Splinters of Silver Scripture declares that the Words of God are pure, as silver tried in a furnace [Psalm 12:6], that God proves us as silver is tried [Psalm 66:10], and refines us as silver is [Zechariah 13:8-9]. I pray through this blog, not my words but, through the reading of the scriptures, through the presentation of thoughts and of comments, splinters of silver may prick and stay with us throughout our lives. Statistics Unique Visitors: Total Unique Visitors: Outgoing: Total Outgoing: 1 1147 64 7768

Articles from Splinters of Silver

Location of Hell Examined (Pt. 4) 2007-04-04 14:00:00 Point 4: Jonah and Christ.Luke 11:30,For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation.Jonah:Jonah 1:17,Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.Jonah 2:1, 2, 6,1 Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish's belly, 2 And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice. 6 I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God.Christ:Matthew 12:39, 40,39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the ...

Location of Hell Examined (Pt. 3) 2007-04-04 08:00:00 Point 3: The Pit and Hell are together.Job 33:28,He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light.Psalm 16:10, For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.Isaiah 14:15,Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.Ezekiel 31:16,I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell with them that descend into the pit: and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth.Revelation 9:1, 2, 111 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.11 And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, wh ...

Location of Hell Examined (Pt. 2) 2007-04-03 08:00:00 Point 2: The Pit and Hell extends to the lower and nether parts of the earth with bars.Deuteronomy 32:22,For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.Jonah 2:6,I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God.Psalm 86:13,For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.Ezekiel 26:20,When I shall bring thee down with them that descend into the pit, with the people of old time, and shall set thee in the low parts of the earth, in places desolate of old, with them that go down to the pit, that thou be not inhabited; and I shall set glory in the land of the living;Ezekiel 31:14,To the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves for their height, neither shoot up their top among the thick boughs, neither the ...

Location of Hell Examined (Pt. 1) 2007-04-02 08:00:00 Point 1: The Pit and Hell are down.Numbers 16:30,But if the LORD make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD.Job 11:8,It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know?Psalm 28:1,Unto thee will I cry, O LORD my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit.Psalm 30:3,O LORD, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.Psalm 55:15,Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them.Proverbs 15:24,The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart from hell beneath.Isaiah 5:14,Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and ...

Location of Hell Examined (Intro) 2007-04-01 23:02:00 Preface:This post is not meant to prove the existence of hell, but is for the purpose of examining where I believe scriptural evidence points as to the location of hell. I would ask that you please reframe from arguing your current position ? There is no hell - until a later date when I may post the subject of Does Hell Exist.Purpose:To share with others my view, with the use of scriptural support, that hell is indeed within the center of the earth.Introduction:For what I once thought was common knowledge appears to not be as wide spread as I imagined. Let it be noted that this is not a new idea or concept, but has actually been around quite sometime. I would ask that you please consider the concept, before just simply dismissing it on the basis that you have never heard it or that you currently believe differently. Although I believe the knowledge of hell is important, the location may not be as important and is definitely not something to break fellowship over.Because of length I hav ...

Once Saved Always Saved or Perseverance of the Saints 2007-03-30 08:00:00 Eternal Security, the belief that when a person is genuinely converted to salvation by putting their faith in the finished work of Christ, that they are kept by the power of God and sealed by the Holy Spirit whereby it is impossible for them to lose that salvation and be separated again from the love of God. Although one may sin, as all do, following conversion, unconfessed sin is dwelt with by God through chastisement and not the loss of ones gift of salvation.Within the camps of Eternal Security believers, there lies in this corner Once Saved Always Saved (OSAS) and in this corner Perseverance of the Saints (POTS). At face value one might assume that they mean the same thing just different terminology. But that, my friend, would be an incorrect assumption, for they are very much different. Whereas the ends may meet as the individual crosses over into glory unable to lose his salvation, the means or actions by which he took while on this trip up the narrow road is indeed different.For ...

Help Thou Mine Unbelief 2007-03-29 08:00:00 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.We read in Mark 9, after returning from the ?mount of transfiguration?, Christ was confronted by a father who had a son with a dumb (deaf/mute) spirit. This son had been possessed and tormented by this foul spirit from childhood. The man asked Christ for compassion and help. Christ asked the man if he believed. The man didn?t say ?yeah? with a shallow meaning, but ?straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief?. Christ indeed helped.Help Thou Mine Unbelief! Help Thou Mine Unbelief!If you don?t know Jesus Christ as Savior, please cry out to Him today. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. [John 6:37]If you are in the valley of despair and doubt, cry out to Jesus Christ today. Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you re ...

Church Discipline, On the Rise? 2007-03-28 08:00:00 According to an article from BP News [here], there is a rise in church discipline among Southern Baptist. I find this interesting because I don?t recall even the concept often mentioned at all. Although I have heard the gossip of so and so doing this and that, I don?t usually hear any talk about church discipline or actually going to speak to the person for that matter. I guess it is easier to talk about someone than talk to someone.As the article states, outlined in Matthew 18, we can find the order of church discipline.[Step One - Individual]15 Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.[Step Two - Witnesses]16 But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.[Step Three - Church]17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the churc ...

Do I Have Charity? 2007-03-27 11:30:00 Charity: not just words, but love in action1 Corinthians 131 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. 4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; 6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; 7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. 8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there b ...

