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A Digging Deep SpecialA Digging Deep Special Tradition In Worship: Are We Too Bound? Listen Now! Part 1 Part 2 Direct Link on Talkshoe - Digging Deep in God's Word http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/112808 *This podcast is for women, by women. Also available on iTunes.

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SPRING WEDDING SPECIAL!SPRING WEDDING SPECIAL! If you are like the Colleys, you have several wedding gifts to buy or make this spring. Lots of Colley House customers are ordering multiples of the marriage book "You're Singing My Song" for wedding showers this year. So here's a little help: Spring Wedding Special! You're Singing My Song Buy three copies and get...

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NEW Book on Homeschooling NEW Book on Homeschooling Available NOW! First of all, it’s not an indictment against those who have made or will make another choice. Secondly, it’s surely not the work of an author who thinks she has arrived at the pinnacle of the homeschooling climb. (How can anyone ever think she knows everything about a phenomenon that’s as old as...

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Digger Doug’s Underground Rocks by Apologetics PressDigger Doug’s Underground Rocks by Apologetics Press Songs written and performed by Caleb Colley. Digger Doug’s Underground Rocks is not for worship/devotional use. Join Digger Doug and Iguana Don for a rockin’ treat! Digger Doug’s Underground Rocks, a new music CD from Apologetics Press, is a collection of fun songs about science for kids. Twelve original songs...

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Picking Melons and Mates by Cindy ColleyPicking Melons and Mates by Cindy Colley Here it is! The children's book that's for toddlers and teens about choosing wisely. It's especially about using godly wisdom when it's time to choose a mate for life. The best thing about this book is that it has a three-week Family Bible Time Guide in the back that any parent can easily follow. The first in a Family Bible...

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The Colley House Rss

Basic Bible Study Guide for Teaching a Non-Christian

Category : Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

The August Study assignment in Digging Deep is to find someone with whom you can personally study. You can make it a little group or just make it a duo. You can study with a Christian or a non-Christian. The big idea is to ask someone to study the Bible with you. It’s good for getting out of the typical comfort zone. (I am talking to me!) I asked my lady last night and we have a plan! I am excited! Here’s a jumpstart study starter for anyone who may be looking for one for study with a non-Christian. I have used this one many times and then it just kind of goes wherever you need it to go.I am praying about your study! Let me hear how it goes.

(Thanks to Arnold Wright for help in compiling this. He’s a great shepherd at WH. Hannah, by the way, used this study when she brought her very first person to the Lord when she was about 15. It works! Most of all, the Word has the power. The blood is the cleanser. The Lord is not willing that any should perish.)

Soul Survivor’s Guide

Begin by discussing God’s plan for man’s salvation as it unfolded in the patriarchal age; the fact that God called people to obey him through the fathers even in that era. Then discuss God’s first written law, the Mosaic age, and the system of cleansing for the Jews in that era. Then point out that since the death of Christ, God has called his people by a new name. What is that new name?

Isaiah 62:2—-What is that new name?

Acts 11:26—God kept that promise. Are you a Christian? How did you become a Christian? Have the person detail her “salvation experience” if she has “been saved”.

Eph.1:3, 7—-Here you are beginning to make a list of the blessings that are only found IN CHRIST. Have the person mentally if not literally keep a note of the things that can occur only IN CHRIST. (Here are a number of passages from which to choose to list these blessings: II Tim. 2:1; Eph. 2:6, 10, 12, 13; II Cor.5:17; Rom. 3:24; Rom.8:1; I Thess.4:16)

I draw a circle at this point and inside the circle, I write all the things that are in Christ: (redemption forgiveness, no condemnation, all spiritual blessings.) Outside the circle I write the things that are outside of Christ (no redemption, condemnation, no spiritual blessings, etc…)

Then launch a study of verses that tell how to get IN CHRIST.

John 8:24; John 14:6 (additional if needed for belief include Heb.11:6; Rom.10:17; James1:21-25)

Luke 13:3; Acts 26:18 (definition of repentance is TURNING) (additional verses for repentance if needed: Acts 17:30; II Cor. 7:10; II Pet.3:9) This is the point at which I ask what kinds of things might have to be changed or sacrificed to live for Christ. I recall Romans 8:1 at this juncture and talk about the two conditions there for NOT being condemned. They are (1) being IN CHRIST and (2) walking not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Then I define this pure walk plainly and practically using the fruit and the spirit from Galatians 5:19-25. This is a great time to talk about faithfulness in all aspects of daily living.

