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<title>My RSS Feed</title><link>http://www.shenbible.org/index.html</link><description>News from SBM</description><dc:language>en</dc:language><dc:creator>Dr. Charles Vogan</dc:creator><dc:rights>Copyright 2008 Charles Vogan</dc:rights><dc:date>2009-01-12T13:44:28-05:00</dc:date><admin:generatorAgent rdf:resource="http://www.realmacsoftware.com/" />
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<lastBuildDate>Sat, 09 Aug 2008 16:20:51 -0400</lastBuildDate><item><title>Into the Darkness</title><dc:creator>Dr. Charles Vogan</dc:creator><category>The Bible and America</category><dc:date>2009-01-12T13:44:28-05:00</dc:date><link>http://www.shenbible.org/page1/files/33e3c9e5256601578353db64b0e6aa29-13.html#unique-entry-id-13</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.shenbible.org/page1/files/33e3c9e5256601578353db64b0e6aa29-13.html#unique-entry-id-13</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[&ldquo;No longer&rdquo; do we care about the Founding Fathers&rsquo; concern that the doctrines of Christianity should be our guiding light as a nation (they felt it was the only way the &ldquo;American experiment&rdquo; could work).  

...In other words, when we sit down to decide on what is right and just, we&rsquo;re going to go by what the Jews, the Muslims, the Buddhists, the Hindus, and the unbelievers want to do as well.  

...The government is actively pursuing a dominating role in every aspect of our lives; along the way, then, it will have a great deal to say about what we can or cannot do in everyday life.    I don&rsquo;t know if you&rsquo;ve noticed, but the government now decides the very makeup of previously private matters: what we eat, what we wear, what we entertain ourselves with, our sex and family lives, our education, what we live in, what we communicate with and travel with, where we go, what we say in public, what we consider right and wrong.  

...The only way we have now to safeguard our children from the doctrines and influence of sexual immorality, and drugs, and lowering educational standards, and rebellion against God, is to pull our children out of the schools and educate them ourselves.  

...The Liberal movement has virtually destroyed our faith over the last two hundred years; the culture of the world dominates so completely that the church is actually an entertainment industry trying to please demanding consumers; and almost nobody knows how to fight a spiritual battle.  ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Knowledge is the Foundation (1)</title><dc:creator>Dr. Charles Vogan</dc:creator><category>Fundamentals of the Faith</category><dc:date>2008-12-29T10:05:51-05:00</dc:date><link>http://www.shenbible.org/page1/files/a449fc2fa08907a65ba9b5ec21965f11-12.html#unique-entry-id-12</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.shenbible.org/page1/files/a449fc2fa08907a65ba9b5ec21965f11-12.html#unique-entry-id-12</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[And the Spirit is the only one who can reveal the truth to us in a way that we can understand it and get the spiritual point that it makes.


...For example, if you don&rsquo;t get the facts about the true state of your heart, you aren&rsquo;t going to see that you need to fix your heart &mdash; you won&rsquo;t know how, nor will you know why you need to!


...For example, if you know that the Spirit of God reveals the way of salvation in the Word, you will study the Word and find out what you must do to be saved.  

...Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life &mdash; in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing. 

...We could summarize the three like this:  knowledge is knowing what to do, understanding is knowing how to do it, and wisdom knows why and when it must be done.


If we could categorize people by their spiritual progress, we would have to say that only a few people know the facts, fewer still have any spiritual understanding, and it&rsquo;s a rare person who has true wisdom.  ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Knowledge (4)</title><dc:creator>Dr. Charles Vogan</dc:creator><category>Fundamentals of the Faith</category><dc:date>2008-12-12T11:08:18-05:00</dc:date><link>http://www.shenbible.org/page1/files/3a3866caaafe7196084201368091faf3-11.html#unique-entry-id-11</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.shenbible.org/page1/files/3a3866caaafe7196084201368091faf3-11.html#unique-entry-id-11</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Getting knowledge: The Bible teaches us that it&rsquo;s important to get knowledge, to store up knowledge, to seek for it with more interest than we do the riches of the world.  

...Benefits of knowledge: Knowledge leads to salvation; it gives us the information we need to know God, to know ourselves, to know the truth about our spiritual need, to know the way to Christ and how to take hold of him in faith.  

...Disasters from a lack of knowledge: Israel turned away from the knowledge of God and suffered punishment many times, including defeat from her enemies, spiritual darkness, internal warfare, even rejection from God himself.  ...  The Pharisees had the Jews bound up in blind legalism; they were so blind that they could not see the glory and hope in Jesus Christ &mdash; who was their God come in the flesh.  

