There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true. —Soren Kierkegaard. "…truth is true even if nobody believes it, and falsehood is false even if everybody believes it. That is why truth does not yield to opinion, fashion, numbers, office, or sincerity–it is simply true and that is the end of it" – Os Guinness, Time for Truth, pg.39. “He that takes truth for his guide, and duty for his end, may safely trust to God’s providence to lead him aright.” – Blaise Pascal. "There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily" – George Washington letter to Edmund Randolph — 1795. We live in a “post-truth” world. According to the dictionary, “post-truth” means, “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.” Simply put, we now live in a culture that seems to value experience and emotion more than truth. Truth will never go away no matter how hard one might wish. Going beyond the MSM idealogical opinion/bias and their low information tabloid reality show news with a distractional superficial focus on entertainment, sensationalism, emotionalism and activist reporting – this blogs goal is to, in some small way, put a plug in the broken dam of truth and save as many as possible from the consequences—temporal and eternal. "The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it." – George Orwell “There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.” ― Soren Kierkegaard
The below story from China Christian Daily gives us a good summary on who Lee Young-hoon is .
The fact that he is involved in Yonggi Cho’s Yoido Full Gospel Church (YFGC) should indicate to us his theology is up cult creek without a paddle. Especially since YFGC peddles the Health & Wealth heresy, New Apostolic Reformation heresy, Word of Faith heresy and elements of Purpose Driven and Cult of Personality heresy.
Lee Young-hoon, Senior Pastor of YFGC, Elected As President of the Christian Council of Korea
Rev. Lee Young-hoon, the senior pastor of Yoido Full Gospel Church who succeeded Rev. David Yonggi Cho, has been elected as the new president of the Christian Council of Korea (CCK).
On February 2, 2016, the Christian Council of Korea held a thanksgiving inauguration service of the new president. Yoido Full Gospel Church, one of the largest churches in Korea…
God doesn’t change (Malachi 3:6). But man’s view of Him frequently does—driven by man’s own fluid emotions and flexible morality. And as the world around us becomes increasingly permissive, it expects God to adjust with that moral shift.
Specifically, sinners count on the Lord to take sin as carelessly and casually as they do. And they expect His forgiveness to be equally casual. That should not surprise us—if you don’t take sin seriously, how can you ever fully appreciate what it means to be truly forgiven?
A Corrupt Caricature
But when God’s forgiveness is reduced to blind acceptance it reflects a corrupt caricature of His holy character. God cannot and will not acquit transgressors by blithely dismissing or ignoring the evil they’ve done. To do so would be unjust, and God is a God of perfect justice.
The Bible repeatedly stresses that God will punish every sin. In Exodus 23:7 God says, “I will not acquit the guilty.” Nahum 1:3 is unequivocal: “The Lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.” In the gospel message itself, “The wrath of God is revealed . . . against all ungodliness and unrighteousness” (Romans 1:18).
Scripture describes the relationship between God and the sinner as enmity (Romans 5:10; 8:7). God hates sin, and therefore all who sin have made themselves God’s enemies. “God is angry with the wicked every day” (Psalm 7:11, KJV).
Those who violate some minor point of God’s law are as guilty as if they had broken every commandment (James 2:10). No sin is trivial (Romans 3:10–18). All people are born with an insatiable penchant for sin (Psalm 58:3). They are spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1), objects of God’s holy anger (Ephesians 2:3), and utterly without hope (Ephesians 2:12). From the human perspective, this is a truly desperate state of absolute futility.
God, on the other hand, is perfect, infinitely holy, absolutely flawless, and thoroughly righteous. He cannot violate His nature by blindly pardoning sin. He says: “He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous, both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord” (Proverbs 17:15). His justice must be satisfied by punishing every violation of His law. And the due penalty of our iniquity is infinitely severe: eternal damnation.
What About the “Good News”?
The gospel is good news because it tells us that God does justify the ungodly (Romans 4:5). But how can God grant such forgiveness without compromising His own standard of justice? How can He forgive sinners without breaking His own Word, having already sworn that He will punish every transgression?
The answer is: God Himself has made His Son, Jesus Christ, the atonement for our sins. This truth lies at the very heart of the gospel message. It is the most glorious truth in all of Scripture. It explains how God can remain just while justifying sinners (Romans 3:25–26). And it is the only hope for any sinner seeking forgiveness.
Perhaps the most important single passage in all of Scripture about Christ’s substitution on sinners’ behalf is found in 2 Corinthians 5:
God . . . reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. (2 Corinthians 5:18–20)
The truth is glorious: God has a plan by which He can accomplish the very thing that seemed so completely impossible. There is a way to satisfy His justice without damning the sinner. He can both fulfill His promise of vengeance against sin and reconcile—extend complete forgiveness to—sinners. He can remain just while justifying the ungodly (Romans 3:26).
Too many people think of divine grace as a sort of benign forbearance, by which God simply excuses sin and looks the other way—as if grace involved a lowering of the divine standard in order to accommodate what is unholy. Scripture teaches no such thing. Again, God Himself has sworn that every transgression and disobedience will receive a just penalty (cf. Hebrews 2:2), and He cannot relinquish His perfection in order to indulge the wicked. To do so would compromise His own righteousness.
So how does God reconcile sinners to Himself? On what grounds can He extend forgiveness to sinners? Here we are brought face to face with the need for atonement. If God’s wrath is to be satisfied, if God is going to be propitiated to the sinner, a suitable atonement is required. God must fulfill the demands of justice by pouring out His wrath on a substitute who bears the sinner’s punishment vicariously.
And that is precisely what happened at the cross.
The apostle Paul distills the whole gospel in one simple statement in 2 Corinthians 5:21: “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
Grasping Divine Forgiveness
This profound truth is the key to understanding divine forgiveness: God made the sinless Christ to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become in Him the very righteousness of God. In simple language, the apostle Paul’s point is this: God treated Christ like a sinner and punished Him for all the sins of all who would believe, so that He could treat them as righteous and give them credit for Christ’s perfect obedience.
Isaiah makes this staggering statement: “The Lord was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief. . . . He would render Himself as a guilt offering” (Isaiah 53:10). The death of Christ “pleased” God? That is exactly what Scripture teaches. Repeatedly the Bible says Christ died as a “propitiation” for our sins (Romans 3:25; Hebrews 2:17; 1 John 2:2; 4:10). The word propitiation speaks of an appeasement, a total satisfaction of the divine demands on behalf of the sinner. This is a marvelous truth. It means Christ paid the full price—the ransom—for sin on behalf of those He redeemed.
The notion of imputation is also important in explaining 2 Corinthians 5:21. Imputation speaks of a legal reckoning. To impute guilt to someone is to assign guilt to that person’s account. Likewise, to impute righteousness is to reckon the person righteous. The guilt or righteousness thus imputed is a wholly objective reality; it exists totally apart from the person to whom it is imputed. In other words, a person to whom guilt is imputed is not thereby actually made guilty in the real sense. But he is accounted as guilty in a legal sense.
In the same way that the guilt of sinners was imputed to Christ, His righteousness is imputed to all who believe.
As early as Genesis 15:6 we read that Abraham “believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.” And Romans 4 uses Abraham’s justification as the model for how all believers are justified. That means every believer is forgiven immediately, just like the thief on the cross. Forgiveness costs us nothing, because it already cost Christ everything.
And if God justifies the ungodly solely through faith (Romans 4:5), of what does this faith consist? It is a refusal to trust anything but Christ for salvation. It means the abandonment of self-righteousness and a single-minded reliance on Christ alone for salvation. It therefore involves a sincere love for Christ and a turning away—repentance—from sin.
If you understand that you are a sinner and long for freedom and forgiveness from your sin, turn to Christ even now. He won’t cast out any who come to Him (John 6:37). He is eager to forgive and reconcile sinners to Himself. All else that we have to say about forgiveness is moot if you don’t know the forgiveness of God for your sins.
All Christians are forgiven an unpayable debt solely on the basis of what God Himself has done for us. That inestimable gift of free forgiveness becomes the ground on which all other kinds of forgiveness are based, and also the pattern for how we are to forgive others. If we keep in perspective how much God forgave, and how much it cost Him to forgive, we will soon realize that no transgression against us can ever justify an unforgiving spirit. Christians who hold grudges or refuse to forgive others have lost sight of the price paid for their own forgiveness.
God’s forgiveness is the pattern by which we are to forgive. That is the foundational truth on which all godly relationships are built and developed. It is the dominant example for all who honor God through ministry to a fallen world. And it is to those implications of God’s forgiveness that we will turn in the days ahead.
28 Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming. 29 If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him. (1 John 2:28-29 NASB)
In 1 John 2:28-3:1-10 we read of our spiritual identity as children of God and what that entails. The first thing he commands us to do is abide in Christ. What does that mean? This means that Christians must continue in a daily, personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Trust, prayer, obedience, and joy characterize this relationship. In John 15:1-17, our Lord commands us to abide in Him for He is the True Vine and we are the branches. Our abiding in the True Vine is the source of our spiritual sustenance just as the grape vine feeds…
15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? 17 So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. (Matthew 7:15-18 NASB)
Our Lord, in His Sermon on the Mount, told us to beware of false prophets who come to us in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. He told us how to recognize them. How? It is by their fruits. This has not changed. Therefore, when I sit at the feet of a teacher or preacher of God’s Word I look for this within what is taught and within how he lives and with whom…
President Obama wants to help European leaders struggling to deflect a dagger aimed at the heart of the continent’s political unity. It’s the combined impact of home-grown terrorism, mass migration from the Middle East and North Africa, sluggish economic growth and a groundswell of nationalist sentiment.
A large, oceanfront Santa Barbara-area ranch that sparked a local scuffle over its development potential is going on the market for $108 million.
