The Omnibus Blog

A Quote from Athanasius

2009-03-11T00:30:00.000-07:00

"...No, repentance could not meet the case. What-or rather Who was it that was needed for such grace and such recall as we required? Who, save the Word of God Himself, Who also in the beginning had made all things out of nothing? His part it was, and His alone, both to bring again the corruptible to incorruption and to maintain for the Father His consistency of character with all. For He alone, being Word of the Father and above all, was in consequence both able to recreate all, and worthy to suffer on behalf of all and to be an ambassador for all with the Father."

~St. Athanasius On the Incarnation pg.33

Incarnating our Faith

2009-03-10T12:22:00.000-07:00

Adam was our chief representative. When he fell into the bondage of sin, so did all of the human race. In this state, we began to turn away from God. We started worshiping false gods, and we suppressed the truth about the one true God, until we had lost our apprehension of Him. Romans 1:21 says: “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

The only way that we can be brought to the light, is by the almighty hand of God, who regenerates us and frees us from the bondage that sin had upon us (2 Cor. 1:21-22). Since man was evil, God had to renew His image in man. Through the Incarnation and death of Jesus Christ, we were cleansed from our sin and made new!

We are now commanded to incarnate our faith, just like Jesus incarnated his body. We are to be a city set on a hill & a light for all nations. Our faith should reflect upon who we are. When people see us, they shouldn't just see us, but they should see Christ shining through us. In everything that we do, it should always bring glory to God!

-Destiny

Understanding the Incarnation

2009-03-10T07:29:00.002-07:00

How can we know that we are understanding the truth of God and the Incarnation in our lives?

We can show we understand by living a Christian life. We are called to be a city set on a hill & a light for all nations. We have been justified through Christ's death on the cross. We are being sanctified through the work of the Holy Spirit now. And we will one day be glorified with God the Father.

Right now, we are being made sanctified. We are living the Christian life. To show we truly understand the Incarnation, we must have a completely different attitude towards sin. We should entirely reject it. We are saints. Maybe not the best of saints. But we are saints living for Christ. We are called to be a living sacrifice.

Not only should we live the Christian life, but we are also commanded by Jesus to spread the gospel. We are told to share our Faith with others. We are called to do this. We have a living hope and should live a life that glorifies the Father above. Even in times of suffering, we must remember that we can share in Christ's sufferings and will, likewise, be resurrected with Him. What have we to fear? God is with us. Who can come against us? We have a living hope. This life is not ALL that we have.

The Incarnation

2009-03-09T21:48:00.000-07:00

How do we know that we truly comprehend and understand the whole truth about the incarnation?

Firstly, every thing we believe must be internally present and externally proved. Jesus said that by their fruits you shall know them. If we believe that theft is unethical than we should not steal. I it pure hypocrisy to say we are compassionate Christians whilst we refuse to stop and see if the old lady on the side of the road needs help.
That said let us define what the "whole truth" about the incarnation is.
When God created the world He did it through speaking the word, and in the beginning the word was with God and the word was God and the word became flesh and descended to the earth it had created for to redeem the object of it's grace. Christ was fully man and fully God. This is called the "hypostatic union". It is the conjunction of the immortal God and the mortal body of a man.
If we are to"incarnate"our thoughts into practical application then we must ask forgiveness of Christ our mediator, have faith in his power to regenerate us and work out our salvation through faith in good works(which we are now able to do thanks to the incarnation).

-Alex

Saint Augustine - Confessions

2009-01-15T23:09:00.000-08:00

Recently, we have been reading through St. Augustine's Confessions. It is just an amazing book. There are so many golden nuggets in this book. Here are just a few quotes.

"But you are the life of souls, the life of lives. You live, O life of my soul, because you are life itself, immutable." -Book III

"[M]en are so blind, that they even take pride in their blindness." -Book III

"Entrust to Him whatever you have, for all that you have is from Him. Now, at last, tired of being misled, entrust to the Truth all that the Truth has given to you and nothing will be lost. All that is withered in you will be made to thrive again. All your sickness will be healed. Your mortal body will be refashioned and renewed and firmly bound to you, and when it dies it will not drag you with it to the grave, but will endure and abide with you before God, who abides and endures for ever." -Book IV

"O God, you who are so high above us and yet so close, hidden and yet always present, you have not parts, some greater and some smaller. You are everywhere, and everywhere you are entire. Nowhere are you limited by space. You have not the shape of a body like ours. Yet you made man in your own likeness, and man is plainly in space from head to foot." -Book VI

-David

Interpreting the bible-

2008-10-14T18:08:00.000-07:00

7 Criteria's for the common person to interpret the word of God:

1. You must be born again-

1 Cor 2:14 "But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."
If you're not born again, then the actual truths in the bible will remain a mystery to you. An unregenerate person may have an interpretation of the bible, but most likely it'll be the wrong one.

2. You must work at it-

2 Tim 2:15 "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."
It takes time, effort and work to interpret the bible correctly.
Minimal time and effort=minimal understanding - Maximum time and effort=maximum understanding -

3. You must want it-

1 Peter 2:2 "As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.."
A baby desire milk. We may give him other things, such as toys, warm cloths... etc. but he will always desire milk! We are God's children, and should want and desire to know the truth just as babies desire milk. If we do not have that desire, we must ask and pray for it.

4. You must be holy-

1 Peter 2:1 "Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking."
We must constantly be reading the word. The lack of reading the word is not because the word is not exciting, but rather because you are not excited about reading it, therefor creating a sin.