...Israel constantly rejected the knowledge that the Prophets proclaimed to her, and so brought upon her head a severe punishment in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Exile.   The Jews crucified Christ to get him out of the way, even though he brought them knowledge that would save them &mdash; and so they brought upon themselves a terrible destruction at the hands of the Romans.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Survivor (6)</title><dc:creator>Dr. Charles Vogan</dc:creator><category>Survival</category><dc:date>2008-12-03T13:38:00-05:00</dc:date><link>http://www.shenbible.org/page1/files/008a09df72b8db12dd14da202aaab00f-10.html#unique-entry-id-10</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.shenbible.org/page1/files/008a09df72b8db12dd14da202aaab00f-10.html#unique-entry-id-10</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Is there hope in the middle of disaster that God will hear you and help you?  ...  The first is the person who just wants God to take away the painful situation and give him back his blessings that he feels God owes him.  

...But since you rejected me when I called and no one gave heed when I stretched out my hand, since you ignored all my advice and would not accept my rebuke, I in turn will laugh at your disaster; I will mock when calamity overtakes you &hellip; Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me. 

...The second person (while he also may at first blame God for letting this disaster happen to him) has had some time to suffer and think on it some more.  ...  When the Israelites had some time to suffer and think about their sin, they came back to God humbled and repentant.  

...But he took note of their distress when he heard their cry; for their sake he remembered his covenant and out of his great love he relented. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Survivor 5</title><dc:creator>Dr. Charles Vogan</dc:creator><category>Survival</category><dc:date>2008-11-29T15:47:32-05:00</dc:date><link>http://www.shenbible.org/page1/files/fd4d852ab3a4b920c65262c8efa6db3d-9.html#unique-entry-id-9</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.shenbible.org/page1/files/fd4d852ab3a4b920c65262c8efa6db3d-9.html#unique-entry-id-9</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Some stand there helplessly and just scream; they are like clueless children who literally have to be picked up and carried to a safe place.  

...When times are good and secure, you have little idea of what is actually in your heart or the hearts of your fellow Christians.  ...  Only when our lives fall apart, when society, law and order, and health and wealth disintegrate around us, do we find out what we are really made of.    Those who ignored the plea to train will simply stand there helplessly and scream, and go down with the chaos.  ...  Those who are already trained in the spiritual life, however, will not only survive the disaster but will be tremendous blessings to those whom they can reach.  


...Or am I fooling myself, and about to go down with the rest of the world as it collapses?  ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Survivor 4</title><dc:creator>Dr. Charles Vogan</dc:creator><category>Survival</category><dc:date>2008-11-21T06:54:19-05:00</dc:date><link>http://www.shenbible.org/page1/files/dcda0752d59690d21dff9336ddac7920-8.html#unique-entry-id-8</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.shenbible.org/page1/files/dcda0752d59690d21dff9336ddac7920-8.html#unique-entry-id-8</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[The church is supposed to be a spiritual hospital; as soon as we come inside, we are announcing to everyone that we are in need and we&rsquo;ve come for help.  

...Then you will find people waking up to the reality of their spiritual state &ndash; their great need of God, and the sin that is dragging them down with the world as it collapses under the judgment of God.  

...Be shepherds of God&rsquo;s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers &ndash; not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve. 

...A church that is ready for whatever the future brings (and since we live in a dark world, it&rsquo;s guaranteed that it will include hard times) will have training and resources available to address the needs that people will have.    It will be an efficient training center; the leaders will know how to direct people to God, and show them how to live by faith in God&rsquo;s spiritual world.  ...  The church will be a great help in helping people sever their ties to the world, and welding them into God&rsquo;s family.  
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Knowledge (3)</title><dc:creator>Dr. Charles Vogan</dc:creator><category>Fundamentals of the Faith</category><dc:date>2008-11-17T06:52:14-05:00</dc:date><link>http://www.shenbible.org/page1/files/d7a94e1375a067c967db0e5e4ca9af8b-7.html#unique-entry-id-7</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.shenbible.org/page1/files/d7a94e1375a067c967db0e5e4ca9af8b-7.html#unique-entry-id-7</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[	Following are most of the passages in the Old Testament and the New Testament that deal with the subject of knowledge.    You should understand that these are only those passages that use the word &ldquo;knowledge&rdquo; &mdash; there are many more passages that use the words &ldquo;knowing&rdquo; and &ldquo;understanding&rdquo; and &ldquo;wisdom.&rdquo; 