Carnival Corp. said Cuba has lifted a long-standing ban on Cuban-born travelers returning to the island by sea, clearing the way for the world’s largest cruise operator to launch week-long voyages to that country starting May 1.
More than 70 years after a U.S. atomic bomb devastated the city of Hiroshima, Barack Obama is set to become the first sitting president to pay tribute to the tens of thousands of victims in the western Japanese city, the Nikkei business daily reported Friday. Obama will be accompanied by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the visit planned to take place after Japan hosts a summit of Group of 7 leaders in late May.
A $12 billion mobile Internet network that the U.S. Army is using in Iraq, Afghanistan and Africa has significant cybersecurity vulnerabilities that were found in combat testing.
Representatives of more than 150 nations are due to gather in New York on Friday to sign the Paris climate accord, setting in motion an unprecedented global effort to reduce pollution and slow rising temperatures linked to floods, heat waves and droughts.
AP Top Stories
A solar plane on an around-the-world journey has reached the point of no return over the Pacific Ocean after departing Hawaii, and now it’s California or bust.
China’s Defense Ministry on Friday denied reports that Chinese troops were massing on the North Korean border, ahead of a possible fifth North Korean nuclear test, saying its deployments there were normal.
China is getting closer to building maritime nuclear power platforms that could one day be used to support projects in the disputed South China Sea, a state-run newspaper said on Friday, but the foreign ministry said it had not heard of the plans.
With hope of finding survivors fading Thursday, Ecuador began shouldering the cost of its devastating earthquake, announcing drastic economic measures to clean up the ruins of a tragedy that killed at least 570 people. Under the measures announced by President Rafael Correa, Ecuadorans with assets of more than $1 million will have to fork over 0.9 percent of their wealth to help fund the recovery. Correa, who estimates rebuilding will cost $3 billion — or “two to three percent of GDP” — also announced new income taxes, a sales-tax hike and a one-time levy on utilities in an address to the nation Wednesday night.
President Enrique Pena Nieto said Thursday that he will ask Mexico’s Congress to raise the limit on decriminalized marijuana for personal use to 28 grams, or about one ounce.
A Florida woman was charged with conspiring to illegally export U.S. technology used in underwater drones to a Chinese state-owned entity, according to an unsealed indictment.
Recession-hit Venezuela will turn off the electricity supply in its 10 most populous states for four hours a day for 40 days to deal with a severe power shortage, the government said Thursday.
A former Florida mail carrier who flew a gyrocopter onto the U.S. Capitol grounds to publicize the need for campaign finance reform was sentenced to 120 days in jail on Thursday, a spokesman for prosecutors said.
China has exported military drones to more than 10 countries in deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and plans to sell unmanned craft capable of launching laser-guided bombs, state-run media said Thursday.
Investors withdrew $7.3 billion from stocks in the week to April 20, the largest outflows in nine weeks, while continuing to shovel money into corporate and emerging market debt.
BBC
The UK government has warned gay and transgender travelers to be careful in the US due to legislation in North Carolina and Mississippi. “The US is an extremely diverse society and attitudes toward LGBT people differ hugely across the country,” a travel advisory reads.
Lawyers for Edward Snowden have filed a lawsuit to seek guarantees that Norway will not extradite him to the US if he visits to receive an award. Mr Snowden, who lives in Russia, is to receive the Ossietsky freedom of speech award in November.
Cuba has removed a ban on Cubans entering or leaving the country by sea, clearing the way for a resumption of cruises from the US.
A new virus can cause developmental delays and brain damage, according to research. More than 100 Australian babies were hospitalized with parechovirus in 2013 and 2014.
China’s National Anti-Doping Agency laboratory has been suspended for up to four months by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
The majority of young men in Gopipur, in the Chitrakoot district about 400 miles south of New Delhi, say that the shortage of water, and its crippling impact on the local economy, has made it harder for them to get married.
WND
53 police departments around the country have signed on so far to the White House-pressed Police Data Initiative, a plan by President Obama to make crime-fighting more technology-driven and accountable to higher-ups, but that is seen by critics as a not-so-subtle federal takeover of community policing.
Suicide in the United States has surged to the highest levels in nearly 30 years with increases in every age group except older adults.
The Turkish government has seized the last remaining Christian churches in the war-torn southeastern city of Diyarbakir and declared them as state property.
Top News – 4/22/2016
American future: 55 million Latinos in U.S., one-third under 18
There are 55.3 million Latinos in America, nearly triple the 1980 population, and those under 18 years old are the largest group, a demographic fact likely to influence the future of the country, according to Census figures.
Easter Island Region
Magnitude: 5.0 Depth: 10 km Universal Time (UTC): 22 Apr 2016
Russia Reportedly Fired On Israeli Jets In Syria
It was reported on Friday morning that Russia fired on Israeli Air Force (IAF) planes at least twice in the past six months. The unsourced report in Yedioth Ahronot included no details of where or when the incidents occurred, or whether the planes were hit. The report cited these incidents as the purpose behind Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit this past week to Russia.
SEARS Closing 78 Additional Stores; Must be Obama’s Terrific Economy?
Obama said the economy was doing fine and anyone saying otherwise was “peddling fiction” he apparently didn’t tell SEARS. The following are Sears and Kmart stores that will be closing, according to a statement Thursday from the department stores’ parent company, Sears Holdings
Syrian Army Has Crossed ‘Turning Point’ in Fight Against Terrorism
Syria has been mired in civil war since 2011, with government forces fighting against numerous opposition factions, including the Western-backed allegedly moderate factions, as well as terrorist groups, such as Daesh and the Nusra Front.
Is the Big One about to strike? Fears of mega-quake after another huge tremor rocks Ring of Fire
A powerful earthquake has again hit Ecuador just days after a huge quake killed nearly 600 people, prompting fears the ‘big one’ is on its way. Scientists say there has been an above average number of significant earthquakes across south Asia and the Pacific since the start of the year.
U.S. split deepens over Putin’s intentions in Syria civil war
Russia’s latest military moves in Syria have sharpened divisions within the U.S. administration over whether Russian President Vladimir Putin genuinely backs a U.N.-led initiative to end the civil war or is using the negotiations to mask renewed military support for Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Strong quake hits disaster-stricken Ecuador
A powerful earthquake measuring 6.0 magnitude struck off Ecuador’s disaster-stricken coast on Thursday, as survivors of an earlier deadly quake that killed 587 people clamored for food, water and medicine in parts of the disaster zone. The latest quake hit about 100 km (62 miles) north-northwest of Portoviejo and at a depth of 10 km (six miles), said the U.S. Geological Survey.
Rats! Several big U.S. cities seeing surge in rodent complaints
…Several major U.S. cities—including Boston, Chicago, New York and Washington, D.C.— have seen significant surges in rat complaints from their residents in recent months… In Chicago, which historically notches more rat complaints than any other city, residents’ reports of rodent activity rose by about 70% in the first quarter of 2016 compared to the same period last year.
Get Ready for Huge Obamacare Premium Hikes in 2017
Amid rising drug and health care costs and roiling market dynamics, the spokesperson for the nation’s health insurers is predicting substantial increases next year in Obamacare premiums and related costs. …Marilyn Tavenner, the president and CEO of …(AHIP), said…that the culmination of market shifts and rising health care costs will force stark increases in health insurance rates in the coming year.
World leaders prepare to sign Paris climate treaty
The first significant step to putting the Paris Climate Agreement into practice will take place on Friday. Around 155 countries are expected to formally sign the deal at the UN, setting in motion events that could see the treaty operational within a year. The UN says the expected record turnout for the signing shows overwhelming global support for tackling rising temperatures.
Scientists say parechovirus causes brain damage in babies
A new virus can cause developmental delays and brain damage, according to research. More than 100 Australian babies were hospitalised with parechovirus in 2013 and 2014. One year later, doctors found that many of these babies had developmental problems, according to a study by the Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases (ASID).
Samaritans perform sacrificial Passover ritual
…On Friday night, Jews around the world will symbolically mark the animal sacrifices once conducted by priests during Passover when the Temple stood in Jerusalem less than 2,000 years. …But the Samaritans, a small sect of some 800 people that claim direct descent from of the tribes of Ephraim and Menashe, still engage in the ritual slaughter of sheep according to the instructions set out in the Book of Exodus.
Kremlin denies reports on Russian fire on Israeli jets in Syria
The Kremlin…denied media reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had discussed alleged incidents involving Russian forces in Syria and Israel Air Force aircraft. …Friday, Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth…reported…Russian forces in Syria…fired at least twice on Israeli military aircraft, prompting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to seek improved operational coordination with Moscow.
Satanic ‘Black Mass’ in Oklahoma opposed by 100,000
A Satanic group is set to verse a “black mass” at the Oklahoma City Civic Center Music Hall this August, but 100,000 people have signed a petition to have the gathering canceled.
Harvard Law Student Asks Israeli Official Why She’s ‘So Smelly’
On Monday, April 18, Jeremy Salinger and Jacqueline Wolpoe, current co-presidents of the Jewish Law Students Association (JLSA), as well as Jonathan Gartner the former president, penned a statement condemning what they termed “blatantly anti-Semitic rhetoric.”
Venezuela to cut electricity for 4 hours daily amid crisis
Venezuela’s government says it will turn off electricity nationwide for four hours each day, formalizing the blackouts that people have already been experiencing during a worsening energy crisis.
Netanyahu Seeks Putin’s Assurance Over Syria in Moscow Visit
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he received assurances of military coordination in a trip to Moscow that would help Israel stop the transfer of weapons through Syria to its Iranian-backed Hezbollah enemy in Lebanon.
Israel outraged by UNESCO resolution on Jerusalem sites
The language of a UNESCO resolution on Jerusalem describing “so-called” Jewish sites and putting the Western Wall Plaza in quotation marks has sparked outrage in Israel.
