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Showing posts with the label Christian Growth

'Of Saving Faith'

The Westminster Confession of Faith Chapter XIV Of Saving Faith I. The grace of faith, whereby the elect are enabled to believe to the saving of their souls, [1] is the work of the Spirit of Christ in their hearts, [2] and is ordinarily wrought by the ministry of the Word, [3] by which also, and by the administration of the sacraments, and prayer, it is increased and strengthened. [4] II. By this faith, a Christian believes to be true whatsoever is revealed in the Word, for the authority of God himself speaking therein; [5] and acts differently upon that which each particular passage thereof contains; yielding obedience to the commands, [6] trembling at the threatenings, [7] and embracing the promises of God for this life, and that which is to come. [8] But the principal acts of saving faith are accepting, receiving, and resting upon Christ alone for justification, sanctification, and eternal life, by virtue of the covenant of grace. [9] III. This faith is differ

The Trial of Alzheimer's Disease

By Angela Wittman My father who suffers from Parkinson's and Alzheimer's Disease has been living with us since mid August of 2018. Our lives have a "new" normal and I hope that sharing my experiences with others in our position will benefit or at least help them to not feel alone while dealing with this disease. First of all, let me lay some background for the reader: My father is 83 years old and lost his wife last summer. I'm not certain when he first began exhibiting symptoms of Alzheimer's as we were estranged for many years. I suspect that he had been hiding it and that might be partly why he pushed me away. Our estrangement began when he would make excuses why I should not visit (he and his wife lived approximately 3 hours away from my home.) The excuses would vary from the timing was bad as he and his wife would be out of town to they didn't have room for visitors. I knew there was a history of Alzheimer's Disease in our family, but I

New mercies everyday while caring for an elderly parent

By Angela Wittman The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. - Lamentations 3:22, 23 ESV Dear Friends, It's been almost 2 months since my last post regarding my father and his illness with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Diseases.  In that post I expressed my trust in the Sovereignty of the Lord, which hasn't changed. But what has changed is Dad has come to live with me. Here is an update on our situation: Shortly after Dad's birthday, (July 28th), I began to realize that he wasn't content at the nursing home. This was partly due to new residents who were much more progressed in Alzheimer's Disease than dad and who would wander into rooms (including Dad's), often half dressed and completely disoriented. I also saw the rapid decline of some of the residents and I became alarmed that this would happen to dad unless I put him in a different environment. The

Struggling with forgiveness?

 "Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” Luke 7: 47 (ESV) Dear Friends, As we read reports of those who have been abused, hated, persecuted and victimized, one might be wondering what the Christian's duty is regarding forgiveness. Do we unconditionally forgive those who have wronged us? Or do we only forgive if the offender has shown true repentance and asked our forgiveness? What does Scripture teach regarding the matter of forgiveness? I struggle with these questions, and if you do too, here is a sound resource that might help answer your questions from a Biblical viewpoint. The article I'm featuring is " Do We Have to Forgive Someone If They Don't Repent? " written by Timothy W. Massaro and is posted at Core Christianity .  I'll be sharing some excerpts below and encourage you to read the entire article. This question is a perennial problem. Everyo

Goals for 2018

Projects I plan to work on in 2018: · Research the Wittman's (I suspect there's a Reformed/Lutheran heritage to explore) and update the Wittman family blog; · Look more into the Scottish origins of William "the rebel" Lawson (a Jacobite banished from Scotland to America - mother's side of the family); · Dig deeper into the Stone family (English - also mother's side); · Research more in-depth the Christian heritage of America and its impact on the South Eastern Native Americans (father's side of the family); · Grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord; · Become more Christ-like at home. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen. ~ 2 Peter 3:18 (AKJV) To accomplish these goals, I'll be using  Tabletalk Magazine's 2018 Bible Reading Schedule , along with the Reformation Study Bible (ESV) from Ligonier Ministries  and the devotional "