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	<title>First Baptist Church of Perryville</title>
	<link>http://www.perryville.org</link>
	<description>Explanation and application of biblical truth surfaced from the study of the Old and New Testaments provided by the teaching ministry of the First Baptist Church of Perryville, Maryland, Dr. John M. Gauger, pastor.</description>
	<pubDate>Tue, 21 Feb 2012 17:11:49 +0000</pubDate>
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		<copyright>&#xA9;Dr. John Gauger </copyright>
		<managingEditor>pastor@perryville.org (Dr. John Gauger)</managingEditor>
		<webMaster>pastor@perryville.org</webMaster>
		<category>Christianity</category>
		<ttl>1440</ttl>
		<itunes:keywords>perryville, gauger, Bible, sermon, teaching, baptist, Christian, study</itunes:keywords>
		<itunes:subtitle>First Baptist Church of Perryville.  Teaching by Dr. John Gauger.</itunes:subtitle>
		<itunes:summary>Explanation and application of biblical truth surfaced from the study of the Old and New Testaments provided by the teaching ministry of the First Baptist Church of Perryville, Maryland, Dr. John M. Gauger, pastor.</itunes:summary>
		<itunes:author>Dr. John Gauger</itunes:author>
		<itunes:category text="Religion &amp; Spirituality">
  <itunes:category text="Christianity"/>
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<itunes:category text="Religion &amp; Spirituality"/>
<itunes:category text="Religion &amp; Spirituality">
  <itunes:category text="Spirituality"/>
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		<itunes:owner>
			<itunes:name>Dr. John Gauger</itunes:name>
			<itunes:email>pastor@perryville.org</itunes:email>
		</itunes:owner>
		<itunes:block>No</itunes:block>
		<itunes:explicit>no</itunes:explicit>
		<itunes:image href="http://www.perryville.org/images/crosspodcast.jpg" />
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			<url>http://www.perryville.org/images/crossblog.jpg</url>
			<title>First Baptist Church of Perryville</title>
			<link>http://www.perryville.org</link>
			<width>144</width>
			<height>144</height>
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		<item>
		<title>Four Legs Good, Two Legs Better—The Tyranny of “Equality”</title>
		<link>http://www.perryville.org/2012/02/21/four-legs-good-two-legs-better%e2%80%94the-tyranny-of-%e2%80%9cequality%e2%80%9d/</link>
		<comments>http://www.perryville.org/2012/02/21/four-legs-good-two-legs-better%e2%80%94the-tyranny-of-%e2%80%9cequality%e2%80%9d/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 21 Feb 2012 17:11:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>terri</dc:creator>
		
