October 20, 2011
by Shannon Munoz
Posts: 94
I find that the affliction of sin is relentless in me. A familiar pattern in my life sees me setting out to make a small amount of progress conquering one area of sin in my life, only to find a new sin issue rear its ugly head, showing me just how incredibly wretched my heart can be.
My soul longs to know peace, but my heart battles for its own selfish desire to be exalted. Continue Reading →
October 19, 2011
by John Pleasnick
Posts: 303
If I have no meetings, I rise around 6:30am. I shower first because that’s how I wake up. It’s more effective than coffee – at least for me. As I wake up with the water pouring down, I have a choice: prayer or plan. I can pray for my day, my family and issues, or I can start to plan out my day. I pray as I get ready.
Next I go to my office. At that moment, I have another choice to make: email or Bible. Which will it be? What should I read? If I hit email first, there’s a strong chance that I will not make it back into the Word until much later, if at all. I open the Word. I start to read.
My phone beeps and I reach for it. Continue Reading →
October 18, 2011
by Scott Phillips
Posts: 25
Recently I was speaking with two students about their college experiences. They had chosen prestigious universities and had been excited about being with others who challenged them academically and prodded them to excel.
Yet, once on campus, they experienced a great deal of disappointment. Their idea of the ideal educational experience was dashed by a deluge of students who were mainly interested in the fun of regularly partying themselves into a drunken stupor, only to wake with a headache and heartache, ready to start all over again.
What does any of this have to do with an RMG? Well, nothing, really. But this idea of “fun” that the masses hold onto stands in stark contrast to what a real good time is. Continue Reading →
October 17, 2011
by Julie Cudney
Posts: 46
Before this week, I already knew I was selfish. Some recent events, though, have revealed just how deep that selfishness is and how it fights against God’s purposes. On Sunday, Chris’s sermon showed a picture of the opposite of selfishness, the Trinity.
When it comes to loving others, I had often heard examples from Christ’s life or other illustrations from the way God loved His people in the Bible. Looking at the love between the Trinity, though, challenged me yet again in my love for others. Like Chris talked about, what many label as my love for others can often be traced back to simply a love for myself. I saw that first hand this weekend. Continue Reading →
October 14, 2011
by Chris Mueller
Posts: 16
The main passion of FBC is to see God glorified by people coming to Christ in salvation and becoming more like Christ in sanctification.
This process orbits around God’s Word and dependence upon God’s Spirit. People can’t turn to Christ to be saved without hearing God’s Word, and people can’t grow to be more like Christ without submitting to God’s Word, empowered by God’s Spirit. Another way of stating the passionate drive of FBC is that we want to be USED OF GOD TO MAKE AS MANY PEOPLE LIKE JESUS CHRIST, IN THE SHORTEST TIME POSSIBLE.
This is why we have begun an evening service, so people in another region of our valley (and our people who can’t come on Sunday) can hear God’s Word the way God wrote it through His apostles, in order to come under the authority of the Word in every area of their lives, to become more like Christ in every way. We are praying people turn to Christ and grow to be more like Christ. Continue Reading →