The wisdom of Charles Spurgeon for our day.

"Brethren, let me ask you, do you imagine that the gospel is a nose of wax which can be shaped to suit the face of each succeeding age? Is the revelation once given by the Spirit of God to be interpreted according to the fashion of the period? Is "advanced thought" to be the cord with which the spirit of the Lord is to be straitened? Is the old truth that saved men hundreds of years ago to be banished because something fresh has been hatched in the nests of the wise? Think ye that the witness of the Holy Ghost can be shaped and moulded at our will? Is the divine Spirit to be rather the pupil than the teacher of the ages? "Is the spirit of the Lord straitened?"My very soul boils within me when I think of the impudent arrogance of certain willful spirits from whom all reverence for revelation has departed. They would teach Jehovah wisdom; they criticize his word and amend his truth. Certain Scriptural doctrines are, forsooth, discarded as dogmas of the medieval period; others are denounced as gloomy because they cannot be called untrue. Paul is questioned and quibbled out of court, and the Lord Jesus is first belauded and then explained away. We are told that the teaching of God's ministers must be conformed to the spirit of the age. We shall have nothing to do with such treason to truth. "Is the spirit of the Lord straitened?" Shall his ministers speak as if he were?Verily, that same treasure of truth which the Lord has committed unto us we will keep inviolate so long as we live, God helping us. We are not so unmindful of the words of the apostle, "Hold fast the form of sound words", as to change a syllable of what we believe to be the word of the Lord."

A SLAVE FOR CHRIST

Once we have been drawn unto to Christ, we become a working part to further the kingdom of God. We are His field that He cultivates as we produce fruits for His glory. We are the structure of His building as He resides in our hearts. Yet, we are only His field and building by the grace of God. The triumph of Christ over death allows us to be used to His glory. After all, to be used of Christ is one of the greatest blessings in the Christian life.

One Month Ago Today

One month ago today, on December 23, Joel Osteen appeared on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace. Many of you will remember hearing about this…. If not, here is the most shocking part of the interview.
(The full transcript can be read here. Or you can watch the YouTube version here.)
* * * *
[Begin Quote]
WALLACE: And what about Mitt Romney? And I’ve got to ask you the question, because it is a question whether it should be or not in this campaign, is a Mormon a true Christian?

OSTEEN: Well, in my mind they are. Mitt Romney has said that he believes in Christ as his savior, and that’s what I believe, so, you know, I’m not the one to judge the little details of it. So I believe they are.
And so, you know, Mitt Romney seems like a man of character and integrity to me, and I don’t think he would — anything would stop me from voting for him if that’s what I felt like.

WALLACE: So, for instance, when people start talking about Joseph Smith, the founder of the church, and the golden tablets in upstate New York, and God assumes the shape of a man, do you not get hung up in those theological issues?

OSTEEN: I probably don’t get hung up in them because I haven’t really studied them or thought about them. And you know, I just try to let God be the judge of that. I mean, I don’t know.
I certainly can’t say that I agree with everything that I’ve heard about it, but from what I’ve heard from Mitt, when he says that Christ is his savior, to me that’s a common bond.
[End Quote]
* * * *
What a sad commentary that is on the level of discernement in broader evangelical circles.
For a much more biblical (read: non-heretical) perspective on Mormonism, and its relationship to true Christianity, see here or here.

Daily Strength From The Word

For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock. Psalms 27:5

Reflection-------For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.
ReflectionImpregnable is the bulwark of defence the Lord has provided in the regenerative blood of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ! Take great courage and comfort in the sure bastion of the Lord's sovereign plan. He cannot be thwarted. He cannot be dismayed. His chosen people can never be trampled or destroyed. Be strong in passion for this truth and proceed in your battle boldly! You are called to righteousness and evangelism—and God's power will be your power in these things.

Christianity vs. Jesusanity -- The Postmodern Temptation By Al Mohler

The most hard-core forms of postmodern thought are generally limited to academic campuses, but the postmodern worldview is trickling down in various forms to the popular level. While postmodern literary theorists debate the meaning of "totalizing metanarratives," at the level of popular piety we see the widespread substitution of "spirituality" for biblical Christianity.

In this sense, spirituality is a project centered in the self and constantly negotiable -- more about "meaning" than truth. Where does Jesus Christ fit in all this? Darrell L. Bock and Daniel B. Wallace argue that popular culture is on a quest "to unseat the biblical Christ." They make their case in Dethroning Jesus [Thomas Nelson]..

As Bock and Wallace explain, classical biblical Christianity is being replaced by "Jesusanity." In their words:

"Jesusanity" is a coined term for the alternative story about Jesus. Here the center of the story is still Jesus, but Jesus as either a prophet or a teacher of religious wisdom. In Jesusanity, Jesus remains very much Jesus of Nazareth. He points the way to God and leads people into a journey with God. His role is primarily one of teacher, guide, and example. Jesus' special status involves his insight into the human condition and the enlightenment he brings to it. There is no enthronement of Jesus at God's side, only the power of his teaching and example. In this story, the key is that Jesus inspires others, but there is no throne for him. He is one among many – the best, perhaps, and one worthy to learn from and follow.

Biblical Christianity teaches that Jesus Christ is both fully human and fully divine. Thus, Jesus does not need to be "humanized." As the Apostle Paul taught in Philippians 2:5-11, Jesus humbled Himself to take on full and authentic humanity. So, the real issue in Jesusanity is not humanizing Jesus, but denying His deity. Christianity and Jesusanity tell two different stories and represent two very different faiths. As Bock and Wallace explain:

Both of these stories afford Jesus a great deal of respect, but they are very different stories in regard to his importance. In one, Jesus is worshipped. In the other, he is simply respected. In one, he is intimately associated with God. In the other, he points to God. In one he is the Way. In the other, he shows the way. We cannot understand the public discussion about Jesus without understanding that the discussion entails these two distinct stories.

Dethroning Jesus comes in the wake of much cultural conversation and media attention devoted to the so-called gospels of Judas and Thomas and the collection generally known as the Gnostic gospels. These texts, never accepted by the Church as Scripture, do present very different understandings of Jesus than that taught by the Apostles and confessed by orthodox Christians. These different understandings are now represented by very different portraits of Jesus in the postmodern public square. As Bock and Wallace argue:

The portrait of Jesus in the public square has led to two stories about Jesus, and this despite the fact that both of these stories have often been called Christianity. One is Christianity, while the other is Jesusanity. The distinction between the two stories has surfaced for a variety of reasons, the most relevant of which we have sought to trace in this first overview. Four basic areas have contributed to the rise of these two different portraits of Jesus: (1) historical skepticism, (2) new imagination, (3) cultural factors that have changed how we assess things, and (4) the innate desire in people to seek, cope with or understand the spiritual. Within these four areas are twelve distinct factors: (1) skepticism about institutional religion of all sorts, (2) the rise of higher criticism, (3) the new finds in archaeology, (4) a larger sea change in the way we view history (written by winners/losers), (5) a selective appeal to ancient evidence, (6) the way Christianity is taught in many religious study programs, (7) increasing media attention, (8) the appeal of public-square crossover novels, (9) the intrigue of the pursuit of a spiritual journey, (10) the cultural desire to acknowledge religious diversity, (11) the growing recognition that religion motivates people, and (12) a brittle fundamentalism.

Each of these factors plays a part, but the "increasing media attention" is surely a major factor. Much of this attention is superficial and sloppy. The National Geographic Society, for example, should be embarrassed by its sensationalism in promoting exaggerated and misleading claims about the Gospel of Judas in its magazine and on television. The authors of Dethroning Jesus helpfully debunk many of the confusing claims made in recent years, answering those who assail the integrity of the New Testament and those who promote sensationalistic claims such as the discovery of the "lost tomb of Jesus."

Of course, more is at stake here than a battle over rival intellectual understandings of Jesus. As Bock and Wallace acknowledge, "Christianity is not Jesusanity for a reason. Jesus is about more than ideas." We must never depreciate the urgency of getting the doctrine right and understanding Jesus Christ as the Bible presents Him. But Jesus demands faith, not just correct knowledge.

Jesusanity fits the postmodern mind and the postmodern mood, but it cannot save. We really do not know what Christianity is if we do not also understand what it is not.

Why Preach the Word? By John MacArthur

For many reasons, faithful and full proclamation of the Word is the only right way to preach.

