase “our first love” is not found in the Bible, but it is generally recognized to be from Rev. 2:4, “Nevertheless I have somewhat against you, because you have left your first love.”  In other words, when God called His people and said I want you for My bride and at first they were ecstatic, but later became less than excited, there was a problem.  One has only to look at so many variants of re-formed churches, of splintering and denominationalism, whose original zeal had long departed and among whom so much declined, that an attempt to reinvent the warmth and excitement they once enjoyed can be typified with the church at Ephesus and for the last 2000 years can rear its ugly head anywhere and at anytime.  We constantly hear of revival, but more often than not it is nothing more than changing their reformation from the hands of the Divine Potter to the hands of spiritual paramedics with good intentions forming the clay in their own image of a revived vessel.  I recently listened to a sermon online titled ‘Returning to Our First Love,’ which means whatever they first loved, they had moved away from it.  When I got married, people said I had a smile on my face from cheek to cheek… for the whole day! And in typical fashion we had a beautiful honeymoon in Hawaii.  To this day, I have the same feelings I had on my wedding day, but after our first year of marriage, I would sometimes be remiss in opening a door for my bride or lapse in giving her a bouquet of flowers and she would say, “Oh, is the honeymoon over?”  And I would say, “Nooo, our love grows with each passing day; it just keeps getting better and better.”

The Wake-Up Herald

Robert McCurry, Editor & Publisher

And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.   Romans 13:11-14

Abortion's Evil

By Pastor Don Elmore

March 11, 2012

Scripture Reading: Mark 7:1-9

Who was the first Presidential Candidate who was murdered in the United States while he was running for the office?  There have been several Presidents who were assassinated while in office; a few who had suffered several bad wounds, but this question refers to a Presidential Candidate who was killed before the election. 

Before I answer this question, let’s consider the Republican Candidates who are left in the election for 2012.  There are serious questions about Mitt Romney’s religious beliefs, that I have heard absolutely none reported by the news media.  Rick Santorum is a Roman Catholic.  Santorum is a congregant of the Opus Dei-linked St. Catherine of Siena Roman Catholic Church in upscale Great Falls, Virginia which links him to former FBI director Louis Freeh and organized crime. 

Newt Gingrich is a Marxist/Leninist Communists traitor and revolutionary.  Ron Paul just isn’t going to win.  On the other side, is another communist, but he is not even a citizen.   They have America right where they want her.  No good choice!

I will give you a clue that the first Presidential Candidate that was murdered was a Mormon; do you know who it was?  Let’s look at all the Mormon candidates for President who have run, going in reverse order of the year in which they ran:

The Wake-up Herald

And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.

by Sandi B.

Some Possible Solutions

I believe that if a problem is raised, solutions should also be presented. And there are some very workable solutions for this whole issue of what can be done for MKs today. Here are some very practical solutions that I hope you will consider. 

By Sandi B.

Truth is the Bottom Line

Our opinions and intentions have no bearing on the truth.  The truth stands on its own.  It does not rely on our stamp of approval.  The truth is that all races are different — they didn’t evolve — God made us very different because He wanted us different.  He has a plan and we, through world missions, interracial marriage, and now bringing into the world children of no race — and therefore, no purpose — are destroying that plan.  But it can’t be completely destroyed, because God won’t let

By Sandi B.

I was born and raised a missionary kid (MK), but I never allowed myself to really think about it until last year (when I was 54 years old) — believe it or not. That’s because we were told from as early as I can remember that we must not do or say anything that would reflect negatively on Dad. I was not sure I could honestly look at my life without dishonoring my Dad or God…. When I let myself think, it was like a dam broke….

On October 6, 1953 a little baby girl was born to the Nelson family in Malaybalay, Bukidnon, Philippines. That was me. I was one of five children. As a baby I had bad colic and cried for the first three months — so I was often placed in another room at the other end of the house to cry by myself, or the house girls (maids) would put me on their backs while they skated our wooden floor with their feet on coconut shells, which gave the floor a beautiful shine and kept me quiet at the same time. Once the colic passed, I became a very outgoing, happy little girl.

I grew up in a simple, rural settling way out in the province — sort of like Little House on the Prairie gone native. My parents were a doctor and nurse medical team. We lived on a compound of missionaries who all worked at my Dad’s hospital or in the area doing other things. Of course, all my friends were the children of the other missionaries on the compound.

by Sandi B.

Introduction by Pastor Don Elmore

The following is Sandi B’s excellent article on her life; especially about her school days in the Philippines. She rightly questioned the method of schooling the missionary kids (MKs) received — that is, they were sent many miles away to schools that were set up for this purpose. Some, even as young as kindergarteners, were and are sent, a long distance away from home to go to school.

It is like going to college — except all of the MKs are a lot younger. They only get to see their missionary parents on holidays and during the summer. And this is not the time to question this behavior.

Even brothers and sisters are many times separated. This happened in Sandi’s family. And for many of them this time of difficulty is just something to "suck it up" and put on a happy smile. To question this behavior is almost the same in the minds of these children as to question the command of God.

For those of you who know Sandi; you can appreciate the pain and awful memories she had in remembering these days. She only recently had the power to find out, herself, how bad these days really were. As she wrote, for those living these days they were always just "fine." I want to publically thank her for not only writing this article, but also for telling us that even pastors must be duly awake for the "wiles of the devil." Not only are the duties of the mother and father so important; nothing can ever separate their importance in the life of a child.

by Pastor Mark Downey

March 4, 2012

Scripture Reading: Mark 7:1-9

The populist cry of the American Revolution was "Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God."  Fast forward to the present time and we can witness a complete reversal. Treason within church and state has become as commonly accepted as watching TV.  Both ironically call good evil and evil good. Resistance to God is obedience to tyrants. Too many of our people have lost the Spirit of '76 in standing up against evil and the church world doesn't know how or even why it should obey God.  They don't know what to obey.  Thomas Jefferson said, “I prefer dangerous freedom to peaceful slavery.”  Orwell picked up on that idea in his mythical totalitarian state, whereby freedom is slavery, war is peace and ignorance is strength.  The thing is it’s not a myth anymore.

The mind-numbing process to substitute God's sovereignty with pious paganism or self indulgent morality is in plain view.  In fact, the adversarial façade of a vicarious manifestation of Christianity can be too obvious for most people to detect.  Audacity is taken to extreme limits.  All that is seen is the whited sepulcher and not the soup of vile remains inside.  The Big Lie grows exponentially.