...the Spirit of the Lord on Christ for knowledge &mdash; Isaiah 11:2


...Each of these passages deserves a great deal of your time and study, because what they are saying about knowledge is critical for your salvation and understanding of God.  ...  The problem is not that we have too much knowledge, but that we are unwilling to get knowledge &mdash; and when we are unwilling, the results are disastrous.    We list all these passages here in order to convince those who despise knowledge that they do so in defiance of God&rsquo;s command to take it seriously.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Knowledge (2)</title><dc:creator>Dr. Charles Vogan</dc:creator><category>Fundamentals of the Faith</category><dc:date>2008-11-07T06:55:55-05:00</dc:date><link>http://www.shenbible.org/page1/files/c27dea77c4279fc4dc787ddc319d4f83-6.html#unique-entry-id-6</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.shenbible.org/page1/files/c27dea77c4279fc4dc787ddc319d4f83-6.html#unique-entry-id-6</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[There are low-level jobs for those who don&rsquo;t have much knowledge of construction in general; they can nail up a board somewhere or haul mortar to the bricklayers. 

...If a man knows nothing more than how to haul cement, what would the building look like if he was given the responsibility of overseeing the entire project?  ...  The person who oversees the project has to be completely knowledgeable about his job: he knows how to schedule the steps of the project, and knows what the individual workmen must do, and knows the building code, and how to estimate and keep to the planned costs, and so on.  


...Someone on a lower rung of the job ladder may be jealous of those over him who have more knowledge, and he may despise them for their knowledge, but society doesn&rsquo;t take him seriously.  

...(Ecclesiastes 10:6-7)  People who don&rsquo;t know what they are talking about are put in positions of leadership to make policy, while those who have a profound understanding of God&rsquo;s truth are despised and ignored.  ...  This means, of course, that the work of the Church is often shoddy or even ruined compared to what it could and should be.  
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Knowledge (1)</title><dc:creator>Dr. Charles Vogan</dc:creator><category>Fundamentals of the Faith</category><dc:date>2008-10-25T10:30:34-04:00</dc:date><link>http://www.shenbible.org/page1/files/22ea1189a17c7f06aafd5a30a277eea4-5.html#unique-entry-id-5</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.shenbible.org/page1/files/22ea1189a17c7f06aafd5a30a277eea4-5.html#unique-entry-id-5</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[	Some of those who teach against getting knowledge, if they were cornered, would probably admit that it isn&rsquo;t knowledge itself that is bad for us, but the way we use or don&rsquo;t use the knowledge we have.    But, they would hasten to say, at least we ought not to be so caught up with accumulating more knowledge when we haven&rsquo;t yet mastered what we already know.  

...And the very thing that these people fear &mdash; the accumulation of knowledge when one hasn&rsquo;t yet put it all into practice &mdash; is, according to the Word of God, the mark of a wise man.


	As is usual in such disagreements, there are at least two problems here: first, people have to be more careful about what the Bible actually says about something, instead of reading what they want to see into the text.  ...  It&rsquo;s much safer to let the Bible speak for itself; if there are potential problems, God&rsquo;s Word will faithfully let us know about them without our sincere but misguided help.


...Though there are problems that often arise, we have no right to despise or reject the pursuit of knowledge any more than we can the holiness of life, which is also riddled with problems.  ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Survivor (3)</title><dc:creator>Dr. Charles Vogan</dc:creator><category>Survival</category><dc:date>2008-10-18T07:55:11-04:00</dc:date><link>http://www.shenbible.org/page1/files/e64db9db49480d72add0cebaf757b940-4.html#unique-entry-id-4</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.shenbible.org/page1/files/e64db9db49480d72add0cebaf757b940-4.html#unique-entry-id-4</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[There are no tests given to measure spiritual progress; such a thing is unthinkable in the modern church (though tests are given all the time in the business and educational world!).  


...Like a sergeant back from the front lines, he trains the recruits in the skills that he knows they will need out there on the battlefield.  ...  They want to quit long before they are good at doing anything; a person is naturally lazy when it comes to putting forth effort on goals he can&rsquo;t see.    So, ask someone who has been in battle to measure their progress, and don&rsquo;t stop training them until he is satisfied that they are ready. 


...Most Christians feel no need to train for them, because they are sure they can do what God requires of them when the time comes.  

...And training, as we shall see, involves hard work, continuous effort, hardship, measuring your progress, and getting better at things until you can do the job to God&rsquo;s satisfaction.  
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Introduction (2)</title><dc:creator>Dr. Charles Vogan</dc:creator><category>Fundamentals of the Faith</category><dc:date>2008-10-16T08:05:00-04:00</dc:date><link>http://www.shenbible.org/page1/files/166b8ba558ee59606b5bdd6b6561815d-3.html#unique-entry-id-3</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.shenbible.org/page1/files/166b8ba558ee59606b5bdd6b6561815d-3.html#unique-entry-id-3</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[If we don&rsquo;t recognize how he organized this to happen, or (what would be worse) if we work against his plan, people will shrivel up spiritually and won&rsquo;t be able to carry out their responsibilities under God.


