Georgia Alabama Advertiser

Georgia Alabama Advertiser Newspaper The Advertiser and The East Alabama Advertiser, Advertising for Local Businesses and the Community.

11/03/2015

Farewell, Friends!
It’s Been a Fun Ride.

By, Bob Cole
Owner/Publisher
The ADVERTISER

Well, this is a story I have dreaded writing for a long, long time, but now it is inevitable. This is my last story for the ADVERTISER. There is only one reason for that, and that reason is, this is the last ADVERTISER. Ironically this week marks the anniversary of our very first paper. For some of you in specific areas, you’ve been getting our paper every week for twenty-one years! For the folks in Randolph and Clay counties, we’ve been coming into your home for sixteen years!
I remember very clearly our first publication. I had left Southwire Company after seventeen years of service, bought a business I knew relatively nothing about. In that first publication I wrote my very first article entitled, “Mid-Life Crisis.” In that story I talked about the scary uncertainties that laid ahead for Renee and me as we entered a new phase of our lives. There are those same feelings of uncertainty roiling around in my belly this morning as there were twenty one years ago. The words of songwriter Ira Stamphill bring me comfort in times like these. If you are familiar with the song I’m sure it has brought you comfort in uncomfortable times as well. Just to refresh your memory, the lyrics go like this:
“I don’t know about tomorrow; I just live from day to day. I don’t borrow from its sunshine for its skies may turn to grey. I don’t worry o’er the future, for I know what Jesus said. And today I’ll walk beside Him, for He knows what is ahead. Many things about tomorrow I don’t seem to understand but I know who holds tomorrow and I know who holds my hand.”
Over the years I’ve shared many personal things with you; our children growing up and reaching adulthood, I’ve shared their weddings and I’ve shared the births of our grandchildren. I’ve shared mission trip stories and motorcycle trip stories. As I’ve walked through the aisles of the grocery stores or down sidewalks in town, many of you have stopped to talk about our adventures.
I hope that each of you, at some point, have been made to smile because of an adventure I shared. Or maybe you received some encouragement from the Bible verses we placed in the paper each week. Either way, we appreciate each of you allowing us into your home and to share our lives with you.
Also, we appreciate every one who spent their hard earned dollars to advertise with us! With out you we could have never mailed even one issue of the ADVERTISER. We have strived in every issue to give each one of you that placed an ad with us individual attention. We tried to make every ad work for you, to help your business grow. We know first-hand how hard it has been the last six or seven years to earn a living. Regardless of what you hear in the news about unemployment being the lowest in years, Gallop Polls says this is a big lie! Their 5.6% unemployment rate claims do not include those who have given up on finding a job, or those who are severely underemployed, (those who only work ten to twenty hours a week) or if you happen to be one of those who have finagled their way into a disability check. Real numbers reveal there are as many as 102 million healthy, work aged people out of a job! In spite of what we’re told on the news every day, it is
still hard for most of us to make a decent living.
One last thought I would like to leave you. In our rapidly changing world, keep this in mind; not all change is good! Our world has become so polictically correct that we’ve lost our ability to take a stand for what is good and right. We now have very small segments of people, within a country that was founded upon religious freedoms, screaming with a voice loud enough to drown out the vast majority of people that don’t believe the same way, and the 2% crowd is the group that is being heard. All under the cloak of political correctness and tolerance! I leave this last bit of encouragement to the moral majority. Don’t go down without a fight! Remember what your mama’s and grandmama’s told you. Love everybody. Don’t be a bully and never back down from a fight when you you’re right!
From all of us at the ADVERTISER: Bob and Renee Cole, Rhonda, Connie, Brother Larry and Terry. God Bless You, And God Bless America!

