Forgiveness costs us nothing. All our costly obedience is the fruit, not the root, of being forgiven. That’s why we call it grace. But it cost Jesus His life. That is why we call it just. Oh, how precious is the news that God does not hold our sins against us! And how beautiful is Christ, whose blood made it right for God to do this.
– John Piper
This is an interesting three-minute video. It starts off rather strange, and a few seconds into it you may find yourself asking, “Why am I watching this?” But hang in there. As weird as it may seem at first, it actually makes a fantastic point while using a little humor to drive that point home.
Rationality (the right use of sanctified reason through sound logic) is never condemned in Scripture. Faith is not irrational. Authentic biblical truth demands that we employ logic and clear, sensible thinking. . . . Scripture frequently employs logical devices, such as antithesis, if-then arguments, syllogisms, and propositions. These are all standard logical forms, and Scripture is full of them.
It is no secret that many false and vain and foolish things are being taught in the sectarian world even among us about our need to gain a special relationship with the Lord Jesus. . . . In an attempt to be truer than true [Christians] devote themselves to gaining a special, personal relationship with Christ that is both improper and perilous. . . . Another peril is that those involved begin to pray directly to Christ because of some special friendship they feel has been developed. In this connection a current and unwise book, which advocates gaining a special relationship with Jesus, contains this sentence—“Because the Savior is our mediator, our prayers go through Christ to the Father, and the Father answers our prayers through His Son.” This is plain sectarian nonsense. Our prayers are addressed to the Father and the Father only. They do not go through Christ. Bruce R. McConkie, Church News, Page 5, March 20, 1982
All of the prophets since Christ have testified that he did come. All of us need to study the life of the Savior and follow him faithfully throughout our lives. We each need to have a personal relationship with Him. Gospel Principles, Page 61, 1997
What a difference fifteen years makes.
Surely this is the way we should understand the sufferings and death of Christ. They have to do with me. They are about Christ’s love for me personally. It is my sin that cuts me off from God, not sin in general. It is my hard-heartedness and spiritual numbness that demean the worth of Christ. I am lost and perishing. When it comes to salvation, I have forfeited all claim on justice. All I can do is plead for mercy.
Pastor Tullian Tchividjian of New City Presbyterian Church in Florida delivers a message on the Church being in the world, but warns to be careful that the world doesn’t get in the church. This message is entitled The Practice, Posture, and Position of Worldliness. The idea that the Christian message should be kept pliable and ambiguous seems especially attractive to young people who are in tune with the culture and in love with the spirit of the age and can’t stand to have authoritative biblical truth applied with precision as a corrective to worldly lifestyles, unholy minds, and ungodly behavior. And the poison of this perspective is being increasingly injected into the evangelical church body.
– John MacArthur
After reading K. P. Yohannan’s book Revolution in World Missions, I was really impressed on how he grasped the realities of the lukewarm Church in America.
I just finished reading his follow-up book to that one: The Road to Reality. If he hit a home run with the book Revolution in World Missions, then he hits a grand slam with this one!
In this book he provides a scathing indictment of the lukewarm church and calls the Christian to quit living the lukewarm life. The book flows well and is a page turner. K.P. knows how to communicate well and gets his points across that will certainly leave an impression on you.
Here’s an excerpt from chapter 21:
The streets of India–especially in our bloated, overpopulated cities like Bombay and Calcutta–are maddening to Western visitors. Millions of homeless people are born, live, and die in them. Part toilet, part barnyard, part roadway–they are also the bedroom, living room, and marketplace for the poorest of the world’s poor.
In summertime’s furnace heat, the dust of centuries rises from them to fill your eyes, choking your mouth and nose. In the monsoon rains, the streets turn into vast seas of mud and sewage. In winter, the freezing pavements bring disease and death to those who have nowhere else to rest their starving bodies.
It was one of these nightmarish streets of Bombay that I was surrounded by an army of begging children. Already late and on my way to an important meeting, I tried to ignore the pleading children as I waited for the light to turn green.
