tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69133132182378846642024-02-22T08:21:18.557+03:00Kenyan ChristianI started this blog to share Christian perspectives and I pray that you'll be touched by these articles , God blessImanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01897497389071150572noreply@blogger.comBlogger703125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913313218237884664.post-81581120153311257132017-07-14T23:48:00.001+03:002017-07-14T23:48:43.627+03:00CHRISTIANS CONDUCT IN POLITICS <p dir="ltr">One of the ways we display the glory of God is through the unity of the church in both its breath & depth of commitment. Through the supernatural outworking power of God, He has and continues to redeem people throughout the world from every race, nation, tribe, culture, class, etc. to become one people. As a church, we work together to display God’s perfect character as imperfect people. Its only in the context of the church where all these diverse people are able to make manifold the riches of God’s glory to a watching world. In Christ, we’ve been united in spite of coming from different backgrounds. Though we’ve been joined together in this unity through Christ, sometimes, the display of God’s glory by us as believers is impaired by differences betwixt the diverse people in the body of Christ.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Though we are saved and are already in Christ, and we’re still continually admonished to be like-minded and of one accord as believers; however, as long as we are still with our present unredeemed flesh, we’re prone to stumble wonder and fall down. Not only that, because we’ve got liberty to choose and make present earthly decisions on the issues of life, this freedom can likewise impair and bring about discordance to Christ’s body which is the Church – both universally, & locally and in the end, it may hinder our fellowship as brethren – just ask Euodias & Syntyche.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Because of these differences that might crop up within the body, apart from the aforementioned unity & fellowship, other two tasks are at stake on our conduct as believers;</p>
<p dir="ltr">Evangelism: This has to do with how we relate with the outside world. It is both active and passive. Active is whereby we share the truths of Christ Gospel to the world (Matt 28:18-20), and passive is when the world watches our conduct (John 13:35). </p>
<p dir="ltr">As I said previously, even though we as believers have been given imperatives to be of one accord, at the same time, we’ve been given liberty on some of the decisions we make and an example of this is in the area of political thought and ideology. In some advanced democracies, we can see this ideology to the extent that it has literally created two camps; i.e. the right & left; however, in the case of our Kenyan context, unfortunately we don’t have any guiding ideology but our political worldview is still being dictated by our tribal leanings and this is where the trouble comes and thus making our ministry of evangelism to be at stake.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Let me use our social media conversation as an example.</p>
<p dir="ltr">According to the last population census in the country which took place in 2009, it was revealed that approximately 90% of the people who live in this geographical location of the world that was formerly founded by Imperial British East Africa Company are self-confessed Christians. Typically, most of these people in cucu (pun deliberately intended) media call themselves with terms such as ‘child of God,’ ‘daughter of Sarah,’ ‘Christ’s believer,’ ‘unmerited favour,’ amongst other clichés connected to Christianity. Unfortunately, our timelines usually digress from our confession as they are filled un-Christ-like clutter and especially at around this time with clutter dealing with very immature political thought. Out of the 168 hours we have in a week, almost 160 hours of our social media posts are things that bash our political opponents, deify our preferred tribal candidates, name-calling or talking ill/negatively of other the other camp, passing lies, amongst other ills. However, come Sunday between 6 am to 2 pm, have you ever noticed that our timeline posts usually shift a 180 degree turn and we start posting ‘spiritual’ things? How hypocritical!<br>
In lieu of that, when you as a professed believer, how can you truly unbelievers that Christ’s not only saves but changes people while it appears that you yourself as an individual you are still not regenerate? How can you muster the strength to tell others the gospel if it has no effect upon you? How can unbelievers be won over to Christ by your conduct when you are mess in your own personal walk? If your speech & life isn’t filled & seasoned with grace, there is absolutely no way you can perform your duty of evangelism. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Discipleship: This has to do with how we relate with one another as believers. <br>
So, you know the imperatives ‘one another’ that we’re to do; exhort, love, encourage, showing kindly affection, submitting, forgiving, admonish, comfort, etc. Looking at this list, how are you able to do any of them when there’s tension, infighting & disharmony amongst us as believers? Because of this, there will be a wall of separation between the various political factions in the church and in the end it’s the church which will suffer loss as there won’t be any real discipling taking place and our spiritual growth will stagnate.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Remember, it’s the role of every member to foster unity, and it’s when there’s real unity that we are able to do our work of ministry for the benefit of our own spiritual growth in the context of discipleship but also in the context of evangelism.</p>
<p dir="ltr">If we have to politic, let’s engage in a biblical, sober & mature manner. Let’s exchange ideas in order to build each other up, not the way the world does, but in a way that will truly show that our voting decisions are wise inferences – not tribal ones. Therefore, as James admonishes us, if we lack wisdom, let’s pray that God will grant us so that we may walk rightly as we politic and that no matter the outcome, God will be glorified.</p>
<p dir="ltr">I would have love to add other factors that are at stake such as where our trust lies, our real citizenship, God’s sovereignty, amongst others but that we can look at another time if the Lord wills.<br></p>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913313218237884664.post-21612489812963605702015-07-08T12:58:00.001+03:002015-07-08T12:58:28.058+03:00WHEN THE FOUNDATIONS ARE DESTROYED - PSALM 11<p dir="ltr">By Pastor Ray Pritchard <br>
Keep Believing Ministries <br></p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>“When the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”</b> Psalm 11:3<br>
 <br>
We don’t know exactly when David wrote this psalm. Many writers connect it to the time when Saul chased David in the wilderness (1 Samuel 23:13-14), but we can't be sure. We know the psalm comes at a desperate moment when his enemies seemed to be closing in on him and his friends encouraged him to run away.<br>
 <br>
The psalm breaks naturally into two parts. The first three verses describe David’s predicament, and the last four verses reveal his deep faith in God despite his circumstances.<br>
 <br>
This psalm is best known for the question in verse 3:<b>“When the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”</b> Many preachers have taken this text and used it to show that when the foundations are destroyed, there is nothing the righteous can do. They are left in a hopeless situation.<br>
 <br>
But that is not what David says.<br>
 <br>
<i>When the foundations are destroyed, there are many things the righteous can do, but above everything else, they must first get a right view of God. </i><br>
 <br>
It happens that I am writing this sermon in light of the recent Supreme Court ruling that legalized gay marriage in all 50 states. <i>It’s not that we didn’t see it coming</i>. The larger culture has been trending that way for years. Perhaps the shock is the speed of the change. Many believers feel that this decision is a decisive attack on the very foundations of society itself.</p>
<p dir="ltr">I happen to agree with that assessment and believe that hard times are upon us. <i>When a nation celebrates what God condemns, judgment from on high must eventually come. </i>No one can say how or when or where that judgment will come. But as certainly as God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, as certainly as the great empires of history have fallen, even so no nation is promised exemption from judgment.<br>
 <br>
<b>I. Our Commitment</b><br>
 <br>
As we look at the first three verses that describe David’s predicament, let’s consider the commitment we must make as we face an uncertain future.<br>
 <br>
<b>We Will Not Flee</b><br>
 <br>
<b>“I have taken refuge in the</b> <b>Lord</b><b>. How can you say to me, ‘Escape to the mountain like a bird!’</b><b>”</b> (v. 1)<br>
 <br>
It is not wrong to flee persecution. Jesus told his disciples, <b>“When they persecute you in one town, escape to another” </b>(Matthew 10:23). The brave Christians in the Middle East who face beheading by ISIS are not wrong to flee. But sometimes you can’t escape, and sometimes the Lord calls you to stand and face whatever comes. <i>God’s people are not required to prove their faith by staying in one place when they could save their lives by fleeing to the countryside</i>. After all, David hid from Saul for years until the time came for him to become king.<br>
 <br>
But there are times when we must not flee. <i>Sometimes you have to stand and fight</i>. This is one of those moments. When David’s friends encouraged him to flee the country, he replied, “I have taken refuge in the Lord.” If God cannot protect him, then running to Egypt won’t keep him safe. I apply that same principle to the current moral crisis in America. I have no doubt that things will get worse in the near future. Open hostility toward Christians will increase. Some will lose their jobs because of their convictions. Others will find their careers stymied because of overt anti-Christian hatred. Some will face huge fines (like Aaron and Melissa Klein, the bakers in Oregon who refused to bake a cake for a lesbian wedding) for standing up for their convictions. Churches will face the loss of tax exemption. Increasingly believers will be marginalized and ridiculed. Christians who dare to speak out against the prevailing tide will be vilified on social media. Some will receive threatening phone calls. They will discover that other Christians don’t want to be around them.<br>
 <br>
We will no doubt be disappointed by evangelical leaders who cave to the gay marriage position. Suddenly they will discover biblical support for two men getting married that no Bible scholar had discovered in the previous 2000 years. Their itching ears will lead them away from the Bible into the depths of moral compromise. Professing themselves to be wise, they will become fools.<br>
 <br>
All of this was foretold in the New Testament. Truly the “perilous times” of 2 Timothy 3 are upon us.<br>
 <br>
How will we respond?<br>
Will we run and hide?<br>
Will we flee from the battle?<br>
 <br>
Elizabeth Rundle Charles put the matter this way:</p>
<blockquote><p dir="ltr"> <br>
“If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christianity.  Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the battlefield besides is mere flight and disgrace to him, if he flinches at that one point.”<br>
</p>
</blockquote>
<p dir="ltr"><br>
 <br>
Sometimes you have to stand and fight.<br>
You may lose the battle.<br>
You may be wounded.<br>
You may not survive.<br>
 <br>
We have to stand and fight for what we believe.<br>
We leave the results in God’s hands.’<br>
As they say in the Coast Guard, “You have to go out. You don’t have to come back.”<br>
 <br>
This is no time to flee, and there is no place to go anyway.<br>
 <br>
<b> We Will Not Fear </b><br>
 <br>
<b>“For look, the wicked string the bow; they put the arrow on the bowstring to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart</b>” (v. 2).<br>
 <br>
In this case David is being quite literal. At one point Saul tried to kill David with a spear. Later he sent his army after him. The arrows they were shooting were not metaphorical. When those arrows hit, they drew blood.<br>
 <br>
It’s always good to know what you are up against. That way you won’t be surprised when trouble comes.<br>
 <br>
<b>We Will Not Fret</b><br>
 <br>
<b>“When the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” </b>(v. 3)<br>
 <br>
The word translated “foundations” refers to the moral and spiritual underpinnings of any society. What can the righteous do when the foundations crumble beneath them?</p>
<p dir="ltr">Do they quit?<br>
Do they despair?<br>
Do they run away?<br>
Do they become bitter?<br>
Do they resort to violence?</p>
<p dir="ltr">For Christians in the Middle East, this is not a rhetorical question. What do you do when your community is destroyed by ISIS?<br>
 <br>
<i>Christians in America now face that question in a completely different way</i>.  The foundations are being destroyed before our eyes. When you see the White House lit up in rainbow colors, you know we are seeing Romans 1 come true in our day.<br>
 <br>
What will the righteous do?<br>
What can we do?<br>
 <br>
What do you do when the foundations are destroyed? Answer: It all depends on how big your God is.</p>
<p dir="ltr">If you’ve got a small God, you’ve got a big problem.<br>
If you’ve got a big God, you'll okay even when the bad guys seem to be winning.<br>
 <br>
<b>II. Our Confidence</b><br>
 <br>
Notice what David <u>doesn’t</u>say. He doesn’t call for the army to mount an offensive. He doesn’t say, “Let’s run for the hills.” He doesn’t raise money for a big political campaign. In modern terms, he doesn’t organize a social media campaign.<br>
 <br>
For David (and for us) it’s not about the <u>what</u>; it’s about the<u>who</u><i>. </i>To be sure, tactics matter. <i>There is certainly a time to go to war to protect your nation</i>. And we’ve seen clearly that it matters greatly who occupies the White House. There can be no doubt that social media played a big part in the recent changes in American attitudes about gay marriage.<br>
 <br>
<i>But in times like these, we need God first and foremost</i>. When the foundations are being hacked away, we’ve got to go back to the First Principles. That’s what David does in verses 4-7.<br>
 <br>
<b>God’s Presence</b><br>
 <br>
<b>“The</b> <b>Lord</b> <b>is in His holy temple; </b><b>the Lord’s throne is in heaven”</b> (v. 4).<br>
 <br>
This is David’s way of saying God is everywhere. He’s on the earth (in his holy temple), but his throne is in heaven. <i>I admit that it doesn’t always look that way</i>. When you read the headlines, it can seem as if the whole world is spinning out of control. Lately we’ve been reminded that ISIS is planning attacks on America. With the rising spiral of violence in our world and our own slippery slide into the pit of moral corruption, it’s easy to conclude that God either is not on his throne or he doesn’t care what happens on the earth or perhaps there is no God at all.<br>
 <br>
<i>But right at this point we see the fundamental difference between a believer and an unbeliever</i>. We believe there is a God who sits on the throne of the universe, a God who is absolutely sovereign, a God whose ways are far above our ways, a God to whom the whole human race must someday give account.<br>
 <br>
Was God shocked by the murders in Charleston?<br>
Was God caught by surprise by the crisis in Greece?<br>
Was God unprepared for the Supreme Court decision?<br>
 <br>
<i>The answer to all such questions is a resounding no</i>. Our God is never surprised, never asleep, never startled by evil, never shocked by natural disasters, and never astonished by Supreme Court decisions.<br>
 <br>
I have been thinking lately of what one of my Greek teachers in seminary liked to say. Dr. S. Lewis Johnson remarked that the hardest verse in the Bible to believe is Genesis 1:1, <b>“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” </b>“If you can believe that,” Dr. Johnson said, “you won’t have any trouble with the rest of the Bible.” For a long time the truth of that statement eluded me. I couldn’t get it because I had never really thought about Genesis 1:1 in its larger context. <i>But it is hugely important that the Bible begins with a declaration, not an argument</i>. The Bible simply declares that God is, and that he created all things. Twenty years ago E. V. Hill preached a powerful sermon at a Promise Keepers gathering in Chicago. In his own unforgettable style, he preached for 40 minutes on just two words: “God is.” He said it over and over again. He whispered it and he shouted it. He illustrated it, declared it, proclaimed it, and dared anyone to deny it. You wouldn’t think you could preach that long on just two words but he did, and when you think about it, you could preach a lot longer when your topic is as profound as “God is.” Once you get it settled in your heart that “God is,” a lot of other problems will be solved as well.<br>
 <br>
Perhaps we should keep Isaiah 6 in mind. That magnificent passage begins with the words “In the year that King Uzziah died.” That note is important because Uzziah was one of the best kings Judah ever had. When he died, the nation was plunged into turmoil. <i>A golden age in Israel’s history was drawing to a close</i>. Would the people continue to walk with God or would they return to idolatry? In that fateful moment, Isaiah came face to face with the living God. He says it this way: <b>“I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple” </b>(Isaiah 6:1).<br>
 <br>
Where is God? He’s not nervously pacing heaven wondering, “Who will I get to replace Uzziah?” Not at all. At that critical moment, God is where he has always been. Seated on his throne.<br>
 <br>
<b>God’s Judgment</b><br>
 <br>
<b>“His eyes watch; He examines everyone.</b><b>The Lord examines the righteous and the wicked. He hates the lover of violence. He will rain burning coals and sulfur on the wicked; a scorching wind will be their portion”</b>(vv. 4-6).<br>
 <br>
No one gets away with anything.<br>
 <br>
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said it this way: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” Though the wheels of God grind slowly, they grind exceeding small. Be sure your sin will find you out.<br>
 <br>
<i>These words of David remind us that there is a solemn and eternal difference between the righteous and the wicked</i>. That difference is sometimes easy to see in this life, sometimes not so easy. Suppose you go to a football game and look up in the stands. It’s easy to tell who is rooting for the Bears and who is rooting for the Packers. <i>The fans let you know which side they are on. </i>But spiritual allegiance isn’t always easy to determine. Suppose you go to a cemetery and walk around. In that quiet, peaceful setting, saints and sinners rest side by side, six feet under the green grass. You can’t tell the righteous from the wicked simply by reading the gravestones.<br>
 <br>
But God knows.<br>
That’s the whole point of these verses.<br>
 <br>
God sees everything.<br>
He reads every heart.<br>
He knows every thought.<br>
He hears the words whispered in the darkness.<br>
He knows us better than we know ourselves.<br>
 <br>
<i>A day of judgment is coming for those who mock God and reject his Word</i>. In an image that reminds us of Sodom and Gomorrah, God promises to rain burning coals and sulfur on the wicked. The scorching wind of judgment will wipe the smile off their faces.<br>
 <br>
We dare not water down these solemn words.<br>
 <br>
On June 26, the day the Supreme Court handed down its verdict, Chuck Swindoll<b><a href="http://keepbelieving.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=edf7694eeae5e5f9fee7104bf&id=94419291ee&e=1a37db06d4">tweeted these words</a></b><b>:</b><br>
 </p>
<blockquote><p dir="ltr">Disobedience to God’s commands always results in serious consequences—eventually.<br>
</p>
</blockquote>
<p dir="ltr"><br>
 <br>
<b>God’s Deliverance</b><br>
 <br>
<b>“For the</b> <b>Lord</b> <b>is righteous; He loves righteous deeds. The upright will see His face”</b> (v. 7).<br>
 <br>
The Lord stands up for those who stand up for him.<br>
He takes the side of those who side with him.<br>
 <br>
David stands on the peak of faith and says, “Though the battle may be hot and we may be surrounded, God will win in the end.” <i>This is the true position of those who believe God and his Word</i>. I have told and retold the story of Richard John Neuhaus, founder of <i>First Things</i>magazine, and a great defender of the moral and spiritual values of the Christian faith. At one point he was on his way to a speaking engagement. When he arrived at the airport, the man who picked him up was bemoaning the sorry state of affairs in American culture and how bad the times were. After listening for a while, Father Neuhaus finally replied:</p>
<blockquote><p dir="ltr"><br>
“These may be bad times, but they are the only times we are given. And despair is a mortal sin.”<br>
</p>
</blockquote>
<p dir="ltr"><br>
 <br>
<i>He’s right on all counts</i>. These are bad times because our leaders are spiritually corrupt and morally blind. But why should we despair? If God is on the throne, then we should rejoice because these are our times. We don’t have to ask, “What will America be like in a hundred years?” The great good news is, I don’t have to stay alive for another hundred years because I serve a God who is eternal. He will still be on the job long after I go down to the grave.<i>That’s David’s final answer to the many perplexing problems of this life</i>. Those who know and love the Lord will see his face. We will behold the Lord in the most personal way possible.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Today we walk by faith.<br>
Today we stumble along through this life.<br>
Today we struggle.<br>
 <br>
But today is not the last day.<i>There is a better day coming for the people of God when all will be made right</i>. Between now and then we will have many days when the foundations seem to be crumbling around us and the wicked rise up and threaten us.<br>
 <br>
<i>But the wicked will not have the last word</i>. Those who scoff at the Lord and his Word will be consumed with the fire of God’s judgment. Between now and then we move forward by faith, believing that out trials are sent by God to improve us, not to destroy us.<br>
 <br>
<i>Take the long view because we’re in this for the long haul.</i>Let’s go back to that question in verse 3 for a moment:<br>
 </p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>“When the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”</b></p>
<p dir="ltr"> <br>
Make no mistake. The foundations are being destroyed right in front of our very eyes. Long-held moral values are being jettisoned in favor of a new morality that is really no morality at all.<br>
 <br>
What can the righteous do?<br>
 <br>
