Additional Info My Certificate of Baptism Favorite Stories of the Bible My personal project of putting my favorite book and record set online! Theology Talk Discussions on Calvinism and "free will" What Did Jesus Accomplish On The Cross? Pastor Jim McClarty Faith Community Church A Reformed Baptist Church in Woodstock, GA High Tech Ministries A community seeking Christ within the Atlanta technology industry faith "Whatever is in this book (the Bible) is what I believe. Even if I don’t believe it, I still believe it. Whatever it says is what I believe. And, wherever I disagree with what it says, I’m wrong.” - Jim McClarty I am a Reformed Christian, baptised in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I adhere to a Literal Hermeneutic when interpreting Scripture, because it is the only method which allows the text to speak to us and be consistently understood in its normal sense, which is the intent of the author(s). How did I get like this? Read my personal testimony #1. The Holy Bible is TRUE. Every word of it. It is absolutely the inspired, infallible Word of God, written with many hands, but with one Author. It is God's revelation of himself, and His analysis of Man. We need to align our thinking with what the Bible actually says, instead of trying to make the Bible say what we want. If you and the Bible disagree, then YOU are the one in error. The Bible is inerrant. Any of the so-called "errors" or "contradictions" that can be found in the Bible are basically misinterpretations and out-of-context extractions and have all been clarified and explained to be perfectly harmonious. The misreadings are usually the result of a man-centered (read: deeply flawed) understanding of what the Bible "must surely mean", rather than simply accepting the black-and-white information and facts it presents. The writers of the Bible knew what they wanted to say, and they said it quite plainly (and most of them were killed for it). There is no "secret code" to understanding the Bible. The only key necessary is a literal hermeneutic. In order to be intellectually honest, evidence for a Biblical "error" must result from a comprehensive exegesis of the text. That is, fully explain and understand in total what is being said, who is saying it, to whom is it being said, why is it being said, and what are the circumstances surrounding what is being said. The most common places people claim to find Biblical contradictions are among the four Gospels. The fact that they each contain seperate details does not logically mean they contain errors. Each account is included in the Bible for a reason, and the details they each include are relevant to their purpose. Anyone can take out-of-context phrases from the Bible and make a wispy little case that it contains contradictions, but it makes no sense intellectually to argue such a point without first fully understanding the text itself. To do any less is a short cut to thinking. Be careful if you think you've found something in the Bible that contradicts itself. It has been studied and explained before, so all you need to do is a little research to discover the truth. We must remember that a contradiction only occurs when one statement excludes the possibility of another, and this NEVER happens in the scriptures. The Bible does not contradict, confuse itself or make errors. #2. God is in control of EVERYTHING. Including all world events and YOU. Whether you are a Christian, an Atheist, a Hindu, or whatever, you are living out God's plan for your life. Either you will come to worship Him in this life, or you won't. It's all a part of His absolutely sovereign will for the people of this world. Nothing happens that God doesn't decree. Nothing. You will either accept this now, or you will accept it later. There is NO third option. God has all the power, all the choice, all the will. We have NONE. We are in God's hands. For the believer, this is truly GOOD NEWS! #3. The more significant God becomes, and the less significant I become, the cooler and more amazing my Christianity becomes. When you realize that Christianity is not about YOU and your activities. Rather, it is about God and His electing GRACE which brought you to him despite your sinfulness, that's AMAZING GRACE indeed! If you happen to believe, it's NOT because you made a choice. It's because you were CHOSEN by God BEFORE the world was even created, and the Holy Spirit was placed inside you for the purpose of insuring your salvation! How incredible is that?! Podcasts I recommend the following podcasts to all Christians. They are an excellent way to keep your mind engaged and focused on the things of God, especially as listened to in earbuds as you go about your daily routines! These broadcasts are not exercises in feel-good preaching, but rich sources for stimulating discussions and rigorous defenses of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Grace Christian Assembly Pastor Jim McClarty The Dividing Line Dr. James White Unbelievable? Justin Brierley The GraceLife Pulpit Phil Johnson SMYRNA, TN Intensive live Bible study messages from Grace Christian Assembly, and teaching on theology and sound doctrine PHOENIX, AZ Call-in radio program covering a range of topics in Dr. White's sphere of apologetics UNITED KINGDOM Weekly broadcast bringing people with opposing views together for rich dialogue SUN VALLEY, CA Sermons from the GraceLife Fellowship at Grace Community Church, hosts of the Shepherd's Conference Blogs For further reading, food for thought, current insight, and sharp entertainment, read up on these fascinating blogs. Alpha & Omega Ministries Dr. James White and Team Apologian post articles about current events and topics related to Christian Apologetics."The Gospel is Ours to Proclaim, Not to Edit." SalvationByGrace.org Pastor Jim McClarty's blog covering topics of theology and Grace Christian Assembly. Pyromaniacs Phil Johnson and his fellow "Pyromaniacs" serve up some interesting food for thought. Lane's Blog Young blogger Lane Chaplin posts interviews and clips, featuring his Rightly Divided program. Now that you know where I'm coming from, read on ... Home | Faith | Music | Video | Web | Puppetry | Misc | Contact

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