Capitol Ministries Weekend

In today's out-of-control competitive, combative environment of public elections, it is almost guaranteed that many false things will be said about you — and it is all too easy to end-up carrying baggage as a result. How do you handle such things? Forgiveness can be a difficult discipline to practice, but it is an indispensable character quality that must be continually cultivated over a lifetime. To be unforgiving is to pander to the old nature which Scripture tells the believer he should lay aside; to be unforgiving is to feed the desires of the flesh. Let's examine what the Scriptures teach about this essential biblical quality — and especially whether we need to forgive someone who is unrepentant.

When the Institution of the Family flounders in its primary responsibility to train up a child in the way he should go (Proverbs 22:6) the State is eventually overwhelmed with insurmountable problems. The State has a much easier job of maintaining civility in society when parents lovingly discipline their children at a young age. One might say that parents oversee the manufacturing plant of a good society. They are God’s first remedy in a fallen world, His intended means of curtailing evil in a nation. The book of Proverbs has much to say to parents about how to raise up a child. Read on my friend.

This week I would like you to take an objective look at your level of spiritual maturity. Let us embark on a period of spiritual introspection. In this study I will attempt to investigate with clarity and insight what the Scriptures reveal as the delineators between spiritual maturity and immaturity. As I prepare this study for you, I pray it will aid the promptings of the Holy Spirit as you ponder your development in Christ. May God richly bless you as you embark on a journey of personal spiritual evaluation. I look forward to hearing your feedback.

Without love being central to your faith, your trajectory in office will be less than it could be otherwise. Your spouse, family members and colleagues must know in their heart of hearts that you are first and foremost a loving person for you to be influential. As Paul will state in the opening portions of this passage, "without love I am nothing." What then are the defining aspects of love that both you and I need to be continually working on and growing in? This study will take a close look at that.

With the terrorist killings in Brussels, Paris, San Bernardino, CA and Orlando, FL and the further threat of terrorist incursion in America due to a naïve or misinformed understanding of what the Bible actually teaches about immigration, I am reissuing What the Bible Says About Our Illegal Immigration Problem this week in order to provide you with a better understanding and a sound systematic theology pertaining to this subject. My prayer is that God will use His Word to be of help as you solidify your thinking about this ongoing problem. The situation is increasingly critical and so I hope and pray that I can help you in this way. Let me know what you think at our weekly Bible studies, or at: info@capmin.org. It’s always a great aid to learn from your feedback; as a matter of fact, Congressman Stevan Pearce greatly contributed to my thinking on one of the summary points in this study. May God guide your actions as you study what He says about nations and immigration.

God judged Israel when His people worshipped other gods. Too often this betrayal was fostered by her spiritual leaders. The great I AM of the Old Testament does not take kindly to betrayal; rightfully so, He is a jealous God — because there is no other! Similarly today, it is tragic when God’s spiritual leaders lead God’s people into religious syncretism: Worshipping other gods. It stands to reason that spiritual leaders who minister to our government leaders are critically important to the health of the nation. Whether or not they lead them in God’s ways has huge repercussions relative to if or not God blesses a nation.

Scripture is replete with verses that emphasize how the believer must be characterized first and foremost by love. Love is essential and preeminent! But a close second is the believer's lifetime pursuit of knowledge. In fact, Proverbs calls those who are lacking in knowledge simpletons, whereas those who are called wise have knowledge. As a Public Servant, one cannot be unloving, nor a simpleton in order to be a good witness for Christ as well as be effective in office. This study will seek to develop and further enhance the importance of the pursuit of knowledge in the life of the believer. Read on, my friends.

As with Thanksgiving and Christmas, this week I would like to provide you with a slightly different Bible study. What follows is an outline on how to lead a devotional at Easter with your family. I encourage you to lead this important ministry function in your home. It is critical to train yourself to lead your family spiritually for several reasons. First, such is incumbent upon the husband. Being obedient to Scripture in this regard will inure personal blessings from above. Secondly it helps to assure that e Faith is passed down in your family lineage. Easter is an important time you can build your family culture: “But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord,” states Joshua in Joshua 24:15. Thirdly, this is a time to confer with your family. You need them to be 100 percent behind your huge familial sacrifices of time and energy in order to serve your district in D.C. Your family needs to be supportive in order for you to remain healthy and effective — and our country especially needs believers to remain effective here. Your leadership at Easter represents a sacred time to inure, assure and confer with your family. Don’t miss these special opportunities! 

America's greatest theologian, the Puritan preacher Jonathan Edwards taught: "The way to the volition is through the intellect." Indeed, the Scriptures teach in this regard that salvation — which is nothing less than a volitional commitment — is dependent on and informed by the intellect. In this week's passage for study, we will observe the important scriptural differentiation between intellectual assent only — versus that intellectual understanding that is the pathway to a volitional commitment of the will to Christ. To think that being married to Christ is nothing more than a mental acknowledgement of His existence is, scripturally speaking, a woeful error! Hopefully by the end of the study you will have a clearer and better understanding of this distinction. May God bless your time as you ponder this study.

Some view pride as a virtue, but Scripture is clear that the believer is to detest it. Charles Bridges states in his excellent commentary on Proverbs, "On no point is the mind of God more fully declared than against pride." Unfortunately, in our increasingly backward culture, pride is often valued as a prized commodity. The Apostle Paul heralds in stark contrast to self-importance, "I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live…" (Galatians 2:20). The biblical orientation of one’s thought life more than suggests that we get our minds off of ourselves and focus instead on the one who saved us! Biblical thinking at this point — this mental exercise of exchange — is the only way to truly and completely mortify personal pride. Listen on, my friend.