Passive Acceptance, Lazy Brute Force (Pt. 2) 2007-03-27 08:00:00 Why do you believe what you believe? Why do you disagree with others that believe differently? We need to consider this concerning our biblical thinking, so that we may be a better witness and testimony for Christ and a better Christian in our daily walk.Lazy Brute ForceWhat is usually your first plan of action when presented with someone that disagrees with you? Is it to coward down or to come out fighting? What about honest debate, mingled with a hint of charity? Do you quickly say, ?You are wrong because you are a (insert a denomination, pastor, school, etc.)? or ?I have always believed this way, so you are wrong to think differently?? Yeah, you might not say them out loud, but do you think them? Remember simply because you believe it does not make it right, and because they believe it does not make it wrong; the Word of God is the final authority. Sometimes we may need to consider what the other person is saying, get up from the couch and television, blow the dust off our Bibles, a ...

Passive Acceptance, Lazy Brute Force (Pt.1) 2007-03-26 07:00:00 Why do you believe what you believe? Why do you disagree with others that believe differently? We need to consider this concerning our biblical thinking, so that we may be a better witness and testimony for Christ and a better Christian in our daily walk.Passive AcceptanceDo you simply believe something because dad and mom or grandma believes it? Is it because your denomination, your preacher, or Sunday school teacher has said it is so? I am not saying that they are all wrong, but in and of itself, because one believes it does not make it so. We have a wonderful Book from God, called the Bible; it is God?s Word and should be the final authority as we grow in knowledge and wisdom in our walk as a child of God. Our question should be, ?Does it match what the scriptures say?, not does it match what so and so says it means. Don?t get me wrong, we need godly parents, pastors, teachers, and friends and a wealth of knowledge is taught and learned through fellowship we have with each, but the ...

When Sight Is Too Late 2007-03-23 06:30:00 Sometimes we hear people say, ?If God is real, why can?t we see Him? or ?Why doesn?t He show Himself?? It should come as no surprise, for mankind is very much a sight oriented creature. ?See it, to believe it? theology seems to be bound somewhere inside the very core of our DNA.Scripture says that we are to put faith in Christ, which indeed is against our desire of wanting to see, but we must remember that there were plenty of those which physically saw Christ (even religious leaders) yet denied Him as the Messiah and Savior of lost man. Sight does not guarantee belief or acceptance.But, because we serve a holy, just, and loving God, He will indeed give people what they have cried out for: ?Show yourself!? ?Here am I?. The problem will be that Sight Is Too Late.Revelation 6:12-17 speaks of mankind getting their request answered, for they would now be able to see the Creator. Did they embrace Him; do they welcome Him into their lives and hearts?15 And the kings of the earth, and the gre ...

Reasons Why One 'Might' Be Spiritually Challenged 2007-03-22 09:20:00 1. One does not know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.2. One does not believe that the scriptures are God?s Word to man.3. One does not strive to live in obedience outlined in the scriptures.4. One does not repent and ask forgiveness for sin.5. One does not have a prayer life.6. One does not read, study, and mediate in the Word of God.7. One does not maintain fellowship with other believers.Any number of these things I have listed, along with others that you may know of, can cause any of us to be Spiritually Challenged. Judge yourself and see which areas you need improvements and what areas you may be able to help others in. We all need to grow as Christians. We should make Christianity our lifestyle and not just a name tag that has no bearing on who and what we really are on the inside. ...

Plant, Water, Trust 2007-03-21 11:15:00 I have never been a farmer, per say, but I have planted seeds as a child and plants as an adult around my yard. As a child we were taught to plant the seed in good soil, water it but not too much, and make sure it is in the Sun to let it grow.As a Christian, I believe we have lost sight of the simplicity found in that learning we received as a child. Sometimes I believe we spend too much time prodding and over watering the seed, tilling at the soil, and forgetting that it needs the sun to grow; so, we continually muscle it because we don?t or can?t see it growing.We can hear the cry, ?Calvinism is wrong because it forces man against his will?, but we will talk (to and down) to someone till we are blue in the face trying to convince them, against their will, that they need to ?pray and ask Jesus to come into their hearts? - right now! And God forbid that they deny us that pleasure, we will shake the dust from our garments and gladly hand them over to Satan, and all the while walking awa ...

Jacob Have I Loved, Esau Have I Hated 2007-03-20 09:30:00 I am sure most recognize this snippet from Romans 9:13. I am also guessing that the reader is now saying, ?I know where he is going with this?, but I may surprise you so please continue.If you don?t know the story of Jacob and Esau, please take the time and start reading in Genesis 25. You most likely will find yourself in one of these brothers, at least at some point in your life, and some good lessons can be learned from their examples.It should not be hard to see why God could say, ?Esau have I hated?. We are born sinners, and as sinners we do not believe in God and we reject the truth found in Jesus Christ. We are indeed the enemies of God, for we cleave to sin and fail to repent and turn to God in obedience. We lack the faith necessary for salvation in that we trust in self and deny the Savior as the only way, truth, and life.What we should find amazing is that God could say, ?Jacob have I loved?. Study the life of Jacob, and one will find just how amazing it is. We, as Christians ...