	<category>featured</category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.perryville.org/2012/01/16/four-legs-good-two-legs-better%e2%80%94the-tyranny-of-%e2%80%9cequality%e2%80%9d/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In 1945, George Orwell published Animal Farm, one of the best aimed and most cutting satires of modern times. In it he parodies the Russian revolution of 1917 and launches a devastating attack on totalitarianism. Those outside could see the accuracy of Orwells critique of Soviet Communism. History would suggest that those living behind the [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[In 1945, George Orwell published Animal Farm, one of the best aimed and most cutting satires of modern times. In it he parodies the Russian revolution of 1917 and launches a devastating attack on totalitarianism. Those outside could see the accuracy of Orwells critique of Soviet Communism. History would suggest that those living behind the Iron Curtain found it considerably harder to do so. Perhaps not least because their thinking was subject to state control, and books like Animal Farm were banned.1
One of the most striking features of the novel is that the would-be redeemers from oppression (the pigs) introduce a far worse system of oppression, under the guise of freedom and equality. Orwell drives the irony home by contrasting the pigs propaganda, believed by the animals, with the reality seen by the reader. The pigs maintained power even as conditions worsened by controlling the thoughts of the animals. They set about altering the Seven Commandments which originally culminated in the assertion that all animals are created equal, eventually replacing all 7 with the single slogan, All animals are created equal, but some animals are more equal than others.
Orwell provides a revealing analysis of how virtues, even equality, can serve tyranny. Disturbingly, there are developments that suggest that Western democracies could be in danger of heading towards a similar tyranny. One such is the move towards legislation for moral and religious tolerance and equality.2 Of a number of examples that could be given, the following illustrate the trend:
First, in Australia, a self proclaimed witch mounted a legal action to have the popular evangelism course, Alpha, banned. Robin Fletcher, convicted of drugging, enslaving, sexually assaulting and prostituting two 15-year-old girls,3 who claimed that he was imprisoned for following the legal rites, of a legal religion,4 also used Australias Racial and Religious Tolerance Act as the basis for an action against the Salvation Army who ran an Alpha course in his prison. His objection was that the Alpha course contained negative references to witchcraft. Given that he himself stated that his sex crimes against children were motivated by his religion, witchcraft seems a deserving target of criticism.
Secondly, in 2002, police were called to a disturbance in Brighton, England, in which an elderly man had been assaulted, knocked to the ground, and pelted with soil and water. The police arrested the old man, and he was eventually convicted of harassment. His crime? Displaying a placard that read, Stop Immorality, Stop Homosexuality, Stop Lesbianism. No action was taken against his assailants. His right to protection from physical assault was regarded by the authorities as less important than the right of homosexuals to protection from criticism.5
These events and others like them, reveal the tyranny of equality.6 In neither case were the complainants legal freedoms denied. Instead, they objected that the validity of their belief and practice, their perceived right to equality of respect, was called into question. Increasingly legislators seem to agree. All beliefs are equal and must be treated as such. Given the nature of Christianitys truth claims, this is problematic, as the Bible defines certain beliefs and practices as wrong. Thus conflict is inevitable. Faithful Christians must pronounce certain lifestyles and behaviors invalid.
Inevitably in such conflicts, some views are more tolerable and more equal than others. Increasingly, Christians are suffering as a result. It doesnt take an intellect like that of George Orwell, to spot the irony: liberal democracies, in an apparent attempt to uphold freedom, have begun to introduce Soviet-style thought crime legislation. What looks like a drift into totalitarianism has begun.
Footnotes:
1
For instance, Beacon for Freedom of Expression lists Animal Farm as having been an illegal publication in Poland from the date of its publication in Polish until 1989, see Beacon of Freedom Website, http://www.beaconforfreedom.org/search/censored_publications/publication.html?id=9706254 (accessed May 18, 2005). For information on attempted censorship in his native Britain see Orwells planned preface to Animal Farm, Freedom of the Press, George Orwell Website, http://orwell.ru/library/novels/Animal_Farm/english/efp_go, (accessed May 18, 2005).
2
See Kairos Journal article, &#8220;A Crawling Tyranny Looms.&#8221;
3
Liam Houlihan and Kate Uebergang, Jailed Witch to Sue, Herald Sun, April 27, 2005, http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,15095269%255E2862,00.html (accessed July 25, 2005).
4
Patrick Goodenough, Witches Complaint Renews Focus on Religious Hatred Law, CNSNews.com, April 24, 2005, http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page=%5CForeignBureaus%5Carchive%5C200504%5CFOR20050425a.html (accessed July 25, 2004).
5
Simon DeBruxelles, Preacher Fined for Anti-Gay Sermon, The Times, April 25, 2002, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-278222,00.html.
article adopted from Kairos Journal
First Baptist Church of Perryville is located on Rt. 40, one and a half miles east of Rt. 222.

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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>A Culture without Christianity? Imagine.</title>
		<link>http://www.perryville.org/2012/02/19/a-culture-without-christianity-imagine-3/</link>
		<comments>http://www.perryville.org/2012/02/19/a-culture-without-christianity-imagine-3/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 19 Feb 2012 17:56:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>terri</dc:creator>
		
