The Forgiving Father!

The Forgiving Father!

by Clint Baker on Friday, January 13, 2012 at 10:48am

   There are a few commonly asked questions that need to be addressed. These questions are those of a person's that are saved by Gods grace, so they already have forgiveness of sin. 1) "What happens if I commit a sin and forget to confess it or die before I get to confess it?" 2)" Do we still sin after salvation?" Both of these questions are normally asked because of the lack of understanding God's forgiveness and rest on faulty assumptions. Salvation is not a person trying to repent or confess every sin they have committed before they die. If this was the case, we would be taking salvation into our own hands. We would be saying that what Jesus did for us was not enough and unfortunately each one of us would miss some of the sins all together. Salvation is NOT based on whether a Christian confessing every sin, and yes, we should confess our sins to God as soon as we are aware of them. However as Christians we place our faith in Jesus Christ for salvation and He forgives us of ALL of our sins, past, present and future. As believers we don't have to keep asking for forgiveness over and over again to be keep our salvation, it's just a way of restoring our fellowship with God (Colossians 1:14, Acts 10:43).
  The second question of "Do we still sin after salvation?" is simple. 1 John 1:8 says, "If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us." John was telling them that the denial of a persons sinful nature is a false teaching. So the answer to this question is, yes, we still have a sinful nature, as Paul said, he fought sin (Romans 7:21-25), he also says why do I do the things I shouldn't and don not do the things I should (Romans 17:9). So if Paul battled with sin, then yes we all still have a sinful nature, therefore we are sinners saved by God's grace. Gods grace is all that sets us apart.
 The first question was what happens if we do commit sin and don't get it confessed? 1 John 1:9 says, " “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness”. But if we miss one and we all will, God is faithful and has already forgiven us. On the day of our salvation we had a "Judicial forgiveness" of sins, that means we owed the Judge (God) for our sins. When we trust what Jesus did, He puts all of our debt we owe on His account and He makes us righteous in Gods eye for ever. After salvation, when we ask for forgiveness, Jesus isn't constantly reapplying His blood to our account. If we believe that we are taking away the power of His blood and making it of that of that of a sacrificial cow of the OT.  What does 1 John 1:9 mean about, “confess” our sins to God. The word “confess” means “to agree with.” When we confess our sins to God, we are agreeing with God that we were wrong, that we have sinned.
  Verse 9 also indicates a "Parental forgiveness", How does this work if all of our sins are forgiven the moment we receive Christ as Savior? All of our sins are forgiven “Judicial Forgiveness", the moment we receive Christ as Savior. This "Judicial Forgiveness", guarantees our salvation and promise of an eternal home in heaven. When we stand before God after death, God will NOT deny us entrance into heaven because of our sins that is Judicial forgiveness. The concept of "Parental forgiveness", is based on the fact that when we sin, we offend God and grieve His Spirit (Ephesians 4:30). While God has ultimately forgiven us of the sins we commit, they still result in a blocking or hindrance in our relationship with God. A young boy who sins against his father is not cast out of the family. A godly father will forgive his children unconditionally. At the same time, a good relationship between father and son cannot be achieved until the relationship is restored. This can only occur when a child confesses his mistakes to his father and apologizes. That is why we confess our sins to God,not to maintain our salvation, but to bring ourselves back into close fellowship with the God who loves us and has already forgiven us.
  God has already forgiven a true believer at the day of salvation. His promise to preserve you He will keep, His promise to finish what He started in you He will keep, for God is not a lair.







References: Mathew Henry Commentary, Smith's Dictionary, MacArthur Topical studies, "Understanding Forgiveness" a sermon by Pastor Jeff Arthur
By: Clint Baker

Urban Garden in a little space for less then $100.00!

