Thursday, July 31, 2008
Jim McClarty - The Best News You Ever Heard
NOTE: If you are pressed for time, scroll to timestamp 8:30. That is where the message really picks up...
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Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
Bob DeWaay - Todd Bentley, Bob Jones, and Patricia King Practice Astral Projection
In a bizarre You Tube.com video of “prophet” Patricia King’s TV program, fellow “prophet” Bob Jones and revivalist Todd Bentley discuss the practice of visiting “the third heaven”. Jones also professes to have taught Bentley and King the practice.[i] In the clip from her aptly-titled show, “Extreme Prophetic” (which has been viewed more than 50,000 times), she introduces Jones as a seer: “Many people don’t understand seer prophets because they see visions and revelations and supernatural encounters and mystical experiences, and Bob Jones in our day, I think, is one of the champions of the seer realm. In fact, as a prophet he’s probably the most accurate prophet in our generation, but he is going to share some insights with us.” King evidently has low standards for accuracy. In 1997 Jones prophesied that an earthquake would destroy Los Angeles and that terrorists with nuclear bombs would also attack the city.[ii] He told Christians to flee, which means he considered the events to be imminent.
The topic of the day for this particular interview, however, was not predictive prophecy but travel to the third heaven. Bentley had previously called King and described traveling into heaven. Here is the account of how he learned this:
Yeah, well the first time that I had met Bob was actually in Grant’s Pass, Oregon and we were sitting in a restaurant and I was real hungry and I knew Bob was a real seer prophet and I thought Lord I am going to get an impartation. I’ve been having all these encounters and all these visions and experiences already soaking, but I thought Lord I need to talk to someone who has been walking in this that’s really a senior prophet. So when I met Bob I thought Lord, I am going to get an impartation. I remember talking to Bob in a restaurant about going into the heavens and what it was, and we were talking about the third heaven and going into the immediate abode into that place; the dwelling place of God. I thought—that’s awesome, I’m hungry for it too. I wanted more because up into that point, sovereignly God was just visiting me, sovereignly God was just visiting me and I was just waiting in his presence and sovereignly was visiting me. And Bob said to me, He said, we can go right now. And I said what do you mean we can go right now? Like we can just make a decision, right now, and enter into that realm of the spirit? And he said sure we can, don’t you have faith boy? (or something like that)—that’s what he said to me (laughter). And I remember Bob took my hand and everyone else sitting at the table; I don’t know maybe 20-30 of the people were yakking at the table, it was quite noisy, a lot of the other leaders there; and Bob just takes my hand, like this, and he says “Alright, here we go, close your eyes. And I remember closing my eyes and Bob saying “Okay there it is, can you feel it, alright here we go, we are going in, whoa we’re going in”; and all of a sudden I felt myself going up. I felt my body being lifted up and it was moving really fast and then he was like “can you smell it? Ah hah, there it is, can you smell it?” That’s what he said to me Bob and he said “it’s the vanilla and right when Bob said “the vanilla” I said “I smell vanilla” and then we started smelling all these other fragrances of the anointing, and then he said “Let’s bring them back with us now”.
During the King interview, Jones claimed that he goes up to the third heaven at will and does so every day. He also claims that once one gets past the second heaven, the “hooks” of Satan come out and the angels come to greet such soul travelers. He also claims that he teaches children how to have such experiences and that they are naturals at it.
The key question is whether Christians can validly practice occult astral projection (even if they do not call it that). Paul’s description of his experience shows many contrasts with the ones Bentley and Jones claim:
I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a man was caught up to the third heaven. And I know how such a man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows—was caught up into Paradise, and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak. (2Corinthians 12:2-4)
1) Paul did not even mention his experience until 14 years later, and he did so reluctantly and only to refute the claims of false teachers who took their stand on false visions and experiences. Paul speaks of himself in the third person because of a desire not to boast or emphasize his experience. He was driven to mention it only because of false apostles who claimed superior experiences.
2) Paul said that he was “caught up,” using an aorist passive participle (something that happened at a point in time and caused by another). This was something that happened to Paul that he did not seek. David Garland explains, “This verb suggests that ‘Paul’s experience was an involuntary one in which God took the initiative rather than one brought about by preparation or special techniques.’ The experience was not something he sought or initiated and therefore was not something that he could repeat whenever he wanted.”[iii]
3) Whatever Paul heard, it was not lawful to speak about. God has chosen what He wants revealed—and what he wants revealed appears in Scripture. Anything further, even if gained by a valid experience like Paul’s, is not to be spoken.
4) Jones claims that when he makes his daily trip to heaven he feels wind and is greeted by angels. Paul’s experience did not cause him to meet angels, but rather caused him to receive an “angel from Satan” (literal translation of the phrase in 2Corinthians 12:7). According to Garland, there were stories of such visits in Jewish apocalyptic literature and pagan mystery religions: “Paul’s account of his journey to heaven differs from the tours of heaven and hell recorded by other apocalyptic and mystical writers of the age. He does not say how he was transported because he does not know. He does not visit a series of heavens. He is not let in on secrets that he can then disclose to others or put in a book to be sealed for a later time. The meaning of what he sees and hears is not interpreted by an angelic tour guide. In the aftermath what he gets instead is an angel from Satan who plagues him with a “thorn” that leads him to a deeper understanding of his ministry.”[iv]
The visits to heaven that Bentley and Jones revel in are of the pagan variety. Jones claims that the reason he can go to the third heaven daily is that he has faith for such an experience. The Bible does not teach that if we have enough faith we can do this sort of soul travel akin to pagan astral projection.
The video in question includes teachings that are common in the Word of Faith camp. For example, Bentley said:
Yes Lord. That spirit of faith, that tangible substance; faith is a substance and we are saying “Let it come”, that spirit upon each one right now… being released, that energy, that virtue being released into the faith. It’s coming alive, it’s resurrecting, and it’s being imparted right now; a spirit of faith to believe things that you have never been able to believe for; and it becomes easy.
