Quotes (562)

ryle.jpg Our Lord’s strong language about the false teachers of the Jews ends here. Those who think that unsound ministers ought never to be exposed and held up to notice, and men ought never to be warned against them, would do well to study this passage. No class of character throughout our Lord’s ministry seems to call forth such severe denunciation as that of false pastors. The reason is obvious. Other men ruin themselves alone: false pastors ruin their flocks as well as themselves. To flatter all ordained men, and say they never should be called unsound and dangerous guides, is the surest way to injure the Church and offend Christ.

– J.C. Ryle

1816 – 1900

HT: Apprising Ministries

“Ten reasons NOT to ask Jesus into your heart” by Todd Friel.

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Ten reasons NOT to ask Jesus into your heart.

By Todd Friel

The music weeps, the preacher pleads, “Give your heart to Jesus. You have a God shaped hole in your heart and only Jesus can fill it.” Dozens, hundreds or thousands of people who want to get their spiritual life on track make their way to the altar. They ask Jesus into their heart.
Cut to three months later. Nobody has seen our new convert in church. The follow up committee calls him and encourages him to attend a Bible study, but to no avail. We label him a backslider and get ready for the next outreach event.

Our beloved child lies in her snuggly warm bed and says, “Yes, Daddy. I want to ask Jesus into my heart.” You lead her in “the prayer” and hope that it sticks. You spend the next ten years questioning if she really, really meant it. Puberty hits and the answer reveals itself. She backslides. We spend the next ten years praying that she will come to her senses.

Telling someone to ask Jesus into their hearts has a very typical result, backsliding. the Bible says that a person who is soundly saved puts his hand to the plow and does not look back because he is fit for service. In other words, a true convert cannot backslide. If a person backslides, he never slid forward in the first place. “If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation.” (II Cor.5) No backsliding there.

Brace yourself for this one: with very few if any exceptions, anyone who asked Jesus into their hearts to be saved…is not. If you asked Jesus into your heart because you were told that is what you have to do to become a Christian, you were mis-informed.

If you have ever told someone to ask Jesus into their heart (like I have), you produced a false convert. Here is why.

Continue reading

Quotes (561)

awpink.jpg How vain is the presumptuous hope of the wicked, who, notwithstanding their continued defiance of God, nevertheless count upon His being merciful to them. How many there are who say, I do not believe that God will ever cast me into Hell; He is too merciful. Such a hope is a viper, which if cherished in their bosoms will sting them to death. God is a God of justice as well as mercy, and He has expressly declared that He will “by no means clear the guilty” (Exodus 34:7).

– A.W. Pink

1886 – 1952

Quotes (559)

Gary Gilley Today, virtually every heresy found in the Christian ranks can be traced back to some form of rejection of the Bible as God’s final authority. It may be pragmatism (which adds success to the Bible); mysticism (which adds experience); tradition (which adds the past): legalism (which adds man’s rules); or philosophy such as psychology (which adds man’s wisdom). The end result is all the same: the Word of God takes a back seat to the inventions and imaginations of men.

– Gary Gilley

Seriously, but not literally.

If you wanted  a great example of the genesis for all the errors that we have presently slithering around under the umbrella of Christianity claiming to be truth, look no further than this video from a Bible society. This is heresy at it’s finest: Did God really say . . . ?

You can almost hear the hiss as this woman speaks.

HT: Apprising Ministries

Quotes (558)

So why do Catholics think we are bashing them when we are demonstrating a compelling love to show them how to escape the eternal lake of fire? It appears to be a pathetically weak defensive ploy to hide their lack of biblical understanding. By calling someone a name, they are released from any obligation to consider Scripture and evaluate truth. In this way, they can proudly dismiss any further confrontation or correction.

– Mike Gendron

Quotes (556)

firm-foundations-creation-to-christ In our preparation of people for the Gospel, we must bring them to the point where they realize they can do nothing. But even when people do understand their inability to do anything, many evangelists, missionaries, and preachers tell enquirers things such as, “Now, you must give your heart to Jesus.” Having told them they are unable to do anything, they then tell them what they must do. The result? Confusion about the Gospel.