5. You must have no idols-

Ezekiel 14:4 "Therefor speak to them, and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Everyone of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, and puts before him what causes him to stumble into iniquity, and then comes to the prophet, I the Lord will answer him who comes, according to the multitude of his idols."
Sin has the ability to guard godly men of the truth.
You must learn how to interpret the scripture, because even preachers, and Sunday school teachers can have wrong interpretations of it [Acts 17:11]
God will give us what we want [our idols] just in order to show us that we "don't need them!"

6. You must be Spirit-Controlled-

1 John 2:26-27 "These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. 27 But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him."
Some people interpret 1 John 2 to say that "the spirit guides them in all truth and they don't need teachers, and don't need to study the word of God and learn how to interpret it." But, they themselves are interpreting this passage wrongly by saying that. In this passage Paul is "teaching" the first century church that they need to be careful of gnostic teachers, he is not saying that they shouldn't listen to any teachers at all [after all, Paul was a teacher]. He also wasn't saying that all you need is the spirit abiding in you and you will know all truth. Paul was simply saying that you must be controlled by the spirit and confided by the boundary's set by the scripture. The spirit and the word go hand in hand!

7. You must be a person of fervent prayer-

Eph 1:15-18 "Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: 17 that the God of the Lord Jesus Christ, the father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the eyes of you understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints."
Paul was even praying for understanding. He was an apostle of Christ, he wrote many of the books of the bible, and yet he prayed for understanding and for those whom he was writing to. How much more then should we be praying!?!
"There's no true prayer without the study of the word of God, and there's no true study of the word of God without prayer." -R.A. Torrey
Prayer is vital for good bible studies! Psalms 119:145 says "My eyes are awake through the night watches, that I may meditate on Your word."

-Destiny

Quote: R.C. Sproul

2008-09-23T11:25:00.000-07:00

“I dream of a new reformation, a reformation that is not simply a renewal of life but a new vision of life: a vision that yields new forms and structures in society and culture. As long as Christians restrict their Christianity to a religion, a faith that is compartmentalized and isolated from life, they can have revival but never, ever reformation. We need to hear and do the Word of God in all of our lives.”

~R.C. Sproul

Stay Tuned!

2008-09-21T09:11:00.000-07:00

Yes, next week we all are starting The Holiness of God. It should be very exciting. I will try and keep you up to date on what we are reading and learning. And if you didn't see my last post, we are finishing Omnibus I in two weeks. So keep an eye on this blog. So long. Over & out.

-David A. Kruse

Is the idea that one sin is as bad as another biblical?

2008-09-19T19:27:00.000-07:00

To answer this question we must go to scripture and reason it out. James 2:10 says, "For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it." In this passage James is telling us that if we break the law, even in just a small thing, we are accountable for as if we had broken all of the law.

Although this is true, it is not necessarily saying that all sins should be looked at on the same level. Some sins are worse then others. But, even in one small sin it is an offense to God and His law. To break the law is to disobey the law-giver. Every man is born with a sinful nature, we have inherited it from Adam. Sin, no matter how big or small, can lead us away from God. Only one tiny sin is able to condemn us to hell.

However, God has send His son Jesus to die for us. Through His death our sins are forgiven. No matter how small or large our sins are, Jesus took them upon Himself and payed the punishment. We need to now repent of our sins, believe in God and walk a Christian life.

-Destiny

Roman Philosophy and Dogs and Cats

2008-09-17T17:38:00.000-07:00

While the popular religion of Rome served a large, complicated pantheon of gods and goddess, we can more fully look at their culture by looking at two main Roman philosophies- Stoicism and Epicureanism.

Stoicism- Stoics believed that reality is material. There is a cosmic force or that they call the Logos, which is their version of god or fate. The Stoics main goal in life is to live in harmony with this force, by practicing justice, wisdom and courage. They thought that the most important thing was to know your duty and do it well. Stoics emphasize the importance of submitting to fate, whatever it may be.
Epicureanism- Epicureans, on the other hand, deny that gods exist at all, or if they do, they have nothing whatsoever to do with the world. Because no gods of fate direct the world or ones lives, the actions of our free wills determine history. Epicureans believe strongly in their own free-will and that ones own actions determine fate.

An easy way of remembering these two philosophical ideas, is to look at dogs and cats. Dogs are Stoics, and cats are Epicureans. A dog is ever faithful to his masters and his commands. He knows his duty and you can depend on him to follow it, even unto death. Now picture a cat, he is friendly, but he basically looks out for number one. He has his won free will, and thinks he does not need a master to boss him around. Stoics are defined by their faithfulness to virtue and their duty. Whereas, Epicureans are completely self dependent, and rely only on their free will.

By knowing the philosophy of the Romans, we can better understand the context of the Bible. It equips to know what the apostles were up against, and to know the world that Jesus came to live in, and to die for.
Acts 17:16-21- "Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. 18 Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, “What does this babbler wish to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities”—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. 19 And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20 For you bring some strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean.” 21 Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new."

By learning about the culture that the apostles lived in and preached too, we can better understand the Bible, and better apply it to our lives!

Julius Caesar and the end of Omnibus 1

2008-09-15T21:53:00.000-07:00

We are almost finished now with the Omnibus I Curriculum. I'm excited to move on but regretful to leave it after so many months. Anyway, we are just starting Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare. It is more enjoyable, than not, to read because, well, it's, SHAKESPEARE!