The idea that faith is a “tangible” entity in the universe, a force to tap into, is patently false. Faith must have an object; it is the noun form of the verb “to believe.” The object of our faith is God, not the idea of believing that an unbiblical experience will happen. Bob Jones says, “So I have a faith for the supernatural to become a natural in the body of Christ.” Such an idea is akin to the New Age understanding of miracles and the supernatural.[v] Jones also says, “And that they [Christians] are really called; not so much just to have the faith in God, but to have the faith of God.” That is yet another heresy from the Word of Faith camp—that faith is a tangible entity God uses, and if we learn to do the same we can have what Kenneth Hagin called “the God kind of faith.”
Given the gravity of the heresies and unbiblical experiences that Jones, Bentley, and King promote, it is obvious that Bentley’s experience-oriented “revivals” are not based on the gospel of Jesus Christ or repentance and faith. Bentley’s definition of faith has nothing to do with having Biblically defined faith in Christ. His grandiose claims are of the sort that Paul warned against in Colossians and 2 Corinthians. May the Lord open peoples’ eyes to the dangers they face when they listen to such men.
End Notes
[i] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGCTMEoifqQ&feature=related
[ii] http://cicministry.org/commentary/issue67b.htm
[iii] Garland, D. E. (2001, c1999). Vol. 29: 2 Corinthians (electronic ed.). Logos Library System; The New American Commentary (511). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[iv] Ibid.
[v] http://cicministry.org/commentary/issue23.htm
Distributed by http://www.christianworldviewnetwork.com/
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Sunday, July 27, 2008
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
Puritan Prayers - The Deeps
Lord Jesus, give me a deeper repentance, a horror of sin, a dread of its approach. Help me chastely to flee it and jealously to resolve that my heart shall be Thine alone.
Give me a deeper trust, that I may lose myself to find myself in Thee, the ground of my rest, the spring of my being. Give me a deeper knowledge of Thyself as saviour, master, lord, and king. Give me deeper power in private prayer, more sweetness in Thy Word, more steadfast grip on its truth. Give me deeper holiness in speech, thought, action, and let me not seek moral virtue apart from Thee.
Plough deep in me, great Lord, heavenly husbandman, that my being may be a tilled field, the roots of grace spreading far and wide, until Thou alone art seen in me, Thy beauty golden like summer harvest, Thy fruitfulness as autumn plenty.
I have no master but Thee, no law but Thy will, no delight but Thyself, no wealth but that Thou givest, no good but that Thou blessest, no peace but that Thou bestowest. I am nothing but that Thou makest me. I have nothing but that I receive from Thee. I can be nothing but that grace adorns me. Quarry me deep, dear Lord, and then fill me to overflowing with living water.
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Puritan Prayers - Contentment
Heavenly Father, if I should suffer need, and go unclothed, and be in poverty, make my heart prize Thy love, know it, be constrained by it, though I be denied all blessings. It is Thy mercy to afflict and try me with wants, for by these trials I see my sins, and desire severance from them. Let me willingly accept misery, sorrows, temptations, if I can thereby feel sin as the greatest evil, and be delivered from it with gratitude to Thee, acknowledging this as the highest testimony of Thy love.
When thy Son, Jesus, came into my soul instead of sin He became more dear to me than sin had formerly been; His kindly rule replaced sin's tyranny. Teach me to believe that if ever I would have any sin subdued I must not only labour to overcome it, but must invite Christ to abide in the place of it, and He must become to me more than vile lust had been; that His sweetness, power, life may be there. Thus I must seek a grace from Him contrary to sin, but must not claim it apart from Himself.
When I am afraid of evils to come, comfort me by showing me that in myself I am a dying, condemned wretch, but in Christ I am reconciled and live; that in myself I find insufficiency and no rest, but in Christ there is satisfaction and peace; that in myself I am feeble and unable to do good, but in Christ I have ability to do all things. Though now I have His graces in part, I shall shortly have them perfectly in that state where Thou wilt show Thyself fully reconciled, and alone sufficient, efficient, loving me completely, with sin abolished. O Lord, hasten that day.
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Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Who Controls Salvation? The Great Debate on "Free Will"
Here is a repost of 2 of my favorite videos on God's sovereignty and man's "free will"...
HT: Lane's Blog
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Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Puritan Prayers - Consecration and Worship
My God, I feel it is heaven to please Thee, and to be what Thou wouldst have me be. O that I were holy as Thou art holy, pure as Christ is pure, perfect as Thy Spirit is perfect! These, I feel, are the best commands in Thy Book, and shall I break them? must I break them? am I under such a necessity as long as I live here?
Woe, woe is me that I am a sinner, that I grieve this blessed God, who is infinite in goodness and grace! O if He would punish me for my sins, it would not would my heart so deep to offend Him; But though I sin continually, He continually repeats His kindness to me.
At times I feel I could bear any suffering, but how can I dishonour this glorious God? What shall I do to glorify and worship this best of beings? O that I could consecrate my soul and body to His service, without restraint, for ever! O that I could give myself up to Him, so as never more to attempt to be my own! or have any will or affections that are not perfectly conformed to His will and His love! But, alas, I cannot live and not sin.
O may angels glorify Him incessantly, and, if possible, prostrate themselves lower before the blessed King of heaven! I long to bear a part with them in ceaseless praise; but when I have done all I can to eternity I shall not be able to offer more than a small fraction of the homage that the glorious God deserves. Give me a heart full of divine, heavenly love.
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Monday, July 21, 2008
God Is Sovereign - Elizabeth Wall
This memorial video was made for what would have been Elizabeth Wall's graduation. It's purpose is to show through one girl's life that the measure of one's life is not the number of one's days, but the victory over death won by Christ himself. She went home singing praises to God with failing lungs.
