Discernment In The Dark

My Journey Into Calvinsm

2011-08-23T14:25:00.000-07:00

(If you would prefer to listen, you can here)

I want to talk about my journey into "Calvinism," as it's so often called, and share with you how this came to be. It's a difficult subject for many people, and can cause all sorts of different responses. My reason for sharing is that I am often faced with negativity, and occasionally even hatred, for being a Calvinist.

First, let me explain why I use the word "Calvinist." Most people, when labeling themselves with different denominations, recognize that this makes it far easier to establish CONTEXT. What do I mean by this? We need to understand that, while we are all Christians, we are all Christians in a different context, and with a slightly different understanding of certain passages of the scriptures. Despite these varying contexts, we must remain unified on the core doctrines of the faith. Where one strays from key doctrines, there is cause for worry. This can be said for many of the cults.

I find denominations extremely helpful in this regard. For example, when meeting a fellow Christian, much can be understood in their saying, "I'm a Confessional Lutheran." For the most part, we now understand (if we know anything about Lutherans) this person's stance on many doctrines. This helps us to avoid confusion, shows us where we are unified, and where we differ. So now we can engage in a conversation and have a more fruitful relationship with each other.

Some Christians are offended by this idea, and would prefer that we all just call ourselves "Christ followers." My next question would be, what Jesus do you worship? What did He do? Why did He do it, and how? Was it necessary for Him to do this? What does this mean for us? Different groups of people will answer these questions very differently. So in the end, we aren't talking about the same person at all.

But my point is simply this: calling myself a 5-Point Calvinist really had nothing to do with Calvin, in the end. I only expect people to have the decency to understand what Calvinism is so they can see where I am coming from.

Which leads me to my story...

My Journey Into Calvinism

I was brought up in a non-denominational church, but despite my many years of calling myself a Christian, I never really was one. I claimed to have faith, but my walk was marked with no sign of repentance. There was no good fruit, and as James writes, faith without works is dead.

After living as I pleased up to my first year of college, many things started taking place, and I could no longer ignore God and stifle my conscience. It was during April of 2009, my freshman year, that I was saved. Since then I have grown and learned a lot, and many things have happened.

For the first time in my life, I actually picked up the Bible and READ it. Not merely opening to a spot of interest and skimming through; but close reading, in context. And this is where I began my journey.

I was actually very scared at the beginning of my walk because I thought of how terrible it would be to fall away. I had called myself a Christian for many years; I prayed a prayer when I was a kid and thought I was saved, but in the end I was a backslider. So, now that I was being sanctified and growing, I thought of how awful it would be to fall away again. I wondered why and how I came to the faith, and I prayed about it for many nights. I was haunted by it. Was I saved because I was smarter than other people, or more spiritual? If I had been born somewhere else, would I still be a Christian? Was it up to me to keep myself going? I did not have answers to these questions, but I prayed about it almost every night, and expressed how grateful I was to God for saving me.

At about this time I was also very stressed and worried about certain loved ones who were not Christians. I wondered why they could not believe, and see what was so plain to me. But in reading Romans, I came across passages that completely changed me forever.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. ²⁹For 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. ³⁰And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. ³¹What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? ³³Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised— who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. ³⁵Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? ³⁶As it is written,"For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered." ³⁷No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 8:28-39)

¹⁴What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! ¹⁵For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." ¹⁶So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. ¹⁷For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." ¹⁸So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. ¹⁹You will say to me then, "Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?" ²⁰But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, "Why have you made me like this?" ²¹ Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? ²²What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, ²³in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— ²⁴even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? (Romans 9:14-23)

These passages made me absolutely sick to my stomach. They shook me to the very core of my being, and confused me terribly. I was psychologically disturbed for many days. It was nearly two weeks, as I recall.

My entire world view was in the process of being reinterpreted by the Scriptures. My own traditions and ideas about God were very skewed. I had always thought that because we have a relationship with God as Christians we are responsible for holding up some end of a bargain. I thought that my salvation was dependent upon my own choice, and I was grateful that I had made the right choice (somehow). I also assumed that all people were on a level playing field so that, given enough reasons and convincing, anybody could be saved. I never trusted or respected God's will in the matter. I also became very upset with God that He would choose me over the people I love. I kept asking, "why, why WHY ME," (which I now feel very foolish for).

Suffice it to say, I was stressed. Yet I did not stop praying and reading the Scriptures. During this period of time it was as if a wall had been placed between God and I. I'm not sure how else to describe it. I was struggling so much, I could not even look out into the world and see God's hand in creation. It was as if God did not exist for this period of time. I do not know if the reader can understand what I am expressing here. For example, I had been looking forward to our family trip to the zoo, so I could look at all the animals with my new eyes, and marvel at the work of God's hand. This was only a month after my conversion, so things were very new and exciting. But when I went to the zoo, I still could not marvel at Creation. It caused me much depression.

I was alone in my walk, in the sense that there were no other people close at hand that could answer my questions or help me through this period. I became desperate, and asked someone on the internet to pray for me. By the next morning, my feeling of despair had dissipated, and I started venturing into knowing and understanding God better; the Living God that I previously had serious misconceptions of, perhaps to the point of idolatry.

Discovering Calvinism

My first run-in with the term "Calvinist" was a little under a month later, in the middle of the summer. I had been diligently searching YouTube for channels that could feed my faith. I came across Lane's Vlog, which is full of educational videos from many ministries. The first video that caught my eye was the featured video. It was about a woman named Monica Dennington. Apparently, she had publicly denounced these "Calvinists" and admonished them to repent. But in response to this a Christian radio station had reviewed her video, pulling it apart and exposing her lack of reason. It was incredible, and I soon became and avid listen of PCR. What stuck out to me most in Monica was her disdain for these people. Though she claimed to be rebuking them in love, she showed her hatred in her refusal to understand what these people even believe, teach, and confess.

My second encounter was while I was walking to church with a friend. She brought up a "Calvinist" who taught Sunday school at her siblings church, who allegedly taught that babies can go to hell. I found this strange. Again, I really did not know that I was Calvinist at this point, (even though I was). I had come to believe the doctrines of grace simply from reading the Scriptures. And, as I explained, these new teachings destroyed my preexisting worldview and my perception of God.

(At this point, some would argue that I should just call myself a Christian if my belief is informed by the Scriptures. Again, those who argue against these biblical truths also call themselves Christians. I do not deny that they ARE Christians, but I do want to establish that we are different when it comes to these doctrines. I also believe that the doctrines of grace are essential to the historic faith, but I am not in a position to say that someone is not saved because they are trapped in their traditions. But I do worry for them, and I would like them to be set free from those traditions and worship God as the Sovereign Creator.)

Over the course of my Sophomore year, and through my summer vacation, I saw many instances on the internet where people would attack Calvinism. I can't think of a better word for what I so often see, so forgive me if that looks like a fallacy, the word "attack." To summarize, my first impression of Calvinism was that most people think it is bad. I also noticed that a lot of the "attackers" had that impression, too. But when they would argue against it, it seemed like they were arguing against the Scriptures.

During my junior year, I made a friend via the internet named Emily. I met her through the Facebook wall of Chris Rosebrough, the host of the Fighting For the Faith radio program. (Just so the reader knows, I had some reason to trust her.) I soon discovered that she and I had a lot in common; AND she was one of those "Calvinists" that I heard so much --and yet understood so little-- about.

I had many questions about Calvinism, and now I had an outlet. She walked me through the TULIP: Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, and Perseverance of the Saints. She was also kind enough to buy a book for me by Dr. James White, "The Sovereign Grace of God," which cleared up so much confusion, and lead me to conclude that I was one of these despised creatures known as Calvinists.

I soon decided that I would begin using the term to summarize my beliefs. And, no surprise, people started flaming me for it. Now I'm another one of those nerdy Reformed folk. But I am very happy with this. I have found a home here, and many wise brothers and sisters who are focused on bringing glory to God. There is no need for me to fear evil because all things happen for a reason. God has used the evil in myself and my life to bring glory to Himself, and for the furtherance of the Gospel. I now know and trust that all things happen according to God's will, and not my own human-will, which was never truly free. I was in bondage to sin, death, and the devil, until God Himself, by His own free-will and choice, regenerated me, leading me to repentance and faith in Him.

