Thomas Watson – (ca. 1620-1686), English non-conformist Puritan preacher and author
Watson was educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where he was noted for remarkably intense study. In 1646 he commenced a sixteen year pastorate at St. Stephen’s, Walbrook. He showed strong Presbyterian views during the civil war, with, however, an attachment to the king, and in 1651 he was imprisoned briefly with some other ministers for his share in Christopher Love’s plot to recall Charles II of England. He was released on June 30, 1652, and was formally reinstated as vicar of St. Stephen’s Walbrook.
Watson obtained great fame and popularity as a preacher until the Restoration, when he was ejected for nonconformity. Notwithstanding the rigor of the acts against dissenters, Watson continued to exercise his ministry privately as he found opportunity. Upon the Declaration of Indulgence in 1672 he obtained a license to preach at the great hall in Crosby House. After preaching there for several years, his health gave way, and he retired to Barnston, Essex, where he died suddenly while praying in secret. He was buried on 28 July 1686.
What We Believe As a church, we are committed to the Bible as our rule of faith and living. We are also committed to the historic Christian faith as it has been expressed in the ancient Creeds of Christendom and in the truths contained in the great Confessions of Faith which sprung up in Europe with the Reformation of the 16th century. Our main doctrinal standard is the historic Westminster Confession of Faith, drawn up by leading theologians from all parts of the British Isles, in the 1640’s.
This means that we are committed to believing in, amongst other things, the absolute sovereignty of God (Father, Son and Spirit), a created universe, our fall into sin, our consequent alienation from God and exposure to his condemnation and final judgment, the saving and complete work of Jesus Christ in dying for sinners, the necessity of faith in Christ in order to experience salvation, and the reality of both heaven and hell.
Because of the importance of its message, we believe the Bible is the most important book you could ever read and that the person at its centre – Jesus Christ, crucified 2000 years ago – is also the most important person you will ever encounter. After all, if the Bible is true, we will all encounter him one day.
Thomas Watson – (ca. 1620-1686), English non-conformist Puritan preacher and author
Watson was educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where he was noted for remarkably intense study. In 1646 he commenced a sixteen year pastorate at St. Stephen’s, Walbrook. He showed strong Presbyterian views during the civil war, with, however, an attachment to the king, and in 1651 he was imprisoned briefly with some other ministers for his share in Christopher Love’s plot to recall Charles II of England. He was released on June 30, 1652, and was formally reinstated as vicar of St. Stephen’s Walbrook.
Watson obtained great fame and popularity as a preacher until the Restoration, when he was ejected for nonconformity. Notwithstanding the rigor of the acts against dissenters, Watson continued to exercise his ministry privately as he found opportunity. Upon the Declaration of Indulgence in 1672 he obtained a license to preach at the great hall in Crosby House. After preaching there for several years, his health gave way, and he retired to Barnston, Essex, where he died suddenly while praying in secret. He was buried on 28 July 1686.
Proverbs 31:12 New American Standard Bible 12 She does him good and not evil All the days of her life.
1 Corinthians 13 New American Standard Bible 13 If I speak with the tongues of mankind and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 And if I give away all my possessions to charity, and if I surrender my body so that I may glory, but do not have love, it does me no good.
4 Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant. 5 It does not act disgracefully, it does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, does not keep an account of a wrong suffered, 6 it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 it keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away with; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away with. 9 For we know in part and prophesy in part; 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away with. 11 When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I also have been fully known. 13 But now faith, hope, and love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
When Married People Try Harder – Pastor Patrick Hines Reformed Christian Podcast
▶️Pastor Patrick Hines has recently had a brand new book published, called, “Earth’s Foundational History – Part 1: Genesis Chapters 1 Through 5.” (Paperback – May 4, 2023) https://cutt.ly/16RCeZ0
These two books are also available on Amazon. All proceeds go directly to Pastor Hines:
▶️Am I Right With God?: The Gospel, Justification, Saving Faith, Repentance, Assurance, & The New Birth https://cutt.ly/S6RCbuM
▶️Redrawing the Battle Lines: 23 Sermons on Critical Issues Facing the Church https://cutt.ly/m6RCTi0
We subscribe to the Westminster Standards as our doctrinal statement. It consists of the following documents:
The Westminster Confession of Faith The Westminster Larger Catechism The Westminster Shorter Catechism
We also believe that Christian Worship is to be regulated and defined by God’s Word, the Bible.