10/07/2015

JULY ROAD TRIP
By Bob Cole
Part 5
What a welcome sight to see a little green tint on the mountainsides as we were entering Colorado on Interstate 70. For Interstate riding that’s about as good as it gets. I liked the speed limits (75mph) out west for sure. I set the cruise control on our Harley at about eighty three miles per hour and let ‘er rip! I had already noticed an increase in our gas mileage, but on this stretch of highway I really noticed a big difference and I attributed the increase to the higher elevations. Even with all our luggage compartments packed full and a T-Bag strapped on the Tour Pak we stilled averaged over fifty miles per gallon. If I rode like that around here I would average in the high thirties! (Besides that, Officer Merrill or Officer Lovvorn or one of our other dedicated officers would give me a ticket!)
It became very overcast that Tuesday afternoon as we made our way toward Denver. We stopped in Dillon, Colorado for the night, just west of the Eisenhower Tunnel. The altitude of Dillon is just over nine thousand feet and I could feel the effects of it. It felt as if I had been on an eating marathon, which is partly true, and I had trouble getting my breath. If there had been a really short person close by me the next morning I would have paid them very well to tie my boots so I wouldn’t have had to bend over! But that was the only time I noticed any real issues of the high altitude.
When we awoke on Wednesday morning, the eighth day of July, the temperature was fifty five degrees and it was drizzling rain. We tanked up on coffee and our hotel breakfasts then began to layer on our clothes. First we put on our jeans, then our undershirts and long-sleeved shirts. Next we put on our leather chaps and heated jackets then we put on our rain suits and waddled to the motorcycle to begin our day. We stayed dressed like that all day because fifty five was the highest temperature we experienced that day, along with the light to moderate rain. To those of you who do not ride, you’re thinking, “What a miserable day!” But it wasn’t a bad day at all because we were prepared for it. As a matter of fact it was one of our best sight-seeing days of the whole trip!
The first thing we did was get on I-70 East and ride through the Eisenhower Tunnel. The tunnel was named after President Dwight E. Eisenhower and was opened in 1973. It originally carried both the east and west lanes of traffic. The second tunnel, called the Johnson Bore, was named after former Governor and State Senator Edwin C. Johnson and it opened for business in December of 1979. Both tunnels are approximately 1.7 miles long and at just over eleven thousand feet are the highest elevation traffic tunnels in the world.
Once we came out of the tunnel on the east side we took the first exit and looped around to what is called the Loveland Pass. This is U.S. Highway 6 and it is the original way around the mountain and across the Continental Divide. Loveland Pass rises to an elevation of eleven thousand, nine hundred and ninety feet above sea level and is an awesome piece of highway! It is one of the most scenic roads I’ve ridden, with its steep inclines and sharp switchbacks. It would be fun in a car but lots more fun on a motorcycle. Did I mention there are no guardrails? Two feet from the edge of the pavement is a thousand foot drop off. Renee asked me to keep both eyes on the road and she would just tell me what the scenery looked like! No way! I had to see this stuff first hand! Just for your information, if there is a truck with a wide load or hazardous material that has to travel Interstate 70, they can’t go through the tunnel. So I’m thinking the only thing
more exciting than riding a motorcycle around those switchbacks and steep inclines and declines and sheer drop offs would be an over-loaded eighteen wheeler or a load of explosives! My hat is off to you truckers, men and women, that drive the Loveland Pass every day in a loaded truck just to make sure the rest of us have what we need, when we need it!
Once we twisted our way to the crest of the mountain, at the Continental Divide, we were at about twelve thousand feet and the temperature was forty one degrees! There was still snow not far from the edge of the road in several places on the Loveland Pass. What a great start to our morning.
As we completed the loop of the Eisenhower Tunnel and the Loveland Pass we were right back where we started from in Dillion. From there we headed north on Colorado Highway 9 toward Rocky Mountain National Park. We had a leisurely ride most of the morning, enjoying the beautiful countryside. At one point though, we encountered some road construction and we had to sit for about half an hour waiting on the pilot car to complete his round. It was raining, but not hard and the temperature was in the fifties. They say ignorance is bliss but had I known what the next six miles looked like I might have been looking for an alternate route! Once the pilot car returned, we followed him right into six miles of soft, spongy gravelly mud! It is a thousand wonders I didn’t drop our bike a couple of times. It Was Awful! It felt like the equivalent of riding on two flat tires. In the opposite lane we were meeting those huge dump trucks and they weren’t flying, but
they were driving fast enough that we were being splattered by them just a little. I felt more uncomfortable with being on a motorcycle for those six miles than any other stretch of our thirty eight hundred mile trip! But when it all shakes out into the big picture it was just a minor inconvenience and I wouldn’t trade it or any other experience we had on our trip. It is just another memory, and something else to tell you about! Until next time, God bless you and God Bless America!