Soli Deo Gloria!
Amen

Says An Athesit...

2011-08-13T16:07:00.000-07:00

"Is it a small thing to quench the flames of hell with the holy tears of pity -- to unbind the martyr from the stake -- break all the chains -- put out the fires of civil war -- stay the sword of the fanatic, and tear the bloody hands of the Church from the white throat of Science?
Is it a small thing to make men truly free -- to destroy the dogmas of ignorance, prejudice and power -- the poisoned fables of superstition, and drive from the beautiful face of the earth the fiend of fear?" -- Robert Green Ingersoll

I find it very ironic when people complain about suffering in the world. They are so quick to point a finger at God and blame Him for all of the horrors--disease, rape, murder, abuse, drugs, violence, death--and yet the very reason these things exist is because of us. All of us. Not just the president of a corporation, or a rapist down the street; all of us.

Have you ever done anything to cause another person's suffering?

Think about it.

In all your years, from grade school until now, how many times have you whispered and gossiped, lied, or stolen what does not belong to you? How many times have you bitterly cursed and humiliated people? How many times have you hated to the point where you wished you could hurt someone (or even acted upon this)? When was the last time you used someone for sex? How much suffering did you cause your parents with your rebellious, ungrateful attitude? It is incredible to me how quickly we point fingers at other people and God. Suffering exists because of you and me.

We want God to give us free will, and then we want Him to intervene any time it is in our best interest or convenience; you know, like a butler! You want to ignore Him your whole life, mock Him, despise Him, and when you're in a fox hole, you beg God to help you. You pray, maybe for the first time, for mercy: "God save me!" So let's say God does intervene in the way of stopping you in your tracks whenever you want to sin. He says to you, "don't do that." How quickly would He cramp your style, and get in the way your favorite pet sins? You would tell Him to take a hike. He would get in the way of "your free-will," and "your choices." He would take your self-righteousness and humble you. And you would no longer walk around saying, "this is who I am, and no one can change me! You need to accept me as I am!" No, you would be a new creature, and you would instead be conformed to God's image. I wonder if this is what Mr. Ingersoll had in mind. Probably not.

It just so happens that God does intervene when we are going to sin, and when we are in sin, through our conscience. The law is written on the mind and heart of every person, so that we are without excuse. But most men, in their hatred for and rebellion against God, resist the warnings of their conscience, and sear it shut so it no longer disturbs them. They give themselves over to their passions and lusts, preferring the pleasures of sin for a season over the righteousness found only in Christ. (Rom 1:18-32)

In this way, God has provided a way for all people to recognize their sin, and in turn see their need for a Savior. When we truly understand our condition, and how rotten we are at our very core, the demands of God's holy law leave us helpless. God's law reveals to us how perfect and good He truly is, to the point where no evil can stand in His presence. But God made a provision for us, by sending His son to suffer and die in our place on a Roman cross. Christ willingly laid down His life for His sheep so that they are saved. He died, rose again, and ascended into heaven, and He will return one day in Glory to judge both the living and the dead. And at such a time He will restore the earth to it's former glory.

But sinful mankind wants a world with peace and no tears, where he is still free to serve himself and do as he pleases.

God is not an idiot. We want God to end suffering in the world, but in order to do that He would need to remove us, too. All of us. And we would all end up in hell. There would be no mercy, no more blessings. But if God is to truly be merciful and fair, we all have to suffer together until the end. And in this way God brings Glory to Himself.

²⁹"Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ³⁰Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. ³¹And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Matt 24:29-31)

³⁶"But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. ³⁷ For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. ³⁸ For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, ³⁹and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. ⁴⁰Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. ⁴¹ Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. ⁴²Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. ⁴³ But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. (Matt 24:36-44)

The Apostasy-Driven Church

2011-08-12T18:43:00.000-07:00

¹But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. ²For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³ heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, ⁴treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. ⁶For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, ⁷always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. ⁸Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. ⁹But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men. (2 Tim 3:1-9)

Paul's admonishment here in 2 Timothy seems reminiscent of Romans 1, where he lists many of the abominable sins that people revel in. In Romans, we are told that to judge others is to condemn ourselves, because we are all sinners. However, in 2 Timothy he is referring to something different. The people in mind here are those within the church; teachers or pastors. These sins will exist within the visible church! But how can this happen? And how do we know that Paul has the church in mind as he is writing?

First, we see that these people have an "appearance of godliness," but deny it's power. These are people who put on a religious pretense, but through their very actions deny their faith. These are people who "oppose the truth" and are "corrupted in mind." These people will easily deceive those who do not know the Scriptures, "weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth." People prefer to learn from any other form of religious doctrine or philosophy. The Scriptures and the Gospel are a stumbling block to them, and they have no foundation with which to resist the seductive doctrines of false teachers.

Paul then goes on to contrast Timothy with those who are deceived, saying,

"But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it ¹⁵and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶ All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, ¹⁷that the man of Godmay be competent, equipped for every good work."

So the solution to this problem is being thoroughly acquainted with the Scriptures, always ready to give a defense of the faith and an answer for the hope that is within us. When one's heart and mind are full of God's Word, it makes it far easier to distinguish truth from error, and true prophets from false ones. If this is not something we put into practice as Christians, then inevitably our source of discernment, (or lack there-of), becomes our feelings and emotions. If what a teacher says makes us feel good then it must be good. If they cause us to feel inspired, or bring us to tears, then their testimony is sure. This is a formula that leads to deception, and already this way of thinking has a massive foothold in the visible church. The apostasy Paul predicted is already upon us, and it only becomes worse by the day.

^"^"1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: ²preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching."³ For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, ⁴and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths." (2 Tim 4:1-4 emph. added)

Having itching ears? Teachers to suit their own passions? This sounds a lot like the visible church in America, whether or not we want to see or acknowledge it. In light of this, let us take Paul's admonishment to always be prepared to defend our faith and patiently correct one another, so we will be sound in the faith. There are many pastors nowadays who will malign you for wanting to go deeper in God's Word; for hungering and thirsting after truth found in Scripture. They will call you a "Bible-nerd," and mock you, calling good evil, and evil good. From such men run.

"Our Crossing Story: The time has come to share our story"

2011-08-01T12:47:00.000-07:00

My purpose in this post is to help Jeremy Rogahn and his wife Tracey get their story out. Jeremy is an all too common example of the abuse that occurs at seeker sensitive churches, under vision-casting pastors. I know someone who faced similar circumstances in a church I attended growing up. It is important for people to see and understand the dangers of this movement; when a pastor believes he is receiving direct vision and revelation from God, it becomes impossible to correct or question that pastor, even on Biblical grounds. While there are vision-casting pastors who allow themselves to be criticized and held accountable, far too often arrogant, narcissistic men end up in the pulpit. The results are tragic. This story is not an isolated event. It is prevalent in American churches. Young men who aspire to become pastors in these challenging times would do well to learn from their testimony and be wary. Please take the time to read this summary of events that took place at "The Crossing" church, under "pastor" Eric Dykstra.

Our Crossing Story: The time has come to share our story: " This is our story. We prayed about this for a long time if we should share our story."

Here you can listen to an interview in which Jeremy further fleshes out his experience.

Aiming For Consistency

2011-04-01T15:47:00.001-07:00

To Every Pastor In America and Abroad

2011-03-27T21:42:00.000-07:00

How Not To Witness

2010-10-25T22:29:00.001-07:00

Metaphor, Simile, and You

2010-10-24T14:03:00.000-07:00

Last night I had the privilege of listening to the debate from the Believer's Reason conference (streamed live~!). The debate was on the subject of hell and whether or not it is a literal place. The two speaker's were Chris Rosebrough, who is a Lutheran and the host of Fighting For the Faith, and Doug Pagitt of the Emergent church who hosts Doug Pagitt Radio.