As of now, we are reading Shakespeare (as mentioned above) and The Screwtape Letters written by C.S. Lewis. After that we'll read The Holiness of God by R.C. Sproul and the book of Revelation in the Bible. Then we're done. Yep, it is indeed a victory and I cannot wait for Omnibus II. This year's course has taught me so much and I look forward to more study.

In Christ,
-David A. Kruse

Faith and Works

2008-07-01T22:19:00.000-07:00

We have been going through this awesome curriculum for a while now and just recently have finished the books of Galatians and Romans. We are now just beginning the book of James. Anyway, what is really neat is that Paul and James both are so much alike in their writings. Paul believes that we are saved (justified) by faith through Christ.

But it seems that James contradicts Paul when he says that we are justified by works. You must realize that James is not speaking of the same justification as Paul was. That is the key to understanding these two men. Neither are wrong, it is just that both are coming from different points of view.

Paul is true when saying that in faith alone (sola fide) are we justified. James agrees to that but puts in another aspect of our salvation. He says that without works, faith is dead. He knows that although you believe in Christ through faith, it is only dead faith without the works to justify it. So James is telling the truth in saying that we are justified through our works because without works we have no true faith in us at all.

In closing, we have believed and now are living out the Salvation given to us. If we are of the true faith then we must display that faith through our works. We cannot say, "Lord, save me" and then sit around just waiting for Christ to return. No, we are justified by our works.

Grace and Law- are they Separate?

2008-05-19T10:31:00.001-07:00

Many people today make the mistake of thinking that law and grace are something separate, that they don’t work together but rather against each other. From this presupposition springs such a question- Is an attempt to follow God’s moral law denying His grace? But I hope to show that such a belief is wrong and unbiblical.

The principle of salvation by grace through faith cannot be a contradiction of the law. Some dispensationalist have held that Christians live under a dispensation of grace not law, and therefore believer that keeping the moral law is not necessary for them.

But Romans 3:31 says, otherwise - “Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.” This clearly shows that keeping the law is a continually obligation for the Christian.

When we become regenerated and washed clean, we start a path of sanctification. Prov.6:23 “For the commandment is a lamp and the law a light.” The law shows us, after we have been justified by Christ and then sanctified by the Holy Spirit, how to live, so that we may continue to live a life of good works. But we can only do that with the Holy Spirit working through us.

Also it is by the law that we are sanctified. John 17:17 “Sanctify them by your truth; Your Word is truth.” Christians need the law in order to die unto sin and to live unto righteousness, because it is by the law that we know what sin is.

But back to the question. The law of God is not opposed to His love or grace, but rather shows what it is in action. Obeying God’s moral laws is not denying His grace, His laws are an action of His enduring grace.

-Kaila A.

Hospitality

2008-04-13T09:16:00.000-07:00

Odysseus arrives at the island of the Cyclopes (a giant with one eye). While there his men are trapped in its cave with no hope of escape. To add to their misery and despair the Cyclopes decides to have them for dinner. So for three days Odysseus has to watch his men be eaten, two at a time. They eventually escape but not without great loss.

Throughout this book Odysseus prevails upon the hospitality of many people and beast, whether it was good hospitality or not. All the while men are at his home, unwelcome, eating, drinking and partying, all at his expense, and he doesn’t even know about it, only his wife and son have to watch their home be torn apart. This brings me to the subject of hospitality. Where is hospitality in our culture? Why is it so important? What does your family do to show hospitality? Or are they to busy to welcome the stranger to their door?

“It is useful to limit the meaning of “hospitality” to benevolence done to those outside one’s normal circle of friends, as is implied in the literal meaning of the Greek word meaning “love of strangers.” Tyndale Bible dictionary

Hospitality has been lost in our culture. It has been broken down in many ways. We have lost the art of feasting, the concept of it. Why? We are to busy. We fill our days with ways to benefit ourselves, ignoring the man with the cardboard sign. We run here and there putting off the invitation to have our neighbors for dinner. We fill our day timers, yet have less time. Hospitality is lost because we make no time except for ourselves.

What happens in our culture when true hospitality is given? Because “self” reigns in our culture, hospitality is viewed with skepticism. Say you’re invited over to a friend’s house, but you think they only want you over so that they could get something out of you.

Instead of thinking of what the person might wish to give you are focused on what they might want from you. We must change this view and go back to what the Bible requires of us concerning hospitality.

“So he (Abraham) lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing by him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground, and said, “My Lord, if I have now found favor in Your sight, do not pass on by Your servant. Please let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. And I will bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh your hearts. After that you may pass by, inasmuch as you have come to your servant.” Gen. 18:2-5

This is a prime example of true hospitality. Abraham accepted these strangers, with no thought to who they were, he just knew that they were in need of refreshments.

“Be hospitable to one another without grumbling (1 Peter 4:9)”.

“A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach.” 1 Tim.3:2

Clearly God wants us to be hospitable. We need to take the time to have people over to treat them kindly, and to do it all with a glad heart. But why is it so important? What is the reason behind hospitality? There are two reasons that we should be hospitable.

“You shall neither mistreat a stranger nor oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” Ex. 22:21. Israel was a slave a stranger in the land of Egypt, and they were unwelcome by the Egyptians as time moved on. Yet God delivered them, He delivered His people, out of His good grace. So hospitality is an important aspect of showing gratitude, because of the grace shown to us by God.