Top Headlines – 4/22/2016
BOJ Officials Are Said to Eye Possible Negative Rate on Loans (Read More)
Daimler Probe Hits Industry Credibility After Mitsubishi Charge (Read More)
CLIFF KINCAID — The debate over Donald J. Trump’s charges of a “rigged” Republican primary system demonstrates that Trump wasn’t a Republican to begin with. As a Democrat who became a Republican just to seize the nomination, he seems to have had no understanding of how the Republicans operate and manage their presidential nominating process…. (more)
GEORGE WILL — Donald Trump, a man about town in Manhattan, doubtless fancies himself a Master of the Universe. He is, however, no match for folks who have run rings around his ramshackle campaign in Colorado Springs, Colo., and Casper, Wyo…. (more)
WASHINGTON EXAMINER — Republican delegates are warning Donald Trump that attacks on them and their party’s presidential selection process could backfire, sinking him at the convention or damaging his prospects in November if he wins the nomination…. (more)
JEREMY CARL — Before we begin debunking, let’s start with the obvious: It was undoubtedly a good night for Trump and unsurprisingly so, as NR’s Henry Olsen predicted on election eve…. (more)
HOTAIR — Cruz won more votes in the Wisconsin primary – – 531,129 – – than Trump appears to have won in New York. With 98 percent of precincts counted, Trump has 518,601 votes in his home state. On the other hand, Trump will win at least 90 of New York’s 95 delegates to Cruz’s zero; in Wisconsin, Cruz’s big victory earned him 36 delegates, to Trump’s six…. (more)
NEWSMAX — Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are both unelectable because “when either runs on their merits, just straight up, they’re not going to win,” political strategist Dick Morris told Newsmax TV on Wednesday…. (more)
NEWSMAX — Conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh told Donald Trump supporters in his audience Wednesday that Ted Cruz isn’t “buying” delegates as they fear, but simply taking advantage of the nominating process…. (more)
NATIONAL REVIEW — Reports of Donald Trump’s demise have been overstated. After a disappointing few weeks, Trump came roaring back on Tuesday night with a huge victory in his home state of New York…. (more)
BYRON YORK — What a difference two weeks have made for the #NeverTrump campaign. On the night of April 5, Ted Cruz decisively won the Wisconsin primary, with Donald Trump stuck in second place in familiar 35 percent territory. At his victory event, Cruz, who took home 36 of Wisconsin’s 42 delegates, declared the state a “turning point” in the race…. (more)
LA TIMES — Donald Trump corralled a strong victory in New York on Tuesday but lost the place he calls home: Manhattan. In New York County – – better known as the borough of Manhattan – – Ohio Gov. John Kasich outpaced Trump, 45% to 42%…. (more)
YOUTUBE — While Donald Trump was extolling his large margin of victory Tuesday night in the only state with “New York values,” Ted Cruz spoke at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia and encouraged Philadelphians not to rely on politicians to take back America, but to do so themselves. You can watch the speech, which focused on restoring America, here…. (more)
JOAN SWIRSKY, RA ANALYST — At the beginning of January 2016, an organization called NORPAC – – a lobby whose mission is to support candidates and sitting members of Congress “who demonstrate a genuine commitment to the strength, security, and survival of Israel” – – invited its members to “an exclusive and intimate” cocktail reception for Hillary Clinton for people willing to pay $2,700 per individual or $5,400 per couple… (more)
GARTH KANT — It’s an explosive charge, but evidence keeps mounting to support it. “Make no mistake: Support to al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden for the 9/11 attacks was official Saudi government policy.” That is the bombshell comment made to WND by Clare Lopez, the vice president for research and analysis at the Center for Security Policy. She is also a member of the national security advisory team for GOP presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz…. (more)
NBC NEWS — Donald Trump has extended his support in the 2016 presidential race among Republican primary voters to 40 percent as the field has narrowed, but he is still locked in a tight battle with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz for dominance, a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll shows…. (more)
WASHINGTON EXAMINER — Sen. Ted Cruz is crushing Donald Trump’s delegate operation in yet another state – – this time it’s Missouri – – according to well-placed party sources that have spoken to the Washington Examiner…. (more)
NEWSMAX — Donald Trump is arguing that the delegate elections system is rigged because he “hasn’t done his homework on it and he hasn’t paid attention” about a voting process that has been place for years, former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu said Monday…. (more)
WASHINGTON TIMES — The shakeup in Donald Trump’s presidential campaign continued Monday night as his national field director resigned. Stuart Jolly handed in his resignation two days after Mr. Trump elevated his new national political director, Rick Wiley, above Mr. Jolly…. (more)
FOX NEWS — In a Hannity interview that will air tonight on Fox News, Sen. Ted Cruz hit back at Donald Trump’s claims that the GOP nominating process is “rigged.” Trump has repeated the claim all week, including in a sit-down with Sean Hannity in Pittsburgh, after Colorado awarded all 37 delegates to Cruz in a state convention…. (more)
WORLDNETDAILY — Was Donald Trump not aware of the caucus rules in Colorado until after the vote? Or, as two veteran political analysts suggest, was he employing a “Sun Tsu, win-by-losing” strategy that has effectively propelled him to new heights in national polling because he is perceived, now more than ever, as a victim of “establishment politics”?… (more)
WASHINGTON TIMES — Republican officials and rival campaigns mocked Donald Trump’s continuing claims that the Republican presidential primary race has been rigged, saying Sunday that the tycoon’s poor showings in Colorado and Wyoming had more to do with his incompetence than party corruption…. (more)
WASHINGTON EXAMINER — Despite winning its primary in a landslide, Donald Trump came up short in the battle for delegates in Georgia. Members of Georgia’s Republican Party met on Saturday to elect 42 of the 72 delegates that will go to Cleveland in July for the Republican National Convention. Trump’s poor showing comes as the businessman is crying foul after losing 34 pledged delegates in Colorado to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz…. (more)
WASHINGTON EXAMINER — Donald Trump slammed Republican rival John Kasich as someone nobody knows just two days before New York’s primary. Speaking on Staten Island on Sunday, Trump said the Ohio governor is “interesting” because he’s never faced a negative commercial…. (more)
PHILIP KLEIN — Forced to grapple with Donald Trump’s success in the Republican primaries, a number of prominent conservatives are hoping that the energy fueling Trumpism can be channeled toward conservative ends. This is wishful thinking…. (more)
ALAN KEYES — I don’t believe that the GOP quisling leaders want to thwart the nomination of Donald Trump. For years, they have pretended to espouse conservative positions, while by their actions they have betrayed pretty much everything conservatives are supposed to espouse. Now Trump comes along spouting conservative rhetoric, while his lifelong actions have been in opposition to pretty much everything he is now pretending to espouse… (more)
‘They can come after any of us for our beliefs on anything’
“No one in this country should be fired from their job for something that was said in a church or from a pulpit during a sermon,” First Liberty attorney Jeremy Dys told Fox News on Friday. “He was fired for something he said in a sermon. If the government is allowed to fire someone over what he said in his sermons, they can come after any of us for our beliefs on anything.”
ARTICLES I LIKE FROM AROUND THE WEB: (Click title to go to full article)
Love & Believing the Best – “It was a few months after surgery and the bills started arriving. Thirty thousand for this, forty for that. My medical bills were racking up. Thankfully, the co-op to which I belong (and my godly wife) had a handle on things and were coming through in the clutch. But there was one reimbursement that was absent, and it was a big one. A check from a co-op member in the sum of about $20,000 was supposed to come in to pay the hospital, but it was late. One month. Then two. I lost my cool on more than on occasion. ‘Where is that check?!’ ‘Who is this person keeping us hanging like that?’ ‘What is their problem? Don’t they know that we have six-figure bills here?’”
The Soft Prosperity Gospel – “What do you think of when you read the words prosperity gospel? Odds are that your stomach turns a bit as you think about the preachers on television who speak to very large crowds and appeal to even more people in their books. Queasiness is the reaction one should have to the brand of Christianity trumpeted by prosperity preachers. This is because the prosperity gospel is not a gospel at all but rather a damnable perversion of the true gospel. Its preachers herald a message of self-improvement that runs painfully contrary to several key biblical realities. They minimize the purpose of suffering, discourage self-denial, and make the Christian life about the accumulation of stuff. To do this they turn Jesus from the self-giving, sin-atoning, wrath-satisfying, guilt-removing Savior into an eager butler who fetches all of our desires and gives us our best life now.”
5 Key Ways to Cultivating Biblical Manhood in Your Church – “Perhaps no one has more assiduously—and gleefully—documented the disappearance of men than Hanna Rosin. In her 2010 book, The End of Men, and in subsequent articles, Rosin has traced the disappearance of men, as defined by traditional roles and responsibilities. And she argues it is a good thing.”
Preaching and Teaching Are Not the Same – “When I sit with my family around the table for a meal on the Lord’s day, I will typically ask, ‘What did I preach about today?’ I love hearing my children answer the question with correct answers, although occasionally I have to step in and assist them with the answer. I don’t typically ask “What did I teach about today?” I could ask about my teaching, but I typically ask about my preaching. In the sermon, both elements of preaching and teaching are present. Exactly where is the overlap and how can you discern between the two? Does the church need both teaching and preaching?”
Revelation 3:10 and the pre-trib rapture – “While there are several verses that are strong arguments for the pre-tribulational rapture, Revelation 3:10 is one of the most persuasive. In it, every single phrase (and word!) points to God’s plan to remove his church from the earth before the seven-year tribulation.”
Both ISIS and the LGBT movement seem to fight against the idea of religious freedom and their goal isn’t to “Coexist,” but to force the opposition to submit. They demand compromise and aim for conquest. Therefore, you might think most people would agree these two groups do not fully support the Constitution of the United […]
Daily podcast, relevant articles on issues pertaining to Christians and more can be found on Stand Up For The Truth.