<i>I have no political advice to offer even though I’m in favor of political action</i>. Christians need to take their convictions with them into the voting booth. We ought to write letters, speak out, refuse to be intimidated, support good candidates and run for office ourselves. I’m not in the “roll over and play dead” category.<br>
 <br>
But I’m not going to end on that note because David doesn’t speak of  political solutions in Psalm 11. <i>When the foundations are being destroyed, we need a fresh view of God and a long view of history</i>. God who sees all things will judge the wicked and bring them down in the end, and the righteous will see God’s face.<br>
 <br>
How then should we live? As I ponder that question, I keep coming back to the same conclusion. I can summarize it in three words. We need .  . .<br>
 <br>
<b>Tenacious winsome courage.</b><br>
 <br>
Tenacious means we don’t give up. <br>
Winsome means we face life with a smile, not a scowl.<br>
Courage means we do what needs to be done.<br>
 <br>
Tenacious means we keep on keeping on.<br>
Winsome means we don’t lose our temper and say something stupid.<br>
Courage means we take our stand for the truth.<br>
 <br>
Tenacious means we keep on praying.<br>
Winsome means we are cheerful when others attack us.<br>
Courage means we do hard things without complaining.<br>
 <br>
Tenacious means we love people anyway.<br>
Winsome means we display grace under pressure.<br>
Courage means we speak up instead of wimping out.<br>
 <br>
We need all three qualities together to face what life throws at us. So let's wrap up this message with a good prayer for all of us: <br>
 <br>
<b>“Lord, grant me tenacious winsome courage as I go through this day. When I am tempted to give up, help me to keep going. Grant me a cheerful spirit when things don’t go my way. And give me courage to do whatever needs to be done. In Jesus’ name, Amen.</b></p>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913313218237884664.post-6123970531025671622015-06-27T09:12:00.001+03:002015-06-27T09:12:46.717+03:00THE GOSPEL AND POLITICS <p dir="ltr">by John MacArthur<br>
For us, as Christians in the United States, it’s easy to get<br>
caught up in all the political fervor. It can even be tempting to<br>
think that legislation is the key to solving the moral problems<br>
that plague American society. But is that a right perspective?<br>
John MacArthur addresses this important issue and<br>
underscores a biblical response.<br>
There was a time (in the days of our Puritan forefathers),<br>
when almost every soul in America acknowledged the Ten<br>
Commandments as the cornerstone of ethics and morality.<br>
Today most Americans can’t even name three of the Ten.<br>
There was also a time (not so long ago) when Americans<br>
universally disapproved of homosexuality, adultery, and<br>
divorce; they believed sexual promiscuity is absolutely<br>
wrong; they regarded obscene language as inappropriate;<br>
they saw abortion as unthinkable; and they held public<br>
officials to high moral and ethical standards. Nowadays,<br>
most of the behavior society once deemed immoral is<br>
defended as an inalienable civil right.<br>
How times and the culture have changed! The strong<br>
Christian influence and scriptural standards that shaped<br>
Western culture and American society through the end of<br>
the nineteenth century have given way to practical atheism<br>
and moral relativism. The few vestiges of Christianity in<br>
our culture are at best weak and compromising, and to an<br>
increasingly pagan society they are cultic and bizarre.<br>
In less than fifty years’ time, our nation’s political leaders,<br>
legislative bodies, and courts have adopted a distinctly anti-<br>
Christian attitude and agenda. The country has swept away<br>
the Christian worldview and its principles in the name of<br>
equal rights, political correctness, tolerance, and strict<br>
separation of church and state. Gross immorality—including<br>
homosexuality, abortion, pornography, and other evils—has<br>
been sanctioned not only by society in general but in effect<br>
by the government as well. A portion of our tax dollars are<br>
now used to fund programs and government agencies that<br>
actively engage in blatant advocacy of various immoral<br>
practices.<br>
What are Christians to do about it?<br>
Many think this is a political problem that will not be solved<br>
without a political strategy. During the past twenty-five<br>
years, well-meaning Christians have founded a number of<br>
evangelical activist organizations and sunk millions of<br>
dollars into them in an effort to use the apparatus of<br>
politics—lobbying, legislation, demonstration, and boycott—<br>
to counteract the moral decline of American culture. They<br>
pour their energy and other resources into efforts to drum<br>
up a “Christian” political movement that will fight back<br>
against the prevailing anti-Christian culture.<br>
But is that a proper perspective? I believe not. America’s<br>
moral decline is a spiritual problem, not a political one, and<br>
its solution is the gospel, not partisan politics.<br>
LESSONS FROM HISTORY<br>
This is a lesson evangelicals ought to know from church<br>
history. Whenever the church has focused on evangelism<br>
and preaching the gospel, her influence has increased.<br>
When she has sought power by political, cultural, or<br>
military activism, she has damaged or spoiled her<br>
testimony.<br>
The Crusades during the Middle Ages were waged for the<br>
purpose of regaining Christian control of the Holy Lands.<br>
Few believers today would argue that those efforts were<br>
fruitful. Even when the crusaders enjoyed military success,<br>
the church grew spiritually weaker and more worldly. Other<br>
religious wars and campaigns tinged with political<br>
motivation (such as the Thirty Years’ War in Europe,<br>
Cromwell’s revolution in England, and other skirmishes<br>
during the Reformation era) are all viewed with disapproval,<br>
or at best curiosity, by Christians today. And rightly so.<br>
The military and political ambitions of some of the<br>
Reformers turned out to be a weakness, and ultimately an<br>
impediment to the Reformation. On the other hand, the<br>
strength of the Reformation, and its enduring legacy, was<br>
derived from the fact that Reformation theology shone a<br>
bright spotlight on the way of salvation and brought clarity<br>
to the gospel.<br>
Throughout Protestant history, those segments of the<br>
visible church that have turned their attention to social and<br>
political issues have also compromised sound doctrine and<br>
quickly declined in influence. Early modernists, for<br>
example, explicitly argued that social work and moral<br>
reform were more important than doctrinal precision, and<br>
their movement soon abandoned any semblance of<br>
Christianity whatsoever.<br>
Today’s evangelical political activists seem to be unaware<br>
of how much their methodology parallels that of liberal<br>
Christians at the start of the twentieth century. Like those<br>
misguided idealists, contemporary evangelicals have<br>
become enamored with temporal issues at the expense of<br>
eternal values. Evangelical activists in essence are simply<br>
preaching a politically conservative version of the old social<br>
gospel, emphasizing social and cultural concerns above<br>
spiritual ones.<br>
That kind of thinking fosters the view that government is<br>
either our ally (if it supports our special agenda) or our<br>
enemy (if it remains opposed or unresponsive to our voice).<br>
The political strategy becomes the focus of everything, as<br>
if the spiritual fortunes of God’s people rise or fall<br>
depending on who is in office. But the truth is that no<br>
human government can ultimately do anything either to<br>
advance or to thwart God’s kingdom. And the worst, most<br>
despotic worldly government in the end cannot halt the<br>
power of the Holy Spirit or the spread of God’s Word.<br>
To gain a thoroughly biblical and Christian perspective on<br>
political involvement, we should take to heart the words of<br>
the British theologian Robert L. Ottley, delivered at Oxford<br>
University more than one hundred years ago:<br>
The Old Testament may be studied. . .as an instructor in<br>
social righteousness. It exhibits the moral government of<br>
God as attested in his dealings with nations rather than<br>
with individuals; and it was their consciousness of the<br>
action and presence of God in history that made the<br>
prophets preachers, not merely to their countrymen, but<br>
to the world at large. . . .There is indeed significance in<br>
the fact that in spite of their ardent zeal for social reform<br>
they did not as a rule take part in political life or demand<br>
political reforms. They desired. . .not better institutions<br>
but better men. (Aspects of the Old Testament. The<br>
Bampton Lectures, 1897 [London: Longmans, 1898],<br>
430-31)<br>
LESSONS FROM SCRIPTURE<br>
My point is not that Christians should remain totally<br>
uninvolved in politics or civic activities and causes. They<br>
ought to express their political beliefs in the voting booth,<br>
and it is appropriate to support legitimate measures<br>
designed to correct a glaring social or political wrong.<br>
Complete noninvolvement would be contrary to what God’s<br>
Word says about doing good in society: “Therefore, as we<br>
have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those<br>
who are of the household of faith” (Gal. 6:10; cf. Titus<br>
3:1-2). It would also display a lack of gratitude for whatever<br>
amount of religious freedom the government allows us to<br>
enjoy. Furthermore, such pious apathy toward government<br>
and politics would reveal a lack of appreciation for the<br>
many appropriate legal remedies believers in democracies<br>
have for maintaining or improving the civil order. A certain<br>
amount of healthy and balanced concern with current<br>
trends in government and the community is acceptable, as<br>
long as we realize that that interest is not vital to our<br>
spiritual growth, our righteous testimony, or the<br>
advancement of the kingdom of Christ. Above all, the<br>
believer’s political involvement should never displace the<br>
priority of preaching and teaching the gospel.<br>
There is certainly no prohibition on believers being directly<br>
involved in government as civil servants, as some notable<br>
examples in the Old and New Testaments illustrate. Joseph<br>
in Egypt and Daniel in Babylon are two excellent models of<br>
servants God used in top governmental positions to further<br>
His kingdom. The centurion’s servant (Matt. 8:5-13),<br>
Zaccheus the tax collector (Luke 19:1-10), and Cornelius<br>
the centurion (Acts 10) all continued in public service even<br>
after they experienced the healing or saving power of<br>
Christ. (As far as we know, the Roman proconsul Sergius<br>
Paulus also remained in office after he was converted [Acts<br>
13:4-12].)<br>
The issue again is one of priority. The greatest temporal<br>
good we can accomplish through political involvement<br>
cannot compare to what the Lord can accomplish through<br>
us in the eternal work of His kingdom. Just as God called<br>
ancient Israel (Ex. 19:6), He has called the church to be a<br>
kingdom of priests, not a kingdom of political activists. The<br>
apostle Peter instructs us, “But you are a chosen<br>
generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own<br>
special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him<br>
who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1<br>
Pet. 2:9).<br>
Jesus, as we would expect, perfectly maintained His<br>
Father’s perspective on these matters even though He<br>
lived in a society that was every bit as pagan and corrupt<br>
as today’s culture. In many ways it was much worse than<br>
any of us in Western nations has ever faced. Cruel tyrants<br>
and dictators ruled throughout the region, the institution of<br>
slavery was firmly entrenched—everything was the<br>
antithesis of democracy. King Herod, the Idumean vassal<br>
of Rome who ruled Samaria and Judea, epitomized the<br>
godless kind of autocratic rule: “Then Herod, when he saw<br>
that he was deceived by the wise men [concerning the<br>
whereabouts of the baby Jesus], was exceedingly angry;<br>
and he sent forth and put to death all the male children<br>
who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two<br>
years old and under” (Matt. 2:16).<br>
Few of us have experienced the sort of economic and legal<br>
oppression that the Romans applied to the Jews of Jesus’<br>
day. Tax rates were exorbitant and additional government-<br>
sanctioned abuses by the tax collectors exacerbated the<br>
financial burden on the people. The Jews in Palestine were<br>
afforded almost no civil rights and were treated as an<br>
underprivileged minority that could not make an appeal<br>
against legal injustices. As a result, some Jews were in<br>
constant outward rebellion against Rome.<br>
Fanatical nationalists, known as Zealots, ignored their tax<br>
obligations and violently opposed the government. They<br>
believed that even recognizing a Gentile ruler was wrong<br>
(see Deuteronomy 17:15, “You may not set a foreigner over<br>
you, who is not your brother”). Many Zealots became<br>
assassins, performing acts of terrorism and violence<br>
against both the Romans and other Jews whom they<br>
viewed as traitors.<br>
It is also true that the Roman social system was built on<br>
slavery. The reality of serious abuses of slaves is part of<br>
the historical record. Yet neither Jesus nor any of the<br>
apostles attempted to abolish slavery. Instead, they<br>
commanded slaves to be obedient and used slavery as a<br>
metaphor for believers who were to submit to their Lord<br>
and Master.<br>
Jesus’ earthly ministry took place right in the midst of that<br>
difficult social and political atmosphere. Many of His<br>
followers, including the Twelve, to varying degrees<br>
expected Him to free them from Rome’s oppressive rule.<br>
But our Lord did not come as a political deliverer or social<br>
reformer. He never issued a call for such changes, even by<br>
peaceful means. Unlike many late twentieth-century<br>
evangelicals, Jesus did not rally supporters to some<br>
grandiose attempt to “capture the culture” for biblical<br>
morality or greater political and religious freedoms.<br>
Christ, however, was not devoid of care and concern for<br>
the daily pain and hardships people endured in their<br>
personal lives. The Gospels record His great empathy and<br>
compassion for sinners. He applied those attitudes in a<br>
tangible, practical way by healing thousands of people of<br>
every kind of disease and affliction, often at great personal<br>
sacrifice to Himself.<br>
Still, as beneficial and appreciated as His ministry to<br>
others’ physical needs was, it was not Jesus’ first priority.<br>
His divine calling was to speak to the hearts and souls of<br>
individual men and women. He proclaimed the good news<br>
of redemption that could reconcile them to the Father and<br>
grant them eternal life. That message far surpasses any<br>
agenda for political, social, or economic reform that can<br>
preoccupy us. Christ did not come to promote some new<br>
social agenda or establish a new moral order. He did come<br>
to establish a new spiritual order, the body of believers<br>
from throughout the ages that constitutes His church. He<br>
did not come to earth to make the old creation moral<br>
through social and governmental reform, but to make new<br>
creatures holy through the saving power of the gospel and<br>
the transforming work of the Holy Spirit. And our Lord and<br>
Savior has commanded us to continue His ministry, with<br>
His supreme priorities in view, with the goal that we might<br>
advance His kingdom: “All authority has been given to Me in<br>
heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all<br>
the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and<br>
of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe<br>
all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with<br>
you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:18-20).<br>
In the truest sense, the moral, social, and political state of<br>
a people is irrelevant to the advance of the gospel. Jesus<br>
said that His kingdom was not of this world (John 18:36).<br>
THE REAL BATTLE<br>
We can’t protect or expand the cause of Christ by human<br>
political and social activism, no matter how great or<br>
sincere the efforts. Ours is a spiritual battle waged against<br>
worldly ideologies and dogmas arrayed against God, and we<br>
achieve victory over them only with the weapon of<br>
Scripture. The apostle Paul writes: “For though we walk in<br>
the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the<br>
weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God<br>
for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and<br>
every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of<br>
God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience<br>
of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:3-5).<br>
We must reject all that is ungodly and false and never<br>
compromise God’s standards of righteousness. We can do<br>
that in part by desiring the improvement of society’s moral<br>
standards and by approving of measures that would<br>
conform government more toward righteousness. We do<br>
grieve over the rampant indecency, vulgarity, lack of<br>
courtesy and respect for others, deceitfulness, self-<br>
indulgent materialism, and violence that is corroding<br>
society. But in our efforts to support what is good and<br>
wholesome, reject what is evil and corrupt, and make a<br>
profoundly positive impact on our culture, we must use<br>
God’s methods and maintain scriptural priorities.<br>
God is not calling us to wage a culture war that would seek<br>
to transform our countries into “Christian nations.” To<br>
devote all, or even most, of our time, energy, money, and<br>
strategy to putting a façade of morality on the world or<br>
over our governmental and political institutions is to badly<br>
misunderstand our roles as Christians in a spiritually lost<br>
world.<br>
God has above all else called the church to bring sinful<br>
people to salvation through Jesus Christ. Even as the<br>
apostle Paul described his mission to unbelievers, so it is<br>
the primary task of all Christians to reach out to the lost<br>
“to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to<br>
light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may<br>
receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those<br>
who are sanctified by faith in Me [Christ]” (Acts 26:18; cf.<br>
Ex. 19:6; 1 Pet. 2:5, 9). If we do not evangelize the lost and<br>
make disciples of new converts, nothing else we do for<br>
people—no matter how beneficial it seems—is of any<br>
eternal consequence. Whether a person is an atheist or a<br>
theist, a criminal or a model citizen, sexually promiscuous<br>
and perverse or strictly moral and virtuous, a greedy<br>
materialist or a gracious philanthropist—if he does not have<br>
a saving relationship to Christ, he is going to hell. It makes<br>
no difference if an unsaved person is for or against<br>
abortion, a political liberal or a conservative, a prostitute or<br>
a police officer, he will spend eternity apart from God<br>
unless he repents and believes the gospel.<br>
When the church takes a stance that emphasizes political<br>
activism and social moralizing, it always diverts energy and<br>
resources away from evangelization. Such an antagonistic<br>
position toward the established secular culture invariably<br>
leads believers to feel hostile not only to unsaved<br>
government leaders with whom they disagree, but also<br>
antagonistic toward the unsaved residents of that culture—<br>
neighbors and fellow citizens they ought to love, pray for,<br>
and share the gospel with. To me it is unthinkable that we<br>
become enemies of the very people we seek to win to<br>
Christ, our potential brothers and sisters in the Lord.<br>
Author John Seel pens words that apply in principle to<br>
Christians everywhere and summarize well the believer’s<br>
perspective on political involvement:<br>
A politicized faith not only blurs our priorities, but<br>
weakens our loyalties. Our primary citizenship is not on<br>
earth but in heaven. … Though few evangelicals would<br>
deny this truth in theory, the language of our spiritual<br>
citizenship frequently gets wrapped in the red, white and<br>
blue. Rather than acting as resident aliens of a heavenly<br>
kingdom, too often we sound [and act] like resident<br>
apologists for a Christian America. … Unless we reject the<br>
false reliance on the illusion of Christian America,<br>
evangelicalism will continue to distort the gospel and<br>
thwart a genuine biblical identity…..<br>
American evangelicalism is now covered by layers and<br>
layers of historically shaped attitudes that obscure our<br>
original biblical core. (The Evangelical Pulpit [Grand<br>
Rapids: Baker, 1993], 106-7)<br>
By means of faithful preaching and godly living, believers<br>
are to be the conscience of whatever nation they reside in.<br>
You can confront the culture not with the political and<br>
social activism of man’s wisdom, but with the spiritual<br>
power of God’s Word. Using temporal methods to promote<br>
legislative and judicial change, and resorting to external<br>
efforts of lobbying and intimidation to achieve some sort of<br>
“Christian morality” in society is not our calling—and has no<br>
eternal value. Only the gospel rescues sinners from sin,<br>
death, and hell.</p>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Muthangari, Muthangari-1.2627808 36.784645tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913313218237884664.post-32884248479601446662015-04-02T23:19:00.000+03:002015-04-02T23:19:09.373+03:00DATING: WHEN WORDS AND CHOICES CLASH<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 85%;">by Dan Phillips<br />
</span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 85%;"><br /></span>
<br />
<br />
<table bgcolor="#AA0000" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"><tbody>
<tr><td><table bgcolor="#F0F8FF" border="0" cellpadding="8"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://www.spurgeon.org/images/pyromaniac/TeamPyro/mini04.gif" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.spurgeon.org/images/pyromaniac/TeamPyro/mini04.gif" /></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Note:</b> Recently, I linked to this <a href="http://teampyro.blogspot.com/2007/09/dating-when-words-and-choices-clash.html">nearly four-year-old post</a>
in the body of another. Many had not seen it first time 'round, though
it kicked off some waves in other bloggy locations at the time. The
subject remains current, and I need to dip into the well once and maybe
twice this week here. So here 'tis once again, lightly edited.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 85%;"> <br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 85%;">[This
is yet another one of my occasional serieses. In this, I write for our
readers who are yoots, for their own benefit; or for parents, to share
with their yoots. It'll also work for pastors, especially yoot pastors.