Another reason for showing gratitude is found in Heb. 13:2- “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.” This is seen in Abraham’s case that we read earlier. Three angels had come to tell him that he would have a son, the chosen seed of Israel. Not knowing this Abraham still welcomed them to his tent, fed them and washed their feet. We must take care, though, to not make this our main reason for showing hospitality, this is an added bonus to our reward, not our main motivation. Our main motivation should be to glorify God through our actions, to show gratitude for what was shown to us in days of old.

Christians should we radically different from the Cyclopes whom Odysseus encountered. The Cyclopes ate those in his household; we should feed those who enter our home. People today are starved for true hospitality, but do not take the time to show it, we Christians need to bring it back.

-Kaila Anderson

C.S. Lewis's Narnia Books (And the Chart I Made)

2008-04-07T12:07:00.000-07:00

This is a chart I made for the Narnian years and our years that happened in C.S. Lewis's Narnian Books. It is pretty cool stuff and I'm sure you have all read the books!

You see, we have to read through these books in our Curriculum.

What is goodness?

2008-04-03T10:21:00.000-07:00

What is goodness? The only thing that can define goodness is our triune God! He is good and therefore is goodness. For Christians goodness is a person, and sin is a personal affront to Christ who died and bled and bought us. For pagans goodness is just something that comes to you when you are smart and have a good education. But, we know that this isn’t true.
God gave us His laws so we could strive to become like Him, because He is good. His laws reflect Himself and shows His perfect nature. Matt 5:48 says, "Therefore, you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven in perfect."
Our God is a just, righteous and holy God who shows goodness and we need to try and reflect this. We as Christians, are to be a light to the world, and by following God's laws are able to do so. God will always stay the same and never will never change. He will always be goodness, and His laws will never change. In Heb 13:8 is tells us that, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever." Our triune God will always be goodness.

-Destiny

A cool quote... hope you like it:o)

2008-03-18T22:54:00.000-07:00

"The rain it raineth all around

Upon the just and unjust fella;

But chiefly on the just because

The unjust stole the just's umbrella.

-Anonymous

What is the purpose of understanding history?

2008-02-15T12:01:00.000-08:00

In understanding history we learn from our mistakes. We see different things that people did that we don’t want to repeat. We also can be inspired because throughout history we see how everything works out according to God’s plan. During hard times we know that God will always win in the end. We also see how Christ is in the center of history, we learn from the nature and character of God. We can see God’s providential sovereignty throughout history and Christ is the focal point in it all. That is the purpose of understanding history!

-Destiny

Can We Change Ourselves?

2008-02-12T12:16:00.000-08:00

I believe that we cannot, in the least, change ourselves unless God allows it to happen. Only God has the power to do change us. Though we may choose to break our old habits and read our Bible every day, which happens only by God’s good grace, we cannot change ourselves unto Salvation. We cannot want to know God because man is inherently sinful. Rom. 3:10 - “…None is righteous, no, not one.” We don’t want to know what God is; who he is. We hate him. Without God first changing our hearts inwardly, we will never desire Him or want to learn more about him.

If you went up to an Atheist and began to ask him what some of his core beliefs were, he might tell you, “I don’t believe in absolutes” or, “I don‘t believe in God.” Now, if he doesn’t believe in absolutes than he is contradicting that belief by saying it because if he says there are no absolutes than what does what he just said mean? He is saying there are no absolutes by laying down an absolute! The Atheist also probably will say that he does not believe in God. And yet when you ask them how this world was made they would say, most likely, “well it evolved into what it is now.” But what if you asked, “how do houses come about? Did they just evolve? How did your billion‘s of microscopic cells evolve?” It just doesn’t connect. His worldview crumbles. They don’t want to acknowledge God & because they do not they become fools. They know that if they did believe in God they would then have to be subject to His Law. So they suppress the truth. An unbeliever cannot suddenly believe in God unless God puts that burning, that desire, into that someone’s heart.

Man is sinful and corrupt. He is dead in His sins. Rom. 6:23 - “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Man cannot do anything for himself. He is wholly incapable. But God is holy and righteous and pure. He is alive and well. He imputes His righteousness on us and He takes our sins upon His Son, Jesus Christ. He pours out al of His wrath, wrath meant for us, upon His Son while we receive mercy and grace. We cannot save ourselves unless God resurrects us. We cannot change ourselves unless God allows that change to take place.

This painting is beautiful!

2008-02-09T10:56:00.000-08:00

When I look at this picture I am drawn into it and I feel the hurt that this mother must be feeling. She has a little girl on her lap who looks sick and helpless. They don’t look very wealthy and probably don’t have much food. Perhaps it is very cold out and maybe the mother and daughter don’t have much heat and are barely making it through the winter with rags as their clothing. I can’t help but feel sorry for them and want to help them. I’m in suspense whether or not the little girl is going to be all right.
The painter did an extraordinary job on the painting. The colors make the painting come to life and the viewers are in awe of what is happening. The painting is beautiful!

This is a thing we had to do in Omnibus. Each one of us kids had to find a picture and sort of do what I did with this picture. It was pretty fun!

-Destiny

Loyalty

2008-02-04T18:17:00.001-08:00

In the book The Odyssey of Homer, Homer portrays a picture of a very faithful wife in the character Penelope. Though her husband has been gone for 20 years and all say that he is dead, she continues to believe that he is out there and will return soon. The result of this is that she continually refuses the suitors request that she marry one of them. She will not give up on her husband. This brings me to the subject of loyalty.

In many ways our culture has turned away from the true concept of loyalty-friends, marriages, pastors, politicians, and business agreements. Everyone is full of greed, ambition, and selfishness, the three things which destroy loyalty. Companies and businesses do whatever it takes to build themselves up. More than 60% of today’s marriages end up in divorce. Friends will turn around and stab you in the back for their own gain. All these display a lack and loss of loyalty.