10/07/2015

WHAT IS HEAVEN LIKE?
Part2
Dr. Larry Riddle
Director Of Missions
Cleburne Baptist Association

Everyone it seems asks what is heaven like. I would answer by saying that the Bible doesn't give us a great deal of information. What we have are images and pictures of heaven and comparisons with life on earth. The following scriptures are some biblical facts about heaven. It is God's dwelling place Psa 33:13-14. “The LORD looketh from heaven; He beholdeth all the sons of men. 14 From the place of his habitation He looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth.” Where Christ is today? Acts 1:11 “ Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” Where Christians go when they die? Philippians 1:21-23 “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not. 23 For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better” To the Father's house, John 14:2 ”In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” We go to a City designed and built by God, Hebrews 11:9-10 “By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: 10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God”. A place called Paradise. Lu 23:42-43 “And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. 43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.” Most of us have heard that heaven is a place where the streets are paved with gold, the gates are made of pearl, and the walls made of precious jewels. Those images come from Revelation 21-22, which offers us the most extended picture of heaven in the entire Bible. If you ask me if I believe those things are literally true, the answer is yes and no. Yes, they are literally true but no, heaven won't be anything like we imagine. It will be much greater. Here's a delightful legend that makes the point very well: I love the old story of the rich man who, on his death bed, negotiated with God to allow him to bring his earthly treasures with him when he came to heaven. God's reaction was that this was a most unusual request, but since this man had been exceptionally faithful, permission was granted to bring along just one suitcase. The time arrived, the man presented himself at the pearly gates, suitcase in hand- BOTH hands, actually, since he had stuffed it with as many bars of gold bullion as would fit. St. Peter said, "Sorry, you know the rules-you can't take it with you." But the man protested, "God said I could … one suitcase." St. Peter checked, found out that this one would be an exception, prepared to let the man enter, then said, "OK, but I will have to examine the contents before you pass." He took the suitcase, opened it, saw the gold bars and asked quizzically, "You brought PAVEMENT?" [Note: This story is from the sermon "Heaven" by Dr. David Leininger, March 30, 1997] When John writes about a street paved with gold, I do not doubt his words. He simply reports what he saw in his vision. Thus his words are literally true. They are also meant to tell us that the things we value so highly in this life will be used to pave the streets.

10/07/2015

WHAT IS HEAVEN LIKE?
Dr. Larry Riddle
Director Of Missions
Cleburne Baptist Association

“Heaven is a place, just as much a place as is New York or Chicago," Charles Ferguson Ball. Everyone wants to know about heaven and everyone wants to go there. Recent polls suggest that nearly 80% of all Americans believe there is a place called heaven. I find that statistic encouraging because it tells me that even in this skeptical age there is something deep inside the human heart that cries out, "There's got to be something more. Something more than the pain and suffering of this life. Something more than 70 or 80 years on planet earth. Something more than being born, living, dying, and then being buried in the ground. Sometimes we talk about a "God-shaped vacuum" inside the human heart. I believe there is also a "heaven-shaped vacuum," a sense that we were made for something more than this life. We were made to live forever somewhere. In a real sense we were made for heaven. There is another fascinating statistic I should mention. Not only do most Americans believe in heaven, most people expect to go there when they die. If you took a microphone to the streets of Chicago and asked, "Do you think you will go to heaven when you die?" the vast majority of people would answer, "I hope so," or "I think so," or perhaps "I think I've got a good chance. Not very many people would say they aren't going to heaven. Whenever we talk about living forever somewhere, it would help to know for sure where that place is. And we must remember that if we're wrong about heaven, we're going to be wrong for a long, long time. As we hear questions about heaven we must understand that the only things we can know for certain about heaven are the things revealed in the Bible. Everything else is just speculation and hearsay. The Bible tells us everything we need to know and I believe it also tells us everything we can know for certain about heaven. I. Where is heaven? There are three things I can tell you in answer to this question. The most important fact is that heaven is a real place. Listen to the words of Jesus on the night before he was crucified: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:1-3). Twice in these three verses Jesus calls heaven a real place. The place called heaven is just as real as the place you call home. It's a real place filled with real people, which is why the Bible sometimes compares heaven to a mansion with many rooms (John 14:1-3) and sometimes to an enormous city filled with people (Revelation 21-22). The Bible also tells us that heaven is the dwelling place of God. His throne is there, the angels are there, and the Lord Jesus Christ is in heaven. Philippians 3:20 says very plainly that "our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ." That's why Jesus told the thief on the Cross, "Today you will be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43). Third and I find this fact fascinating, the Bible hints that heaven is not as far away as we might think. Because heaven is a real place, we sometimes think it must be outside our present universe and that would mean that it is billions and billions of light years away. However, it's very clear that the early Christians understood that they would pass immediately from this life into the presence of Christ in heaven. How can that be possible if heaven is beyond the farthest galaxy? Hebrews 12:22-24 tells us something amazing about what the gospel has done for us: “But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.” The writer is here comparing Mt. Sinai with Mt. Zion. Under the old covenant no one could come near God except under very strict conditions. But now in Christ we have been brought near to heavenly realities. So here are some things we know from Scripture, we're not that far from heaven, we're not that far from the angels, we're not that far from our loved ones in heaven and for sure we're not that far from God. Does that mean we are not far from Jesus Himself. So Heaven is a real place, and it may not be far away from us.