Previous examples include <a href="http://teampyro.blogspot.com/2007/02/word-to-christian-yoots.html">A word to Christian yoots</a>, and <a href="http://teampyro.blogspot.com/2007/05/why-god-gave-you-parents-etc.html">Why God gave you parents, etc</a>.]</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Coarse but pointed joke-that-you've-all-heard-anyway alert in 3... 2... 1....</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: 85%;">So this iconic guy's talking with an iconic girl, and asks whether she'd be willing to engage in carnal acts for $1 million.<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5106517347288786738" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYXSWUij_dR_zjhpSt2y1tKRs07_9NliM7Kyy0LcsemTUIvwKHoc5fci7PifHSFo6o-TlhbkXFfvpLpGyPF3d7CysldT7du4rcBRWLh0BVPmB_WGjl8-ymJ0HQaTlPzZx_1Jzy3k81dji5/s320/money.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 168px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 224px;" /><br />
<br />
She considers, shrugs, says, "For a million dollars? I guess."<br />
<br />
"Would you do it for $5?" he follows up.<br />
<br />
She is shocked, and deeply offended. "What do you think I am?" she rages.<br />
<br />
His classic retort: "Oh, we've already established what you are. Now we're just haggling over price."</span></blockquote>
And now, a moment's pause while Pyro readers wonder where this could possibly be going. Play the overture from Handel's <span style="font-style: italic;">Messiah</span> in your head. Daaaa.... da-daaaa....<br />
<br />
Now, why is that joke funny to most folks? It's funny because of the surprising <span style="font-weight: bold;">clash</span>. In the punch-line, the woman is deeply offended, because she wants to say that her <span style="font-style: italic;">virtue </span>is <span style="font-style: italic;">precious</span>, and he's cheapening it with his $5 suggestion. But the man counters that he already knows her virtue <span style="font-style: italic;">not </span>to be beyond price to her. <span style="color: red;">She can be bought</span>. What she says <span style="font-style: italic;">now </span>is one thing; what she has <span style="font-style: italic;">already </span>said, another.<br />
<br />
So you, unmarried Christian reader, start dating an unbeliever. What are you saying?<img alt="" border="0" height="200" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5106516917792057122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijVSJCEOn_lmaqzo18SzPC_bNl-XS_S3IpbYc2rjOrjhLota4neUeaCSUCNuPHBB53kkPLNXte0v29HpGGF14NkCVvhhL2FyNvwdQO817wXtz5plqZmtpkU8CqasCIjnaQs7TAlJiliesa/s200/hands.jpg" style="float: left; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0pt; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0pt;" width="165" /><br />
<br />
"What?!" you splutter. "We haven't had sex!"<br />
<br />
This isn't about sex. I'm asking what you're <span style="font-style: italic;">saying</span>, what <span style="font-style: italic;">message</span> your <span style="font-style: italic;">choice</span> is communicating<span style="font-style: italic;">.</span><br />
<br />
To whatever degree you're concerned at all about this person's soul,
you're trying to tell her/him about Christ, right? You're trying to tell
this person that Christ is the One in whom all things hold together (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Colossians 1.17" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Colossians%201.17" target="_blank">Colossians 1:17</a>), the source and reason for all the universe (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Colossians 1.16" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Colossians%201.16" target="_blank">Colossians 1:16</a>), the most important celebrity anywhere, ever (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Philippians 2.9-11" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Philippians%202.9-11" target="_blank">Philippians 2:9-11</a>).
You want to persuade him that Christ is Lord of all. And you want
him/her to believe that Jesus is all these things, and that He is all
these things <span style="font-style: italic;">to you</span>.<br />
<br />
But you've <span style="font-style: italic;">already </span>told him that Christ isn't all that. You're just haggling over price.<br />
<br />
(Or am I assuming too much? Are there some who are not even concerned
whether the people they date are or are not saved? In such cases, the
kindest I can say is that such are clueless, loveless, and faithless,
and they really need to reconsider <a href="http://www.bibchr.com/hcikg.html">the big question</a>, for themselves.)<br />
<br />
Let me approach the issue another way.<br />
<br />
Would you date a child molestor? Oh, of course not. Instant deal-breaker. Thief, murderer? No and no. Rapist? Never. Those are <span style="font-style: italic;">really bad</span> things.<br />
<br />
But not as bad as being an enemy of God (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Proverbs 15.9" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Proverbs%2015.9" target="_blank">Proverbs 15:9</a>; <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Ephesians 2.3" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Ephesians%202.3" target="_blank">Ephesians 2:3</a>)? I think we have <a href="http://teampyro.blogspot.com/2006/10/but-otherwise-skewed-priorities.html">some seriously skewed priorities</a>.<br />
<br />
See, if you are <span style="font-style: italic;">in a dating relationship</span> with someone who doesn't love Christ, you've already said the Christ-issue isn't <span style="font-style: italic;">the</span> issue to you. Her looks, his job, the way she treats you, his sense of humor<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5106523940063586114" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitV7tKl8-e-5BxT6LUd6sk7_D3Fn75_IW9Kb1V8UfmKiEe0l3rhsOgLFXnQcpJk1EV3TDs1Zz_jxN42fBEB2_oVA9Dkt_MZWxF4ohYgKBmUEj_yxSkcYEl-_pDw4myQ40IhVwyjcANigEE/s320/one.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 164px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 123px;" /> — whatever; these things matter more to you than Christ does.<br />
<br />
You want this person to believe that he is a sinner, under God's wrath,
and deserving His judgment. You want him to know that his righteous
deeds are as filthy rags, that everything he can produce is not enough
for God.<br />
<br />
But you've already communicated, <span style="font-weight: bold;">by your choice</span>, that what he has <span style="font-style: italic;">is</span> enough for <span style="font-style: italic;">you</span>.
That you and he share enough values, goals, aspirations, and affections
to create (or even consider) an exclusive and intimate relationship.<br />
<br />
See? You've already dealt a death-blow to your own credibility. You
really might as well stop talking. Your priorities, your choices, have
drowned out your words (cf. the principle of <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Titus 1.16" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Titus%201.16" target="_blank">Titus 1:16</a>).<br />
<br />
I would think this would be clear-cut to any Biblically-instructed
Christian, and am constantly surprised to find that it apparently isn't.
But let's extend it a bit.<br />
<br />
If someone can credibly check the "Christian"-box, are you all-done? All
that remains is attractiveness and basic compatibility, then go buy the
dress and rent the tux, chapel, preacherguy?<br />
<br />
Well, yes and no. As far as a <span style="font-style: italic;">moral </span>issue, yes. Since <a href="http://teampyro.blogspot.com/2007/01/bible-and-my-decisions.html">the Bible doesn't teach a third "will" of God</a>,
by which we (for instance) must discern mystically and ookily what one
girl/guy in all the world is The Chosen One for us, basically we may <span style="font-style: italic;">morally</span> marry any (A) available and (B) willing (C) Christian (D) of the opposite sex (cf. <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="1 Corinthians 7.39" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/1%20Corinthians%207.39" target="_blank">1 Corinthians 7:39</a>). (Sad I have to add all those qualifiers, but here we are.)<br />
<br />
But what of <span style="font-style: italic;">wisdom?</span> I heard somewhere it was the principle thing (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Proverbs 4.7" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Proverbs%204.7" target="_blank">Proverbs 4:7</a>, CSB).<br />
<br />
Here is where churches often depress me. I know of a ladies' group that considered studying <a href="http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product?item_no=04088&netp_id=157529&event=ESRCN&item_code=WW">The Excellent Wife</a>, by Martha Peace. The idea was rejected, because they didn't want single women to "feel excluded."<br />
<br />
My wife and I both thought, "Huh? They're <span style="font-style: italic;">exactly</span> who should be studying this!" The single man/woman is <span style="font-style: italic;">exactly</span> the person who should be looking long and hard at all that marriage entails, <span style="font-style: italic;">before</span> making that next-to-unconditional commitment.<br />
<br />
Consider this illustration:<br />
<br />
What would you think of a man who spends his free time going from car dealer to car dealer, <img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.spurgeon.org/images/pyromaniac/TeamPyro/car.gif" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt;" />checking out luxury cars <span style="font-style: italic;">that he will never buy?</span><br />
<br />
He takes them out on a long "test" drive. He floors the accelerator, he
jams down the brakes. He swerves around sharp turns, cranks the stereo,
kicks the tires, slams the doors, asks question after question about the
engine, the wiring, the electronics. He talks to the mechanic. He makes
the salesman invest much of his day, and then goes through the whole
process of credit checks and dickering about price and bargaining...<br />
<br />
...then airily says "Wow, that was fun! Thanks!"<br />
<br />
And leaves.<br />
<br />
Next day: rinse, and repeat. Another dealer, another car. Another hapless sales staff.<br />
<br />
What would you think of a guy like that? Selfish lout, right? Cruel?
Jerk? Immature, thoughtless, loveless, graceless, without compassion?
World revolves around him? Other people are his toys?<br />
<br />
I totally agree.<br />
<br />
So what of the person who's dating someone <span style="font-style: italic;">(s)he knows </span>(s)he has no business considering as a spouse?<br />
<br />
Brother, you know <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Ephesians 5.25-33" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Ephesians%205.25-33" target="_blank">Ephesians 5:25-33</a>, <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="1 Peter 3.7" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/1%20Peter%203.7" target="_blank">1 Peter 3:7</a>,
all that? You know that God will call you to love, cherish, serve,
protect, and lead your wife. You know you will need to provide for her,
honor her exclusively from your heart, and with your body. You will be
obliged to lead her in holiness, guard her, lay down your very life for
her. You know that a bad choice will have very rough consequences (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Proverbs 12.4b" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Proverbs%2012.4b" target="_blank">Proverbs 12:4b</a>; <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Proverbs 21.9" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Proverbs%2021.9" target="_blank">21:9</a>; <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Proverbs 25.24" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Proverbs%2025.24" target="_blank">25:24</a>; <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Proverbs 27.15-16" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Proverbs%2027.15-16" target="_blank">27:15-16</a>).<br />
<br />
But what if the girl you're dating is vastly <span style="font-style: italic;">more </span>mature
than you, or vastly less? What if she is disrespectful, rebellious, and
sees no need of a leader? What if she particularly does not respect <span style="font-style: italic;">you</span>, is constantly correcting and bossing <span style="font-style: italic;">you</span>?
What if you absolutely dread the very thought of having to cross her
will, to any degree? What if disagreements invariably become arguments,
and go on and on? How could you put on her a yoke she so obviously is
not ready to take? How could you subject your future children to such a
household?<br />
<br />
What, you never thought of that? Then what <span style="font-style: italic;">have</span> you been thinking about?<br />
<br />
Sister, stop nodding for a second. What of you? You know <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Ephesians 5.22-24" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Ephesians%205.22-24" target="_blank">Ephesians 5:22-24</a>, <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="1 Peter 3.1-7" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/1%20Peter%203.1-7" target="_blank">1 Peter 3:1-7</a>, and all that? You know, do you, that God calls you to <a href="http://teampyro.blogspot.com/2006/11/calling-him-lord-or-blacks-and-women.html">respect your husband from your very heart</a>, in the way you think and act? You know that, under God,<img alt="" border="0" height="133" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5106526585763440482" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx0nziwxVzRjAlZwUnBuGyJbM2J26HlXTywgHMGfxUjXk-O7bcfR3bEXMvI0geE_h5S9XG3MJZbin9miXGK_9FPI2P14FSnGZ0uA4Kq24O6Q1W1DRJjeKlZTgFvjDsd0HZ2yoqCFa34sep/s200/cube.jpg" style="float: right; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;" width="200" /> your husband will be <span style="font-style: italic;">the </span>human authority in your life? That you will be <span style="font-weight: bold;">obliged before God </span>to
love him, respect him, subordinate yourself to him? That you will be
his helper, called to aid him in fulfilling what God has called him to?<br />
<br />
So what if the man you're dating does not have what it takes to lead
you? What if you find yourself constantly telling him what to do? What
if he knows God less well than you, because he knows the Bible less than
you? What if he is not prepared to lead you on, because he hasn't even
caught up with you yet? What if your spirit is independent, and the
thought of subordinating yourself to this man is either unthinkable
(because he is so unready), or barely tolerable (because he is so
passive and pliable)?<br />
<br />
In either case, how can you be so cruel as to lead this woman or man on,
letting him or her give this portion of his life to you in exclusion to
others, when you know you have no business considering a future with
him or her?<br />
<br />
Is that loving (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Matthew 7.12" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Matthew%207.12" target="_blank">Matthew 7:12</a>)?<br />
<br />
"But he's started reading his Bible now!" "She's started going to Bible Study!" Great. But <span style="font-weight: bold;">know this: </span>what is most telling about another person is what he or she is <span style="font-style: italic;">before</span> taking any interest in you. <span style="font-style: italic;">That</span> indicates her or his heart.<br />
<br />
If <span style="font-style: italic;">deathbed </span>conversions are "iffy," <span style="font-style: italic;">dating </span>conversions are doubly so.<br />
<br />
This long post could be even longer, but I'll (almost) close with a few summary questions.<br />
<br />
Would you consider marrying someone who never, ever washed his body? Yuck! No way, right? What if (s)he<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5107278213630175090" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJf-MI7cZJ_4FTTFMV61x71CF71hDR_Obsi0Pd4POkGDW7-KoumcmABkQcTENh1-12tI_ArBX3CrpSILxfjJziW2ZgtL0-ugPMQSblhvFe6EYerb6s7egVTobi9Ecan4UnjVxaNUTxJs3y/s320/pig.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 172px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 231px;" /> never, ever had his <span style="font-style: italic;">heart and conscience </span>washed (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Hebrews 9.14" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Hebrews%209.14" target="_blank">Hebrews 9:14</a>; <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Hebrews 10.22" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Hebrews%2010.22" target="_blank">10:22</a>)? Evidently yes? Hmm.<br />
<br />
Would you consider marrying someone who never listened to a word you said? No way. What if (s)he never listened to a word <span style="font-style: italic;">God </span>said (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Proverbs 28.4" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Proverbs%2028.4" target="_blank">Proverbs 28:4</a>, <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Proverbs 28.9" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Proverbs%2028.9" target="_blank">9</a>; <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Romans 10.17" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Romans%2010.17" target="_blank">Romans 10:17</a>)? Evidently yes? Hmm.<br />
<br />
Would you let someone drive who didn't care much for traffic laws or
signs? Not likely. But you'd consider marrying a man who has no
Christian walk, or had none before he got interested in you? Or a woman
who hasn't yet taken to heart what God says about her and her role?
Evidently yes? Hmm.<br />
<br />
And in neither case, if you'd not consider marrying, <span style="font-style: italic;">why date?</span> Just a harmless test-drive?<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: red;">REAL-LIVE FINAL THOUGHT</span>:</span> I know <span style="font-style: italic;">exactly </span>what
some readers will think. They will think, "Well, my (friend/relative)
married an unbeliever, and later the Lord saved him, and that worked out
great! So I'm just trusting God to save/mature/sanctify my
unsaved/immature/rebellious little dew-drop!"<br />
<br />
To that, two responses:<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">First</span>, so if someone sins or does something stupid, and it works out all right, you should do the same? Dude. Seriously. Grow up.<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5107278608767166338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdgQckWHPkSXpPPM4GOwCZrAwhfWWiVs3T5P7EIEr8Iox4adbbLRW6UoJc-8kSf2bFAWXSPEUI1FIAX65_tx2TS__o6uH9VBbA3j5Zt5Y7TADMoUzkCIgiekurVKO-7NelklB0neNN_FDI/s320/pistol.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 185px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 241px;" /><br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Second,</span> as long as we're trading stories, <span style="font-style: italic;">I've </span>heard stories about people who've pointed real, live, actual, loaded <i>guns</i>
straight at other people and pulled the trigger, and the gun jammed.
Neat, huh? So if God wants someone to live, he can jam a gun, right?<br />
<br />
And if <span style="font-style: italic;">you </span>loaded a pistol and went out to see who God wants to live, and who He wants to die... would that be a good thing?<br />
<br />
Or stupid, bad, reckless, insane, and sinful?<br />
<br />
Kid, life's not a game. Hasty decisions cast long shadows.<br />
<br />
For every reason in this world and the next, <span style="color: red; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">wise up.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913313218237884664.post-29119302975924973582015-04-02T23:13:00.001+03:002015-04-02T23:13:58.902+03:00SHOULD I START A RELATIONSHIP WITH A NON-CHRISTIAN?<span class="post-date"></span>Written by <span class="post-author"><a href="http://gentlereformation.com/author/warrenpeel/" rel="author" title="Posts by Warren Peel">Warren Peel</a></span>
<span class="post-category">in <a href="http://gentlereformation.com/category/answers/" rel="category tag">Answers</a>, <a href="http://gentlereformation.com/category/christian-living/" rel="category tag">Christian Living</a>, <a href="http://gentlereformation.com/category/marriage/" rel="category tag">Marriage</a></span>
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<section class="entry fix">
<br />
Last night I was speaking to a Christian Union
meeting at our local university about dating and marriage. One of the
perennial problems that many young people fall into is getting into
relationships with non-Christians. I was exhorting these students to
realise that going out with a non-Christian is not an option for the
believer. Because dating is a stepping stone to marriage, what the Bible
says about whom we may marry applies to whom we may date as well. 1
Corinthians 7.39: <em>A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, <span style="text-decoration: underline;">only in the Lord</span>. </em>But even if someone refuses to accept that this command applies to pre-marriage relationships, <em>at best</em> it is incredibly foolish and unloving for a Christian to date a non-Christian. Here are a few points to reinforce this…<br />
<br />
1. Dating a non-Christian is incredibly <span style="text-decoration: underline;">short-sighted</span>.
What happens if he doesn’t become a Christian? Even if you can persuade
yourself that it is somehow OK to date an unbeliever, you<em></em>
can’t kid yourself that’s it’s OK to marry him/her unless you rip 1
Corinthians 7.39 out of the Bible. So at what point will you pull the
plug on the relationship if the boyfriend or girlfriend doesn’t become a
Christian? After a month? After a year? When he proposes but still
hasn’t become a Christian? You’re only storing up hurt for both of you.
It’s an incredibly unloving, unkind thing to. What if he says, ‘OK then,
I’ll become a Christian.’ How do you know he means it? How does <em>he</em>
know he means it? It’s really tantamount to emotional blackmail,
because what you’re saying at the end of the day is, ‘If you don’t
become a Christian, this relationship will have to end.’<br />
<br />
2. Many young people fool themselves into thinking they will be a
good witness to the one they’re dating, but if you are truly serious
about seeing that person come to Christ, then going out with them is
probably about the worst thing you can possibly do. For one thing,
you’re teaching them that obeying God’s word carefully and
comprehensively isn’t all that important if it gets in the way of
something you want to do. But inevitably it is going to confuse their
motives—it’s going to be hard for them to separate their interest in the
gospel from their interest in you. In most cases this is just a
pious-sounding excuse Christians use to ease their conscience as they do
what they want to do. God may graciously bring that unbeliever to
himself, but it will be in spite of your presumption rather than because
of it.<br />
<br />
3. Almost invariably what happens in practice is that the Christian
is led astray by the relationship. Their zeal and enthusiasm evaporate.