For starters, Chris Rosebrough's argument was well founded and defended using Scripture. He quoted Jesus numerous times, the apostles, and the early church fathers to defend the doctrine of hell. But more importantly, he showed that hell is a literal place, with literal fire. Doug Pagitt does not agree with this view, but his defense was lacking, and there was a great deal of ad hominem in his argument.

I also noticed a HUGE mistake on Pagitt's part, and was suprised Rosebrough didn't pick up on this. Here is a verse Chris used to defend the doctrine of hell:

³⁶ Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.” ³⁷ He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. ³⁸ The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. ³⁹ The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. ⁴⁰ Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. ⁴¹ The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, ⁴² and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. ⁴³ Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear! (Matthew 13:36-43)

In response, Pagitt tried to make it seem as if this entire passage is a metaphor, and said it should not be taken literally. He argued that the unrighteous being burned in a furnace cannot be taken literally in verse 42 if the righteous will not literally become suns in verse 43.

Confused? Yeah, I was, too. The problem here was that Pagitt was confusing metaphor and simile. If the passage had said, "the righteous will be suns in the kingdom," his argument would have been effective. After all, the passage cannot mean that we will literally BE suns. That's silly. So therefore, we do not need to take the burning of the chaff literally either.

OOPS, here's Pagitts mistake. The passage says they will shine "AS THE" sun, or "like the sun" in the translation he was using. This is simile, not metaphor. A simile uses a word or idea to describe something else. The sun is merely describing just how brightly the righteous will shine. It does not say they will become suns. His entire point breaks down once we understand the difference between these literary devices.

He also made the same mistake with the Moses passage. When Moses comes down from Mt.Sinai, his face is radiant like the sun. And Pagitt's response was basically, yeah, but his head wasn't literally a sun right?

No kidding. But his face sure was bright. That's the point, Doug. So the fact that Moses' head wasn't LITERALLY a sun does not negate the fact that he was shining very, very brightly. Just as the righteous will in God's Kingdom.

Test Everything

2010-10-11T17:36:00.001-07:00

From A Filthy Menstrual Rag, To A Clean Garment

2010-10-02T17:49:00.000-07:00

We have this terrible habit of comparing ourselves to others.

Take for example Adolf Hitler. He goes down as one of the nastiest men in all of history, so surely we are all better than Hitler. Take any rapist, thief, or liar and put them on the other end of the scale, and boy do we look good. Or so we think. We always judge ourselves using other people as our standard. It seems there is always someone who is worse than us.

The problem with this logic is that God does not judge us by comparing us one to another. Instead, His standard is Himself: perfect, holy, and righteous. If we do not measure up to that, then we are not good in God's eyes, regardless of how we pan out against each other.

Set aside Hitler and look at yourself. God's standard of goodness is the moral law of the Ten Commandments. Have you kept them? How many lies do you need to tell before you are a liar? 1000? 100? 10? Or just 1? How many times do you have to steal before you are a thief? If I opened up your wallet and stole only $1, I would still be a thief. Have you ever committed adultery? Our generation thinks that this is okay because we are constantly saturated in sex. But Jesus says,

"You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." (Matt 5:27-28)

Jesus also considered hate the same as murder:

"You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ ²² But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment." (Matt 5:21-22)

If we want to call ourselves good because we "do our best," then we had better be prepared to keep every aspect of the law perfectly. We cannot say, "oh look, I keep the Sabbath, so I am obeying," and then the next moment lust after our neighbor, or hate someone, or dishonor our parents. If we try to prove our goodness using the 10 Commandments, and want to be justified by them, then all we are doing is revealing how much we utterly fail at being "good." Remember, God's standard of good is not "doing your best." Nobody does their best. We always cut corners and cheat. We damn ourselves.

All of this said, I often have to respond to those who are in this habit of comparing themselves to others. People often use serial killers as an example to make themselves look better. They say, "I cannot believe in a God that would forgive a serial killer's sins."

I have a lot of sympathy for people who have committed terrible atrocities and are actually sorry for it. People who realize that they have taken the lives, destroyed lives, and then live with the shame and guilt of that. They want to be forgiven, yet they know that they do not deserve it. There is a famous line people use. They say, "God could never forgive someone like me, with the things I have done."

Then let us look at the apostle Paul. Paul wrote a large portion of the New Testament. Many of the epistles were penned by him, and much of the book of Acts chronicles his journey.

Before God knocked him off his high-horse while he was on the road to Damascus, Paul (then Saul) spent most of his time hunting Christians. He would follow them from town to town, turn them in, and have them executed. Many of God's children perished because of Paul's persistence. How did the Lord respond to this? Did He throw a lightning bolt down and kill him? Did He gasp and say, Paul, this is unforgivable? Would it really be shocking to us if God just said, you're toast, pal?

What was surprising was that God was merciful. He took this self-important, legalistic murderer and forgave him. He humbled him, and granted Paul repentance and the forgiveness of sins.

Humans do not do bad things because they are good people; they do bad things because they are bad people. Trying to cover up our sin with "good" works is like taking a pretty carpet and throwing it over a dung heap. The smell alone is enough to reach high heaven. Do you think God will not notice?

God sent His Son to suffer and die in your place, not so you could try harder, or be saved by your own effort, but so that your sins would be paid for in full. Instead of trusting your own goodness, trust the Savior. Put your faith in Him and what He has done on the cross, and not in your own works.

"But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." (Isaiah 64:6)

In the original language, the "filthy rag" was a woman's menstrual rag. It is certainly covered with unclean blood. But the blood of Christ our Savior washes even the filthiest human clean; not by their own effort or worthiness, but my God's grace, by his unmerited favor. Mercy cannot be earned. It is given out of love and compassion. This is truly the most astounding thing about the Gospel. Not that God would punish people for their sins, but that He forgives us.

He Did My Part

2010-09-17T14:48:00.000-07:00

We should be glad that God does not depend upon us and whether or not we can get our i's dotted and our t's crossed, or else He could use no one. I do not pull myself up by my boot straps and expect God to act through me because I have, supposedly, proven that I can do it. That is ridiculous. God uses anyone He wants to, and He always seems to use the least likely person to glorify Himself. Paul rode to Damascus to have Christians slaughtered. But God used him for His purposes anyway. How incredible.

If we are going to say we need to DO, DO, DO this and that in order to make ourselves worthy so that God can use us, then sanctification comes not through the working of the Holy Spirit, but instead through our own hard work and effort. It can be very misleading to say, "He expects us to do our part."

Do we do our part? The answer is no. No, no, no. Do not say, "I did MY part." Christ did our part FOR us, and if we do anything in Him, we are not to say "I did my part, Lord." We instead say "we are unprofitable servants" because we only did what a servant was supposed to do, what we were expected to do anyway. We do this not loving God with all our mind, heart, soul, and strength, and not loving our neighbor perfectly. The only thing that makes anything of our sloppy, pitiable work, a reddened filthy rag, is the blood of the Savior.

Instead of looking at "our part" that we think we have done, look to Christ's part which He has done FOR US and remember that you and I are nothing without His Grace.

Wake up.

2010-09-03T21:08:00.003-07:00

The Social Gospel

2010-08-31T20:36:00.000-07:00

For those who have not yet noticed, there are many false Gospels running amok. One of these, the popular social justice "Gospel," has found favor among members of the emergent church. Just what is this false Gospel? The idea is promoted by teachers such as Rob Bell and Brian Mclaren, and can be discerned from any number of their sermons or books. To outline it briefly, the main focus of this "Gospel" is social justice, that is, elliminating injustice in the world and ushering in God's Kingdom. This is done by our own efforts, because Jesus probably isn't going to return anyway. So what Jesus really wants us to do is go out and help the poor by crushing the head of injustice.

Now, I'm all for helping the needy, but when we place this fruit of the Gospel on a pedestal, the Gospel itself is lost. So rather than feeding the poor being a fruit of the great commission, it becomes the great commission. The preaching of the cross is pushed off to the side, and we are taught to embrace religion and Christ in all His forms. So there is no room for THE Gospel. It has been replaced with a sense of world peace and unity, regardless of what a person believes.