10/07/2015

JULY ROAD TRIP
By Bob Cole
Part 4
On Sunday afternoon, July 5th, we rode into Zion National Park and as previously mentioned, the beauty of God’s handiwork almost took our breath away. I suppose one of the neat things about the park is the way you can drive all the way through it and exit on the opposite side. We entered from the east side and took in everything from that perspective and drove right on to our hotel in Hurricane, Utah for the evening.
We tried to be frugal on our hotels each night and we did a pretty good job choosing them. The hotel in Hurricane was the last one that we had booked in advance; after that we were flying by the seat of our pants, so to speak, on coming up with hotels. For anyone interested in traveling by motorcycle, we aimed at keeping our average daily expenses at about $200-$225 per day. It is really hard to find a hotel that you would want to stay in for under $100.00, especially around holidays when we usually travel. The gas prices, for the most part, were a little higher there than they are here, but with the higher altitudes we had an unexpected surprise of eight to ten miles per gallon better gas mileage. Anyway, by the time you figure hotel, gas and food, you’re going to be in the $200.00 per day range. Sightseeing tours for specific areas, like our Lake Powell boat tour, are nice but they can really jack up your average daily expenses. Souvenirs are a must when you travel, especially if you have grandchildren. And one would think if you’re traveling by motorcycle you couldn’t buy a lot of stuff or big stuff, but Renee has learned that it is not terribly expensive to have your purchases shipped home so that they get there about the time you do. Speaking of souvenirs, there is a great place to buy them on the west side of Zion Park in the little town of Springdale.
After spending an uneventful night in Hurricane we got up on Monday morning with great expectations about what lay ahead and anxious to see what was waiting on us. A few weeks ago Renee and I were watching an episode of Family Feud and one of the questions was, “What country is noted for having the best sightseeing?” Family number one didn’t answer all the questions, so family number two got to take their best shot, and missed. The number one answer, which neither of them got, was our good old USA. Most countries have something, I’m sure, that is worthy of a good, long look and a few pictures, but nowhere else on the face of God’s green earth is blessed with so many things to see! “From the mountains, to the prairies, to the oceans white with foam, God bless America, my home sweet home!”
As we left Hurricane that morning we rode back through Zion National Park and it was just as magnificent the second time through. Our destinations for the day began with Bryce Canyon Park which is just a couple of pleasant hours up the road. It was a good visit and not too far off the beaten path to get to it. After we left Bryce we traveled state road 12 which carried us along the northern edge of Grand Staircase National Monument. After intersecting with state road 24, we headed east for a few miles to Hanksville, then southeast on state road 95 to our night time destination of Blanding, Utah.
On Tuesday morning our main goal was to head north to Moab and Arches National Park. We were still blessed with good weather; hot, but not unbearably hot, and dry. Moab is a neat destination town. ATV’s freely roam the main roads there. Polaris Razors are readily available to rent and many of them are equipped with street tread tires instead of the rock crawling tires. After a great lunch in Moab we rode out to Arches Park. I don’t mean to sound negative because it is a beautiful place. It is totally amazing to see the rock formations left by many years of erosion. Lots of them just make you stand there and say, “Wow!” But by this stage of our trip I was about tired of seeing red rocks. Living here in Alabama is a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing because I never get tired of looking at our hills and hollers all covered in pine trees and hardwood trees and pastures and cows and even chicken houses. It’s a curse because it doesn’t take me long to get tired of looking at red rocks and big ditches and red rocks and big ditches!
As we left Moab we headed north alongside the Colorado River for several miles. This was an interesting ride with the river just a few feet to our left and a canyon wall straight up just a few feet to our right side. Awesome stretch of road! It seems like throughout our trip we rode beside the Colorado River for probably two hundred miles, off and on! Sometimes it was red muddy, sometimes it was clear. Sometimes it was wide, sometimes it was skinny. And sometimes it was slow and lazy and sometimes it was on the rampage.
Later in the day after we left Moab we began to see a little bit of green on the hills in the distance. I’m out of space for this time, but next time I’ll get to tell you about riding some of high ridges Colorado. Until then, God bless you and God Bless America!

