For Years I Have Read The "Grace In Focus" Magazine - But!

FOR YEARS I HAVE READ THE "GRACE IN FOCUS" MAGAZINE ~ Published by the Grace Evangelical Society, aka, Free Grace Movement.  And while I have many Christian brethren and Friends who worship in Free Grace churches, and are just as saved as me - I have never been able to agree with them completely. 

I love the articles in this magazine, I learn from them, yet there remains a couple of teachings and/or actions which I cannot fully digest.  I will say this to all my believing Friends, "I highly recommend the Grace in Focus magazine for your Christian and even leisurely reading."

Today, while eating breakfast I was reading the latest issue of Grace in Focus and the article "Is The Forgiveness Of Sins Equivalent To Everlasting Life?"  caught my attention.  It was written by Mike Lii, a finance attorney and a member of the Grace Evangelical Society Board of Directors.  As I was reading Mike's article, it suddenly dawned on me the root of my disagreement with the Free Grace teaching.

But first let me digress a wee bit.  During my 50 year career in the computer industry, I traveled a lot.  To the point that hotel rooms became more like home to me than did my actual home.  And often when I would have repeat visits to the same hotel and had found a specific room I liked - in making reservations I asked for that room.   Thomas Wolfe may have written the novel, "You Can't Go Home Again" - but in my hotel homes I was proving him wrong.

Traveling meant eating in restaurants, or room service in my rooms, and when I came home from a trip, being single I ate in restaurants.  So on the road or at home - I ate in restaurants.  Eating alone in restaurants, no matter how elegant or upscale, became boring - so I came with a good book to read during my meal. 

I remember a funny incident that happened years ago while I was reading and eating.  A lady walked by, stopped, and asked with that "Hi there, big boy" smile, "What are you reading?"  I smiled at her and replied, "It is 'The Life of Jesus'."  Her smile disappeared and she walked quickly away.

You can see how, after a while, I chose to eat most of my dinners in my hotel room while watching television, and then go for a walk.  And restaurant eating is why I was forced to learn to cook at home.

What was my favorite room service meal?  I would have to say that a Reuben sandwich with french fries, a bowl of fresh fruit, and a pot of coffee was number one on my dining list.

"Bill, why have you begun a blog addressing the Grace in Focus magazine, Free Grace Movement, faith, repentance, believing in Christ, and forgiveness of sins - and then switch over to a Reuben sandwich?"   I thought you would never ask!

In the Free Grace churches they teach we are saved by Faith, but without repentance.  To me, when I was saved by Faith in Jesus Christ, Repentance was an integral part of my Faith.  That would be like diving into a lake to swim, but not getting wet.  Can't be done!  Getting wet is an integral part of diving into the lake.  Just as Repentance is an integral part of being saved by Faith Alone.

And today reading the article "Is The Forgiveness Of Sins Equivalent To Everlasting Life?" it suddenly dawned on me why I have never been fully able to accept the teachings of the Free Grace Movement.   Why?  They insist upon taking the teachings of the Bible and dissecting it down to the bare bones - then claiming the bare bone as the Gospel.

They do not separate the chicken or the egg - they insist upon taking the chicken apart instead and making that their doctrine.

In the article, "Is The Forgiveness Of Sins Equivalent To Everlasting Life?"  - Mike Lii argues for separating "Believing in Christ" - "Forgiveness of Sins" - and "Eternal Life" - as being separate issues.   While to me, when by Faith I believed in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, All my sins were forgiven, and I had His Promise of Eternal Life.  That is one integral package:  Faith, Believing, Forgiven Sins, Eternal Life. 

Just as the Reuben Sandwich is made with corned beef on rye bread, topped with Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and Russian dressing - then put on the grill and melted until the corned beef, cheese, sauerkraut, Russian dressing, and bread become ONE tasty meal ~ Salvation is one integral package:  Faith, Believing, Forgiven Sins, Eternal Life.   There is no such thing as Believing in Christ without forgiveness of sins and eternal life.

One last thought.  It seems to me that Bob Wilkin spends more effort arguing against John MacArthur, than against Satan!  I know, that is an exaggeration  - but that is often the feeling I get in reading his blogs and articles.  I read them because they are very worthwhile, but I would get more from them if he left John MacArthur at home.

I spent about 35 years in computer systems sales and marketing - and one practice which gave me success was ~ When with a prospective customer, tell him all the good features of your product and how it will fulfill his needs.  Do Not spend all your time knocking down your competitor.