My little Farm

  As you know from other posts I grew up on a farm in Ritchie County, West Virginia. But now I live on a small lot in the city of Nitro, West Virginia. I have always wanted a small farm but I know that at this point in my life I can not afford one. I miss farming but I got to thinking why can't use the little bit of space that God had given me? Right outside my backyard fence, beside the railroad tracks is a 30'x65' space that isn't being used. I have to keep the grass cut back there but we don't use it for much else. That's almost 2000 sq. ft. of unused space, much more garden then I have on the inside of the fence. If I used this space it would do a few things, I would help clean up our little town, make my garden space much larger, keep my garden out of the way of flying volleyballs and my garden digging Spaniel would not be tempted. I also would be able to be able to fulfill the desire to have a little farm.    

Assembling

  First thing I did was clean everything up, there were some trees and brush that had to come down. Some of the trees were old and half dead anyway. Must of the wood was given to a neighbor to burn in his fireplace. It was amazing of the neighbors curiosity of what I was doing. I can't take all the credit though, my friend and neighbor J (which I will call him to protect his privacy) was starting to do the same thing in his smaller backyard and we both were sharing ideas with each other. J is a very good guy, he is a walking encyclopedia when it come to  just about anything out there. We have shared many different Ideas over the years.

After 2 were assembled

   Just 4 doors down from my house is our local greenhouse (I know awesome, right), the owner and I have become very good friends over the past 16 years. So after I got things cleaned up on my new 2000 sq. ft. farm I asked him if I could buy some of the commercial black weed barrier that he puts down all around his outside areas of the greenhouse to put down in my new garden are. I didn't need a whole roll of that stuff and it is very expensive for a whole roll, he sold it to me by the foot and the staples to hole it down. Total cost for what I needed was approx. $60.00! I have just started with a 36'x10'.

   Now to start adding my Raised beds! Went you pick what you are gonna build your raised beds out of, keep in mind the taller they are, the less bending, if they are too wide you will have to step into the bed and you don't want to do that. Also what materials are going to build the out of?  You can build them out of just about anything that will hold dirt but I went to the local Bid Box lumber store and went to what is called there culled lumber area. I bought enough 2x8's and 10's to build a 4'x4' bed and a 4'x8' bed for $16.00. A good rule of thumb for the size of garden you need is 160 square feet per person. You can go larger if you want to share and persevere for the winter months.  I use treated, some say you shouldn't but I used to work in a lumbar yard and I know they don't treat your lumber with the harsh chemicals that they used to, it's mostly done now days with a a salt type formula. But if you are concerned you can paint the inside of the boxes to seal them. Keep in mind, you only want to build these once and untreated will rot in know time. Note: I have seen people use railroad ties, something that I have an ample supply of ever few years when the railroad changes theirs out, but the have worse chemicals in them then the old treated lumber.

   Any way after I built my first 2 beds, I threw all kinds of fillers in the bottom of them to take up some of the space. Everything I threw in though is biodegradable. Anything from scrap pieces of wood to old news papers and even old bills that you never what to through out in the trash but within a few weeks the worms will make them so you won't recognize them. Note: Do Not use anything with colored ink unless it is bio friendly! Then I topped it all off with half of what was in my compost bins and the rest a mixture top soil and manure.

   Well now I am off to get more lumber I have at least 4 more raised beds to build and a fence to put up around it to keep animals and people walking up and down the tracks from eating my veggies. So far I only have about $100.00 for these 2 beds, the weed barrier, hardware and even the soil. I will post pictures as I continue this ongoing project.

2 Beds Finish!

Ezekial 17:8 "It was planted in good soil by many waters, To bring forth branches, bear fruit, And become a majestic vine.”’

By:Clint Baker

Jan. 29,2012

"What God promises us after..."

