Fight fire with fire.

 We have all heard the expression "the way to fight fire is with fire." I've heard it all my life, but it came alive for me in a new way when I heard a story told by Norman McLean about a Montana smoke jumper who did just that. Wag Dodge was one of 15 smoke jumpers who were sent to battle a forest fire in August of 1949. Shortly after their jump, these tenacious, well-trained, young men were surrounded by an inferno. As the wind shifted 180 degrees and picked up velocity, what had been a manageable fire became what is known as a blow out. The only way to safety was to race 200 yards to the top of a ridgeﾗquite literally, to outrun the fire. When Dodge realized the fire would overtake them, he screamed to his men to stop and gather around him. Most did not hear, and were overcome. Then, with fire racing toward him, Wag Dodge lit a fire of his own and followed it, then circled back and laid down in the grass it had burned. When he did, the flames went around what had already been scorched, leaving him safe on the ground. He fought fire - with fire. We are surrounded on every side by the super-heated flames of our culture. How do we fight them? The way this young smoke jumper did. We set our own fire. And as the fire of our devotion to Christ begins to burn, our God who is a consuming fire, burns brighter and stronger than the flames of this fallen world. We fight fire with fire!

Life Church

Psalm 1

Psalms 1:1-6 HCSB

How happy is the man who does not follow  the advice of the wicked or take  the path of sinners or join a group  of mockers! Instead, his delight is in the Lord ’s instruction, and he meditates on it day and night. He is like a tree planted beside streams of water that bears its fruit in season   and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. The wicked are not like this; instead, they are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not survive  the judgment, and sinners will not be in the community of the righteous. For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to ruin.

God is here, will you join Him?

On april 4th and 5th we will be celebrating the call to Manhood by God our Father, you are personally invited on behalf of Dr. Jerry Neal FBC Grove City and Pastor Steve Combs Leave a Mark Church. 

We want you to join us and bring other men with you come and fellowship, this is not about First Baptist Church of Grove City, this is about God's Kingdom we want to bless, and encourage you to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Over the years thousands of lives have been changed by these events, men getting real with God, learning to lead their homes, their workplaces and communities as Godly men.

Romans 14:6-9 says  He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks. For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

This is what God wants, we should want our lives to matter for the Kingdom of God.

Jesus split time when He came , lived died, and rose again. He made an impact on eternity. 

Jesus took 12 men and turned the world upside down, their influence is still seen today, they learned to live as unto the Lord, and die as unto the Lord, they made an impact.

This Summit is about what Jesus taught His followers, you will know what they knew and the question will be what impact will you make on those around you? 

Matt Stickel returned from a recent mission trip and said the missionary there asked them how do you know you have the gospel in you?

The answer is : you can't keep it in you , you have to tell everyone about the gospel. 

Let's come together, grow together and share the gospel together with a world that needs hope. We need to truly connect as a Band of Brothers,engaging a culture who has everything backwards and is headed to hell, will you join us this coming weekend the 4th of April come at 5pm for dinner,and fellowship, 7:pm worship starts, and we will go as long as the Holy Spirit is moving, then come back Saturday morning and join us at 7:30 am for breakfast and fellowship and 9:00 am worship starts.

Bring your Bibles, your questions come hungry be prepared to be changed! Come prepared to be challenged!

God will be here will you?

FBC Grove City 3301 Orders Road Grove City Ohio 43123 

We have an app for that : have you downloaded it yet?

here is the app link http://appstore.monk.ee/details.php?appid=100860937

Summit link http://www.firstgc.org/fbc/mens-summit-2014/

Engage the Culture

We live in a culture that is reluctant to get involved. We leave well enough alone. We steer clear of messy, complicated interaction with others. We mind our own business, and keep to ourselves--even those of us who go by the name of Christian. We're like the fellow on the bus who refused to tell another passenger what time it was. After being asked several times, he turned his back, and the young man went on and asked someone else. At the next stop, someone who had seen the exchange scolded the man, and this was his rationale: "If I had told that young man what time it was, we would have struck up a conversation, and I probably would have liked him.


 Before long, he would have gotten himself invited to supper, and my beautiful daughter would have met him. The two of them would probably fall in love, and want to get married - but I don't want my daughter marrying a man who can't afford a watch!" We intuitively know that involvement could prove expensive - so we shut ourselves off in the name of caution.