If you have a great product, which we do - since our Eternal Life Doctrines are based upon our Bible - we do not need to spend a great deal of time downgrading the competition, but should spend all our time telling and showing folks what a great God and Savior we have in Jesus Christ. 

Let me close by suggesting that, if you do not already subscribe to the Grace in Focus magazine, DO IT!  If is FREE (great price).  

"It is a free bimonthly publication, is filled with easy-to-follow topical and exegetical articles dealing with the Gospel and assurance.  The articles are both informative and motivational.  Many find the articles so helpful that readers file them for future use."  (This was copied from their Subscribe web site, but I agree)

https://faithalone.org/resources/grace-in-focus-magazine/subscribe/

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill 

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Allow Me To Share A Wee Bit Of My Early Naughty Life!

Well, not so naughty, but interesting, at least to me.  As most who have read my past blogs know, in the early 1960s I was sort of bitten by the acting bug.  Not so much bitten, but bored and tired of parties and night clubs every night - so I enrolled in the Theater of Arts acting school in Santa Monica. 

And from there later to an acting school in Beverly Hills run by the man who had been in charge of a large studio's inhouse acting school.  In the 30s, 40s, and 50s all the major studios had their own acting school at their studios - and when they found a young potential future actor, they would put him/her on salary and train them inhouse. 

By the early 1960s most studios had stopped this - so this man started his own school in Beverly Hills.  And it was interesting.  There I learned that my Southern accent was a form of lazy speech.  Maybe he was right, or maybe we Southerners know what the English language should sound like. 

One related incident happened circa 1963.  I was Lawrence in Little Women at a Children's Theater in Encino on Sundays - and one week I was asked to fill in for the man who played Professor Luigi in Pinocchio, the Saturday production. 

As I was studying the script, a lady was helping me with my costume, and another lady was teaching me an Italian accent.   Finally she threw up her hands and declared, "I start with your Southern accent, try to teach you an Italian accent - and end up with Chinese!"  But the performance went on, two times that afternoon.

After Beverly Hills I enrolled in an acting class at Pierce College in Woodland Hills.  That class proved to be interesting also.  For on the first night when we all introduced ourselves, one lady introduced herself as the wife of Rod Serling, creator of The Twilight Zone.  Why she was in a college acting class, I don't know.  But why would she lie?  For surely folks in the class or the man teaching the class would know if she was not being truthful.  And she made our class interesting - every week after class, she was the one leading the whole group to a local club for dancing.  Never happened in any of my other classes. 

Then last night on YouTube I saw the trailer for the movie "Days of Wine And Roses," and that really took me back.  This scene in the photo below is from the beginning of the movie.  Jack Lemmon is a high-powered Public Relations man and in this scene he is taking six tall, beautiful blonde call girls to a party on the yacht of a sheik.  The six tall, beautiful blonde ladies were actually six models they had hired in San Francisco just for this part of the movie.

At that time in my life, my favorite evening spot was the original El Torito in Toluca Lake, California.  Why was this my favorite place?  Well, for one, they had great Mexican food, they had Manuel on the Piano Bar, and they had two very talented waiters:  Val and Miguel.   Val was a tall, handsome Latino who sang popular songs such as La Bamba better than the original - and Miguel was a small guy with a big voice, singing show tunes and even operatic songs.

The clientele was also interesting since the restaurant was near Warner Bros Studio in Burbank, many of the young folks working at the studio patronized this original El Torito.  Normally they were not wild, but I will admit that one evening when I came in, a young lady from the studio crowd was dancing on the Piano Bar.  Not a regular occurrence though.

Another interesting occurrence happened one evening as we all stood by the main bar chatting while waiting for Manuel to begin on the piano bar.   We were all dressed in casual clothing - except for one young guy from the Midwest.  He was wearing a black suit, white shirt, and black tie.  He mentioned that he was in California attending a school.  Naturally someone asked what he was studying - and he, with a straight face, told us, "I am studying to be a mortician."  You could have heard a pin drop.

And I mentioned that Manuel was at the Piano Bar which was loaded with all sort of noise makers:  bongos, maracas, tambourines, etc.  It was fun to sit around the Piano Bar, sing, and make noise while waiting for Val or Miguel to come and truly sing.