10/07/2015

GODLY SORROW IS NECESSARY
Dr. Larry Riddle
Director Of Missions
Cleburne Baptist Association

Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death." 2 Corinthians 7:10
As sin is the greatest evil so sorrow for sin is the greatest sorrow. Without Godly sorrow it impossible to enter a relationship with Jesus Christ. Many have a desire to know God and to except Jesus as Savior but never are able to experience Godly Sorrow and as a result remain lost in their sins. Godly sorrow in a Christian is the greatest sorrow, being that which flows from faith, whereby we see sin to be the greatest evil as exemplified in the crucified Savior! If one is to claim Jesus as Lord he must be constantly filled with Godly sorrow concerning his daily sin! True repentance is a continual work. So long as we have sin to repent of we must be repenting of sin. If we continue in sin without Godly sorrow He says we don’t know Him, we are none of His. Without this attitude toward sin we cannot please God. I find it very difficult to see supposed Christians not only sinning but celebrating their sins. This may be religion but it is not Salvation. The sin of the believer will break his heart and bring about Godly sorrow. The believer's sorrow for sin becomes life changing because what was once self love is now love of the Savior! We upon believing and accepting have a clear view of the love of God as it pardons us, and of the distinguishing grace and favor of God extended to us. We then come to mourn, loathe, and abase ourselves more deeply than before, and to melt with filial sorrow before the Lord. All this sorrow because we would act so unworthily and unthankfully toward such a gracious, tender, and loving Father. "Then, when I make atonement for you for all you have done you will remember and be ashamed." Ezekiel 16:63. The believer's hatred of sin becomes more refined over time. He hates sin because of its defiling nature as well as its damning nature! He hates sin for the evil that is IN it as well as for the evil that comes BY it! He hates sin because it destroys lives and families!

