Napa, Here we come.

Hey,
I hope you had a nice Easter/Passover.

I don't think I told you but my wife and I are going to Sonoma County, California on Wednesday.
We are big wine people. My wife likes it for the taste, I like it for the friends and buzz.
We are going out there without kids for 6 days. I know what you are thinking. Man they go away alot.
Yes, and it is becoming our thing. We love going away. We have a young woman (almost 30 years old) in our church that will watch the kids and we just go.
Our office uses the American Airlines credit card to pay our bills. Now we charge EVERYTHING!!! Lab bills and even the electric bill if they will let us. Now in a two dentist practice we crank up the monthly bill. Sometimes our supply bill will be $15,000 by itself.
So we will put over $200,000 a year on the card. Now those of you who know points...that is alot of points. Which parlays into about 5 round trip tickets a year.
But we don't use them if we are going on a $125 flight. We use them to go business class no stopping to California. You pay a little more in points but it is worth it.
If you are not using a credit card this way...I recommend it.
A year and a half ago we went to Rome first class on points alone, and on our lay overs we got to hang out in the Admiral's Club. Oh yeah, this is where I belong.
So we are going to pay the sitter and a couple nights stay and are staying with some friends in Marin County for a couple days.
It is going to be great.

I am looking for a couple of ghost writers for next week.
Got anything on your mind?

I got a couple of comments this weekend that I want to talk about. I didn't want to spend to much time on Jesus stuff (not that I have a problem with it I just don't want to force anything on you) but I did want to clarify a couple of things.
First an easy one...
I can't help but wonder how many people recently slaughtered a 1 year old lamb, ate it roasted (not boiled) and spread it's blood over their doorway so their first born child wouldn't be killed by god. Please comment if you did. This passage seems to say that you are supposed to.
No, unless the Angle of Death is coming, you don't have to do this anymore. Now if you do find out the Angle of Death is coming, please let me know and I will get the word out.
Although I did some research (meaning I looked it up on the Internet) in Jewish tradition, Jew will put Mezuzah on the door frame to protect the inhabitants. This is not, although, does not represent the blood of the Lamb.

Now the next comment is a tough one.
Great sermon, John! One question, though. Did Jesus die for all people, or just His people (meaning believers)? If He died for all people, wouldn't all people be going to heaven? Think about it and let me know what you come up with.

I did a lot of thinking and talking to the right people about this one. I first talked (argued) with my wife about this topic all weekend. We consulted out pastors, we consulted John Piper (not personally, he is dead) and this is what I came up with.
I was wrong.
First I want to say that this is an "in house" discussion. Meaning if you believe in Jesus and what he did for us then you are "in". If you are "in" we can all argue the finer points of the text but we won't know for sure until we get "home".
Now I believe that his power and what He did was enough for all sins. Not for all sinners.
I do not believe that what He did saved everyone.
I believe (and it is backed up in scripture) that there is something called Limited Atonement.
I am going to give you a couple quotes of article written by John Piper on this very subject...
On the other hand we do not limit the power and effectiveness of the atonement. We simply say that in the cross God had in view the actual redemption of his children. And we affirm that when Christ died for these, he did not just create the opportunity for them to save themselves, but really purchased for them all that was necessary to get them saved, including the grace of regeneration and the gift of faith.
Off the subject a bit and I may open up a real can here but Presbyterians (PCA) believe that we don't chose Christ. Christ chose us.
We believe not that we are drowning and He throws us a life vest. We believe we are dead at the bottom of the ocean and He picks us up out of the water and breaths life into us.

More about who is saved (more Piper)...
John 10:15, "I lay down my life for the sheep." The sheep of Christ are those whom the Father draws to the Son. "You do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep." Notice: being a sheep enables you to become a believer, not vice versa. So the sheep for whom Christ dies are the ones chosen by the Father to give to the Son.

It is very heavy, I know.
If you want the whole article it is at...
http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/piper/piper_atonement.html

If you have any questions, just ask.
Have a great day,
See you Wednesday, maybe
John