I have decided to go over the Doctrines of Grace of which I hold to very strongly. I will start with one which has been debated for a verrrrrrryyyyyyy long time, Total Depravity and Free will. I will explain these two points using the " Five Points of Calvinism and Arminianism" you can see the whole list at www.fivesolas.com/cal_arm.htm . I will start with my view or the Calvinistic view.
Total Inability or Total Depravity
(Reformed or Calvinistic view)
Because of the fall, man is unable of himself to savingly believe the gospel. The sinner dead, blind, and deaf to the things of God; his heart is deceitful and desperately corrupt. His will is not free, it is in bondage to his evil nature, therefore, he will not--indeed he cannot--choose good over evil in the spiritual realm. Consequently, it takes much more than Spirit's assistance to bring a sinner to Christ--it takes regeneration by which the Spirit makes the sinner alive and gives him a new nature. Faith is not something man contributes to salvation but is itself a part of God's gift of salvation--it is God's gift to the sinner, not the sinner's gift to God.

Free Will or Human Ability
(Arminian View)
Although human nature was seriously affected by the fall, man has not been left in a state of total spiritual helplessness. God graciously enables every sinner to repent and believe, but He does not interfere with man's freedom. Each sinner possesses a free will, and his eternal destiny depends on how he uses it. Man's freedom consists of his ability to choose good over evil in spiritual matters; his will is not enslaved to his spiritual matters; his will is not enslaved to his sinful nature. The sinner has the power to either cooperate with God's Spirit and be regenerated or resist God's grace and perish. The lost sinner needs the Spirit's assistance, but he does not have to be regenerated by the Spirit before he can believe, for faith is man's act and precedes the new birth. Faith is the sinner's gift to God; it is man's contribution to salvation.

Well I'll try to make this short and sweet. Most people in today's world believe in Free Will, there are several reasons to this fact.
#1. Most churches teach this doctrine.
#2. Most people don't want to give up their ability to do what they want.
#3. Most people do not believe they are totally depraved, therefore believing that they have a small island of righteousness within them and that they are able to choose God on their own accord. In other words they want the glory.
#4. Most people don't believe God is sovereign.
Now, one of the reasons most churches teach Free will instead of Total Depravity is because it appears that God purposely creates people to go to hell. Such is not the case, for "the Lord...is not wishing that any should perish but that all should reach repentance." (2 Peter 3:9b) When my Dad first became reformed I did not want to accept the fact that God sends people to their just punishment. I mean God is love right? Yes God is love but he is also just and he must punish sin. God is righteous and perfect, that is why he cannot stand sin and he must eternally punish those who do sin. BUT! by his grace and HIS OWN WILL he chose a remnant that he saved by pouring out that wrath that the remnant deserved on his own perfect son. What of those who are not that remnant or the elect? They must be punished by spending eternity in hell.
I know what your thinking. This guy is an idiot, he thinks he's so high and mighty by bagging on the unsaved people and being proud of the fact that he's saved. Your also thinking "BUT THAT'S NOT FAIR" yes the famous statement. Well lets take fair into consideration, like I said God is just and he must punish all sin so the fair thing for him to do is to send everyone to hell without a thought. He could certainly do that if He wanted to, but as we see that wasn't his plan. We should be thankful to God for saving that remnant instead of sending us all to our just punishment. Far be it for me to think I am better than the unsaved, I am just as corrupt as they are. Why did God save me? I really don't know, all I do know is that I can never thank him for electing me.
I have barely touched on this very deep subject, if you have any questions or accusations please let me know. You can e-mail me at coram_deo_33@yahoo.com or andrew32693@yahoo.com.

A couple of weeks ago the sewage company called to let us know it was time to pump out our septic tank. Our septic tank is buried in our front lawn and it fell to me to dig it out. We mark the lid to the septic tank with a flower bed and that way we don't have to dig up the whole yard. I will admit digging up the septic tank isn't my favorite thing to do in world ( if you can find some one who enjoys doing that he might need a psychiatrist). I can think of many things I'd rather do, but I have to remember that work is a gift given to us by God. God gave Adam and Eve the garden of Eden to work, tend and to make manifest the reign of our Lord Jesus Christ.
My Dad and I do alot of different work together. We have a good time and have great discussions while we work. Working gives me time to build a relationship with whoever I am working with and I really enjoy that. Most people rush through work and don't give it a second thought, to those people life doesn't have much meaning. True Christians work not just to get it done and move on but to praise the Lord for what he has given us.
I hope that more people can see that work is not a burden but a gift, and without that gift there wouldn't much to life.