– Trevor Mcllwain

It’s a Free Country

I can’t believe some of the things Americans are saying to me. They sound like they’re from downtown Stalingrad, doing their best to toe the party line.

  • “You can’t say things that might offend people.”
  • “You can’t tell people they’re going to hell.”
  • “You can’t call people sinners.”
  • “The right to free speech doesn’t mean the right to hate speech.”
  • “You’ve been standing here talking to people for 25 minutes. That means you’re loitering, and you have to leave.”

As a Christian, I feel a duty to lovingly and rationally attempt to convince everyone that they are sinners deserving only of hell. This makes the gospel all the more beautiful to tell. However, as Americans, whose rights come from God, we have the right to say what we think—especially if someone else takes offense, or thinks it’s hateful. In fact, even “loud” and “boisterous…religious harangue” is constitutionally protected speech (see Edwards v. South Carolina, 372 U.S. 229, 233 [1963]).

cnstnOur freedoms come from God. Thousands of American soldiers have died defending our rights. These rights are precious. I love it when Americans of whatever belief peacefully exercise and defend their rights. I would never insist that someone exercising their free speech rights be hauled off to jail.

The people who want others not to have the right to free speech are really being very selfish. They insist on certain rights for themselves, but when someone else does something they don’t like, they want that individual’s rights stripped away immediately. If enough people are only concerned about themselves, soon enough none of us will have any freedoms.

I find it hard to understand why some Americans who are so eager to give up their rights or take away others’ rights. The people of Iran, for example, don’t have free speech or freedom of the press. Their recent protest of the outcome of their election caused the Iranian government to kick out the press, and who knows how many protesters were injured by the state police. It’s sad to me to see Iranians yearning for freedom while Americans squander their freedom. I pray that the Iranians will someday have the freedom of the press and the free speech that we have.

Last weekend we celebrated Independence Day and the physical and political liberties we enjoy. I hope that every Christian will boldly exercise his or her God-given right to free speech, and take the time to proclaim the message of spiritual freedom—the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Jesus said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19).

Islamic tolerance: Christian murdered over purchase of tea.

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The “religion of peace” has struck again in Pakistan.

Witnesses claim the owner and 14 of his employees beat Ishtiaq with stones, iron rods and clubs, and stabbed him multiple times with kitchen knives as Ishtiaq pleaded for mercy.

Ishtiaq had not noticed the warning sign before ordering his tea, as he ordered with a group of his fellow passengers.

When Ishtiaq went to pay for his tea, the owner noticed that he was wearing a necklace with a cross and grabbed him, calling for his employees to bring anything available to beat him for violating a sign posted on the stall warning non-Muslims to declare their religion before being served.

Read more from Asian News and  from Worthy News.

The controversial shirt.

Going Going Gone There’s an interesting story coming out of California in which a student’s freedom of speech was obstructed by the public school she attends. Apparently she wore a pro-life t-shirt to school and was forced to remove it. The “offensive” shirt contained two pictures of a baby growing in the womb but this is apparently too much for the public school to handle. The picture heading this post was what was on the girl’s shirt.

Ironically, these same images are found in the school’s textbooks and are acceptable in that context, however, when they’re displayed on a shirt accompanied with a pro-life message, then the images magically become offensive.

One of the girl’s lawyers, Mark A. Thiel, said that the images on her shirt of a fetus in the womb were same as those in her science textbooks. He said no student had complained about the shirt, and he said the girl’s parents were not called when the incident took place.

So was it really the images that the school found so offensive, or was it the message, and the images were only the excuse? I think the answer is obvious.

What’s equally amazing to me is that the author, Maxim Lott, in this news piece had this to say:

The shirt the girl was wearing displays two graphic pictures of a fetus growing in the womb.

Oh, how far we have fallen in our “enlightened” society when gratuitous sex and violence are portrayed on a daily basis (in music, movies, television, books, video games, and even t-shirts) and is considered acceptable, but the beautiful pictures of the miracle of life as it grows in the womb is now referred to as “graphic pictures.”