It was he who gave some to be Apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God&rsquo;s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. 

...It&rsquo;s been said that a successful teacher has to know ten times more about his subject than what he intends to give his/her students; this is so that he will be able to sort through exactly what to say, and how to say it, to make it stick in the student&rsquo;s mind.  


...If our students see that we love it enough to take it seriously and set up the church in a way that this information will get passed on to succeeding generations, then they will also take it seriously.  

...It ought to be no surprise, when you think about it, that Christians who are brand new to the world of God have a lot of mistaken notions about God from their past.  

...(One proof of this is the dismal fact that millions of new converts to the cults of our day came from mainline Christian denominations &ndash; they weren&rsquo;t taught the truth, so they don&rsquo;t know a lie when they hear one.) ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Survivor (2)</title><dc:creator>Dr. Charles Vogan</dc:creator><category>Survival</category><dc:date>2008-10-13T07:03:54-04:00</dc:date><link>http://www.shenbible.org/page1/files/5295150ff891141172f002f8348dd22e-2.html#unique-entry-id-2</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.shenbible.org/page1/files/5295150ff891141172f002f8348dd22e-2.html#unique-entry-id-2</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Like the ant preparing for winter, they know that it&rsquo;s just a matter of time until trials and hardships come, and they do what they can now so that they will be ready.  

...For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. 

...I know that people bring it upon themselves; we build a house of cards out of our lives, so to speak, and then wonder why it all collapses around us at the worst time.  

...The wise also know that the best way to be ready for trials and hardships in this world is not to build bunkers in your basement and change all your money into gold.  

...The Creator knows that you need a spiritual Rock to stand on when the foundations of this world are swept away underneath you; it will happen to everybody, to God&rsquo;s people as well as to the wicked.  

...It will seem hard to do this, giving up this world that you love so much so that you can lay claim to the next world; but it&rsquo;s a matter of discipline, and discipline is never easy.  
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Introduction (1)</title><dc:creator>Dr. Charles Vogan</dc:creator><category>Fundamentals of the Faith</category><dc:date>2008-10-09T17:52:51-04:00</dc:date><link>http://www.shenbible.org/page1/files/2c13c422b7f6717b06e2c87e54144a48-1.html#unique-entry-id-1</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.shenbible.org/page1/files/2c13c422b7f6717b06e2c87e54144a48-1.html#unique-entry-id-1</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 

...	Other people have had very little experience in the Church before they were converted; they knew almost nothing about the Bible, and everything they learned from that point on would be entirely new to them.  

...For a life of service to God, in order to fully honor God in all things and bring him the glory he richly deserves, in order to build the Church into a holy and eternal dwelling place for the Lord, and in order to endure persecution faithfully to the end, we have much more to learn than this simple list!  

...It&rsquo;s quite possible to get &ldquo;converted,&rdquo; become part of a church, enjoy the Gospel blessings, fellowship with other Christians, read the Bible, worship God and pray to him &ndash; and yet, because of ignorance of the basics of the faith, turn one&rsquo;s back on Christ in the end.  

...It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the Heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. 

...In order to assimilate the lessons that church leaders give them, they have to have at least a basic understanding of the truth; but without that, what is said in Church doesn&rsquo;t mean much to them and they never do get the point.]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Survivor (1)</title><dc:creator>Dr. Charles Vogan</dc:creator><category>Survival</category><dc:date>2008-10-07T13:04:42-04:00</dc:date><link>http://www.shenbible.org/page1/files/7e921da07ab3f99df3f203241b43ad36-0.html#unique-entry-id-0</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.shenbible.org/page1/files/7e921da07ab3f99df3f203241b43ad36-0.html#unique-entry-id-0</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Those who have gotten accustomed to a life of ease, security and prosperity don&rsquo;t know what to do when all that is forcibly ripped out of their lives.    And since history shows us that disaster and hard times have a cyclical way of coming back around to haunt us, those who have the foresight to prepare ahead of time for what must inevitably come to pass will survive. 

...Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 

...Now when society turns upside down, and people are persecuted by the government or their neighborhoods for being Christians, or disease or war rips up the fabric of everyday life, those problems underneath the surface that they didn&rsquo;t address at a superficial church service will come to the front.  

...If you can willingly give up the health and wealth and security of this world as it&rsquo;s taken from you, then how will it hurt you when you lose it?  

...If you set your minds and hearts on things above, on Heavenly treasures, then the loss of this world&rsquo;s goods won&rsquo;t shake you as you hold out your hope for a better world. ]]></content:encoded></item></channel>
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