What's going on?

I realized I haven't blogged in a while - call it laziness, busyness - just hasn't happened. This is not to say we haven't been busy, quite the contrary. This year I am substituting more at the school, which doesn't leave me much time to devote to things at home. However, the money is pretty good and doesn't require a lot of planning on my part. I am also still working 2 days a week at our church, The Bible Church of Little Rock (http://www.bclr.org/). In my opinion this is the best church around this area. Just today our pastor started going on over our core values. Things BCLR will not waiver or compromise on. After listening, I am more grateful than ever that the Lord has us here. One comment, he made is that we make no excuses that all mankind is totally depraved. Not an expression you hear in a lot of churches today. I leaned over to my son and asked, "Do you know you are depraved". To which he said, what does that mean. I tried to explain and his dad said read Genesis 6:5. It says "The Lord saw the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." It makes you stop and think exactly what is being taught in the mainstream church of today. Alot of the ministry is based upon feelings and meeting everyone's needs. This is done by applying canned programs, not leaving much room for the Holy Spirit to work, etc. As believers, we are called to stand out from the rest of the world, not to just blend in or become like them. Church isn't meant to the be the world - it is where we come to escape the world and all of the struggles in it.

The Core Values of BCLR are:

1. Adherence to a high view of God.
2. Recognition of the final authority and total sufficiency of Scripture.
3. Teaching an accurate doctrine of man.
4. Affirmation of the foundational and functional purpose of the local church.
5. Operation upon the priority of biblical leadership.
6. Functioning as a community that loves God and loves others.

Having grown up in the Southern Baptist church, there really wasn't a high view of God that I saw displayed. I never heard about man being depraved. I heard that we were sinners, but that we could pray the prayer and then all was okay. As a child, I believed this and did twice walk the aisle and get baptized. I thought I was okay until a few years ago. One night my husband me if I desired God's word and to read it. I honestly said, no. TO which he ask me why. I knew then that I hadn't been saved and wasn't saved. I was so grateful to have people at BCLR to go to and search this out with me. I had been living with a false assurance that I was a Christian and would go to heaven. However, you couldn't tell from my daily life. I never read my Bible or opened it, unless at church, didn't pray much and became very defensive when my husband tried to encourage me to do so. At church I enjoyed the social gatherings that were fun. Although fellowship is good - if that is all I come to church for, what good is my salvation. Soon after, I searched the scriptures and prayed and the Lord did save me. This was all by grace and nothing to do with any prayer I prayed as a child. The Lord choose me to be His and I forever grateful. He came to seek and save the lost and I was one of the lost. Since that time, it is a still a struggle, but I desire it more and more than every before and know I can't live without it. Just recently I attended a conference on worship. This has changed my life - the Lord has changed my life. We are commanded in the scriptures to worship. I am presently reading a book "How to Worship Jesus Christ" by Joseph S. Carroll. It says the following:

"We were created to worship Jesus Christ. We were created for Him, to become something like Him in order that He might find pleasure in us."

"True worship is more than setting aside a few minutes each day to read the Bible and pray. True worship requires complete commitment of emotions, intellect, and will."

(printed from the back cover).