This week’s $5 Friday from Ligonier is a good one. “If you spend at least $20 on this week’s discounted resources, you will receive a $10 gift certificate for a future purchase in our store. Spend $50 or more and we will instead provide you with a $25 gift certificate.”
This is a good word. “Before confessional Christians can speak prophetically to toxic masculinity out there, we must first be honest about it in here.”
This Day in 1864. 152 years ago today, American coinage first displays the motto “In God We Trust.” *
I don’t believe that historic Christian doctrines about marriage or sexuality cause toxic masculinity. I do, however, believe that sin causes it, and the conclusion that I’ve come to is the conclusion that I heard years ago and ignored: The American evangelical church has a blind spot when it comes to the sinful way our culture thinks of manhood.
A tribe was exposed to the Bible for the first time in its own language. For fifteen to twenty years, this was all they had. If there were questions about practices or beliefs, the Bible alone was studied by the elders until a clear view emerged. The people memorized it, read it aloud to each other, enjoyed its language and encouragement, and heeded its rebukes and challenges. They taught the Bible to their families and in their church as if it were the only important thing to know. They even sang the Bible. The people were known as Bible people.
Tennessee’s state legislature recently passed a bill that aims to prevent religious indoctrination in schools. And religious people were the primary supporters of the bill.
At heart, the issue was about Islam. Parents complained about the way Islam was portrayed in a seventh-grade social studies unit. Now that the state legislature has gotten involved, school boards across the state will begin revising the curriculum in matters related to religion.
If we are honest, virtually all of us desire to grow our influence and expand our platform, even if we don’t think about it in those terms. It may have a healthy motivation or it may be one consumed with pride. That is a determination that can only be made by God and the individual.
But if your goal is to make Christ famous, instead of yourselves, have we ever wondered if achieving personal fame is the best way to go?
Hundreds of school children in East China’s Jiangsu Province have fallen mysteriously ill, suffering from nose bleeds, itching, rashes, coughing, and other complicated symptoms, whose cause has…
China has unveiled its first interactive robot – which can chat away to humans and even take orders from iCloud. The incredibly life-like robot has taken three…
Three dust devils tore through an elementary-school sports event in China, lifting one boy into the air and dropping him on the ground on Wednesday, according to…
The language of a UNESCO resolution on Jerusalem describing “so-called” Jewish sites and putting the Western Wall Plaza in quotation marks has sparked outrage in Israel. The…
State flags, including the controversial Mississippi flag featuring the Confederate battle emblem, will no longer hang in the tunnel at the U.S. Capitol where each had been…
Amid rising drug and health care costs and roiling market dynamics, the spokesperson for the nation’s health insurers is predicting substantial increases next year in Obamacare premiums…
Clueless Americans signed a fake petition calling for a ban on physical cash in favor of digital currency, in a recent video from social commentator Mark Dice….
Western and Middle Eastern military sources monitoring the war in Syria, and networks monitoring Russian air force flights in the country, reported Wednesday afternoon that there was…
Ten Sears and 68 Kmart stores will close around the U.S. this summer, including four locations in the central part of California, Sears Holdings said. Thursday’s announcement…
Greta Van Susteren, host of “Off the Record” on Fox News, tore into the Treasury secretary’s decision to replace Andrew Jackson’s face on the $20 with Harriet…
God made everything out of nothing, including you and me. His main purpose in creation was to bring him pleasure.
The chief way in which we as humanity do this is through loving, obeying, and enjoying him perfectly.
Instead of this, we have sinned against our loving Creator and acted in high-handed rebellion.
God has vowed that he will righteously and lovingly judge sinners with eternal death.
But God, being merciful, loving, gracious, and just, sent his own son, Jesus Christ, in the likeness of man to live as a man; fulfilling his perfect requirements in the place of sinners; loving, obeying, and enjoying him perfectly.
And further, his son bore the eternal judgment of God upon the cross of Calvary, as he satisfied the eternal anger of God, standing in the place of sinners. God treated Jesus as a sinner, though he was perfectly sinless, that he might declare sinners as perfect.
This glorious transaction occurs as the sinner puts their faith (dependence, trust) in the Lord Jesus Christ as their substitute. God then charges Christ’s perfection to the sinner, and no longer views him as an enemy but instead an adopted son covered in the perfect righteousness of his son.
God furnished proof that this sacrifice was accepted by raising Jesus from the dead.
God will judge the world in righteousness and all of those who are not covered in the righteousness of Christ, depending on him for forgiveness, will be forced to stand on their own to bear the eternal anger of God.
Therefore, all must turn from sin and receive Christ Jesus as Lord.
There is no greater message to be heard than that which we call the gospel. But as important as that is, it is often given to massive distortions or over simplifications. People think they’re preaching the gospel to you when they tell you, ‘you can have a purpose to your life’, or that ‘you can have meaning to your life’, or that ‘you can have a personal relationship with Jesus.’ All of those things are true, and they’re all important, but they don’t get to the heart of the gospel.
The gospel is called the ‘good news’ because it addresses the most serious problem that you and I have as human beings, and that problem is simply this: God is holy and He is just, and I’m not. And at the end of my life, I’m going to stand before a just and holy God, and I’ll be judged. And I’ll be judged either on the basis of my own righteousness–or lack of it –or the righteousness of another. The good news of the gospel is that Jesus lived a life of perfect righteousness, of perfect obedience to God, not for His own well being but for His people. He has done for me what I couldn’t possibly do for myself. But not only has He lived that life of perfect obedience, He offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice to satisfy the justice and the righteousness of God.
The great misconception in our day is this: that God isn’t concerned to protect His own integrity. He’s a kind of wishy-washy deity, who just waves a wand of forgiveness over everybody. No. For God to forgive you is a very costly matter. It cost the sacrifice of His own Son. So valuable was that sacrifice that God pronounced it valuable by raising Him from the dead – so that Christ died for us, He was raised for our justification. So the gospel is something objective. It is the message of who Jesus is and what He did. And it also has a subjective dimension. How are the benefits of Jesus subjectively appropriated to us? How do I get it? The Bible makes it clear that we are justified not by our works, not by our efforts, not by our deeds, but by faith–and by faith alone. The only way you can receive the benefit of Christ’s life and death is by putting your trust in Him–and in Him alone. You do that, you’re declared just by God, you’re adopted into His family, you’re forgiven of all of your sins, and you have begun your pilgrimage for eternity.
The Gospel In A Nutshell
Now, with regard to this rule of faith—that we may from this point acknowledge what it is which we defend—it is, you must know, that which prescribes the belief that there is one only God, and that He is none other than the Creator of the world, who produced all things out of nothing through His own Word, first of all sent forth; that this Word is called His Son, and, under the name of God, was seen “in diverse manners” by the patriarchs, heard at all times in the prophets, at last brought down by the Spirit and Power of the Father into the Virgin Mary, was made flesh in her womb, and, being born of her, went forth as Jesus Christ; thenceforth He preached the new law and the new promise of the kingdom of heaven, worked miracles; having been crucified, He rose again the third day; (then) having ascended into the heavens, He sat at the right hand of the Father; sent instead of Himself the Power of the Holy Ghost to lead such as believe; will come with glory to take the saints to the enjoyment of everlasting life and of the heavenly promises, and to condemn the wicked to everlasting fire, after the resurrection of both these classes shall have happened, together with the restoration of their flesh. This rule, as it will be proved, was taught by Christ, and raises amongst ourselves no other questions than those which heresies introduce, and which make men heretics.
Tertullian, “On Prescription Against Heretics,” Chapter XIIl
Ravi Zacharias explains the gospel in two minutes:
Can you explain the gospel in 30 seconds? In one minute? In five minutes?Here’s one way I have found helpful. The five main components of the gospel can be remembered on 5 fingers of one hand. Here they are:
1) Jesus’ birth 2) Jesus’ life 3) Jesus’ death 4) Jesus’ resurrection 5) Jesus’ ascension
Obviously each point can be elaborated on depending on how much time you have. Here’s the short version:
1) Jesus’ birth – Jesus, God himself, the creator of the universe, the Messiah, became a human being – took on flesh, and was born of a virgin.
2) Jesus’ life – Jesus lived a life of perfect obedience to his Father. Though he was tempted in every way as we are, he never once sinned.
3) Jesus’ death – on the cross, Jesus himself took all our sins and paid for them. God the father counted all our sins to Jesus as if he himself had personally committed them. Then Jesus bore God’s wrath towards sin – the punishment we deserved – as a substitute for us.
4) Jesus’ resurrection – within 3 days, Jesus rose physically from the dead, proving that his sacrifice for sins have been accepted by God, since the punishment for sin was death. Jesus was seen by numerous people after he rose including 500 at one time (1 Corinthians 15).
5) Jesus’ ascension – Jesus ascended physically into heaven where he reigns as King of kings and Lord of lords. And someday he will return to the earth.
That’s the gospel, the good news, and if we believe in Jesus Christ and this good news and call upon him he will save us from our sins and give us eternal life.
That’s a simple way to remember the gospel – five fingers. Even a child can do it. So ask God to give you opportunities to share his good news today.
Ready to start your new life with God?
Who do you think that I am?
With that brief question Jesus Christ confronted His followers with the most important issue they would ever face. He had spent much time with them and made some bold claims about His identity and authority. Now the time had come for them either to believe or deny His teachings.
Who do you say Jesus is? Your response to Him will determine not only your values and lifestyle, but your eternal destiny as well.
CanIKnowGod.com is a website inspired by LifesGreatestQuestion.com, with new content, images, audio and video that will help you understand more about who God is and how to know Him. The site is mobile responsive and has an infinite scroll which makes for a very user-friendly experience. After you indicate a decision on CanIKnowGod.com, you are directed to a page that details what it means to have a new and transformed life through Jesus Christ. There’s even a Facebook page for daily updates, encouragement and scripture sharing.
