Important Facts

Not All Bibles Are The Same

Some Bibles omit or change many verses from the received text. The King James Version is based on the Textus Receptus, the manuscripts that theologians believe to be the most accurate. Some of the discoveries of ancient scriptures have been found to be erred texts that were disposed of (buried; sometimes in clay pots) so they would never be found and mixed into the true scriptures. Unfortunately, some revisions of the Bible use these unreliable texts. If you research this issue (and we hope you do) you will find that the King James Version is the closest thing, word for word, to the original Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek tongues. Please use a variety of sources; do not read only one book on the subject. The more knowledge you seek, the more truth you will find.

Only in the last century or so have revisionists seen the opportunity to make big money by publishing “new” and “improved” versions of the Bible. These new versions use flawed and “thrown away” texts.

Some scholars who worked to translate newer versions of the Bible did not even believe in the truth of scripture. Wescott (NIV) denied the doctrine of creation. He said, “No one now, I suppose, holds that the first three chapters of Genesis, for example, give a literal history – I could never understand how any one reading them with open eyes could think they did…” (Wescott, Life and Letters of Brooke Foss Wescott, Vol. 2, p. 69).

No matter the version they read, we love our brothers and sisters in Christ and seek to focus on the positive in our common bond: Our love for Christ. We do pray that as our Christian friends grow in Christ, that they seek greater truth by researching the scriptures and by researching those who have given us our translations in the English language. Study your Bible and know its history. Make certain that you have a more sure word.

Great Quotes About the Holy Bible

“It is impossible to rightly govern the world without the Bible.” – George Washington

“That Book, sir, is the rock on which our republic exists.” – Andrew Jackson

“This is a book worth more than all the others that were ever printed.” – Patrick Henry

Fuzzy Faith

In June of 2008, the Associated Press reported the findings of a recent survey. The survey by The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life reveals that Americans don’t feel their relationship with God is the only way to heaven. Some may call this current trend religious tolerence; it should be more properly called lack of true faith.

The most startling number of the survey: 57 percent of evangelical church goers believe that many religions can lead to eternal life, in conflict with traditional Christian teaching.

The results of the survey indicate that modern Christians’ knowledge of scripture is poor. Consequentially, their faith is weak. “The survey shows religion in America is, indeed, 3,000 miles wide and only three inches deep,” said D. Michael Lindsay of Rice University. Lindsay states, “There’s a growing pluralistic impulse toward tolerance, and that is having theological consequences.”

Don’t be wishy-washy with your faith. Know what you believe. Read your Bible, pray, and attend church regularly. Grow in your faith; be a living testimony of it, and encourage others to do likewise!

More Great Quotes About the Holy Bible

“It’s the best Book that ever was or ever will be in the world.” – Charles Dickens

“We rest with assurance upon the impregnable rock of Holy Scripture” – Winston Churchill

“The Bible has been the Book that held together the fabric of Western civilization. The civilization we possess could not have come into existence and could not have been sustained without the Bible.” – H. G. Wells

Scholar Says Christians Are Happier

Author and economist Arthur Brooks of Syracuse University recently compared the “happiness-level” of Christians and non-believers.

Brooks states, “People who believe in no moral constraints on activities have less happiness…the perception that people ‘unfettered’ by religion are happier than those who regularly attend church is false.

He noted, “Those who attend religious services at least once a week commit fewer crimes, are less likely to divorce and are more likely to donate to worthy causes…people who faithfully practice their religion make life easier for their fellow man.”

Says Brooks, “If you honestly have beliefs, if you have values and adhere to them, that will give you peace. People who view God as a condemning diety or infrequently practice their faith end up fearing death the most.

Attend church regularly, read the Bible, pray, and tell others about your faith…you’ll be glad you did!

One a Day

In the book of Proverbs, there are 31 chapters; one for each day of the month. Proverbs are excellent for daily reading. Fortify yourself with a daily diet of Bible reading.

Include a chapter from Proverbs each day!

The ACLU Supports Hedonism and Hates Family Values

Here is a brief list of the wicked causes that the ACLU supports: Pornography in public libraries, legalizing drugs, prostitution, abortion, pro-homosexual school curricula, gay marriage and beastiality just to name a few.

The ACLU has won major battles against these wholesome causes: Prayer in school, prayer at graduations, display of the Ten Commandments, Bibles in public schools, Nativity scenes and many more.

The ACLU is actively fighting against many decent and moral causes including: Christian home-schooling, abstinence education, parental consent laws and post 9/11 security measures.

The well-funded ACLU seeks to destroy Christian values. Please remain on guard. Do not become complacent in your duties as a Christian parent or spouse. Do what is right. Live your life with Godly, Bible-based principles. Become active in your church. Even more, support the good defenders of family values. The Christian Law Association and the American Family Association are two groups working to preserve family values in America. Lastly, PRAY FOR AMERICA!