Suddenly from the sea of hungry faces I heard a voice so distinct from the rest that I was paralyzed. In crystal clear tones I heard her speaking in plaintive Hindi, “Sir, my father died three months ago of tuberculosis. My mother is too sick to beg anymore. My little brothers and sisters have not eaten for two days. Please, sir, they are hungry and crying. Can you please give me a few pennies so I can buy some bread?”
The light turned green. But I couldn’t move. I was arrested by the image of this little girl who must have been about 9 years old. Her face was one of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen, perfectly shaped with big brown eyes and long black hair.
Through the tears on her cheeks, the dust and the sweat, I could see that in different circumstances this desperate little waif could easily have been a princess. Her filthy hair had obviously not been washed or combed for weeks. She was barefoot and dressed in rags. But I’m still sure she had the potential of being a winner in the Miss World beauty pageant.
Then something else happened. It was as if another face came before my eyes right beside hers. It was another child, about 8, also with big brown eyes. But she had long, clean hair and a shining face. Her clothes were fresh and colorful–and she wore nice socks and tennis shoes. I knew her. She was the best student in her class. Each night she said her prayers and read the Bible. Her parents loved her. She had a comfortable home, air-conditioned from the Texas summer and heated in the cold winter. She had a comfortable bed with clean sheets every week. I didn’t know the name of the dirty little beggar girl, but I did know the name of the girl beside her. It was Sarah, my own darling daughter.
Then I heard a supernatural voice beside me ask, “What is the value of this beggar girl? Is she of less value than your daughter, Sarah?”
To read more, you’ll have to get the book, and I highly recommend that you do. The book can be purchased at Gospel For Asia by clicking here.
We have literally dumbed our minds down to a point where I do not believe that there are many adults that can comprehend two literate sentences strung together on doctrinal issues. And I mean that with all my heart.
– Ingrid Schlueter
From the folks that brought you the ministry tools Wally the Wiener and “Every time you masturbate God kills a kitten,” comes two videos from Pete the Porno Puppet. The latest arsenal in the war against pornography:*
Strong viewer discretion is advised.
HT: A Little Leaven
My new theory is that perhaps atheists evolved from the chicken, because they not only have chicken characteristics–a head, eyes, mouth, skin, neck, heart, earlobes and legs (homology structures), but they also have the chicken’s tendencies–they are chicken livered. They hang around Christians like annoying little bugs hang around light, trying to inject their poison whenever they can.
If you are an atheist, I hope I’m ruffling your feathers. I want to get under your skin and ask why you don’t have the courage to even whisper to Moslems what you keep shouting at Christians. Prove me wrong. Get onto a Moslem website and tell them that you don’t believe their god exists. Do your little “I don’t believe in Zeus” thing. Tell them they believe a myth. Talk about Mohammed as you do Jesus (use lower case for Mohamed). Do your “I don’t believe in the flying spaghetti monster” thing. Tell them that we weren’t made by a god (lower case), but that they evolved from primates (that will go down well). Also, let them know in no uncertain terms that the Koran is full of mistakes (give some examples), and that their mosques are full of hypocrites.
You wouldn’t dare, because you are chicken-livered. You know that they are not like Christians. Despite the “anonymity” of your little chicken coop, they would come after you to lop off your head. And when they find you, you would fall on your knees and be praying to God for help . . .
– Ray Comfort
If the Son of God had gone from incarnation to the cross without a life of temptation and pain to test His righteousness and His love, He would not be a suitable Savior for fallen man. His suffering not only absorbed the wrath of God. It also fulfilled His true humanity and made Him able to call us brothers and sisters (Hebrews 2:17).
– John Piper
None of us will will ever know Christ as a great Savior until we first know ourselves to be great sinners. If you and I do not recognize our need for the Gospel . . . we will never, ever tune in to the Gospel. . . . We will never, ever experience the glory of God’s salvation if we do not first experience the grief of our own sin.
– Tullian Tchividjian
I just got through reading the brand new book Winning the Witnesses by Daniel Rodriguez (Evangelist to Jehovah’s Witnesses for over 22 years). It was a very good book; quick and easy read. This 107-page book deals with evangelizing Jehovah’s Witnesses using an entirely different method than suggested previously by such men as Walter Martin and Bill Cetnar.