First of all, such preaching lets God speak rather than man, because it declares God’s own Word. And it is an incredibly thrilling privilege to give voice to God!
Second, preaching the Word is the only right way to preach because it brings the preacher into direct contact with the mind of the Holy Spirit, the author of Scripture. It is for that reason that the preacher of the Word finds the process of study and discovery to be even more rewarding than the preaching that results from it, gratifying as that can be.
It is tragic and puzzling that so many preachers who recognize Scripture to be God’s own Word spend more time investigating and interacting with the limited and imperfect minds of other men than delving into the infinite and holy mind of God. Part of the reason, of course, is that many hearers do not really want to delve into the depths of God’s righteousness and truth, because it exposes their own shallowness and sin. In his second letter to Timothy, Paul warned his son in the faith about the danger of those who hold “to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power” (2 Tim. 3:5). Later in that same epistle he would warn again that “the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine;. . . and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths” (2 Tim. 4:3–4; cf. Acts 20:29–30).
Third, preaching the Word is the only right way to preach because it forces the preacher to proclaim all of God’s revelation, including those truths that even many believers find hard to learn or accept.
Fourth, preaching the Word is the only right way to preach because it promotes biblical literacy in a congregation, not only through what is learned from the sermon itself but also through the increased desire to study Scripture more carefully and consistently on their own. The faithful pastor, and all other faithful believers, love to learn God’s Word because they love the God of the Word.
Fifth, preaching the Word is the only right way to preach because it carries ultimate authority. It is the complete and perfect self-revelation of God Himself and of His divine will for mankind, which He has created in His own image.
Sixth, preaching the Word is the only right way to preach because only that kind of preaching can transform both the preacher and the congregation.
Seventh, the final and most compelling reason that preaching the Word is the only right way to preach is simply that it is His own Word, and only His own Word, that the Lord calls and commissions His preachers to proclaim.

Beware of Game Stop By Shannon G.

Recently, I visited a store called “Game Stop”..…3 of them to be exact. The reason for my visit was that my sons were given a Game Stop gift card for Christmas. Unaware of what the entire store sells, I found myself surrounded by more devilish games than I’d ever seen under one roof.
Searching for something that may be of some benefit to my two young children, I resorted to looking for batteries and educational computer games. When I couldn’t find any, I asked the gentleman if he had any educational games for the computer. To my hearts sadness, he said that the company decided to do away with games like that. This led me to other stores hoping that they may have something that would be useful that I could purchase with the gift card. Instead, all sorts of video games displaying demons, witches, violence, and witchcraft surrounded me. Disgusted, I glanced at titles such as “Saved (demonic),” “Left Behind (extremely violent),” “Dark Messiah,” “Devil’s Cry,” “War Craft,” and much more. Many game ratings included words such as extremely violent, sex, profanity, and murder.
It was a supermarket of what I’d like to call ‘the devil’s playground.’ I couldn’t help but overhear children disrespecting parents and even the employees using abbreviated swear words as they searched for games. Is it any wonder the children are acting this way I thought to myself??? How sad to see parents accompanying their children and even buying them games that will feed their soul with sin and death.
I could not wait to get out of the store. I ended up leaving with batteries and a few used DVDs (surprisingly descent and useful). I must say that I was greatly disturbed to see what intrigues the young minds of so many today. It is no surprise that we are living in a world that is increasingly evil by the minute. It is a scary thing to raise children in these perilous times. I urge anyone who has children to beware of what they are doing and stay far away from stores such as Game Stop who sells and even allows you to play demos of what I deem to be the most demonic, evil games that I have ever seen!

Prayer Request for My Dear Friend

I received some very tragic news today. It was about a Woman whom I know, and love dearly, that is dying. She has a very odd disease: one that many doctors could not even diagnose.

The reason it is such an odd disease is that it begins by affecting certain parts of the body, and then, almost in sequence, attacks other parts in order. The progression of how this virus attacks the body is important, because it renders the victim helpless first, and then once the victim is paralyzed, slowly eats away at the person’s internal organs.

First the disease attacks the brain. It reprograms the brain so that it no longer functions properly. Thinking about painful things causes pain for the victim, but thinking about pleasant things causes pleasure. Naturally, the victim begins thinking about the things that cause pleasure, and soon they cannot think about anything else.

Next, oddly enough, the disease goes after the taste buds, and food begins to lose its flavor. After a while the victim cannot even tell what they are eating or drinking, and the only thing that seems to satisfy them is a milkish beverage that is a blend of all kinds of foods mixed together. By the time the disease digresses to this point, don’t even mention meat or fish or anything solid to the victim, because, remember, the victim’s brain begins processing this milkish blend as pleasant. As a result, the victim falls ill to severe weakness and malnutrition.

Then, the disease attacks, of all things, the legs and the arms simultaneously. This renders the victim fairly helpless, as they can no longer move about freely, and must rely on others to take them from place to place, to help them dress, and even to feed them.

Then, the disease gets really nasty. One by one, the internal organs are attacked. The liver, the pancreas, the lungs, the heart. Somehow this disease is able to slowly begin digesting each organ, eventually leaving nothing but empty space. The ultimate effect is that the body, which is already paralyzed, becomes little more than an empty, rotting shell. It’s not long before enough organs are eaten away that the victim dies a horrible death.

The worst problem of all, however, is that the victim doesn’t know any of this is happening. Because the brain is attacked first, it reprograms the victim’s thinking to feel that everything that is going on is normal, healthy, and right. As the victim slowly dies, she has the sensation that all is well. As she begins wasting away, she feels –in her own mind – that she is young and vibrant, and that she will live forever. Then she suddenly dies.

There is one Doctor whom I’m told has a cure for this disease. However, it can only be introduced at a prescribed time during the life-cycle of the disease. The Doctor –probably because the procedure is so invasive- has chosen not to tell us when he will provide the cure. However, my friend the victim is so far gone, we’re confident it can’t be much longer.

The friend that I love so dearly has a name. She is called Evangelical Church. The Great Physician, who is the only One that has properly diagnosed the disease, has named this insipid, nasty, virus Satan.

Won’t you please pray for my friend, who also happens to be the lovely Bride of the Great Physician? Pray that the Cure will come, and that it will arrive before the Bride is no longer recognizable.

This is my prayer, and I believe that there’s no greater prayer that we can pray.

Amen.

The Heidelberg Catechism, This Lord's Day week 3

Q6: Did God create man thus, wicked and perverse?

A7: No,[1] but God created man good and after His own image,[2] that is, in righteousness and true holiness; that he might rightly know God his Creator, heartily love Him, and live with Him in eternal blessedness, to praise and glorify Him.[3]
1. Gen. 1:312. Gen. 1:26-273. II Cor. 3:18; Col. 3:10; Eph. 4:24

Q7: From where, then, does this depraved nature of man come?

A7: From the fall and disobedience of our first parents, Adam and Eve, in Paradise,[1] whereby our nature became so corrupt that we are all conceived and born in sin.[2]
1. Gen. ch. 3; Rom. 5:12, 18-192. Psa. 14:2-3; 51:5

Q8: But are we so depraved that we are completely incapable of any good and prone to all evil?

A8: Yes,[1] unless we are born again by the Spirit of God.[2]
1. John 3:6; Gen. 6:5; Job 14:4; Isa. 53:62. John 3:5; Gen. 8:21; II Cor. 3:5; Rom. 7:18; Jer. 17:9

