The Solid Rock Church

In the last post I mentioned about baptism – that if you have not been baptized that you should inquire about that with the pastor of the local parish church you begin attending. Baptism is a very important part of faith in God. Baptism is practiced by every Christian group or denomination – at least I have never heard of one that doesn’t practice baptism. That in and of itself speaks of its importance. The Bible speaks of two kinds of “baptism.” The first kind is water baptism, and the second is Spirit baptism, or baptism in or by Holy Spirit. The type I am addressing now is water baptism. Baptism is important because the Bible points to it as being important. Jesus Himself told His disciples to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,  baptizing  them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…” (Mt. 28:19, emphasis added) The Apostle Peter in his first sermon on the day of Pentecost (50 days after the Resurrection of Jesus) in response to t...

Last post I began to write about the Christian life being more like a marathon than a sprint. You began your “race” by telling at least one friend that you have committed your life to Jesus Christ – you received Him as Lord and Savior – and you are now seeking to follow Him in all of life’s parts. Now we can settle in to the longer “body” of the race. Again the Apostle Paul writes that we need to be transformed and that happens by the renewing of our mind. (Romans 12:1-2) The renewal of the mind leads to new actions too. Read Bible If you have started reading the Bible, and you are getting a good bit out of it with what you are reading, then continue on with what you have been reading. But if you aren’t sure where to begin, may I suggest you begin with reading the Gospel of John. The first four books of the New Testament are the four Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. They are named after their authors. John was written to folks that did not have a Jewish background and up...

I heard these words after I learned to row competitively in college many moons ago. They sound like “et vu (with the long “u” sound, but no vowel sound as in “view”) pray… partay.” They continue to have significance in my life, though I rarely hear them, and more rarely use them. They are French (I understand, because I have never taken any French lessons whatsoever!) and I was told they mean, “Are you ready?… Leave!” These are the words used to start a rowing race. Well, now that you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are “out of the starting blocks” as the saying goes, and you have begun the race. Yes, what you have done can be compared to a race. The Apostle Paul, one of the major writers of the New Testament compared his life, and thereby the Christian life, to a race. But as has been said many times by many people, it’s not a sprint, but a marathon. My daughter runs marathons and she tells me the marathoner will often begin a race a bit differently than ...