I think my sister is the only person I know who predicts the outcome of professional sports games by what the name of the teams. Like Last year she said that it made since that the Steelers would win the Superbowl instead of the Sea Hawks because a Steeler could win a fight against a Sea hawk. This year she said that a Bear could destroy a Colt so she said the Bears would take the victory. Fortunately this time she was wrong but hey, even my sister can be wrong sometimes =D.
For the first time in nine years my the team I was rooting for won the Superbowl. I'm like a jinx or something. I bet it will be another nine years before my team wins again. Oh well you can't win them all, especially if your me =).
I went over to my friends house for a Superbowl party. I don't think I'll ever recover from all that good food: Pizza, Pita Bread, Snack Mix, Chips and dip and Banana Bars. Man, I wish the Superbowl would come more often. I could get used to all that food! Well I hope you had a wonderful Superbowl and May the Colts rock on!!!!!!!!

My Mom is a very important person in my life. I mean without her could you imagine all the trouble I'd get into.
My Mom is my Nannie and school teacher my "OWTCO" that is "Official Wound Taker Care Of." Mom has a special care for people, even those who she doesn't know. She seems to understand every situation. She is always doing extra things for people when they are sick or in a sham. Everyone that meets my Mother immediately knows this is a lady with a BIG HEART. She has played a big part in raising me and has great expectations for me. Need a multi-tasker????? MY MOM IS ON THE JOB. There is nothing she can't do. Clean up the house, prepare supper, yak on the phone for hours, send e-mails forever, do some crocheting, go to town to pick up some groceries and do some shopping, and then act as if she has spent all day reading a book by our cozy fire. If only I had the determination that she has, I will tell you she never leaves a job in-complete not to mention she will do it with the up most cheer and not do it half way. Every day as I watch her I have a harder time realizing that she is not still in her 20's!!! I bet if a scientist did a research on my Mom he would find enough energy to support a Cheetah for a week!!!!!! My Mom has helped me so much through my life that it is a shame that most kids don't have a mother like mine. GOD BLESS MY MOTHER!!!!!!!!

My Father has always had a special love for flying. When I was only seven days old I went for my first flight (one of these I'm going to solo =). When we lived in Aurora our family went flying quite a bit. I will never forgot the planes that we flew. Even though one was a Cutlass and the other a Sky hawk I referred to them as the "Blue Plane" and the "Gold Air plane".
My Father has also always been a #1 FATHER!!!!!! When I was younger he always took time to play with me, and now we work together, do a bible study together and even play golf together (but if you ask him the score don't believe any thing he says) =D.
My Father also has a special relationship with the Lord. It is easy to see this, he shines like the sun on a July afternoon. He sometimes even gives me lectures when we do our bible study or tabletalk. He has even taught me some thermal dynamics (even though I don't have a clue what they mean). He is always there to give some advice or pitch in and help. Always willing to do what he can to help the community. Always reminding me that Antoly Karpov has never beat him in chess (he will not mention that he has never played him, he says that's not the point). Sometimes walking up to me and says "Have you picked up your hat lately?" right before he knocks it off.
My Father has all the qualities that I want in my life. He has never disappointed me, he even once brought my lunch that I had forgotten to pre-school for me! He has always pointed me in the right direction when I wronged. As you can see I respect my Father tremendously and this respect only grows with every minute I spend with him.
I thank the Lord so much for a Father like mine!!!!!!!

As I mentioned in my profile I was born in the big city. Yes I was born in Denver Colorado and spent the first five years of my life in Aurora, a suburb of Denver. My Father was a pilot for "United Airlines" and my Mother worked for a home health care agencey. I will go into more detail about my parents later. My Dad's dream was to get out of Aurora and move to the family farm in central Kansas where my Dad had spent his childhood summers with his Grandma. When my Dad got an opportunity to get a job out of Wichita with "Cessna Aircraft" he jumped at the chance. God (as always) was watching out for us for a few years after we moved to Kansas "United Airlines" went bankrupt. It was May of 1998 when we moved to Kansas and my Dad's dream came true. We moved into the old farm house and got settled. We lived in the house until August of 1999. My parents had made the decision to completely redo the farm house. At first they had thought they would have the whole thing torn down and start from fresh. Fortunately, there were too many memories made in that house to do such a thing, so my parents got a contractor and we went to work to do a major make over. When we began to rebuild to house in 1999 I wasn't much help, in fact I was only six at the time. I got more in the way than did any help, I even fell through the place where the chimney had been! In February of 2000 we moved in our redone house. While the construction went on we needed a place to stay and my Grandparents opened their house to us. Again we saw the sovereign hand of God watching out for us.
We still live comfortably on our farm. My Father still works for Cessna where the Lord has blessed him with good co-workers and a boss who is a christian. My Mother is now a stay at home Mom and makes sure my sister and I stay out of mischief =S. I am so glad that I am being raised on a farm where things are always so peaceful even if the interstate is only one half a mile away =D. Being home schooled in the country gives me a feeling of being away from the rat race and a sense of comfort. I thank the Lord that he saw fit to have me in the country where I can be free, get an #1 education from my parents, learn to work hard and appreciate all the Lord has done for me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!