09/09/2015

JULY ROAD TRIP
By Bob Cole
Part 3

Between Page, Arizona and Zion National Park, Utah there is a lot of pretty stuff, but there is even more worthless real estate that holds the pretty stuff together! (In my opinion.) We traveled U.S. Hwy. 89 on that hot, sunny July 5th afternoon. As we rode through the edge of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument the temperature was an even 100 degrees. We had prepared ourselves mentally for temperatures much higher, but locals we talked to said they were experiencing temperatures that were about fifteen degrees below normal for July. Hey, I’m good with it!
At one point while riding across the desert the wind kicked up pretty hard. For some reason it didn’t affect me very much and I really couldn’t feel the effects of it on the Harley, but for a few miles Renee had to literally reach up and hold on to her helmet. She said it felt like the wind was going to rip it off her head! (There was one time though when we were riding on a ridge somewhere that I actually had to lean into wind with my body to keep the motorcycle in my lane!) All in all, I was very impressed with the way our Harley Davidson Ultra Classic Limited handled every situation we encountered.
It is only a couple of hours from Page to Zion Park and as I said, initially, we were riding in 100 degree temperature. But while we were riding in the big wind, we could see a dark cloud ahead of us. Now the wind didn’t concern me a lot, and the possibility of rain didn’t concern me very much, but the combination of rain and the severity of wind we were experiencing did concern me a lot! Fortunately all we got was the cooler temps off the rain. In a matter of about five minutes the temp went from 100 down to 80 degrees. What a welcome relief! And the temp stayed in the low eighties for the rest of the day.
As we entered Zion National Park that afternoon the first thing that came to our minds was, “I’m glad we visited the Grand Canyon first!” Now don’t get me wrong; the Grand Canyon is big, it’s beautiful and it’s worth seeing. BUT had I seen Zion Park first, I think the Grand Canyon would have been a let-down. Unless you plan six months to a year in advance for really expensive canyon tour, most of us visit the canyon rim and stand there for a few minutes thinking, “Dang, that’s a big ‘ol hole!” But for us non-hikers, non-rafters, non-mule riders, Zion Park is by far the most impressive.
As you enter Zion Park, instead of standing on the rim looking down and across the canyon, you are actually riding through the canyon; looking up at the magnificent rock formations and canyon walls. For those of you that know me, you know that I’m not an emotional person. I don’t whoop and holler at church, but neither do I whoop and holler at ball games. But as I rode through Zion Park, I became emotional; not the whooping and hollering kind, but a feeling of awe washing over me. Then, the lyrics of an old familiar song came to mind. “Oh, Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder, consider all the worlds Thy hands have made!” I believe this very place as well as the heavens above is what the apostle Paul was making reference to when he said in Romans 1:20-21. “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened.” People that reject God’s being and authority will one day stand before Him with no excuse for not accepting Him as the Almighty Creator. Also, there is another scripture that came to my mind as we rode through the park. Jesus said in Luke 19:40. “And He answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.” I believe that one day the very rocks of Zion National Park will cry out as a witness to every person that rode, hiked or pedaled though that awesome place and didn’t acknowledge Him as the Creator of Heaven and Earth.
God Bless You and God Bless America!

09/09/2015

AN ALMOST CHRISTIAN
Dr. Larry Riddle
Director Of Missions Cleburne Baptist Association

(James Smith, "The Way of Salvation Set Forth")
"Then Agrippa said to Paul: You almost persuade me to become a Christian!" Acts 26:28
There are many who conclude that they are Christians, because they have been enlightened to see something of their state, danger, and deserved doom. But many are only lighted to Hell, for light in the mind--is not life in the soul. Hebrews 6:4, 10:20.
A person may be awakened to feel, to tremble, to desire salvation--as did Felix and Balaam, Acts 24:25, Numbers 23:10.
He may be reformed, and turn from open profanity to strict morality--as did some in Peter's day, 2 Peter 2:20.
He may be assisted to do many things which are in themselves good, such as reading the Scripture, attending divine ordinances, engaging in prayer, and working miracles, Matthew 7:21-23, Mark 6:20, 1 Corinthians 13:3.
He may experience God's power put forth restraining him, and keeping him back from sin, as did Abimelech, Genesis 20:6.
He may humble himself before God, as did Ahab, 1 Kings 21:27-30.
He may possess joy and be exceeding glad under the Word, Matthew 13:20.
He may believe the Word, receive the testimony, and admire the preacher, Luke 4:22-29, 8:13, Ezekiel 33:31-32.
He may be filled with zeal for Christ and his cause, like the multitude, John 6:15, 16; Matthew 21:8-11; Luke 23:18-23.
He may be baptized upon a profession of faith, join a Christian church, and imitate the saints in his conduct--as did Simon Magus, Acts 8:13.
He may fill an office in the church, preach the gospel, and act consistent for a time--as did Judas; and yet Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place, Acts 1:25.
He may be highly esteemed by others, be sound in doctrine, and suffer for the cause of Christ, and yet be destitute of the vital principle of saving faith--like Demas, Alexander, Hymeneus, and Philetus, 2 Timothy 2:16-18, 4:10-14, 1 John 2:15.
He may have many excellent qualities, so that he may be admired and loved by others, like the rich young ruler in Matthew 19.
He may have all that has been named above--but ONE THING may be lacking, and he be found at last, merely an almost Christian.

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