	<category>featured</category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.perryville.org/2012/02/19/a-culture-without-christianity-imagine-3/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In 1971, John Lennon wrote a hymn for the secularist faith. The song, Imagine, fantasized about the state of world affairs if everyone were stripped of all beliefs and prejudices"with the notable exception, of course, of the former Beatles favorites. Imagine theres no heaven, sang Lennon,
Its easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[In 1971, John Lennon wrote a hymn for the secularist faith. The song, Imagine, fantasized about the state of world affairs if everyone were stripped of all beliefs and prejudices"with the notable exception, of course, of the former Beatles favorites. Imagine theres no heaven, sang Lennon,
Its easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today . . .Imagine theres no countries
It isnt hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace . . .
Now while there is certainly nothing wrong with peace, love, and understanding, the evidence suggests that Lennons dream world would in fact turn out to be a nightmare. Thats the conclusion of recent historical and sociological studies from two of Americas leading scholars: Rodney Stark from the University of Washington1 and Samuel P. Huntington from Harvard. Without any collusion, they have both found that the animating features that have made the West great"modern science, medicine, democracy and its attending freedoms"were the products of irreducibly Christian thinking derived from central biblical traditions.
In his 2004 book, Who Are We?, Huntington, arguably the most respected political scientist of our time, contends that the United States in particular faces a national identity crisis. What was the original identity? Beginning with G. K. Chestertons analysis of America as a nation with the soul of a church, Huntington lists the following traits as explanatory of Americas success and global appeal:
the English language; Christianity; religious commitment; English concepts of the rule of law; the responsibility of rulers, and the rights of individuals; and dissenting Protestant values of individualism, the work ethic, and the belief that humans have the ability and the duty to try to create a heaven on earth, a city on a hill. Historically, millions of immigrants were attracted to America because of this culture and the economic opportunities it helped to make possible.2
In sum, the Harvard professor avers, it is the Anglo-Protestant culture that arose from scriptural foundations that made the United States great. Attempts to undermine this tradition, whether one ethnically arose from this context or not, he argues, are a misguided and dangerous social experiment which could unhinge the entire project.
In a similar manner, sociologist Rodney Stark tackles the secularists mantra that serious Christianity inhibits progress. This, Stark argues, is pure myth. To the contrary, for example, he demonstrates with lucid historical detail that science could only arise in a culture dominated by belief in a conscious, rational, all-powerful Creator.3 Further, against the charge that orthodox Christianity is inherently repressive, he makes the case that while believers have sometimes behaved horribly toward others (i.e., witch hunts and inquisitions), only people who believed that slavery was an abomination in the eyes of God were poised to defy the evil. It was that conclusion, writes Stark, and only that conclusion, that enabled the West to abolish slavery.4 The fear of God, in other words, means freedom for men.
Imagine a world without the Bible, without Christians, and without God? That is truly a frightening thought. It would mean more slavery, far fewer freedoms, and unchecked disease. Without the moral restraints inspired by Gods people, the world would no doubt be an unthinkably worse place in which to live. Even a self-professed relativist can appreciate that. All those who love liberty, or so it would seem, have a vested interest in the continued influence and vitality of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Footnotes:
1
Stark began teaching at Baylor University in 2004.
2
Samuel P. Huntington, Who Are We? The Challenges to Americas National Identity (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2004), xvi.
3
Rodney Stark, For the Glory of God: How Monotheism Led to Reformations, Science, Witch Hunts, and the End of Slavery (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2003), 197.
4
Ibid., 3.
article adopted from Kairos Journal
First Baptist Church of Perryville is located one and a half miles east of Rt. 222 on Rt. 40.

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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Why Pay Attention To God&#8217;s Word?</title>
		<link>http://www.perryville.org/2012/02/19/why-pay-attention-to-gods-word/</link>
		<comments>http://www.perryville.org/2012/02/19/why-pay-attention-to-gods-word/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 19 Feb 2012 17:01:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>av</dc:creator>
		
	<category>listen</category>
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		<description><![CDATA[Pastor John
Scripture Reference: Hebrews 2:1-4

]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[Pastor John
Scripture Reference: Hebrews 2:1-4

]]></content:encoded>
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<itunes:duration>00:01:01</itunes:duration>
		<itunes:subtitle>Pastor John

Scripture Reference: Hebrews 2:1-4 </itunes:subtitle>
		<itunes:summary>Pastor John

Scripture Reference: Hebrews 2:1-4</itunes:summary>
		<itunes:keywords>listen</itunes:keywords>
		<itunes:author>Dr. John Gauger</itunes:author>
		<itunes:explicit>no</itunes:explicit>
		<itunes:block>No</itunes:block>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>&#8220;Guess Who&#8217;s Coming to Dinner&#8221;</title>
		<link>http://www.perryville.org/2012/02/19/guess-whos-coming-to-dinner-2/</link>
		<comments>http://www.perryville.org/2012/02/19/guess-whos-coming-to-dinner-2/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 19 Feb 2012 16:00:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>terri</dc:creator>
		
	<category>upcoming</category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.perryville.org/2012/02/19/guess-whos-coming-to-dinner-2/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ This is an event designed for fun and fellowship around the dinner  table. Each person or family can choose whether they would like to host  six or eight other people at their home for dinner, or be invited to  someone elses home. Hosts will be notified how many people will be [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[ This is an event designed for fun and fellowship around the dinner  table. Each person or family can choose whether they would like to host  six or eight other people at their home for dinner, or be invited to  someone elses home. Hosts will be notified how many people will be  coming, but no one will know exactly who until they arrive. Its  the best way to meet people, make friends, and keep our church one  close family of families. 
Everyone is welcomed to sign up to go to  dinner on Saturday, March 31th at 5:30pm. Non-members are especially welcomed to  sign up as guests. Handouts will be in the display rack across from the  church office. Place the completed page of your handout in the box in  the back of the sanctuary by March 25th. Questions? Call the church office, 410-642-6865.