Look to Jesus
Have you ever felt a little lost and wished there was a quick-start guide to your relationship with God? This is it!
30 Day Next Steps
John Beckett, a leading Christian businessman, has written a series to read over 30 days for new believers.
New Believers Guide
The New Believer’s Guide is a series of articles designed to show you how to walk in the new life Christ has given you— a life of faith and freedom.
Jesus Booklet
Jesus is the Savior of the world. Discover who Jesus is today in this series.
It is not just a handful of texts that teach the perseverance of the saints: the entire gospel sustains and confirms it. The Father has chosen them before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4), ordained them to eternal life (Acts 13:48), to be conformed to the image of his Son (Rom. 8:29). This election stands (Rom. 9:11; Heb. 6:17) and in due time carries with it the calling and justification and glorification (Rom. 8:30). Christ, in whom all the promises of God are Yes and Amen (2 Cor. 1:20), died for those who were given him by the Father (John 17:6, 12) in order that he might give them eternal life and not lose a single one of them (6:40; 17:2); he therefore gives them eternal life and they will never be lost in all eternity; no one will snatch them out of his hand (6:39; 10:28).
The Holy Spirit who regenerates them remains eternally with them (14:16) and seals them for the day of redemption (Eph. 1:13; 4:30). The covenant of grace is firm and confirmed with an oath (Heb. 6:16–18; 13:20), unbreakable like a marriage (Eph. 5:31–32), like a testament (Heb. 9:17), and by virtue of that covenant, God calls his elect. He inscribes the law upon their inmost being, puts his fear in their heart (Heb. 8:10; 10:14ff.), will not let them be tempted beyond their strength (1 Cor. 10:13), confirms and completes the good work he has begun in them (1 Cor. 1:9; Phil. 1:6), and keeps them for the return of Christ to receive the heavenly inheritance (1 Thess. 5:23; 2 Thess. 3:3; 1 Pet. 1:4–5).
In his intercession before the Father, Christ acts in such a way that their faith may not fail (Luke 22:32), that in the world they may be kept from the evil one (John 17:11, 20), that they may be saved for all times (Heb. 7:20), that their sins will be forgiven them (1 John 2:1), and that they may all be where he is to behold his glory (John 17:24). The benefits of Christ, which the Holy Spirit imparts to them, are all irrevocable (Rom. 11:29). Those who are called are also glorified (8:30). Those who are adopted as children are heirs of eternal life (8:17; Gal. 4:7). Those who believe have eternal life already here and now (John 3:16). That life itself, being eternal, cannot be lost. It cannot die since it cannot sin (1 John 3:9). Faith is a firm ground (Heb. 11:1), hope is an anchor (6:19) and does not disappoint us (Rom. 5:5), and love never ends (1 Cor. 13:8).
(Alternative News, Apologetics, Current Events, Commentary, Opinion, Theology, Discernment Blog, Devotionals, Christian Internet Evangelism & Missions Activist).
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One thing that I long for in my eternal dwelling with Christ is to be set free from the endless battles with my flesh. Oh to be free from the desire to please others, the subtle trap of idolizing things in this world, the attempts to take control of what is not mine, and the temptation to steal God’s glory!
Even in moments when I feel I am genuinely pursuing Christ, striving to walk in his truth, and desiring to bring him glory, I would only be deceiving myself if I didn’t admit that even my most God-glorifying moments are riddled with sin. The enemy is always hard at work to convince me in the most subtle ways that I deserve more, and that the praise and affections of those around me will satisfy me, that being known and loved by others is of more value than being deeply loved and accepted by Christ.
Bowing our knee and submitting our lives to God alone goes against everything that is natural within us. Our culture tells us to follow our hearts if we want to find our way, to self-promote if we want any success in life, and to take the reins if we want to control the course of our days. The world says, “Glorify yourself, and you will be satisfied and happy!”
Even as believers, this deception is always lurking on our doorstep. Not only is the temptation to glorify ourselves all around us, but the desire for it lies within our hearts. If we don’t recognize and fight this battle of the flesh with truth, we will easily slip into this subtle, but powerful, pull of self-exaltation.
Here are three truths that we can remind ourselves of when we battle the temptations of seeking our own happiness and glory, pleasing man, making more of ourselves than Christ, and stealing God’s glory.
I once was dead and now am alive because Christ alone saved me when I could not save myself.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
I didn’t help Christ save me. I was dead, helpless, separated from God, deserving eternal death, and blind to my need for a Savior.
He died for me. He opened my blind eyes, took my heart of stone, and gave me a heart of flesh. He forgave me and united me to himself. He gave me life, both now and eternal. What have I done to deserve to be glorified? Nothing! So why would I, a chosen daughter of the King with a promised eternity in God’s glory, fall back on the tireless pursuit of the short-term pleasure of making a name for myself and seeking my value outside of Christ? Like every redeemed sinner, I am in the process of being made more like Christ. I will battle the pull of my flesh until the day I am home with my Savior. By his grace, a love for his glory alone is slowly beginning to drown out the desire for my own.
If we find ourselves struggling with a love for the glory of man, the greatest antidote is the reminder of what we deserve apart from Christ, what he has done for us on the cross, and how he has powerfully changed our hearts and worked in our lives. Only then will we give him the glory due to his name—and his name alone.
If I am in Christ, I am no longer of the world, but a reflection of Christ’s glory to the world.
“They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, the they also may be sanctified in truth…The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, the they may become perfectly one, so that they world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” (John 17:16-19,22-23)
The strong pull of the world will always compete for our affections. For this reason, Christ prayed to the Father to sanctify us in his truth, to be one with him and with his church, and to display Christ’s glory to the world. As our joy in the glory of Christ increases, our love for the world and the glory of man will loosen its grip on us. This sanctification often comes through suffering.
Jesus said to his Father, “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.” (John 17:4-5)
Christ glorified the Father by suffering death on a cross to pay the penalty for our sin, bringing salvation to all who would believe. If we are his servants, we too are called to take up our cross and glorify him by daily dying to our old selves and walking in the newness of life that we have been given in Christ (Matthew 16:24-27).
Although we may loathe the suffering that comes into our lives, it is purposed to sanctify us in truth so that we might increasingly reflect the image of Christ. It opens our eyes to see how conditional and empty the glory of man is, and how undeserving, satisfying, joy-filled, and eternal the glory of God is.
As we stop fighting for our own glory and become one in the goal of glorifying Christ, we become a witness and testimony to a lost world which is divisive and fights one another for each person’s temporary glory. What a blessing it is to be a part of God’s people who are building one another up for the glory of Christ, rather than tearing each other down over the endless and empty pursuit of our own glory!
The glory of man is temporary, but the glory of God is eternal.
“Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.” (John 17:24)
Jesus Christ desires you and me to be with him in his glory for eternity! What an amazing and humbling thought! Oh, how much it must grieve the Father when we pursue the temporary pleasures of man’s glory, when we are promised everlasting joy in Christ’s glory!
Brothers, join me in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. (Philippians 3:17-21)
When we feel drawn towards the immediate gratification of our own glory, let’s wash ourselves in the promise of sharing eternal glory with Christ. Our citizenship is in heaven, where our Savior will free us from the curse of sin and transform our lowly bodies to be like his glorious body—righteous, holy, and without blemish. Why settle for the temporary glory of these earthly bodies?
Until that day, let’s pray for the Holy Spirit to help us when we are tempted to seek our own glory, and ask him to give us an unmatched love and joy for the glory of God.
What other truths do you remember to fight self-glory?
What does biblical assurance look like? Can we spot the evidence of true faith and the Spirit’s sanctifying work in our lives? And how do we know what to look for?
The apostle John’s first epistle is devoted to answering those very questions. Surely no other passage of Scripture confronts the false promises of no-lordship theology with more force than this brief but potent letter.
John’s purpose statement is explicit: “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13, emphasis added). There the apostle spells out his intention. He is not trying to make believers doubt; he wants them to have full assurance. What he has to say will not shake genuine believers; though it should certainly alarm those with a false sense of assurance.
Inspired by the Spirit, John details seven factors that reveal whether a person is a genuine believer or a false convert. These are not tests an unbeliever must pass to become a believer, but points of examination for a professing believer to use in evaluating his own profession of faith.
True Believers Walk in the Light
If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. (1 John 1:6–7).
Walking in darkness is the antithesis of following Christ. All unsaved people walk in darkness; Christians have been delivered into the light: “You were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light” (Ephesians 5:8). To “walk in the light” means to live in the realm of truth. So all true believers are walking in the light—even when we sin. When we sin, “The blood of Jesus . . . cleanses us” (1 John 1:7). The verb tense there indicates that Christ’s blood continually cleanses us. When we sin, we are already being cleansed, so that no darkness ever clouds the light in which we dwell (cf. 1 Peter 2:9).
“Walk[ing] in the light” describes both positional and practical reality for the believer. To trust Jesus Christ is to walk in the light. To walk in the light is to heed the light and live accordingly.
True Believers Confess Their Sin
If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. (1 John 1:8–10)
The word for “confess” (homologeō) means “to say the same thing.” To “confess our sins” means to agree with God about them. This is a characteristic of all true Christians. They agree with God about their sin. That means they hate their sin; they don’t love it. They acknowledge that they are sinful, and yet they know they are forgiven and that they have an Advocate with the Father (1 John 2:1).
True assurance of salvation always goes hand in hand with an awareness of our own sinfulness. In fact, the more certain we are of salvation, the deeper our awareness of our sin becomes.