One of the greatest examples of disloyalty is seen in Israel. God had delivered Israel from Egypt and had shown them many signs. He made a covenant with them and gave them His law’s. While in the wilderness He provided and protected them through all dangers. When they had no water, He provided it from a rock. When they had no food, He poured down quail and manna. When their enemies were great in numbers, He delivered them into their hands. Continually He kept them under His wings. Yet Ps. 78 says “In spite of all this, they still sinned; despite his wonders, they did not believe…Their heart was not steadfast toward him; they were not faithful to his covenant.” Israel rejected God and His covenant! No matter what He did and showed them, they were a stiff-necked people and rebelled.

Now look to vs. 38 and 39 “Yet he, being compassionate, atoned for their iniquity and did not destroy them; he restrained his anger often and did not stir up all his wrath. He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes and comes not again.” God never gave up on us, though He punished us He still atoned for us. It says that He didn’t show all His wrath…just enough to where we were still allowed to live. Then He sent His Son to die for us. We have been given the New Covenant and we must strive to be faithful to it, and not be the Israel of old.

So when you say the words “as long as we both shall live” remember that you are entering into a life long covenant. Marriage is a covenant instituted by God and one must stay faithful to it. Remember Penelope, the ever faithful wife of Odysseus.

-Kaila Anderson

The Odyssey of Homer

2008-01-23T21:28:00.000-08:00

Here is a basic outline of the book the Odyssey of Homer. This is one of my favorite books that we have gone through so far. It's amazing to see the whole different world that our ancestor's lived in, and what they thought about everything, is eye opening!

After being trapped on Kalypso’s Island for 10 years, Odysseus finally gets away. He meets the Phaiikan king and recalls all his adventures after the Trojan War-the Cyclopes, lotus eaters, the cattle of Helios, Scylla etc…

In the meantime his house is being invaded by men who wish to pay court to his faithful wife, Penelope. She continually refuses them and they continue to eat his house and home out. Telemachos, Odysseus’s son is growing up during all this and begins to wander where his father is. So he goes on a search only to come home and find his father returned. The return of Odysseus results in a killing of the suitors and a restoring of peace to all!

-Kaila Anderson

HI!

2008-01-21T15:39:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! We will be starting Omnibus pretty soon! We haven't done it for a long time and I'm really excited to get back to it! God bless!
-Destiny

Hello!

2007-12-20T21:25:00.000-08:00

Wow... we haven't posted for a loooonnnnnnnngggg time! Sorry... but we have been so busy with, well, Omnibus! Haha... Anyway, we have been going through the "Histories," by Herodotus. It's been very interesting. Herodotus loves to go off on little rabbit trails all the time. Sometimes it gets kinda boring.. but, it's a pretty cool book (well, personally not one of my favorites). We are also going thought Prince Caspian (it is in our secondary books). I love Narnia... it is so fun to read! C.S Lewis sure had a gift in writing, especially when he wrote "Till We have Faces." Okay, I better stop talking... just to let you know, we get two weeks off for Christmas and stuff. Well, God Bless you all and I hope you have a Merry Christmas!
-Destiny

How should we respond when our nation comes under the judgment of God?

2007-11-11T12:53:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago we went through the books of Kings, and this is what I got out of it-

Israel had rejected God and wanted a king. God granted their wish and for century’s after they rejected God once a again and served idols. King after king lead them deeper into sin, occasionally one restored worship to God, but again they turned back to baal, ashtoreth etc… God then sent judgment upon them - first Israel was taken by the Assyrians then Judah by Nebuchadnezzar.

Jer.27:4-11-“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: This is what you shall say to your masters: 5 “It is I who by my great power and my outstretched arm have made the earth, with the men and animals that are on the earth, and I give it to whomever it seems right to me. 6Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant, and I have given him also the beasts of the field to serve him. 7All the nations shall serve him and his son and his grandson, until the time of his own land comes. Then many nations and great kings shall make him their slave. 8 “ ‘ “But if any nation or kingdom will not serve this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, declares the Lord, until I have consumed it by his hand. 9 So do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your fortune-tellers, or your sorcerers, who are saying to you, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon.’ 10For it is a lie that they are prophesying to you, with the result that you will be removed far from your land, and I will drive you out, and you will perish. 11But any nation that will bring its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will leave on its own land, to work it and dwell there, declares the Lord.” ’ ”

Jeremiah prophecy’s Judah’s exile here. God is saying that he has sent Nebuchadnezzar and that all should obey him. God uses Neb. to spank his people. Should they resist His punishment even more judgment and worse times would come upon them. If they headed the voice of the false prophets and do no submit to Babylon, God would judge them even more. Basically, Nebuchadnezzar’s power comes from God.
Now if we look in Kings we can clearly see this displayed. Three times Babylon invaded Israel, all during a different reign of a different king.

The first time Babylon came against Judah was during the reign of Jehoiakim (2 kings 24:1), who rebelled against him, not heeding the Word of God delivered by Jeremiah. As a result God sent many other nations against him, destroying Judah.
When Nebuchadnezzar came against Judah a second time, Jehoiachin, the king, submitted and was taken prisoner (2 Kings 24:8-12). But later on when a new king set up in Babylon, he was released and set upon a high place in the palace of Babylon (2 Kings 25:27). Because he had submitted to those whom God had sent as a punishment he was later greatly blessed.
One last time Nebuchadnezzar came up against Judah, this time during the reign of Zedekiah, whom he had placed on the throne. Zedekiah rebelled (2 kings 24:20) and did not heed the voice of Jeremiah. It cost him his life and his sons. Nebuchadnezzar, this time, completely destroyed Judah and the temple, and carried away all that was left.