Romans 10:10; Acts 8:37 (WHAT did he confess?) (Additional passage for confession if needed: Matthew 10:32)

Here are the clinchers in the IN CHRIST study: Romans 6:1-5; Gal.3:27. (Additional powerful passages about the nature and purpose of baptism are Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16 and I Peter 3:21)

At this point I usually try to illustrate the difference between being outside the room and inside the room. At what point did I get IN the room? When I was knocking at the door was I IN? Only when I had passed through the doorway did I get IN the room. Baptism is the door! I usually emphasize also according to Rom.6 and Gal.3 that baptism is the point at which I contact the death without which there is NO remission. Heb.9:22. This is also the point at which to refute infant baptism, a baptism which would precede or preclude repentance and sprinkling, a baptism in which the death of Christ is not mirrored or met.
(Here I also go back to my circle and open a “door to get in” the circle. “what is the door to get into Christ?)

The obvious question at this juncture is either “Are you a New Testament Christian?” or “Don’t You want to be a Christian?” or “Are you in the circle?”

How Much Do You Have to Hate Someone?

Category : Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

This weekend we celebrated a family tradition we’ve prioritized for the past twenty years. It’s a huge gathering of Christians in Nashville’s Opryland Hotel called Lads to Leaders. Lads to Leaders is a wonderful tool used by families and congregations of God’s people to deepen commitment to God and sharpen skills of service. It’s a way to help cement goals of faith in our kids. It can never replace faith-filled families, but, for us, it was an invaluable resource. We worked on projects for Lads all throughout the year and then we made the trek to Nashville on Easter weekend each year for the encouragement of national enthusiasm about spiritual things. I’m convinced that this yearly work-a-thon contributed substantially to the service that, by His grace, is now a natural part of Caleb’s and Hannah’s adult lives

This year’s convention theme was “We’ll Work Till Jesus Comes.” I love the dissection of that phrase. We’ll means were unified at the job as His people. Work means that, while we recognize we cannot earn salvation, we also recognize we cannot have it without compliance with commands and effort on our parts. Till says we’re in it for the long haul. Jesus is the center of activity. Finally, comes is representative of the eternal goal of work in the kingdom. It’s the next miracle workers await.

I heard more than a dozen speeches about that phrase. One speaker quoted a well-known atheist, Jillette Penn, and the quote is haunting me a bit:

“If you really believe in God, how much do you have to hate someone to not to tell them about the love of God.  How much do you have to hate someone to not tell them that one day they will live in either heaven or hell.”
From the mouth of an unbeliever, the words are pretty potent–shaming and motivating this believer to strive harder, watch more soberly, reflect Him more glaringly and do what anyone who really believes the Book and loves others cannot be deterred from doing. I believe. I love. I will speak.

Strength Therapy for Evangelism

Category : Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

As I write, it’s Sunday night and in our Bible class this morning we focused on evangelism. We talked specifically about the reasons we sometimes don’t tell others about the Lord. Our reluctance to share Him is not because we question His power to save. It’s not that we don’t know any lost people or that we don’t have the resources (time, transportation, study materials) to get the job done. It’s really not any of the externals—things that depend on circumstances or other people or on God, Himself. All of the reasons for our hesitancies lie within us. It’s that we often let the devil get inside our hearts and make them start skipping a beat when we think of studying with someone. We let him get into our stomachs and give us butterflies. We let him into our knees to make them feel weak or even start knocking together. We let him into our mouths and he makes them dry and he makes them talk about everything but the Lord. But the reason he affects all of these parts of our bodies is that we let him into our minds. Now we know from II Timothy 1:7 that it is certainly not God that puts fear into our minds. (Not hard to guess who loves for us to be fearful!)

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

See, conversely God gives us a spirit of power–the antithesis of weak knees and dry mouths. He gives us a spirit of love–the overcomer of butterflies and fearful heart failure –and He gives us a spirit of a sound mind. There you go. It’s the mind thing again. If we can just keep our minds sound or healthy, the rest of our bodies will follow suit.