That may sound paradoxical, but it is the very thing that keeps Christians from falling into utter despair. We know we are sinners. We agree with God about that. We’re not surprised to discover sin in our lives, but nevertheless we hate it. We know we are forgiven and cleansed and that Christ is our Advocate. Far from using that knowledge to justify our sin, however, we see it as a motivation to mortify sin all the more: “I am writing these things to you that you may not sin” (2:1, emphasis added).
True Believers Keep His Commandments
By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. . . . For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. (1 John 2:3-4; 5:3).
Here’s how we can be sure if we have come to know Him: We keep His commandments. This is a test of obedience, but it is not an obedience that is only the result of external pressure. It is the eager obedience of one who “keeps” the divine commandments as if they were something precious to guard.
Those who claim to know God yet despise His commandments are liars (1 John 2:4). “They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed” (Titus 1:16).
True Believers Love the Brethren
This test and the previous one are closely related:
The one who says he is in the Light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes. (1 John 2:9–11; See also 3:10, 14-15; 5:2)
The reason these two tests are so closely related is that love perfectly fulfills the law. “He who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law” (Romans 13:8). Here John echoes the words of Jesus that to love God and to love one’s neighbor fulfills the whole moral law (Matthew 22:37-40).
Love for fellow believers is a particularly important evidence of genuine faith. The point is not that love is intrinsic to us, or something that rises out of our own goodness. The love that is evidence of true faith is God’s love, which is being perfected in us: “If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us” (1 John 4:12). It is that dim reflection of divine glory in us that provides the subjective ground of our assurance.
True Believers Affirm Sound Doctrine
I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also. . . . By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. (1 John 2:21–23; 4:6)
John was writing in opposition to an early form of the gnostic heresy, which denied that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man. He is saying that no one who truly is saved can fall into serious, Christ-denying error or heresy. Why? Because
you have an anointing from the Holy One . . . [and] the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him. (1 John 2:20, 27)
Again, it is the divine work in us, not our own skill or achievements, that provide a sound basis for our assurance.
True Believers Follow After Holiness
If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him. . . . And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. . . . No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. . . . No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. (1 John 2:29; 3:3-4, 6–9)
Those verses have tripped many people up. The key to their meaning is the definition of sin in 1 John 3:4: “Sin is lawlessness.” The Greek word for “lawlessness” is anomia. It literally means, “without law,” and it describes those who live immoral, ungodly, unrighteous lives as a matter of continuous practice. They hate God’s righteousness and perpetually live as if they were sovereign over God’s law. This cannot be true of a genuine Christian.
The apostle is clearly not making sinless perfection a test of salvation. After all, he began his epistle by saying, “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8).
Nor is he making an issue about the frequency, duration, or magnitude of one’s sins. All Christians sin, and true believers are capable even of prolonged and heinous sin. The issue John is raising here has to do with our attitude toward sin and righteousness, our heart’s response when we do sin, and the overall direction of our walk.
Those who cling to the promise of eternal life but care nothing for Christ’s holiness have nothing to be assured of. Such people do not really believe. Either their professed “faith” in Christ is an utter sham, or they are simply deluded. If they did truly have their hope fixed on Christ, they would purify themselves, just as He is pure (1 John 3:3).
True Believers Have the Holy Spirit
This is the overarching test that sums up all the others: Does the Holy Spirit reside in you? John writes, “By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit” (1 John 4:13).
There is an echo of Pauline theology in these verses. Paul wrote, “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God” (Romans 8:16). Scripture says, “On the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed” (Deuteronomy 19:15; cf. Matthew 18:16; 2 Corinthians 13:1). Romans 8:16 is saying that the Holy Spirit adds His testimony to the witness of our spirit, thereby confirming our assurance.
This final point utterly dispels the notion that self-examination is tantamount to placing one’s faith in one’s own works. The evidence we seek through self-examination is nothing other than the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22–23), the proof that He resides within. It is on that testimony that our assurance is confirmed.
Today’s post is intended to answer an important question from a historical standpoint. However, it ought to be stated at the outset that Scripture must be our final authority in the determination of sound doctrine and right practice.
The word “eucharist” means “thanksgiving” and was an early Christian way of referring to the celebration of the Lord’s Table. Believers in the early centuries of church history regularly celebrated the Lord’s Table as a way to commemorate the death of Christ. The Lord Himself commanded this observance on the night before His death. As the apostle Paul recorded in 1 Corinthians 11:23–26:
For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
In discussing the Lord’s Table from the perspective of church history, at least two important questions arise. First, did the early church believe that the elements (the bread and the cup) were actually and literally transformed into the physical body and blood of Christ? In other words, did they articulate the doctrine of transubstantiation as modern Roman Catholics do? Second, did early Christians view the eucharist as a propitiatory sacrifice? Or put another way, did they view it in the terms articulated by the sixteenth-century Council of Trent?
In today’s post, we will address the first of those two questions.
Did the Early Church Fathers Hold to Transubstantiation?
Transubstantiation is the Roman Catholic teaching that in the eucharist, the bread and the cup are transformed into the literal body and blood of Christ. Here are several quotes from the church fathers, often cited by Roman Catholics, in defense of their claim that the early church embraced transubstantiation.
Ignatius of Antioch (d. c. 110): “Take note of those who hold heterodox opinions on the grace of Jesus Christ which has come to us, and see how contrary their opinions are to the mind of God. . . . They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, flesh which suffered for our sins and which that Father, in his goodness, raised up again. They who deny the gift of God are perishing in their disputes” (Letter to the Smyrnaeans 6:2–7:1).
Irenaeus (d. 202): “He took from among creation that which is bread, and gave thanks, saying, ‘This is my body.’ The cup likewise, which is from among the creation to which we belong, he confessed to be his blood” (Against Heresies, 4:17:5).
Irenaeus again: “He has declared the cup, a part of creation, to be his own blood, from which he causes our blood to flow; and the bread, a part of creation, he has established as his own body, from which he gives increase unto our bodies. When, therefore, the mixed cup [wine and water] and the baked bread receives the Word of God and becomes the Eucharist, the body of Christ, and from these the substance of our flesh is increased and supported, how can they say that the flesh is not capable of receiving the gift of God, which is eternal life—flesh which is nourished by the body and blood of the Lord, and is in fact a member of him?” (Against Heresies, 5:2).
Tertullian (160–225): “[T]he flesh feeds on the body and blood of Christ, that the soul likewise may be filled with God” (The Resurrection of the Dead).
Origen (182–254): “Formerly, in an obscure way, there was manna for food; now, however, in full view, there is the true food, the flesh of the Word of God, as he himself says: ‘My flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink’” (Homilies on Numbers, 7:2).
Augustine (354–430): “I promised you [new Christians], who have now been baptized, a sermon in which I would explain the sacrament of the Lord’s Table. . . . That bread which you see on the altar, having been sanctified by the word of God, is the body of Christ. That chalice, or rather, what is in that chalice, having been sanctified by the word of God, is the blood of Christ” (Sermons 227).
How should we think about such statements?
Obviously, there is no disputing the fact that the patristic authors made statements like, “The bread is the body of Christ” and “The cup is the blood of Christ.” But there is a question of exactly what they meant when they used that language. After all, the Lord Himself said, “This is My body” and “This is My blood.” So it is not surprising that the early fathers echoed those very words.
But what did they mean when they used the language of Christ to describe the Lord’s Table? Did they intend the elements to be viewed as Christ’s literal flesh and blood? Or did they see the elements as symbols and figures of those physical realities?
In answering such questions, at least two things ought to be kept in mind:
* * * * *
1. We ought to interpret the church fathers’ statements within their historical context.
Such is especially true with regard to the quotes cited above from Ignatius and Irenaeus. During their ministries, both men found themselves contending against the theological error of docetism (a component of Gnostic teaching), which taught that all matter was evil. Consequently, docetism denied that Jesus possessed a real physical body. It was against this false teaching that the apostle John declared, “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist” (2 John 7).
In order to combat the false notions of docetism, Ignatius and Irenaeus echoed the language Christ used at the Last Supper (paraphrasing His words, “This is My body” and “This is My blood”). Such provided a highly effective argument against docetic heresies, since our Lord’s words underscore the fact that He possessed a real, physical body.
A generation after Irenaeus, Tertullian (160–225) used the same arguments against the Gnostic heretic Marcion. However, Tertullian provided more information into how the eucharistic elements ought to be understood. Tertullian wrote:
“Having taken the bread and given it to His disciples, Jesus made it His own body, by saying, ‘This is My body,’ that is, the symbol of My body. There could not have been a symbol, however, unless there was first a true body. An empty thing or phantom is incapable of a symbol. He likewise, when mentioning the cup and making the new covenant to be sealed ‘in His blood,’ affirms the reality of His body. For no blood can belong to a body that is not a body of flesh” (Against Marcion, 4.40).
Tertullian’s explanation could not be clearer. On the one hand, he based his argument against Gnostic docetism on the words of Christ, “This is My body.” On the other hand, Tertullian recognized that the elements themselves ought to be understood as symbols which represent the reality of Christ’s physical body. Because of the reality they represented, they provided a compelling refutation of docetic error.
Based on Tertullian’s explanation, we have good reason to view the words of Ignatius and Irenaeus in that same light.
* * * * *
2. We ought to allow the church fathers to clarify their understanding of the Lord’s Table.
We have already seen how Tertullian clarified his understanding of the Lord’s Table by noting that the bread and the cup were symbols of Christ’s body and blood. In that same vein, we find that many of the church fathers similarly clarified their understanding of the eucharist by describing it in symbolic and spiritual terms.
At times, they echoed the language of Christ (e.g. “This is My body” and “This is My blood”) when describing the Lord’s Table. Yet, in other places, it becomes clear that they intended this language to be ultimately understood in spiritual and symbolic terms. Here are a number of examples that demonstrate this point:
The Didache, written in the late-first or early-second century, referred to the elements of the Lord’s table as “spiritual food and drink” (The Didache, 9). The long passage detailing the Lord’s Table in this early Christian document gives no hint of transubstantiation whatsoever.