It’s hard enough for our young people to keep themselves sexually pure
while going out with another Christian who is committed to honouring God
with their body before marriage; with a non-Christian this is going to
be much more difficult.<br />
<br />
4. Beginning a relationship with a non-Christian betrays a failure to
realise how utterly different a Christian is from a non-Christian. When
two people decide to start a relationship, it’s normally because they
share the same values and worldview. But you can’t get two more
profoundly different people than a believer and an unbeliever (2
Corinthians 6.14-7.1). All the things you have in common are purely
superficial and can’t possibly compensate for the huge gulf between you
spiritually. Think about it like this. Could you go out with someone who
really doesn’t like your family? (This illustration assumes that <i>you</i>
like your family!). They might be very polite about it—it’s not that
they go around cursing your family up and down, they just don’t want
anything to do with them. They don’t ever want to meet them or spend
time with them. They don’t really like you seeing them. They don’t want
you to talk about them (‘Look, if you want to like your family that’s OK
for you, but don’t try to shove them down my throat!’). Could you ever
realistically consider marrying someone who thought like that? Why would
you even start a relationship with someone who thought like that—who
despises these people who are so precious and important to you? Would
all the other things you have in common with this person outweigh the
fact that they hate your family? Well, if you wouldn’t consider dating
someone who didn’t like your <em>earthly</em> family, how much less
should you think of dating someone who despises your heavenly Father who
matters far more to you even than your family here?</section>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913313218237884664.post-31258889869348051492015-03-19T11:37:00.003+03:002015-03-19T11:37:59.483+03:00WHY GOD DOESN'T REMOVE OUR SINFUL CRAVINGS IMMEDIATELY <span class="the-author">Posted by <a href="http://www.jdgreear.com/my_weblog/author/pastor-j-d" title="Pastor J.D.">Pastor J.D.</a></span>
<span class="the-time updated"> on March 17, 2015. Original post is <a href="http://www.jdgreear.com/my_weblog/2015/03/why-doesnt-god-just-remove-sin.html" target="_blank">here</a></span><br />
<br />
Every Christian I know has had the experience of coming up against the same sin—<i>again</i>—and wondering, <i>“Will this struggle ever end? Why doesn’t God just <b>remove </b>this?” </i>(If you <i>haven’t </i>had
that experience, just give it time.) This seems to be a frustration
common to all believers, and not just with sin, either. When we
experience any prolonged suffering or pain or discomfort, we have to
ask, <i>Why?</i><br />
<br />
This isn’t the question of a skeptic trying to prove that God doesn’t
exist—the famous apologetic “problem of evil.” No, this is the <i>personal </i>question
of a believer trying to discern what in the world God is doing with the
continued struggles in his life. It is the question of someone who
reads, <i>“For those who love God, all things work together for good,” </i>and trying to reconcile that theological truth with her present circumstances.<br />
<br />
One of the most surprising insights into this question comes from
Judges 3. Tucked in between the stories of Othniel and Ehud is a
statement that most Christians skip right over. But if we took this
truth to heart, we’d have a renewed courage to face our struggles: <i>“Now these are the nations that the LORD left, <b>to test Israel by them</b>, that is, all in Israel who had not experienced all the wars in Canaan. It was <b>in order that the generations of the people of Israel might know war</b>, to teach war to those who had not known it before.”</i> (Judges 3:1-2)<br />
<br />
Why did God leave struggles for his people, Israel? Israel’s struggle
was tangible and obvious: it came in the form of enemy nations and
their armies. So why didn’t God drive them out?<br />
<span id="more-16300"></span>In one sense, as the book of Judges
pounds into our heads over and over, the enemy nations are there because
Israel didn’t believe God enough to drive them out. But that’s not what
Judges 3 says. No, here we see that God left them there <i>to test Israel </i>so that they might <i>learn to fight wars.</i><br />
<br />
God wanted to give Israel the land of Canaan. But apparently, he wanted to do it <i>through struggle</i>.
So he continued to test them, to see if they would believe him, to
teach them to trust him in their fight. He does the same with us, though
(as Paul reminds us) our battle isn’t against flesh and blood, but
against spiritual powers. Why doesn’t God remove our struggles when we
become Christians? Because <i>he wants us to keep relying on his grace, not on our flesh. </i>As Paul said, some of the weaknesses and trials in our lives are there—by design—to keep us humble. <br />
<br />
What this means is that
sometimes God allows us to struggle with a lesser sin to keep us from a
greater one—pride. Because if you or I were immediately cured from
certain sins, we’d become insufferably proud. I know that God has done
that with me, specifically in my marriage. The first couple years of my
marriage were a struggle for both my wife and me. We had a lot of junk
that needed to be exposed. But when I look back, I’m thankful for that
time, because it keeps me from becoming self-righteous when I look at
problems other people have in <i>their </i>marriages. Struggle is a constant way of driving the proverb, <i>“There, but for the grace of God, go I,” </i>into our hearts.<br />
<br />
John Newton, the author of “Amazing Grace,” understood this from
experience as well. He grew frustrated by the continued sin in his life,
until it dawned on him that any remaining sin kept him in desperate
need of grace: <i>“The riches of his mercy,” </i>he said, <i>“are more illustrated by the multiplied pardons he bestows upon me, than if I needed no forgiveness at all.”</i><br />
<br />
The persistence of pain in our lives—<i>especially </i>the pain of
battling against sin—shouldn’t make us complacent. God didn’t leave the
Canaanites so that Israel would eventually get comfortable with them
being around. It was just the opposite: he left the Canaanites so that
Israel would <b>learn to fight</b>.<br />
<br />
So when you are tempted to despair because you continue to struggle,
remember what God is doing through your circumstances. Look to Christ,
whose resurrection guarantees victory. Look to Christ, who fought for
you when you were his enemy. Look to Christ, the only Savior who can
give you the strength to stand, and who will pick you up every time you
fall. Look to Christ, and fight.<br />
<br />
<i>For more on this, be sure to listen to the entire message </i><a href="http://www.summitrdu.com/messages/?enmse=1&enmse_mid=402"><i>here</i></a><i>.</i><br />
<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913313218237884664.post-79686368038074719352015-02-16T16:19:00.000+03:002015-02-16T16:19:00.633+03:0016 Ways to Find a Wife According to the Bible<span class="blogPostTitle"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="blogPostAuthor sansSerif">
</div>
As a pastor, over the years I had my fair share of people approach me
to find out if we were a "courtship" church or a "dating" church. The
people invariably would tell me that their approach was "the biblical
way." I eventually become leery of such claims given that the Bible does
not say much about how to find a wife, or does it? Perhaps you've seen
this list floating around the world-wide-web, but it's worth reviewing
because it makes a very important point. So here it is, 16 ways to find a
wife according to the Bible:<br />
<blockquote>
1) Find an attractive prisoner of war, bring her home, shave her head,
trim her nails, and give her new clothes. Then she’s yours. (Deut.
21:11-13)<br />
2) “Lay hold on” a virgin who is not betrothed to another man, and
"know" her, but afterwards pay her father a sum of money. Then she’s
yours. (Deut. 22:28-29)<br />
3) Find a prostitute and marry her. (Hosea 1:1-3)<br />
4) Find a man with seven daughters, and impress him by watering his flock.--Moses (Ex. 2:16-21)<br />
5) Purchase a piece of property, and get a woman as part of the deal.--Boaz (Ruth 4:5-10)<br />
6) Go to a party and hide. When the women come out to dance, grab one
and carry her off to be your wife.--Benjaminites (Judges 21:19-25)<br />
7) Have God create a wife for you while you sleep. Note: this will cost you a rib.--Adam (Gen. 2:19-24)<br />
8) Agree to work seven years in exchange for a woman’s hand in
marriage. Get tricked into marrying the wrong woman. Then work another
seven years for the woman you wanted to marry in the first place. That’s
right. Fourteen years of toil for a wife.--Jacob (Gen. 29:15-30)<br />
9) Cut 200 foreskins off of your future father-in-law’s enemies and get his daughter for a wife.--David (1 Sam. 18:27)<br />
10) Even if no one is out there, just wander around a bit and you’ll definitely find someone.--Cain (Gen. 4:16-17)<br />
11) Become the emperor of a huge nation and hold a beauty contest.--Xerxes or Ahasuerus (Esther 2:3-4)<br />
12) When you see someone you like, go home and tell your parents, “I
have seen a woman; now get her for me.” If your parents question your
decision, simply say, “Get her for me. She’s the one for me.”--Samson
(Judges 14:1-3)<br />
13) Kill any husband and take HIS wife. (Prepare to lose four sons though.)--David (2 Sam. 11)<br />
14) Wait for your brother to die. Take his widow. (It’s not just a
good idea, it’s the law!)--Onan and Boaz (Deut. or Lev., example in
Ruth)<br />
15) Don’t be so picky. Make up for quality with quantity.--Solomon (1 Kings 11:1-3)<br />
16) A wife?--Paul (1st Corinthians, chapter 7)<br />
</blockquote>
Obviously, this list was written with humor in mind, and some of these
"ways," are not prescriptive but descriptive of the sinful ways that
God's people have conducted themselves in the past--they are in no way
exemplary. But this does demonstrate an important point--people often
want the Bible to say certain things, such as how to find a spouse and
marry, but they ignore portions of Scripture that don't fit their
paradigm. The Bible has more to say about arranged marriages, for
example, than it does "courtship" or dating. So then, how do we proceed?<br />
We have to realize that the Bible does not speak to every issue we will
face in life. Just ask Solomon, who had to use wisdom when the two
prostitutes came to him claiming to both be the mother of one child. We
must follow those things that God has given us. In all of our
relationships we have the obligation to exercise the fruit of the Spirit
and not mistreat anyone, that is especially true for a prospective
spouse. We also have the clear biblical command that a Christian is free
to marry whomever he or she chooses, so long as the prospective mate is
"in the Lord" (1 Cor. 7.39). But in the end, choosing a spouse calls
for wisdom.<br />
The Bible does not give us a specific means by which we can find
spouses. Some might be introduced by family or friends. Some might
cultivate a letter-writing relationship (or as we might more commonly
find it, e-mail, or some form of social media). In some cultures the
thought of dating or courting is out of the question. I once walked in
on one of my office mates in grad school--he was a Christian training
for the ministry in Japan. He was intently reading a file; it looked
like a personnel file. Out of curiousity I asked him what he was
reading. He told me it was a file on a young woman that his father had
sent him. His family, sight unseen (except for a few photos in the file)
was arranging his marriage. I was stunned, but nevetheless made aware
that godly Christians don't all do things the same way. I.e., just
because it's American and Christians do it doesn't mean its biblical or
the only way.<br />
The greater doctrinal point here is that in the pursuit of finding a
spouse, we must be mindful two things: (1) that we are mindful of God's
revealed will in the moral law--we should not violate it in word,
thought, or deed; and (2) Christian liberty--where God has spoken, we
are bound, but where he has not spoken we are free. We are not bound by
the commandments of men. This means that godly Christians may differ in
how they live their lives, but it doesn't mean that one is holier than
another because she dates and doesn't court.<br />
We should also note that in its collective history, the church has
never addressed the issue in its creeds or confessions about how to find
a spouse. Perhaps this should tell us that it is a matter of Christian
liberty and that in the end, we should rely on God's grace, wisdom,
prayer, and godly counsel rather than make claims that the Bible has
never made.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Nairobi, Kenya-1.316870128930091 36.706695556640625-1.3803681289300911 36.626014556640627 -1.253372128930091 36.787376556640623tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913313218237884664.post-89221086210822942942015-01-08T15:43:00.001+03:002015-01-08T15:43:45.782+03:00Biological Disconnect<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>Biological Disconnect.<img height='1' width='1' src='http://ift.tt/1tQuczP' border='0' alt=''/></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913313218237884664.post-78437638970301282092015-01-03T13:43:00.000+03:002015-01-03T13:43:03.551+03:00CHRISTIANS AND ALCHOHOLBy John MacArthur<br />
<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913313218237884664.post-12042793970128989932015-01-03T12:29:00.001+03:002015-01-03T12:29:24.045+03:00THE PERPLEXITIES OF THE CROSS<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913313218237884664.post-14454914483683182982014-12-19T18:27:00.001+03:002014-12-19T18:27:40.495+03:00BORN TO DIE
<br />
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<a href="http://feeds.gty.org/GTYBlog">
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<div class="heading">
<span id="ctl00_MainContent_lblDate"><br /></span><a href="http://www.gty.org/blog/B141219/born-to-die#comments"><span id="ctl00_MainContent_lblCommentCount"></span></a></div>
<span class="blogLinks" id="ctl00_MainContent_lblContent" itemprop="text"><strong>by John MacArthur</strong><br />
That first Christmas, earth was oblivious to the significance of a
simple birth in a quiet town. But heaven wasn’t. The holy angels waited
in anticipation to break forth in praise and worship and adoration at
the birth of the newborn Christ. This Child’s birth meant deliverance
for mankind. The angel told Joseph: “He will save His people from their
sins” (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Matthew 1.21" data-version="nasb95" href="http://biblia.com/bible/nasb95/Matthew%201.21" target="_blank">Matthew 1:21</a>).<br />
Unlike Isaac, who ascended the mountain unaware he was to be the
sacrifice, Jesus descended from heaven in full awareness of what the
Father had in store for Him. Scripture records for us what may have been
a farewell message Jesus gave just prior to His incarnation.<br />
<blockquote>
When He comes into the world, He says, “Sacrifice and offering You
have not desired, but a body You have prepared for Me; in whole burnt
offerings and sacrifices for sin You have taken no pleasure.” Then I
said, “Behold, I have come . . . to do Your will, O God.” (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Hebrews 10.5-7" data-version="nasb95" href="http://biblia.com/bible/nasb95/Hebrews%2010.5-7" target="_blank">Hebrews 10:5-7</a>)<br />
</blockquote>
That passage of Scripture gives us a remarkable look at the heart of
the Savior before His birth. He knew He was entering the world to be the
final and ultimate sacrifice for sin. His body had been divinely
prepared by God specifically for that purpose. Jesus was going to die
for the sins of the world, and He knew it. Moreover, He was doing it
willingly. That was the whole point of the incarnation.<br />
The important issue of Christmas is not so much <i>that</i> Jesus came, but <i>why</i>
He came. There was no salvation in His birth. Nor did the sinless way
He lived His life have any redemptive force of its own. His example, as
flawless as it was, could not rescue men from their sins. Even His
teaching, the greatest truth ever revealed to man, could not save us
from our sins. There was a price to be paid for our sins. Someone had to
die. Only Jesus could do it.<br />
Jesus came to earth, of course, to reveal God to mankind. He came to
teach truth. He came to fulfill the Law. He came to offer His kingdom.
He came to show us how to live. He came to reveal God’s love. He came to
bring peace. He came to heal the sick. He came to minister to the
needy.<br />
But all those reasons are incidental to His ultimate purpose. He
could have done them all without being born as a human. He could have
simply appeared—like the angel of the Lord often did in the Old
Testament—and accomplished everything in the list above, without
actually becoming a man. But He had one more reason for coming: He came
to die.<br />
Here’s a side to the Christmas story that isn’t often told: Those
soft little hands, fashioned by the Holy Spirit in Mary’s womb, were
made so that nails might be driven through them. Those baby feet, pink
and unable to walk, would one day stagger up a dusty hill to be nailed
to a cross. That sweet infant’s head with sparkling eyes and eager mouth
was formed so that someday men might force a crown of thorns onto it.
That tender body, warm and soft, wrapped in swaddling clothes, would one
day be ripped open by a spear.<br />
Jesus was born to die.<br />
Don’t think I’m trying to put a damper on your Christmas spirit. Far
from it—for Jesus’ death, though devised and carried out by men with
evil intentions, was in no sense a tragedy. In fact, it represents the
greatest victory over evil anyone has ever accomplished.<br />
The author of Hebrews illustrates how the full story of His birth includes His sacrificial death:<br />
<blockquote>
But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the
angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with
glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for
everyone. For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and
through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect
the author of their salvation through sufferings. . . . Therefore, since
the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook
of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had
the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through
fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Hebrews 2.9-10" data-version="nasb95" href="http://biblia.com/bible/nasb95/Hebrews%202.9-10" target="_blank">Hebrews 2:9-10</a>, <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Hebrews 2.14-15" data-version="nasb95" href="http://biblia.com/bible/nasb95/Hebrews%202.14-15" target="_blank">14-15</a>)<br />
</blockquote>
It’s appropriate to commemorate the birth of Christ. But don’t make
the mistake of leaving Him as a baby in a manger. Keep in mind that His
birth was just the first step in God’s glorious plan of redemption.