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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>From Misery to Hope; Through the Church!—Rodney Stark (1934 – )</title>
		<link>http://www.perryville.org/2012/02/17/from-misery-to-hope-through-the-church%e2%80%94rodney-stark-1934-%e2%80%93/</link>
		<comments>http://www.perryville.org/2012/02/17/from-misery-to-hope-through-the-church%e2%80%94rodney-stark-1934-%e2%80%93/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 17 Feb 2012 15:29:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>terri</dc:creator>
		
	<category>featured</category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.perryville.org/2012/02/17/from-misery-to-hope-through-the-church%e2%80%94rodney-stark-1934-%e2%80%93/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ Leading sociologist of religion and professor at both the University of Washington and Baylor University, Rodney Stark, has written a number of important books on Christianity and culture. In The Rise of Christianity (1997), Stark describes how, in the first few centuries A.D., Christianity grew from being an obscure Jewish sect, to becoming the [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Leading sociologist of religion and professor at both the University of Washington and Baylor University, Rodney Stark, has written a number of important books on Christianity and culture. In The Rise of Christianity (1997), Stark describes how, in the first few centuries A.D., Christianity grew from being an obscure Jewish sect, to becoming the dominant ideology in the West. One major reason was the impact of the churchs life. Amid the chaos of cities like Antioch, in what is now Turkey, the Church was a glorious force for urban renewal. Acts 11:26 reports that it was at Antioch that believers were first called Christians, which literally means little Christs. Starks research shows that long after that first designation the Christians continued to live up to their name by letting their good works speak for themselves.
[Antioch was] a city filled with misery, danger, fear, despair, and hatred. A city where the average family lived a squalid life in filthy and cramped quarters, where at least half of the children died at birth or during infancy, and where most of the children who lived lost at least one parent before reaching maturity. A city filled with hatred and fear rooted in intense ethnic antagonisms and exacerbated by a constant stream of strangers. A city so lacking in stable networks of attachments that petty incidents could prompt mob violence. A city where crime flourished and the streets were dangerous at night. And, perhaps above all, a city repeatedly smashed by cataclysmic catastrophes: where a resident could literally expect to be homeless from time to time, providing that he or she was among the survivors . . .
Christianity revitalized life in Greco-Roman cities by providing new norms and new kinds of social relationship able to cope with many urgent urban problems. To cities filled with the homeless and the impoverished, Christianity offered charity as well as hope. To cities filled with newcomers and strangers, Christianity offered an immediate basis for attachments. To cities filled with orphans and widows, Christianity provided a new and expanded sense of family. To cities torn by violent ethnic strife, Christianity offered a new basis for social solidarity. And to cities faced with epidemics, fires, and earthquakes, Christianity offered effective nursing services.1
Footnotes:
1
Rodney Stark, The Rise of Christianity: How the Obscure, Marginal Jesus Movement Became the Dominant Religious Force in the Western World in a Few Centuries (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1997), 160-161.
article adopted from Kairos Journal
First Baptist Church of Perryville is located at 4800 W. Pulaski Hwy., Perryville, MD

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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Gospel Breaks Through Hypocrisy</title>
		<link>http://www.perryville.org/2012/02/15/the-gospel-breaks-through-hypocrisy/</link>
		<comments>http://www.perryville.org/2012/02/15/the-gospel-breaks-through-hypocrisy/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 15 Feb 2012 15:26:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>terri</dc:creator>
		