The Weight of Glory The Significance of C.S. Lewis by Dr R.C. Sproul

C.S. Lewis emerged as a twentieth-century icon in the world of Christian literature. His prodigious work combining acute intellectual reasoning with unparalleled creative imagination made him a popular figure not only in the Christian world but in the secular world as well. The Chronicles of Narnia and The Space Trilogy, though rife with dramatic Christian symbolism, were devoured by those who had no interest in Christianity at all, but were enjoyed for the sheer force of the drama of the stories themselves. An expert in English literature, C.S. Lewis functioned also as a Christian intellectual. He had a passion to reach out to the intellectual world of his day in behalf of Christianity. Through his own personal struggles with doubt and pain, he was able to hammer out a solid intellectual foundation for his own faith. C.S. Lewis had no interest in a mystical leap of faith devoid of rational scrutiny. He abhorred those who would leave their minds in the parking lot when they went into church. He was convinced that Christianity was at heart rational and defensible with sound argumentation. His work showed a marriage of art and science, a marriage of reason and creative imagination that was unparalleled. His gift of creative writing was matched by few of his twentieth-century contemporaries. His was indeed a literary genius in which he was able to express profound Christian truth through art, in a manner similar to that conveyed by Bach in his music and Rembrandt in his painting. Even today his introductory book on the Christian faith — Mere Christianity — remains a perennial best seller. We have to note that although a literary expert, C.S. Lewis remained a layman theologically speaking. Indeed, he was a well-read and studied layman, but he did not benefit from the skills of technical training in theology. Some of his theological musings will indicate a certain lack of technical understanding, for which he may certainly be excused. His book Mere Christianity has been the single most important volume of popular apologetics that the Christian world witnessed in the twentieth century. Again, in his incomparable style, Lewis was able to get to the nitty-gritty of the core essentials of the Christian faith without distorting them into simplistic categories. His reasoning, though strong, was not always technically sound. For example, in his defense of the resurrection, he used an argument that has impressed many despite its invalidity. He follows an age-old argument that the truth claims of the writers of the New Testament concerning the resurrection of Jesus are verified by their willingness to die for the truths that they espoused. And the question is asked: Which is easier to believe — that these men created a false myth and then died for that falsehood or that Jesus really returned from the grave? On the surface, the answer to that question is easy. It is far easier to believe that men would be deluded into a falsehood, in which they really believed, and be willing to give their lives for it, than to believe that somebody actually came back from the dead. There has to be other reasons to support the truth claim of the resurrection other than that people were willing to die for it. One might look at the violence in the Middle East and see 50,000 people so persuaded of the truths of Islam that they are willing to sacrifice themselves as human suicide bombs. History is replete with the examples of deluded people who have died for their delusions. History is not filled with examples of resurrections. However, despite the weakness of that particular argument, Lewis nevertheless made a great impact on people who were involved in their initial explorations of the truth claims of Christianity. To this day, people who won’t read a Bible or won’t read other Christian literature will pick up Mere Christianity and find themselves engaged by the acute mental processes of C.S. Lewis. The church owes an enormous debt to this man for his unwillingness to capitulate to the irrationalism that marked so much of Christian thought in the twentieth century — an irrationalism that produced what many describe as a “mindless Christianity.” The Christianity of C.S. Lewis is a mindful Christianity where there is a marvelous union between head and heart. Lewis was a man of profound sensitivity to the pain of human beings. He himself experienced the crucible of sanctification through personal pain and anguish. It was from such experiences that his sensitivity developed and his ability to communicate it sharply honed. To be creative is the mark of profundity. To be creative without distortion is rare indeed, and yet in the stories that C.S. Lewis spun, the powers of creativity reached levels that were rarely reached before or since. Aslan, the lion in The Chronicles of Narnia, so captures the character and personality of Jesus; it is nothing short of amazing. Every generation, I believe, will continue to benefit from the insights put on paper by this amazing personality.

Grassley Probes Televangelists' Finances

http://wtopnews.com/?nid=116&sid=1287449

Hinn joins Dollar in refusing to answer questions in Senate investigation

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=071206_1__Aseco62017

Televangelist Defends Spending

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/07/national/main3464730.shtml

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/06/cbsnews_investigates/main3456977.shtml

http://spm100.wordpress.com/2007/11/06/joyce-meyer-creflo-dollar-benny-hinn-eddie-long-kenneth-copeland-and-paula-white-target-of-gop-senators-probe/

FG Theology and Matthew 7:21-23 (Part 2) By Matt Waymeyer

Today’s post is continued from yesterday’s discussion on “Free Grace” Theology and its interpretation of Matthew 7:21-23.

A Misguided Hermeneutical Approach
The second problem is that the FG view apparently sees John 6:40 as the interpretative key which unlocks the hidden meaning of Matthew 7:21. There is nothing in the immediate context which leads the interpreter to understand “the will of the Father” as faith in Christ, and only when this meaning is imported from John 6:40 does this interpretation emerge. But where does that leave the original hearers’ of the Sermon on the Mount? Without a copy of the Gospel of John in their hip pockets, they would be left completely in the dark, with the true meaning of Matthew 7:21 hidden from their eyes.
On top of that, even if the original hearers had possessed the Gospel of John, what would compel them to look to John 6:40 to discover the meaning of Matthew 7:21? FG teachers confidently state that the meaning of “the will of the Father” in Matthew 7:21 can be found in John 6:40, but how do they know that? The whole approach seems to betray a desire to preserve FG theology. Unfortunately, it does so at the expense of the clear meaning of Matthew 7:21-23.
A Complete Misunderstanding of John 6:40
Thirdly, the FG explanation completely misinterprets John 6:40. In other words, this interpretation not only ignores key details in the immediate context of passage under consideration, but it also uses John 6:40 to import into Matthew 7:21-23 meaning which is not even found in John 6:40! Put simply, the will of the Father in John 6:40 is not God’s will for mankind, but rather God’s will for His Son Jesus.
Consider the verse in its context. In John 6:38-40, Jesus says:
(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 Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. (40) For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.
Verse 38 is simple enough: Jesus says He has come to do with the will of the Father. He follows this up in verse 39 by explaining what this will is: that He (that is Jesus) would lose none of those whom the Father has given to Him, but rather that He would raise up all of these believers on the last day. In verse 40, Jesus elaborates further on what He has said in verse 39 (indicated by the explanatory gar [“for”] at the beginning of v. 40) by again explaining the will of the Father for Jesus. The will of the Father, He says, is that all believers will have eternal life (the emphasis being not on the present possession of eternal life but on the future culmination of it). And who is going to make sure they have eternal life? Who is going to accomplish the Father’s will and guarantee this eternal life by raising believers up on the last day? Jesus! As He says at the end of verse 40: “I Myself will raise him up on the last day.” Jesus will indeed accomplish the will of Him who sent Him, and therein is the hope of the believer.
To summarize, the will of the Father in John 6:38-40 is not that people would believe—it is that those who do believe would have eternal life and that Jesus would guarantee this by raising them up on the last day. None whom the Father has given to the Son shall perish, because Jesus shall do the will of the Father. Therefore, to use John 6:40 to interpret Matthew 7:21 may seem to get FG off the hook, but it amounts to a careless handling of the Word of God. If FG teachers are determined to relieve the tension that exists between Matthew 7:21-23 and their theology, they will need to seek some other way to do it. My vote is that they jettison their theological system altogether.

“Free Grace” and Matt. 7:21-23 (Part 1) By Matt Waymeyer

Matt is the Senior Pastor of Community Bible Church in Vista, California.

In case you haven’t heard of it, “Free Grace” is the name given to a theological system founded by Zane Hodges and currently promoted by Bob Wilkin and The Grace Evangelical Society. According to “Free-Grace” theology (hereafter FG), genuine conversion does not necessarily result in a spiritually transformed life. In other words, FG advocates affirm that an individual can believe in Christ and yet show forth absolutely no fruit whatsoever in terms of obedience to God or love for Christ. Put another way, they believe in a regeneration which may or may not result in progressive sanctification. Most times, they say, it does not.
FG teachers would go so far as to say that if an individual were to believe in Christ for a brief moment—even as brief as 10 seconds—and then recant of that belief and live out the rest of his life as a Christ-rejecting atheist who never obeys God, that individual is a true child of God and will some day be in heaven. In other words, rather than recognizing that such an individual did not truly believe in Christ to begin with (1 John 2:19), Free-Gracers would affirm that person’s faith and conversion as genuine, for regeneration is no guarantee that one will persevere in the faith.
Among the many passages of Scripture which contradict FG on this point is Matthew 7:21-23. In this passage, Jesus says:
(21) “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. (22) Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ (23) And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’”
The obvious problem that this presents for the FG position is Jesus’ assertion that only those who “do the will of my Father” will enter the kingdom. This runs contrary to the FG gospel which says that most of those who end up in heaven will not have lived a life of obedience to God during their lives on earth.
One of the primary ways that FG teachers try to solve this dilemma is by using John 6:40 to interpret “the will of My Father” in Matthew 7:21 (e.g., see Joseph Dillow, The Reign of the Servant Kings, 199; Bob Wilkin, Confident in Christ, 216). According to this approach, doing the will of the Father in John 6:40 (and therefore in Matthew 7:21) refers to believing in Christ. Therefore, Matthew 7:21 simply says that only those who do the Father’s will (which is to believe in Christ) will enter the kingdom of heaven. And with that, the tension between Matthew 7:21-23 and FG theology suddenly vanishes. Or does it?
To get right to the point, I believe that this approach to Matthew 7:21-23 suffers from at least three significant difficulties: (1) a neglect of the original context; (2) a misguided hermeneutical approach; and (3) a complete misunderstanding of John 6:40. (Today we will consider the first of these three. We will look at the other two in tomorrow’s post.)
A Neglect of the Original Context
The first problem is that this explanation of Matthew 7:21-23 ignores key details in the text itself. The most obvious one is the clear contrast that Jesus establishes between those “who [do] the will of the Father” in verse 21 and those “who practice lawlessness” in verse 23 (both present participles in the Greek). Those who do the will of the Father (i.e., live lives of obedience) will enter the kingdom (v. 21), but those who practice lawlessness (i.e., live lives of disobedience) will not enter the kingdom (v. 23). “Doing the will of the Father” most naturally refers to obeying God, and the way it is set in contrast to living a life of disobedience only confirms this interpretation.
In addition, there is an irony in Jesus’ description in which those who call Jesus “Lord” do not obey Him as Lord. In other words, they profess to be followers of Christ who live in submission to God’s authority, and yet they do not live in obedience to the will of the Father. Their lives of disobedience betray the hypocrisy of their confession. As it is often said, they profess, but they do not possess.
FG theologians respond to this interpretation with two objections. First, they insist that it amounts to a person trusting in his own obedience as the basis for his salvation. In response to this objection, Jesus is not saying that obedience to the Father is the basis of the believer’s salvation, but rather the inevitable result of it. Only those who obey the will of the Father will enter the kingdom because everyone who truly believes in Christ will demonstrate their faith in the way that they live. Genuine conversion will not fail to result in works of obedience.
This truth is taught throughout the New Testament, but one example will suffice. 1 John 2:3 says: “And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.” We don’t come to know Christ by obeying His commandments—rather, the evidence that we have already come to know Christ (through faith) is that we obey His commandments. In this way, obedience to God is not a prerequisite for conversion—it is an inevitable result of conversion. FG people seem to have a difficult time understanding the difference between the two (and therefore often reject the latter because they mistake it for the former).
The second objection involves the passage itself. FG teachers point out that the very individuals who are rejected by Christ in verse 23 are described in verse 22 as those who trust in their obedience as the basis for their salvation. (Verse 22: “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’”) Therefore, the objection goes, whatever Jesus means by “the will of the Father” in verse 21, it couldn’t refer to a life of obedience to God.
In response to this objection, the works that Jesus describes in Matthew 7:22 are not acts of obedience to the will of the Father. Nowhere does God command the common man to prophesy, cast out demons, and perform miracles. The individuals rejected by Christ claimed to be engaged in these activities in the name of Jesus—and they may have been—and yet, at the same time, they had not lived lives of obedience to the Father. In fact, just the opposite—they had lived lives of lawlessness. In contrast, only those who do the will of the Father will enter the kingdom.
(To Be Concluded Tomorrow)