 The only problem is, we are commanded to love the brethren. In fact, the mark of a Christian is the love we have for one another. It is almost impossible for someone who has experienced the love and grace of God to live in isolation - but some of us do a pretty good job. Instead of hiding, get out of your comfort zone and reach out to those in your circle of influence with the love of Christ. It is dangerous, yes. But the only place outside of heaven where we can be safe from all the dangers of love is hell.




Hebrews 13:

1Let brotherly love continue. 2Don’t neglect to show hospitality, for by doing this some have welcomed angels as guests without knowing it. 3Remember the prisoners, as though you were in prison with them, and the mistreated, as though you yourselves were suffering bodily. 4Marriage must be respected by all, and the marriage bed kept undefiled, because God will judge immoral people and adulterers.  5Your life should be free from the love of money. Be satisfied with what you have, for He Himself has said, I will never leave you or forsake you.  6Therefore, we may boldly say:

The Lord is my helper;

I will not be afraid.

What can man do to me?

Only By The Grace of God

A lot of us are struggling with legalism in our lives and the lives of those around us, even though we know that it is the grace of God that saves us. We try hard to live by the rules, and we assume God will love us more, reward us more and overlook our mistakes. We make hundreds of rules up to live by, in reality Jesus said, Matthew 22:37  "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' 38 "This is the first and great commandment. 39 "And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'40 "On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."

We make it so hard on ourselves and those around us, no wonder people are turned off by us, I've been a dedicated rule-keeper and I struggle with this, knowing God will never love me anymore than He does right now or when He sent Jesus to the cross for me. My parents taught me some basic rules, and most of them were excellent, but they're not really biblical, and have nothing to do with me standing before God.

Rules like we all need a solid eight hours of sleep each night (I have broken this rule every day of my life.) You brush your teeth in the morning, and before going to bed, wash your hands before every meal. Period. Close your eyes when you pray, I peeked during prayer time as a kid many times, and the Pastors and older people in the congregation didn’t always close their eyes, so I decided that either he was a phony, or that this  "eyes-closed" rule might not be iron-clad.

 We define Christianity by a list of arbitrary rules, therefore reducing our relationship with God through Jesus Christ to an exercise of futility of rules. God cannot and will not be put into a box. He's so much bigger than that. And His grace is greater than anything our finite minds can muster up .

Make no mistake. We will stand right before God, not on the basis of our ability to keep an exhaustive list of rules, the Pharisees and Sadducees did this but only the by the  shed blood of Jesus Christ. In Christ alone we are found Justified, and Righteous.

 When our faith is in Him, His grace "covers" us.

Romans 5: 1Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace

with God through our Lord Jesus Christ 2We have also obtained access through Him

by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3And not only that but we also rejoice in our afflictions,  because we know that affliction produces endurance, 4endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. 5This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

JOY

A wise old man once saw a lovely and happy young wife and said, "I would love to meet your husband. He must be very special because I can see it on your face." The Bible explains: A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken (Proverbs 15:13). We should remember the Bible says the fruit of the Spirit is joy (Galatians 5:22). Happy homes are healthy homes.

Much can be said about a happy home. God's Word says laughter is medicine: A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones (Proverbs 17:22). The mandate from Scripture puts the responsibility for joyful family life on both the husband and wife. Our homes are to be refuges of happiness, not battlegrounds of sorrow.

God's Word insists that husbands live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life which He has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity; for that is your portion in life, and in the labor which you perform under the sun (Ecclesiastes 9:9). It is important we not just endure our husband-wife relationship but that we bring joy to it. This is urgent, because the joy of the Lord is your strength (Nehemiah 8:10).

We would like to thank Bible Discovery TV for providing this plan. For more information, please visit: www.biblediscoverytv.com

Psalms 119 : 1How happy are those whose way is blameless,

who live according to the Lord’s instruction!

2Happy are those who keep His decrees

and seek Him with all their heart.

3They do nothing wrong;

they follow His ways.

4You have commanded that Your precepts

be diligently kept.

5If only my ways were committed

to keeping Your statutes!

6Then I would not be ashamed

when I think about all Your commands.

7I will praise You with a sincere heart

when I learn Your righteous judgments.

8I will keep Your statutes;

never abandon me.

בBet

9How can a young man keep his way pure?

By keeping Your word.

10I have sought You with all my heart;

don’t let me wander from Your commands.

11I have treasured Your word in my heart

so that I may not sin against You.

12Lord, may You be praised;

teach me Your statutes.

13With my lips I proclaim

all the judgments from Your mouth.

14I rejoice in the way revealed by Your decrees

as much as in all riches.