What God promises us after Salvation

by Clint Baker

    A  perfect life is the opposite of what Jesus said the Christian life would look like after salvation. Jesus didn't promise prosperity, He promised hardship (Matthew 8:20). He didn't promise that our every want would be fulfilled; He promised we'd have what we NEED (Philippians 4:19). He didn't promise peace in a family; He promised that families would have problems as some chose to follow Him and some didn't (Matthew 10:34-36). And He didn't promise health; He promised to fulfill His plan for us and grace in the trials (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). He didn't promise that we would be rich with money, He did promise we would be rich with His Grace and love. He never promised that we that we would be emotionally strong for every bad thing that happened in our lives, He promised that He would be by our side (Psalm 23) and that He would NEVER leave us nor forsake us. But how do we receive these promises God has given us. We must first hear and understand the true Gospel, (1 Corinthians 15:1-15) we must trust/believe on the Gospel of Jesus Christ and repent of our sins. And in doing this we will want to follow and obey His commands not out of obligation but out of love and respect for what He has done on the Cross.
   If we would receive nothing more than that of what Jesus did for us on the cross of Calvary (Romans 5:7-9), it would be enough. We really don't even deserve that but by Gods grace He made a way for the filthy, sinful, wretched person such as I to become righteous in His eyes (Romans 3:9-18). Christ took our unrighteousness and placed it on Himself and then took His righteousness and put in on us (Romans 4:6), never to have sin imputed on us again (Romans 4:). For it is only by the power of God (Romans 1:16) that our eyes are opened and except salvation through Jesus Christ, so by Gods Word it is by His power that we are saved and stay His children. Yes God has promised many things but a perfect, carefree life, full of earthly riches is not one of them.

Dec. 2011
C. Baker

Repairing Mixer cord after Thanksgiving dinner mishap!

   Well, It happens to us all,right? When my wife and I fixed our Turkey in the roaster we sat it a little to close to the Kitchen Aid mixer, and well we melted the cord. So we (my wife) thought we would have to buy another mixer. I thought what the heck lets try to fix it and if I screw it up oh well. They cord its self was under $20.00 and the labor was free. Nothing should go wrong, right? Wrong! After we got the mixer totally apart we realized they sent us a cord with the wrong connectors on it. But that's okay, they took it back and we got another one. So, we had to put it back together and tape it up until the other one came. Hey, Christmas was coming and I wasn't mixing all those cookies and stuff by hand! Well it got here and if I can fix it anyone can, there isn't much to the inside of one of them anyway. Just be careful and remember how you took it apart. You can wire it up backwards, just saying!

Step 1: Take band off and top off. So that you have the inside exposed. It looks intimidating but its not, I promise!

Step 2 : Gear cover has to come off. It's the black thing on the front! It has grease in it be careful.

Step 3: Unplug connectors, Mark them so you will plug them back right. Remember what I said about wiring it ups backwards!

Step 4: Take out motor.Usually 4 screws hold it in!

Step 6: Take bottom of the housing off so you can get the cord out.You will see screws you have to remove!

Step 7: Fish the old wire out and the new one in.

Step 8: Reverse everything and put it back together. So I hope you can remember or you will be buying a new one. Once you get everything back on and top cover installed try it and see how you did.

Even with taking the pictures for this post it still only took me 45 minutes. Don't waist your money with having someone else do it or buying a new one!

Here is a link with replacement parts and schematics if you don't have your own.http://www.ereplacementparts.com/kitchenaid-mixer-parts-c-114958_114959.html

There are many different mixer styles on the market but there are many different links and video's to help you do this simple task!

Garden Cloche's" Dirt Cheap"

   When my family and I went to Colonial Williamsburg on vacation one year, we stopped into there little garden area that they have set up in the historic town, so you can see how they gardened in the 1700's. I have so much fun in that section but I think I am the only one who does because I will be looking around and next thing I know everybody else is gone and I am left alone. Trust me its a very neat place. Maybe I will do a post and show some of the pictures from there. 

   Anyway! What I was getting at was this is were I was introduced to these big glass bell's that were setting over the plants. I ask what they were and she told me they were "garden cloches", I had know idea what she was talking about. So she explained, that they help make your growing season longer by allowing you to plant earlier. A mini greenhouse if you will! I thought that was awesome! I have to have at least one, maybe even two, But oh my were they expensive! Almost $100.00! I thought there has to be cheaper ones but even the others get costly.  I remembered what my grandma and great aunt used to use and they didn't pay that much. They used old gallon milk jugs! Dirt cheap and that's for me. I also use plastic juice containers since we drink lots of juice! I have also used full row mini greenhouses made out of plastic. 