Woe unto us, woe unto us indeed.

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes And clever in their own sight!

– Isaiah 5:20-21

The Watchtower’s Struggle with Being Born Again

April 1, 2009 Watchtower

April 1, 2009 Watchtower

I’ve read some past Watchtower magazine articles in an attempt to verify the Jehovah’s Witness teaching about what it means to be born again. I’ve found their teaching on this is truly inadequate. In discussions with Jehovah’s Witnesses, I’ve tried to explain the biblical meaning of born again in many ways. During our conversations, none of my questions regarding the shortcomings of their teaching have been answered.

I was excited when I discovered the April 1 Watchtower cover story was about being born again. I hoped that maybe the writers would attempt to fill in some of the gaps in the teaching. Unfortunately, this article is nothing more than a rehash of articles I’ve already read.

These are some of the questions that remain unanswered concerning the teaching:

  1. The non-144,000 JWs are not born again. 1 John 5:1 says that everyone who believes Jesus is the Messiah is born again. How can JWs not be born again, yet profess to believe that Jesus is the Messiah?
  2. The non-144,000 JWs are not considered children of God. I agree that unless you are born again, you are not a child of God. I don’t think the average JW knows that the Watchtower teaches that he or she isn’t a child of God. If they’re not children of God, whose children are they? I believe they remain children of the devil.
  3. If being born again means having been raised from spiritual death to spiritual life (Ephesians 2:1), and most JWs aren’t spiritually alive, they must still be spiritually dead. Does that not concern them?
  4. Jesus said that one will not see the kingdom of God unless he or she is born again (John 3:3). Wouldn’t the paradise earth that most JWs aspire to be considered part of the kingdom of God? They won’t even see paradise earth without being born again.

Every time I’ve tried to discuss this with a Jehovah’s Witness, he or she attempts to change the subject to why he or she is satisfied with paradise earth, and why only the 144,000 are born again. Those are interesting topics to discuss, but I’ve tried to keep the conversation on the topic at hand: If you’re not born again, what are you?

In the Bible, some Jews claimed to be children of God, because they were children of Abraham (John 8:41). Jesus corrected their thinking, telling them that they were in fact children of the devil (John 8:44).

The reality is that for Jehovah’s Witnesses (and everyone else who is not born again), there are only two choices: Either you are reborn as a child of God, or you remain a child of the devil.

10 questions for the “seeker.”

Blind Leading the BlindThe following is a good article from Life Way asking ten simple questions of the so-called “seeker.”

10 Questions for the Seeker

Written by Scott Pruett

There is much talk about the proverbial “spiritual seeker,” which many religions zealously court and who is alleged to be on a journey toward truth. But who are these seekers? What are they looking for and what are they willing to accept as truth? And what roadmap are they willing to use to guide their paths? Here are some questions designed to stir the mind of the seeker, and to give touchstones for dialog to Christians seeking to reach them.