I've listened to quite a few sermons this past year where pastors admonish us to feed the poor, take care of the poor, etc. This would be great, if the Gospel was being proclaimed. And yet in the same sermons pastors will back hand the Gospel and those who preach repentance and the forgiveness of sins. There seems to be an ignorance of death. We are lead to believe that the good news is all about this life, and putting food in our bellies here and now.

There is an excellent illustration in the Scriptures where Jesus tells us other wise:

¹ After these things Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. ² Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased. ³ And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples.
⁴ Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near. ⁵ Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” ⁶ But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.
⁷ Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little.”
⁸ One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, ⁹ “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?”
¹⁰ Then Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. ¹¹ And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted. ¹² So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.” ¹³ Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten. ¹⁴ Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.” (John 6:1-14)

The people were amazed by Jesus because He multiplied the fish and the loaves. Afterward, Jesus departs to go pray, and then later meets His disciples at sea by walking on the water. This next passage utterly decimates the false "social justice Gospel."

²⁴ when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. ²⁵ And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You come here?”
²⁶ Jesus answered them and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. ²⁷ Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”
²⁸ Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?”
²⁹ Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”
³⁰ Therefore they said to Him, “What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? ³¹ Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”
³² Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³ For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
³⁴ Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.”
³⁵ And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. ³⁶ But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. ³⁷ All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. ³⁸ For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. ³⁹ This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. ⁴⁰ And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
⁴¹ The Jews then complained about Him, because He said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven.” ⁴² And they said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”
⁴³ Jesus therefore answered and said to them, “Do not murmur among yourselves. ⁴⁴ No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. ⁴⁵ It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. ⁴⁶ Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father. ⁴⁷ Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. ⁴⁸ I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹ Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. ⁵⁰ This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. ⁵¹ I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”
⁵² The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?”
⁵³ Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. ⁵⁴ Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. ⁵⁵ For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. ⁵⁶ He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. ⁵⁷ As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. ⁵⁸ This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”
⁵⁹ These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.
⁶⁰ Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?”
⁶¹ When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, “Does this offend you? ⁶² What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? ⁶³ It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. ⁶⁴ But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. ⁶⁵ And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.”
⁶⁶ From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. ⁶⁷ Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?”
⁶⁸ But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. ⁶⁹ Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (John 6:24-69)

Notice how Jesus responds when people ask for "food that perishes." He does not give them more bread and fish, or manna from heaven. Instead, He offers them the Bread of eternal life. Why? Everyone that Jesus ministered to, whether they had been rich or poor, sick or healthy, free or bond, were sinners in need of a Savior. In this sense, we are all poor in spirit. We have no righteousness of our own, so Christ offers His own righteousness to us. This is the message we are called to proclaim. While this may involve feeding people along the way, our main motivation must be the preaching of the cross to those who are perishing. We may give them bread today to satisfy their stomach, but without the Bread of Life they will all die.

What's It All About?

2010-08-30T14:33:00.000-07:00

"Its all about getting you to not automatically just say, 'okay, whatever my pastor says is true. He's the man of God. I'm not the man of God, and I've never studied theology, and who am I to challenge my pastor. So I'm just going to believe everything he says without questioning.'

"Yeah, that's a problem, because one of the most dangerous places to be nowadays, spiritually, is inside of a church. And I don't care what brand its got on the outside of it; whether its Southern Baptist, whether its Methodist, whether its Lutheran, or Presbyterian, or Reformed or...'seeker driven'. You're allegiance is to Christ and to His word. When your pastor deviates from Scripture, you're not to just blindly follow your pastor. As a result of this, we have the job that's been praised in Scripture, and that's the job of the Bereans, the work that they did.

"When the apostle Paul breezed into the town of Berea he preached the Gospel to them. Now, the folks there in Berea didn't have the New Testament, because large portions of the New Testament hadn't been written up to that point. But what they did have was a translation of the Jewish Old Testament, in Greek, known as the Septuagint. And what we learn when we read the book of Acts, is that when the Bereans heard the Gospel they immediately went into God's Word, into the Old Testament, to compare what the apostle Paul preached to them to what the Scriptures teach, to see if what he was saying was true.

"Just because he was an apostle--he didn't get a pass. Just because he was somebody...whom Christ appeared to directly--he didn't get a pass. He didn't try to pull the trump card, didn't try to play the authority rank card, and say 'how dare you Bereans question or challenge me! Don't you know that I am God's anointed, and the Scripture say you shall not touch God's anointed!? What I said to you is true, and you will believe it or else, because I am the apostle Paul!' No. That's not what the Scriptures say at all. It says that the Bereans were of a more noble character than the Thessalonians, because they received the Word with joy and they compared the Gospel that Paul preached to God's Word.

"If the apostle Paul doesn't even get a pass, and the Bereans are praised by God the Holy Spirit in His Word as having a noble character because they compared what was preached to them to the Word of God, its worth taking note, and saying, 'you know what. My pastor, Chris Rosebrough, NOBODY gets a pass.' God's Word is true, and all human beings are sinful and capable of grievous error. Sometimes the errors that are committed in the church are done so, well, blindly, because the person doesn't know any better. Sometimes the errors committed in a church are done maliciously. On purpose. Deceptively. The fact is, there are con-men, and women, who are in the church. There are false teachers, con-artists, and others. And as a result of it, we must always be on our guard, especially in the things that pertain to God. Even more so than we should be on our guard against people who engage in deceptive business practices. The Better Business Bureau exists, in part, to help create a way of self-policing businesses so that they can say they meet these Better Business Bureau standards.

"Well, here at Fighting For the Faith, what we do is we compare what people are saying in the name of God to the Word of God with this understanding: what happens in a church, what's taught in a church is far more important in the grand, eternal scheme of things, than whether or not you were ripped off $50 by a Maytag repairman. Or maybe you didn't get the best heath care from your doctor. You see, when it comes to doctors and lawyers and people who have specialized education like that, we are pretty much unified in the sense that we want the best. We wouldn't put up with somebody who basically got their medical degree from a diploma mill. Or somebody who said, 'you know, I just really like...I enjoy medicine. And so, I decided I'd just go, you know, teach myself how to perform surgery and things like that.' Or an attorney who...well...didn't study law, but really is fascinated by Law and Order on television, and therefore also feels that they're qualified to be an attorney. Nobody would go to a doctor or an attorney if those were their credentials.

"And yet when it comes to our eternal salvation, isn't that the exact type of person that many are putting their eternal salvation, basically putting them into the hands of people who have that level of understanding and experience when it comes to God's Word?: they haven't studied, they don't know their languages, they don't know sound biblical theology and doctrine, they don't know the proper distinction between law and Gospel. They couldn't spell sound doctrine if it was given to them in the 1 Million Dollar Question on television. And yet, many people prefer those kinds of pastors because they're entertaining. They can draw a crowd! Yet they can't properly handle God's Word, and they're not qualified to teach, even kindergarten, biblically, and yet they're the head pastors in many, many, many churches. And these are the men who, when you challenge what they say on Biblical grounds, and say 'wait a second...pastor. Or should I say CEO. That's not what God's word says,' they malign and impugn you. They call you divisive, and put you out of the church. Think about it.

"Those men are not pastors. And they're not qualified to do so. And if we wouldn't trust ourselves to a man who never went to medical school, or who flunked out of it, and wanted to practice medicine, why on earth would we trust our eternal salvation--of ourselves, our kids, our family, and our friends--to men who have the equivalent of a diploma mill degree that they sent away for for their ordination. I don't care how many people they can attract to a building, or how good of marketers they are, or how savvy they are when it comes to the latest leadership principles. If they are miserable and unqualified to teach regarding truly handling God's Word, you have no business listening to them, let alone tithing to them. We need pastors who will do the hard work of studying and understanding God's Word, and really digging into it deep bringing out God's Word in a way that highlights Christ and what He has done for us, that placards Him, and Him crucified for our sins, and that call sinners to repentance and the forgiveness of sins in Jesus name, and doesn't cut corners in the name of--basically putting on a show that would be friendly to 'seekers,' cause there's no such thing.