Justin Martyr (110–165) spoke of “the bread which our Christ gave us to offer in remembranceof the Bodywhich He assumed for the sake of those who believe in Him, for whom He also suffered, and also to the cup which He taught us to offer in the Eucharist, in commemoration of His blood“(Dialogue with Trypho, 70).
Clement of Alexandria explained that, “The Scripture, accordingly, has named wine the symbol of the sacred blood” (The Instructor, 2.2).
Origen similarly noted, “We have a symbolof gratitude to God in the bread which we call the Eucharist” (Against Celsus, 8.57).
Cyprian (200–258), who sometimes described the eucharist using very literal language, spoke against any who might use mere water for their celebration of the Lord’s Table. In condemning such practices, he explained that the cup of the Lord is a representation of the blood of Christ: “I marvel much whence this practice has arisen, that in some places, contrary to Evangelical and Apostolic discipline, water is offered in the Cup of the Lord, which alone cannot represent the Blood of Christ” (Epistle 63.7).
Eusebius of Caesarea (263–340) espoused a symbolic view in his Proof of the Gospel:
For with the wine which was indeed the symbol of His blood,He cleanses them that are baptized into His death, and believe on His blood, of their old sins, washing them away and purifying their old garments and vesture, so that they, ransomed by the precious blood of the divine spiritual grapes, and with the wine from this vine, “put off the old man with his deeds, and put on the new man which is renewed into knowledge in the image of Him that created him.” . . . He gave to His disciples, when He said, “Take, drink; this is my blood that is shed for you for the remission of sins: this do in remembrance of me.” And, “His teeth are white as milk,” show the brightness and purity of the sacramental food. For again, He gave Himself the symbols of His divine dispensation to His disciples, when He bade them make the likeness of His own Body. For since He no more was to take pleasure in bloody sacrifices, or those ordained by Moses in the slaughter of animals of various kinds, and was to give them bread to use as the symbol of His Body, He taught the purity and brightness of such food by saying, “And his teeth are white as milk” (Demonstratia Evangelica, 8.1.76–80).
Athanasius (296–373) similarly contended that the elements of the Eucharist are to be understood spiritually, not physically: “[W]hat He says is not fleshly but spiritual. For how many would the body suffice for eating, that it should become the food for the whole world? But for this reason He made mention of the ascension of the Son of Man into heaven, in order that He might draw them away from the bodily notion, and that from henceforth they might learn that the aforesaid flesh was heavenly eating from above and spiritual food given by Him.” (Festal Letter, 4.19)
Augustine (354–430), also, clarified that the Lord’s Table was to be understood in spiritual terms: “Understand spiritually what I said; you are not to eat this body which you see; nor to drink that blood which they who will crucify me shall pour forth. . . . Although it is needful that this be visibly celebrated, yet it must be spiritually understood” (Exposition of the Psalms, 99.8).
He also explained the eucharistic elements as symbols. Speaking of Christ, Augustine noted: “He committed and delivered to His disciples the figure[or symbol] of His Body and Blood.” (Exposition of the Psalms, 3.1).
And in another place, quoting the Lord Jesus, Augustine further explained: “‘Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man,’ says Christ, ‘and drink His blood, ye have no life in you.’ This seems to enjoin a crime or a vice; it is therefore a figure[or symbol], enjoining that we should have a share in the sufferings of our Lord, and that we should retain a sweet and profitable memory of the fact that His flesh was wounded and crucified for us (On Christian Doctrine, 3.16.24).
A number of similar quotations from the church fathers could be given to make the point that—at least for many of the fathers—the elements of the eucharist were ultimately understood in symbolic or spiritual terms. In other words, they did not hold to the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation.
To be sure, they often reiterated the language of Christ when He said, “This is My body” and “This is My blood.” They especially used such language in defending the reality of His incarnation against Gnostic, docetic heretics who denied the reality of Christ’s physical body.
At the same time, however, they clarified their understanding of the Lord’s Table by further explaining that they ultimately recognized the elements of the Lord’s Table to be symbols—figures which represented and commemorated the physical reality of our Lord’s body and blood.
Those looking to read more on this subject might be interested in William Webster’s helpful treatment, which can be found here.
Although A.W. Tozer’s writings ranged over all kinds of topics, three concerns dominated Tozer’s writings. You’ll find him returning to these often, and giving them different treatments each time. What they amount to is what Tozer saw as the most serious maladies of evangelicalism and fundamentalism.
The first was what he called textualism. For Tozer, this was a rationalistic expounding of biblical texts, with little to no expectation of the Holy Spirit’s ministry of illumination. He saw a kind of depersonalization of Scripture taking place. Scholars and pastors were treating Scripture as a collection of inert facts, which could be discovered and communicated as surely as a scientist recording laboratory findings. He saw this as the shortest path to dead orthodoxy, and incessantly called for the church to recognize the doctrine of the Spirit’s illumination. “You can be,” Tozer delighted in saying, “straight as a gun barrel theologically and as empty as one spiritually.” For Tozer, the deadness and lack of piety was evidence that people were not seeking God Himself when reading the Word. He called for solitude, silence, and self-denial as means of seeking God in His Word so as to experience His illuminating ministry. This was the Deeper Life – a surrendered pursuit of the knowledge of God Himself in His Word.
His second major concern was pragmatism in the church. Tozer saw the pragmatism begun in the 19th century beginning to bring in its harvest. He spoke out against using methods and techniques from the world to make church more popular, palatable, fun, or attractive to unbelievers. Tozer was writing in the 40s, 50s, and early 60s, but already pragmatism was changing the very nature of what styled itself as the heir of the apostolic and historic church. Evangelicalism was culturally apostatizing while claiming fidelity to the gospel. Long before Bill Hybels, Rick Warren and the worldliness you now see around you, Tozer stood as a signpost to the church pointing away from pragmatism. He wrote, “The temptation to introduce “new” things into the work of God has always been too strong for some people to resist. The Church has suffered untold injury at the hands of well intentioned but misguided persons who have felt that they know more about running God’s work than Christ and His apostles did. A solid train of box cars would not suffice to haul away the religious truck which has been brought into the service of the Church with the hope of improving on the original pattern. These things have been, one and all, positive hindrances to the progress of the Truth, and have so altered the divinely-planned structure that the apostles, were they to return to earth today, would scarcely recognize the misshapen thing which has resulted.”
His third major theme was true worship. Tozer saw that the church was losing a sense of majesty, reverence and awe in its worship, and had trivialized the whole act. Worship was becoming a form of entertainment. Hymnody was being replaced by the gospel song and the religious entertainer, reverence was being replaced with breezy cheeriness or childish hilarity, and sobriety and simplicity were being wounded in the house of their friends. “Worship,” Tozer explained, “is to feel in your heart and express in some appropriate manner a humbling but delightful sense of admiring awe and astonished wonder and overpowering love in the presence of that most ancient Mystery, that majesty which philosophers call the First Cause but which we call Our Father Which Art in Heaven.”
And what was said of Ezekiel could be easily said of Tozer, whom everyone loves to quote, “Indeed you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they do not do them. (Eze 33:32)
We know from Scripture and from experience that sometimes true believers fall into ugly sins and sinful patterns. King David is one example; Peter is another; the church(es) of Corinth are yet another. Many of us today have also stumbled as we follow Christ. Like the Canons of Dort say, in some instances believers sinfully deviate from the guidance of divine grace and are seduced by and also comply with the lusts of the flesh (V.4). This is sometimes called “backsliding,” a word that is found in Isaiah 51:17, Jeremiah 8:5, and Ezekiel 37:23 (and a few other places in the OT). Backsliding typically means the opposite of Christian growth and it usually means a person has gotten off the Christian path for some length of time.
What are some causes of backsliding? Why do we sometimes wander in the spiritual wilderness for periods of our Christian life? Dutch Reformed…
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. (Galatians 5:16 NASB)
What is Spiritual Formation and Contemplative Spirituality? Are these just another term for Christian spiritual growth or “the way or method” that God has designed for His people to grow spiritually? Or are they totally different from what the Word of God teaches us? A clear-headed and Biblically-based study of Spiritual Formation and Contemplative Spirituality will actually reveal that they are being introduced into the visible church via deception. The proponents of these non-Christian spiritual systems attempt to validate that they are Christian by taking passages from God’s Word out of context and attempt to force them to support their mystical paradigm. While these people do put a lot of emphasis on Christian Authenticity and what that means as well as becoming Christlike or like Christ and…
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Hungary Threatens Rebellion Against Brussels Over Forced Migration (Read More)
The Secret Shame of Middle-Class Americans (Read More)
If you had to make a sudden visit to the emergency room, would you have enough money to pay for it without selling something or borrowing the funds from somewhere? Most Americans may not realize this, but this is something that the Federal Reserve has actually been tracking for several years now. And according to the Fed, an astounding 47 percent of all Americans could not come up with $400 to pay for an emergency room visit without borrowing it or selling something. Various surveys that I have talked about in the past have found that more than 60 percent of all Americans are living to paycheck to paycheck, but I didn’t realize that things were quite this bad for about half the country. If you can’t even come up with $400 for an unexpected emergency room visit, then you are just surviving from month to month by the skin of your teeth. Unfortunately, about half of us are currently in that situation. (Read More….)
Sons of Christian Woman Murdered Because She Refused to Convert to Islam Accept Jesus Christ After Witnessing Mother’s Faith
Posted on April 21, 2016 by Gospel Herald
The sons of a Christian woman who was martyred for her faith in Ethiopia have embraced Christ after witnessing the faith and courage of their mother.