  1. What is it that you are searching for? Are you looking for Truth with a capital “T” – an objective truth – or are you just looking for something that “works” for you? Will any old path do so long as it suits your taste? Are you just enjoying the “journey” or are you looking to a destination?
  2. Are you prepared to accept a truth that causes you inconvenience, or that asserts that you are in the wrong on some of your ideas and behaviors? Do you think that it is possible to enjoy doing things that are actually wrong?
  3. Is the truth something that can be contradicted? Do you think that other seekers who have settled on different and conflicting truths could be wrong, or that you may be wrong and they right? What role do you think reason, logic, and evidence play in determining truth? Do feelings trump these? If so, what do you do with people who believe contradictory things but “feel” the same as you about their beliefs?
  4. If there is a true religion, do you think that it would be possible for any of its followers to be pretenders and hypocrites? Must truth be perfectly practiced in order to qualify as truth? Do we judge a religion by those who most consistently follow it or by those who violate its principles?
  5. Do you see problems in this world? Do you think people do bad things and have bad motives? Is it possible that many people are not really looking to surrender to a higher truth?
  6. How do you think morality and your conscience fits into this? Do your moral intuitions tell you anything about truth and the maker of this cosmos? Do you think you’ve ever committed any moral crimes? What is to be done with these and what do you do with your guilt?
  7. Do you just prefer to be “spiritual” and not “religious?” Do you dislike “organized religion?” If there really is an objective truth, and others can come to know it too, is it sensible that common followers of that truth would seek out each other’s company, deliberately organize, and even have spiritual elders and administrative leaders where the numbers warranted?
  8. Have you considered that this truth could have intruded upon history? Do you think that if Truth is personal that it might have spoken and you can look for evidence of that revelation? Do you think that such a revelation would be authoritative and trustworthy, or do you suppose that it could be hopelessly muddled by human involvement?
  9. The Judeo-Christian tradition is one of the most well-documented, historical, and ancient. Have you considered that this could be the actual point at which God has intervened in this world – is it not a prime candidate? Have you actually read the Bible (perhaps the New Testament, or just the Gospels), or even just heard an exposition of the core beliefs of historic Christianity (rather than having a narrow church experience or taking the secular stereotypes at face-value)? Have you honestly sought to have your questions or objections addressed by Christians who are best equipped to do so, such as theologians and apologists? Have you read anything near the number of books on Christianity that you have on other beliefs that you are entertaining? Did you know that there is a whole historical body of literature devoted to explaining Christianity and answering the tough questions?
  10. Are you serious about your search or is it more of a hobby? Would you be willing to pray to this divine entity that you are seeking to help you come to the truth, whatever the cost?

© 2008 LifeWay Christian Resources

Quotes (553)

Puritans The sinners of a nation are really the weakness of it. . . . Wicked men are they that betray nations and kingdoms, expose them to God’s wrath, and subject them to His judgments. Did Noah bring the flood upon the old world? Or did the wicked do it by their wickedness? Did Lot bring down fire from Heaven upon Sodom? Or did the Sodomites do it by their own lewdness? Did Jeremiah by his preaching, . . . and those few other godly in Jerusalem by their praying and weeping and mourning, bring on the captivity of that people? Or did not the people themselves, by their idolatry, their profaneness, their swearing, their Sabbath-breaking, their polluting God’s ordinances, their shedding innocent blood, etc.?

– John Collins

1632 – 1687

Happy 4th of July: Islamic “tolerance” in the United States of America.

There used to be a time when we dismissed the threat of the spread of Islam as something that happens “over there” in other countries. Not anymore.

I urge you to take the time to watch the following five videos. Freedom of speech is apparently a one way street in the Muslim capital of the United States–Dearborn, Michigan.

This is an unbelievable encounter as the situation heats up because someone dares to ask a question.

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

This is the question that started the confrontation.

FIVE

And this is the reaction to the question.

Source: Acts 17 Apologetics and Answering Muslims

Mississippi Farm Boy Claims a Revelation from God: LDS Church is Apostate.

Mormonism

Here’s a great question from Jessica over at I Love Mormons:

I have a hypothetical scenario I want to run by you. What would happen if a 14-yr-old LDS kid from Mississippi suddenly showed up on the scene claiming he had received personal revelation from God that the LDS church became apostate after the death of Joseph Smith? This young boy (we’ll call him Joe) claims God revealed to him that the King Follett Discourse never happened the way the history books have it. Rather, after the death of Joseph Smith, Brigham Young and others changed many historical documents to try to make it appear like Joseph Smith taught polygamy and polytheism. Joe says Joseph Smith never believed in a plurality of gods; rather, he believed in and taught the Trinity as evidenced by the Book of Mormon. Joe claims Brigham Young edited the D&C and PofGP to add the teachings on polygamy and plurality of gods. Joe starts admonishing LDS that God views the current teachings of the modern-day LDS church as an abomination.

Question: How would you decide whether the 14-yr-old was trustworthy and believable?