“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” II Chronicles 7:14

Think About This…

A single rose is of greater value to the living than an entire wreath is to the dead – Anonymous

“God’s people should be baptized because God commanded it, not because some church requires it.” – John R. Rice

What Is a “Fundamental” Church?

Webster’s Dictionary defines fundamental as: adj. – basic; primary; elementary. – n. – a basic principle.

Fundamental churches hold fast to the fundamentals or “basic principles” of the Bible. We do not pick and choose what scriptures to believe and those to disregard. Fundamentalists believe that the Bible is literally true. Oddly, some church associations and so-called pastors consider certain scripture as being “out of fashion” and refuse to preach it. Rest assured though, the pastors of fundamental churches preach the whole Bible without apology.

Like other fundamental churches, we at GBC believe in these basic truths: The inerrancy of the Holy Bible (that is, the the Bible is free of error or contradiction); the virgin birth of our Lord Jesus Christ; the diety and sinless life of our Lord Jesus Christ; the bodily resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ; and the actual return of our Lord Jesus Christ at some unknown future time.

Gilead Baptist Church follows basic principles, the “fundamentals”, of the Holy Bible. We value the Word of God and believe that all scripture is correct and divine. We are a friendly group of believers and we welcome you to visit our church.

“Listen” to the Bible

Many Christians listen to the Bible while commuting to and from work. The King James Bible is available on cassette tape and CD at most Christian book stores. Some members of GBC listen to the Bible at home and, while listening, follow along in their Bibles. They say that seeing and hearing the Word of God has done much to help them commit the Bible to memory! Give it a try. I am sure that you will be pleased with the results.

Hindsight of a Famous Former Atheist

Madalyn Murray O’ Hair, a Marxist and self-proclaimed atheist, wanted to remove all expressions of Christian faith from public schools. In her lawsuit (Murray v. Curlett, 1963), she used her teenage son, William J. Murray, to protest daily Bible reading and the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer in the Baltimore Public Schools. The decisions rendered by the courts in this case and Engel v. Vitale (1962) and Abington School District v. Schempp (1963) removed all prayer and Bible reading, even on a voluntary basis, from public school classrooms.

William Murray was exploited by his mother as she pressed her atheistic ideas upon America. He lived a pitful and unfulfilled life until he repudiated atheism and Marxism. In 1980, he wrote a letter of apology which was published in a Baltimore newspaper; below is an excerpt of that letter:

“…First, I would like to apologize to the people of the city of Baltimore for whatever part I played in the removal of Bible reading and praying from the public schools of that city. I now realize the value of this great tradition and the importance it has played in the past in keeping America a moral and lawful country. I can now see the damage this removal has caused to our nation in the form of loss of faith and moral decline…

…Being raised an atheist, I was not aware of faith or even the existence of God. As I now look back at over thirty three years of life wasted without faith in God, I pray only that I can, with His help, right some of the wrong and evil I have caused through my lack of faith…If it were in my personal power to help return this nation to its rightful place by placing God back in the classroom, I would do so…”

It seems to me that by writing this letter long ago, Mr. Murray has righted some of the wrong. We pray that his testimony will continue to touch people through this site.

Think About This…

“A man ought to live so that everybody knows he’s a Christian…most of all, his family ought to know.” – D. L. Moody

Freedom Of Religion 101

A few years ago, an article was published in the opinion page of an area newspaper. The article was written by a 17-year old Lansing student. The teenager so succinctly summed up the subject of freedom of religion and the “separation of church and state” that I have included it here in edited form:

“The Constitution was designed to allow freedom of religion, not freedom from religion. The Bill of RIghts says the government shall “make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.

In fact, the words ‘separation of church and state’ do not appear in the Constitution. Rather, they first appeared in a letter written by Thomas Jefferson to a group of Baptist pastors. In the letter, Jefferson assures the pastors that the government would not prohibit their religious rights by setting up a state-sponsored religion” (like the taxpayer-funded Church of England from which many colonists had fled).

Unfortunately, our country now has a civil rights system guided by some draconian laws that inhibit the religous freedoms ensured by the Bill of RIghts. See a few examples of court decisions that have eroded our freedoms in the above article regarding Madalyn Murray O’Hair. The liberals continue to misuse Jefferson’s phrase “separation of church and state” to support the elimination of public displays of faith.

The high school student summed up the opinion article by mentioning that through judicial rulings America has established a system that “actually prohibits religious freedom and [we now have] a state-sponsored religion that is opposed to God.”

I wonder what Thomas Jefferson, or any of our founding fathers, would say to that.

Please pray for America!

Do Something!

“All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing.” – Edmund Burke

More facts and interesting info to be added soon!