One evening I walked into the club and walking past the main bar I noticed a very attractive blonde sitting at the bar with two guys hanging all over her - so I just noticed briefly as I walked on to join Manuel at the Piano Bar.  A little while later, that very attractive blonde came to me and asked, "Can I sit by you?  Those two guys are really pestering me."  

What could I say?  No gentleman would refuse to help a lady in such a stressful situation.  She sat beside me at the Piano Bar and we chatted, she told me she one of six models hired for the early scenes of the movie "Days of Wine And Roses" which was being filmed at that time.  And the next evening we went on a date.

Later that week she told me that one of the other girls who was her friend, had nothing to do that evening, and she wanted to know if I had a friend who could go on a blind date with her.  A guy would have to be blind to not accept that date.  There was a guy where I worked at Ramo-Wooldridge, a nice looking guy who I thought would fit in well, so I called and arranged for him to join us.  Big, big mistake!

That evening we were having dinner, just chatting and having what could have been a nice evening - except this clown was star-struck, "Oh, you are really in this movie?  You are an actress and a model?" he repeated with little puppy eyes as he was adoring her - to the point that it was embarrassing.  I felt like telling him, "Lighten up!  These two beautiful ladies are just flesh and bone like you and me.  They are not here to be worshiped."  I felt like saying it, but did not.  However, I can assure you that I never introduced him to another date again, never!

She was in Los Angeles for about two weeks, then I drove her to the airport and we said goodbye, and except for a couple of phone calls - that was the end of our relationship, gone like the Days of Wine And Roses!

As I said earlier, that was my early somewhat naughty young professional life in the City of Angels, Los Angeles.  In my later more mature years I know I have made the right decision, an eternal decision which I happily share with all my family.  Yet I do admit, at times the deja vu bug bites me and I look back and wonder - "What if?"  Then I dust that deja vu bug off, or as now I write about it, smile, embrace my family, and look for my next inspiration. 

My regrets in life are not related to fame, fortune, or many "What ifs."  No, I have only two real regrets: First would be the times in my life when I may have hurt someone, for it was never done intentionally.  I cannot recall a time in my life when I have purposely chosen to hurt another, although, in hindsight, I can recall times when I look back on a situation now and ask myself, "Did I really do that?" or "Did I really say that?"  At the time, I was totally oblivious and had no idea what I was doing was hurtful.  If only I could go back and make amends.  But God and time do not allow "do overs."  That was my first real regret and I have to live with it.

My second real regret was my waiting until I was 50 years old to become a believer. So many time during that 50 years I could have lost the eternal gamble and have been lost for eternity. But praise God, that did not happen. And the experiences of my first 50 years prove helpful in my writing ministry. I have to believe God has always been in control - for within a year of becoming a believer in 1987 - God gave me a Christian writing ministry.

I have long wondered how Roman Catholic priests can offer Marriage Counseling - when they have never been married. Or how a Roman Catholic priest can counsel young people on Sexual Relationships - when they have supposedly never had such a relationship?

Yes, they can offer book knowledge, but which is better, book knowledge, or "Been there, done that!" and can tell you the pitfalls to avoid. My 50 years of walking with the world - allows me to share my experiences of how the world is working to pull folks away from God. Me being a delayed believer, I can use that experience and knowledge in my writing and sharing, hopefully to guide others away from doing the same. And what I share is very often, like this blog, the product of deja vu reminiscing.

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill

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What Do Barack Obama And George Wallace Have In Common? ~ They Are Both Racists!

WHAT DO BARACK OBAMA AND GEORGE WALLACE HAVE IN COMMON? ~ They Are Both Racists!

BELIEVE IT OR NOT, America's first black president, Barack Obama - is trying to be the next George Wallace! Yes, Barack Obama (the president who could never find his own birth certificate) has realized (or maneuvered) that his puppet, Joe Biden, will not be able to successfully run in the 2024 Election.

And knowing that virtually all Americans do not want to see America further embarrassed by Cackling Kamala as the next Democratic presidential candidate - Obama is starting the subtle campaign to push his wife, Angry Michelle, as the next Democrat Party candidate for president.

In other words, "Barack Obama Is Trying To Emulate George Wallace! He Is Trying To Be The NEXT George Wallace!"

Racism, Racial Division, most frequently has come from two sources. And the following is my worldview of racial discrimination.