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Saturday, July 19, 2008
John Piper - Christ Builds His Church, We Don't!
This is why most churches in America have it all backwards.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
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John MacArthur - Three Reasons to Fear God - The Doctrine of Hell
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
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Friday, July 18, 2008
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Perry Noble - The "Feed Me" Person
Perry Noble has this to say on his blog:
"Pastor, being honest here…I’ve NEVER encountered a person who claimed they weren’t being fed that also had a dynamic personal walk with Jesus. If that were true then they would show up to the church FULL and not need to latch on to the breast! It’s not our job to feed–but to lead to places where food can be found."
You can read the full context of the quote here: http://www.perrynoble.com/2008/07/17/pastorschurch-plantersbeware-part-two/
My point is not to criticize Perry personally but to examine his view that the church's job is not to feed people. Immediately upon reading Perry's words, my thoughts turned to Jesus word's to Peter in John 21:15-17,
When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep."
"My lambs" & "My sheep" in these verses refers to Christ's church, people Jesus died to save (John 10:14 & 26; Matt. 16:18). The word "feed" carries the idea of shepherding and nourishing God's people. The command Christ gave to Peter was to continually feed Christ's church. The apostle Paul also gave similar instuctions when he told a young preacher named Timothy to preach the word and hold to the Truth (2 Tim. 4:2). The early church would meet together and devote themselves to the apostles teaching (Acts 2:42). And elders where given to instruct in sound doctrine (Titus 1:9)
I'm not sure where we got the idea that we must divorce "feeding ourselves" at home from being fed when the church gathers together. Why would we divorce the idea of feeding our people with the idea of leading them to places where food can be found? Such a distinction is foreign to Scripture. One wonder's where you lead people for food if it's not to the church where God's Word is taught and the sacraments are properly administered?
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Puritan Prayers - Confession and Petition
Holy Lord, I have sinned times without number, and been guilty of pride and unbelief, of failure to find Thy mind in Thy Word, of neglect to seek Thee in my daily life. My transgressions and short-comings present me with a list of accusations, but I bless Thee that they will not stand against me, for all have been laid on Christ. Go on to subdue my corruptions, and grant me grace to live above them. Let not the passions of the flesh nor lustings of the mind bring my spirit into subjection, but do Thou rule over me in liberty and power.
I thank Thee that many of my prayers have been refused. I have asked amiss and do not have, I have prayed from lusts and been rejected, I have longed for Egypt and been given a wilderness. Go on with Thy patient work, answering 'no' to my wrongful prayers, and fitting me to accept it. Purge me from every false desire, every base aspiration, everything contrary to Thy rule. I thank Thee for Thy wisdom and Thy love, for all the acts of discipline to which I am subject, for sometimes putting me into the furnace to refine my gold and remove my dross.
No trial is so hard to bear as a sense of sin. If Thou shouldst give me choice to live in pleasure and keep my sins, or to have them burnt away with trial, give me sanctified affliction. Deliver me from every evil habit, every accretion of former sins, everything that dims the brightness of Thy grace in me, everything that prevents me taking delight in Thee. Then I shall bless Thee, God of jeshurun, for helping me to be upright.
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Wednesday, July 16, 2008
John MacArthur - Hard To Believe
I highly recommend reading John MacArthur's book, "Hard To Believe". In these videos, John MacArthur explains not only how narrow the gate is but also how narrow the path is to eternal life...
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
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Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Let This Cup Pass from Me
From http://www.jaywingard.com/
“Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to His disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray. And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.” Matthew 26:36-38
Gethsemane was a garden located somewhere on the lower slopes of the Mount of Olives, in which there were olive trees and olive presses. It was one of Jesus’ favorite spots, no doubt often used by Him and His disciples as a place to be alone.
Here we have a picture of Christ like no other in Scripture. Told also in Mark and Luke, this story of Jesus is one that shows us not only the glory of Christ’s death to redeem sinners such as you and I but also of the indescribable spiritual torment our Savior went through.
Christ knew His hour was near and He asked His disciples to stay awake while He went over to the garden to pray. Eyes tired from lack of sleep, the disciples quickly abandon their Savior by falling asleep. Christ will soon be left alone as the disciples run away in terror as the Roman guards approach and then all but John will have deserted Him as He is nailed to the cross.
Scripture tells us that Jesus was greatly distressed. That His soul was so deeply grieved that He was nearly at the point of death. Here we have Jesus, our Savior telling His disciples that something that is soon to happen is absolutely tormenting His soul. His only request is that they remain there and keep watch with Jesus.
No doubt the disciples had to be thinking about this statement. They had seen Christ mourn over the death of Lazarus (or rather the outcome of sin and its effects on people) and they also saw the mourning of Christ over Jerusalem as He states that He wanted to gather the children from Jerusalem together the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wing but Israel would not let Him. (Matthew 23:37)
But this had to be different. Jesus is so distressed in His soul that He says He is near the point of death. Is the Captain of our salvation distressed over the pain that He will so soon endure? Is the Captain of our salvation distressed over the long nails that will be driven into His hands and feet?
