God is not wanting you to make sacrifices. He wants you to be a sacrifice. —Derek Thomas
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Monthly Archives: March 2014
Albert Mohler Blog: “Drowning in Distortion — Darren Aronofsky’s ‘Noah'”
In his latest Blog Essay, “Drowning in Distortion – Darren Aronofsky’s ‘Noah,'” Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr. responds to Darren Aronofsky’s new movie “Noah”:
“Believing that evangelical concerns about Noah were almost surely overblown, I went to see the movie. I was wrong. The concerns are not overblown. My response is not outrage, however, but deep concern – and part of my concern is that so many evangelicals are, in my view, focusing on the wrong issues.”
Noah’s Ark
NOAHS ARK
By Edward Griffin
(1770—1837)
With all the hoopla about the movie (which I recommend you don’t spent time or money on), this article could not be timed better.
“By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.” Hebrews 11:7
The ark is admitted by the apostle to have been a distinguished type of Christ.
“HE wiped out every living thing that was on the surface of the ground, from mankind to livestock, to creatures that crawl, to the birds of the sky, and they were wiped off the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark!” Genesis 7:23
In that period before the flood, when the age of…
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Four Marks That Define Humbleness
I don’t know what your spiritual temperature is like right now.
Maybe you’re red hot for the Lord, you’re just a super nova ready to explode in praises. If that’s you, God be praised! But maybe you’re reading this today, and you’ve been lukewarm now for what feels like ages. Or maybe your heart is just feeling ice-cold.
I could try to raise your spiritual temperature today. I could try to pump you up with shouts and praises and emotion, but that’s why we go to Starbucks to get our favorite caffeine fix in the morning. Many of those feelings of closeness to God are but a fleeting adrenaline rush.
The Christians I’ve met that are truly close to God aren’t the ones that sing, give, pray, and serve the loudest. They are the ones who do so quietly with warm, joyful, exalted hearts wrecked by a Christ-like humbleness.
If you want to raise the spiritual temperature in your life; if you want to find yourself basking in the joy of God’s presence; if you want to hear the words, “well done my good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your master,” then you must aspire to mirror the perfect humble servant we all were created to reflect: our Lord Jesus Christ, himself.
In James 4:6-10, we learn four marks that define Christ-like humbleness that should help any Christian who feels distant from God to draw near to him again:
Submission. Writing to renegade Christians, James says, “Submit yourselves therefore to God” (v.7). Submission is a posture of the body, mind, will and spirit. It’s a decision where you decide that, in everything you do, you’re going to put Jesus first, others second, and yourself last. Submission requires the humbleness to give up the control you have over your life, and the faith to give that control over to the God who is unseen.
Have you counted the cost? Do you really give up control to God? Do you live like Jesus is Lord over you or are you trying to be Lord over him?
Mourning. The second mark of humbleness is spiritual mourning: an inner awakening of the vast offenses you have committed against your just and holy Creator. It is the understanding that you can do nothing to save yourself, and that apart from God’s mercy, you would be condemned to hell. James writes, “Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom” (v.9). Please don’t let the harshness of these words detract from seriousness of their purpose. When Jesus says, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted,” the promised blessing is intended for those sinners who feel the guilt and the scars of their sins that nailed him upon the cross.
Do you ever really feel the burden of sin on your heart? Have you ever wept for the ways you’ve wronged others? Do you really hate sin?
Repentance. In verse eight, James says to the church in Jerusalem, “Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” Repentance may be the most difficult mark of humbleness. It is easy to ask for forgiveness and receive forgiveness – but it’s a whole lot harder when you actually have to change the way that you’re living and repent from hypocrisy. Whereas mourning over our sins happens inside our hearts, true repentance is the evidence that we are actively turning away from our worldly passions.
Are you losing to the world? When was the last moment of repentance in your life? What evidence is there of your faith?
Prayer. The fourth mark of humbleness is prayer. Prayer is an expression of our dependence on God, that we desperately need his help. In verse three, James condemns the church saying “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” Here James is warning us against proud, selfish prayers. The very act of asking anything from God should emerge out of our humble dependency upon him, not some misplaced sense of entitlement.
When you pray do you feel like God owes you something? Do you desire to see God’s will be done or your own will be done? Is prayer even a part of your life anymore?
As James writes, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (v.6). If you want to raise the spiritual temperature in your life, you first must be moved by a realization of unearned grace. The way that you know that you’ve captured a Christ-like humbleness in your heart is when you can feel the burden of your sin – but that feeling is overwhelmed by the unrelenting joy that you have been made a new creation in Christ.