Remember that it’s the triumph of Christ’s sacrificial death that gives
meaning to His humble birth. You can’t truly celebrate one without the
other.<br />
<img height="41" src="http://www.gty.org/media/images/Signature-John.png" width="193" /><br />
(Adapted from <a href="http://www.gty.org/products/books/451113A/The-Miracle-of-Christmas-Hardcover" target="_blank"><strong><i>The Miracle of Christmas</i></strong></a>.)</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913313218237884664.post-74239851539505647532014-12-12T14:30:00.000+03:002014-12-12T14:30:23.066+03:00CHRISTMAS: THE WORD TABERNACLES <div class="post-header-meta">
<span class="the-author">by <a href="http://thecripplegate.com/author/mike-riccardi/" title="Mike Riccardi">Mike Riccardi</a></span>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
“<em>And the Word became flesh, and <strong>dwelt</strong> among us…</em>”<br />
– <a class="rtBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="John 1.14" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/John%201.14">John 1:14</a><a class="rtLibronix" href="libronixdls:keylink%7Cref=[en]bible:John1.14%7Cres=LLS:ESV"><img align="bottom" border="0" class="libronixLinkImage" src="http://www.logos.com/images/Corporate/LibronixLink_dark.png" title="Open in Logos Bible Software (if available)" /></a> -</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
If we’re reading through this verse in our
daily Bible reading, we’re likely to zip right by it with little
fanfare. We read, simply, that Jesus “dwelt” among us. And when we think
of the idea of “dwelling” we just think of “hanging out.” But there’s
much more going on in what John is saying than it sounds to us
English-speakers. He uses a peculiar word here. There are more common
Greek words for “to dwell,” but he chooses <em>skēnoō</em>. Now, the word <em>skēnē</em> in Greek means “tent,” and <em>skēnoō</em> is the verb form. So we could render it, “to pitch a tent.” John tells us that this Word became flesh and <em>pitched his tent</em> among us.</div>
<a href="http://thecripplegate.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Tent.jpg"><img alt="" class="size-medium wp-image-3234 aligncenter" height="218" src="http://thecripplegate.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Tent-300x218.jpg" title="Tent" width="300" /></a><br />
That’s a weird way to talk, isn’t it? Especially since we don’t have
any Scripture that tells us that Jesus actually pitched any literal tent
during his time on Earth. Why say it this way? He’s got at least two
other words that he could use here. But John uses this particular word
because he wants his readers—who would be familiar with the history of
Israel—to recall the <em>tabernacle</em>, the tent of meeting (<a class="rtBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Ex 27.21" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Ex%2027.21">Ex 27:21</a><a class="rtLibronix" href="libronixdls:keylink%7Cref=[en]bible:Ex27.21%7Cres=LLS:ESV"><img align="bottom" border="0" class="libronixLinkImage" src="http://www.logos.com/images/Corporate/LibronixLink_dark.png" title="Open in Logos Bible Software (if available)" /></a>), where God met with the Israelites in the Old Testament.<br />
<span id="more-16042"></span><strong>The Tabernacle</strong><br />
<div class="wp-caption alignright" id="attachment_3252" style="width: 354px;">
<a href="http://www.esvstudybible.org/sb/objects/illustration-tabernacle-tent.html"><img alt="" class="wp-image-3252 " height="163" src="http://thecripplegate.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Tabernacle1-300x142.png" title="Tabernacle" width="344" /></a><div class="wp-caption-text">
From the ESV Study Bible</div>
</div>
The tabernacle itself was covered over by a tent, which is why the
early form of it is called the “tent of meeting.” It was 15 feet wide,
15 feet high, and 45 feet long. The entrance was covered by a curtain or
a veil made with fine linen and costly dyes. When a priest entered the
tabernacle they were first in the holy place. This was a 30 x 15 x 15
foot room that contained the table that held the Bread of the Presence (<a class="rtBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Ex 25.23-30" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Ex%2025.23-30">Ex 25:23-30</a><a class="rtLibronix" href="libronixdls:keylink%7Cref=[en]bible:Ex25.23-30%7Cres=LLS:ESV"><img align="bottom" border="0" class="libronixLinkImage" src="http://www.logos.com/images/Corporate/LibronixLink_dark.png" title="Open in Logos Bible Software (if available)" /></a>), the lampstand (<a class="rtBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Ex 25.31-40" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Ex%2025.31-40">Ex 25:31-40</a><a class="rtLibronix" href="libronixdls:keylink%7Cref=[en]bible:Ex25.31-40%7Cres=LLS:ESV"><img align="bottom" border="0" class="libronixLinkImage" src="http://www.logos.com/images/Corporate/LibronixLink_dark.png" title="Open in Logos Bible Software (if available)" /></a>), and the altar of incense (<a class="rtBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Ex 30.1-5" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Ex%2030.1-5">Ex 30:1-5</a><a class="rtLibronix" href="libronixdls:keylink%7Cref=[en]bible:Ex30.1-5%7Cres=LLS:ESV"><img align="bottom" border="0" class="libronixLinkImage" src="http://www.logos.com/images/Corporate/LibronixLink_dark.png" title="Open in Logos Bible Software (if available)" /></a>; <a class="rtBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Ex 37.25-29" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Ex%2037.25-29">37:25-29</a><a class="rtLibronix" href="libronixdls:keylink%7Cref=[en]bible:Ex37.25-29%7Cres=LLS:ESV"><img align="bottom" border="0" class="libronixLinkImage" src="http://www.logos.com/images/Corporate/LibronixLink_dark.png" title="Open in Logos Bible Software (if available)" /></a>),
all covered in pure gold. Beyond that room was the holy of holies—a
15-foot cube containing nothing but the Ark of the Covenant (<a class="rtBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Ex 25.10-25" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Ex%2025.10-25">Ex 25:10-25</a><a class="rtLibronix" href="libronixdls:keylink%7Cref=[en]bible:Ex25.10-25%7Cres=LLS:ESV"><img align="bottom" border="0" class="libronixLinkImage" src="http://www.logos.com/images/Corporate/LibronixLink_dark.png" title="Open in Logos Bible Software (if available)" /></a>; <a class="rtBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Ex 37.1-9" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Ex%2037.1-9">37:1-9</a><a class="rtLibronix" href="libronixdls:keylink%7Cref=[en]bible:Ex37.1-9%7Cres=LLS:ESV"><img align="bottom" border="0" class="libronixLinkImage" src="http://www.logos.com/images/Corporate/LibronixLink_dark.png" title="Open in Logos Bible Software (if available)" /></a>).<em><br />
</em><br />
<strong>Exodus 29</strong><br />
So that’s <a href="http://www.esvstudybible.org/sb/objects/illustration-tabernacle-tent.html">the physical tabernacle</a>. But in Exodus 29 we learn something of its significance. There, God is speaking about what the tabernacle will be to the sons of Israel:<br />
<ul>
<li><a class="rtBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Exodus 29.42" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Exodus%2029.42">Exodus 29:42</a><a class="rtLibronix" href="libronixdls:keylink%7Cref=[en]bible:Exodus29.42%7Cres=LLS:ESV"><img align="bottom" border="0" class="libronixLinkImage" src="http://www.logos.com/images/Corporate/LibronixLink_dark.png" title="Open in Logos Bible Software (if available)" /></a> – A place of <strong>meeting</strong></li>
<li><a class="rtBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Exodus 29.42" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Exodus%2029.42">Exodus 29:42</a><a class="rtLibronix" href="libronixdls:keylink%7Cref=[en]bible:Exodus29.42%7Cres=LLS:ESV"><img align="bottom" border="0" class="libronixLinkImage" src="http://www.logos.com/images/Corporate/LibronixLink_dark.png" title="Open in Logos Bible Software (if available)" /></a> – A place of <strong>revelation</strong></li>
<li><a class="rtBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Exodus 29.43" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Exodus%2029.43">Exodus 29:43</a><a class="rtLibronix" href="libronixdls:keylink%7Cref=[en]bible:Exodus29.43%7Cres=LLS:ESV"><img align="bottom" border="0" class="libronixLinkImage" src="http://www.logos.com/images/Corporate/LibronixLink_dark.png" title="Open in Logos Bible Software (if available)" /></a> – A place of <strong>consecration </strong>and <strong>sanctification</strong></li>
<li><a class="rtBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Exodus 29.44" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Exodus%2029.44">Exodus 29:44</a><a class="rtLibronix" href="libronixdls:keylink%7Cref=[en]bible:Exodus29.44%7Cres=LLS:ESV"><img align="bottom" border="0" class="libronixLinkImage" src="http://www.logos.com/images/Corporate/LibronixLink_dark.png" title="Open in Logos Bible Software (if available)" /></a> – A place of <strong>propitiation</strong></li>
<li>And <a class="rtBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Exodus 29.45-46" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Exodus%2029.45-46">Exodus 29:45-46</a><a class="rtLibronix" href="libronixdls:keylink%7Cref=[en]bible:Exodus29.45-46%7Cres=LLS:ESV"><img align="bottom" border="0" class="libronixLinkImage" src="http://www.logos.com/images/Corporate/LibronixLink_dark.png" title="Open in Logos Bible Software (if available)" /></a> gives the significance of God <strong>dwelling </strong>among
His people. He says that the very reason He brought them out of Egypt
was so that He would dwell with them. This tabernacle is a big deal.<em><br />
</em></li>
</ul>
<strong>Exodus 33</strong><br />
In chapter 33, we learn a bit more. Verse 7 says that everyone who
sought Yahweh came here. This was the place where Israel could have <strong>fellowship</strong> and <strong>communion</strong>
with their God. And verse 8 says that when Moses would go into the
tent, everyone would gaze after him. They would just drop everything.
“Hey! Moses is going into the tent of meeting!” They were in awe.<br />
And rightfully so! Verse 9 says that whenever he went in, a pillar of
cloud would descend. (What a sight this had to be!) So again we see
that this was a place of <strong>condescension</strong>. Further, the text tells us Yahweh would speak with Moses. That’s <strong>revelation</strong>
again, God speaking to His people. Verse 10 tells us that all the
people would worship when they saw the glory of Yahweh revealed in the
cloud. So again we see that this was a place of <strong>worship</strong>.
And finally, we’re told that Yahweh would speak to Moses face to face,
just as a man speaks to his friend. And so this is a place of <strong>intimate fellowship</strong>.<br />
<strong>Exodus 40</strong><br />
Finally, in Exodus 40, we have the climax of this story. Everything that Israel has heard up until now has been what the tabernacle <em>would be</em> when it was completed. In chapter 40, construction is finished, and with all Israel watching, God’s glory fills the tabernacle:<br />
<blockquote>
“Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the
glory of Yahweh filled the tabernacle. Moses was not able to enter the
tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of
Yahweh filled the tabernacle” (<a class="rtBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Ex 40.34-35" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Ex%2040.34-35">Ex 40:34-35</a><a class="rtLibronix" href="libronixdls:keylink%7Cref=[en]bible:Ex40.34-35%7Cres=LLS:ESV"><img align="bottom" border="0" class="libronixLinkImage" src="http://www.logos.com/images/Corporate/LibronixLink_dark.png" title="Open in Logos Bible Software (if available)" /></a>).<em><br />
</em></blockquote>
<a href="http://thecripplegate.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Tabernacle-Glory.jpg"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-3241" height="244" src="http://thecripplegate.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Tabernacle-Glory-300x244.jpg" title="Tabernacle Glory" width="300" /></a><br />
<em>Now</em> Yahweh descends upon His dwelling place, upon His tabernacle. The glory descends in such a way that not even <em>Moses</em>—who
had gone into the cloud before, who had seen Yahweh’s glory—could enter
into the tent! What an amazing scene! This is God declaring: “I am <em>with</em> My people! I now <em>dwell</em> among them!”<br />
<blockquote>
And “throughout all their journeys whenever the cloud was
taken up from over the tabernacle, the sons of Israel would set out;
but if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out until the
day when it was taken up. For throughout all their journeys, the cloud
of Yahweh was on the tabernacle by day, and there was fire in it by
night, in the sight of all the house of Israel” (<a class="rtBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Ex 40.36-38" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Ex%2040.36-38">Ex 40:36-38</a><a class="rtLibronix" href="libronixdls:keylink%7Cref=[en]bible:Ex40.36-38%7Cres=LLS:ESV"><img align="bottom" border="0" class="libronixLinkImage" src="http://www.logos.com/images/Corporate/LibronixLink_dark.png" title="Open in Logos Bible Software (if available)" /></a>).</blockquote>
<strong>Christmas: The Word Pitches His Tent Among Us</strong><br />
And so when the Apostle John uses that peculiar word, when he tells his readers the incarnate Word <em>dwelt</em>
among them, he is calling our attention here. John is telling us that
the way Yahweh descended and dwelt among His people in the
Tabernacle,—and spoke with them in communion and revealed Himself for
worship—that very same thing is happening in Jesus Christ. In Jesus, the
glory of Yahweh is descending and is <strong>pitching His tent</strong> to <strong>dwell</strong> among His people!<br />
As we approach the Christmas season, and as you prepare your hearts
to praise God for the gift of the incarnation, let this cause you to
worship. Be moved to awe and adoration by the fact that the Word—the
Eternal God Himself, the agent of the creation of all things, the life
and the Light of the world—this Word became flesh and <em>tabernacled</em> among us.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913313218237884664.post-12236606878460943022014-12-12T13:15:00.000+03:002014-12-12T13:15:10.435+03:00IS THE EVANGELICAL CHURCH IN AFRICA REALLY GLORIFYING GOD?By Conrad Mbewe, original post <a href="http://www.conradmbewe.com/2014/12/is-evangelical-church-in-africa-really.html" target="_blank">here</a><br />
<br />
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<br />
As 2014 draws to an end, my heart aches. I am deeply burdened about what
has become the dominant characteristic of evangelical Christianity in
Africa. I have tried to wrap my mind around this by simply asking an
honest question “Is this Christianity that has become pervasive across
the African continent really glorifying God?”<br />
<br />
1. Are we glorifying God when we claim that we are experiencing miracles
that are actually not happening? When miracles were happening in the
Bible, the blind were receiving their sight, the lame were walking,
those with leprosy were being cured, the deaf were beginning to hear,
and the dead were being raised to life (see Luke 7:22). Today, the land
is littered with posters of miracle crusades but we all know that none
of this is happening. Are we glorifying God by cheating people this way?<br />
<br />
2. Are we glorifying God when we speak in “tongues” that cannot be
interpreted? In the Bible, tongues were unknown languages that could be
interpreted (1 Cor. 14:27). Today it is nothing more than a few
syllables that are repeated at machinegun speed: “Kakaka filolololo
wandarakawandara, etc.” It is not surprising that whereas churches are
full of tongue speakers, there is not a single interpreter. Can anyone
interpret this? Yet, I am asking a more fundamental question: Are we
glorifying God by behaving so senselessly?<br />
<br />
3. Are we glorifying God when we reduce the benefits of salvation to
more wealth and better health? In the Bible, the main message of
salvation was the forgiveness of sins and moral transformation (Luke
24:47). Today, the main message coming from Africa’s “evangelical”
church is the ending of personal poverty and the healing of all kinds of
bodily ailments (as can be seen from the above banner). Salvation is
under “any other business”. Again, I am asking, are we truly glorifying
God by this deathly substitute?<br />
<br />
4. Are we glorifying God when we abandon the preaching of repentance for
motivational speaking? John the Baptist and Jesus and his apostles
preached repentance (see Matt. 3:2, 4:7 and Acts 2:38, 26:20). The
growing view today is not that men and women are fallen and responsible
for their sin and thus must repent of it. Rather, it is that they are
victims of wrong thinking and evil powers, and so they need deliverance.
Hence, the sermons are nothing more than motivational talks followed by
hours of deliverance sessions. I am asking: Are these messages and
methods producing God-glorifying lives?<br />
<br />
5. Are we glorifying God when we hide the rot of spiritual wolves
preying on vulnerable souls? In the Bible, Jesus warned about wolves in
sheepskins (Matt. 7:15). I recently received a text message from a lady
in Lusaka who was taken into the bush and asked to take off her clothes
by a pastor/prophet claiming he would cure her of the “disease” that was
causing her husband to be unfaithful to her. Only witchdoctors did this
once upon a time but it has now become common fare among “evangelical”
pastors/prophets. The tragedy is our grave-like silence about this rot.
Is this silence the way to glorify God?<br />
<br />
6. Are we glorifying God when we reduce truth to a minimum for the sake
of Christian unity? When I read my Bible it is adamant on the necessity
of teaching and knowing the truths of the gospel if men and women are to
be saved. From there, the gospel rays shine throughout the Scriptures,
demanding holy living from God’s people. Today, we want to hold hands in
the dark. We want fellowship with anyone claiming to be a Christian
without asking questions about what they believe. Holy water and oil,
Jewish prayer cloths, etc., are being sold and bought among
evangelicals. And anyone who raises questions about this is shouted
down. Is this new stance really glorifying to God?<br />
<br />
7. Are we glorifying God when we reduce worship to senseless dancing to
sensual music? Look at the psalms of the Bible and the worship songs
that we have inherited from a previous generation and see how rich they
are in expressing the faith of God’s people. Each sentence is pregnant
with Scriptural truths. Today in Africa, intelligent professionals leave
their brains outside the church door as they gyrate to songs that
repeat one sentence over and over again. What matters is the music, the
sensual music, as the worship leader shouts, “Glory to God!” Are we sure
this is glorifying to God?<br />
<br />
8. Are we glorifying God when commanding, declaring and decreeing
replace humble petitions in prayer? I read the prayers of godly people
in the Bible and they are full of humble pleas to the sovereign God of
the universe. I then listen to the prayers of today’s men and women of
God and they are full of declarations, decrees and commands “in Jesus’
name!” Is it not the height of arrogance that a person should command
God to do his bidding? Can these prayers be glorifying to God by any
stretch of our imagination?<br />
<br />
9. Are we glorifying God when we fill our church membership rolls with
goats and kick out church discipline? My Bible teaches that church
leaders must be careful about who they allow to enter and stay in the
church’s membership. It must only be those who have repented of their
sin and trusted in Christ, and who show this by the way they live. If
they don’t, they must be excommunicated (1 Cor. 5:9-13). Sadly, our
churches today are full of members and leaders who are drunkards,
fighting, living sexually immoral lives, stealing money, etc., and no
one is dealing with this. Is this glorifying to God?<br />
<br />
10. Are we glorifying God when we have women preachers while men sit in
pews and listen to them? The Bible teaches male headship in both the
home and the church…all the way from Eden. The Bible teaches that the
work of preaching must be carried out by mature and tested males (1 Tim.
2:11-14). Sadly, the number of women going around as pastors in Africa
(while their husbands call themselves bishops or prophets or apostles)
has reached epidemic levels. Are we sure God is being glorified by this
kick in the face?<br />
<br />
I doubt it. Yet, these ten traits have become very dominant
characteristics of African Christianity. I honestly wish this was a
description of some extreme cult that can easily be separated from
evangelicals, like the Jehovah’s Witnesses, but sadly this has become
the most common “evangelical” Christianity in Africa. It is the one
representing us on television and radio. It is the one on the billboards
and posters in the streets. It is the one that fills up the rolls in
our evangelical associations and pastors’ fraternals.<br />
<br />
I wish that all the noise I am hearing and the dust being raised across
Africa were God-glorifying. But it is not. It is man-centred and not
God-centred. We want the numbers at any cost and we are getting them.
Hardly anyone is asking the question, “Is not this thing in my hand a
lie?” (Isaiah 44:20). It seems to me we are glorifying a false God—and
not the God of the Bible. We have set up our own twenty-first century
idol and are bowing down to it. This is not Christianity. This is not
the way to heaven. No, it is not!<br />
<br />
Hence, I end the year 2014 with a very burdened heart because of all this.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913313218237884664.post-38361034123783037382014-12-09T18:45:00.001+03:002014-12-09T18:45:21.165+03:00The Five Most Disturbing Things About a Benny Hinn Miracle Service<b> </b>
<img alt="Corrie Mitchell" class="avatar avatar-50 wp-user-avatar wp-user-avatar-50 alignnone photo" height="50" src="http://onfaith.faithstreet.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/headshot-320x320.jpg" width="50" />
<span class="written-by">Written by</span>
<span><a href="http://www.faithstreet.com/onfaith/author/corrie" rel="author">Corrie Mitchel</a>l</span><br />
<br />
<b>T</b>here are a lot of things you should try at least once in your life —
skydiving, eating some exotic delicacy, traveling alone. Let me give you
one thing not to add to that list: attending a Benny Hinn Holy Spirit
Miracle Service.
<br />
I recently went to one in New York. Before going, I knew little about
Hinn — a man who’s worth some $42 million — other than that he’s a
big-deal televangelist among countless charismatic Christians. As
someone who’s fairly unfamiliar with that sphere of Christianity, I was
mostly just wary of being in a crowd of people speaking in tongues and
being slain in the Spirit.<br />
But that turned out to be the least uncomfortable thing about the
service. What did happen was so much more upsetting, difficult, and
unnerving. If you ever go, here are five unsettling things you’ll
experience:<br />
<h3>
1. You’ll second-guess your Bible knowledge.</h3>
When you hear Benny Hinn make statements like, “The prophets all
prospered. They had no debt . . . ” it stops you in your tracks. <em>Wait — what? No they weren’t. Were they?</em> You might grab your Bible to check, or you might just realize, <em>Of course that’s not right</em>.
What about Elijah, who lived in a cave and had ravens bring him bread
to eat? Or John the Baptist, who wore clothing made of camel’s hair and
ate locusts and honey?<br />
Or, what about Jesus, who was born in a stable, buried in a borrowed
tomb, and had no place to lay his head? When the earthly life of Jesus
is a counter-argument to your “Christian” theology, there’s something
wrong.<br />
(Another related, absurd Hinn statement: “Where did Noah get the
money to build that ark? Think about where he got that moolah.” I’m
pretty sure he didn’t need to hit up the local Home Depot.)<br />
<h3>
2. You’ll realize he’s in control of everything in his world.</h3>
From the musician to his audience to the very God he claims to
represent, Hinn exerts control over it all. He orders his pianist to
play a certain way, and tells him to stop and switch it up when he wants
a different mood. He tells his audience how to worship and how much
money to give him. And he knows his audience so well — he mentions their
material needs, then says things like, “I want you to sow $1,200,
because I believe 120 is the number of liberty in the Bible.” Then he
confidently promises they’ll be debt free in one year, as if he’s in
control of that, too.<br />
Question for Mr. Hinn: If 120 is the biblical number of liberty — which…<em>what? </em>– then why not just have people give $120? (He did also tell them $120 would be okay, but the added zero is a big deal.)<br />
All in all, Hinn tries to take control of God and suggests you can do
the same. He tells people to “claim reality with your mouth” and
“declare it in writing” — as if you have the power of God to speak
things into existence. As if you have the ability to make God do things
for you. As if saying or doing something requires God to oblige you.<br />
<h3>
3. You’ll wrestle with your negative thoughts.</h3>
My first instinct was to write off everything that happened under the
leadership of Benny Hinn as blasphemous — an offense to the very gospel
he claims to preach. But, as you look around the room and see men and
women worshipping God with abandon, you realize something. Maybe these
people, who trust and believe Hinn, are actually having authentic
experiences with Jesus, despite the man guiding them. Maybe these people
are actually finding genuine faith in a place that is otherwise tinged
by deceit.<br />
And then, for a Christian like me, the thought creeps in: Could it be
that God is using Benny Hinn for the salvation of souls? In a small,
but significant and confusing and flustering way, this question
complicates the otherwise strong desire in me for Hinn’s ministry to be
shut down for good.<br />
<h3>
4. You’ll discover that he owns up to the <a href="http://www.faithstreet.com/onfaith/2014/05/09/ten-verses-prosperity-gospel-preachers-need-stop-misuising/32019" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.428571429;">prosperity gospel</a>.</h3>
Unlike the Joel Osteens of the world, Hinn embraces the prosperity
gospel by name. He even calls out “anti-prosperity pastors” and says
they just don’t get it. At a Holy Spirit Miracle Sevice, Hinn will say
“sow your seed” and “prosperity is for real” more times than you can
count. And more:<br />
<div style="padding-left: 30px;">
<em>You can’t expect millions from the Lord if you give him some small amount.<br />
</em><em>In Jesus’ name, we’ll have surplus. Financial surplus is mine . . . is ours.<br />
</em><em>You’re coming out of debt in the next 12 months if you really believe this.</em></div>
Hinn even sends you mail a week later, complete with return envelope
and offering card, reminding you to sow your “seed-gift” in order to
change your circumstances.<br />
Benny Hinn’s ministry can be summed up in his own words: “God’s goal
for your life is prosperity.” By that, he doesn’t mean spiritual
prosperity, life everlasting in the presence of God. No, he means
material wealth, physical health, and general prosperity — which looks
quite unlike <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+9:23">Jesus’ call to deny ourselves and take up our cross daily</a>.<br />
<h3>
5. You may end up walking out.</h3>
For two reasons. One, these things last upwards of five hours. But
the main reason you won’t last the five hours is that you’ll get to a
point of such total outrage at what he’s saying that you won’t be able
to stomach hearing it any longer. I was (barely) able to endure two and a
half hours of “God is about to place a ton of seed in your hands” and
“I sense an anointing for this. It’s going to last four-and-a-half
minutes” before I had to get out.<br />
(Disclosure: apparently, by leaving halfway through, I missed the
faith healings, the slaying in the Spirit, and his message. Lucky me, I
was there for the over two-hour warm-up of “give me your money and
you’ll be debt free.”)<br />
When the service first started, I found Hinn somewhat humorous. Then I
realized the thousand-plus people there were taking every word he said
as truth, and I felt really sad for those people.<br />
But it didn’t take long for that feeling to be replaced by anger.