Our worship services are designed to please and honor the Triune God of the Bible. We place Scripture reading and the preaching of the word of God at the center of worship along with Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. These are God’s gifts to His church and ought to always be at the center of Christian worship.
We embrace and promote a comprehensive Christian world and life view.
There is no area of life which is not under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. It is to God and His law which all people, including governments and civil rulers, will answer. The Word of God embraces and informs the way we view marriage, the family, children, education, politics, worship, law, government, war, the church, missions, evangelism, and worship. In the world today there is a battle of opposing worldviews. There are basically only two positions: God’s Word and man’s ideas. We stand positively for Biblical truth and negatively against man’s ideas which are opposed to Biblical truth.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only hope for mankind.
We Worship God Together as Families.
All who profess faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and are members of an evangelical church are cordially invited to participate with us in the Lord’s Supper.
Defending Unborn Human Life – Pastor Patrick Hines Sermon
Proverbs 31:8 New American Standard Bible 8 Open your mouth for the people who cannot speak, For the rights of all the unfortunate.
▶️Pastor Patrick Hines has recently had a brand new book published, called, “Earth’s Foundational History – Part 1: Genesis Chapters 1 Through 5.” (Paperback – May 4, 2023) https://cutt.ly/16RCeZ0
These two books are also available on Amazon. All proceeds go directly to Pastor Hines:
▶️Am I Right With God?: The Gospel, Justification, Saving Faith, Repentance, Assurance, & The New Birth https://cutt.ly/S6RCbuM
▶️Redrawing the Battle Lines: 23 Sermons on Critical Issues Facing the Church https://cutt.ly/m6RCTi0
We subscribe to the Westminster Standards as our doctrinal statement. It consists of the following documents:
The Westminster Confession of Faith The Westminster Larger Catechism The Westminster Shorter Catechism
We also believe that Christian Worship is to be regulated and defined by God’s Word, the Bible.
Our worship services are designed to please and honor the Triune God of the Bible. We place Scripture reading and the preaching of the word of God at the center of worship along with Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. These are God’s gifts to His church and ought to always be at the center of Christian worship. We are a congregation that loves to sing God’s praises, recite His Word back to Him, and actively engage in hearing and learning from God’s Word.
We embrace and promote a comprehensive Christian world and life view.
There is no area of life which is not under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. It is to God and His law which all people, including governments and civil rulers, will answer. The Word of God embraces and informs the way we view marriage, the family, children, education, politics, worship, law, government, war, the church, missions, evangelism, and worship. In the world today there is a battle of opposing worldviews. There are basically only two positions: God’s Word and man’s ideas. We stand positively for Biblical truth and negatively against man’s ideas which are opposed to Biblical truth.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only hope for mankind.
Because all men fall short of obeying God’s law, all men everywhere are in need of divine grace and salvation from God. This salvation is found only in the Lord Jesus Christ who died for sinners, was buried, rose again, and is alive today seated at God the Father’s right hand.
We Worship God Together as Families.
We offer nursery during the morning worship service for newborns and infants but encourage people to keep as many of their children as they can with them for morning worship. The audio of the service is in the nursery via speakers. There is also a crying room with a video screen and audio of the sermon. We offer Sunday school classes for all ages, but worship together as families. We do not offer “children’s” church.
All who profess faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and are members of an evangelical church are cordially invited to participate with us in the Lord’s Supper.
00:00:00 01 The Duties of Parents to Their Children 00:03:34 02 Case: What may be done by Pious Parents, to promote the Piety and Salvation of their Children?
00:35:46 03 The Duties of Children to Their Parents 00:39:45 04 Case: What Respects to their Parents must be rendered by the Children, that would not by Affronts to their Parents, bring down upon themselves the dreadful Curses of God?