“And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” Matthew 26:39
Jesus goes a little deeper into the garden and fell down to the ground praying fervently to His Father in heaven asking for the cup to pass from Him. He asked “if it is possible”. This statement by Jesus is absolutely profound given light that after Jesus shares the Gospel message with the rich young ruler in Matthew chapter 19, His disciples were there listening intently. While the rich young ruler’s heart was hard and unable to respond to the Gospel the disciples understood the absolute impossibility of being saved. Let’s see the passage about the rich young ruler in it’s entirety…
Matthew 19:16 “And behold, one came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do, to have eternal life?” 17 And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? One there is who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” 18 He said to him, “Which?” And Jesus said, “You shall not kill, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, 19 Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 20 The young man said to him, “All these I have observed; what do I still lack?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions. 23 And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, it will be hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” 25 When the disciples heard this they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” 26 But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Here we see Jesus telling His disciples that something is impossible in human terms - the ability to be saved on your own merit through following the commandments, doing good works, etc. In fact, the miracle of salvation in itself is just that - a miracle. God must take a heart of stone, a person dead in their sins and transgressions and cause that person to be born again with a new spirit and a new heart. The disciples understood this dilemma and asked Jesus, “who then can be saved?” Jesus answers that with man it is impossible but with God all things are possible.
So this brings us to the heart wrenching prayer of Jesus in the garden as He is lying face down in torment crying to His Father in heaven. Jesus cries with the statement, “if it is possible”. All things are possible with God - as long as the thing God wants to do does not go against His own Holy character. If it were possible, the moment God does something against His character He is no longer God. For example, Scripture clearly states that it is impossible for God to lie. (Hebrews 6:18) If God were to lie He would stop being God. So looking deeply at the plea of our Savior we see clearly that God is answering His Son sweetly from heaven that there is no other way.
But couldn’t God just forgive sinners without Christ having to be nailed to a cross? Couldn’t God spare His innocent Son from the cross to come? Isn’t God a forgiving God and a God of love? Yes, God is a forgiving God and God is love (1 John 4:8). But that is not all of God. Stopping there would be creating an idol - an image of a god you would simply be creating in your mind and not the God of Scripture - not the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Jesus. Much of the American church today is guilty of idolatry. God is good. God is holy. And with pure goodness and holiness comes righteousness, sovereignty and justice. And with justice comes the need to punish wrongdoing and wickedness.
Let us study a passage in Proverbs that many may not consider when studying the atoning work of Christ on the cross. I was listening to a powerful sermon by Paul Washer recently and he draws such a valid point from this verse in Proverbs. This verse, however, is instrumental as it sets up a problem. It sets up a scandal.
Proverbs 17:15 He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous, both of them alike are an abomination to the LORD.
According to God’s own word, justifying the wicked is an abomination to God. So His own decree in Scripture illustrates that God is a holy, just God who must punish sin. He cannot just forgive sinners without their being a propitiation (satisfaction) for His wrath against that sin. Someone must take the punishment and bear the wrath of God against lawbreaking - against sin. Only God Himself could endure such a punishment and atone for the sins of all the elect.
This brings powerful light to the cross. We understand from the verse in Proverbs that God cannot just forgive or justify the wicked. There must be a propitiation or satisfaction to God to appease His wrath against the sins of man. Christ is that propitiation. On the cross, the full wrath of God was laid on the sinless Lamb of God - all the wrath that you and I so deserve was laid in all fullness. Christ was our substitute - He took our place. Christ’s work on the cross is a vicarious penal substitution. He took on the wrath of God and thus satisfied the righteous requirement of God to punish sin.
There have been many books written and sermons preached on just what the cup Jesus was praying so fervently about. In my opinion, anything other than the wrath of God would be incorrect and possibly even blasphemous. Do we really think that the Captain of our salvation, God in the flesh, was sweating drops of blood and crying out to the Father for deliverance from a cup that was the physical torment of the cross? How many thousands before and after Christ, including many of the disciples were crucified? Tradition has it that Peter was crucified upside down because he would dare not be crucified in the manner of his Lord.
You see, what Christ knew He would soon experience cannot be explained with human words. Christ prayed three times to the Father asking “if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done.” (Matt. 26:42b) No song, no book, no sermon could possibly describe the grief that Christ experienced looking to the cross where the sins of all who have and will believe in Him will be imputed to Him, where the wrath of God will be placed on Christ for every thought, word and deed of sin of the elect. This is exactly what Christ was dreading. The cup that Christ asked to be removed was none other than the wrath of God. Many times in the Old Testament the cup described God’s wrath and here this cup was the wrath of the Almighty that was laid upon the sinless Lamb of God. Jesus took on the wrath for our sins and became our substitute. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We cannot work our way to heaven and we can’t do anything on our own merit to earn salvation. No one has gone up to heaven to gain salvation. God left His throne in heaven and became veiled in flesh as a babe in a manger to show us that He must provide a way for us to be reconciled to Him. All glory goes to God. All glory goes to Christ for our salvation. Through faith in the person and work of Christ and repentance of our sins, Christ’s righteousness is imputed to us, we are redeemed, and our sins are forgiven by the shedding of Christ’s blood on the cross. God provides the way - to each of us who so deserve wrath and punishment the grace of God is shown in the face of Christ Jesus.
Good Friday is the day our Savior was “delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God [and] nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men [who] put Him to death” (Acts 2:23). God used the most evil act in history to redeem a people for Himself to present to Christ as the unblemished Church of Jesus Christ. Three days later God raised Christ from the dead showing His approval of the sacrifice of the spotless Lamb of God (Romans 4:25) and giving the saints a blessed hope of a new heaven and a new earth with new, glorified bodies that will live with our King forever at His glorious second advent. As Revelation 22:4 says, “we will see His face.” To me, this is the perfect, most glorious description of heaven in all of Scripture.
Christ drank of the cup so that we do not have to. Christ took our place. Through faith and repentance we are no longer our own, but Christ’s. Reflect on this truth this Holy Week and go serve your King! Solus Christus!
Thank you Lord Jesus! You saved me!
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Monday, July 14, 2008
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Paul Washer - Vacation Bible School...Rededicating Your Life...Ask Jesus Into Your Heart?