Sometimes therapy is the best way to make your body regain loss of strength or mobility. My dad broke his wrist recently and I carried him to several sessions of therapy. I noticed that every single thing they made him do to rebuild wrist mobility was the very thing that hurt the most. It was excruciating and not a single thing they listed on his take-home assignments were activities that he would have done had they not been on that sheet. I also noticed that the intensity of the activities as well as the number of repetitions increased as time went by.It was really hard for him to discipline himself to do that list of painful things every day, especially at first, but he did it. He kept the desired result in his mind and he’s using that wrist now as if nothing ever happened to it.

Mind therapy works that way, too. If I want to gain the power to evangelize without fear, I’ve got to discipline myself to do some things that are somewhat excruciating. I’ve got to see the end result: me, being evangelistic without fear. I’ve got to force myself to regularly do what feels the most difficult. I’ve got to take a loaf of bread and a tract to my neighbor, find the visitors at our services and ask them to study, invite the other moms at practice to the gospel meeting and bring the Lord up in everyday conversation with my non-Christian friends. I’ve got to be disciplined and relentless in the pursuit of my goal.

Here’s one therapeutic exercise with which you can begin. I recently ordered these calling cards from www.123print.com. You can order similar ones from lots of different companies or even make your own. I give these to the clerk at Walmart, to the Subway drive-through worker, to the waitress at the restaurant or the girl who cuts my hair. They are great for leaving with the drive-through attendant for the person in the car behind you at Burger King when you pay for her hamburger. Imagine her surprise when she follows you through the line and realizes that her meal has already been purchased. She may look twice at that card and she may want to come and meet you. The card is great for putting in the envelope when you write a small thank you to your sanitation workers or your mail-carrier. They are really good if you bake bread for your neighbors during the holidays. You get the point.Mind therapy works that way, too. If I want to gain the power to evangelize without fear, I’ve got to discipline myself to do some things that are somewhat excruciating. I’ve got to see the end result: me, being evangelistic without fear. I’ve got to force myself to regularly do what feels the most difficult. I’ve got to take a loaf of bread and a tract to my neighbor, find the visitors at our services and ask them to study, invite the other moms at practice to the gospel meeting and bring the Lord up in everyday conversation with my non-Christian friends. I’ve got to be disciplined and relentless in the pursuit of my goal.

This simple and inexpensive card distribution could just be number one on your list of mind therapy exercises. At first you will be a little nervous when you hand the card to your cashier and say, “I just want to invite you to worship. Hope you can come.” But soon, you will find it’s getting easier. Before long, you will be doing it without pain and you will be moving on to tougher activities. Remember God wants you to have a powerful spirit characterized by a sound mind and directed by love. God bless us all as we take on the challenge of evangelism fitness.

If You Like THIS Ring…

Category : Uncategorized

As I write today, I’m on the next-to-the-very-back row of a large jet, sandwiched in seat E in my six-seat row. No way E can be very good in this scenario. This is a flight for which we paid extra money a couple of days ago. Originally, I was on a later flight booked for me by my wonderful (but calendar challenged) travel director/husband Glenn. But he had accidentally booked me to fly today right through our mid-week Bible study tonight, something I’ve just promised myself never to do. So, here I am trying to get home in the aftermath of the biggest snow the south has seen since I’ve lived in the south…That would be 51 years. The Bible Study tonight has already been cancelled (so much for that extra $150.00 for the switch) and the Atlanta flights that can get me home tonight are looking pretty “iffy” at this point. Did I mention that they also confiscated my luggage when I got back to row 39 and directed it to Huntsville because the overhead bins were full? I hope my luggage and I meet again.

But a funny thing happened on the way to row 39. I got stuck at row 33…stuck in a long line of people searching for overhead luggage space, so I struck up a conversation with the long-legged gentleman in that exit row. I still do not know who, exactly, he is. But I noticed his HUGE ring and I grabbed his hand and said, “What kind of a huge ring are you wearing, anyway?”

Well, it was an SEC championship ring. He pulled me toward him and whispered, “If you like this one, you would really like my Sugar bowl ring.”

“Yeah, I bet I would…Now, are you for real? Is this a real ring? C’mon, I don’t know these things. Tell me who you are.”

He laughed at my unbelief. “No, It’s fake,” he jested. Then he said,  “No ma’am, it really is the real thing, but I was just the janitor.”

