Last summer in a Bible study I was taking one of the questions was, “If an unsaved person asked you how to be saved, what would you say?” Here’s what I wrote:

Saved?  What do I mean?  Why do I have to be saved?  From what do I have to be saved?

Sin – Sin is anything we think, say or do that doesn’t please God.  God is holy, pure, etc. and can not have sin in His presence.  So, since we are all sinners and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:10, 23) we are separated from Him.

How do we know what doesn’t please God? We have to read His Word, the Bible.  It explains what is sinful and how sin first entered the world.  Sin was not supposed to be the way here on Earth.  When God created the Earth, it was good and there was no sin.  But, Adam & Eve (the first humans – Genesis 2) ate of the forbidden fruit and thus sin and death entered the world (Genesis 3).  We’ve been separated from God ever since then.  Sin causes a big divide between God and us. 

There is no way we can cross this divide on our own.  Even though we are separated from God He loves us so much that He gave His one and only Son as a sacrifice for our sin. (John 3:16; Romans 5:8)

Jesus came to Earth as an infant – both man & God.  He led the perfect life in which there was no sin.  Thus, He was the perfect sacrifice to take away our sin once and for all.  He gave His life willingly. He was crucified on the cross – a horrible and painful death.  (Isaiah 53:3-5; Colossians 2:14; Philippians 2:8)  It was His death on the cross that pardons us from sin.  (Romans 6:23; 1 Peter 2:24)

But salvation is not complete without the resurrection.  Jesus did not stay dead. He rose from the dead on the third day.  He is alive!! He defeated not only sin but also death which was caused by sin!! (Romans 6:9; Colossians 1:13-14)

Even though He died for everyone, it is ONLY through faith in Jesus that we can be saved.  There is no other way/god/person through which we can be saved. (John 14:6) It doesn’t matter how many good deeds we do or how loving we are because they won’t earn our way to heaven. It’s not a balancing act where our good deeds outweigh our bad deeds thus earning our way to heaven. It’s not being a member of a particular church, being baptized, following a set of rules, or saying a particular prayer/creed/meditation that will save us.  It’s only by God’s Grace that we are saved.  (Ephesians 2:8-10; 2 Corinthians 5:7; John 8:24) 

In coming to this faith, we have to confess our sins and ask God’s forgiveness (repentance). (Luke 24:46-48; Luke 5:32; Acts 3:19)  It’s not our act of repentance that is the saving factor because that would then become an action that saved us.  But with repentance comes a change in our lives – a 180-degree turn.  We turn away from our old sinful life to our new life as a child of God.  There is no longer a divide between us and God.

With this new life comes good works. These works are a result of our salvation and do not save us or keep us saved. (Ephesians 2:8-10)

We can be secure in our salvation. Nothing can take it away from us. Since there was nothing we could do to earn salvation there is nothing we can do to lose salvation. (John 10:27-29; Romans 8:38-39). If we could lose it then was it ever eternal as is stated in John 3:1?

Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes

– – Carolyn M

I have a number of American Patriots in my genealogical lines. Maybe that’s why I love history and genealogy – “It’s in my blood.”

Off and on through the years I have thought of joining the DAR. I already knew that I have several American Patriots ancestors but I didn’t know if I could prove the connection through the proper paperwork. Last spring I was talking to a friend and our conversation turned to genealogy and I mentioned the desire to join the DAR. She said to go for it so I did a search for the local chapter and contacted them. The next meeting was coming up soon and I attended.

At the meeting I found a group of women with the same interests that I have in genealogy, American Patriotic history and service to the community. I found out what I needed to do become a member and set out writing out my various ancestral lines and obtaining various documents.

I didn’t realize how many of my ancestors fought or played a role in the American Revolution. All I needed now was proof that I was a direct descendant of one of them. Fortunately the registrar for the group is very talented when it comes to obtaining the proper proofs.

After several months my paperwork was submitted to the DAR headquarters for verification. A couple of months later I found out that I had been accepted and in December I became a member. My patriotic ancestor is Captain Joshua Gist (pronounced “Guest”) of the North Carolina Militia. He is my G-G-G-G-G-Grandfather and was born in Baltimore in 1739. He came from a very patriotic family. His father was General Nathaniel Gist, who was a redcoat in his younger days but later a patriot. Two of Joshua’s brothers were killed in the Battle of Kings Mountain. Several other brothers were patriots as well as uncles and cousins. One of his uncle was General Mordecai Gist. Sometime after the war Joshua moved to western Kentucky where over a hundred years later his G-G-G-Granddaughter, my Grandmother, was born.

If you would like information on how to join go to the DAR website and search for a chapter close to you. If you live in the New Port Richey area check out the local chapter, Pithlochaskotee.

– – Carolyn M

UPDATE: I’ve fallen further behind. I have several blogs that were started over the summer. I need to see if I can finish them and maybe start one or two more.

This will be a short blog. I’ve fallen behind on my blogging this summer. It’s not that I haven’t had anything on which to write. I have had plenty. It’s been one of those summers were several unplanned things cropped up to throw a wrench in plans and keep me even busier than I originally planned. But, there have also been a number of exciting and fun things happen this summer.

I have a number of drafts that I need to work on plus some new topics that weren’t on my list at the beginning of the summer to add. I may even discard a couple of topics. I will have to go through my list and start blogging.

Labor Day weekend, the traditional “end” of summertime, is coming up but it looks like Dorian may interfere with plans. So everyone in the Caribbean, Bahamas, Florida and beyond need to keep a track of the storm – https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/. Stay safe!

I hope to get a couple of blogs out this week to get me back in the swing.