Salvation Is A Mighty Work Of God
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Paul Washer - Little Boys Trying to Play Men of God
“If you are a lost, unregenerate, hell bound church member, then you will need all sorts of things to motivate you for the Christian life, you’ll need to go to a church where it’s like a six-flags over Jesus, they have every sort of thing you can imagine to keep you entertained. They have program after program after program because they got to keep the machine going because the building cost a lot of money. And they gotta introduce and embrace every fad that comes down the pike, church growth this, church growth that, my goodness how did the apostle Paul ever start a church? You have to be sensitive to culture, this generation, that generation, the x-y-z generation, every generation and you have to know everything, NO! It’s all a bunch of little boys trying to play men of God without the Scripture is what it is and they’ve got to build something on something other than scripture because they don’t have Scripture nor the power of God.”
http://www.jaywingard.com/
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Saturday, July 12, 2008
Todd Bentley - Dateline
Matthew 24:11 "Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many."
Mathhew 24:24 "For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect."
Part 1
Part 2
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Thursday, July 10, 2008
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Slaves No More!!!
John 8:36 "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed."
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Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Paul Washer Quote
“How could we have such a low view of the gospel of Jesus Christ that we have to manipulate men psychologically to get them to come down and pray a prayer? ...How many times have I heard evangelists say, “It’ll only take five minutes.“? No my dear friend, it will take your life–all of it! “We’re just trying to attract people and then we’ll gradually bring them in further and further.” That is what the cults do, that’s not what Jesus did. Notice that in the gospels every time a great crowd is following Jesus, he turns around and says something so radical to them that most of them walk away. Of course Jesus probably would not get invited to teach evangelism [in most churches today].”
http://www.jaywingard.com/
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Mark Kielar - Meek Not Weak
This is an excellent, excellent sermon!!! The sound is not clear for the first minute or so but it is fine after that. Please take time to watch this sermon.
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Sunday, July 06, 2008
Prayer and Help For My Mother, Carol
Background Information: My mother, Carol, has battled cancer most of her life. She had a complete hysterectomy, her entire colon has been removed, and she now had a double, radical mastectomy. She completed all her chemo infusions at Hershey Medical Center and she now must be on an oral chemo daily for the next 84 months which insurance will not cover. We fought very hard but insurance will not cover her chemotherapy. Because of this and in addition to her other health issues, she has an abnormal amount of prescriptions (28 to be exact) that she must take at this time. Her out of pocket expenses are many thousands of dollars each year. We are not ones to ask for help but because of the situation my mom is in and my dad becoming disabled and only earning a fraction of what he used to, we decided to post this for anyone who might be led to help with her medical expenses. We humbly thank you for your prayers and support.
Update 9/17/2009: PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST UPDATE
Update 8/24/2009: Many of you have asked how my mom is doing and if there is a current need so I just wanted to do a brief update. Mom is having good days and bad. This has been the norm for her over the past few months. She was able to come and worship at church the past two out of three Sundays which was a blessing. She is in her donut-hole which means she must pay 100% out of pocket for her prescriptions (28 in all). So yes, there is a need at this time. We are very grateful and humbled beyond words by your prayers, letters of encouragement, and help.
Blessings,
Josh from Truth Matters
Leonard Ravenhill Quote
"Keep this in mind from an old man, there is no finality to the Christian life this side of eternity. We pray that some of us may go to our own funeral tonight and die to self and end all the failure and weakness...
If I was to ask you tonight you were saved? Do you say, 'Yes, I am saved'. When? 'Oh so and so preached, I got baptized and...' Are you saved? What are you saved from, hell? Are you saved from bitterness? Are you saved from lust? Are you saved from cheating? Are you saved from lying? Are you saved from bad manners? Are you saved from rebellion against your parents? Come on, what are you saved from?...
There's no room for Him in the inn. He got a bit older, there was no room in His family, His family turned on Him. He went to the temple, no room in the temple, the temple turned on Him. And when He died there was no room to bury Him, He died outside of the city. Well why in God's name do you expect to be accepted everywhere? How is it that the world couldn't get on with the holiest Man that ever lived and can get on with you and me? Are we compromised? Have we no spiritual stature? Have we no righteousness that reflects on their corruption?
As dear Dr. Tozer used to say, "Len, you knew one thing about a man that was carrying a cross out of a city, you knew he wasn't coming back."
We just come from an alter and we go back the next week and we're as fascinated, we haven't spent a half an hour with Jesus but will stay two stinking hours in a movie house. And Paul says that's what the world is to me it's a system of corruption and rottenness and vileness. It's antichrist from the word go.
Is the world crucified to you tonight or does it fascinate you?
End of post.
Saturday, July 05, 2008
Friday, July 04, 2008
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Todd Bentley - Tattoos
I do not like to waste blog space on this false prophet and this post is not to debate whether or not tattoos are a sin.
The reason for this post is that in the video below, Todd Bentley is a "professing" believer and "follower" of the Lord Jesus Christ. SINCE that video(notice there are only a few tattoos compared to what he has now) he has received tattoos of an upside down Jesus mask, a flaming eye, a rose with a demon in it, and a medusa on his leg. I would assume he has even more but those are the only ones I've noticed in various pictures/videos.
My question is...Why would a truly regenerate person(which he is not) receive satanic tattoos AFTER conversion?
Obviously we all know the answer but I would still like to hear your thoughts.
Pray for Todd Bentlley and all of these people who are believing his false teachings. May God grant them eyes and ears that can discern truth from error.
End of post.
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
The Cross Of Jesus Christ by Paul Washer
Normally, when posting large articles, I post only part of the article and then allow you to "click here to continue reading." Today, however, I am going to post this entire article by Paul Washer.
This is a must read.
One of my greatest burdens is that the Cross of Christ is rarely explained. It is not enough to say that “He died” - for all men die. It is not enough to say that “He died a noble death” - for martyrs do the same. We must understand that we have not fully proclaimed the death of Christ with saving power until we have cleared away the confusion that surrounds it and expounded its true meaning to our hearers - He died bearing the transgressions of His people and suffering the divine penalty for their sins: He was forsaken of God and crushed under the wrath of God in their place.