	<category>featured</category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.perryville.org/2012/02/15/the-gospel-breaks-through-hypocrisy/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ The Quaker pastor approached William Hone (1780-1842), the skeptic, and asked him if he had ever attentively read the New Testament. Hones answer, and the subsequent conversation recorded by the pastors son, uncovered a problem rampant in nineteenth-century England and today, hypocrisy:
[M]y father asked Hone if he had ever attentively read the New Testament? [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[ The Quaker pastor approached William Hone (1780-1842), the skeptic, and asked him if he had ever attentively read the New Testament. Hones answer, and the subsequent conversation recorded by the pastors son, uncovered a problem rampant in nineteenth-century England and today, hypocrisy:
[M]y father asked Hone if he had ever attentively read the New Testament? Hone said he had, but confessed he might have done so with a mind prejudiced against its doctrine by the manifest hypocrisy of many who made great parade of reverence for its authority. My father affectionately pressed him to read it through once again, remembering that the hypocrisy of those who bore the name of Christians, or even their wickedness, could not be held by any sensible man as an argument against that truth.1
Hone made a name for himself by criticizing those who made great parade of the Bibles authority but whose own lives showed little holiness. In December 1817, the government tried Hone three times after he published parodies of the Church of England Catechism, Litany, and the Athanasian Creed. Hone insisted he did not intend to ridicule the Bible but his Majestys Ministers whose corruption deserved derision. Hone escaped conviction, became a popular hero, and three years later published the Apocryphal New Testament, a collection of non-canonical texts from the early Church. In the introduction he defended Arius and rejected the notion that the Holy Spirit gave Gods Word to the Church.2
Hone spent some of the best years of his life as a religious skeptic"pointing out hypocrites and allowing their insincerity to eat away at his soul. He rejected corporate Christianity and boiled down the faith to a list of unsatisfying rules: There was a glimmer of light in my head, but no warmth in my heart. I conceived I could be quite religious enough at home on Sunday . . . It was a maxim with me that Conduct is Worship, and to do what is right is all that God requires.3 Then, in broke the gospel. On New Years Day, 1832, Hone experienced an evangelical conversion. What happened?
Criticism levied against his Apocryphal New Testament led him to a more careful reading of the genuine New Testament. By one account, after perusing a biblical text he remarked to himself, [T]here is more in one verse here than in a whole page of the Greek Philosophers.4 According to historian Timothy Larsen, Hone had a fresh encounter with the person and teachings of Jesus.5
The Spirit of God finally broke the grip of hypocrisy. During a sermon by missionary John Campbell, Hone became convinced of Christs divinity. Then, Congregationalist pastor Thomas Binney, on January 1, 1832, called Hone to repentance and faith: Through the Minister, Mr. Binney, a startling summons was delivered to me in the course of the sermon, and I came away with my mind disturbed, but deeply solemnized . . . it pleased God to break down my self-will, and enable me to surrender my heart to Him.6
In short, Hone may still have been surrounded by hypocrites, but Gods Word"read, preached, and anointed by the Holy Spirit"led him to think less about the sin of others and more about his own sin. For the remaining ten years of his life, by all accounts Hone persevered in the faith, and on his birthday, two years after his conversion, he wrote a poem giving God the glory for his change of heart: To scorn Thy Word, or aid Thy foes, / Is quelled, my God, by Thee!7
Footnotes:
1
Timothy Larsen, Crisis of Doubt: Honest Faith in Nineteenth-Century England (Oxford: Oxford University, 2006), 45. William Houghton argued the Victorians of nineteenth-century England would have pled guilty to one vice: hypocrisy. Conformity, moral pretension, and evasion"those are the hallmarks of Victorian hypocrisy. See Walter E. Houghton, The Victorian Frame of Mind, 1830-1870 (New Haven: Yale University, 1957), 394-395. Perhaps such an admission is understandable. English Christians of this era were known for attacking the ills"and sins"of society. See What Shall Be Done about the Condition of England, in Herbert Schlossberg, The Silent Revolution and the Making of Victorian England (Columbus: Ohio State University, 2000), 156. However, as Christians transformed the country in the name of God, their own lives received greater scrutiny.
2
Larsen, 37.
3
Ibid., 34.
4
Quoted in ibid., 44.
5
Ibid. Careful reading also encouraged Hone to rethink his rejection of Christianity. The Lord particularly used Remains by Richard Cecil (1748-1810), which included a biography of the evangelical pastor. Cecil grew up in a Christian family before becoming, in later life, an apostle of infidelity. However, Cecil did not remain lost. He struggled with mind and heart to apprehend the truths of Christianity, and his story proved compelling for Hone. Ibid., 45-46.
6
Ibid., 47.
7
Ibid., 48.
article adopted from Kairos Journal
First Baptist Church of Perryville is located on Rt. 40 across from the Principio Health Center.

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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Requirement of Repentance</title>
		<link>http://www.perryville.org/2012/02/13/the-requirement-of-repentance/</link>
		<comments>http://www.perryville.org/2012/02/13/the-requirement-of-repentance/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 13 Feb 2012 15:22:38 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>terri</dc:creator>
		
	<category>featured</category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.perryville.org/2012/02/13/the-requirement-of-repentance/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ 1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2 Go down to the potters house, and there I will give you my message. 3 So I went down to the potters house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[ 1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2 Go down to the potters house, and there I will give you my message. 3 So I went down to the potters house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. 5 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 6 O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does? declares the LORD. Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. 7 If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, 8 and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. 9 And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, 10 and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.
Jeremiah 18:1-10 (NIV)
Every nation on the earth exists under the absolute sovereignty of God and remains at His mercy for security and prosperity. The efforts and actions of any nation are like malleable clay in the hands of a potter. At no point is the clay, with all its intrinsic worth and possible use for the good of the world, in charge of its own destiny.
The word translated formed (v. 4) is the same word found in Genesis 2:7, where the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. Men and nations are formed by the hand of God. They are either uprooted, torn down, and destroyed (v. 7) or built up and planted (v. 9) according to His sovereign will. When the clay is marred in the potters hand, the potter reshapes the clay into something that seems best to him (v. 4c). Israel, as well as every other nation on the face of the earth, was to understand the scope of Gods authority.
Throughout Jeremiah, God took the prophet here and there to observe the conduct of the people, e.g., to Jerusalem (5:1), to Shiloh (7:12), and to the potters house (18:2). At each stop, He prescribed repentance as the antidote for disaster.
The founding of any nation or state comes at Gods decree and is ordered by His providence, according to His purposes. His control is absolute, His will steadfast. Therefore, prevailing sin is more than an embarrassment to a people; it is the very warrant for their destruction.
The symbols, tools, and trappings of government can be daunting"richly columned buildings, armored limousines, executive aircraft, vast promenades, and far-flung navies. But these are just so much fancy mud in the hands of the Living God. And should He desire to cast them again on the potters wheel, to make of them an utterly different vessel, no one can stop Him.
The hope of a nation is a people who count themselves clay in the Potters hands. God shapes their citizenship as well as their private lives, and the nation remains supple to His touch.
Scripture calls the people of God many things"sheep, family, light, salt, priests"and the biblical pastor will note all these descriptions. Some images are more exalted than others, and he may be tempted to dwell on those. But in the course of his ministry, he can scarcely help his congregation and the nation more than to remind them that they are clay.
article adopted from Kairos Journal
First Baptist Church of Perryville is located on Rt. 40, one and a half miles east of Rt. 4o.