First, it grew in America in the 1600s to 1800s, costing over 600,000 American lives in the Civil War of 1861-1865. But over the next 100 years or so, thanks to a booster shot given it by President Eisenhower in 1957, the Civil Rights condition in America began to turn around. Racially divided schools became integrated, discrimination laws were enacted, and other changes were slowly making America more the land of freedom, for all people. I grew up in Alabama in the 1940s/50s and saw segregation and prejudice first hand. I praise God I was not raised in a home where prejudice and racism were practiced. But in hindsight I can see that racial discrimination, starting back in the early days of slavery in the l600s, was an evil passed on from parents to children, over and over again.

That is what kept it alive throughout the 18th, 19th, and most of the 20th century - parents who, as children, had learned this evil in their homes - then passed it on to their children, those children to their children - and the cycle continued. Were these bad people? No! Most were not, just folks who had heard, parroted, and accepted racial prejudice as normal in their homes and communities. They were just folks who did not know how to break the cycle.

President Eisenhower began to break that cycle when he signed the Civil Rights Act of 1957, the first civil rights legislation since the Post-Civil War Reconstruction period (1865 to 1877). And he sent Federal Troops to protect the Little Rock Nine, a group of nine African American students, enrolled in Little Rock Central High School in 1957.

Second, and I believe most prevalent in America during my lifetime, racial division is used to gain political power - primarily by the Democratic Party.  One of the most flagrant abusers of that evil was George Wallace, the Democratic Governor of Alabama in the 1960s when racial tension ran high, fueled in a large part by Wallace himself, who nurtured it for political gain.  In his gubernatorial campaign, his campaign slogan was:  "Segregation Now, Segregation Tomorrow, Segregation Forever."  

In my heart and mind, George Wallace was pure evil, for he was willing to sacrifice a large portion of the population of Alabama - for political purposes, power, and gain.  He was an expert at playing to that familial inbred racism, i.e., parent to child cycle, which had nurtured it for centuries.  Believe it or not, George Wallace was a greater embarrassment to me than our current Cackling Kamala!
 
When Wallace's term as governor ended and he could run no more - he pushed his wife, Lurleen, to the forefront, getting her elected governor of Alabama.  That made him Governor-in-fact.

Much like George Wallace making Lurleen his front puppet - I believe Barack Obama is subtly working on the same plan for the 2024 Election - get rid of Joe Biden and present his wife, Angry Michelle, as the best candidate to run against President Trump.  It is my opinion, and you can watch her current interviews and press meetings to verify what I believe is their intention - that Obama wants to get his wife elected - so that he can be President-in-fact. 

BARACK OBAMA has become the next GEORGE WALLACE!

Barack Obama has been the Master Puppeteer behind Joe Biden, how much more would he be behind his own wife, Angry Michelle?

Democrat George Wallace ran in the 1968 United States Presidential Election as the candidate for the American Independent Party against Richard Nixon, Republican, and Hubert Humphrey, Democrat.  Wallace did not expect to win the election, his strategy was to prevent either major party candidate from winning a majority in the Electoral College.

This would throw the election into the House of Representatives, where Wallace had influence and believed he would have bargaining power sufficient to determine, or at least strongly influence, the selection of the next president.  Personally, in hindsight, I believe I see the old Adversary guiding George Wallace's actions.  Who would you guess is guiding Barack Obama's actions?

Can you picture Barack Obama (with great disdain for whites) - standing shoulder to shoulder with George Wallace (with great disdain for blacks) - pushing Angry Michelle Obama to be president?

And just like George Wallace was fighting to spread Racial Discrimination for political gain, Obama has been, and is, copying Wallace's game plan.  George against Blacks - Obama against Whites.  There is no difference!

In the video below, Candace Owens shares her candid thoughts on how the Leftist Democrats have, for almost two centuries, lied to and used the black communities to keep them voting Democrat.  It is time to change all that - for I don't believe any American wants to give Barack Obama a third term in office hiding behind Angry Michelle's petty coat.  I urge you to watch this short 4-minute video:

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Candace Owens: The Left Uses Racism to Control Black America
PragerU 4-Minute Video - February 17, 2020

Candace Owens speaking TRUTH! It's time for Black America to leave the Left.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUOYPdomEPI

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And then I urge you to:

IN NOV 2024 - VOTE CONSERVATIVE, ON ISSUES AND CANDIDATES!

IN NOV 2024 - VOTE TO "MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"

IN NOV 2024 - VOTE FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP!  MAGA ALL THE WAY!

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill 

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