Jesus Christ, the Only Way By Dr RC Sproul

Click Here For Video........ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxX3kEJT88g&eurl=http://www.symphonyofscripture.com/?p=631

SCIENTOLOGY By Rev. Paul Seiler

Click Here to read full Document....... http://www.christianlibrary.org.au/cel/documents/cults/11.html

The Cruise Indoctrination Video Scientology Tried To Suppress

Click here http://gawker.com/5002269/the-cruise-indoctrination-video-scientology-tried-to-suppress

Belly Dance Classes at Church?

Please take a moment and click the linkhttp://www.northwoodchristian.com/index.html and share your comments about this with this church. Take a stand with Truth Matters Today. Also notice on there calender page the use of Yoga in the church.

Learn how to Belly Dance at North Wood Christian Church in Indianapolis? Sure, why not? Nothing is sacred anymore and if they incorporate Belly Dancing into their worship services we're sure that it will be a 'relevant' way to get some of the men of indianapolis into church.

We All Error In Bible Interpretation, But . . By. William Plumer

The knowledge of God possessed by angels and by the spirits of just men made perfect in heaven, is very different in degree from that possessed by even good and able men on earth. Here all men are liable to err, and all men do err. No man on this earth is without some wrong view, or some ignorance, which mars his knowledge. This is no reason for sloth or discouragement; but is a good reason why we should be humble and careful and teachable, and pray for divine light and guidance. It is far different in heaven. There they do always hold the face of God. Matthew 18:10. They do not hope for anything, for they already possess all good. Romans 8:24. "Now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part, but then shall I know even as also I am known." 1 Corinthians 13:12. Knowledge without any mixture of error belongs only to the heavenly state. And yet a great part of the knowledge which the inhabitants of heaven have - concerns the very things which good men are learning in this world. Those above know perfectly what we know in parcels only.

Comments Concerning Lititz Grace By Rev. Charles J. Paul

The following three comments were made to J&J Bible Ministries. Concerning the last posting to Lititz Grace entitled Lititz Grace Chose To Ignore Meeting Over Doctrine...

Mark said...
"If you had received an email from Rick Warren or Bill Hybels, you and your staff would have responded with open arms immediately."This statement speaks volumes!
January 12, 2008 2:58:00 PM EST

Anonymous said...
I applaud every church that wants to win seekers, connect postmoderns with Jesus, and impact baby boomers or generation X or millennials or whatever. God loves people and they all need Christ regardless of their culture or their background or whatever. The problem I have had through the years is with the notion that if you are really serious about reaching these secular generations you have to somehow get beyond the Bible. Churches pride themselves on their cultural relevancy as they play Beatles songs in the Sunday service, and jettison the Bible to the back seat in favor of felt-need talks on subjects of supposed interest to the secular mind. This philosophy has divided countless churches across our country as Christians and God's Spirit within them are starving to be fed biblical depth and challenge. Jesus' commands to "feed my sheep" are skirted in favor of the priority of preaching to lost secular people without the Word of God. All of this is defended from the Mars Hill sermon of Acts 17????
January 12, 2008 6:57:00 PM EST

Anonymous said...
"As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly." - Proverbs 26:11 In consideration of all the scriptural neglect Hybels and his colleagues have facilitated over the years trying to "transform the planet," (sounds like an alien invasion) is Hybels' oopsy-daisy admission that "We made a mistake" his idea of repentance? Seeing as we're talking about the founder of the world's largest and most influential seeker-sensitive church, it would certainly seem so. But, if this pragmatic preacher doesn't expect real repentance from his "converts," I suppose we shouldn't expect it from him either

Good, Bad, or In Between: A short survey of the doctrine of man By Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller

Name that CreedWhat is man? All theologies answer this question. Some say man is good; others that man is bad, but most say that there is a mix of good and bad. So we'll play a theological game (you're favorite kind, I know). Below are four statements on the teaching of man and the depth of sin, your job is to guess who said it.

Man is responsible for sin because he is endowed with free will; yet he is by nature frail, and the tendency of the mind is to evil: "For the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth" (Gen. viii. 21)
“By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. Through the temptation of Satan man transgressed the command of God, and fell from his original innocence whereby his posterity inherit a nature and an environment inclined toward sin. Therefore, as soon as they are capable of moral action, they become transgressors and are under condemnation. Only the grace of God can bring man into His holy fellowship and enable man to fulfill the creative purpose of God.”
“[Original sin] is a deprivation of original holiness and justice, but human nature has not been totally corrupted: it is wounded in the natural powers proper to it; subject to ignorance, suffering, and the dominion of death; and inclined to sin-an inclination to evil that is called 'concupiscence.'”
"Nor do I absolve my own self of blame: the human soul is certainly prone to evil, unless my Lord do bestow His Mercy: but surely my Lord is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful."
Before we get to the answers, let's point out the difficulty of the game: all the answers are the same! The key word in each answer is 'inclination'. In the first answer: “the tendency of the mind is to evil.” In the second and third: “a nature and an environment inclined toward sin” and “inclined to sin.” And in the last answer: “The human soul is certainly prone to evil.” There is a common theme in all of these teachings, and that is that man is not good, and yet not necessarily evil, but inclined and prone to do evil.

Now for the source of each statement:
The Jewish Encyclopedia
Baptist Faith and Message (2000)
The Catechism of the Catholic Church, 405
The Quran 12.53

Stunned? It is an amazing thing that modern Judaism, the Southern Baptist Church, the Roman Catholic Church and the Muslim religion have the same doctrine of man. All of these teach that man is wounded, sick, troubled, but that there is still some degree of freedom and life in the will of man.

I, A Poor, Miserable SinnerMost people think of themselves as a “pretty good person.” The Scriptures beg to differ. The denial of original sin means that most people live in the delusion of their own freedom, but the Bible teaches that all men are dead in trespasses and sin. How many good people are there?

