Religion

by

Sermon of the week: “The Gospel of Justifying Grace” by Brian Borgman (Part 2 of 3).

Your sermon of the week is Brian Borgman’s message The Gospel of Justifying Grace (Part 2). This is part two of three on justifying grace and is a source of encouragement for believers in the assurance of salvation and the doctrine of justification. You can find part one here.

by

A new chapter in American history begins today.

obama-and-babies

Just two days before the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, this country welcomes its most pro-abortion president to the White House; one who supports the murder of children even outside of the womb. With help from those who profess to be Christians, we have received the king that we’ve demanded; a king this nation deserves; a king whose coronation will be celebrated by a massive planned homosexual orgy in our nation’s capital and a $170 million dollar inauguration (while the rest of the country suffers from unemployment and recession). Four legs good, two legs bad.

People, your king has arrived; may God have mercy on His own.


by

The other dream.

racism

While Americans celebrate Martin Luther King Junior Day and reflect upon his famous “I have a dream” speech, let us not forget another “dream”: The dream of Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger who called blacks “human weeds, reckless breeders” and “human beings who never should have been born.“ More of this woman’s “progressive” and “tolerant” remarks can be found here.

Find out much more about this racist female Hitler who started Planned Parenthood by checking out the blog The Truth About Margaret Sanger.

“I accepted an invitation to talk to the women’s branch of the Ku Klux Klan…I saw through the door dim figures parading with banners and illuminated crosses…I was escorted to the platform, was introduced, and began to speak…In the end, through simple illustrations I believed I had accomplished my purpose. A dozen invitations to speak to similar groups were proffered.” Margaret Sanger: An Autobiography, P.366

Related posts:

–   The Negroe Project: Planned Parenthood, Barack Obama, and Black Genocide

–   Racism rears its ugly head (yet again) at Planned Parenthood

–   Racism, money, murder, and the presidential candidate

–   Margaret Sanger is no hero to Black America

–   On this this Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Mormon church wishes to remind you that they’ve been racism-free since 1978

by

Lifestyle Evangelism Is a Logical Impossibility

When I first started witnessing I assumed that when I ran into Christians, they would cheerfully offer their encouragement and prayers. That hasn’t turned out to be the case, and I’ve come to dread running into Christians, because most say I don’t witness properly. It’s almost certain that they’ll say the Bible doesn’t even tell us to witness. They say we should live a good Christian life, and people will be drawn to that, and ask us what makes us tick. That’s called lifestyle evangelism, and it seems to be very popular.

Here is a Youtube video by an author who wrote a book on evangelism. He explains why we shouldn’t witness the way we always have (and the way Jesus and the apostles did). I wouldn’t recommend watching it unless you really want to, but he says that his interpretation of the Great Commission shows that Christians shouldn’t witness, and his interpretation has never been refuted. I have little interest in reading the book. I don’t know what his arguments are, but here is my argument why Jesus taught us to go preach the gospel.

The Great Commission appears in Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Jesus said to make disciples. Many Christians say that preaching the gospel isn’t making disciples; making disciples is a long process of teaching people how to behave as Christians. While learning to follow Christ will take the rest of our lives, this process will never start without salvation. People are either born-again, or dead in their sins. They’re either disciples of Jesus or they’re not. Making disciples is a synonym for making converts.

How do we make disciples or converts? Only through the preaching of the gospel will anyone ever be able to call on the Savior (Romans 10:14). When the Lord makes someone born again, He will follow through on the good work He has begun in him or her (Philippians 1:6). He doesn’t need our help in discipling people, though often we have the privilege of helping Him.

The whole concept in modern Christianity of discipling a new believer, while it is well-intentioned, is a misnomer. We’re all disciples of Jesus, not of other believers. If I were to disciple someone, they’re my disciple. That’s not what I want. It is indeed clear from the Great Commission that we are to teach others to observe all that He has commanded us. Much of what might incorrectly be called making a disciple should actually be called teaching someone who is already born again.

That leads us to the other objection I’ve heard to the Great Commission. People say Jesus was speaking only to those within earshot, the 11 remaining disciples, and we aren’t included in the command to make disciples. But Jesus commanded them to make disciples, and teach the new disciples to do what He’s commanded, which would include making disciples. All Christians should obey Christ’s command to make disciples.

This makes lifestyle evangelism a logical impossibility. Living a good Christian lifestyle involves being obedient to Christ. This would preclude picking and choosing to which commands we’re to be obedient. Among the commands Jesus gave is preaching the gospel. It’s impossible to lead a Christian lifestyle without opening our mouths and spreading the gospel.

Can I be a good lifestyle evangelist if I never show up to work on time? Can I be a good lifestyle evangelist if I treat my family poorly? Can I be a good lifestyle evangelist while being disobedient to Christ’s command to preach the gospel? My answer to all of these is: definitely not.

We’re all responsible to God for our obedience to the Great Commission. If you want a good dose of conviction that will hopefully motivate you, watch this.

by

Walter Martin debates Wiccans on the Phil Donahue Show.