"But instead, soberly, diligently, faithfully, patiently does the hard work of one who rightly handles the Word of Truth, and teaches people sound Biblical doctrine, doesn't twist it, doesn't add to it, doesn't take away from it, isn't ashamed of the Gospel--those men are worth their weight in gold, even if they're not capable or interested in putting on a glitzy rock-and-roll show.

"Something to consider."

-Chris Rosebrough

("Cash For Converts?." Fighting For The Faith. Pirate Christian Radio: 22Jul2010. Radio.)

What Does It Mean To Be Born Again?

2010-08-28T19:07:00.001-07:00

On Judging Others

2010-08-26T13:39:00.000-07:00

I usually get the same response whenever I am critical of a pastor's teaching: it's either 1 Corinthians 1, "you're putting God in a box," or "judge not lest ye be judged." Its frustrating when people avoid addressing the substance of my claim or argument. Instead, they do a Matrix-run all over the walls and ceiling. They manage to dodge all of the bullets, but then they run away while tossing ad hominem over their shoulder. They never address the substance of what I say. This shows that people are unable to defend their position. We always end up dancing around the heart of the matter.

Let's look at "judge not lest ye be judged." What does this mean? In what context are we to not judge others? Are there other places in Scripture where we are instructed to judge? How and why?

Matthew 7 is the famous chapter where Jesus teaches on judgment and hypocrisy. Keep in mind, Jesus tells us to distinguish true prophets from false prophets in the SAME chapter. In John 7:24 we are instructed to judge not according to appearance, but to judge righteously. If Jesus did not expect us to discern truth from error, He would not have told us to beware of false prophets and teachers. In the same chapter Jesus tells us this:

¹⁵ “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. ¹⁶ You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

So here we have Jesus telling us not to judge others, and yet He instructs us to inspect the fruit of prophets. Again, these are two different kinds of judgments. Fruit here does not just mean the outward works of an individual, but also their doctrine. If someone preaches false doctrine, that is bad fruit.

³⁷ If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord. (1 Corinthians 14:37)

¹ “If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, ² and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods’—which you have not known—‘and let us serve them,’ ³ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the LORD your God is testing you to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. ⁴ You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him. ⁵ But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage, to entice you from the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall put away the evil from your midst. (Deuteronomy 13:1-5)

To judge can mean to distinguish or consider carefully.We are not render judgment with the intent of condemning another person. Nor are we to judge others harshly in a way that we would not like to be judged. We are to wary of our own sin so we do not judge others hypocritically. Only God can judge the contents of a person's heart, and only He has the power to damn. But if God did not want us to test our doctrine, He would not have instructed us to do so in the same chapter. He would not have warned about false teachers and false signs and wonders that would appear in the last days.

The Bereans, when they compared Paul's doctrine to the Scriptures, would not have been praised. And Paul, when he rebuked Peter, was not considered divisive. Instead, his rebuke was to correct Peter, not to judge and condemn him. Likewise, we are to be careful and critical of the doctrine our pastors teach. This is not to hurt them, but to help them. If we are not willing to be critical, we are allowing leaven to sift directly into the Church.

Many Christians have this idea embedded into them, that there is no such thing as a godly critic. But critics are a blessing, not a curse. When someone compares your doctrine to the Word of God, and you respond with "judge not lest ye be judged," you do realize that you, too, are judging, right?

He Threw The Money Changers Out Of The Temple

2010-08-23T14:01:00.000-07:00

I've noticed that few things in the church agitate the secular world more than money hungry preachers. I mean seriously. You turn on the TV and there's this dude standing at his pulpit, jangling on about his lust for mammon. All his other preaching is void of the Gospel and sound doctrine, but that doesn't stop him from fleecing the flock for tithe money. And let's not forget; only the people who give will be blessed in future. In fact, if you want to be rich, you have to give them your money. The worst part is that people actually buy this. Some of them are greedy, too, and are actually hoping that God will anoint them in dough.

But other people are already poor, struggling daily to feed themselves and their children. They believe that giving to these charlatans is the only way that God will bless them with the things that they need. This couldn't be further from the truth. So while taking advantage of the sheep, these obese hirelings enjoy a lavish lifestyle, with their private jets and mansions. They tell us its all about prosperity. It's all about the money!

13 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business. 15 When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables. 16 And He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!” 17 Then His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.” (John 2:12-17 emph added)

This is how Jesus responded to those who made the Temple of God into a "house of merchandise." Can you imagine this? Jesus was TICKED---OFF. He made a "whip" to force everyone and everything out, showing the extent of his anger and his disgust at this display. He poured out the money and overturned the tables. Talk about the wrath of God. In Mark 11:17 He also said, "'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations'...But you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’”

Modern prosperity preachers follow suit with the money changers and peddlers of Jesus' time, who sold their wares in God's house. They receive material wealth and blessing while selling your soul to Satan, and it all happens right in the sanctuary. They accumulate for themselves so much wealth on the earth. And then they die.

¹³ Then one from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” ¹⁴ But He said to him, “Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?” ¹⁵ And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.” ¹⁶ Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. ¹⁷ And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ ¹⁸ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. ¹⁹ And I will say to my soul, 'Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.' ²⁰ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ ²¹ “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:13-21)

¹⁹ “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; ²⁰ but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matt 6:19-21)

When Jesus spoke of the abundant life, He was not referring to the abundance of your possessions. His own life was given as a ransom for many, so that we may live. Though we were dead in our trespasses and sins, we are now made alive by the life that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Do not store up things for yourself in this world, things that perish and fade away. No man can take with him what he has gathered on this earth. Read the Word, study it, know it. Look to the cross daily. Pray that God molds you into the image of His Son; that you become less, and Christ becomes more. And beware of the hireling, who cares nothing for the sheep.

Holy Laughter?

2010-08-18T16:30:00.000-07:00

Speaking of discernment, how do we know whether or not a spirit if from God? 1 John 4 tells us:

¹ Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. ² By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, ³ and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.
⁴ You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. ⁵ They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. ⁶ We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

The following was written by Dr. Cathy Burns:

Sadly, the laughing revival is leading us towards the one world religion where Scriptural doctrines and beliefs are ignored for the sake of 'unity.' You probably already know that when sheep are lead to the slaughter, there is a goat (called a 'Judas goat') that goes before them to lead them to their death. After the goat has guided them to their destination, he turns aside while the sheep blindly are led to destruction. I'm afraid that the so-called 'Christian' leaders in many cases today are leading the people as sheep to the slaughter.

Remember how the animals noises such as lions, eagles, oxens, etc. have been manifesting in the meetings? Also, as was mentioned in my last article, Rodney Howard-Browne calls himself the 'Holy Ghost bartender' and claims he is serving 'new wine.' Charles and Frances Hunter refer to this as 'Joel's Bar' 'where the drinks are free and there is no hangover!' Howard-Browne encourages people to: 'Take another drink...the bar is open....Be filled! We loose the power! Have another drink!'

With all this in mind, listen to the words of Jeremiah: 'They shall ROAR TOGETHER LIKE LIONS: they shall yell as lions' whelps. In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will MAKE THEM DRUNKEN, THAT THEY MAY REJOICE, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the LORD. I will BRING THEM DOWN LIKE LAMBS TO THE SLAUGHTER, like rams with he goats' (Jeremiah 51:38-40). This is an amazing prophecy when you consider what is taking place with the holy laughter movement.

As Christians we should have no part in this movement. "Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch" (Matthew 15:14 ).

Burns, Cathy. "Unholy Laughter Part II." Apologetis Coordination Team n. pag. Web. 18 Aug 2010. .

You really think that this is Holy? Something from God? Stop opening yourself up to demonic, spiritual influences and start opening your BIBLE.

The following video is very disturbing. I cannot emphasize this enough. In addition, I will be posting some information in the future outlining the practices of Hindu mystics and how it relates to this movement. Could it be simultaneous mental illness? People playing make-believe? Or is it demonic? This filth is being poured out in all areas of the world, in thousands of churches. Run from this, Church. This is all connected to the occult, mysticism, and the New Age movement, and it has been allowed to flourish because you tolerate it. RUN.