St Paul answers:
It is written: "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one." "Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive." "The venom of asps is under their lips." "Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness." "Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known." "There is no fear of God before their eyes." Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.” [Romans 3:10-19, see also Ephesians 2:1ff]

The Scriptures teach with clarity that man is wicked and unholy, and yet (as we have seen above) this teaching that no one is righteous or holy is almost universally denied. But this makes sense. Our sinfulness is so complete that we are blind to our sinful condition.
Imagine a man who falls off a ladder and breaks his ankle. He is broken and he knows it, he cries out for help from someone else. But imagine again that this man breaks his ankle and his back. Now he doesn't feel the pain of his injury, and in fact might not even know that he is hurt. “Give me a hand up, I'll be okay.” So is our fall, we are so badly hurt that we do not even feel the injury; we do not know the depth of our sin.
Martin Luther talked of this trouble, that our sin is so deep that we don't even feel it: “This hereditary sin is so deep and horrible a corruption of nature that no reason can understand it, but it must be learned and believed from the revelation of Scriptures, Psalm 51:5; Romans 6:12ff; Exodus 33:3; Genesis 3:7ff.” [Smalcald Articles III.I.3]

What Does it Matter?Most churches teach that our sin is a tendency, not a death.

Does this matter? Yes, in fact the Gospel is at stake.
If the article of Justification is the article upon which the church stands or falls, then the article of original sin is the article upon which justification stands or falls. When we know the depth of our sin then we know the height of God's love for us. The law shows us the depths to which we have fallen, our complete inability to love, serve and fear God, our complete lack of freedom, and so our utter dependence on Jesus for freedom, life and salvation.

Our Lutheran Confessions comment on this: But the knowledge of original sin is necessary. For the magnitude of the grace of Christ cannot be understood and no one can heartily long and have a desire for Christ, for the inexpressibly great treasure of divine favor and grace which the Gospel offers, unless our diseases be recognized. As Christ says Matt. 9, 12; Mark 2, 17: They that are whole need not a physician. The entire righteousness of man is mere hypocrisy and abomination before God, unless we acknowledge that our heart is naturally destitute of love, fear, and confidence in God that we are miserable sinners who are in disgrace with God. [Apology to the Augsburg Confession, II.33-34]

The depth of our sin puts the “alone” in front of grace, in front of faith, in front of Christ. When we know the depth of our sin then we cry out with full voice to God, “Help!” “Lord, have mercy!” And the Biblical doctrine of our original sin gives us the comfort that Jesus has done all to win our salvation. This is the only comfort for sinners. May God grant us this comfort in life and in death.

The Church’s Mission Statement? By Jesse Johnson

A mission statement is a brief statement of the purpose of a company or religious or other organization. Companies sometimes use their mission statement as an advertising slogan, but the intention of a genuine mission statement is to keep members and users aware of the organization’s purpose.

The mission statement should be a clear and succinct representation of the enterprise’s purpose for existence. The intent of the Mission Statement should be the first consideration for any employee who is evaluating a strategic decision.

Here is a quiz for you to see if you can recognize which company’s mission statements these are:

1. ”A computer on every desktop and in every home, running our software”
2. Establishing ourselves as the premier purveyor of the finest coffee in the world while maintaining our uncompromising principles while we grow.
3. ”We seek to be the world’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they may want to buy online at a great price.”
4. “To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world.”
5. ”Organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”
6. ”To give ordinary folk the chance to buy the same thing as rich people.”
7. “To make people happy.”

The answers, of course are: Microsoft, Starbucks, Amazon, Nike, Google, Wal-Mart, and Disneyland. When an employee at one of those companies makes a decision, they do so in light of their mission statement. This ensures that the whole company is working toward the same end.

If you had a mission statement for your life, what would it be? I propose to you that our mission statement is clearly laid out in Scripture. Many churches, in fact, have a mission statement.

But the true mission statement of the church, and the true mission statement for every Christian was not invented at an elder’s meeting or designed by committee. The church’s mission statement was given to us by Jesus himself.
Matthew 28:19-20: Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.
Mark 16:15-16: And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”
Luke 24:45-48: Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”
John 20:21: Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”
Acts 1:8-9: “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.

So at the end of all four Gospels, as well as at the beginning of Acts, the church is given it’s mission. To reach the lost with the saving power of the Gospel. And with this commission, Jesus makes evangelism an issue of obedience to our mission statement.

Christians are then called to live, think and act in light of our mission statement. We make decisions and choices based on how they will affect our purpose, the reaching and saving of the lost.

Theology Matters . . . It Always Matters By Dr Al Mohler

Ideas drive history. Any significant conflict comes down, however eventually, to ideas, beliefs, and convictions. Take that analysis to the next level and it becomes clear that the most significant human conflicts we encounter are the most significantly tied to ideas -- and to beliefs about God. In other words, theology matters.

This is especially clear when the conflict between Islam and the West comes into view. The deeply and inescapably theological character of this collision should be apparent to all. Those most ardently determined to ignore this dimension are those who are convinced that the West has now entered a secular and post-theological age in which basic convictions and belief about God no longer matter.

This conveniently, but dangerously, ignores the obvious -- that the West is based upon a certain understanding of order, rationality, human dignity, and human responsibility that emerged out of the Christian worldview, informed by both the Old and New Testaments. Rival civilizations are based in different belief systems that produce very different understandings and moral actions. Students in most American high schools study the stories of those understood to be champions of freedom. Students in far too many madrassas throughout much of the Islamic world are taught to celebrate martyrs to Islam -- even teenage suicide bombers.

In his new book, Faith, Reason, and the War Against Jihadism, George Weigel takes theology seriously as he considers the threat of jihadism. A Distinguished Fellow of Washington's Ethics and Public Policy Center, Weigel is a prominent Catholic intellectual and commentator. Here is the central thrust of his analysis:

How men and women think about God--or don't think about God--has a great deal to do with how they envision the just society, and how they determine the appropriate means by which to build that society. This means taking theology seriously--which includes taking seriously others' concepts of God's nature and purposes, and their commitments to the beliefs arising from those concepts--as well as the theologies that have shaped the civilization of the West. If we have not learned this over the past five years, one wonders if we have learned anything.

Well, one does wonder if we have learned anything. This quality of analysis is virtually missing from most public conversation -- which is why Faith, Reason, and the War Against Jihadism is so important.

Weigel also notices the different way Muslims and Westerners view history. He sees theology at work there as well:

Despite the supersessionist claims that some Christians have made throughout history vis-à-vis Judaism, no orthodox Christian holds that God's self-revelation in Christ negates God's self-revelation in the history of the People of Israel. Islam, by contrast, takes a radically supersessionist view of both Judaism and Christianity, claiming that the final revelation to Muhammad de facto trumps, by way of supersession, any prior revelatory value (so to speak) that might be found in the Hebrew Bible or the Christian New Testament.

But Islam and the Christianity-formed West also produced very different theological anthropologies:

Islamic theological anthropology also helps explain Islam's traditional division of the human world into the "House of Islam," the "God-hallowed realm" that embodies God's purposes on earth, and the "House of War," which is composed of all those who have not yet submitted to Allah and his Prophet. From there, it is but a short step to the Muslim conviction that, as Bernard Lewis writes, "The Islamic state [is] the only truly legitimate power on earth and the Islamic community the sole repository of truth and enlightenment, surrounded on all sides by an outer darkness of barbarism and unbelief."

Weigel also gives the jihadists their due; they are acting in ways that, given their own belief system, make sense. Calling them crazy or irrational does not help. Their actions -- including suicide bombings and other forms of terrorism -- make sense to them:

It is thus a great folly to think that jihadism and the terrorism it underwrites can be understood in terms drawn primarily from the patois of the therapeutic society, as if jihadist terrorism were some Levantine form of psychiatric aberration. Within their own theological frame of reference and the reading of history it warrants, jihadists are not crazy. They make, to themselves, a terrible kind of sense.

Faith, Reason, and the War Against Jihadism clarifies what so many observers confuse. Theology matters . . . it always matters.

True Faith Perseveres By John MacArthur

Today’s post continues the discussion from last week on the perseverance of the saints.

