"New Year, New Me"

Everyone tries to make resolutions and change during the New Years season.  But, while most of us won't keep them, this time of year is a great time to make a change in your life. 

"It's a new year, a new section of life, and the road ahead is unknown."

I would have agreed with the above statements, but I would have not looked at in quite looked at it the same way.

This was my first full fiscal year of being a Christian, saved by Grace.  It will be two years this February and I can say that being saved didn't make my life easier, but I would never change a thing. 

Through a crazy year of losing relationships, family members, seeing others come to faith, and seeing God's great plan unfold over the last year, I realize I could never do it with out Him. 

The Word of Psalm 46 ring just as true this year as ever, but I'm just starting to truly embrace it.

"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging" ~Psalm 46:1-3
But, I thought it appropriate that among the "resolutions" and "new starts" and ultimately the New Year that is coming upon us, to share my testimony of how God made me new, through faith, by His grace alone.

You can read my testimony below.  Thank you all ShownTheWay readers for the amazing 2011.  Have a wonderful and blessed 2012!

From A.W. Tozer "The Pursuit Of God"...

"For this great sickness that is upon us no one person is responsible, and no Christian is wholly free from blame. We have all contributed, directly or indirectly, to this sad state of affairs. We have been too blind to see, or too timid to speak out, or too self-satisfied to desire anything better than the poor average diet with which others appear satisfied. To put it differently, we have accepted one another’s notions, copied one another’s lives and made one another’s experiences the model for our own. And for a generation the trend has been downward. Now we have reached a low place of sand and burnt wire grass and, worst of all, we have made the Word of Truth conform to our experience and accepted this low plane as the very pasture of the blessed.

It will require a determined heart and more than a little courage to wrench ourselves loose from the grip of our times and return to Biblical ways. But it can be done. Every now and then in the past Christians have had to do it. History has recorded several largescale returns led by such men as St. Francis, Martin Luther and George Fox. Unfortunately there seems to be no Luther or Fox on the horizon at present. Whether or not another such return may be expected before the coming of Christ is a question upon which Christians are not fully agreed, but that is not of too great importance to us now."
- From pg 27


I have been reading this book, and though it is a hard read, it is a wonderful read!

I would suggest to anyone looking for “spirtual meat” as opposed to milk.

Hope it encourages you in some way.  God Bless!

Stuff Christians Can't Answer

Image From:
http://noapologies.info/images/Trouble%20Answering%20Questions.jpg

I’ve been away from doing this series in the old blog for a while. This is due to lack of material to use. If you can find contradictions in the Christian faith email me at Shownthewayblog@hotmail.com and I will use them in future blogs.

Now to today’s “crisis with faith.”

Is the God of the Old Testament the same as the God of the New Testament?

I believe 100% yes! Let me make my case through some iconic Old Testament events. Let give Three Points.

The Statements Of Jesus


Let’s start in Exodus 3. God visits Moses from within a burning bush and gives him his mission of taking the Israelites (God chosen people) out of Egypt. In verse 14, Moses wonders what name he should call God,

God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” ~Exodus 3:14

Lets contrast this too the New Testament. In John Ch.8 (verses 48-59), the Jews and religious leaders of the time are skeptical of Jesus and claim Him to be “demon possessed.” Jesus ends out the chapter by making this statement, “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” ~John 8:58. His listeners knew very much what He was talking about by the fact that they tried to stone Him following His speaking. (verse 59)

Jesus claimed to be God. Now, is there evidence to His claim? Let’s continue.

The Modern Day Holocaust.

What one question changed there minds from pro-choice to pro-life?
180-Changing The Heart Of A Nation

Merry Christmas!!

I shall be taking the rest of the week off from the blog to rejoice in the season.  Along with enjoying family and friends.

Have a Merry Christmas.

Don't forget it's about more then the gifts, but about the ultimate gift we received 2,000 years ago.

"Mild He lays His glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth"

Atheism And The Modern Gospel

Here are two scenarios:

A pastor stands at a pulpit in anywhere U.S.A.  The music from worship has just faded and he has begun his message.  As he ends he says, “God is love, and has a wonderful plan for your life.  I promise that once you except Christ nothing bad will ever happen to you.  Christ died to make you happy.  Christ wants to know you today, and so, if you want Him, come forward and pray this prayer with me.”

Another man enters into his pulpit, the classroom.  He is a professor at one of the top universities in the country and he thinks Christianity is ridiculous.  “How could men believe and want to worship a god who is tyrannical monster?”

What is do both of these men have in common?

Tales Of The Fearful Fisherman: A Fear Of Sharks

"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." ~Matthew 4:19

When Jesus gave this call to His disciples there are three things He lift off; for good reason I might add.

He never said:

1) It would be easy.

2) It would come quickly.
3) They would never make mistakes.

Why didn't Jesus say these things?  I mean, it certainly would have comforted the disciples and made them want to follow Him more, right?  Well, we forget, Jesus is Truth. 

He didn't say things to His disciples because they weren't the Truth.
If fishing for men (that's Christian for "sharing our faith") was meant to be easy, Jesus would have never left this promise at the end of the Great Commission "...And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” ~Matthew 28:20b  Would Jesus have said this if He knew we wouldn't struggle and ultimately need Him to complete taste He had set before us; which was to "go and make disciples of all nations"?
I struggle with what I call "a fear of sharks."