Forsaken of God
One of the most disturbing, even haunting, passages in the Scriptures is Mark’s record of the great cry of the Messiah as He hung upon a Roman Cross. In a loud voice He cried out:
“Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
In light of what we know about the impeccable nature of the Son of God and His perfect fellowship with the Father, it is difficult to comprehend Christ’s words, yet in them, the meaning of the Cross is laid bare, and we find the reason for which Christ died. The fact that His words are also recorded in the original Hebrew tongue tells us something of their great importance. The author did not want us to misunderstand or to miss a thing!
In these words, Jesus is not only crying out to God, but as the consummate teacher, He is also directing His onlookers and all future readers to one of the most important Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament - Psalm 22. Though the entire Psalm abounds with detailed prophecies of the Cross, we will concern ourselves with only the first six verses:
“My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning. O my God, I cry by day, but You do not answer; and by night, but I have no rest. Yet You are holy, O You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel. In You our fathers trusted; they trusted and You delivered them. To You they cried out and were delivered; in You they trusted and were not disappointed. But I am a worm and not a man, a reproach of men and despised by the people.”
In Christ’s day, the Hebrew Scriptures were not laid out in numbered chapters and verses as they are today. Therefore, when a rabbi sought to direct his hearers to a certain Psalm or portion of Scripture, he would do so by reciting the first lines of the text. In this cry from the Cross, Jesus directs us to Psalm 22 and reveals to us something of the character and purpose of His sufferings.
In the first and second verses, we hear the Messiah’s complaint - He considers Himself forsaken of God. Mark uses the Greek word egkataleÃpo, which means to forsake, abandon, or desert. The Psalmist uses the Hebrew word azab, which means to leave, loose, or forsake. In both cases, the intention is clear. The Messiah Himself is aware that God has forsaken Him and turned a deaf ear to His cry. This is not a symbolic or poetic forsakenness. It is real! If ever a creature felt the forsakenness of God, it was the Son of God on the cross of Calvary!
In the fourth and fifth verses of this Psalm, the anguish suffered by the Messiah becomes more acute as He recalls the covenant faithfulness of God towards His people. He declares:
“In You our fathers trusted; they trusted and You delivered them. To You they cried out and were delivered; in You they trusted and were not disappointed.”
The apparent contradiction is clear. There had never been one instance in the history of God’s covenant people that a righteous man cried out to God and was not delivered. However, now the sinless Messiah hangs on a tree utterly forsaken. What could be the reason for God’s withdrawal? Why did He turn away from His only begotten Son?
Woven into the Messiah’s complaint is found the answer to these disturbing questions. In verse three, He makes the unwavering declaration that God is holy, and then in verse six, He admits the unspeakable - He had become a worm and was no longer a man. Why would the Messiah direct such demeaning and derogatory language toward Himself? Did He see Himself as a worm because He had become “a reproach of men and despised by the people” or was there a greater and more awful reason for His self-deprecation? After all, He did not cry out, “My God, my God, why have the people forsaken me,” but rather He endeavored to know why God had done so!The answer can be found in one bitter truth alone - the Lord had caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him, and like a worm, He was forsaken and crushed in our stead.
This dark metaphor of the dying Messiah is not alone in Scripture. There are others that take us even deeper into the heart of the Cross and lay open for us what “He must suffer” in order to win the redemption of His people. If we shutter at the words of the Psalmist, we will be further taken back to hear of the thriceholy Son of God becoming the serpent lifted up in the wilderness,and then, the sin bearing scapegoat left to die alone.
The first metaphor is found in the book of Numbers. Because of Israel’s near constant rebellion against the Lord and their rejection of His gracious provisions, God sent “fiery serpents” among the people and many died. However, as a result of the people’s repentance and Moses’ intercession, God once again made provision for their salvation. He commanded Moses to “make a fiery serpent and set it on a standard.” He then promised that “everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live.”
At first, it seems contrary to reason that “the cure was shaped in the likeness of that which wounded.” However, it provides a powerful picture of the cross. The Israelites were dying from the venom of the fiery serpents. Men die from the venom of their own sin. Moses was commanded to place the cause of death high upon a pole. God placed the cause of our death upon His own Son as He hung high upon a cross. He had come “in the likeness of sinful flesh,” and was “made to be sin on our behalf.” The Israelite who believed God and looked upon the brazen serpent would live. The man who believes God’s testimony concerning His Son and looks upon Him with faith will be saved. As it is written, “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.”
The second metaphor is found in the priestly book of Leviticus. Since it was impossible for one single offering to fully typify or illustrate the Messiah’s atoning death, an offering involving two sacrificial goats was put before the people. The first goat was slain as a sin offering before the Lord, and its blood was sprinkled on and in front of the Mercy Seat behind the veil in the Holy of Holies. It typified Christ who shed His blood on the Cross to make atonement for the sins of His people. The second goat was presented before the Lord as the scapegoat. Upon the head of this animal, the High Priest laid “both of his hands and confessed over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins.” The scapegoat was then sent away into the wilderness bearing on itself all the iniquities of the people into a solitary land. There, it would wander alone, forsaken of God and cut off from His people. It typified Christ who “bore our sins in His body on the cross,” and suffered and died alone “outside the camp.” What was only symbolic in the Law became an excruciating reality for the Messiah.
Is it not astounding that a worm, a venomous serpent, and goat should be put forth as types of Christ? To identify the Son of God with such “loathsome” things would be blasphemous had it not come from Old Testament saints “moved by the Holy Spirit,”21 and then confirmed by the authors of the New Testament who go even further in their dark depictions. Under the inspiration of the same Spirit, they are bold enough to say that He who knew no sin, was “made sin,” and He, who was the beloved of the Father, “became a curse” before Him. We have heard these truths before, but have we ever considered them enough to be broken by them?