Submit, mourn, repent and pray this week…but don’t stop there. Remember God’s promise: the humble will be exalted. Praise God and be joyful for all that he has done! The old is gone and the new has come. Thanks be to God!
Let us know in the comments which of the above marks you will focus on this week. We would love to pray for you as you seek humbleness in Christ!
By Pastor Colton Tatham
The post Four Marks That Define Humbleness appeared first on Unlocking the Bible.
Al Mohler: Should Christians become Libertarians? Episode 1345
In “Noah”, The Fallen Angels Are The Good Guys
In “Noah”, the fallen angels are “good guys” that were kicked out of heaven because of their compassion for humanity, they help Noah build the ark, and they ascend to heaven when they die helping defend the ark against a band of marauding evil humans. Director Darren Aronofsky stated that he attempted to make “the least biblical biblical film ever made”, and he may have achieved that. In “Noah”, almost everything is the opposite of what it should be. Instead of villains, the fallen angels are heroes. Instead of a preacher of righteousness, Noah is depicted as a psychopathic maniac that hates humanity and wants to kill his unborn grandchild if it is a girl. The movie somehow finds a way to avoid using the word “God” the entire time, and during a scene where Noah explains to his family how the world was “created”, the film displays visuals depicting Darwinian evolution. But all of the controversy surrounding the film only seems to have helped it at the box (Read More…)
Citing UN Treaty, Scotland Assigns Overseer to Every Child
Citing a radical United Nations treaty known as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), lawmakers in Scotland approved a deeply controversial new law assigning an individual government overseer to each and every child in the country charged with monitoring their development. However, the draconian measure, which has sparked criticism and outrage around the world as a brazen assault on parental rights and privacy, is already in the process of being challenged in court….
Guest Post: The Government Inflation Scam
Argentina is suffering the ravages of government debasement of the currency — i.e., inflation, the process by which government pays for its ever-increasing debts and bills by simply printing more paper currency. The expanded money supply results in a lower value of everyone’s money, which is reflected in the rising prices of the things that money buys.
According to the New York Times, last year prices in Argentina rose nearly 30%. This year, they’re expected to increase by 45%.
Not surprisingly, the government’s inflation of the money supply is causing economic chaos within Argentine society. From butchers who are now posting price increases on scraps of paper, to women filing for increases in alimony payments, to café owners who are selling less, to wholesalers who are having trouble pricing imported goods, the government’s monetary debauchery spares virtually no one.
So, what does all this have to do with government schools?
US now spending 26% of available tax revenue just to pay interest
This is unsustainable. (But don’t tell Paul Krugman this.)
It is a reflection of a country which has lost its way in many regards. For all the talk we hear of CEOs only focusing on the next quarter so they can jack up their bonuses, we don’t seem to see that this is exactly what politicians do also as they increase spending more and more over revenue coming in. The politicians want their short term bonus too – reelection….
12 Signs That Something Big Is Happening To The Earth’s Crust Under North And South America
Why are fault lines and volcanoes all over North and South America suddenly waking up? Are we moving into a time when major earthquakes and volcanic eruptions will become much more common?
Churches In England Are Being Converted To Bars
At one church, the only thing being worshipped is beer — at another, gleaming cars are on sale. Increasingly, it seems, a different kind of conversion is taking place at Britain’s churches. Thanks to a steady decline in religion and the high costs of maintaining these historic buildings, a rising number of churches are being given new lives that may have horrified their founders.
An apology is not enough – World Vision needs to clean house
Sure, we’ll forgive World Vision for its temporary policy blunder. But this is just the beginning of testing for the humanitarian aid group. They had better make sure they have leaders who are up to the task. And right now, they don’t.
World Vision, in one of the most abrupt turnarounds in modern history, has done a complete about-face on its embrace of sodomy-based marriage.
Relax, Israel, America Doesn’t Care
Those of us in America who stay awake nights worrying about Israel sometimes imagine that the rest of the country is similarly obsessed. This is a serious mistake. America has other business. Even worse is when Israel makes foolish and tragic concessions in order to “make America happy.” But America is happy enough watching “Dancing with the Stars.”
How to Start World War III 101
Ezekiel 38 describes this future war as the War of Gog of Magog, and there is much debate about when this will be. Some have it starting in the very near future; and some believe it won’t be until the very end of things as we know it, after the War of Armageddon and the thousand years of peace, or the Millennium. I side with the first option.