All of these work but you have to allow them to breath in the hot part of the day!

Step 1: Clean out Jugs

Step 2: Remove labels and cut bottom off, don't through bottoms away, you can start seeds in them!

Step 3: When ready to use place jugs over plant and place a little soil around the bottom to hold it in place.

Step 4: When the temperature gets to warm just remove the lid to let the hot air out.

And there you go dirt cheap garden cloches made from recycled plastic jugs. Have fun and if you have other Ideas please post and let us all know!

John Denver and "The Garden Song"

I stumbled onto this old song by John Denver and had to post it. I thought it appropriate for the blog!

The only thing I would like to add is that the someone that bless who will bless those seeds is our Father in Heaven. And there is No such person as "Mother Earth"!

Pruning The Bad Stuff Off?

 Like a growing season in the garden, so is the season of your life after excepting the call of salvation. Sanctification is that period of your walk with Jesus where you grow a little, then God prunes the bad stuff out of your life and you grow a little more. Just like we do plants in our own garden, God tends to us in the like manner! Here is a look at that part of our life when we are growing in Gods Garden!

Understanding Sanctification

by Clint Baker on Friday, December 23, 2011 at 8:10am

   Sanctification, a word that you don't hear preached on very much from today's pulpit. What is it, why is it important, why is it not heard of much anymore?   Sanctification is a state of separation unto God (becoming His child),  all believers enter into sanctification when they are redeemed of God,(1 Corinthians 1:30). Not only when we are saved do we receive salvation, but God imputes the righteousness of Jesus' on us and He removes our sin debt and places our unrighteousness on Jesus. He also places the Holy Spirit within us to teach us and give us a measure of divine wisdom (Acts 1:5) 
   This is a forever separation, eternally unto God but not a license to live how you wish (Romans 6:4). It is a part of our salvation, our connection with Christ (Hebrews 10:10). If you read on in vrs. 16-17 of Hebrews 10, God promises us "that our sins will be remembered NO more." He also says that "there is NO longer an offering for sin." Why because Jesus was that sin offering once and for all that would trust/ receive His gospel. God sets us apart to be His children, He wants us to obey His Word but not out of obligation but out of love for Him and the sacrifice that He made for us. His sanctification is the pattern of, and is the power for, ours. The sending and the sanctifying are inseparable.  Because of what Jesus has done we are called saints, hagioi in the Greek; “sanctified ones.” Sanctification is important to understand because it is eternal, we are born again His Children never to cast out of His family again. (Romans5:1-10)
   There is one more sense that the word sanctification is referred to in Scripture. Paul in (1 Thessalonians 5:23, Colossians 1:5,Colossians 1:27,Colossians 3:4) talks an prays about later part of sanctification. This glorified state will be our ultimate separation from sin, total sanctification in every aspect. “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2). Why is this part so important to understand, because between the salvation and the glorification, we are still all trapped in a sinful body. Paul even says, "Why do I do the things I don't want to do and don't do thing which I should." We are all gonna sin and fall short (Romans) but we are still children of God and yes while God will have discipline for us (Hebrews 10:26) just as we do when our own children are disobedient, God still loves us and we are still His children. Romans chapter's 6,7 and 8 are very good explanation of this and its not my explanation but God's.       
   I believe the biggest reason why sanctification and perseverance of the saints are not taught is because of the lack of understanding of how much God really does love His children. After we have been adopted into His family through the sacrifice of our Savior Jesus Christ, we become in Gods eyes sinless and pure. Why would God sacrifice His own child, for a wretch such as me, to adopt me and at the first time I disobey to turn me back over to Satan. If we believe that every time we sin we must get "prayed up", or saved again, we are saying that the blood Jesus shed on the cross for our sin atonement wasn't good enough. (John 10:28-29, Ephesians 4:30, John 3:15, Romans 8:38-39, Our eternal security is based on God's love for those whom He has redeemed. Our eternal security is purchased by Christ, promised by the Father, and sealed by the Holy Spirit.