Each day read all of Psalm 1.

1.     What three actions are we told NOT to do if want to be blessed?  (Ps 1:1)

2.    A. Read Ephesians 2:1-3. When we walk according to this world, who are we seeking to please?

B. According to Isaiah 53:6 when we choose not to follow God’s way, whose way are we choosing?

    3.  A. Read Romans 8:5-8.  When we choose to live according to our own sinful nature, what do we have our minds set on fulfilling?

        B. What attitude does the sinful mind have toward God?  (Romans 8:7)

        C. How does God feel about this sinful nature?  (Romans 8:8)

    4.  A. Read Eph 2:4-5.  According to these verses what will God do for us?  Why will He do this?  Add your name as you read these verses aloud.

        B. Read Ephesians 2:8-9.  How does He accomplish this?

    5.  A. Read 2 Corinthians 5:17-18.  When we are in Christ what type of creation are we?  What happens to our old nature?

        B. What happens to our relationship with God?

    6.  Personal:  Read John 3:16.  Is your faith and trust in Jesus Christ to save you from your sins, reconcile you to God, and give you a new nature and eternal life?  If so, write or pray a brief thank you prayer to God.  If you have further questions, you can ask them here, talk to your pastor, or visit www.STIL-Chatting.com .

1) The conscience is awakened, but minds are not changed, therefore when guilt passes, backsliders cease to be religious. Like the dog returning to their vomit: Eager for heaven because they fear the torments of hell; when the sense of hell cools, so does the desire for heaven.

2) Some people are slaves to fears that overpower them, and the fear of men brings a snare: Thinking to the self, they say, “It is good to be wise, but not run the risk of losing all, or bringing on unnecessary trouble,” so they fall in with the world again.

3) For others there is a stigma that surrounds religion so it is a stumbling block: These people think they are high and mighty, better than churchmen, religion is considered low and common, so they return to their former, worldly ways.

4) Yet another group of individuals does not like to think of guilt and fear, or the possibility of future misery: Once rid of their awakening about the fear and wrath of God, they gladly harden their hearts and choose ways to harden them more and more.

~~Paraphrased from Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress

“Before I was humbled, I was like a stone lying

in deep mud, but He that is mighty came and,

in His mercy, raised me aloft.”

Saturday, February 23. Players may make arrangements with those they are competing with in the comments section of the blog.  
The rules for the tournament are as follows:

1)  Each player will play every other player in their category once.

2)  A win scores 1 point, a loss scores 0.  Player with the high score will be champion.

3)  Each win must be on your own merits, no assistance whatsoever.

4)  Report the scores to Julie via email:   Julie@stil-chatting.com

5)  Champions will be announced on the blog.

The first STIL-Chatting Chess Tournament will begin on Tuesday, February  19, 2008.  Round Robin is how the tournament will be played.  The tournament is open to all, but limited to 2 six- person groups in each category:  Beginner and Non-Beginner.

Games will be played on Yahoo! Games, in the Chess Centipede Shack.  If you are a beginner, or need a brush-up, Yahoo! Games has a good tutorial on the game.

How to sign up:  Leave a comment on this blog post with your name and whether you are a beginner or a non-beginner.

Hymns often are a great source of theology. This Lord’s Day’s Song for the Bread was no different. Written by Isaac Watts, whenever I sing this hymn, if you can call it singing, I am undone. Typically, I end up reading along through blurry, tear-filled eyes.

How sweet and awesome is the place

With Christ within the doors,

While everlasting love displays

The choicest of her stores.

While all our hearts and all our songs

Join to admire the feast,

Each of us cries, with thankful tongue,

“Lord, why was I a guest?’

Why was I made to hear Thy voice,

And enter while there’s room,

When thousands make a wretched choice,

And rather starve than come?

‘Twas the same love that spread the feast

That sweetly forced us in;

Else we had still refused to taste,

And perished in our sin.

Pity the nations, O our God,

Constrain the earth to come;

Send Thy victorious Word abroad,

And bring the strangers home.

We long to see Thy churches full,

That all the chosen race

May, with one voice and heart and soul,

Sing Thy redeeming grace.

“Preaching should break a hard heart and heal a broken one.”

September of 2007, my husband, Larry, and I attended a conference that was put on by the West Coast Evangelical Alliance, called, Transforming the Mind; Reviving the Heart. The speakers for the conference were W. Robert Godfrey; Michael Horton; Rev. Jason Allen; Rev. Ken Jones; and Rev. Don Chalmers. Michael Horton and Rev. Ken Jones are from The White Horse Inn; Rev. Jason Allen is from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; W. Robert Godfrey, President of Westminster Seminary California, and Rev. Don Chalmers who put the conference together.

The days we spent at the conference were encouraging. To see such top notch speakers willing to come and address the local church body in the San Francisco Bay Area was heartwarming. One thing that really stuck with me was the view of the West Coast. The West Coast of the U.S.A. is considered to be a missionary field within Evangelical denominations. Through my blog reading today, I stumbled upon this map. The map confirmed that the West Coast is, indeed, a missionary field.

We are minorities, swimming in a sea of Roman Catholicism. Historically, this make sense when you consider that much of the west was discovered by Spaniards. If I drive for an hour north, south, or east of our home, we would reach a mission founded by Junipero Serra. There is a mission in the town that we live in as well, but it was not founded by Serra.

The good news is, we don’t have to travel to be on a mission field; the bad news is, we were not evangelized by our Protestant brethren. Are any Evangelical denominations waking up and sending missionaries to the west coast of the U.S.A.?

Where does your state fit in? Click on the map to enlarge it.