If you can lose your salvation, then what must you do to keep it?

Matt Slick has an interesting article that answers this question click at the link below...

http://carm.org/if-you-can-lose-your-salvation-then-what-must-you-do-keep-it

(an excerpt...)

.........All that I am and all I need is found in the work of Christ. Even my ability to believe is God's work (John 6:28-29). My believing has been granted to me by God (Phil. 1:29). And, I believe because I was appointed to eternal life (Acts 13:48). Should I then stand before God and man and say that I am keeping my position with God by my own faithfulness? This is something I can never claim.
That is why I ask people who believe they can lose their salvation and are seeking to maintain it by being faithful, "Are you taking credit for your believing?" If they say yes, they are boasting. If they say no, then I ask them what makes them think that if God who granted that they believe (Phil. 1:29), appointed them to eternal life (Acts 13:48), chose them before the foundation of the world for salvation (Eph. 1:4-5; 2 Thess. 2:13), predestined them (Rom. 8:29-30), and said he will lose none (John 6:39), we'll let them slip through his fingers when he said it was his will that those who believe would not be lost and would be raised on the last day (John 6:37-40)?..........

The above are some good verses from Matt, and the point is that you cannot lose your salvation. That's a promise from Jesus, who tells us plainly in John 10:27-30 that he is holding onto us and will let no one snatch us from his hand! When Jesus says no one can take you from him, you can believe that he means no one (including yourself!--or do you think you're stronger than him?) :).

When Jesus says "He who believes in me has eternal life" (John 6:47) He means eternal --forever. May all of us believing sinners take comfort in his words...now and forever. Amen.

Are you my mother?

I can remember when I was growing up my mother taught me about marriage and I know the mother who taught me about marriage would have done everything she could to help me repair my marriage. She would have stood fast for what was right and called me and my wife to the reconciliation that Christians must seek if they are true believers. She probably would have cracked a Bible and told us that God hates divorce. Maybe she would have talked to my wife in private and asked if she could reconsider--perhaps relating times in her own life when she wanted to give up too, but is now glad she didn't. Even if none of that worked, I would sure appreciate knowing that the momma who taught me would have still fought for me...and my marriage. If you're a momma and that happens, you probably can't help. But it sure won't hurt to try.

McQueen and King

(Since I had not seen these episodes, but had always heard my uncle Wright --photo--had starred alongside McQueen, I was interested to see if this reviewer had something to offer. Despite his opinion, it’s interesting to note that the ratings increased during the second season when McQueen got this mysterious partner.)

Season 2 – 1959-60 Steve McQueen and Wright King

Excerpt from Paul Mavis reviewing “Wanted: Dead or Alive – The Complete Series….(available from Amazon.com)

Clearly though, some tinkering with the established formula was being attempted, with the most obvious example being the late-season inclusion of a partner for Josh: would-be bounty hunter Jason Nichols, played by Wright King…

Not easily dropped back is the inclusion of Wright King as apprentice bounty hunter, Jason Nichols, who is introduced in Jason, and continues on for nine more episodes (until he disappears in the last episode of the season, with no explanation). I'm not familiar with any backstory on this strange addition to the one-man cast of Wanted: Dead of Alive, but if I had to guess, I'd say either a producer or the network wanted to hedge their bets with McQueen, or someone genuinely thought the format needed tweaking. McQueen made no bones about being "difficult" with producers and directors on the set of Wanted: Dead of Alive if he felt they were undercutting the show or himself, and considering the stellar ratings that improved over this second season, it's not unheard of for a star to begin exerting some authority over the direction of the vehicle in which they're starring. But there are ways of dealing with "difficult" stars, and one way is to bring in a potential replacement; perhaps this was the purpose of Wright King. It was no secret that McQueen only took Wanted: Dead of Alive in 1958 because his big-screen movie career was going nowhere. But once the Western hit it big right out of the gate, he immediately started attracting buzz and attention from big-screen filmmakers, culminating in his co-starring role in John Sturges' The Magnificent Seven, which began filming during this second season. Does that explain McQueen's shortened scenes during the Jason Nichols' episodes? Perhaps. Did the producers and network bring on King to make McQueen "behave," or to have a ready-made replacement should McQueen bolt? Maybe. Or maybe someone truly believed the series would be better as a "buddy piece." Unfortunately, if this last explanation was the case, it was a big miscalculation. King didn't strike me one way or the other here as the enthusiastic newcomer to the bounty hunting business. Perhaps he would have worked in his own show, or on another Western. However, he has no place on Wanted: Dead of Alive, because the piece is so obviously designed as a solo effort. Indeed, the unique appeal of Wanted: Dead of Alive during its first and second seasons came from the star-power performance by McQueen as the loner bounty hunter who needed neither respectability nor security to do his job. His "Mare's Leg" was his best friend, and he lived by his wits alone: he depended on no one. So why in the world would he need a goof like Jason, all of the sudden, to not only back him up but save him on several occasions? Thematically, it made no sense to loyal viewers of the series, with this new character Jason not adding to the worth of the program but instead devaluing its unusual lead character Josh. The final episode of the season, Pay-Off at Pinto, makes no mention of Jason, and when the series came back the next and final season, the character did not return.

Staying in its Saturday 8:30pm time slot on CBS, Wanted: Dead of Alive climbed even higher in the ratings this sophomore season, registering an impressive ninth out of all shows on television during the 1959-1960 season, pulling along its lead-in series, Perry Mason into the 10th slot for the year, and elevating its lead-out, Mr. Lucky, to a respectable 21st for the year…



http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/38482/wanted-dead-or-alive-the-complete-series/

Bishop Ryle endorses Toplady's Calvinistic views

Sharing some notes to myself...

As much as Bishop J.C. Ryle seemed to appreciate John Wesley, I believe it is all the more telling that he unhesitatingly endorsed August Toplady's Calvinistic theology as biblical theology:


"He (Toplady) was a bold defender of Calvinistic views about election, predestination, perseverance, human impotency, and irresistible grace. All these subjects I hold firmly that Calvin's theology is much more scriptural than the theology of Arminius (and Wesley). In a word, I believe that Calvinistic divinity is the divinity of the Bible, of Augustine, and the Thirty-nine Articles of my own Church, and of the Scotch Confession of Faith. While, therefore, I repeat that I cannot endorse all the sentiments of Toplady's controversial writings, I do claim for them the merit of being in principle scriptural, sound, and true. Well would it be for the Churches, if we had a good deal more of clear, distinct, sharply-cut doctrine in the present day! Vagueness and indistinctness are marks of our degenerate condition."--J.C. Ryle, Anglican Bishop of Liverpool
Through their writings, J.C. and Augustus have been like brothers in the faith to me, confirming the Holy Spirit's ongoing work in preserving the truth of the Gospel to this very day. God bless you. --bro. Jim

They declare my 19 year marriage null and void

I can't believe it has been so long since I posted anything.

I have big news. Much to my dismay, the Roman Catholic Tribunal in Tulsa has issued an initial ruling that my 19 year marriage is null and void. They had no immediate explanation for their ruling so I have asked them to explain the basis of their ruling. They have somehow come to the conclusion that something happened before the marriage that made the wedding and everything that transpired, including my two children, null and void for the next 19 years. This is ridiculous. I have told them I certainly plan to appeal this initial ruling before it goes to the archdiocese in Oklahoma City. --Bro. Jim   Please keep me in your prayers.