Hinn is taking advantage of hurting people — and using Jesus to do so,
no less. That’s why you walk out.<br />
<em>Image courtesy of <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/rccghouseofpraise/">House of Praise</a>.</em><br />
<div id="tags">
More on: <a href="http://www.faithstreet.com/onfaith/tag/benny-hinn" rel="tag">Benny Hinn</a>, <a href="http://www.faithstreet.com/onfaith/tag/bible" rel="tag">Bible</a>, <a href="http://www.faithstreet.com/onfaith/tag/charismatic" rel="tag">charismatic</a>, <a href="http://www.faithstreet.com/onfaith/tag/debt" rel="tag">debt</a>, <a href="http://www.faithstreet.com/onfaith/tag/faith-healing" rel="tag">faith healing</a>, <a href="http://www.faithstreet.com/onfaith/tag/money" rel="tag">money</a>, <a href="http://www.faithstreet.com/onfaith/tag/prosperity-gospel" rel="tag">Prosperity Gospel</a>, <a href="http://www.faithstreet.com/onfaith/tag/revival" rel="tag">revival</a><br />
</div>
TUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913313218237884664.post-38976947220894934962014-12-01T08:26:00.000+03:002014-12-01T08:26:14.629+03:00SEVEN REVELATIONS OF FERGUSON<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">by Dan Phillips</span><br />
<br />
I was just as happy to have my plans to write on this yesterday
curtailed by Frank's post, as I usually am. It gave me a day more to
ponder. That done — the ponderation having been ponderously pondered —
I'll offer some thoughts, which in intent will be very like those I
offered about "<a href="http://teampyro.blogspot.com/2008/05/what-i-think-about-florida-revival.html">the Florida revival</a>." That is, they will be Biblical principles whose application is I think fairly obvious.<br />
<br />
<b>Frank's </b>focus was on the <b>undeniable human tragedy</b>. I won't
reinvent that wheel, but will focus on other aspects. I hope the posts
will be complementary. Don't blame his post for not being mine, nor mine
for not being his. Fair enough?<br />
<br />
To the seven revelations of Ferguson:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRkiLOWTsGcd6bgrNPOAJiwe7ufICdd4VvNMrDxCteC6RWhjurjx7gCoajOD-JD_-qJvCPk-zCy3200wjE9jlFLbTIsTiQr8fa9rsrAFYRa9zscgusfuGBxqWs10X6bz2sKY7F39JKqYkZ/s1600/st+bw.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRkiLOWTsGcd6bgrNPOAJiwe7ufICdd4VvNMrDxCteC6RWhjurjx7gCoajOD-JD_-qJvCPk-zCy3200wjE9jlFLbTIsTiQr8fa9rsrAFYRa9zscgusfuGBxqWs10X6bz2sKY7F39JKqYkZ/s1600/st+bw.jpg" /></a><b><span style="color: red;">First</span>: men outside of Christ are still hateful and still hate each other (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Titus 3.3" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Titus%203.3" target="_blank">Titus 3:3</a>).</b> Anger
simmers not far below the surface. Evolution, real or imagined,
biological or social, has changed none of that. No Federal program will
fix it, no state or local legislation will fix it. It is a problem of
the human heart, which lurks beneath every epidermal hue. Someone needs
to propose a solution that <i>transforms hearts. </i><a href="http://www.wtsbooks.com/world-tilting-gospel-dan-phillips-9780825439087?utm_source=dphillips&utm_medium=blogpartners">Anyone know of one</a>?<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: red;">Second</span>: it still is better to gather the facts and hear an array of perspectives before coming to a conclusion (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Proverbs 18.17" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Proverbs%2018.17" target="_blank">Proverbs 18:17</a>).</b> Some
spoke awfully quickly when this situation first made the news. There
seemed to be some feeling that immediate conclusions and statements
should be made and issued.<br />
<br />
One of the problems with this is that, once a public statement has been
made, one is reluctant to walk it back publicly. Human nature and human
pride make it very hard to retract a dogmatic stance, once publicly
adopted. Better to wait longer and say less, than to jump the gun (pun
unintended) and say too much.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: red;">Third</span>: people ought to stick to what they know (cf. <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Proverbs 25.14" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Proverbs%2025.14" target="_blank">Proverbs 25:14</a>).</b> Being
an expert in one area has nothing to do with expertise in others. For
instance, one Christian brother who is a bookish conference
speaker/author offered this:<br />
<br />
<div data-twttr-id="twttr-sandbox-0" style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
To that, an equally-Christian brother with <a href="http://crossencountersmin.com/about-us/meet-tony-miano/">twenty years of actual experience in law enforcement</a> responded:<br />
<div data-twttr-id="twttr-sandbox-1" style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
Neither brother, probably, could do what the other does. It might have
been well for the former to punt on this question, and stick with
Scripture. "A man's got to know his limitations" may not be in Scripture
<i>verbatim</i>, but it's sage advice.<br />
<br />
As I'm trying to do. I'm a Christian, and I'm a minister of the word of
God. If I have expertise, it's there. So I'll endeavor to speak as such.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: red;">Fourth</span>: the very best thing <i>parents of all ethnicities </i>can do for their <i>children </i>is (1) repent and believe savingly in Christ (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="1 John 3.16" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/1%20John%203.16" target="_blank">1 John 3:16</a>), </b><b>(2) </b><b>advance in His Word as genuine disciples (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="John 8.31-32" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/John%208.31-32" target="_blank">John 8:31-32</a>), </b><b>(3) </b><b>involve themselves in a faithful Gospel-proclaiming, Bible-teaching church (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Hebrews 10.24-25" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Hebrews%2010.24-25" target="_blank">Hebrews 10:24-25</a>), </b><b>(4) </b><b>marry before having children and honor the marital bond (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Matthew 19.3-9" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Matthew%2019.3-9" target="_blank">Matthew 19:3-9</a>) — and, in that overall context, </b><b>(5) </b><b>raise children in the fear and admonition of the Lord (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Ephesians 6.4" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Ephesians%206.4" target="_blank">Ephesians 6:4</a>, among many others).</b> In that context, they will teach their children many indispensable life-lessons. For instance, they will <i>teach their children</i> that<br />
<ul><a href="http://www.spurgeon.org/images/pyromaniac/TeamPyro/yoots.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.spurgeon.org/images/pyromaniac/TeamPyro/yoots.jpg" /></a>
<li>The <b>fear of Yahweh</b> is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Proverbs 1.7" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Proverbs%201.7" target="_blank">Proverbs 1:7</a>; <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Proverbs 9.10" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Proverbs%209.10" target="_blank">9:10</a>)</li>
<li>Therefore they should <b>seek and cultivate and embrace</b> the fear of God from their <b>earliest</b> days (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Proverbs 2.1ff" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Proverbs%202.1ff" target="_blank">Proverbs 2:1ff</a>.)</li>
<li><b>Gangs </b>will appeal to their most vulnerable points, but they must consider their <b>violent end</b> and heed the inscripturated voice of God's wisdom instead (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Proverbs 1.10-32" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Proverbs%201.10-32" target="_blank">Proverbs 1:10-32</a>)</li>
<li><b>Immoral people</b> will sweet-talk them, but by Dad's instruction and God's word they should see right through it (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Proverbs 2.16ff" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Proverbs%202.16ff" target="_blank">Proverbs 2:16ff</a>; <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Proverbs 7.1ff" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Proverbs%207.1ff" target="_blank">7:1ff</a>.)</li>
<li>They should <b>pick godly friends</b> who walk in the fear of God, or else they <b>will come to harm</b> (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Proverbs 13.20" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Proverbs%2013.20" target="_blank">Proverbs 13:20</a>; <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Proverbs 22.24-25" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Proverbs%2022.24-25" target="_blank">22:24-25</a>)</li>
<li>They should <b>avoid drunkards </b>(and, therefore, <b>druggies</b>; <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Proverbs 23.20-21" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Proverbs%2023.20-21" target="_blank">Proverbs 23:20-21</a>)</li>
<li>They should <b>study hard</b> in school and <b>learn a profitable skill</b> while children (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Proverbs 22.29" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Proverbs%2022.29" target="_blank">Proverbs 22:29</a>)</li>
<li>They should know that <b>what will matter</b> and will reveal their character is <b>not </b>how they see or <b>feel </b>about themselves, <b>but</b> what they <b>actually produce</b> (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Proverbs 20.11" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Proverbs%2020.11" target="_blank">Proverbs 20:11</a>)</li>
<li>They should <b>take full responsibility</b> for their own <b>choices </b>and <b>actions</b>, and <b>never blame others</b> for what they choose and do (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Ezekiel 18.4" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Ezekiel%2018.4" target="_blank">Ezekiel 18:4</a>, <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Ezekiel 18.20" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Ezekiel%2018.20" target="_blank">20</a>; <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Romans 14.10" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Romans%2014.10" target="_blank">Romans 14:10</a>, <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Romans 14.12" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Romans%2014.12" target="_blank">12</a>; <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="2 Corinthians 5.10" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/2%20Corinthians%205.10" target="_blank">2 Corinthians 5:10</a>; <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Galatians 6.5" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Galatians%206.5" target="_blank">Galatians 6:5</a>, <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Galatians 6.7-8" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Galatians%206.7-8" target="_blank">7-8</a>, etc.).</li>
<li>They should <b>never steal</b>, but instead should be productive and generous (cf. <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Ephesians 4.28" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Ephesians%204.28" target="_blank">Ephesians 4:28</a>)</li>
<li>They should <b>respect officers of the law </b>as God's servants, knowing that disrespect for the office is disrespect for God which invites His judgment (Romans 13, especially vv. 1-5)</li>
<li>If they <b>defy </b>the lawful authority, they should <b>expect God's judgment</b> to fall on them (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Romans 13.4-5a" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Romans%2013.4-5a" target="_blank">Romans 13:4-5a</a>).</li>
<li>If in any of these things they choose to defy God and rebel against Him and His word, they must <b>expect both of their parents to stand with God</b>, and <b>not </b>to make excuses for, coddle, enable, or otherwise try to deodorize their sin (cf. <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Deuteronomy 21.18ff" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Deuteronomy%2021.18ff" target="_blank">Deuteronomy 21:18ff</a>.)</li>
</ul>
<div>
<b><span style="color: red;">Fifth</span></b><b>: faithful pastors must prescribe and teach these things without prejudice (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="2 Timothy 2.14" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/2%20Timothy%202.14" target="_blank">2 Timothy 2:14</a>; <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Titus 3.1-2" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Titus%203.1-2" target="_blank">Titus 3:1-2</a>).</b> What
I'm saying won't make the beautiful people love you. They won't. They
won't praise you (as a Tweep did John Piper) for being "nuanced." You'll
be told you're insensitive, you're ignoring the real problems, you're
impractical. But as a minister of the Gospel, you know better. Sin is
the problem. Sin is <i>always</i> the problem <i>at some level</i>; and there's only one solution for sin. The Son's blood buys your freedom (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Ephesians 1.7" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Ephesians%201.7" target="_blank">Ephesians 1:7</a>), and the Son's word shows you how to live in it (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="John 8.31-32" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/John%208.31-32" target="_blank">John 8:31-32</a>). </div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
That's what you have to give. You're not a social engineering genius.
You're a servant of God who has His word. Don't set it aside. It applies
here.</div>
<div>
</div>
<a href="http://www.spurgeon.org/images/pyromaniac/TeamPyro/balloons.gif" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.spurgeon.org/images/pyromaniac/TeamPyro/balloons.gif" width="203" /></a><b><span style="color: red;">Sixth</span></b><b>:
if the issue of racism is ever to be resolved, people will have to stop
thinking of bitterness and suspicion and resentment and prejudice as
ills that <i>other people </i>really have to get over (cf. <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Romans 2.21-23" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Romans%202.21-23" target="_blank">Romans 2:21-23</a>; <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="1 Corinthians 10.12" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/1%20Corinthians%2010.12" target="_blank">1 Corinthians 10:12</a>).</b> Now,
hear me: If you can read that sentence and think, "Well, he mainly
means whites" or "blacks," you know something I don't. I mean <i>people. </i>I mean you, I mean me. I mean every color on the palette.<br />
<br />
I've seen this in marriage. Every pastor has. The sure prescription for
deadlock, for stalemate, is two people who are willing to change <i>just as soon as</i> the other person changes. You think that doesn't apply here? Mercy.<br />
<div>
</div>
<div>
<b><span style="color: red;">Seventh</span></b><b>: the <a href="http://teampyro.blogspot.com/2012/11/racism.html">only real solution for racism</a> is the one God instituted: the cross of Jesus Christ (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Galatians 3.28-29" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Galatians%203.28-29" target="_blank">Galatians 3:28-29</a>; <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Ephesians 2.14-22" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Ephesians%202.14-22" target="_blank">Ephesians 2:14-22</a>; <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Colossians 3.11" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Colossians%203.11" target="_blank">Colossians 3:11</a>).</b> Astute
readers will say, "Some of those verses are about Jews and Gentiles, so
they don't apply." To that, first: maybe some of those verses are, but
not all; and second, they don't? You think the Cross addresses
Jew-Gentile hatred and suspicion and contempt, but not black-white
hatred and suspicion and contempt?<br />
<br />
There isn't a Federal program that will fix this, or a local one. If one
person says, "Let's make it harder for cops to kill people," another
will say "Let's make it harder for people to menace cops." And each
person will sound like he's enabling <i>some form </i>of sin — either a <b>hypothetical thug's</b> sin against a decent cop, or a <b>hypothetical trigger-happy cop's</b> sin against an innocent teen. You see where this goes? It's all beside the point.<br />
<br />
The point is that only God has the answer, and it's the one we find only in His word.</div>
<div>
</div>
<a href="http://teampyro.blogspot.com/"><img alt="Dan Phillips's signature" border="0" src="http://www.bibchr.com/djp.gif" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913313218237884664.post-81451373141487811472014-11-15T11:26:00.001+03:002014-11-15T11:26:08.485+03:00The God of Weights and Measures<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>Originally posted on <a href='http://ift.tt/1vfHS6U'>hipandthigh</a>:<br/><br />Being the geek that I am, I followed with much enthusiasm the European Space Agency’s successful attempt landing the Philae probe on a comet. [Remember when the USA and NASA used to do that kind of cool stuff? Good times]. The entire process took nearly a decade when the Rosetta orbiter…<img height='1' width='1' src='http://ift.tt/118gBWW' border='0' alt=''/></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913313218237884664.post-72920775605014299192014-11-10T18:20:00.003+03:002014-11-10T18:20:49.820+03:00MEDITATION THAT HONORS GOD<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>by John MacArthur The period of European history known as the Dark Ages were just that—dark. Mortality rates were exceptionally high. Medical advances could not keep up with the spread of disease. Poverty and illiteracy were pervasive. And on top of all that, the light of God’s Word was monopolized and distorted by the Roman […]<img height='1' width='1' src='http://ift.tt/1u1ziHz' border='0' alt=''/></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913313218237884664.post-31733916807906761122014-11-10T18:20:00.001+03:002014-11-10T18:20:47.634+03:00SHOULD I INTERPRET THE BIBLE LITERALLY?<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>by John MacArthur Cynics love to mock Christians who believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible. They note supposed absurdities like, the Bible is a sword (Hebrews 4:12); Jesus is a door (John 10:7); and God is a bird (Psalm 61:4). Of course, such caricatures of the process are obvious misrepresentations of proper biblical […]<img height='1' width='1' src='http://ift.tt/1u1zir0' border='0' alt=''/></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913313218237884664.post-22605700502728376432014-11-05T16:37:00.001+03:002014-11-05T16:37:37.987+03:00BRIDGING THE GAPS BETWEEN BIBLE AND BRAIN<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>by John MacArthur The Bible has been around for thousands of years. That is a huge gulf of history for the modern reader to cross. How are we to understand what the Bible writers were saying, as well as the various circumstances in which they lived? One popular answer from modern pulpits to those questions […]<img height='1' width='1' src='http://ift.tt/1xdtJo3' border='0' alt=''/></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913313218237884664.post-33847436856259565082014-11-04T07:37:00.001+03:002014-11-04T07:37:40.154+03:00THE ELEPHANT IN THE STRANGE FIRE<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>by Cameron Buettel It’s been just over a year since the highly publicized and controversial Strange Fire conference. As a Grace to You employee with a charismatic background, I watched the buildup to the conference with a considerable amount of interest. I am certainly no stranger to the grievous damage caused by reckless false prophecies […]<img height='1' width='1' src='http://ift.tt/10n2koR' border='0' alt=''/></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913313218237884664.post-74369047455571933482014-10-31T10:04:00.000+03:002014-10-31T10:04:01.754+03:00WHY I AM A CALVINIST<div class="block block-delta-blocks block-page-title block-delta-blocks-page-title odd block-without-title" id="block-delta-blocks-page-title" style="border: 0px; color: #40464b; font-family: 'Chaparral Pro', Arial; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
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By Brandon Lucas </h1>
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<article class="node node-blog node-published node-not-promoted node-not-sticky author-john-hendryx odd clearfix" id="node-blog-561071" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="content clearfix" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
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<div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Introduction</strong></div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<img alt="" src="http://www.monergism.com/sites/default/files/content_images/solas2.jpg" style="border: 0px; float: right; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: 190px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: bottom; width: 220px;" />Almost a decade ago I was involved in a titanic spiritual battle between two opposing theological views. I could feel the once rock solid doctrines of free will slipping through my fingers like fine sand. I begged and beseeched the Lord to deliver me from the relentless reasonings and scriptural bombshells ripping the house I had built on the shifting dunes of man-centered doctrines. My pride and self-respect were on the line.</div>
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See, for the first decade of my born-again life I embraced a form of Arminianism that many call Semi-Pelagianism. Simply put, I believed that man's free will is the deciding factor in salvation. Calvinism, which is the belief that God is sovereign over all things, including man's salvation, had recently started making sense to me and I was drawn to it. (While at the same time being repulsed by it).</div>
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Calvinism was a dirty word in my old church. I considered it to be on equal footing with cultic beliefs.</div>
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I used to say such things as:</div>
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"Calvinism is a doctrine of demons!"</div>
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Or worse yet:</div>
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"If God is like how the Calvinists describe him, I would never serve such a cruel, heartless dictator who arbitrarily chooses who will and will not be saved!"</div>
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In my blindness I scoffed at the idea of a completely sovereign Lord who had the power over his clay to mold vessels of honor and of dishonor. From my limited exposure to Reformed soteriology I instead envisioned God towering over a huge golden lottery bin, filled with the names of every living person. I could see the holy angels rotating the bin by hand, mixing up the names so all participants in the game of life get at least a million-to-one chance to win the ultimate prize: everlasting life. I imagined the Lord reaching his hand inside, looking the other way (as to not show preference) and drawing out the lucky names at random. In my vision He then decrees these souls saved for all eternity. The angels rejoice and the Holy Spirit hurries down to earth to let those lucky few know they had hit the jackpot.<br />Yes, I was sarcastic and unrelenting in my disdain against the slandering, blasphemous Calvinist view of the loving and kind God that I knew - or at least the God I thought I knew...</div>
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The truth is, I only recall meeting one person in those first years who called herself a Calvinist. Unfortunately, I wasn't very gracious toward her. In my college days, a girl sat next to me in speech class. We got to know each other a bit and I discovered she proclaimed faith in Christ. We got along great - for a time. One day after class we were walking together and out of the blue she blurted:</div>
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"I'm a Calvinist, you know."</div>
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I was aghast. I did not know <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">real</em> people actually bought into that nonsense. I looked at her incredulously, shook my head and said something like:</div>
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"Why on earth would you believe that garbage!"</div>
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I could tell I had offended her. She offered the vague but often used 'trump card' defense of 'It's what the bible teaches.' I replied:</div>
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"Then why does the bible say that God wills for none to perish? If it's in His complete power to save all, then why does he only choose a few in the end when it's his will for all to be saved?"</div>
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Disappointingly, she offered no rebuttal, choosing instead to walk away quietly. Not surprisingly, she never spoke to me again. In retrospect, if she had vigorously defended her position with scriptures I may have come down this road much sooner than I did. Oh well. It wasn't time, right? God is sovereign and he revealed this truth to me in his own time, in his own way. I'm not complaining!</div>
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I have related the story of <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">how</em> my journey to the Reformed faith began <a href="http://peculiarpilgrim.wordpress.com/2006/12/20/road-to-reformation-part-1/" style="border: 0px; color: #e27700; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">here</a> and <a href="http://peculiarpilgrim.wordpress.com/2007/01/08/road-to-reformation-part-2/" style="border: 0px; color: #e27700; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">here</a> so I will not tread old ground. All I want to get across in this series is the <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">why</em> I crossed over to the dark side.</div>