In this book, Daniel Rodriguez explains why the old approach of throwing Scripture back and forth is mostly ineffective by outlining why no matter what verses you quote, the JW is conditioned to not accept what you’re saying. This is because they consider it to be your interpretation, not the Watchtower’s. And since you are viewed as a pagan under the influence of Satan, you can quote Scripture all day long to no effect because they will refuse to accept what you say, even if it’s printed in black and white in their own Bible.
The author’s approach is to sever the JW’s lifeline, the source of all their “truth” and understanding: Their utter dependence and blind obedience to the Watchtower Society. Rodriguez says that if you can help the JW to see that the Watchtower Society is not inspired, you can begin to make great progress with the JW. Rodriguez then provides simple insight on how to show them that the Watchtower Society is not only not inspired, but that they’ve never claimed to be and why they never can claim to be.
For those who want help in their evangelism efforts to JWs, this book is a must-have in your library and makes a great resource for future quick-reference.
I would love to put this author’s evangelism technique to the test, but unfortunately my house has been red flagged by the JWs.
It is painful to think about Hell and judgment. I understand why preachers do not like to talk about it, because I don’t either. It is so much easier to preach that “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life” or to focus on the many delightful aspects of “possibility thinking” and the “word of faith” that brings health, wealth, and happiness. The grace and love of God are pleasant subjects, and no one more beautifully demonstrated them than our Lord Jesus. Yet in His earthly ministry, He made more references to Hell and judgment than He did to Heaven. Jesus lived with the reality of Hell, and He died on Calvary because He knew it was real and coming to everyone who doesn’t turn to God in this life.
– K.P. Yohannan
This is an unbelievable story coming out of New York.
The “Reverend” Larry Phillips of Emmanuel Baptist-Friedens United Church of Christ has “blessed” a new Planned Parenthood abortion mill in a ceremony that has been called “Sacred Ground.”
From the news:
To commemorate Tuesday’s 35th anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling that affirmed a woman’s right to an abortion, clergy blessed this city’s new Planned Parenthood clinic in a ceremony dubbed “On Sacred Ground.”
“Today is more than about the building and about bricks and mortar,” Planned Parenthood spokeswoman Linda Scharf said. “It’s a blessing to demonstrate the support of the clergy.”
The reverend declared that the new abortion mill is:
“Sacred and holy . . . where women’s voices and stories are welcomed, valued and affirmed; sacred ground where women are treated with dignity, supported in their role as moral decision-makers . . . sacred ground where the violent voices of hatred and oppression are quelled.”
Read more about it by clicking here, here, and here.
They band themselves together against the life of the righteous and condemn the innocent to death.
Psalm 94:21
I am disappointed to report that Voice of the Martyrs is no longer offering Underground Reality: Vietnam. However, I am pleased to announce that it is now available for rent here from Netflix.
I highly recommend this video. This is a must-see video and it should be shown in all youth groups.
The DVD describes itself as follows:
See what happens when eight ordinary teens set out on a mission to meet the underground church in Vietnam. Travel with The Voice of the Martyrs and a group of American and Australian teenagers as they journey through cities and jungles in order to witness the everyday life of the Vietnamese underground church.
These teens come from the nominal, lukewarm Christian churches so common in America, Europe, and Australia, but by the end of their journey (which includes smuggling Bibles) you see their lives transformed by the realization of what it truly means to be a Christian when your life and liberty are at stake.
The two hour DVD is broken into four half hour episodes and will keep the attention of even its younger viewers.
*** Update ***
The Voice of the Martyrs has made this video available again. You can order it here.
Marketing principles are becoming the arbiter of truth. Elements of the message that don’t fit the promotional plan are simply omitted. Marketing savvy demands that the offense of the cross must be downplayed. Salesmanship requires that negative subjects like divine wrath be avoided. Consumer satisfaction means that the standard of righteousness cannot be raised too high. The seeds of watered-down gospel are thus sown in the very philosophy that drives many ministries today.