Two of these men did not obey the voice of God through Jeremiah, but rather the false prophets, as a result of God sent greater curses upon them. But the one who did heed God and submitted to Babylon, was blessed later on.

How does this apply to us? –

When I look at our government, I see one that is quickly spiraling down hill. They promote abortion, homosexuality, high taxes and so many other unbiblical things. I have always had a rebel attitude towards it all…after all why should we obey them? But when I saw all this in our class, my attitude somewhat changed. Our situation is very much like that of Israel’s. We may have many Christians but we have an unbiblical government right now. Our enemy’s (gov.) have much power, military power. Should we rebel against our government? Should we rebel against what God may have set up as a judgment upon a wicked people, who have forsaken Him? These questions plagued my mind.

I believe now that a Christian’s duty should be to promote their city’s welfare, not rebel against it. We should accept judgment, seek the welfare of our cities, and work/wait for opportunity to rebuild what has been lost. We should continually strive to right what was been wronged. We should continue to build the kingdom of God!

-Kaila

An Essay -Testing and Temptation

2007-11-02T23:20:00.000-07:00

Question - "If there is a difference between being tested and being tempted, what is the difference?

My Answer - I believe that there is a definite difference between being tested and being tempted which I will try (and hopefully will) make clear to you. We will first find out what temptation is and then we’ll see what testing is. In my final point we will examine the difference between the two.

First of all, what is temptation? Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines temptation as – “The act of tempting; enticement to evil by arguments, by flattery, or by the offer of some real or apparent good.” In Matthew 4 we read of the temptation of Jesus. The devil tempted Jesus 3 times and yet He did not sin. Even when he flatters Jesus and tells him of the apparent good and real good that he will receive Jesus replies with scripture and remains steadfast to God. In the Garden of Eden, the serpent tempts Eve into eating the forbidden fruit who then tempts Adam to do the same and suddenly all mankind is now depraved and inherently sinful. Solomon’s many wives tempt him into serving and sacrificing to their false gods. He fails. Joseph on the other hand, is faithful to God and though Potiphar’s wife greatly tempts him to lie with her he refuses. Scripture is packed with examples of temptation and although we could spend an adequate amount of time here let’s move on to testing.

Now that we have seen temptations in past events let’s look at testing. God tests us every day by putting obstacles in our life and encouraging us to pull through and remain steadfast to him. James 1:2&3 says, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” If we had everything in our life go just the way we wanted it to go than how steadfast to God would we be? The answer is simple. We would not have any steadfastness whatsoever! If there were no trials than there would be no suffering for Christ and the cross he carried. I find that the more I read God’s Word, the more my Faith increases and the easier I find trials in my life become. Do you remember when God tested Abraham? It is in Gen. 22. God told Abraham to sacrifice his son as a burnt offering. What was Abraham’s response? Abraham feared God and obeyed him unquestionably. He had faith in God and believed God would fulfill his promise and keep His covenant. Just when Abraham was about to slay his son God called out to him saying, “…do not kill the boy.” Abraham had a hard trial and yet he remained steadfast to God. He will most assuredly receive “the crown of life which God has promised to those who love him!” (James 1:12)

And now, what is the difference? In Eden, God tested Adam and Eve. He did not tempt them. We know this because in James 1:13-15 it clearly states, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it is has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” We learn from this that God does not tempt anyone. He is holy. Adam and Eve were tempted by their own desire. And when they desired it so greatly, they ate the forbidden fruit and after that bite they were both thrown out of Eden never to return. Though they sinned and though we sin God sent down his only begotten son that whosoever shall believe in him will have everlasting life! In all, tempting and testing are not the same thing. God set the temptation there in the garden, the tree, and told them to not eat of its fruit. The serpent tempted them to eat the fruit. What is the difference? God said to not eat it. The serpent said to eat it. One is encouraging you to do evil while the other is encouraging you to pull through.

-David

Kenny

2007-11-02T18:41:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to post about our wonderful teacher and all he has done for us. Without him our class would be nothing. He lets us know if we are being good or being bad. He is definitely a gifted teacher, pastor, father (to some), and uncle! Well, that's just about it... thanks Uncle, Pastor, Teacher, Kenny:)
-Destiny

Happy Reformation Day!

2007-10-31T18:16:00.001-07:00

Good quote!

2007-10-16T21:54:00.000-07:00

"When nations respond to the word of Yahweh with faith and obedience, they are prosperous. When they resist and rebel against the word of God, they fall."
-Peter J. Leithart

-Destiny

"Till We Have Faces"

2007-10-13T11:00:00.000-07:00

We have finished our session on the book called "Till We have Faces" by C.S. Lewis. If you haven't heard of it, that's quite normal. Most say it wasn't his best work, but from all our studying I must disagree. It's awesome!

It's a myth retold, the myth of Cupid and Psyche. I never read that myth myself, so this was very interesting. It was mainly the story of Psyche's ugly sister, Orual. She starts out as a rationalist, taught to her by a Greek servant, and denies the existence of the gods of Glome (the city in which she lives). Orual and Psyche are half sisters, both daughters of the king of Glome, but they are as different as can be. Psyche is called to the gods as a sacrifice, and willingly goes. She is not killed but rather becomes the wife of the god of the mountain. Orual, the whole time, doesn't know if she believes that or if Psyche has just gone mad.