“You were NOT the janitor. Even I can tell that much.” This guy was very tall and very muscular and very intelligent and very much the football player type. He was dressed In Georgia State gear, so I was assuming that now he is associated in some way with that program. He said, “If you’ll save your napkin, when we deplane, I’ll sign it for you…I can’t sign it right now, “ he said. “ I signed a few things in a plane once, and when I got off, somebody mugged me and tried to get my Sugar Bowl ring. I don’t wear it any more when I travel.”

I said, “But you are sitting way in front of me. You will be gone long before I get off.”

“No ma’am. I will wait. I am a man of my word. If a man is not as good as his word, he is no good at all.”

Well, since there was no room for my luggage, I conversed with him while I waited and soon found out that he did play for the Bear at Bama, and, of course, the autograph became more relevant to me (Roll Tide!).

(Two hours later…) So, the electronics were soon “all turned off and properly stored” and now, the rest of the story from the Atlanta airport as I am once again delayed in terminal D.

George Pugh won 4 SEC championships with the Bear. The team only lost one game in four seasons at Alabama and in 1976 he was on the team that defeated Penn State in the National Championship where he received that Sugar Bowl ring.

And he did wait in the airport. He was talking on the phone when I entered the terminal from the jet bridge, but he immediately hung up, grabbed his briefcase and found the Delta napkin. He unfolded it, so I could see what he’d written:

To Caleb,
Best Wishes and Lots of Luck
Roll Tide!
George Pugh

We had a short, but very nice conversation about his experiences with the Bear, and his comparisons of Coach Bryant with some of the other great names in football with and for whom he has played. (Okay, so I don’t know who they are, but I do remember Tom Landry being among them.) He credited Coach Bryant with life lessons that have helped him become the man he is and with showing him the path to success. He clearly loves the Bear. I commented to him about the fact that God has blessed Him very richly, with which he heartily agreed. “You don’t even know how much he has blessed me.” We talked a little more about God and blessings and wished each other safe travels. He stopped, coincidently, at the same flight info panel and we talked about flights and weather and hurrying.

(One hour later…) And I hurried and am finally aboard my last leg to Huntsville.

So, besides Tide pride, what’s the post’s point?

I don’t know that there will ever be one.  But, upon meeting this gentleman, I had just finished talking to a large group of ladies at a lectureship in Fort Worth about raising our kids to be evangelistic Christians. I told them that we should be sure we love the Lord with all our hearts, souls, strength and minds and that we should purposefully inject Him into all the events and decisions of our daily lives. As I sat there on the plane thinking about this man who was sitting a few rows in front of me I wondered if he knew the Lord.  I thought about how much simpler my life would be if I didn’t feel this obligation to talk to everybody around me about the Lord. I thought about how I so often fail to mention Him when it may be that the people I encounter may never hear any reference to Him in their worlds except when they hear His name as a byword.   I prayed that God would help me to know best how to open a door. Then, from my purse, I got out one of the calling cards that is an invitation to our services. It has all of our contact information on it. On the back, I wrote a thank-you note for the autograph and told him my son would be excited. I determined to talk to this man about the blessings God had showered on His successful life.

I was surprised when Mr. Pugh handed me the autographed napkin that, as a post script to the above message, he had included his email address so that Caleb can contact him. I’m well aware that most casual contacts like this will never result in a study, much less the salvation of a soul. But I know, too, that the chance that one of these daily casual contacts will result in a study is much greater when the contact includes a discussion of the Lord and an invitation than when the contact is void of all mention of Christ. I would even go a step further and say that if we could all just remember and be emboldened to speak His name to all of our contacts (which I do not do), our rates of congregational growth would increase.

It’s not likely that this man will ever attend our services. He may never engage in a Bible Study and he may never become a Christian. But, with Caleb’s correspondence, he will have at least one more opportunity to hear the name of Christ. If  he should show an interest in the things of God, I will be sure and let you know. And then, this post would have a really good point!

Studying with a Heroine

Category : Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

I had a Bible study today with a woman who becomes dearer to me each time we study. I believe she will obey the gospel, but as we struggle to communicate through our language barriers (she is a native of El Salvador), I think I am learning as much as she is. My friend left El Salvador because her first husband was guilty of some very serious sins, including adultery. She has settled into an apartment near my home. She has since met and married a hard-working man who is also here from South America on a work visa. They have a beautiful baby, who makes our studies together lots of fun for me.