An essay to render parents and children happy in one another handling two very important cases: I. What are the duties to be done by pious parents, for the promoting of piety in their children II. What are the duties that must be paid by children to their parents, that they may obtain the blessings of the dutiful. – The Summary is the Subtitle of the Book.
(b. Feb. 12, 1663, Boston, Massachusetts Bay Colony [U.S.]—d. Feb. 13, 1728, Boston), “American Congregational minister and author, supporter of the old order of the ruling clergy, who became the most celebrated of all New England Puritans. He combined a [supposedly -WC] mystical strain (he believed in the existence of witchcraft) with a modern scientific interest (he supported smallpox inoculation).
The son of Increase Mather and the grandson of John Cotton and Richard Mather, Cotton Mather lived all his life in Boston. He entered Harvard at the age of 12, easily passing entrance requirements to read and write Latin and to “decline the Greek nouns and verbs.” He devoted himself unremittingly to study and prayer. At 18 he received his M.A. degree from the hands of his father, who was president of the college. He preached his first sermon in his father’s church in August 1680 and in October another from his grandfather John Cotton’s pulpit. He was formally ordained in 1685 and became his father’s colleague.
He devoted his life to praying, preaching, writing, and publishing and still followed his main purpose in life of doing good. His book, Bonifacius, or Essays to Do Good (1710), instructs others in humanitarian acts, some ideas being far ahead of his time: the schoolmaster to reward instead of punish his students, the physician to study the state of mind of his patient as a probable cause of illness. He established societies for community projects.
He joined his father in cautioning judges against the use of “spectre evidence” (testimony of a victim of witchcraft that he had been attacked by a spectre bearing the appearance of someone he knew) in the witchcraft trials and in working for the ouster of Sir Edmund Andros as governor of Massachusetts. He was also a leader in the fight for inoculation against smallpox, incurring popular disapproval. When Cotton inoculated his own son, who almost died from it, the whole community was wrathful, and a bomb was thrown through his chamber window. Satan seemed on the side of his enemies; various members of his family became ill, and some died. Worst of all, his son Increase was arrested for rioting.
Mather’s interest in science and particularly in various American phenomena—published in his Curiosa Americana (1712-24)—won him membership in the Royal Society of London. His account of the inoculation episode was published in the society’s transactions. He corresponded extensively with notable scientists, such as Robert Boyle. His Christian Philosopher (1721) recognizes God in the wonders of the earth and the universe beyond; it is both philosophical and scientific and, ironically, anticipates 18th-century Deism, despite his clinging to the old order.
Cotton Mather wrote and published more than 400 works. His magnum opus was Magnalia Christi Americana (1702) [BOT], an ecclesiastical history of America from the founding of New England to his own time. His Manuductio ad Ministerium (1726) was a handbook of advice for young graduates to the ministry: on doing good, on college love affairs, on poetry and music, and on style. His ambitious 20-year work on biblical learning was interrupted by his death.”
Rom is married to Maegan and they have four children. Rom was raised as a Hindu and became an atheist early in life. The Lord called him to faith through hearing the gospel in 2009 (Romans 10:17). Soon after, he felt a call to gospel ministry. He graduated from the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary (RPTS) in 2020 with an MDiv. He was first ordained and installed as a ruling elder at DRPC in March 2015 and then a teaching elder in July 2020 by the Midwest Presbytery of the RPCNA. He is now the Pastor of the Zion Presbyterian Church in Fredericksburg, VA – a congregation of the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing).
Q. 70. What is justification? A. Justification is an act of God’s free grace unto sinners, in which he pardoneth all their sins, accepteth and accounteth their persons righteous in his sight; not for any thing wrought in them, or done by them, but only for the perfect obedience and full satisfaction of Christ, by God imputed to them, and received by faith alone.
“Down to the Waterline” A Dire Straits Song Played by Cover Band BLUE COLLAR
My old friend and bandmate, Steve Lackey, sent me this old recording of a song we covered by Dire Straits.
Rich Moore (me): Rhythm guitar / lead vocals Steve Lackey: Lead guitar Jeff Kaufman: Bass Jeff Streichert: Drums / backing vocals
We recorded this song ourselves, so it is not a professional level recording. With that said, I do hope there will be some who might enjoy hearing a recording of an old secular song by an old cover band of mine, a long time before, by the grace of God, I was saved…praise be to my blessed Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
This is a biblical response to the so-called “Georgia Guidestones” 10 points of guidance for the world.