In the end, she sees herself as a selfish heartless being, and in need of the gods redemption. The first half of the book is her "case" against the gods. She is complaining that they have taken all that was dear to her and that they just play with man.

It's really cool. We listened to a lecture by Peter Kreeft about the whole book, the hidden message behind it. He reveled how certain gods and people represent the gospel and man.
You should read it then listen to the lecture, I loved it.
All in all, it was very fascinating.

God Bless! -Kaila

T.U.L.I.'P'. P=Perseverance of the Saints

2007-10-12T11:57:00.001-07:00

Perseverance of the saints

#1. Its definition
The basic gist of this doctrine is the simple fact of once saved always saved. It is one of the greatest promises in all of scripture, if not the grandest. this says that it is possible to be sure of your salvation and that once you are saved you cannot backslide, and when destined for the kingdom you will never go to hell. The term "perseverance of the saints" emphasize that believes ("saint, as Paul calls them in his letters) will persevere in their faith. The problem with this term though is that it emphasizes the Christians work in the matter, as if we could do something to earn our salvation.

If we use the term "perseverance of Christ" we now have Him more in focus but though God does persevere, this particular terminology does not emphasize the fact that God helps US persevere. In Edwin H. Palmers book the ,"The 5 points of Calvinism" He states that 'the correct term then would be preservation of the saints'. This term emphasizes the fact that the saints are preserved (obviously by God), and absolves any hint of human works in the matter". Also in R.C. Sproul states in his book chosen by God "this term (perseverance of the saints) is not wrong but can be misleading".

2. Its Scriptural basis
All five of the points (Of Calvinism) stand or fall together. The doctrine of Preservation of the saints naturally follows from the Biblical fact of Unconditional Election.
Election basically means that God chose some to be saved. He has ordained with certainty they will go to the Kingdom of Heaven. If, as the Arminians say, it is possible fore someone whom God has elected to slip away from the faith after he began to believe, then their is no ELECTION! In Romans 8:29, Paul says "that those whom He foreknew, that is 'foreloved', He also foreordained to Heaven, and those He foreordained He also called, Justified, and glorified. Here Paul clearly stats that those who Christ elected(foreordained) He also predestined to Heaven. Now if someone can backslide, then Gods election has no meaning, but more to the point I'm trying to make, if, as Paul says, God foreordains some to Heaven, and He has all power to do so, then logically, He preserves them.
Well that's all for today folks, SO God bless.

- Fore further reference : John 6:36, John 10:28-29, Ephesians 1:13-14, 1peter 1:45.

posted by, aLeX Goldman

Unconditional Election - "U" in TULIP

2007-10-11T17:15:00.000-07:00

Unconditional Election. What is Unconditional Election?
Dr. R.C. Sproul answers the question well in his book "Chosen By God" when he says, "Unconditional election means that our election is decided by God according to his purpose, according to his sovereign will. It is not based upon some foreseen condition that some of us meet and others fail to meet. It is not based on our willing or our running, but upon the sovereign purpose of God."
In other words, he did not choose us because we were smart or beautiful or because of all the good and wonderful works we did but because of HIS GOOD PLEASURE.

Ephesians 1:3-6 says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved."

We chose him because He first chose us. We were dead in our sins and could not of done anything at all to attribute to our own salvation and yet out of his sovereign will and his amazing grace he chose us to be with him for all eternity. Let us give praise to Him who loved us and predestined us before the foundation of the world. God is good.

-Posted by David

Uptade

2007-10-10T21:41:00.000-07:00

Hey! Sorry we haven't posted very much. I (Destiny) just thought I would tell you a little of what we have been studying. This week we are going through 1st and 2nd Samuel. It has been so awesome. There (hopefully) should be upcoming posts about it (by the other teens). We also are still going through a book by C.S. Lewis called, "Till We Have Faces." It is a great book and I encourage you all to read it. Well, God bless bless y'all. Oh, please leave comments and tell the other teens that they need to post something too. Thanks:0)

-Destiny

A really good quote

2007-10-05T18:10:00.000-07:00

"In every generation in all movements (whether of armies or philosophies), in all schools of literature, the men and woman involved are either obeying God or disobeying Him. They are either trusting Him or they are not trusting Him. All students are learning to love God or they are not learning to love God."
-Douglas Wilson

-Destiny

The Hammurabi Code

2007-10-05T18:01:00.000-07:00

Well today was the last of Hammurabi's Codes. Hammurabi was a king who wrote a whole bunch of laws around 200 b.c. Some say that the Bible copied his stuff, because they are very similar (we're going to study that later). Well any way we had to read them all and then we did these case trials. David and me were on a team against Karissa, Destiny and Alex. What we did was we had a case we had to judge according to Hammurabi's laws and the Mosaic law. It was awesome, even though we lost by two points.

The weeks study has been all on law, like the need for law, what's a just law, can man make good laws and so on. It's been really interesting. Below is a question, from the book, and my answer to it. Before you read the answer try to answer it yourself and tell me what you thought...thanks!

Why do we need laws?