On the Cross, the One declared “holy, holy, holy” by the Seraphim choir, was “made” to be sin. The journey into the meaning of this phrase seems almost too dangerous to take. We balk even at the first step. What does it mean that He, in whom “all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,” was “made sin?” We must not explain the truth away in an attempt to protect the reputation of the Son of God, and yet, we must be careful not to speak terrible things against His impeccable and immutable character.
According to the Scriptures, Christ was “made sin” in the same way that the believer “becomes the righteousness of God” in Him. In his second letter to the church in Corinth, the Apostle Paul writes:
“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
The believer is not the “righteousness of God” because of some perfecting or purifying work upon his character that makes him like God and without sin, but rather as a result of imputation by which he is considered righteous before God through the work of Christ on his behalf. In the same way, Christ was not made sin by having His character marred or soiled, thus actually becoming depraved, but as a result of imputation by which He was considered guilty before the judgment seat of God on our behalf. This truth however, must not cause us to think any less of Paul’s declaration that Christ was “made sin.” Although it was an imputed guilt, it was real guilt, bringing unspeakable anguish to His soul. He took our guilt as His own, stood in our place, and died forsaken of God. That Christ was “made sin,” is a truth as terrible as it is incomprehensible, and yet, just when we think that no darker words can be uttered against Him, the Apostle Paul lights a lamp and takes us further down into the abyss of Christ’s humiliation and forsakenness. We enter the deepest cavern to find the Son of God hanging from the Cross and bearing His most infamous title - the Accursed of God!
The Scriptures declare that all humankind lay under the curse. As it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all the things written in the Book of the Law, to perform them.” From heaven’s perspective, those who break God’s Law are vile and worthy of all loathing. They are a wretched lot, justly exposed to divine vengeance, and rightly devoted to eternal destruction. It is not an exaggeration to say that the last thing that the accursed sinner should and will hear when he takes his first step into hell is all of creation standing to its feet and applauding God because He has rid the earth of him. Such is the vileness of those who break God’s law, and such is the disdain of the holy towards the unholy. Yet, the Gospel teaches us that, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us -- for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.’” Christ became what we were in order to redeem us from what we deserved. He became a worm and no man, the serpent lifted up in the wilderness, the scapegoat driven outside the camp, the bearer of sin, and the One upon whom the curse of God did fall. It is for this reason the Father turned away from Him and all heaven hid its face.
It is a great travesty that the true meaning of the Christ’s “cry from the cross” has often been lost in romantic cliché. It is not uncommon to hear a preacher declare that the Father turned away from His Son because He could no longer bear to witness the suffering inflicted upon Him by the hands of wicked men. Such interpretations are a complete distortion of the text and of what actually transpired on the Cross. The Father did not turn away from His Son because He lacked the fortitude to witness His sufferings, but because “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” He laid our sins upon Him and turned away, for His eyes are too pure to ap- prove evil and cannot look upon wickedness with favor.
It is not without reason that many Gospel tracts picture an infinite abyss between a holy God and sinful man. With such an illustration, the Scriptures fully agree. As the Prophet Isaiah cried out:
“Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short that it cannot save, nor is His ear so dull that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear” (Isaiah 59:1-2)
It is because of this that all men would have lived and died separated from the favorable presence of God and under divine wrath unless the Son of God had stood in their place, bore their sin, and died “forsaken of God” on their behalf. For the breach to be closed and fellowship restored, “Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things?”
Christ Dies under the Wrath of God
To obtain the salvation of His people, Christ not only suffered the terrifying abandonment of God, but He drank down the bitter cup of God’s wrath and died a bloody death in the place of His people. Only then could divine justice be satisfied, the wrath of God be appeased, and reconciliation be made possible.
In the garden, Christ prayed three times for “the cup” to be removed from Him, but each time His will gave into that of His Father. We must ask ourselves, what was in the cup that caused Him to pray so fervently? What did it contain that caused Him such anguish that His sweat was mingled with blood? It is often said that the cup represented the cruel Roman cross and the physical torture that awaited Him; that Christ foresaw the cat of nine tails coming down across His back, the crown of thorns piercing His brow, and the primitive nails driven through His hands and feet. Yet those who see these things as the source of His anguish do not understand the Cross, nor what happened there. Although the tortures heaped upon Him by the hands of men were all part of God’s redemptive plan, there was something much more ominous that evoked the Messiah’s cry for deliverance.
In the first centuries of the primitive church, thousands of Christians died on crosses. It is said that Nero crucified them upside down, covered them with tar, and set them aflame to provide street lights for the city of Rome. Throughout the ages since then, a countless stream ofChristians have been led off to the most unspeakable tortures, and yet it is the testimony of friend and foe alike that many of them went to their death with great boldness. Are we to believe that the followers of the Messiah met such cruel physical death with joy unspeakable, while the Captain of their Salvation cowered in a garden, feigning the same torture? Did the Christ of God fear whips and thorns, crosses and spears, or did the cup represent a terror infinitely beyond the greatest cruelty of men?
To understand the ominous contents of the cup, we must refer to the Scriptures. There are two passages in particular that we must consider - one from the Psalms and the other from the Prophets:
“For a cup is in the hand of the LORD, and the wine foams; It is well mixed, and He pours out of this; surely all the wicked of the earth must drain and drink down its dregs.”
“For thus the LORD, the God of Israel says to me, ‘Take this cup of the wine of wrath from My hand and cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it. They will drink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them.’”
