Author: Pilgrim

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Quotes (477)

We know the Judaizers were condemned by God’s Word when they added one extra requirement to the Gospel. This same curse is placed on the Catholic clergy for adding six additional requirements to God’s Gospel. Like the Judaizers, the Catholic clergy teaches that obedience to the law is necessary for salvation (CCC, 2608). But Rome has perverted the Gospel even more outrageously with these requirements: the sacraments (1129), the sacrifice of the Mass (1405), baptism (1256), purgatory (1030), indulgences (1471), and good works (1477).

– Mike Gendron

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Roman Catholicism: Pay now or pay later . . . and we accept checks.

Wow, what can I say about this except that I was glad apologist James White was present to correct the false teacher. At least the priest was honest about his doctrines of demons and didn’t try to back peddle.

HT: Perilous Times

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Quotes (476)

martin-luther.jpg Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason – I do not accept the authority of the popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other – my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me. Amen.

– Martin Luther

1483 – 1546

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When hirelings don’t attack but wish they did.

You all saw Perry Noble’s tirade in When Hirelings Attack. Now meet goat herder Gary Lamb whose biggest regret is that he did not commit battery with a deadly weapon upon an elderly couple, vandalize their church, and then set it on fire. Seriously, I can’t make this stuff up.

HT: A Little Leaven

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Book Review: “Buried in the Snow” by Franz Hoffman.

buried-in-the-snowI recently completed the book Buried in the Snow by Franz Hoffman; part of the Lamplighter series of Christian literature. This is the first one of these books that I’ve read and found it to be really good. Written in 1879, it is a gripping tale that teaches great truths of the Bible and reliance upon God no matter the circumstance and to do it all without murmuring about your present trials.

The first three chapters are hard to get through. Hoffman’s use of sentences as long as a mid-summer’s day as he sets up the story made it hard to read (especially when doing it out loud for family reading time) but chapter four begins the tension and the story really unfolds from that point and becomes much easier to read. I’ve reprinted two separate book descriptions below along with a reader review comparing this book to the Tom Hanks movie Cast Away:

A boy and his grandfather come face to face with their own mortality within a tomb of snow. Reliance upon God is their only option as escape is impossible. But the story does not hinge upon the question of their rescue; what captivates is the response that each has to the circumstances that God has placed them in. When death is a constant companion, how does one view life? The ebb and flow of emotions are captivating as the boy and his grandfather fight off predators and the terror produced by the uncertainties of their snowy grave. I know of no other book that so delicately prepares children to face the death of a loved one than ‘Buried in the Snow.’

Full of twists, turns and unsuspected dangers, this book will cause you to see life from a different perspective. You will be blessed by the gentle wisdom of an old grandfather and the unconditional love of his grandson as they come face to face with one of the most difficult decisions of their lives. From the depths of despair to the pinnacle of blessing, this dramatic encounter will surely elicit a full spectrum of emotional responses.

Reader Review:

Buried in the Snow vs. Cast Away

After I read Buried In the Snow, which I greatly enjoyed, I watched the movie Cast Away starring Tom Hanks. It is a very powerful contrast. Both stories are about individual survival under desperate circumstances but the world view between them is diametrically opposed. In Buried In the Snow, Jacques becomes completely dependent on Jesus. He learns from his trials and is made stronger by the experience. Through his grandfather’s instruction and through his faith, he has the ability to deal with his grandfather’s death and burial, receiving solace in the fact that his grandfather goes knowingly and willingly to a better place. Contrast this to the “god-less” movie Cast Away in which Tom Hanks repeatedly demonstrates the humanist’s view that self is all there is – we only have our personal faculties on which to survive. Hanks never even alludes to a “highter [sic] power.” When the body of a dead pilot washes up on shore, he buries the body, then steps back and you assume he is about to give some type of blessing, but no, he simply brushes the sand from his hands and says “Well, that’s that.” Wow! Life is tough and then you die – that’s that – a worldview absent of God. I had never noticed how intentionally “absent of God” this movie was until I read Buried In the Snow. Insight is the power of well written Christian literature, always confirming that Jesus Christ is the difference between light and dark, hope and despair, truth and falsehood, life and death – just as he told us. Another note about this contrast is that Hanks has to talk to a volleyball to keep his sanity.
Jacque and his grandfather talk to a Saviour.