It is crucial to understand what the biblical doctrine of perseverance does not mean. It does not mean that people who “accept Christ” can then live any way they please without fear of hell. The expression “eternal security” is sometimes used in this sense, as is “once saved, always saved.” R. T. Kendall, arguing for the latter phrase, defines its meaning thus:
Whoever once truly believes that Jesus was raised from the dead, and confesses that Jesus is Lord, will go to heaven when he dies. But I will not stop there. Such a person will go to heaven when he dies no matter what work (or lack of work) may accompany such faith. (Once Saved, Always Saved, p. 19)
Kendall also writes, “I hope no one will take this as an attack on the Westminster Confession. It is not that” (p. 22).
But it is precisely that! Kendall expressly argues against Westminster’s assertion that faith cannot fail. He believes faith is best characterized as a single look: “one need only see the Sin Bearer once to be saved” (p. 23). This is a full-scale assault against the doctrine of perseverance affirmed in the Westminster Confession. Worse, it subverts Scripture itself. Unfortunately, it is a view that has come to be widely believed by Christians today.
John Murray, noting this trend a half-century ago, defended the expression “perseverance of the saints”:
It is not in the best interests of the doctrine involved to substitute the designation, “The Security of the Believer,” not because the latter is wrong in itself but because the other formula is much more carefully and inclusively framed. . . . It is not true that the believer is secure however much he may fall into sin and unfaithfulness. Why is this not true? It is not true because it sets up an impossible combination. It is true that a believer sins; he may fall into grievous sin and backslide for lengthy periods. But it is also true that a believer cannot abandon himself to sin; he cannot come under the dominion of sin; he cannot be guilty of certain kinds of unfaithfulness. The truth is that the faith of Jesus Christ is always respective of the life of holiness and fidelity. And so it is never proper to think of a believer irrespective of the fruits in faith and holiness. To say that a believer is secure whatever may be the extent of his addiction to sin in his subsequent life is to abstract faith in Christ from its very definition and it ministers to that abuse which turns the grace of God into lasciviousness. The doctrine of perseverance is the doctrine that believers persevere. . . . It is not at all that they will be saved irrespective of the their perseverance or their continuance, but that they will assuredly persevere. Consequently the security that is theirs is inseparable from their perseverance. Is this not what Jesus said? “He than endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.”
Let us not then take refuge in our sloth or encouragement in our lust from the abused doctrine of the security of the believer. But let us appreciate the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints and recognize that we may entertain the faith of our security in Christ only as we persevere in faith and holiness to the end. (Redemption Accomplished and Applied, 154-55)
Any doctrine of eternal security that leaves out perseverance distorts the doctrine of salvation itself. Heaven without holiness ignores the whole purpose for which God chose and redeemed His people:
God elected us for this very purpose. “He chose us in him [Christ] before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight” (Eph. 1:4). We were predestinated to be conformed to the image of Christ in all His spotless purity (Rom. 8:29). This divine choice makes it certain that we shall be like Him when He appears (1 John 3:2). From this fact, John deduces that everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as Christ is pure (1 John 3:3). His use of the word “everyone” makes it quite certain that those who do not purify themselves will not see Christ, nor be like Him. By their lack of holiness they prove that they were not so predestinated. The apostle thus deals a crushing blow to Antinomianism. (Richard Alderson, No Holiness, No Heaven!, p. 88)
God’s own holiness thus requires perseverance. “God’s grace insures our persevering`but this does not make it any less our persevering.” Believers cannot acquire “the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” unless they “press on toward the goal” (Phil 3:14). But as they “work out [their] salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil 2:12), they find that “it is God who is at work in [them], both to will and work for His good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13).

Our Primary Concern By John MacArthur

With the nation focused on political primaries, we thought a post on politics might be appropriate – a reminder to all of us as to what our primary concern ought to be.
We can’t protect or expand the cause of Christ by human political and social activism, no matter how great or sincere the efforts. Ours is a spiritual battle waged against worldly ideologies and dogmas arrayed against God, and we achieve victory over them only with the weapon of Scripture. The apostle Paul writes: “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:3-5).
We must reject all that is ungodly and false and never compromise God’s standards of righteousness. We can do that in part by desiring the improvement of society’s moral standards and by approving of measures that would conform government more toward righteousness. We do grieve over the rampant indecency, vulgarity, lack of courtesy and respect for others, deceitfulness, self-indulgent materialism, and violence that is corroding society. But in our efforts to support what is good and wholesome, reject what is evil and corrupt, and make a profoundly positive impact on our culture, we must use God’s methods and maintain scriptural priorities.
God is not calling us to wage a culture war that would seek to transform our countries into “Christian nations.” To devote all, or even most, of our time, energy, money, and strategy to putting a façade of morality on the world or over our governmental and political institutions is to badly misunderstand our roles as Christians in a spiritually lost world.
God has above all else called the church to bring sinful people to salvation through Jesus Christ. Even as the apostle Paul described his mission to unbelievers, so it is the primary task of all Christians to reach out to the lost “to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me [Christ]” (Acts 26:18; cf. Ex. 19:6; 1 Pet. 2:5, 9).
If we do not evangelize the lost and make disciples of new converts, nothing else we do for people—no matter how beneficial it seems—is of any eternal consequence. Whether a person is an atheist or a theist, a criminal or a model citizen, sexually promiscuous and perverse or strictly moral and virtuous, a greedy materialist or a gracious philanthropist—if he does not have a saving relationship to Christ, he is going to hell. It makes no difference if an unsaved person is for or against abortion, a political liberal or a conservative, a prostitute or a police officer, he will spend eternity apart from God unless he repents and believes the gospel.
When the church takes a stance that emphasizes political activism and social moralizing, it always diverts energy and resources away from evangelization. Such an antagonistic position toward the established secular culture invariably leads believers to feel hostile not only to unsaved government leaders with whom they disagree, but also antagonistic toward the unsaved residents of that culture—neighbors and fellow citizens they ought to love, pray for, and share the gospel with. To me it is unthinkable that we become enemies of the very people we seek to win to Christ, our potential brothers and sisters in the Lord.
Author John Seel pens words that apply in principle to Christians everywhere and summarize well the believer’s perspective on political involvement:
A politicized faith not only blurs our priorities, but weakens our loyalties. Our primary citizenship is not on earth but in heaven. … Though few evangelicals would deny this truth in theory, the language of our spiritual citizenship frequently gets wrapped in the red, white and blue. Rather than acting as resident aliens of a heavenly kingdom, too often we sound [and act] like resident apologists for a Christian America. … Unless we reject the false reliance on the illusion of Christian America, evangelicalism will continue to distort the gospel and thwart a genuine biblical identity…..
American evangelicalism is now covered by layers and layers of historically shaped attitudes that obscure our original biblical core. (The Evangelical Pulpit [Grand Rapids: Baker, 1993], 106-7)
By means of faithful preaching and godly living, believers are to be the conscience of whatever nation they reside in. You can confront the culture not with the political and social activism of man’s wisdom, but with the spiritual power of God’s Word. Using temporal methods to promote legislative and judicial change, and resorting to external efforts of lobbying and intimidation to achieve some sort of “Christian morality” in society is not our calling—and has no eternal value. Only the gospel rescues sinners from sin, death, and hell.

Lititz Grace Chose To Ignore Meeting Over Doctrine. By Rev Charles J Paul

Dear Scott Distler,

Concerning the last email I sent you on January 8, 2008, which you can see, below, let me get right to the point.

I find it appalling that one Pastor sends another Pastor an email wishing to discuss doctrine –Holy Scripture- and it is ignored; in this specific case, I got no response.

I have heard from some people that attend your church and who have seen this open email I sent you that they, too, want to see a doctrinal change for the better take place at Lititz Grace. But what is even more sad, Scott, is another true statement that I will make now. Even though you may continue to ignore my emails, you know that the following is true: If you had received and email from Rick Warren or Bill Hybels, you and your staff would have responded with open arms immediately.

Since you have chosen to ignore me, I do hereby at this time publicly declare that you and your staff apparently do not take seriously the doctrines of Holy Scripture. From you lack of response, it is clear that you are not interested in a God-driven church, but merely a corporate driven church.

I am letting you know that I will publicly continue to warn people of the dangers of the theology taught at Lititz Grace, but please know that I will continue to pray for you and your staff. If our Lord should so move on your heart, my offer to meet with you over Holy Scripture will still be available to you and your staff.

Sincerely,

Rev. Charles Paul

THE TIME IS NOW......... By Rev. Charles J. Paul

As you can see by the posting below You call this church?. and so many others. The statement is true. Very True in fact. The EVANGELICAL CHURCH IS FIGHTING FOR IT'S VERY LIFE.

I am asking all true Christians who want to see True Reform come again to the Church. To stand with us here at Truth Matters as together we make a bold stand for the Truth of God's Holy Word.

Please take the time and contact us today http://www.truthmattersinc.org/

You Call This Church?!

