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     Have you ever heard the saying, "Crossing the Rubicon?"  Unless you are a student of history or have a great memory you probably have not.  The Rubicon is a stream that runs north of the city of Rome.  Around 50 B.C., Julius Caesar was asked to return to Rome and no longer be a commanding General of an army.  He did not agree with the Senates decision and decided to take over Rome.  During this time, Rome had a law that no General and Army were aloud to cross certain areas near Rome for fear of a take over.  The Rubicon was one such border.  Caesar crossed the Rubicon and took over the city as its king.
     The saying, "Crossing the Rubicon" came to mean no turning back.  Caesar's crossing this border meant he had to go forward and do what he set out to do.
     I want to take this saying and apply it to us as Christians.  Have we "Crossed the Rubicon" as Christians?  Everyday can be a challenge for Christians to be light and salt in the world.  We face work challenges, relationship challenges, financial challenges etc.  But, to "Cross the Rubicon" means we are going to do what God tells us in His word and not turn back.  We are going to move forward as witnesses of Jesus and be disciple makers.  We are going to determine in ourselves to hold to biblical truth without compromise.  Also, we will demonstrate love for our neighbors, and above all to glorify God in all that we do.
     Let us pray that the Holy Spirit would prevent us from looking back to the things we cherished in this world and to look ahead to our life as God intended.  May we live the life of piety and devotion to the our Triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

When I was in seminary I spent many hours trying to grasp the relationship between original sin and children. Part of my journey centered on the fact that I have children. To begin, I realized that this doctrine developed differently within the 'early church' as it related to children. Tertullian (200 A.D.), believed that children were innocent and not affected by the original sin because they have not done anything to be considered sin.  Around 400 A.D., those theologians in the Augustinian camp held that original sin was something that affected every single living human at conception. This original sin needed to be dealt with and Augustine and others taught that baptism removed that original sin. Of course these points evolved in a few directions, but Augustine's position won. Within Protestantism, we primarily believe that baptism does not save, but what about children. This is were the issue becomes distorted. Many want to hold the doctrine of Original Sin, without realizing that it does effect everyone, including children. Some want to suggest that all children are of the elect (sproul etc.). Yet, the Bible does not teach that position. What we are left with are varying views that make us feel good without worrying about what that means for our children.
I find that within the context of 'covenant' we have a clearer position. The Bible teaches that God is in covenant with his people. First, He is in covenant with the Israelites, which then leads to being in covenant with everyone who believes in Jesus Christ. This covenant covers the children of believers. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians that the children of believers have a special relationship that places them in covenant via the parents and their faith. Back to the Old Testament, David says he will see his child one day, again the child was in a covenant relationship. The Bible says nothing of the children who died not in covenant.
I realize this is putting this issue in a nut shell, but it is food for thought. To be consistent with the Biblical view of Original Sin, one should hold to the idea that everyone is under this curse. The issue is not innocence from personal sin, but seperation from God because of the sin commited by Adam in the garden. He was the one who represented all of us and we fall under the original sin as if we commited it ourselves.