Ezekiel describes the invading countries specifically: Rosh, Magog, Meschech, Tubal, Persia, Cush, Gomer and Beth-togarmah.
Those countries today are believed to be:
God’s Not Dead
I have to tell you that there’s a certain buzz that I am hearing about the film God’s Not Dead, not only on the Internet but actually in the theater. I have not only heard but have witnessed people clapping in the theater. In addition, with relatively no advertising budget, God’s Not Dead is blowing away films with huge advertising dollars. How do you explain this?
The Resurrection…Myth or FACT? (Free PDF)
“People rightly refuse to believe without evidence. Since God created humans as rational beings, he expects them to live rationally, to look before they leap. This does not mean there is no room for faith. But God wants us to take a step of faith in the light of evidence, rather than to leap in the dark.”
-Dr. Norman Geisler
No one else in human history ever raised themselves from the dead. The bodily resurrection of Christ is the crowning proof that Jesus was who he claimed to be, God in human flesh. According to the New Testament the resurrection of Christ in flesh is of such importance to the Christian faith, it insists that no one can be saved without it (Romans 10:9; 1Cor. 15:1-7).
It is no surprise that our world is full of people who refuse to believe. The rational person wants evidence that God exists before he places his faith in God. Have you ever tried to share the gospel with someone who didn’t believe the Bible was true? Have you been asked what proof you have that Jesus was who he said? Or, are you struggling with these same thoughts?
We have GOOD NEWS!!! There is SOLID EVIDENCE: 7 Historical Facts that Prove the Resurrection is a Historical Fact.
We want to offer this pamphlet to you to use as a tool in sharing with others and to strengthen you in your faith. If it’s true that God wants us to take a step of faith in light of the evidence…then who will present the evidence?
What an amazing time of the year to share the HOPE of Christ with those around us. Acts 2:32 says “God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact.” Will you be available to God to present the evidence of the Resurrection as FACT?
Pelosi Calls Pro-Lifers ‘Dumb’ While Accepting Margaret Sanger Award at Planned Parenthood Gala
(CN) — House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi called pro-lifers ‘dumb’ during her acceptance speech this week as she received the Margaret Sanger Award from the nation’s largest abortion provider.
“When you see how closed their minds are or oblivious or whatever it is—dumb—then you know what the fight is about,” Pelosi declared on Thursday at Planned Parenthood’s annual gala. “Whatever happens with the court …we must remember these battles will not be the end of the fight.”
SRN Newsletter – Dangers of Freemasonry (Free PDF)
The Masonic Lodge?
A philanthropic organization?
A “syncretistic” Interfaith spirituality?
A brotherhood based on esoteric ceremonies, Secretism and occult oaths?
Indeed, Freemasonry is all these things and much more, and their influence is most likely in your very own community!
Read, print and share the detailed warnings with your family, friends and coworkers!
Gratitude will free you!
by Mike Ratliff
ὥστε εἴ τις ἐν Χριστῷ, καινὴ κτίσις· τὰ ἀρχαῖα παρῆλθεν, ἰδοὺ γέγονεν καινά. (2 Corinthians 5:17 NA28)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old things passed away, behold he has become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17 translated from the NA28 Greek text)
When Christ comes into your life, your life changes. God’s Word everywhere declares that a change is automatic when someone truly believes. However, this is not entirely a passive thing. There is something called walking in repentance that is our part. I am sure all of you know someone or you may have personal testimony pertaining to struggling with sin or sins for years that seemed to cling very close and no matter what freedom from the sin(s) seemed like chains in prison. However we are commanded to be not sin like that aren’t we?
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Questions about Bible Misinterpretations: 3 John 2—Does this verse indicate that God desires us to be financially prosperous, as Word-Faith teachers argue?
Misinterpretation: Third John 2 says, “Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers” (nasb). Word-Faith teachers cite this verse in support of the prosperity gospel.
Correcting the Misinterpretation: The Greek word for “prosper” in this verse does not refer to financial prosperity but simply means “to go well with someone.” In fact, the niv translation correctly reflects this idea in its rendering of the verse: “Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.” In biblical times the wish for “things to go well,” along with the wish for “good health,” was a standard form of greeting. Financial prosperity is completely foreign to both this ancient greeting and 3 John 2.[1]
[1] Geisler, N. L., & Rhodes, R. (1997). When cultists ask: a popular handbook on cultic misinterpretations (p. 303). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.
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