Explaining My Stance Against Rick Warren's Purpose Driven Lies

2010-08-17T16:59:00.000-07:00

(Taken directly from the Fighting For the Faith website.)

Below is a Special Edition of the Fighting for the Faith radio program that exposes the Cult-Like Hostile Takeover Tactics of Dan Southerland's Purpose-Driven Church Transtioning Seminar. The list of cult-like tactics employed by Southerland is LONG. They include:

1. Flat out lies and manipulative double speak
2. Blatant Scripture Twisting
3. New & Direct Extra Biblical Revelation and Visions from God
4. Flat out intolerance for anyone who questions or challenges these "new" Extra Biblical Revelations and Visions that are supposedly from God.

All of these cult-like tactics are exposed and discussed in this special edition of F4F. Furthermore, I cannot emphasize enough the fact that Dan Southerland's Church Transitions company has been the "go to" company used by Rick Warren's Purpose-Driven businesses to train pastors into Warren's Druckerite leadership methodologies.

Please pass this special edition of F4F along and warn the Body of Christ about these cult-like tactics employed by the Druckerites.

(Please listen to this audio when you have time. It is long, almost 2 hours, but extremely important. I can testify to the sad and sinful results of these teachings. Please listen so you can equip yourself against this error, and God bless.)

A Full-Throttle Adrenaline Filled Adventure?

2010-08-15T13:11:00.000-07:00

I spent some time today listening to a sermon by Kerry Shook, on Pirate Christian Radio. Let me relay some of the things I learned.

Kerry's sermon was about being empowered by God so that you can live your life at full-throttle. To demonstrate his point, Kerry had a professional motocross racer come into the church and, during the middle of the service, jump over him using two dirt ramps that they had piled in the sanctuary. The whole stage was fixed up nice for the occasion. The back drop looked like a cliff side, complete with bumps and edges. Mmm.

He kept making reference to the whole dirt bike thing. You know, "full throttle?" And life has its high-side crashes! Look at Peter. I mean, boy did he have a crash. But see, Jesus made him into a champion any way. If you want to be a champion, you need to follow God's plan for your life, here's how you do it....

He capped everything off with the stereotypical sales pitch: the Christian life is an exciting adrenaline rush! There's nothing more exciting and fulfilling than being a Christian!

No chapter or verse there. And that's no surprise. Why? Because the Bible does not promise this.

When you change your methodology, chances are you will change your theology, too. Once you exchange the foolishness of preaching the cross for the foolishness of this world, you lose the Gospel. Its either watered down so as to not offend sinners, or its changed completely so its appealing to them. And that's no Gospel at all.

At the head of his sermon, he misapplied 1 Corinthians 1:18 in order to make his point. So, rather than it looking like this,

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

it looked like this:

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

EmPHAsis on the wrong sylLAble. Then Kerry proceeded to go off on his tangent about the power of God in your life. Missing the forest for the trees? I think that's what this is.

So here we have Mr.Shook, appealing to that which is "relevant" in order to attract sinners; using something flashy to grab their attention, and then giving them principles that they can apply in order to be empowered by God. His Gospel reeked of Rick Warren. It was just like the mulligan analogy, (aka. Jesus is giving you a second chance to get it right). The worst part was that, even though we were told that we should abandon our selfishness, the reason for abandoning our selfishness was motivated by selfish desires. So, as an example, if I were to nail my dreams, money, time, and finances to the Cross (even though the cross isn't for that. Its for our sins) so that I can have a better life, a more empowered life, a full throttle adrenaline rush, is not the motivation for my sacrifice a selfish desire for more? In fact, the entire sermon was focused on me, rather than on Christ and Him crucified for our sins.

I feel really bad for Kerry and I care for him. But for what truth there was in his sermon, there was just as much fault and twisting of God's word. Very frustrating. This is one of those times when you need to look beyond the veil of the nice, well meaning man and look at the fruit of his doctrine.

Now I'll spend some time actually showing from the Scriptures what life we are promised as Christians:

¹⁶ You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. ¹⁷ And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. (Luke 21:16-17)

²⁴ By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, ²⁵ choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, ²⁶ esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures inEgypt; for he looked to the reward. (Hebrews 11:24-26)

³⁶ Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. ³⁷ They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— ³⁸ of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. (Hebrews 11:36-38)

³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ³⁶ As it is written: “ For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”³⁷ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-39)

¹ “These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble. ² They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. ³ And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me. (John 16:1-3)

¹⁸ “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. ¹⁹ If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. (John 15:18-20)

These verses seem pretty grim, especially to an unsaved person. This life is a new definition of "wonderful" I have never seen before. But you know what? Suffering for the sake of Christ is not a grim fate at all. We should not lie to people to make the Christian life look like something it is not. It is a life of daily suffering, daily heaviness, daily picking up our cross and following our Lord. And yet we have rest in Christ our Savior. It is through trials and suffering that God pounds and molds us, like clay, into the image of Christ. In this we do not lean on our own efforts or merits, but on Christ and Him crucified for our sins; on our great God and Savior. He is the champion and hero of the Bible; not us.

Did you know that its okay to live an average, mundane life and still serve the Lord? No, really. It's OKAY. You might be a custodian scrubbing sinks and toilets for the rest of your life, cleaning up the barf of children at an elementary school. You might be a garbage man, taking my trash to the dump every week. You might be a stay at home mom changing diapers and raising your kids. And you know what? That is perfectly fine. You don't need to have a "full throttle life" to please God. That is ridiculous. We live in the real world, and the real world is not Hollywood; its not a Disney movie, its not sunshine and roses. But you can serve and love your neighbor even as a custodian or a mom.

Life is hard work. With the good comes suffering, trials, tribulation, persecution. Christ never told us that He came so we can have a happy life. Not on this side of the resurrection. We have a greater calling than that. It is to preach the Gospel. This can tear apart your home, your family, your marriage. You may be mocked by your relatives and friends. You might be beaten and jailed. Even killed. Acts 5 says this:

⁴⁰ And they agreed with him, and when they had called for the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go ⁴¹ So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. ⁴² And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.

Only Half of the Story

2010-08-14T14:12:00.001-07:00

Using The Law In Evanglesim

2010-08-13T20:11:00.000-07:00

Whenever I tell my Christian friends that I use the Law when I evangelize, I am met with shock and, usually, opposition. The reaction is as follows: "don't you know that we were set free from the law?" Well, yes. But that's not the point.

It is disturbing to me how many people are somehow unaware of all of the passages in the New Testament where the law is used; the passages where Paul instructs us on how to use it and how NOT to use it.

The following is an excerpt from Ray Comfort's book God Has A Wonderful Plan For Your Life: The Myth of the Modern Message:

When I speak of using the Law in evangelism, I don't mean merely making casual reference to it. Rather, the Law should be the backbone of our gospel presentation, because its function is to prepare the sinner's heart for grace. Martin Luther said of the Law, "In its true and proper work and purpose it humbles a man and prepares him--if he uses the Law correctly--to yearn and seek for grace."

The Bible tells us in 1 Timothy 1:8 (AMP), "Now we recognize and know that the Law is good if anyone uses it lawfully [for the purpose for which it was designed]." For what purpose was God's Law designed? The following verse tells us: "The Law is made not for the righteous person, but...for sinners" (1 Timothy 1:9). It even lists the sinners for us: murderers, fornicators, homosexuals, kidnappers, liars, etc. The Law's main design is not for the saved, but for the unsaved. It was given primarily as an evangelistic tool, as a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. D.L. Moody said, "The Law can only chase a man to Calvary, no further.
***************
According to Paris Reidhead, "We have gospel-hardened a generation of sinners by telling them how to get saved before they have any understanding why they need to be saved." Reidhead simply believed that we should not prescribe the cure before we have convinced of the disease. He was not alone in this thought. D.L. Moody states:

It is a great mistake to give a man who has not been convicted of sin certain passages of Scripture that were never meant for him. The Law is what he needs...Do not offer the consolation of the gospel until he sees and knows he is guilty before God. We must give enough of the Law to take away all self-righteousness. I pity the man who preaches only one side of the truth--always the gospel, and never the law.