My friend (I will call her Nora) is often doing favors for neighbors who live all around her. She has a valid driver’s license and so neighbors who do not have transportation often call on her to take them to the grocery store or to the doctor’s office. One day recently, a neighbor, who was pregnant, asked her for a ride to a doctor appointment. She obliged and they were off to the specified address. But when Nora pulled up to the clinic, she was shocked to learn that she had brought her neighbor to an abortion clinic. Nora refused to drop the woman off at the clinic. She knew that if she provided the transportation to the clinic, she would share in the responsibility for the death of the baby. Instead of leaving her neighbor there for the procedure to be done, she made sure her neighbor got the appropriate information from the pro-life protesters who were peacefully approaching the entrants to the clinic in hopes of saving babies from the horrible procedures occurring inside. She also repeatedly told her friend that she would gladly raise the baby for her, if she would only spare the baby’s life.

My friend Nora is far from being a rich person. She struggles along with her husband to make ends meet. On this day the pro-life representative at the clinic offered Nora some money for taking the expectant mom back home after convincing her to at least postpone the abortion. Nora refused the money because she did not want to profit financially from her conscience-based decision. The woman was insistent, though, and Nora finally accepted the money. She brought it to worship the next Sunday and gave it to the church.

I left the Bible study today with a lot of respect for Nora. In my book, she was a heroine that day. She saved a life. She boldly spoke up for the one who could not be heard.

Nora is very close to the kingdom. Will you pray for our studies? Will you pray for wisdom on my part as we spend time in God’s Word? I hope that when I speak about the privilege of studying the Word with someone like Nora, it does not sound self -serving.  After all, who am I to be able to have the Word of the Almighty God pass through my lips on Its way to a needy soul?  I am nothing but a needy soul, myself. I am so unworthy to be able to share the news with Nora that, while she saved innocent life, Christ died for us, the ungodly, while we were yet sinners (Romans 5:6-8). But I am so thankful for this good news.

The Burden on My Heart…

Category : Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

The following is a letter originally drafted for a woman I met rather coincidentally in a small southeastern town in which I was speaking not too long ago. She was a spirited young woman who made my day by giving me a beautiful cookbook. I had to leave quickly and was unable to study with her at the moment we met. Perhaps the letter below might help another soul somewhere who is yet in sin, or perhaps it might help you as you approach a friend who is coming near to the kingdom.Dear Valerie,

It was really a joy to get to meet you a couple of weekends ago when we spoke in ____________. I am so pleased with my cookbook. Please forward my small donation to the charity about which we spoke. Thanks so much for thinking of me. I love to cook and I love new cookbooks, especially this one with potent reminders of the spiritual bread of life.

I am always refreshed and thankful to meet people who have a zeal for spiritual things and whose lives have led them down a path to a grateful realization that God is so merciful and good. That was definitely you! I know you’re very thankful and amazed by his care and that He has allowed you to overcome so much and come to this good place in your life where you finally have a chance to glorify Him with blessings that he bountifully gives to you.

The burden on my heart now is to be sure that you are in Christ and do have that hope of heaven. I carry this burden with me to every place I speak and I see it in every new face I meet. I just had to write and be sure about this because I am going to stand before the same judgment bar one day that you will and I just want to tell as many people as I can. It’s not that I have any secrets about the will of God that you don’t have. It’s just that the devil is very busy deceiving in our world today through the hundreds of denominations out there all teaching different and opposing plans of salvation. The devil really doesn’t care how religious we are if he can just keep us outside of Christ. He doesn’t care what good hearts we have if he can just deceive those good hearts into accepting false teachings. He doesn’t care how many good things we do for our neighbors if he can just keep us out of Christ. He knows that forgiveness and redemption and all spiritual blessings are found only in Christ (Eph 1:3, 7). So he loves to make people think they are in Christ when they really have not done what the New Testament says to do to be in Christ. I don’t know about you personally, but I love your heart of submission and I want to be sure that I help you if these are things you have not thought about before. I think you are right about something you said to me. When people really want to do the will of God, He can bring people into their lives for a reason. I hope that he can use me in a small way in your life. I am praying as you study the things that are in this letter that you will want to be sure that you have followed his will and that you are in Christ where forgiveness is.