Laws are a necessary part of life. Hammurabi (the guy we are studying) saw the need for justice and rule in his empire so he created The Code (a book we are reading called “The Codes of Hammurabi and Moses).
But a more Christian answer to the question why do we need laws would be that life’s rules are not the end or purpose for which we live, but a means which permits us to live godly lives and have a godly society, which is the purpose of life.
The law of God. From which all other laws are derived, show what good and evil are so that we may know how to conduct our lives. Freedom doesn’t come when we have no laws, but rather not having laws would lead to chaos, destruction and ultimately death. Laws are needed to live in a righteous, safe and godly world.

How do we know what a just law is?

A just law would be, or derive from, the law of God which He gave to Moses, who wrote them down for God’s people. God has set up for us all that we need to know about good and evil in His Word. Any man made law that conflicts with God’s law is by definition a bad law.
We humans are by nature children of wrath, unregenerate, and plain sinful, any law following such a nature will not be completely just. The Triune God, however, is completely just and good and all His laws follow His nature.
I’m not saying that laws made by man are all together bad, as long as they are in line with scripture they are good, but stepping out of that realm will be bad trouble.
Therefore, a just law is found and based on God’s Word.

That's a taste of what we have been up to. I can't wait till next week when we start another book!

Irresistible Grace

2007-10-03T20:06:00.000-07:00

This is the "I" in TULIP

Irresistible Grace

Irresistible grace is referring to the inward call of God. The inward call is powerful and effective. It is irresistible in a sense that it achieves it purpose. It brings God’s desired effect. Which is why it is sometimes called Effectual Calling. The preaching of the gospel is represented as the outward call. This call is heard by elect and nonelect. We have the ability to resist this outward call. Unlike the inward call, without it we can never come to Christ. When God plants a desire in us for Christ, we will act according to that desire. We rush to Christ because we want to. The whole point of irresistible grace is that rebirth quickens someone to spiritual life, in such a way that Jesus is now seen in His irresistible sweetness. Romans 8:28-30 says: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”
This “call” in this passage is referring to the effectual call of God. Effectual grace is grace that effects what God desires.

I (Karissa) wrote this one.

Tulip

2007-10-03T09:33:00.000-07:00

As a school project we all had to pick a letter out of the tulip and give a simple definition for church. Mine was the T.

T-Total Depravity
Total depravity is the first in the Calvinistic doctrine of the Tulip. It refers to the affect of sin and how reaches to all of our body. Sin affects every part of our being-body, soul, mind, will etc… We are all born in sin, not one part of us in sinless.

Many people confuse this with utter corruption, which means that every man is as wicked as he can be. Which we know is not true, even Hitler showed love towards his mother (vs. Nero).

A better term would be radical corruption, which means that sin penetrates the root (radix-radical) or core of our being.
Rom.3:10-12=
“There is none righteous, no, not one;
11 There is none who understands;
There is none who seeks after God.
12 They have all turned aside;
They have together become unprofitable;
There is none who does good, no, not one.”

We clearly see that man is inherently sinful, that sin penetrates every thing we are and do. We cannot do good unless we are regenerated and the Holy Spirit is working good in us. Only by that can we achieve good works.
R.C. Sproul said-“We are not sinners because we sin, but rater we sin because we are sinners.”

Thank you

-Kaila

Recognition

2007-10-01T19:19:00.000-07:00

We would like to thank the people who have made all this possible.

First to our wonderful grandparents, Grandpa Ken and Grandma Dot, for buying all the books and materials. You guys have always been such a support. We are so grateful for you guys buying us all our own books, it is so nice. We hope to make you proud in all that we learn and do in our lives.
Thank you so much!

Secondly we would like to thank Kenny Anderson (the dad and uncle) for his huge sacrifice. You spend so much time teaching us through the week, then you have to get a sermon done on the weekend. You are always so patient with us, when we take for ever, and help us when we are stuck. Your guidance, wisdom and teaching skills have been such a blessing, we could have never gotten through this without you.
Thanks, you awesome teacher!

And, to our wonderful parents for letting us go. We love them so much. We sure don't deserve to have such awesome mom's and dad's.
We love you Fathers and Mothers!
Without these people, none of this would have been possible. God has enriched our lives greatly through these people.

And thank you everyone for your comments and for reading this.
- The Omnibus Teens :)

Limited Atonement

2007-10-01T12:40:00.000-07:00

The L in TULIP

Let me give you a brief overview of Limited Atonement.
Limited Atonement means that Christ died only for the elect. Christ's atonement was limited in the sense that Christ suffered and died for his people which are the elect.
In John 6:44 it says, "No man is able to come to Christ except that the Father draws him."
No, person can accept Christ if he has not been predestined, he has to be called by the Father as one of the elect
John 10:14-15, "I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me... and I lay down my life for the sheep ."
In this verse Christ is pointing out that he knows his sheep which are the elect and he came and died for them so that they might be saved.Christ came and died for his sheep; Christ's atonement was limited only in extent, not in power but according to the sovereign will of God .
So, you either believe that Christ's work on the cross was limited in its power which means it was not powerful enough to save everyone but only make it possible for people to be saved. It's power is limited in the sense that it won't save any one until they accept it.
Or you believe that it was limited in its extent which means it was not intended for everyone but only those whom he predestined.

This is what I had to talk about at church. Each one of us Omnibus kids did a letter of the Tulip. I had l as you can see:) Okay, bye:)

-Destiny

Welcome!

2007-09-27T17:36:00.000-07:00

This blog is about what we (Kaila, Karissa, David, Alex and Destiny) are learning in our class with the curriculum named Omnibus, being taught by Kenny Anderson.

We'll all post individually about what we got out of each days class.
Hope you enjoy it and leave comments so we know what your opinion is.

Thanks and Welcome!