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		<item>
		<title>Jesus is Vastly Superior to Angels</title>
		<link>http://www.perryville.org/2012/02/12/jesus-is-vastly-superior-to-angels/</link>
		<comments>http://www.perryville.org/2012/02/12/jesus-is-vastly-superior-to-angels/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 12 Feb 2012 16:57:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>av</dc:creator>
		
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		<description><![CDATA[Pastor John
Scripture Reference: Hebrews 1:5-14

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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[Pastor John
Scripture Reference: Hebrews 1:5-14

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		<itunes:subtitle>Pastor John

Scripture Reference: Hebrews 1:5-14 </itunes:subtitle>
		<itunes:summary>Pastor John

Scripture Reference: Hebrews 1:5-14</itunes:summary>
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		<itunes:author>Dr. John Gauger</itunes:author>
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		<title>Are There Benefits to &#8220;Friends with Benefits&#8221;?</title>
		<link>http://www.perryville.org/2012/02/11/are-there-benefits-to-friends-with-benefits/</link>
		<comments>http://www.perryville.org/2012/02/11/are-there-benefits-to-friends-with-benefits/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 11 Feb 2012 15:18:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>terri</dc:creator>
		
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		<description><![CDATA[
Ahhh I sighed in  anticipation, sinking down into the overstuffed reading chair in a  tucked away corner of Barnes and Noble. Coffee in one hand, book in the  other, I was mere seconds away from two hours of pure book store bliss.  Then it happened.
Two tiny, over-caffeinated teenagers in even tinier [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[
Ahhh I sighed in  anticipation, sinking down into the overstuffed reading chair in a  tucked away corner of Barnes and Noble. Coffee in one hand, book in the  other, I was mere seconds away from two hours of pure book store bliss.  Then it happened.
Two tiny, over-caffeinated teenagers in even tinier shorts plopped  down in the chair behind me, flipping through gossip magazines and  loudly discussing their tumultuous 14-year-old love lives. I cant WAIT to be in love! Its going to be amazing!!!! The blond one giggled to her brunette friend. Me either! The bubbly brunette exclaimed, I think its going to happen this summer. Justin is the one " my first love. How can you be sure? asked her friend. I can just tell, she announced, with all the confidence of ignorant youth. Im just not sure how to get him to notice me. The girls paused to slurp their iced coffee drinks and ponder this dilemma. I think you should just offer him sex, the blond counseled her friend. Tell him its friends with benefits " that always works on TV. Her friend laughed,Ha ha, yeah, friends with benefits. Until he falls for me!
I was speechless, completely paralyzed with shock. Is this what  society is reduced too? When did little girls stop dreaming of marriage  and start planning for friends with benefits, manufactured  relationships and finding someone to move in with?
~ ~ ~
Friends with benefits, defined by The Urban  Dictionary as A safe relationship that mimics a real partnership but is  void of the emotions that come with a serious  relationship.Blockbuster hits like No Strings Attached, released in  January and Friends with Benefits out this July are a reflection of a  shift in the socially acceptable norms for relationships, or rather  un-relational-ships. Emma wants a relationship without the  relationship. She just wants the sex, actress Natalie Portmansaid of her role  in the recent movie No Strings Attached. A relationship without the  relationship? Male/female intimacy without love, respect, communication,  and commitment? Isnt that just a girl pimping herself out for fleeting  sexual gratification? Why is it that the very things feminists used to  call abuse, prostitution or male dominance are now an acceptable norm  because females are freely agreeing to it?
The feminist agenda did everything possible to  obliterate the double standard for men and women regarding sex,  employment, education, and social expectations. But my generation and  those following it- girls who were bottle-fed the feminist agenda- have  taken sexual liberation to a whole new extreme. Feminist author Naomi  Wolf agrees, commenting to the Washington Post  that The feminist message of autonomy got filtered through a  pornographized culture. The message they heard was just go for it  sexually.Weve raised a generation of young women who dont understand  sexual ethics. They dont see sex as sacred or even very important  anymore. Thats been lost. Sex has been commoditized and drained of its  deeper meaning.
Wolf argues that its the loss of clear feminist  ideology that has resulted in such blatant sexual promiscuity in my  generation of females. But the reality is that when you release  sexuality from its biblical moorings, there is no anchor of moral  parameters " those sexuality set free from Gods design will be tossed  about by the whims of current, sinful, society.
These promiscuous girls are just applying the  formula learned from their feminist mothers: if something gets in the  way of your personal pleasure or plans, just get rid of it. The 1960s  generation fought hard for the rights of abortion and birth control to  remove the inconvenience of pregnancy. Now their daughters are doing the  same thing with emotional ties in relationships. In a futile attempt to  avoid the emotional baggage of their many sexual relationships, my  generation has embraced the concept of emotionless casual sex.