About 98% of the world of “Christendom” today teaches that all you have to do is pray the sinner’s prayer in order to be saved. Something like, “Lord Jesus, come into my heart. Thank you for loving me and saving me right here and right now…” The problem with that is it’s just not found in the Bible anywhere. It is true that he loves us and that he is willing to save every last one of us (II Peter 3:9), but as with all of his blessings, his salvation is conditional on our obedience. It really bothers me that the devil uses this “sinner’s prayer” that is nowhere in scripture to deceive so many people into believing that they are saved, when, in reality, they are still in sin.

It is true that belief in the fact that Jesus is the son of God is a prerequisite for salvation. Without that faith it is impossible to please him or be saved (Mark 16:15,16, Heb.11:6). It is true that we have to repent or put away sin from our lives. If we keep on sinning on purpose, we will perish (Luke 13:3). We have to confess that faith in Jesus as God’s Son (Romans10:10). While all of these things are essential steps toward salvation, the Bible nowhere ever says that these things put us into Christ. It’s just not there.

But the New Testament does tell us what it is that does put us into Christ: Look at these clear teachings:

Rom 6:3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?
Rom 6:4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

According to this verse, it is baptism that puts us into Christ. Look at another:

Gal 3:26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
Gal 3:27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

Again, God just made it as plain as day how we put on Christ.

We can ask the same question lots of ways:

How do I wash my sins away?

Acts 22:16 And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.’

When am I forgiven?

Acts 2:38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

What do I do to be saved?

Mark 16:16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved;

Exactly what saves me?

1Pe 3:21 There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ…

In fact, in every case in the book of Acts where people desired to be saved, they clearly were immediately baptized for the remission of their sins(Acts2, Acts8, Acts 9, Acts 10,11, Acts 16). In one case the man actually risked his life in the middle of the night to leave the jail and go be baptized. If he had been caught by his Roman superiors, he would have surely been executed (Acts 16). Each time I read and reread all of these passages, I get so upset at preachers who are reading the same Bible I am reading and yet are willing to ignore these plain teachings about baptism and teach that it is not essential for salvation…that it is just a symbol of your salvation. Romans 6:3,4 teaches us that baptism is the very place where we contact the death of Christ. If we don’t go down into those waters with a heart of submission, knowing that we desperately need his salvation, we do not even come in contact with the death and blood of Jesus!… and that is a scary reality to take to judgment.

The point is this. If I was baptized because I thought I was already saved, then I was not coming to God on his terms. I was not being baptized for the remission of sins like they did in Acts 2:38. I was not doing it to wash away my sins (Acts 22:16). I was not doing it to be saved (Mark16:16). It was not a step of faith if I did it as a symbol that I was already saved. I was putting my will above his. I was saying, “Lord, I was saved without ever being baptized into the death of your son, and now I will be baptized to show that I have already been saved without doing what you said I must do to be in Christ.” If I am a member of a church that teaches baptism is not essential to be in Christ, then I am a member of a church that is misleading people into a false security of salvation.I said all of those things because I could tell your heart was an open one to His will. I am praying as you read this that you will just want to be sure that you are doing and teaching what the Bible (the only word we have today from God) says about salvation. There is no more important subject. I have already been praying for you and for the good things you are doing already. I just pray that now that you have this letter in hand, you will look carefully at these passages in the context of the whole New Testament and be very careful not to be led astray by any person (including me!) I have nothing personally to gain by telling you this, except to know that I will not have to look into your face in the judgment day and know that I was silent about this very important subject. Just be sure the church with which you are working is the church of the New Testament, teaching the same thing that first opened its doors of salvation to the world in Acts 2. If we do what they did on that day, we will be what they were…Christians. But if we become involved in a religion that leads people astray we will be accountable for that, too. Remember, the devil doesn’t mind religion at all. In fact, since he is the father of lies (John 8:44), he loves false religions. Not every one that says “Lord, Lord” (i.e. not every one who is religious) will enter the kingdom (Matthew 7:21,22 ), but he that obeys the will of God. I could go on and on…

…And I will, if you have any questions at all with which I might be able to help. I’ve thought of you often and prayed for you. Again, let me thank you for my gift. I hope that this letter finds your heart open to do and teach all of his will. You can be a great minister for His cause to other ladies. So many are searching for these truths and so many are being led astray. Let me know if I can help further.

Because of Calvary!