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Quotes (475)

awpink.jpg There are many who talk about the love of God who are total strangers to the God of love. The divine love is commonly regarded as a species of amiable weakness, sort of good-natured indulgence; it is reduced to a mere sickly sentiment, patterned after human emotion. The truth is that on this, as on everything else, our thoughts need to be formed and regulated by what is revealed in Scripture. That there is urgent need for this is apparent not only from the ignorance which so generally prevails, but also from the low state of spirituality which is now so sadly evident everywhere among professing Christians.

– A.W. Pink

1886 – 1952

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When the Bible’s simply not enough.

football-on-tvI will provide absolutely no commentary on this. I think the opening quote from the news article entitled Pastor Finds Lessons in Superbowl Commercials speaks for itself:

“A Grapevine preacher has found inspiration in the Super Bowl, saying there are valuable lessons to be learned — from the commercials. Ken Diehm, the senior pastor at First United Methodists Church asked his congregation last week to text him about the commercials they want him to preach about.”

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Sermon of the week: “Child Training” by Voddie Baucham.

voddie-baucham Your sermon of the week is Child Training by Voddie Baucham. Gather the parents and children for this one. It is sure to convict and change your views on raising your children. This is one of the best Baucham sermons I’ve listened to so far and I highly encourage everyone to listen to this one.

For more, I recommend his book Family Driven Faith.

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When the State is the final authority in whether or not you believe in God.

Ginger Taylor has published an intriguing post entitled New York Gets to Decide if You Believe In God or Not.

Debating theology between a lawyer and a Catholic is like trying to nail Jell-O to the wall, but this should serve as a warning of things to come for Christians as well.

Here the state of New York badgers a Catholic mother over her desired exemption from vaccination for her child on religious grounds. The state’s obnoxious and condescending lawyer attempts to determine whether or not she truly believes in God and if she does, what her level of sincerity is.


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Quotes (474)

“To justify” means “to declare righteous”; it does not mean “to make righteous.” . . . Christian, when God justifies you, He does not “let you of the hook” with your sins still hanging in midair. He does not pretend that your sins have been paid for. Rather, He sees that your sins really have been paid for by Christ, and He makes a declaration based on that fact. . . . Beloved Christian, you may have some terrible memories in your sinful past, but you can be certain of this: those sins are not still hanging in midair. They’ve come down . . . on the Lord Jesus Christ! And He actually paid for them! He bore your sins in His own body on the cross.

– Charles Leiter

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Who they were then, and who they are now.

Thanks to The Desert Pastor for e-mailing this video to me. Who would have thought a sharpie marker and a piece of cardboard could be such an encouragement?

For those contemplating missionary work in West Africa, (or anywhere else for that matter), you will be greatly encouraged and deeply touched by this video.

The video on YouTube does not contain audio; if you prefer the audio version (recommended) then watch it on this link.

From the website:

Missionaries aren’t superheroes. That’s for sure.

Those of us who work in West Africa were once school teachers, retirees, engineers and coffee baristas. We’ve struggled with sin, physical handicaps, broken families and the stagnant Christian life. We had fears of moving overseas, learning new languages, catching strange diseases and raising our families in a foreign country.

We are transformed.

We all have a story of how God has renewed our lives and brought us to His service, sharing the Gospel with West Africans who have never heard.

We want to share our stories with you — on cardboard — and show you that in Him, anyone is worthy of The Call.

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Quotes (473)

John MacArthur The reason behind postmodernism’s contempt for propositional truth is not difficult to understand. A proposition is an idea framed as a logical statement that affirms or denies something, and it is expressed in such a way that it must be either true or false. There is no third option between true and false. (This is the “excluded middle” in logic.) The whole point of a proposition is to boil a truth-statement down to such a pristine clarity that it must either be affirmed or denied. In other words, propositions are the simplest expressions of truth value used to express the substance of what we believe. Postmodernism, frankly, cannot endure that kind of stark clarity.

