Blue Ridge Bible Church

Blinded by the god of this age

I was chatting with some guys last night about Mormonism and other cults. What struck me is how intellectually blinded people are that are trapped in Mormonism and other cults. In the case of Mormonism there is plenty of information available about its sordid past and its founding on deception and sin. That information is not hard to find with a little research. Here is one example on Mormonism about how the “Book of Abraham” came to be. How could anyone base their faith on that?!

But it isn’t just Mormons… read on. Read the rest of this entry »

The Power of the Gospel at Work

He did, he does it! God loves us beyond what we can understand and his work changes our lives. The below video is a presentation of the Gospel at work. It is from an excellent website I just discovered called IamSecond.com.

Last summer I wrote about Josh Hamilton. He’s got a video on IamSecond.com too.

A Wonderful Prayer

One of my favorite preachers on the radio is Dr. Allistair Begg. In today’s brodcast he quoted a short Puritan prayer that really hits the centrality of the Gospel in our lives as believers. I hope that this prayer expresses our heart each day.

Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly, Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision, where I live in the depths but see Thee in the heights; hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold Thy glory. Let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up, that to be low is to be high, that the broken heart is the healed heart, that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit, that the repenting soul is the victorious soul, that to have nothing is to possess all, that to bear the cross is to wear the crown, that to give is to receive, that the valley is the place of vision. Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells, and the deeper the wells the brighter Thy stars shine; let me find Thy light in my darkness, Thy life in my death, Thy joy in my sorrow, Thy grace in my sin, Thy riches in my poverty, Thy glory in my valley.

The Number One Problem Men Face

Bill Wilcox forwarded this on to the guys that attend his Saturday morning men’s breakfast small group (every Saturday at 7am for breakfast then Bible Study). It is a helpful reminder to those of us who are married. It is the October 20, 2008 Weekly Briefing email from Patrick Morley of Man in the Mirror. You can subscribe to this weekly email on their website here. Read on to get what Bill sent out… Read the rest of this entry »

A Parable

The author of this delightful parable is unknown. I discovered it in The Adventure of Discipling Others by Ron Bennett and John Purvis.

At first I saw Christ as my observer, my judge, keeping track of the things I did wrong, so as to know whether I merited heaven or hell when I die. He was out there, sort of like the president, I recognized His picture when I saw it, but I really didn’t know Him. Read the rest of this entry »

What Is It That Every Son Wants and Needs From His Father?

I’ve enjoyed being a part of the Wednesday morning men’s small group at Jon Tigges’s home where we are going through “The Quest for Authentic Manhood” by Robert Lewis. The format is watching a presentation by Lewis on DVD and then discussing the material among the men present.

Side note: “The Quest for Authentic Manhood” and getting together with other men has been a fantastic time and if you can work it into your schedule I encourage you to make a commitment to it. I hope to see you there!

Something that struck me this morning that I wanted to share are five things Lewis listed as being what every son wants and needs from his father. This aspect is just part of his larger point which I won’t share here but the points on fathering sons was excellent.

Got a son? Read on …

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“Come What May” Premiere in Purcellville

Come What May a feature length independent Christian film will be premiering in Purcellville September 6. This exciting project was filmed and produced in our area and involved many people from Blue Ridge Bible Church. The movie is the creation of Advent Film Group which has a tremendous purpose: “To create excellent Christian films by raising up excellent Christian filmmakers.”

Learn more about the movie premier by reading the rest of this post.

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Good luck, Wiccan style!

Hopefully I’m not making fun of someone too much here but I couldn’t help but laugh at this AP story. A woman in Indiana accidently stabbed herself in the foot during a Wiccan ceremony she was performing. She is apparently recovering fine but the funny part is that according to the article “she was performing the ceremony to give thanks for a recent run of good luck!” Hopefully this experience will cause her to question her beliefs and start a search that ends with finding the one and true God.

Redemption and Josh Hamilton

Josh Hamilton

Josh Hamilton, a professional baseball player for the Texas Rangers, is an amazing testimony of God’s power to redeem and change a life. You might have heard about Josh Hamilton recently because he put on an impressive show last week at the Home Run Derby, breaking the record by hitting 28 home runs in one round. You can watch all the impressive home runs by Josh Hamilton at MLB’s website here. He even hit three more than 500 feet! In addition to the Derby performance, Hamilton currently leads the Majors in RBIs.

Hamilton’s amazing performance is made all the more impressive when you find out that not too long ago, he was deep within the dark pit of drug addiction. He says that his last drug use was October 6, 2005.
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The “Gospel of Judas” was a sham

May 2006

Back in 2006 the National Geographic Society helped sponsor a highly promoted research project into what was being called the “Gospel of Judas.” This ancient manuscript was implied by some to have been written by Judas Iscariot, the apostle who betrayed Jesus and who soon after committed suicide according to the Bible’s account. National Geographic referred to this lost “gospel” in this way:

The Gospel of Judas gives a different view of the relationship between Jesus and Judas, offering new insights into the disciple who betrayed Jesus. Unlike the accounts in the canonical Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, in which Judas is portrayed as a reviled traitor, this newly discovered Gospel portrays Judas as acting at Jesus’ request when he hands Jesus over to the authorities.

The National Geographic Society implies that the Bible is wrong or at best unreliable. If Judas didn’t kill himself and didn’t betray Jesus then how can we trust the rest of the account? Can we believe that our Bible is authentic? If all these scholarly experts are certain, how can I be certain? Follow the link to read the rest of this post. Read the rest of this entry »