Here’s a blast from the past. On this episode of the Phil Donahue show Walter Martin debates two Wiccans. Some of the most interesting comments come from audience members and callers who should know better (like the Baptist and the Catholic).

Although I don’t necessarily agree with Dr. Martin’s affirming remark about Charismatics, I must give him a break because the Charismatics of thirty years ago paled in comparison to the circus we have today.

Unfortunately these two video clips only contain parts of this talk show. If anyone knows where to view the entire episode, please let me know.

Part One:

Part Two:

by

Sermon of the Week: “The Gospel of Justifying Grace” by Brian Borgman (Part 1 of 3).

We begin a three part series by Reformed Pastor Brian Borgman with The Gospel of Justifying Grace (Part 1). This is a great series on justifying grace and is a source of encouragement for believers in the assurance of salvation and the doctrine of justification.


by

Where’s the sermon?

As you watch these two video clips you have to ask yourself, “Where is the preaching of the Word?” These people are entertained (and manipulated) so easily that it’s frightening.

I had to endure this foolishness back in the 1990’s and I see that fifteen years later this wickedness is still popular among the “experience chasers.” I pity these people because I was once in their shoes. I however, never succumbed to the possession / emotionalism / manipulation that they experience. When the “holy laughter” movement came to my church, I summarily left (with ridicule by those who stayed) only to watch the church crumble within a few months with sex scandals starting with the pastor. Oh, how I wasted so much of my life under these false teachers.

by

Quotes (459)

voddie-baucham One day you visit a church, your teen goes off to the youth service, your little one goes off to children’s church, the baby goes to the nursery, and you and your spouse get a great seat in a plush auditorium with first-class music, professional drama, a relevant, encouraging, application-oriented, non-threatening talk, and you get it all in just under an hour. Moreover, you look at the brochures, and it’s right there in black and white: “Our youth ministry exists to do the job that you’ve neglected all these years.” What a deal! We don’t have to keep the little one quiet, we get our needs met, and to top it off, the youth guy is going to disciple my teenager (whom I don’t even like right now). Who cares if the youth guy has only been married a few months and has never even attempted to discipline a child of his own. “Count me in!” I realize that this is an exaggeration, but the fact is, it wouldn’t matter if the youth pastor were a forty-year-old Ph.D. with five children of his own whom he had raised successfully. That still would not justify the abdication of parental responsibility.

– Voddie Baucham

by

Cappuccino machines, light bulbs, and toilet paper.

esspresso-machineAs an elementary public school in Detroit, Michigan is lacking funds for even light bulbs and toilet paper, public schools in Chicago, Illinois just spent $67,000 on cappuccino machines of which most are “. . . going unused because the schools they were ordered for had not asked for them . . .”.

Yet another shining moment for government schools.

by

Guitar Praise: Another attempt at mimicking the fleeting fads of the world.

Only in an environment of prolonged comfort, safety, security, and prosperity could this be possible. I wonder if our Christian brothers and sisters being tortured in prisons around the world are secretly coveting this latest installment from the Den of Robbers. I also wonder if this is being marketed to the underground Church in Communist countries.

Warning: At just under 1 minute into the three minute video, they advertise the nomanclature of the product using a well endowed woman wearing a tight V-neck shirt. I’m sure it was not intentional; no one selling a cheap toy exploiting Christianity would ever use worldly marketing tactics . . . no, never.

Those viewers who seek modesty and purity may want to SKIP past that part.

by

Sola Scriptura (59)

bible-page.jpg And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, speak to the sons of your people and say to them, ‘If I bring a sword upon a land, and the people of the land take one man from among them and make him their watchman, and he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows on the trumpet and warns the people, then he who hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, and a sword comes and takes him away, his blood will be on his own head. ‘He heard the sound of the trumpet but did not take warning; his blood will be on himself. But had he taken warning, he would have  delivered his life. ‘But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet and the people are not warned, and a sword comes and takes a person from them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require from the watchman’s hand.’ “Now as for you, son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel; so you will hear a message from My mouth and give them warning from Me. “When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require from your hand. “But if you on your part warn a wicked man to turn from his way and he  does not turn from his way, he will die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your life.

Ezekiel 33:1-9

by

Book review: “Family Driven Faith” by Voddie Baucham.

family-driven-faithI just completed the book Family Driven Faith by Voddie Baucham. Don’t let the name fool you; it has absolutely nothing to do with the purpose driven garbage being peddled by the seeker-friendly mega-churches. In fact, I doubt that this book would be well received at such social club churches.

In the book, subtitled Doing What It Takes To Raise Sons And Daughters Who Walk With God, Voddie sounds the call for parents to take back their biblical responsibilities as the primary spiritual mentors and shepherds of their children. He also calls for the church to not only stop interfering and usurping parents’ authority, but to quit dividing and segregating the family: Baby goes in nursery, toddler in Sunday school class, teen in youth group, parents in main sanctuary. If we are to have a multi-generational family, it starts with the family, not the youth pastor.

I highly recommend this book to parents, expecting parents, pastors, youth pastors, Sunday school teachers, church nursery staff, and even teens and children.

You can purchase this book here.