– John MacArthur

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Have you heard this joke?

Two “dudes” die and go to “Heaven.” They don’t really recognize where they’re at and they even seem surprised to be there. Then one of the “dudes” tries to “pick up” a female angel by asking her if she’s single, only to be scolded by the other “dude” for being inappropriate. Then they (appropriately?) mock the Heaven they find themselves in.

Now here’s the punchline: This was done by a professing “Christian Church.”

Oh, how they make the mockery of God seem so hip, cool, and relevant!

HT: Slice of Laodicea

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Quotes (472)

thomas-watsonWhat is the popish religion, but a bundle of ridiculous ceremonies! Their candles, beads, crucifixes; what are these but Satan’s policy, to dress up a carnal worship, fitted to carnal minds! Oh! what cause have we to bless God for delivering us from popery!

– Thomas Watson

1620 – 1686

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Seventh-day Adventism: Satan will bear your sins.

ellen-g-whiteThe founding false prophetess of Seventh-day Adventism offered the following doosey of a heresy on page 422 of the book The Great Controversy:

It was seen, also, that while the sin offering pointed to Christ as a sacrifice, and the high priest represented Christ as a mediator, the scapegoat typified Satan, the author of sin, upon whom the sins of the truly penitent will finally be placed. When the high priest, by virtue of the blood of the sin offering, removed the sins from the sanctuary, he placed them upon the scapegoat. When Christ, by virtue of His own blood, removes the sins of His people from the heavenly sanctuary at the close of his ministration, he will place them upon Satan, who, in the execution of the judgment, must bear the final penalty. The scapegoat was sent away into a land not inhabited, never to come again into the congregation of Israel. So will Satan be forever banished from the presence of God and His people, and he will be blotted from existence in the final destruction of sin and sinners.

Rank heresy! Utter blasphemy!

Jesus alone had our iniquity placed upon Him (Isaiah 53:6); He who knew no sin became sin on our behalf (2 Corinthians 5:21); and it was Jesus Christ–God in the flesh–who bore our sins in his body on the cross (1 Peter 2:24).

HT: Evangelical Outreach

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A business?

dollar-sign From Thoughts on the Way:

American Christendom a Business

A Bible teacher gave a summary of Christian history’s movement in a class to beginning students:

“Christianity started in Palestine as a fellowship; it moved to Greece and became a philosophy; it moved to Italy and became an institution; it moved to Europe and became a culture; it then came to America and became an enterprise; an enterprise–that’s a business.”

After a few moments a young lady, the youngest student in the class, raised her hand, asking a simple question, “A business? But isn’t it supposed to be a body?”

When the teacher said, “Yes,” the girl continued, “But when a body becomes a business, isn’t that a prostitute?”

The answer is yes; American professing Christendom is a prostitute, and any professing Christian, church, or organization that uses the message or the body for financial gain is guilty and will prove to be false.

But not the true church of Jesus Christ, who is continually becoming a holy bride, preparing for her Bridegroom. Don’t confuse the two- the true body of Jesus Christ is not Christendom.

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Quotes (471)

firm-foundations-creation-to-christ Yet another reason why some people in evangelical churches remain unsaved is the way in which the Gospel is presented. Many dedicated Christians present the Gospel in such a way that unsaved, unprepared people do not understand that they deserve only God’s judgment, that salvation is completely God’s work, and that sinners are unable to contribute anything towards their own salvation.

– Trevor Mcllwain

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Proof that there’s a Hell and a loving God will send the wicked there.

garbage-bag This shocking story out of Florida of the murder of a child under the pretense of “choice” is proof enough for me that there’s a Hell. For if there was no punishment for this wickedness God would fail to be just.

And on a side note, had the murderous blood-shedding “doctor” arrived on time and the baby girl was executed the “normal” way, this would have never made the news. So what’s the difference?