When we set aside the Law of God and its designed function to convert the soul, we remove the very means by which sinners are able to see their need for God's forgiveness. Matthew Henry stated, "As that which is straight discovers that which is crooked, as the looking-glass shows our natural face with all its spots and deformities, so there is no way of coming to that knowledge of sin which is necessary to repentance, and consequently to peace and pardon, but by comparing our hearts and lives with the Law." John Bunyan, author of Pilgrim's Progress, noted, "The man who does not know the nature of the Law, cannot know the nature of sin."

Christians, it is so important that we include the Law with our presentation of the Gospel, and not only with a passing glace at it. It is uncomfortable to confront others with their sin, but we do so not in a spirit of condemnation. We do this out of love. Jesus died for perps, not victims. Nobody will go to hell because they are a victim of other people's sin. We are under the wrath of God because of our own sin, because we are the perpetrators.

Think of the things the modern "Gospel" presentation offers us: love, joy, peace, happiness, abundance. If this is the "good news," then what is the bad news? That we don't have as much as we could? Of course not. If there is good news, there is bad news. The bad news is that we are sinners in the hands of a perfect, holy, and angry God who must punish sin. The good news is that he made atonement for our sin. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to suffer and die in our place. Crucified under Pontius Pilate, and raised from the dead on the third day, defeating sin, death, and the devil. By his wounds we are healed. Do you understand how serious this is? Moreover, do I need a dead and risen Savior to experience true happiness in life? Not really. No.

When we neglect to preach the full council of God, both Law and Gospel, it is a devastating tragedy.

Comfort, Ray. God Has A Wonderful Plan For Your Life: The Myth of the Modern Message. Living Waters Publications, 2010. pg. 47, 61-62. Print.

Tearing Away The Veil

2010-08-12T13:54:00.000-07:00

I can understand the difficultly Christians have when it comes to addressing false doctrines and false Gospels. I have the same problem. I mean, here is a man (or woman) you trust and admire. A kind, gentle person who only means well and cares for everyone. Someone who goes out of their way to do nice things. Someone who talks about the Bible and Jesus, stands at the pulpit every Sunday and preaches.

And yet, it seems that any time he actually decides to open his Bible, he twists and mangles God's word, or he confuses the law and the Gospel. But, he's so kind and loving, so its only a little mistake...right?

He coos in my ear such pleasant things week after week. His books are so inspirational, but...is that the Gospel? Jesus is giving me a second chance to get it right? Huh? Where is that in the Bible? But I mean, he's so nice, so it must be okay. Just a little mistake. It will be fine. And our numbers are growing, so God must be blessing us, right? How could there be anything wrong?

If this rationalization looks familiar to you, then you need to tear away The Veil.

Galations 1 says this:

⁶ I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, ⁷ which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.
⁸ But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. ⁹ As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.
¹⁰ For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ. (emphasis added)

This is a serious warning from Paul. Preaching another Gospel is a big no-no. Not only will the one who preaches it be condemned, but also all those who were deceived by him. This is why it is so important to always compare what people say in the name of God to the Word of God. We should not rationalize false doctrine, but rebuke, correct, and call to repentance those who are in error. We do not do this because we hate them. Yes, it hurts peoples feelings. But if we love our friends and teachers, we have to stand up for the truth. We are fighting FOR them when we correct them. We fight for the flock, to ensure that no wolves creep in among us.

I think of it this way: when we look at our pastor, it is like he has a veil or tapestry draped over him. We see the happy, kind, loving man; the family man; the man who goes out of his way to do good for others. Whether or not a person is deceptive on purpose is not the issue.The issue is what he preaches. Is his doctrine sound? Is he preaching another Gospel? Does he understand law and Gospel, or does he confuse one for the other?

If you know someone who consistently makes "mistakes," you must correct them. Look beyond the veil. Everyone thinks that it is their neighbor's pastor who is the wolf in sheep's clothing. It is never our own teacher. And yet, those other pastors have thousands, if not millions, of followers who think the same thing: "Its not my pastor, because he's so kind and loving."

2 Corinthians 11 says this:

³ But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicitythat is in Christ.
⁴ For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!

********

¹² But what I do, I will also continue to do, that I may cut off the opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the things of which they boast.
¹³ For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. ¹⁴ And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.
¹⁵ Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works. (emphasis added)

Please be watchful. If you believe that your pastor's false doctrine is okay because he is "kind" or "inspirational," think again. What appears beautiful on the outside, like a white sepulcher, may very well be full of dead men's bones. Do not be afraid to confront your teacher with his false doctrine or Bible twisting. God may use you to get him back on track. You may be hated and ridiculed for it. But please remember the warnings given to us in Scripture. I do not want anyone to stand before the Lord on Judgment Day and hear them say,

"Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?"

and then hear Jesus declare to them,

"I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!"

Using the Law Lawfully

2010-08-11T21:17:00.000-07:00

Galations 2:

5 We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, ¹⁶ knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.
¹⁷ “But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not!

Galations 3:

¹⁹ What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator.
²⁰ Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one.
²¹ Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. ²² But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
²³ But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. ²⁴ Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
²⁵ But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.
²⁶ For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. ²⁷ For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
²⁸ There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹ And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. (emphasis added)

When asked, most people will tell you that they are going to heaven because they are "good." This is why it is so important to use the law as a school master to lead people to the Cross. The 10 Commandments are God's moral standard. It is a mirror for us to look into to see how rotten, filthy, and sinful we are before Him. Those who believe they will be justified by keeping the law are taking the mirror off of the wall and trying to clean themselves with it.

Below are, by far, two of my favorite videos from YouTube. This is a debate between a Mormon and a Christian convert. Shawn was born a Latter Day Saint and was in the system for 40 years. Now he hosts his own program with a heart to reach out to the Mormon people. Please watch these videos and think about how the law is being used differently by Ed the Mormon and Shawn the Christian.

Hardly Compares

2010-08-10T17:14:00.000-07:00

It is incredible how contrasted today's Bible preaching is from that of the early church. The preaching in thousands of churches is so shallow and self-centered, it is no wonder the flock is full of dumb, blind sheep and goats (and I don't mean that to condescend).

We tolerate the nonsense pastors spew because they make us feel good, make us feel like the Bible is relevant to today. Instead of preaching hard, Biblical truths more and more churches are buying into seeker sensitive, purpose driven methodology.

They say God is blessing them because their numbers are growing. But how could this be a blessing when they are preaching unsound doctrine? The change in the message should make it obvious that their congregations are full of goats who long for nothing but worldly pleasure. Why? Because they are still in love with the world!

If we have to quote-mine the Bible for principles to improve our lives, how can we claim the members of a congregation are seeking after God? They are merely seeking "life change," which can be offered anywhere else; Islam, Atheism, Dr. Phil, or a new diet. Rather than seeing Christ in every page of the Bible, we see ourselves and how we can have our best life now.

Think about it for a moment. IF in fact people are seeking after God, then why is it we have to tickle their ears in order to get them in the church? If a person was seeking after God, wouldn't they prefer to read the Bible, in context, to see what God revealed about Himself? Wouldn't they want to hear about their sinful nature, and God's provision? Pastors would be able to preach sermons without twisting and mangling God's word like its some kind of colorful balloon animal. Is it any wonder then that more and more churches, for the sake of being "relevant," are dumbing down their material to appeal to pagans?

The Bible makes it clear that before Christ redeemed us we were dead in our trespasses and sins. Not sick. Not barely breathing. Not broken-hearted. Dead. A corpse. The world is a valley of dry bones. It is only until the Word of God breathes into them that they are made alive. So that is exactly what we are called to do. We bring a message to the world that is a stumbling block to both Jews and Gentiles; that God became a man, lived among us, and was crucified for our sins, pierced for our transgressions. He who knew no sin became our sin. And after lying dead in a tomb for three days, he arose, defeating sin, death, and the devil. And one day He will return in glory to judge the living and the dead. It is foolishness to the unsaved.