Friends with benefits is just another desperate  attempt to get back to Gods original plan for good, healthy, safe, and  loving relationships, without actually having to obey Gods moral law.  The only real sex is the sex that happens in a marriage; the faux sex  goes on outside marriage is not really sex at all. ( Real Sex,  by Lauren Winner). Faux sex is anything outside of Gods plan for sex.  Faux sex is the human attempt to enjoy the benefits of Gods gift of  sexuality without having to obey any of Gods rules regarding sexuality (Genesis 2:24-25).  And you cant do that without serious emotional, mental, spiritual, and  physical consequences. In trying to eliminate the emotional baggage of  multiple partners, friends with benefits is merely treating the  consequences of sin with more sin, rather than surrendering sexuality  and everything else to the Savior.
Your sexuality isnt what you do, its who you are.  We are complex creatures with interwoven physical, mental, emotional,  and spiritual aspects " you cant do something physical that doesnt  affect you mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Your relationship with  God is directly connected to what you do with your mind, emotions and  body. Your emotional health is directly connected to what you do with  your body. Satan wants to seduce you into the sin of impurity so he can  destroy you emotionally. If he can get you to compromise, he can  constantly condemn and accuse you, causing you to drown in shame.  affecting your relationship with God. (Lisa Ryan in For Such a Time as  This)
Thats why the Bible places such emphasis on sexual purity:

Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sina person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. (1 Cor. 6: 18-20)


For this is the will of God, your sanctification:that  you abstain from sexual immorality;that each one of you know how to  control his own bodyin holiness and honor,not in the passion of lust  like the Gentiles who do not know God;that no one transgress and wrong  his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these  things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you.For God has  not called us for impurity, but in holiness.Therefore whoever  disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit  to you. (1 Thess. 4:3-8)


Scripture tells us that sexuality is who we are, connected to every part of our being (1 Cor. 5-7).  And science is now finding this to be true: Scientific research shows  how sexual activity releases brain chemicals that trigger emotional  bonding and a powerful desire to repeat the activity- like an  addiction.sexual activity triggers chemical reactions in the brain that  help shape how we think and feel"in fact, they help shape the very  development of our brains, especially in adolescents, (Drs. McIlhaney  and Bush in Hooked: New Science on How Casual Sex Is Affecting Our Children).  Young women, especially, are likely to spiral into depression when the  source of their addiction moves on to someone else. A Conservative  Research Foundation reported  that 25.3% of sexually active teenage girls experienced depression,  compared to 7.7% of sexually abstinent girls. Dannah Gresh, well known  author on purity, said  The bottom line is that you get addicted and bonded to the people  you have sex with, even if they are just friends. What happens when  theyre gone?
Gods parameters for sexual expression " within the  marriage covenant " are to protect us from the devastating emotional,  mental, physical, and spiritual consequences of such sin. No matter how  hard my generation tries to negate the consequences of their sexual  exploits, there will always be pain, heartbreak and baggage. Because  only when we express sexuality in the way which the Designer intended  will we ever have the relationships we all dream of.
~ ~ ~
I sat in Barnes and Noble frozen in shock while the two girls  scampered away, probably to find the object of their desire. I would  have given my right arm to have been able to formulate words in that  moment, to say something " anything. Its heartbreaking. But I dont  blame those girls, they dont know any better. I dont blame Hollywood,  because theyre just as deceived as those 14-year-old girls. I dont  even blame the feminist movement, which created this culture of sexual  freedom. Gods people are the only ones who know the truth and have  not shared it.
If you know the truth: If you believe  Gods design for sexuality, then do something about it! Youd be shocked  to know how many teenagers and college students in your church accept  friends with benefits as the norm. They dont have moms, sisters,  mentors, or friends pointing them to the truth. Im not talking about  lecturing or pointing fingers, but sharing your heart out of love and  concern that theyre not experiencing Gods best for their sexuality.  Right now, the only voice speaking into this issue is Hollywood and its  saying do it! We, as Gods people, need to stop worrying about  peoples opinions and start caring about peoples souls (and not just  salvation, but also their sanctification).
If you arent sure of the truth: Know that  friends with benefits is far from the good God intended for you.  Anything you hear otherwise is a lie from Satan to break your heart,  crush you with consequences and cripple future relationships. Jesus paid  the ultimate price for you " His life. You were bought with a price;  now honor God with your body!He has a better plan for your sexuality.  Find godly women in your church to mentor you (or email us if there are  no other options). Dig into Gods Word and discover his beautiful and  perfect plan for you.
The only way to have a successful friends with benefits  relationship is to have it with your husband: marry your best friend and  reap the benefits of doing it the way God intended.
article adopted from UnlockingFemininity.com
First Baptist Church of Perryville is located at 4800 W. Pulaski Hwy., Perryville, MD