As a result of the unceasing rebellion of the wicked, the justice of God had decreed judgment against them. He would rightly pour forth His indignation upon the nations. He would put the cup of the wine of His wrath to their mouth and force them to drink it down to the dregs. The mere thought of such a fate awaiting the world is absolutely terrifying, yet this would have been the fate of all, except that the mercy of God sought for the salvation of a people, and the wisdom of God devised a plan of redemption even before the foundation of the world. The Son of God would become a man and walk upon the earth in perfect obedience to the Law of God. He would be like us in all things, and tempted in all ways like us but without sin. He would live a perfectly
righteous life for the glory of God and in the stead of His people. Then in the appointed time, He would be crucified by the hands of wicked men, and on that Cross, He would bear His people’s guilt, and suffer the wrath of God against them. The perfect Son of God and a true Son of Adam together in one glorious person would take the bitter cup of wrath from the very hand of God and drink it down to the dregs. He would drink until “it was finished” and the justice of God was fully satisfied. The divine wrath that should have been ours would be exhausted upon the Son, and by Him, it would be extinguished.
Imagine an immense dam that is filled to the brim and straining against the weight behind it. All at once, the protective wall is pulled away and the massive destructive power of the deluge is unleashed. As certain destruction races toward a small village in the nearby valley, the ground suddenly opens up before it and drinks down that which would have carried it away. In similar fashion, the judgment of God was rightly racing toward every man. Escape could not be found on the highest hill or in the deepest abyss. The fleetest of foot could not outrun it, nor could the strongest swimmer endure its torrents. The dam was breached and nothing could repair its ruin. But when every human hope was exhausted, at the appointed time, the Son of God interposed. He stood between divine justice and His people. He drank down the wrath that they themselves had kindled and the punishment they deserved. When He died, not one drop of the former deluge remained. He drank it all!
Imagine two giant millstones, one turning on top of the other. Imagine that caught between the two is a single grain of wheat that is pulled under the massive weight. First, its hull is crushed beyond recognition, and then its inwards parts are poured out and ground into dust. There is no hope of retrieval or reconstruction. All is lost and beyond repair. Thus, in a similar fashion, “it pleased the Lord” to crush His only Son and put Him to grief unspeakable. Thus, it pleased the Son to submit to such suffering in order that God might be glorified and a people might be redeemed. It is not that God found some gleeful pleasure in the suffering of His beloved Son, but through His death, the will of God was accomplished. No other means had the power to put away sin, satisfy divine justice, and appease the wrath of God against us. Unless that divine grain of
wheat had fallen to the ground and died, it would have abided alone without a people or a bride. The pleasure was not found in the suffering, but in all that such suffering would accomplish: God would be revealed in a glory yet unknown to men or angels, and a people would be brought into unhindered fellowship with their God.
In one of the most epic stories in the Old Testament, the patriarch Abraham is commanded to carry his son Isaac to Mount Moriah, and there, to offer him as a sacrifice to God.
“Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.”
What a burden was laid upon Abraham! We cannot even begin to imagine the sadness that filled the old man’s heart and tortured him every step of his journey. The Scriptures are careful to tell us that he was commanded to offer “his son, his only son, whom he loved.” The specificity seems designed to catch our attention and make us think that there is more meaning hidden in these words than we can yet tell.
On the third day, the two reached the appointed place, and the father himself bound his beloved son with his own hand. Finally, in submission to what must be done, he laid his hand upon his son’s brow and “took the knife to slay him.” At that very moment, the mercy and grace of God interposed, and the old man’s hand was stayed. God called out to him from heaven and said:
“Abraham, Abraham! ...Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing
to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your
only son, from Me.”
At the voice of the Lord, Abraham raised his eyes, and found a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. He took the ram and offered him up in the place of his son. He then named that place YHWH-jireh or “The Lord will provide.” It is a faithful saying that remains until this day, “In the mount of the Lord it will be provided.” As the curtains draw to a close on this epic moment in history, not only Abraham, but also everyone who has ever read this account breathes a sigh of relief that the boy is spared. We think to ourselves what a beautiful end to the story, but it was not the end, it was a mere intermission!
Two thousand years later, the curtain opens again. The background is dark and ominous.
At center stage is the Son of God on Mount Calvary. He is bound by obedience to the will of His Father. He hangs there bearing the sin of His people. He is accursed - betrayed by His
creation and forsaken of God. Then, the silence is broken with the horrifying thunder of God’s wrath. The Father takes the knife, draws back His arm, and slays “His Son, His only Son, whom He loves.” And the words of Isaiah the prophet are fulfilled:
“Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed
Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed... But the Lord was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief.”
The curtain is drawn to a close on a slain Son and a crucified Messiah. Unlike Isaac there was no ram to die in His place. He was the Lamb who would die for the sins of the world. He is God’s provision for the redemption of His people. He is the fulfillment of which Isaac and the ram were only shadows. In Him, Mount Calvary is renamed “YHWH-jireh” or “The Lord will provide.” And it is a faithful saying that remains until this day, “In the mount of the Lord it will be provided.” Calvary was the mount and salvation was provided. Thus, the discerning believer cries out, “God, God, I know you love me since you have not withheld your Son, your only Son, whom You love, from me.”
It is an injustice to Calvary that the true pain of the Cross is often overlooked by a more romantic, but less powerful theme. It is often thought and even preached that the Father looked down from heaven and witnessed the suffering that was heaped upon His Son by the hands of men, and that He counted such affliction as payment for our sins. This is heresy of the worst kind. Christ satisfied divine justice not merely by enduring the affliction of men, but by enduring and dying under the wrath of God. It takes more than crosses, nails, crowns of thorns, and lances, to pay for sin. The believer is saved, not merely because of what men did to Christ on the Cross, but because of what God did to Him - He crushed Him under the full force of His wrath against us. Rarely is this truth made clear enough in the abundance of all our Gospel preaching!
End of post.