Isn't it ironic, then, that in order to appeal to "seekers," we preach everything but this? We tell them how to manage their relationships, money, and time, how to make the rest of their life the best of their life, but not often does the Gospel make even a cameo appearance in sermons.

Our view of Scripture and Christ has been reduced to humanistic therapy. Our understanding and esteem for the word of God is so poor, its no wonder the church is full of confused people, people who aren't even sure if Jesus is the only way, if hell is a real place, or if they'll be with God when they die. The American church has been largely reduced to a circus. What would these people do if persecution came to America? Real persecution. If the price paid to be a Christian was your life?

John MacArthur summed it up with these words,

"I am absolutely 100% convinced that the weakness of the church in America, the superficiality of the church, the shallowness of the church, the hypocrisy of the church is directly related to the absence of any cost or any price to be paid to be a Christian. If you don't have to pay a price, heh, just jump on the bandwagon. If persecution came to America, you'd see a very different kind of Christianity. A whole lot of people who are really good to talk about Jesus won't be talking about Jesus any more. Who profess to know Jesus and to be part of the church, they will stop talking very fast if the price was as high as it is for some people."

You mean if the price was as high as it is for these people? The Chinese Christians should be an example to us all. Says one man,

"I heard that the united States has religious freedom. We want to be like you. We suffer much in China, for the Lord. If you do not need to suffer, you should work hard to proclaim the Gospel, love the Lord more, and read the Bible more. Spending more time studying the word is important, and the Lord will reward you. Please pray hard for the Christians in the underground church in China. We have a price to pay to follow Jesus. The price is suffering and persecution."

(artifacts of apostasy, aka "photos," taken from the Museum of Idolatry at www.alittleleaven.com)

A Common Mistake

2010-08-07T21:08:00.000-07:00

People often make the mistake of running to 1 Corinthians 1 whenever the topic of "division in the church" is aroused. This usually occurs when I point out the error of a pastor in their doctrine or Gospel presentation.

As an example, if a pastor was to, oh...let's say, stand in front of an auditorium of unbelievers and tell them that, as long as they're doing what God wired them to do, God says, 'that's my boy. That's my girl.' You know: A lie. Blasphemy. Taking words out of God's mouth that He never spoke. Let's say a certain pastor was to say this to unbelievers -- reassure them that everything is okay as long as they're living life to the fullest-- rather than give them the Gospel: repentance and the forgiveness of their sins in Jesus' name.

Regardless of whether or not they were supposedly doing what God "wired" them to do, (ex. being a stripper, drug dealer, con-artist), if these people die in their sins they will spend an eternity in hell. In comparing what this pastor says to the Word of God, I am immediately side-stepped and accused of being divisive. People scramble to 1 Corinthians and admonish me to repent for causing division in the church by pointing out a man's lies. And that's exactly what they are. Lies.

So why don't we open up the epistle and look at who and what Paul was addressing, hmmm?

Beginning at 1:10:

¹⁰ Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. ¹¹ For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you.¹² Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” ¹³ Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

There are very important things that Paul is addressing here. Within the body of Christ there is division among believers who, rather than aligning themselves under Christ, view their own teachers and churches as their leaders. They do not understand that, despite there being many ministers and pastors within the Body of Christ, there is only one head of the church, and that is Christ alone. The wisdom of Christ is also being viewed by some as mere secular wisdom. It was popular during this time period to latch onto the latest fads and philosophies. But Paul shows us that God has made foolish the wisdom of this world by the preaching of the cross.

We will come back to this passage in a moment. Let's keep in mind the other places in Scripture where Paul highlights division in the church, it's causes, and how we should respond to it. 1 Corinthians is only one example of division among believers. It would seem that many Christians are unaware of other passages that address this, so let's look at some of them.

First, let's look at Paul's epistle to Titus. Its very short and easy to read, so for the sake of space, I'll quote the sections that directly address division. In this letter, Paul lists the qualifications of ministers within the church. Obviously, if a pastor/bishop does not measure up to these qualifications, his unruly behavior must be taken into account, and a refusal to repent can be considered divisive in and of itself.

Let's start at the tail end of the letter and see what Paul says to do with those who cause division. Beginning at 3:9:

⁹ But avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and useless.¹⁰ Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition,¹¹ knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned.

How are we to treat those who continue in their divisive sin? Jesus first spoke of this and gave us more precise instruction on the first and second admonition. Matt 18:15-17

¹⁵ “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. ¹⁶ But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’¹⁷ And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.

Now let's flip back to Titus and look at what Paul says causes division among believers. Titus 1:10-16:

¹⁰ For there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision,¹¹ whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of dishonest gain. ¹² One of them, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”¹³ This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, ¹⁴ not giving heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn from the truth. ¹⁵ To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled.¹⁶ They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work. (emphasis added)

In Titus 2:1, Paul tells us to counter these things by speaking that which is proper for, or in line with, sound doctrine. We are to rebuke sharply. This may seem harsh, but remember that Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for their hypocrisy and confused doctrines. Christ did not call them vipers and sons of the devil because he hated them. On the contrary, He loved them enough to show them the seriousness of their sin. Love without truth is irresponsibility.

A clear example of one who preaches unsound doctrine appears in 2 Timothy, chapters 3 and 4. Paul gives his readers a glimpse of a terrible apostasy that would strangle churches in the last days. Many people, including myself, believe that we are living at the end of the church age, so we should soberly consider Paul's warning. In 2 Tim 4, Paul charges us to

² Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.³ For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers;⁴ and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.⁵ But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. (emphasis added)

Let's look at the word "endure" for a moment. The idea here is that a person is tolerating or suffering through something. There will come a time when people will prefer teachers who will tell them what they want to hear, rather than learn about the Scriptures and its doctrines. This looks a lot like contemporary churches, where the Bible is quoted out of context as just a little book of principles for having your best life now; churches where pastors are too busy practicing their exegesis on Batman and Kung Fu Panda to even remotely understand a passage of Scripture, let alone teach us what the Word of God actually says. But that is another subject for another time.

Now let's go back to first Corinthians and read the tail end of chapter 1, a beautiful example of sound doctrine and what it means to preach it:

17For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect. ¹⁸ For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹ For it is written: “ I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.”²⁰ Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? ²¹ For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. ²² For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; ²³ but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness,²⁴ but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.²⁵ Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. (emphasis added)

As disciples of Christ, we are called to proclaim the Gospel. We are not to reassure people that everything will be fine as long as they "be themselves." We cannot water down the Good News, or offer it with one hand and then take it away with the other.When the Holy Spirit makes us aware of these things, we should SAY SOMETHING to our pastor or teacher.

Corinthians is only one place in the Scriptures that addresses division, and it is a specific kind of division, with a specific cause. As shown in Titus, the one who points out the falsehood is not in error. If no one in the church is willing to stand up and say anything against Bible twisting, blasphemy, and false Gospels, then the apostasy spoken of by Paul will be born in our pulpits. Unsound doctrine, error, and leaven will be tapped into our minds like a wedge, so slowly and gently that we won't even notice it. So that when someone rebukes our pastor, not knowing the Scriptures, we will immediately scramble to 1 Corinthians chapter 1.

Why I have Created This Blog

2010-08-05T18:02:00.000-07:00

As a young Christian, many things have come to my attention in the past year that I feel pressed to make the Body of Christ aware of. It has become more and more clear to me that many Christians today have little or no Biblical discernment. Whether it be tangling with occultism, twisting God’s Word, or supporting outright apostasy, many Christians do not see the hideous consequences of Biblical illiteracy.
I work from an understanding that all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
That said, this blog will outline and give an account of my observation and response to apostasy, false doctrine, false teachers, and false Gospels, in order to warn and equip the Church against unrighteousness. I will compare what people say in the name of God to the Word of God, and encourage others to do the same.