Ladies and Gentlemen, the video that you are about to see was the opener for a service at Buckhead Church. The song that the 'ministers' of Buckhead chose to open their "church service" is called "Ladies & Gentlemen" by the secular band Saliva. Click Here to See just how "Christian" the band Saliva is. Also, here is a sample of the lyrics for this song.
Ladies and gentlemen please Would you bring your attention to me?For a feast for your eyes to seeAn explosion of catastrophe
Like nothing you’ve ever seen beforeWatch closely as I open this doorYour jaws will be on the floorAfter this you’ll be begging for more
Welcome to the showPlease come insideLadies and gentlemen
BoomDo you want it?Boom Do you need it?BoomLet me hear itLadies and gentlemen
Ladies and gentlemen good eveningYou’ve seen that seeing is believingYour ears and your eyes will be bleedingPlease check to see if you’re still breathing
Why are these 'pastors' bringing this garbage INTO the church? This doesn't glorify or exalt Jesus Christ.

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOD4Acl6lew&eurl=http://www.alittleleaven.com/2008/01/you-call-this-c.html

More importantly, Pastor Jeff Henderson preached an 'evangelistic' sermon after this performance that boiled down to the statement that "Jesus came for the real you, not the fake you." Apparently, Jesus came to earth to solve the problem of 'inauthenticity'. Henderson's solution to this 'problem' is synergism. Think about it. His solution makes your salvation based upon you, your decision and your actions. Ironically, after listening to the sermon 3 times, we're still not sure what Pastor Henderson was teaching we are being saved from.

John MacArthur on Moralism

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uo8KDHmuhrE&eurl=http://www.irishcalvinist.com/?p=1146

Built to the Master's Plan By Dr John Macarthur

I realize I may be demonstrating little more than a firm grasp of the obvious when I tell you the contemporary church is looking more and more like a large corporation. Even church leaders are bearing a closer resemblance to CEOs and corporate executives than to humble, tender shepherds. Sadly, the good news –that a sinner can find forgiveness for sins before a holy God by placing his trust in and committing his whole life to Jesus Christ –is eclipsed by "success"-oriented programs and an interest in the bottom line. As a result, many churches have become nothing more than entertainment centers, employing devices that effectively draw people into the church, but are inept to truly minister to them once they come.
God never intended the church to be like that. In Matthew 16:18 Jesus says, "I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it." Notice the Lord's one condition to that great promise: "I will build My church" (emphasis added). Christ's guarantee is valid only when He builds the church His way. When you follow His blueprint, you can be sure that He is doing the work through you and that nothing, not even the gates of hell, can stop Him.
So, what's the blueprint? A logical place to start is at the beginning with the first church–the church at Jerusalem. It began on the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit filled 120 believers who had gathered for a prayer meeting. The Lord added 3,000 souls later that same day (Acts 2:41). Those fledgling believers didn't know anything about building a church. They had no precedent; they didn't have a book on the church; they didn’t even have the New Testament. Yet it was built Jesus' way, and as such it's the model for the church today.
Back to the Blueprint: Bible Study, Fellowship, and Prayer
Acts 2:42 gives the blueprint they followed: "They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." Those are the vital elements that make up the actual function and life of the church –and all of that in just one verse!
Here's an obvious starting point: A church built to the Master's plan will begin with the right raw material –a saved congregation. Verse 41 identifies the church as being made up of "those who had received [Peter's] word," and "were continually devoting themselves." The church at Jerusalem was filled with true Christians –those who continually adhered to apostolic teaching.
If the church is to be built Christ's way, it will be redeemed and therefore empowered by the Holy Spirit. An unsaved membership, devoid of the Holy Spirit, has no capacity to overcome self will, personal agendas, and the love of sin. Only believers have divine power to put those things off and so manifest the Spirit of God.
While the early church didn't have a New Testament, they had God's Word in the form of the "apostles' teaching." The church at Jerusalem was committed to receiving that Word. Doctrine is the basis of the church–you can't live out what you don't know or understand. That's why Paul instructed Timothy to "preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine" (2 Tim. 4:2-3). That time has come. If your church isn't teaching the truth straight from the Bible, how will you recognize error when it comes? How will you grow? Don't ever allow anyone to stand in the pulpit who isn't committed to leading the congregation through a deep, penetrating study of God's Word.
The central focus of the early church's fellowship was the breaking of bread–the Lord's Table. It was the most fitting symbol of their fellowship since it reminded them of the basis for their unity–salvation in Christ and adherence to apostolic doctrine. If you share those things as common ground with other believers, then the Lord's table–communion–is the most appropriate symbol of your fellowship too.
We eat and drink in remembrance of Christ's self-sacrificing love that took Him to the cross. In your fellowship, make it your habit to practice the same kind of love Christ demonstrated toward you. Practically speaking, you can always give your life to those God brings across your path. Do you habitually pray for fellow believers? Are you encouraging them, edifying them, meeting their physical needs? Do you love them enough to confront them when they are sinning? Those are the marks of true Christian fellowship.
Acts 2:42 says the believers continually devoted themselves to prayer. Sadly, the same devotion to prayer is often neglected today. Churches can pack pews by offering entertainment, but when a prayer meeting is held, only a faithful few trickle in. The early Christians remembered the Lord’s promise: "If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it" (John 14:14). As they demonstrated dependence on the Lord, the results (Acts 2:43-47) were astounding.
Built to Scale: Wonder, Love, and Joy
What happens when true believers remain under biblical teaching, in a spiritual fellowship, and in devotion to prayer? Acts 2:43 says, "Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe." "Awe," the Greek word for fear, speaks of a sense of reverence. It is reserved for special times when people are struck with wonder because of something divine or powerful that defies human explanation.
Your church ought to be able to instill awe in your community. That first church certainly did. Verse 43 says everyone was in awe of them because "many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles." Though the miracles and wonders of the apostolic times are no longer necessary now that God's Word is complete, God's power remains on display. What could be more miraculous than giving life to people who are dead in sin? He heals people of their hurts, puts broken homes back together, and brings people out of the bondage of sin to Christ. In short, He transforms lives. When the church follows God's design, He will do marvelous and powerful things in individual lives before a watching world.
The early church was full of love –they "had all things in common" (v. 44). There was ownership in the early church– believers didn't live in a commune –but no one owned anything to the exclusion of someone who had a need. The Greek verbs in verse 46 translated "began selling" and "were sharing" show that they were continually selling and sharing their resources as needed. That kind of sacrificial love is the result of the Lord's work in obedient believers who follow His blueprint.
The Lord blesses those who labor according to His plan. First, He fills the obedient church with gladness (v. 46) and praise (v. 47). How can you not be happy when you see God at work in your midst? How can you keep from rejoicing when you watch God use your church to make an eternal impact in the world? Second, He adds to their number. Acts 2:47 concludes by saying that "the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved."
I want to see the church grow, and I know you share that desire. My prayer is that we will let God build the church His way as we await our Lord's return. If you want to make the most of your church, just follow the blueprint, and encourage your church leaders to do the same.

