Blog: October 2018

After God tested Abraham, Abraham named the place “The LORD Will Provide” (Gen. 22:14) God repeated His promise to Abraham: “I will indeed bless you and make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky … And all the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring” (Gen. 22:17-18). God blessed Abraham’s life, and he was about 140 years old when he asked his most trusted servant to go to his relatives and find a wife for his 40-year-old son Isaac. Abraham believed God would keep His promise; he trusted that God had a wife for ...

Monday was an influential day in our hearts as we relived the events of our Lord and Savior from after the arrest in the garden until His last words on the cross.  Our weather was beautiful and we started the day at the house of Caiaphas where Jesus was believed to have been held overnight by the religious authorities deep in the ground in an old cistern where only the worst offenders would have been imprisoned.  Outside in the courtyard stood a statue with Peter and a rooster symbolizing his denial of Christ three times that same night. We ...

Last Sunday I recommended the book, Remember Death:  The Surprising Path to Living Hope, by Matthew McCullough.  It might sound morbid to remember death—and it would be if the idea was to obsess over it.  But it’s good to face facts, and then to call upon the Father, Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom (Psalm 90:12). A right way of remembering death is freeing.  We don’t have to grit our teeth in constant mental and emotional exertion to sustain an imaginary future in which this life just goes on and on.  ...

We visited the Shepherd’s Field just east of Bethlehem.  A church was built there to remind us that God didn’t send angels to tell the rich and powerful about the birth of His Son, born King of the Jews, but the lowest of the low – the shepherds.  They traveled to Bethlehem to see the Christ child, then they shared the good news with others. Bethlehem was a small town on a limestone hill.  Since it receives much rain, there were many caves, such as where Jesus was born.  We visited the Church of the Nativity, but the line to see the grotto ...

We had a very busy day on Saturday and a very spirit filled day as we moved from northern Israel down to Jerusalem. We began our day with a wonderful experience at the Jordan River where 10 members of our group had their baptisms rededicated.  Jim Flye presided over the ceremony which proved spiritually meaningful to our entire group of 25. After that we drove to Bet-She’an where we saw the remains of a Roman City including a theater and bath house. We then moved on to Jericho for lunch and later a view of the mountain where Jesus was ...

We continued our journey through the Holy Land today with a visit to CAPERNAUM, in Galilee, which was the center of Jesus’ early ministry. We talked about the many that were healed by Jesus and shared the story of the paralytic healing and the faith of his friends that were determined to get him to Jesus by removing the roof and lowering him before Jesus.  We had a special time of prayer and anointing for healing for several members of our group. Our next stop was at the MOUNT OF BEATITUDES (Sermon on the Mount) where we were able to see a ...

In Making Sense of God, Tim Keller argues that “con­temp­orary secular­ity is not the absence of faith, but is instead based on a whole set of beliefs, including a number of highly contestable assumptions about the nature of proof and rationality itself” (p. 41).  So the human situa­tion does not involve secularism on the one side and religious belief on the other—all positions involve faith.  “To move from religion to secularism is not so much a loss of faith as a shift into a new set of beliefs and a new community of faith, one that draws ...

Dear Goshen Family, our last few days have been very busy, but it is so meaningful to walk where Jesus walked.  Wednesday we first drove to Caesarea by the sea to see the Roman ruins and then on to Nazareth where Jesus grew up.  We ate a traditional first century meal and learned about life in Jesus’ time.  In Cana of Galilee, Jim Flye led seven couples in a special ceremony to reaffirm our marriage commitments to one another.  God is so good!  Thank you so much for your prayers.

Dear praying friends, We arrived safely in Tel Aviv yesterday morning and are grateful for God’s traveling mercies. After overnight flights, we immediately met our guide and drove to Jaffa where we saw the harbor and shared the passages from the book of Jonah.  Just amazing to know we were in that ancient city and our guide took our group to a beautiful lookout over the city.  At each stop along the way he gives us more understanding about the religious and cultural history of the area.  We then drove up the coast to the city of Netanya ...

Over the next few weeks of the Gospel Project for Kids, kids will learn that God was still working out His plan to send Jesus into the world to rescue us from sin. Since the beginning, God wanted to bless and provide for His people. Genesis 11 records the generations between Noah and Abram. Noah’s son Shem had a family. Through Shem’s line, God would keep His promise to send a Savior. Shem’s seventh-great grandson was named Abram. Abram was born in Ur of the Chaldeans. Abram was in his homeland when God spoke to him. God told Abram: “Go out ...

      Goshen Baptist Church invites you to Trunk or Treat 2018.  Please join us on Sunday, October 28, from 3-5:00 p.m. for this free, family friendly event!  Bring a friend.

This Sunday our “Walking in the Truth” sermon series will take us to the section of the Goshen Statement of Faith about church and state.  As we turn to Scripture together for God’s guidance on this complex matter (looking at 1 Peter 2:13-17), I also want to recommend several resources on faith and politics provided by various Christian leaders. I’ve found these authors/teachers/pastors to be wise in handling the Word of God and applying it in relation to the delicate interplay of church and state.  Of course, I can’t endorse everything ...

Dear Goshen Family and Friends, In less than a week, on October 15, our team of 25 will be on our way to Israel.  We have been planning for this “Journey to Israel” for over a year and a half and now it is almost here. What an exciting time this will be--to walk where Jesus walked! We are planning to post some updates on the church blog every few days that will give you a glimpse into our travels as we visit Nazareth, Cana, and Capernaum; as we take a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee; as we explore Jerusalem; as we pray in the Garden of ...

Why would we hear the story of Job while studying stories from Genesis? Most biblical authorities believe, based on subject matter and language, that Job was a contemporary to the patriarchs. Job fits chronologically into this period in history. Job was a wealthy man who loved God. At the beginning of the book, God allows Satan to test Job’s faithfulness. Job lost everything, and he asked God why these things were happening. God answered Job, and His response reveals that God alone is all-powerful, sovereign, and good. “Have you ever in ...

Last week I saw a fascinating commercial during a football game—it was for Pepsi.  The ad follows NFL fans from several different teams as they get ready for the game, and it also features a few big-name players like Dak Prescott and Antonio Brown.  The camera is on each person only for a second or so as they hum along with the NFL theme song tune.  During the half-minute ad, the music builds and the anticipation rises.  Just before the end a bunch of fans take their place on the couch to watch the big game, all smiles, and (of course) Pepsi ...

Men, you're invited--come on out and watch Thursday Night Football:  EAGLES vs. GIANTS on October 11 at 8:20 p.m.  The game will be on the big screen in Fellowship Hall.  Join us, bring a friend, and bring your team spirit!

Following the flood, God commanded Noah in Genesis 9:1 to “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” This command echoes the one given to Adam and Eve in Genesis 1:28. God intended the paradise of the garden to spread into the whole world, but sinful people had other desires. Genesis 10 accounts for the nations that spread out in the land after the flood (Gen. 10:32). The people moved east and settled in a valley. This story continues the cycle of distrust and disobedience to God. In Genesis 11:2, Scripture indicates that instead of ...