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God revealed the Doctrines of Grace to me and it has been a mighty humbling experience. I tremble at my presumption for saying I never would serve a God that was completely sovereign over his creation. I now truly understand his Lordship and I am eternally grateful that He has chosen me, not arbitrarily, but also not according to anything I have done. He chose me for his good pleasure and purpose. I am grateful beyond words that He has provided me with an advocate, Jesus Christ, who cleanses me of all sin; even blasphemy spoke in ignorance. Only by his grace and mercy am I now a new creation in Christ, called to do His good works which he has prepared for me in advance to accomplish. I cherish his sovereignty over me and am thankful that all things are done for His glory alone.</div>
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Surprisingly, my conversion from free-will theology to Calvinism came rather swiftly. It's shocking really, if only you could understand the depths of hatred I once held toward those doctrines.</div>
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I resisted initially, desperately hopeful that some sensible compromise existed between these diametrically opposed belief systems. I figured the Semi-Pelagian flavor of Arminianism fell into one ditch while Calvinism veered clear over to the other side of the road. I searched in vain for the imaginary highway that ran through the middle of both views, but I never found any signs to point the way. After wrangling with Calvinism for about 4 months, I finally beheld its beauty with a clarity only the Holy Spirit could grant.</div>
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The ditch I had plowed into, turns out, is really an off-ramp exiting the pothole plagued 'Free Will' service road. It flows into a smoothly paved four-lane interstate winding a clear path to the Celestial City. The road first runs through the firmly established townships of Sola Fide, Sola Gratia, Solus Christus, Sola Scriptura and finally Soli Deo Gloria, which lies at the very gates of the streets of gold.</div>
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You may have already deduced the obvious. My diligent search through the scriptures utterly convinced me of the truth of the Doctrines of Grace.</div>
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The scriptures seen through the lens of God's sovereignty and man's helplessness made clear to me salvation can only be a gift freely bestowed upon those the Father has loved.<br />A Calvinistic world view allowed me to engage scripture passages that in the past I had tended to avoid, because they made me uncomfortable. In retrospect, it is clearly obvious why I avoided them. They shook the very foundations of my belief systems. I passed over difficult passages (such as those found in Romans Ch 8-9) expounding the doctrines of election and reprobation. If ever confronted with them in study or conversation I would quickly throw out carefully articulated defenses I had memorized from teachers opposed to the Reformed Faith without giving the text much thought.</div>
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I won't go into detail about how the scriptures convinced me of Calvinism, but will briefly explain how free will theology failed to answer one very nagging question satisfactorily and how the Doctrines of Grace did answer it.</div>
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The question formed in my mind partly due to the church growth principles embraced so fiercely by my former church. We changed our altar call by adopting a sinner's prayer approach to salvation, which included a pulpit guarantee of eternal life for all who spoke the prayer aloud and 'meant it in their heart.' I questioned the validity of such a presumptuous statement. In these prayers sin was never confronted . The pastor never clearly defined it as a power of wickedness that dominates human nature. He didn't strip people naked (figuratively, of course) and lay them bare before the holiness of God with the righteousness of the law. He didn't send them to their knees, pleading for mercy; a poor sinner in desperate need of grace through the righteousness of Christ.</div>
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The question causing so much unrest in my soul was this:</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Is salvation really as easy as reciting a canned prayer, and sincerely confessing belief in a certain set of biblical truths?</strong></div>
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I didn't remember it being that easy for me! More importantly, where did the Holy Spirit fit into this approach? I had always believed that the ministry of the Holy Spirit actively participated in the conversion of a soul, even if I did not really understand why. I mean, as a former 'free-willie' type, I strongly believed that every person had to make a choice unconstrained by outward influence to follow Christ. To be honest, I am obligated to believe this or my doctrine of free will would be crushed. Yet, at the same time I also believed the Holy Spirit initiated this process, too. I never took the time to examine the obvious dichotomy between these ideas - at least until I began to examine the theology of salvation.</div>
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My search began with man's nature. I quickly discovered man by nature did not seek after God, understand or receive the things of God, nor does he do good. Great enmity exists between man and God. This, in turn, has created a gulf that no man can bridge. The fact of the matter is, no man has any desire to cross that gulf and be reconciled to his Creator - at least not naturally. God took it upon himself to bridge the gap with the cross of Christ. He has reconciled to himself people from every tribe, tongue and nation for His glory alone. The only way God gets all the glory is if salvation is His to bestow on whom He wishes. God's glory shines most brilliantly when we see that our salvation is from His sovereign hand from first to last. The doctrine of man's total depravity utterly convinced me that salvation through rote recitation of a canned prayer is about as effective in converting souls as was the Spanish Inquisition. You might get a lot of converts, but their motivations are often centered solely on the immediate temporal benefits of doing so.</div>
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The Holy Spirit is not only a necessary helper in man's conversion but acts as the lone agent in the regeneration of our souls. This is called the doctrine of Monergism. The Holy Spirit sends us to our knees with deep-hearted conviction. We then crawl to the altar of repentance, sapped of even the strength to lift up our heads toward heaven. With profound regret we beat our breasts and cry out "Lord, have mercy on me a sinner." The Holy Spirit grants us a measure of faith, bestowed as a gift flowing from the cross of Christ. Man cannot come to Jesus in his own power. God, willing to show his great kindness and mercy, plucks many poor condemned souls from the jaws of hell and clothes them in the white robes of righteousness. They shall shine like the sun for all eternity.</div>
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At that point I had allowed the truth of God's word to transform my highly overrated opinion of human nature. I realized God must renew the heart in order for any soul to be rescued from eternal damnation. If all this be true then God must choose who lives and who dies. The bible is clear in showing that only few ever find the narrow gate that leads to life. I then had to redefine the doctrines of election, predestination and foreknowledge. In light of my new understanding of man's inherit corruptness, I could no longer believe that election and predestination referred to <strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">only</strong> God's<strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">plan</strong> of salvation through Jesus Christ. A closer study revealed these verses taught the <strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">actual</strong>salvation of <strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">particular people</strong> through Jesus Christ. I had been taught Arminian doctrine as a toddler Christian. I held tenaciously to it without ever studying the passages thoroughly. If God indeed foreordained only the plan, He must believe in man's natural ability to come to Him of his own free will. But this runs contradictory to the well established truth of man's total depravity. Based on that fact alone, my errant election theology got tossed in the dumpster alongside my 'man is not all bad' belief.</div>
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The domino effect of theological truths beginning with man's <strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">T</strong>otal depravity unfolded very clearly the remaing<strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> ULIP</strong> in short order. Yes, it all makes sense logically, but that alone is not enough to believe it. The scriptures from Genesis to Revelation reveal these truths to be self-evident. I will go deeper in future articles concerning the exegesis of these holy doctrines. For now, know this: The only way I could fiercely embrace these doctrines, that are unquestionably repugnant to the carnal mind, is by the grace of God and submission to the authority of His eternal, inerrant word.</div>
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A great mystery once surrounded the circumstances of my salvation experience that for a decade confounded all my attempts to unveil its secrets.</div>
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Let me start at the beginning. In the summer of 1993 I found a job at the recycling center of a local non-profit agency. They provided a training environment for people with developmental disabilities. The job humbled me, but I did enjoy working with the people. My supervisor lived his Christian faith openly, and stood boldly for his convictions. To make a long story short, he preached the gospel to me for a solid year-and-a-half, slowly chipping away at my granite hard heart. One day he quoted a scripture that flew like a steel-tipped arrow, breaching my great wall of enmity.</div>
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<em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Put on the whole armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the world's rulers, of the darkness of this age, against spiritual wickedness in high places. </em>(Eph 6:11-12)</div>
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I remember getting into my car at the end of the day with that verse blazing through my mind. I paused in the parking lot as illumination fell on me from above. I realized at that moment good and evil were struggling for my very soul. I could not remain neutral in this war. I had to take sides. I either had to stand with God against all the powers of darkness or cast my lot with the devil and his angels. Another, more sobering thought then dawned on me. I had already spent my entire life aiding and abetting the commander-in-chief of the armies of darkness.</div>
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I stewed over those thoughts for several months. One day in late January, 1995 as I prepared to leave for the day, my boss stopped me. He launched into one of his passionate discourses on the goodness and faithfulness of God in his life. At one point he started pounding his desk speaking of the zeal he had for God, quoting from scripture. At that very moment the Spirit of God came upon me with a such a mighty rush that I could sense it in a tangible manner. A great tingling warmth spread from the top of my head to the heels of my feet. I gasped audibly, not quite understanding what had just happened. My boss did not notice my reaction, so I politely acknowledged my appreciation for his word of encouragement and drove home.</div>
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However, an entirely different man arrived home that evening than the one who had woke up that morning. My thoughts were consumed with Jesus Christ and his goodness. I hungered and thirsted for righteousness like a man rescued from a long spell in the desert craves water and bread. I hurried to the nearest bible so I could immediately discover more about this Jesus of Nazareth. I wanted to<em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">know</em> Him. Not just about Him, but to know him in a personal, relational way. I desired to follow Him no matter the cost. I devoured the gospels in a few short weeks. My hunger for the scriptures grew insatiable. I bombarded my boss with hundreds of questions. I amazed him with my new found zeal for Christ and for holiness.</div>
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Simultaneous with my office experience, the Holy Spirit pressed upon me the weight of my sin and guilt before a holy and just God. I repented and put all my trust in Jesus Christ, my Savior. I grew in knowledge and wisdom for the next several years in a Pentecostal, Arminian-leaning church. As I came to embrace 'free-will' theology as the only truth the scriptures taught, I came face-to-face with an apparent contradiction between theology and experience. My mind constantly raised this objection:</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">If repenting and putting my faith in Christ comes before I am born-again, how is it that the Holy Spirit changed me before I did any of those things?</strong></div>
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My experience at work didn't seem to completely match up with the doctrine of free will. I openly admit I didn't spend too much time pondering the inconsistency. I simply shrugged it off. I believed salvation came, at least in part, by my intellect finally grasping the doctrine of salvation (with the help of a slight nudge from the Holy Spirit). I believed I had somehow woke myself from the slumber of ignorance, turned on my own light, took the blinders off my own eyes, unstopped my own ears and grasped with my own hands the salvation that lay before me. From time to time I would think back and wonder about the strange order of events, but I would fall back on the comfortable conclusions my mind and theology had conjured.</div>
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See, my understanding of the salvation process from my education in a 'free-will' church taught that man and God cooperate together in conversion of the soul. The Father initiated the salvation process by giving his Son as an atoning sacrifice, propitiating His wrath, opening the door for all men to become adopted sons of God. Then, in response to the gospel offer, we must do the following:</div>
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<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Admit our condition as a lost sinner in need of salvation from the wrath of God.<ul style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style: disc; margin: 0px 0px 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.5em 0px 0px 1.2em; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Note: This is no longer a pre-requisite for conversion in most churches</li>
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<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Repent of all our sins.</li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Note: This also is no longer essential for conversion in many churches</li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Put all our faith in God, trusting Him to deliver our souls from eternal death</li>
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As a result of man meeting all these conditions by making responsible free-will choices, God will then:</div>
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<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Justify us as free from the guilt of sin</li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Impute the righteousness of Christ to us</li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Give us a new heart that we may hunger and thirst for righteousness</li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Give the Holy Spirit who will empower us to live holy and pure before God</li>
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In summary, man becomes born-again, but only <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">after</em> he has met the four conditions listed above. At the time, this order sounded logical and appeared biblical. However, in recent years as I came to understand the true state of natural man through Calvinism, I questioned the soundness of it. It seems odd that God would require all these things of man, but waits until he fulfills them of his own power before He regenerates him and empowers him.</div>
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In my studies over man's total depravity, I came across a stunning internet article that yielded vital clues to the mystery of my salvation. The article was titled something like 'Does Faith Precede Regeneration?' I initially responded with a sardonic 'Duh!! Faith <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">always</em> precedes the new birth.' I shook my head, wondering why anyone in their right mind would waste precious time writing an article pondering such a silly question.</div>
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However, I decided to have a good chuckle at the author's expense. My laughter quickly turned to gasps of astonishment. Illumination dawned over my fog-shrouded heart. The article taught that man cannot fulfill the conditions of salvation on his own merit, lest his salvation be attributed to his own works, which contradicts the biblical doctrine of salvation by grace alone. If a man of his own abilities can come to Christ then he either has more wisdom, greater intellect, better circumstances, a superior environment or a more tender heart than a man who hears and rejects the gospel. The author raised the question, "What makes a man who receives the gospel to differ from one who rejects it?" The answer lies not in man's innate abilities or environmental circumstances, but simply upon the mercy and compassion of a sovereign God.</div>
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The article emphatically nailed home the truth that regeneration<em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> must</em> precede repentance and faith. These abilities do not reside in us naturally, they are a gift of God through the cross of Christ. Unless you are born-again you cannot even see the kingdom of God much less partake of it.</div>
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It all made perfect sense to me. That day in my boss's office God chose to give me a new heart by his sovereign choice alone. My rock-hard heart split asunder, revealing beneath a new heart of flesh.</div>
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Prior to that moment I did not seek God, I did not feel the weight of my sin, I did not sorrow over my offenses against the holy and righteous Judge of all the earth. I did not desire to read the bible. My natural mind did not accept the things of the Spirit of God. I did not want to give up my life of sinful pleasure. I did not want to obey the commandments. I did not desire to follow Christ. I did not want to believe I was lost and headed for hell. I had no inclination to humble myself and submit to the righteousness of God in Christ.</div>
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But in a twinkling of an eye that all changed, forever. When the Spirit of God came upon me, every belief and desire I had built my life upon dissolved like a sand castle beneath the ocean's tide. Repentance and faith <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">clearly</em> came after regeneration in my experience. I didn't even clearly understand what repent meant until the Spirit worked in me.</div>
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In fact I didn't fall to my knees in repentance until nearly two full weeks after my office encounter with the Holy Spirit. I confess that I put it off so I could make a spectacle of the whole affair. I believed that making a ceremony of it in a special childhood haunt would please the Lord. However, the Spirit of God so overcame me one Saturday at work, that I marched out of my office into a snowstorm and fell to my knees in the middle of a sticker patch, repented of my sins and put all my faith in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. My mouth finally uttered those things God had already worked in my spirit.</div>
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The stages of salvation I once embraced had it all backwards. It's not as simple as ABC. Salvation doesn't depend on human exertion or desire, but on God who has mercy. Here is the <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Ordo Salutis</em> of true biblical salvation, exemplified by my experience.</div>
<ul style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 0px 0px 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1.2em; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. </em>(Rom 8:29)<br />God the Father, from the dateless past, before the foundations of the earth were laid, chose for himself a people out of the world. He set his elect apart for his own purposes, by His compassion and grace alone. My heavenly Father elected me, Brandon, to inherit eternal salvation through faith in his Son, Jesus Christ, who died in my place, bearing in his body all of my iniquities.</li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">And those whom he predestined he also called, </em>(Rom 8:30A) <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.</em> (Joh 6:44A) The Ephesians 6 scripture pricked my heart and the first rays of gospel light shone on my spirit. The Lord opened my eyes that I would know beyond a shadow of a doubt where I stood spiritually. My heavenly Father issued his outward call through His word. The Holy Spirit, on an intellectual level at this point, convicted me of my sinfulness and alliance with the devil and his work.</li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.</em> (Eze 36:26-27) <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."</em>(Joh 3:6-8) The Holy Spirit poured over me in that little office twelve years ago. He granted me a new heart of flesh and renewed my mind by the sovereign decree of the Father. My heart of hate and malice toward god morphed into one of love and gratefulness.</li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ</em>. (Rom 10:17) <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret</em>, (2Co 7:10A) God made his call effectual, granting me the gifts of repentance and faith. He brought me to a position of absolute humility through the constant preaching of my boss. I sorrowed over my sinfulness and threw myself upon his mercy and grace. I repented of my sins and put all my faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.</li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. </em>(Rom 8:30) I have been justified freely by the grace of God. I come nearer to glorification with each passing day. My spirit will eventually be released from this body of death and be present with the Lord. At the resurrection of the righteous I will receive my glorified body and my full sanctification. I will stand boldly before the throne of grace, an adopted member of the Lord's family.</li>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In conclusion, the second reason I embraced Calvinism is because it teaches regeneration precedes faith. I know this not only from the scriptures and by logic, but also from personal experience.</strong></div>
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My coming to Christ the way I did aligns perfectly with this teaching. God took a man who loved himself above all and performed a miracle in his heart; reviving a soul utterly dead in trespasses and sins with a spiritual rebirth, turning his desire away from the passing pleasures of the world to now seeking to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.</div>
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Precisely nine years ago I embraced the doctrines of Grace (also called 5-point Calvinism). It was a chaotic time, where both the tearing down of my old theology and the construction of this new theology were taking place simultaneously in my mind and spirit. To complicate matters, an old friend, who had faithfully attended my weekly bible study for college students, came to my office one day and begged me to start up a new study group. She had come to a difficult point in her life and had a deep hunger for someone to bring her the Word. I had sympathy for her, but didn't feel I was in any position to teach.</div>
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First, I could no longer teach much of what I had in the past. Many of those doctrines, like a house built on shifting sand, laid in a collapsed heap. I was in the process of bulldozing those aberrant beliefs right off my intellectual property. Second, I still did not know enough about Calvinism to be confident enough to teach it. Third, I still had not resolved all the points of Calvinism in my heart and mind yet. I readily accepted the T, the U, and the I but I wasn't so sure about the L and the P. Odd, I know, if the U then the P should follow, right? I've never said I was the sharpest knife in the drawer!</div>
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Anyway, against my better judgment, I plunged ahead with the study and presented my understanding of sovereign salvation to that small audience. It all worked out for the good, though. The class constantly presented challenges that helped to sharpen me. In the end though, only one person from the group came to believe in the doctrines of Grace. She came to visit me in my office one afternoon last year and I asked her pointedly, "have you become convinced that Calvinism is true?" My friend gave me an unforgettable reply. In a humble and almost broken-hearted tone, she said, "Yes it has to be true, because I know my own heart."</div>