What's Wrong with "User Friendly"? by John MacArthur

Recently, the 11th edition of the Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary was published. The reprint included 10,000 new words– words that will bring us all up to date. Words like "phat" (excellent), "dead presidents" (paper currency), and "McJob" (low paying, dead-end job) are among the entries that will finally help us communicate with our teenagers.
How did those words make it into the updated dictionary? There is one criterion: usage. A word qualifies for the new edition based on how widespread its usage has become. While I can't imagine how phat, McJob, and dead presidents will find a place in America's pulpits (e.g., The love of dead presidents is the root of all kinds of evil?), there is one phrase borrowed from the computer industry that has spread into mainstream usage in the church– it's impact has been monumental.
"User-friendly" was first used to describe software and hardware that is easy for the novice to operate. Applied to the church, it describes churches that offer a decidedly benign and non-challenging ministry model. In practice, it has become an excuse for importing worldly amusements into the church in an attempt to attract non-Christian "seekers" or the "unchurched" by appealing to their fleshly interests. The obvious fallout of this preoccupation with the unbelievers is a corresponding neglect of true believers and their spiritual needs.
If you want to know how user-friendly a church has become, the emphasis, or de-emphasis, on biblical preaching is the yardstick. A church that buys into the new paradigm sidelines provocative and convicting sermons for music, skits, or videos– less confrontational mediums for conveying the message. Even when there is a sermon, it is frequently psychological and motivational rather than biblical. Above all, entertainment value and user-friendliness are paramount.
I once read through a stack of newspaper and magazine articles that highlight a common thread in the user-friendly phenomenon. These observations from newspaper clippings describe the preaching in user-friendly churches:
• "There is no fire and brimstone here... Just practical, witty messages." • "Services at [the church featured in the article] have an informal feeling. You won't hear people threatened with hell or referred to as sinners. The goal is to make them feel welcome, not drive them away." • "As with all clergymen [this pastor's] answer is God– but he slips Him in at the end, and even then doesn't get heavy. No ranting, no raving. No fire, no brimstone. He doesn't even use the H-word. Call it Light Gospel. It has the same salvation as the Old Time Religion, but with a third less guilt." • "The sermons are relevant, upbeat, and best of all, short. You won't hear a lot of preaching about sin and damnation, and hell fire. Preaching here doesn't sound like preaching. It is sophisticated, urbane, and friendly talk. It breaks all the stereotypes." • "[The pastor] is preaching a very upbeat message... It's a salvationist message, but the idea is not so much being saved from the fires of hell. Rather, it's being saved from meaninglessness and aimlessness in this life. It's more of a soft-sell."
So the new rules may be summed like this: Be clever, informal, positive, brief, friendly, and never, never use the H-word.
The pastors and leaders in the church-growth movement certainly wouldn't portray their own ministries in that way. In fact, they would probably laud their success in drawing people into the church without compromising the message. But they fail to understand that by decentralizing the Scripture and avoiding hard truths, they are compromising. "For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels" (Luke 9:26, emphasis added). If the design is to make the seeker comfortable, isn't that rather incompatible with the Bible's own emphasis on sin, judgment, hell, and several other important topics?
The gospel message is a confrontational message. When you remove the confrontation–or soften, downplay, or bring it in through the back door– you have compromised the message. The modern pulpit is weak, not for a lack of witty messages, but because men fear to speak the hard truths of God's Word powerfully and with conviction.
The church is certainly not suffering from an overabundance of forthright preachers; rather, it seems glutted with men pleasers (cf. Gal. 1:10). But, as it was in the early church, when men are faithful to preach God's Word with boldness, God will give the increase. "And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching... then fear came upon every soul... and the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved" (Acts 2:42, 43, 47).
When a sinner wanders into the church and sits through skits, mimes, interpretive dances, and the like, and yet never hears a clear, convicting message about his dangerous and tenuous spiritual situation– that he is a depraved sinner headed for an eternal fire because he is a daily offense to a holy God– how can that be called successful? You could achieve the same level of success by sending a cancer patient to receive treatment from a group of children playing doctor. A sinner must understand the imminent danger he is in if he is ever to look to the Savior.
C. H. Spurgeon, facing a similar mindset in his day, once said:
'I fear there are some who preach with the view of amusing men, and as long as people can be gathered in crowds, and their ears can be tickled, and they can retire pleased with what they have heard, the orator is content, and folds his hands, and goes back self-satisfied. But Paul did not lay himself out to please the public and collect the crowd. If he did not save them he felt that it was of no avail to interest them. Unless the truth had pierced their hearts, affected their lives, and made new men of them, Paul would have gone home crying, "Who hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?"...
Now observe, brethren, if I, or you, or any of us, or all of us, shall have spent our lives merely in amusing men, or educating men, or moralizing men, when we shall come to give our account at the last great day we shall be in a very sorry condition, and we shall have but a very sorry record to render; for of what avail will it be to a man to be educated when he comes to be damned? Of what service will it be to him to have been amused when the trumpet sounds, and heaven and earth are shaking, and the pit opens wide her jaws of fire and swallows up the soul unsaved? Of what avail even to have moralized a man if still he is on the left hand of the judge, and if still, "Depart, ye cursed," shall be his portion?'" ["Soul Saving Our One Business," The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Vol. 25 (London: Passmore and Alabaster, 1879), 674-76.]
That is precisely my concern about today’s pragmatic church-growth trend. The strategy focuses on attracting and keeping the unchurched. For what? To entertain them? To get them to attend church meetings regularly? Merely "churching" the unchurched accomplishes nothing of eternal value. That is where their strategy seems to end.
What's worse is when seeker-focused churches baptize the masses with their watered-down gospel, assuring them that positive decisions, feelings, or affirmations about Christ equal genuine conversion. There are now multitudes who are not authentic Christians identifying with the church. The church is literally invaded with the world's values, the world's interests, and the world's citizens. It isn't an invasion prompted by overt hostility; people are simply responding to a survey that came in the mail. Ironically, Satan isn't sowing the tares; church leaders are.
As you set your strategy for church ministry, you dare not overlook the primary means of church growth: the straightforward, Christ-centered proclamation of the unadulterated Word of God. If you trade the Word for amusements or gimmicks, you will not only find that you have no effective means to reach people with the truth of Christ, but you will find yourself working against the Lord Himself.

James S. Says Lititz Has An Opportunity to Re- Direct Their Church

This is NOT isolated to Lititz Grace and LCBC. Lancaster county has been blessed with many good sound churches. When Warren's book came out so many churches went right to the PD book and used it in place of sound Bible teaching. It seems that many pastors in this area got excited about growing their church because like I said, this is in "many" churches in the Lancaster area.I have been saddened about this for along time. I have family in several of these churches. If I bring this subject up to them they turn on me and accuse me of lies?

This really has me excited. Pastor Scott not only has the opportunity to re-direct his church to be God-centered once again, but whether he knows it or not, he could also be involved with Truth Matters Inc. to go public with this whole issue and could possibly be a part of true "reformation" in many other churches in this area! I'm praying and I'm excited. Thank you Truth Matters inc. and Truth Matters.

James S.

6 comments posted from J&J Bible Ministries on the open letter sent to Lititz Grace

Raymond said...
This is very refreshing to see an effort like this to reach out to pastors of "seeker" churches.Although I applaud Mr. Paul, I would be surprised if Mr. Distler or any seeker pastor sits down with their elders to discuss this with you.If Mr. Paul knows the Scripture well from a reformed view, he will make any seeker pastor run circles which looks bad in front of his elders.I'd be interested to know if Mr. Paul is reading this...what percentage of pastors you contact are willing to sit down with their elders and talk to you.My guess is that although some pastors may have some contact with you, only a handful, if any at all, will actually allow you to speak with their elders.You see, I'm a refuge of the seeker movement. These pastors can easily sell their mission and philosophy to their elders behind closed doors.But as I stated earlier, get them in an open discussion and it makes them look foolish.Please keep the readers here updated.My guess is that this pastor will have some sort of contact you but will not allow you to have an open, honest discussion in front of elders. Take that to the bank.However, if this man is an honest, humble man of God, he will allow this open forum and take a careful look at his own theology to make sure what he is doing is Biblical.God bless you Mr. Paul and Truth Matters.Bring reformation to the church.In conclusion I would like to say I completely agree that the "church" in America is fighting for her life.In Him,Raymond
January 9, 2008 7:18:00 AM EST

reformed Questions said...
I agree. Please Mr. Distler, think about this. Its not about numbers and entertainment of people. Its about being faithful to God. How good it would be to see your flock love worship not because of the music or catchy programs, but because they love God and his word.
January 9, 2008 8:42:00 AM EST

Anonymous said...
I'm sure this Pastor from Lititz thinks what he is doing is completely Biblical. If this is the case, there is absolutely no reason to turn these people away. If this open forum is turned down it is because like all other seeker pastors, they do not want to be exposed. And once you pull out the Scripture in its context and you understand the suffiency of Scripture, there is absolutely no reason to compromise with worldly, entertaining things. I went to the littz website and briefly watched their sunday morning worship. He stated his teachings will be based on 8 words. I hope one of those words is "fear". We must fear God. And if you honestly fear God in a Biblical manner, it's impossible to do the things of Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, and others.
January 9, 2008 11:57:00 AM EST

Anonymous said...
Lets all pray that God's will be done. I am a concerned member of this church. Our pastor without question loves the Lord and has a great passion for the lost. I think this great passion gets in the way of some of his decisions. Please pastor sit down and at least discuss this issue. We need you and want you to do what brings glory to God. Rick
January 9, 2008 12:04:00 PM EST

Anonymous said...
I am concerned about Lititz too. I have not said anything directly to Scott. I guess I should. Scott meets with the pastors from lancaster county bible church once in a while. I don't think I'd want to get any ideas from them. I am not a fan at all of Rick Warren or Bill Hybels. I pray this open discussion does occur. My friends say the message has not changed but it has. If you bring in a lot of unsaved people as we are trying to do and do these fun things, most will come back. If you teach the true Gospel, most will not come back. I'm afraid our church is in fact growing rapidly, but the true church is not growing much at all. The true church is the only number that counts.
January 9, 2008 1:43:00 PM EST

Anonymous said...
I will leave Grace if it becomes like Lancaster County Bible Church. It's on the fence. Which way will it go? That is the question. I hope this forum will help. Thank you for your blog. I have learned a lot in the short amount of time I've been reading it.
January 9, 2008 1:48:00 PM EST