15I will meditate on Your precepts

and think about Your ways.

16I will delight in Your statutes;

I will not forget Your word.

ג

Stay True

As the years wear on, some are tempted to stray from the marriage fold to seek other relationships. This is disastrous and always destructive. God's Word says directly to husbands: Drink water from your own cistern, And running water from your own well. Should your fountains be dispersed abroad, Streams of water in the streets? Let them be only your own, And not for strangers with you. Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice with the wife of your youth. As a loving deer and a graceful doe, Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; And always be enraptured with her love (Proverbs 5:15-19).

In his comprehensive study on pornography, Steven Marcus of Columbia University says man's appetite for pornography is insatiable. It simply can never be satisfied. The makers of X-rated films are always seeking more taboos to break. Any immoral relationship, however innocent it might start, never satisfies. The Bible wisely tells us to avoid these involvements and keep ourselves true to our wives. When we refuse to betray the marriage bed, there comes a deepening of relationship that goes far beyond anything we might have given up. Adultery always shatters and, almost always, shatters permanently.

It is important to remember God charges the husband with the responsibility of keeping his home pure. Man is to have a unique and special relationship with one God and one mate. We should always remember that adultery is not wrong because it is in the Bible--it is in the Bible because it is wrong!

Proverbs 6 : 20My son, keep your father’s command,

and don’t reject your mother’s teaching.

21Always bind them to your heart;

tie them around your neck.

22When you walk here and there, they will guide you;

when you lie down, they will watch over you;

when you wake up, they will talk to you.

23For a command is a lamp, teaching is a light,

and corrective discipline is the way to life.

24They will protect you from an evil woman,

from the flattering tongue of a stranger.

25Don’t lust in your heart for her beauty

or let her captivate you with her eyelashes.

26For a prostitute’s fee is only a loaf of bread,

but an adulteress goes after a precious life.

27Can a man embrace fire

and his clothes not be burned?

28Can a man walk on burning coals

without scorching his feet?

29So it is with the one who sleeps with

another man’s wife;

no one who touches her will go unpunished.

30People don’t despise the thief if he steals

to satisfy himself when he is hungry.

31Still, if caught, he must pay seven times as much;

he must give up all the wealth in his house.

32The one who commits adultery lacks sense;

whoever does so destroys himself.

33He will get a beating and dishonor,

and his disgrace will never be removed.

34For jealousy enrages a husband,

and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.

35He will not be appeased by anything

or be persuaded by lavish gifts.

Bible Discovery TV for providing this plan. For more information, please visit: www.biblediscoverytv.com

THE HUSBAND'S RESPONSIBILITY

God felt the marriage union so important that He set certain laws that deal with this relationship. He knew marriage is not only finding the right mate; it is also becoming the right mate. Therefore, He wants the husband to give specific attention to developing a meaningful and lasting relationship with his wife. The next few guides will deal with the husband's responsibilities in making the marriage work.

So important was a man's attention to his marriage and mate that in the Old Testament God insisted: When a man has taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war or be charged with any business; he shall be free at home one year, and bring happiness to his wife whom he has taken (Deuteronomy 24:5). That law was given so newly married couples could develop mutual trust and tenderness. It emphasizes for modern men the importance of developing right relationships in their marriages.

After World War II, we reaped a whirlwind of divorces because of marriages hastily arranged just before the husband went off to fight. How much wiser we would have been, and how many good women and men would not have been deeply scarred, if we had taken God's commandments more seriously. 

This is not to suggest we keep the Old Testament commandment of one year's reprieve from responsibility. Our society is much different today. However, we should remember God did not take marriage vows lightly, and He still wants us to grow together so our marriages will carry us through our failures as well as our successes.

Proverbs 5:15Drink water from your own cistern,water flowing from your own well.16Should your springs flow in the streets,streams of water in the public squares?17They should be for you aloneand not for you to share with strangers.18Let your fountain be blessed,and take pleasure in the wife of your youth.19A loving doe, a graceful fawn —let her breasts always satisfy you;be lost in her love forever.20Why, my son, would you be infatuatedwith a forbidden womanor embrace the breast of a stranger?21For a man’s ways are before the Lord’s eyes,and He considers all his paths.22A wicked man’s iniquities entrap him;he is entangled in the ropes of his own sin.23He will die because there is no discipline,and be lost because of his great stupidity.

Bible Discovery TV for providing this plan. For more information, please visit: www.biblediscoverytv.com