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		<title>Easy-Divorce Enablers Grasping at Straws</title>
		<link>http://www.perryville.org/2012/02/09/easy-divorce-enablers-grasping-at-straws/</link>
		<comments>http://www.perryville.org/2012/02/09/easy-divorce-enablers-grasping-at-straws/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:37:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>terri</dc:creator>
		
	<category>featured</category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.perryville.org/2012/02/09/easy-divorce-enablers-grasping-at-straws/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ 1 When a man takes a wife and marries her, if then she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, and she departs out of his [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[ 1 When a man takes a wife and marries her, if then she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, and she departs out of his house, 2 and if she goes and becomes another mans wife, 3 and the latter man hates her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter man dies, who took her to be his wife, 4 then her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after she has been defiled, for that is an abomination before the LORD. And you shall not bring sin upon the land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance.
Deuteronomy 24:1-4 (ESV)
6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate. 7 They said to him, Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and send her away? 8 He said to them, Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 9 And I say to you whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.
Matthew 19:6-9 (ESV)
Suppose that a speeding driver is given only a warning and then that same driver, just minutes later, speeds unhindered past another trooper, since the officer despairs of stopping everyone driving over the limit. Instead, he picks and chooses, waiting for drivers whose speed is exceptionally high. Continuing blithely down the highway, the first driver picks up more speed and passes yet another police car, this one stopped by the roadside, where the officer is preoccupied with writing up a ticket. Finally, he is pulled over and assessed a fine of his own. Dismayed, he objects vociferously. After all, three other policeman have let him pass, so speeding must be perfectly normal and acceptable"or so he argues.
Of course, the speeding driver has no case. Yes, he has enjoyed latitude in his run down the highway, but that does not change the norm. At some point, the police will shout, Enough! Indeed, Jesus did just this with regard to the Pharisees misuse of Deuteronomy 24:1-4. When, in Matthew 19:6, they cited this passage to argue that Jesus was too strict on divorce, He rebuked them: They were treating the fact of earlier divorces as license to put their wives away at will. They had turned descriptive ethics (what people did) into normative ethics (what people should do).
Jesus explained that Moses concession was situational, not foundational. He was doing what he thought was his best to bring order out of a stampede"Since you are divorcing your wives, at least slow down to do the paperwork. And dont even think of, in effect, loaning your wives to other men until you have a change of heart. Once they remarry, the break is irrevocable.
Notice that Jesus had no patience for the Pharisees Scripture twisting; they pictured Moses commanding divorce, while the Lord described it as allowing divorce (Matt. 19:8). Furthermore, the tentativeness of the pronouncement is obvious from the very construction of the Deuteronomy passage, which is a series of ifs"If something happens, and if you do so and so, and if she does so and so, and if something else happens, then dont do this. The fact that one could get a firm command to divorce out of such a series of conditional statements is a testimony to perverse ingenuity.
When it comes to matters of divorce and remarriage, many push for greater leeway. Given the widespread nature of the practice, even within the Church, some suggest falsely that its commonality and frequency somehow increase its legitimacy. Others take the path of the Pharisees, using the concession mentioned in Deuteronomy to loosen the standard. They reason that Jesus was stating the ideal, but that for years, God had granted Moses some slack to deal with realities not unlike those of the present day. These apologists for easy divorce are grasping at straws when they should be grasping for holiness.
article adopted from Kairos Journal
First Baptist Church of Perryville is located on Rt. 40 across from the Principio Health Center.

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