The Georgia Guidestones and Atheism – Patrick Patrick Hines Reformed Christian Podcast
The Georgia Guidestones was a granite monument that stood in Elbert County, Georgia, United States, from 1980 to 2022. It was 19 feet 3 inches (5.87 m) tall and made from six granite slabs weighing a total of 237,746 pounds (107,840 kg).[1] The structure was sometimes referred to as an “American Stonehenge”.[2][3] The monument’s creators believed that there was going to be an upcoming social, nuclear, or economic calamity and they wanted the monument to serve as a guide for humanity in the world which would exist after it.[4] Controversial from its time of construction, it ultimately became the subject of conspiracy theories which alleged that it was connected to Satanism.[5]
On the morning of July 6, 2022, the guidestones were heavily damaged in a bombing from a vandal,[2][6] and the debris and guidestones were removed by the local government later that day.[7][8] In late July, Elberton Mayor Daniel Graves announced plans to rebuild the monument.[9] In August, the Elbert County Board of Commissioners voted to donate the remains of the monument to the Elberton Granite Association, and return the 5 acres (2 ha) of land on which the monument was erected to its previous owner.[10]
History Construction In June 1979, a man using the pseudonym Robert C. Christian approached the Elberton Granite Finishing Company on behalf of “a small group of loyal Americans”, and commissioned the structure. Christian explained that the stones would function as a compass, calendar, and clock, and should be capable of “withstanding catastrophic events”.[1] The man reportedly used the pseudonym as a reference to the Christian religion.[2][11] Christian said that he wanted to build a granite monument that would rival the British Neolithic monument Stonehenge, which he drew inspiration from after paying it a visit.[12][13] However, he said that while it was impressive, Stonehenge had no message to communicate.[13]
Joe Fendley of Elberton Granite believed that Christian was “a nut”, and attempted to discourage him by providing a price quote for the commission which was several times higher than any project which the company had previously undertaken, explaining that the construction of the guidestones would require additional tools and consultants. To Fendley’s surprise, Christian accepted the quote.[1]
When arranging payment, Christian claimed that he represented a group which had been planning to construct the guidestones for 20 years and wanted to remain anonymous.[1] Christian said he had chosen Elbert County because of its abundance of local granite, the rural nature of its landscape, its mild climate, and family ties to the region.[2][14][4] The total cost of the project was not revealed, but it was over US$100,000 (equivalent to $400,000 in 2023).[4]
Christian delivered a scale model of the guidestones and ten pages of specifications.[1] The 5-acre (2-hectare) site was purchased by Christian from a local farm owner.[15] The owner and his children were given lifetime cattle grazing rights on the guidestones site.[1] The monument was located off Georgia State Route 77 around 7 miles (11 km) north of the city of Elberton.[16][17][18]
On March 22, 1980, the monument was unveiled by congressman Doug Barnard before an audience of between 200 and 300 people.[13][2] At the unveiling, the Master of Ceremonies read a message to the gathered audience:
In order to avoid debate, we the sponsors of the Georgia Guidestones have a simple message for human beings, now and for the future. We believe our precepts are sound, and they must stand on their own merits.
— Purported statement of Georgia Guidestones sponsors[14] Christian later transferred ownership of the land and the guidestones to Elbert County.[15] In 1981, barbed wire fencing was erected around the monument to keep cattle out, as they had been using it for a scratching post.[4]
A man who identified himself as Robert Christian published a book titled Common Sense Renewed (1986), which described the ideology of the guidestones. The author wrote:
I am the originator of the Georgia Guidestones and the sole author of its inscriptions. I have had the assistance of a number of other American citizens in bringing the monument into being. We have no mysterious purposes or ulterior motives. We seek common sense pathways to a peaceful world, without bias for particular creeds or philosophies.
— ”Robert Christian” (1986) Fendley believed that the monument would become a regional tourist attraction. In 2022, 20,000 annual visitors were reported.
Christian Sermons and Audio Books 