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What did my friend mean by this? She is talking about the biblical doctrine of Total Depravity. The prophet Jeremiah sums it up succinctly with his observation that, "<em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can understand it</em>?" (Jer 17:9) Moses recorded that "<em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.</em>" (Gen 6:5) Paul wrote, "<em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot</em>." Rom 8:7) Jesus taught, "<em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">No one comes to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.</em>" (Jn 6:44)</div>
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In other words, the T in the TULIP is readily apparent, derived not only from the scriptures but by observation and experience. I witness its fruit everyday with the perplexing thought processes of my mind and the inner workings of my heart. Darkened thoughts rise up and vain imaginings spring into existence and if not cast down, evil deeds will follow. And this from a man who has been given a new heart! I am being transformed by the renewing of my mind daily, but this process of becoming holy is a slow one, progressing only by the Grace of God that strengthens me in my weakness. If my heart contains iniquity even now, in a state of grace and renewal, how wicked a heart did I have before conversion?</div>
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Allow me to demonstrate just how corrupt a heart I had.</div>
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I had a knowledge of God, but never gave him the glory and honor he is due. I could list all 10 commandments, but never cared to obey any of them. I understood the way of salvation, but only offered him lip service in exchange for a fire-free future. I did not seek Him, yet claimed to possess him. I understood his character and nature in an intellectual sense, yet I molded him into my image. I had heard of his great love, but spurned it. I was warned of His coming wrath, but convinced myself it wasn't aimed at me. I understood that he loved righteousness, yet I despised it. I knew he hated the wicked, but I was basically a good person. God demanded that I turn from sin, but I kept my course steady. God said that I have become worthless, yet I esteemed myself highly. The Lord proclaimed that without him I can do nothing, yet I set my heart to do all things without his help. He declared that without faith it is impossible to please him, but I thought my good deeds would make Him smile. God created me to sing his praises, but I uttered curses instead. I believed Jesus to be the Prince of Peace, yet I did not know the way of peace. The Scriptures demand that I fear God, but for 23 years I had no fear of him before my eyes. God commands for all to repent and believe the Gospel, but I was not willing to do the former nor able to obey the latter.</div>
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I followed the lusts of my own heart without any sense of guilt for my first 17 years. One day during m Jr. year in high school, as I browsed through the merchandise at my local Wal-Mart I came across a Chick tract. <a href="http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0076/0076_01.asp" style="border: 0px; color: #e27700; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">This one, in fact</a>. It literally scared the hell right out of me. I sought refuge in the nearest church I could find. I started going to Sunday school and service for the first time in my life. I soon made a profession of faith in front of the congregation and got baptized. After securing my fire-insurance card, I proceeded to antagonize my Sunday school teacher and talk with my buddy about our weekend exploits on the back pew instead of listening to any of the messages.</div>
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Nothing had changed. My heart was still stone hard and unyielding to the call of God to true repentance and a living faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. I was a baptized pig who had gone back to his wallowing in the mud. My initial reaction to the gospel message in that tract was one of pure abject fear. Not a fear of God in the sense of reverence and awe, but only a dread of eternally burning in the unquenchable flames of hell. I couldn't bear the thought of such a horrible fate and carried out all the necessary outward rituals to avoid it. Unfortunately, though I performed the outward circumcision, so-to-speak, God had not performed the inner circumcision of heart required for true conversion.</div>
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The problem lay in the fact that I still hated God just as much as I did before my 'conversion'. Jesus said the first and greatest commandment is to love the Lord God with all your heart, and with all your mind and with all your strength. I did not love him. I, in fact, despised him for his harsh, unfair and (in my mind) irrational judgment on man. I believed man to be basically decent at heart, but because he fell short of perfection, was forced to pay for it by suffering eternally. I remember feeling sorry for all my friends who were not Christians. They would not listen to my pathetic attempts at evangelism. As a result, I knew they were doomed.</div>
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Eventually, I rejected the doctrine of judgment and hell. As a natural consequence, I eventually denied the authority of the bible as God's revealed word. In my wickedness I adopted a much more pleasant-natured God who accepted everyone on the basis of their own uniqueness. This new age God placed no demands upon my life, but encouraged me to live guilt-free according to whatever my heart desired. The process of conviction, to faith, to doubt, and then to complete unbelief occurred all within 6 months. I had faith, but not a faith that could save. I put my faith into my ability to be pleasing to God by doing what I thought he demanded. After that, I could do as I pleased. These aberrant thought processes are all the result of the depravity of my heart. I did whatever I had to do to achieve the most rewarding benefit to my person. I did not seek God because I wanted to love him, I did not claim to cling to Christ because I wanted to 'know him and the power of his resurrection and in the fellowship of his sufferings'. (Phil 3:10) No, I went through the motions of salvation just so I wouldn't fry in the furnace of fire.</div>
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I am a totally depraved man apart from union with Christ. The holy nature of God given to Adam, which suffered corruption at his disobedience has infiltrated every corner of my entire being because I am his offspring. My heart is full of sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, evil, slander, pride and foolishness. My thoughts are only evil all the time. My carnal mind is at enmity with God. Out of the abundance of my heart my mouth speaks. My body obeys all my lascivious desires. Every single component of my humanity is touched by wickedness. My spirit, my mind, my emotions, my thoughts, my will and my entire heart is in bondage to the power of sin. This does not mean that I am the worst sinner that I can be in my natural state, but the potential for evil greater than history's most corrupt tyrants dwells within my darkened heart.</div>
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The world around me that I read about everyday in the media convinces me that total depravity is alive and well on planet Earth. Terrorists blow themselves up, taking as many victims with them as they can, expecting an eternal reward of beautiful virgins - and you would dare say to me that man is not depraved? A gunmen walks the hallways of a university, public school or shopping mall and opens fire on people he does not know to exact revenge on a society that has supposedly shunned him - and I'm to believe man is basically good at heart? A father takes a gun and murders his two-year-old twin daughters and his three-year-old son and then kills himself - and you want to convince me that we have the ability to love God with all of our hearts? One young boy tells his parents that 'I will kill you' every time he is punished for calling them 'idiots' and 'freaks' - and I should accept that any man would be willing to come to Christ of his own free will? Another older boy, when punished for screaming and throwing things at his parents, then goes into a rage destroying everything in his path - and you want to boast of man's natural ability to repent and believe the Gospel?</div>
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Sorry, I'm not buying it. We have corrupted ourselves in our zest for absolute autonomy and driven ourselves to madness with our lust to indulge every forbidden pleasure. God's common grace is manifested through our conscience and in the civil governments of law and justice. These forces restrain our madness. Should God remove these restraints, society would dissolve and complete lawlessness would reign until man utterly destroys himself. This is the reality of the doctrine of Total Depravity.</div>
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But...</div>
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<em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!</em> (Rom 7:24-25A)</div>
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God's grace has saved me from the great trinity of evil - Me, Myself and I. While I was dead in trespasses and sins Christ has made me alive.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain.</em> (1Co 15:10A)</div>
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The combination of the doctrines of God's absolute sovereignty over all creation and the radical corruption of man form the forge on which Calvinism is shaped and sharpened to a razor edge. I stand in absolute awe of the immeasurable magnitude of God's magnificent grace in light of these biblical truths. Despite man's intent to do evil all of his days, God has unconditionally and lovingly elected a people to call his very own out of every tribe, tongue and nation. He has purchased them out of the bondage of the devil and sin and purified them by the blood of Jesus Christ. He has drawn them irresistibly to himself by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit and has set them upon a rock that shall never be moved. God protects and preserves his precious elect, causing them to persevere through every trial and tribulation. These doctrines are precious to me because they demonstrate God's mercy and compassion to a company of people who deserve nothing but His fierce wrath.</div>
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In summary, <strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">the doctrine of Total Depravity, as taught by God's word, is easily demonstrated by looking both inwardly to the thoughts and desires of one's own heart and by observing the outwardly manifestations of those thoughts and desires in the world around us.</strong></div>
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During my years as a Pentecostal/Arminian Christian I focused my theological studies on an array of supposedly sound biblical topics. I studied Dispensational Theology (though at the time I had no idea what it was called), learning the different epochs of time Earth's history had been neatly packaged into. I dabbled with spiritual warfare, waging battle against all principalities and powers of darkness. I learned how to defend my family against the wiles of the devil. I read many kooky books that inspired me to take up the armor of God and stand firmly against the devil's fiery darts in ways that now make me cringe with chagrin. I danced as King David did (except fully clothed) and anointed everything with olive oil (or Crisco if the former was not conveniently available). I claimed enough territories for Christ during those years that I could have established a whole other country. I scoured the scriptures, scrapping together verses in an effort to discern the times, and determine the signs of Christ's Second Coming. I agreed with both Jack Van Impe and Hal Lindsey that the temple in Jerusalem would soon be rebuilt and the secret rapture of the church would whisk us away while the world would suffer beneath the iron heel of the Antichrist's reign of terror. I spent hours pleading and wrestling with God at the altar, in the desperate hope that he would grant me an authentic, earth-shattering spiritual experience akin to the ones enjoyed by my brethren, who appeared to get a 'dose of the Ghost' on a weekly basis.</div>
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I worked hard to perfect my faith. I constantly exercised my spiritual muscles, speaking words of great faith, staving off sickness and disease, boasting in the power of my personal belief that God wanted me healthy and wealthy all the time. I voraciously rebuked the devil when a case of the sniffles assailed my sinuses. I cursed his name whenever I stubbed my toe, convinced that he was hard at work trying to bring me harm and weaken my faith - in my faith. I would walk around, point my finger at a piece of merchandise that I wanted and claimed it by faith. I then would daily thank God for granting everything that I asked for. I would patiently await for my stuff to miraculously arrive at the front door. Which, by the way, NEVER happened. I followed Scripture's advice to lay hands on the sick and they would recover. I performed this ritual many times - on my broken down Nissan - and marveled at its miraculous resurrection from the dead. I believed in living a sinless life, by faith in my willpower to resist temptation. It became an obsession with me. I would often berate myself for failure to conform perfectly to God's will. I cursed my lack of faith and promised to do better. After all, I had the Holy Spirit! I had no excuse for spots and blemishes any longer. This failure to be perfect eventually led to an unhealthy focus on backsliding and committing apostasy. I would often wonder if I had committed the 'unpardonable sin' by grieving the Holy Spirit with my mistakes. The combination of these toxic doctrines and my utter failure to measure up to God's standards of righteousness caused great mental and emotional distress. It all came to a head in late 2005 when I cried out to the Lord in the dead of night, "Show me the truth!"</div>
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I had lived by faith, but in retrospect I now realize I'd grossly misplaced and misapplied my faith. Many Word-Faith heresies became my foundational doctrine, and at the time I had no inkling that I was in error. However, God revealed himself shortly after my desperate plea. The truth of God's sovereignty shone like a heavenly beacon as I delved deep into the doctrines recovered by the Protestant Reformation. I quickly learned God the Father ordains all that comes to pass and always works according to his good pleasure. For the first time in my Christian life I marveled at the greatness of Christ. He lived a life of perfect obedience, thus fulfilling the righteousness of God. He willingly took up his cross and died, that my sins would be forgiven and his righteousness would clothe me. I stood amazed at the work of the Holy Spirit, who could take a heart, dead in wickedness, and infuse eternal life into it without even a prior hint of godly desire for that life on my part. I slowly came to realize what my Christianity was lacking - Christ himself!</div>
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My religion had been dominated by a plethora of secondary topics. I divulged in countless hours of end times prognostication. I exercised a self-centric philosophy of faith and obedience. I had an unhealthy obsession with spiritual performance and supernatural signs and wonders. All these distractions worked to remove my focus from the only thing that matters - the cross of Christ. I came from a church that viewed salvation by Christ's blood on the cross as only the first step into a victorious and adventurous life of prosperity and personal fulfillment. They <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">assumed</em> the Gospel most of the time. As the leadership thought, so did I. In my personal reformation God re-prioritized my mindset. I began to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. I fixed my gaze upon the King of Kings and his glorious kingdom. I realized that the cross is not a first rung on a spiritual ladder to success, but instead the luminescent sun, burning brightly in the center of my renewed heart. All my doctrine, theology and devotion revolved around it, compelled by the irresistible gravity of Christ's ultimate sacrifice.</div>
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I can honestly attest that for the first 10 years of my Christian life I never truly grasped the glory of Christ in the cross. I pause to wonder if I really <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">was</em> a Christian. I pursued signs and wonders, but failed to see the greatest sign and wonder of all. I turned up every stone, looking for clues to his second coming, while not beholding the majestic beauty of his first coming. I sought a spiritual buzz from the 'Holy Ghost bartender' and refused the cool refreshment of the the living waters of Jesus himself. I worried constantly about falling from grace instead of simply accepting Christ's free grace. I worked to attain a state of sinless perfection, instead of clothing myself with the righteousness of Christ. Calvinism forced me to gulp down the milk of the elementary principles of Christ. By God's grace he quickly moved me on to the strong meat of the word. Contrary to popular opinion, this does not mean that we ever move on from the cross of Christ. I will forever remain anchored to its profound truths, and I never will be able to distance myself from it. How I survived my early Christian life majoring in the minors I'll never understand apart from God's mercy.</div>
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When I became exposed to the doctrines of Grace - Calvinism - Reformed Theology - pick the moniker of your choice, a life of vibrant, lucid faith sharply came into focus for me. The simple revelation that Christianity is all about Christ profoundly changed me. I dare say that it's almost as if I had been born-again - again! An overwhelming sense of awe floods my soul as God reveals to me that he is absolutely sovereign over all people, places and things for all time. I feel horror and revulsion as I begin to peel away the religious facade of feigned innate goodness in man as the scriptures speak to me of our great and awful depravity of mind and spirit. I marvel at the Father's graciousness and mercy in the calling of a people as his very own. His reasons lie within himself and not according to our actions or desires. My heart exults when I attempt to fully comprehend the breadth and depth of God's love for us, as demonstrated in the cross of Christ. I tremble at God's power that 'by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified' (Heb 10:14). I'm forever grateful for the ministry of the Holy Spirit to overcome our obstinate, rebellious natures. I'm thankful that he effectually works the life of God in us so we would revile our sin, love God and flee to Christ. Finally, I'm at rest knowing God loves me so much that although he will not spare me from the trials and tribulations of life, he will preserve me through them, causing me to persevere in the faith.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">So the final reason I am a Calvinist is because in essence it is all about the Lord God, His Christ and the everlasting gospel.</strong></div>
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, I first came to accept Reformed Theology due in no small part to the overwhelming support of scripture. Not just a verse here and a verse there, but the entire fabric of Calvinism is woven together so intricately into every book of the bible that to pick apart the threads of these profound truths is to unravel the whole tapestry of the holy scriptures. I am not overstating this in the least. Personal pride took a mortal blow when I confronted the awful, yet glorious truth of God's marvelous grace fully bestowed upon me <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">despite</em> the cold, hard lifeless heart that contributed <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">not one iota</em> to my coming to Christ.</div>
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Which leads me to the second reason I converted to the doctrines of Grace. Since I was dead in my trespasses and sins, Christ had to make me alive, and so he did. God granted me a new heart. In response I turned away from my great sin and turned toward Christ in repentance and faith. I was born again by the spirit of God - <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">before</em> I repented and believed, not <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">because</em> I repented and believed. I am convinced from the scriptures and by personal testimony that regeneration precedes faith. Faith can only flow from a renewed heart. A renewed heart is a gift of God through Christ. 'Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.' (1Pe 1:3).</div>
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The third reason I embraced the Reformed faith is that I, by the grace granted unto me by the Father, have become keenly aware of the sinful inward workings of my heart, that never ceases to tempt me into once again living a life of debauchery and self indulgence. God's grace constrains me, yet I shrink back in loathing at the unlawful desires that still stalk me day and night. The depravity of my fallen human nature leaves me in awe. How did I not destroy myself completely in the days of my youth? God's hand was undoubtedly upon me even before his call came. Calvinism, which teach me about the total and complete depravity of my entire being, has been irrefutably confirmed by observing the inner workings of my own heart and the manifestation of those inner workings in the world around me.</div>
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Lastly, as I outlined above, I discovered that the teachings of Reformed Theology are God glorifying and Christ-centered. The scriptures all point to the person and work of Christ and the glory of God demonstrated by him and his deeds, which will remain for all eternity. We, the people of God, will stand also as an eternal reminder to the mercy and goodness of the entire Godhead. God the Father elected a people for himself in eternity past, before the foundations of the earth were laid, to glory in his majesty and enjoy his goodness forever. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, took on the likeness of sinful flesh to procure unto himself the elect God had sovereignly chosen, to fulfill his holy justice and righteous wrath against their sin. His crucifixion and shed blood forever sealed these believers as God's own adopted children. The secret unseen work of the Holy Spirit regenerates stone cold hearts and calls men out of the world by a deep conviction of their trespasses. This leads to a loathing of sin and all its destructive power. In turn, the new heart of flesh cries out in faith to Christ, the only source of salvation. We plead for mercy instead of justice, repenting of all uncleanness of the flesh and mind. The renewed heart aches for communion with Christ everyday through fervent prayer, the reading of the scriptures, doctrinally sound preaching and teaching, the joyful singing of hymns and spiritual songs and the reverent administration of the sacraments. For all this I thank you O Lord our Lord. How majestic is your name in all the earth! You have done more for me than I could possibly repay in a thousand lifetimes. I'm grateful not only for doing all these things on my behalf, but also for revealing to my heart the scope and the breadth of your mighty deeds, that my gratitude and thankfulness may pour out to you for as long as we both remain.</div>
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Soli Deo Gloria.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Nairobi, Kenya-1.3237347610112939 36.7987060546875-1.5777267610112939 36.4759825546875 -1.069742761011294 37.1214295546875tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913313218237884664.post-88285180260135305352014-10-31T09:54:00.001+03:002014-10-31T09:54:56.099+03:00CORPORATE EXCOMMUNICATION<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>The excommunication of an individual in your local church should never be done easily or lightly, but sometimes it needs to be done for the love and purity of the church. Done rightly and carefully it exposes false teaching and unrepentant immorality and may have the blessed function of being the means of repentance, reconciliation […]<img height='1' width='1' src='http://ift.tt/1tYbnK7' border='0' alt=''/></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913313218237884664.post-5403322929463151632014-10-23T14:55:00.001+03:002014-10-23T14:55:36.857+03:00GTY Mobile<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>GTY Mobile.<img height='1' width='1' src='http://ift.tt/1FHWj6Q' border='0' alt=''/></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913313218237884664.post-31549361134532488712014-10-23T14:40:00.001+03:002014-10-23T14:40:50.603+03:00GTY Mobile<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>GTY Mobile.<img height='1' width='1' src='http://ift.tt/1rlz5dh' border='0' alt=''/></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913313218237884664.post-21831308803458839852014-10-23T10:54:00.003+03:002014-10-23T10:54:44.318+03:00A Brief Introduction To The Millennium<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>A Brief Introduction To The Millennium.<img height='1' width='1' src='http://ift.tt/1zlvi8M' border='0' alt=''/></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0