Anne Graham-Lotz: Christians Are So Obsessed With Worldly ‘Garbage,’ They Lose Blessings God Wants to Give
Posted on April 20, 2016 by Gospel Herald
Evangelist Anne Graham Lotz has encouraged Christians to refrain from being so obsessed with “garbage” in this life that they are unable to see the treasures, blessings and glory God wants to give to his people.
‘God Is Gay’: Blasphemous Saturday Night Live Skit Mocks Bakeries That Decline Same-Sex ‘Weddings’
The segment, entitled “God Is a B**b Man,” features comedienne Vanessa Bayer, who plays a small town baker named Beth Walsh.
In the movie trailer parody of the “God’s Not Dead” films, a man enters Walsh’s bakery and requests a wedding cake.
In our brokenness, we often feel unseen, unloved, unwanted by God and others…So it is with those who might be hiding in pain around us, or you yourself.
ARTICLES I LIKE FROM AROUND THE WEB: (Click title to go to full article)
Be An Exegete – The latest spectacular offering from Adam4D.
Understanding Dispensations – “Our misunderstanding of the unity of the law shows us how common and truly easy it is to base our beliefs on faulty notions passed down to us by man, rather than on the solid teachings of the Word of God. It also demonstrates how far off base we might go very quickly if fail to rightly divide the Word, according to its own dispensational distinctions, as we saw last time from our study of this very significant verse of Scripture…”
Back To The Basics: Apologetics Pt4 – Classical Apologetics – “There are some positive aspects of classical apologetics. It seeks to show that faith and reason are consistent, which is a noble aim and has been of service to countless believers, buttressing their faith. Also the classical approach historically has been at the forefront of the apologetic efforts of the church as the preferred method of many staunch defenders of orthodoxy like Augustine, Hugo Grotius and B.B. Warfield. That said, while I love and respect many who hold to the classical apologetic method, I don’t think that it is the best approach to defending the Christian faith.”
Evolution and a Universe as Young as Humanity – “I love to read and ponder the biblical account of creation. So much makes sense and so much comes into focus only as we understand God as the creator of all that is. As I read the creation account I find myself coming to a series of conclusions about the relationship of man and the world he inhabits: God created the world; God created man; God created the world for man and man for the world. God created the world to be seen and overseen by man. He created time and space so he could insert man into time and space. He created all things so man could exercise dominion over it all and, in that way, reflect glory to the Creator. Creation makes no sense, it is incomplete, without man, without the jewel of creation.”
Demonic Orthodoxy and Dead Faith – “Saying “I love you” to your spouse would ring hollow if you never showed your affection through actions. In the same way, when a person professes faith in Christ yet doesn’t evidence his profession by good works, that faith is rightly suspect. Anyone can say they believe in Christ. But Scripture—and in particular, James’s epistle—is clear that true faith is always proven by good works.”
Harriet Tubman will soon be on the American $20 bill, so perhaps you should read this quick refresher from Christianity Today. (And, of course, there is Joe Carter’s 9 Things You Should Know about her.)
Pastors, please make prayer a crucial part of your ministry. Congregations, please free your pastor from other responsibilities so he can dedicate time to prayer.
“Your conscience can function like a moral version of your nervous system. The guilt that your conscience makes you feel when you sin should lead you to turn from your sin to Jesus. That sense of guilt is for your good. And it is something that God—not your mother or father or anyone else—gave you.” (Excerpted from the new book Conscience)
This Day in 1897. 119 years ago today, A.W. Tozer was born. Tozer was an influential pastor in the Christian & Missionary Alliance and author of The Pursuit of God. *
Ed Welch: “They promise what I want, which is a reasonable vacation, in a nice place, where we can take our daughters and their families. Sometimes I merely want that. At those times I am in my right mind. Other times I really need it, well I almost need it. At those times I go into a hypnotic trance, induced by the voice of one who tells me everything I want to hear.”
Lore Ferguson says, “As humans we can be tempted to respond in a few different ways to conflict within the local church. Philippians 4:1-9 has a clear pathway for how Christians walk through conflict.”
This is a very serious act of treason: when you love other things more than you love God. —John Piper
In the midst of conflict within the local church the first thing we need to understand is that we are never promised a clean, unspotted, unblemished church (Ephesians 5:27). The bible repeatedly makes the case that the local church on earth will be broken and blemished until Christ presents us clean and spotless.
Therefore, when we encounter brokenness in the local church our response is not to run the other direction, complain, or grow angry at the institution. If we are Christians, then we believe the bible, and the bible says we are imperfect. The crux for the Christian is how we respond, then, to the imperfect church family of which we are a part.
You may not articulate it in the words, “I’m sorry that my God is like this.” However, there is some indication that the sharp edges of the character of God are better ignored, diluted, or otherwise recast so as to make his actions more acceptable. Don’t misunderstand, I am not talking primarily to liberals here but rather to evangelicals. Mr. or Mrs. card carrying evangelical, are you quietly ashamed of some of God’s tirades of judgment in the Old Testament?
Can your theology handle a book like Lamentations?
t was early in my junior year at Virginia Tech, and everywhere I turned it felt like God was following me.
It all began a few months before, when a friend talked to me about Jesus at a Halloween party. Since that night, I couldn’t shake his words. I believed God was real, but I wasn’t ready to surrender my life of dating, drinking, and drugs. Yet I couldn’t escape the sneaking suspicion my friend had told me the truth.
Over the years, the gap between the mission of disciple-making and the actual practice of most Christians grew wider and wider. Many knew they should be making disciples and wanted to do so, but they simply didn’t know how.
I’m convinced that a return to the practice of one-on-one, life-on-life discipleship is one of the most critical needs for today’s church.
I was in my 20’s the last time I experienced anything like this. Like most folks, during that time I transitioned from student to worker, single to married, and carefree young adult to responsible father. I put my childhood behind me and stepped into a lifestyle that would define my life for the next 25+ years. It’s the only adult life I have ever known.
A Letter to My Wife After Four Years of Seminary | Adam Parker, Bring the Books
“You have died to yourself for the sake of me, for the sake of our children, for the sake of the Lord’s call on our family and on our lives. You have a level of honesty and integrity that I hope to aspire to. In a matter of days I will be receiving my Master of Divinity degree, and we will prepare to go to the church where God would have us serve. But you deserve an award that is more prestigious, more honorable, and that conveys my gratitude.”
Preaching and Preachers Podcast | Dr. Jason K. Allen
“Episode #1: On this episode of Preaching and Preachers, Dr. Timothy George and Dr. Christian George join me in discussing four great preachers throughout church history.”
I Promise… | Nick Batzig, The Christward Collective
“A few months ago, I had the privilege of meeting with a young couple in our congregation in order to choose vows for their wedding. We decided to look at some historic Protestant marriage vows. Ultimately, we ended up with a combination of the marriage vows in the Directory of Public Worship and the vows of the Christian Reformed Church–together with some personal additions. Here are the vows we decided on:”
Listen to the Little Guy Too | Jared C. Wilson, TGC
“We are obsessed with bigger, better, faster. We define success according to quantity and presentation. We reckon churches increasing in size as effective. And so our heroes are the big church guys. They speak at the conferences, they publish the books, they exert the influence. But the guys at the ‘little churches’ have just as much, if not more, to teach us about how to shepherd and how to disciple.”
Rick Perry is frustrated with political rhetoric that he sees as discriminatory toward Muslims, and says he “owes it to America” to share a different message. “The…
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(Dr. Michael Brown) Within a 48-hour period this week, a Federal court ruled that a school could not require children to use the bathroom that corresponds to…
China has allegedly tested a weapon of mass destruction weapon capable of hitting London and other major European or American cities in just 30 minutes. The People’s…
Prime Minister Netanyahu travelled to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin Thursday, their meeting focused on Russia’s military coordination with Israel, Russian arms sales to…
President Barack Obama has sent two letters to senior Iranian leaders in recent months requesting a meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, according to Persian language reports…
Over 2,000 houses and other facilities with roofs of tin and corrugated sheets were damaged in the thunderstorms and torrential rains that hit many parts of Manipur,…
This giant oarfish measures a massive five metres (16ft) long – almost three times to height of the fisherman who landed the catch. And the so-called “earthquake…
The Council of the Arab League will hold on Thursday an extraordinary meeting to discuss Benjamin Netanyahu’s remarks about the Golan Heights, local media reported. The Council…
The US labor market has softened throughout February and March and the private sector has struggled amidst falling profits, and several industries, including energy, utilities, financial services…
North Carolina and Mississippi’s controversial new laws affecting LGBT rights are already threatening to cost the U.S. states millions in lost business and tourism. That situation could…
Students at an elite Paris university sparked fierce debate Wednesday by inviting classmates to wear the Muslim veil for a day in a bid to “demystify” a…
Talk about interesting (and spooky) timing. In a matter of a few days, a series of deadly earthquakes hit Japan and Ecuador, and New Yorker writer Kathryn…
Japan was plunged into fresh panic today as a 6.1 magnitude tremor hit the northern coast – the third major earthquake within a week. The tremors struck…
Germany has asked Belgium to take two of its nuclear reactors offline, citing safety concerns. The environment minister said doing so would show that Brussels “takes the…
Recession-wracked Venezuela is to ration electricity in 10 of its most populous and industrialized states, including metropolitan Caracas, the socialist government said. It is the latest drastic…
he total number of powerful and minor earthquakes on the Japanese island of Kyushu has exceeded 600 since Thursday’s devastating quake, local media reported. On April 14,…
A district in India once known for its extreme persecution of Christians is now hosting massive evangelistic events where hundreds of Hindus and tribal animists are embracing…
igh temperatures and a crippling shortage of rainfall in India is forcing schools to close and communities to ration drinking water. In Chennai, the oppressive heat currently…
Curt Schilling, an ESPN Major League Baseball analyst, has been terminated by ESPN, the network announced on Wednesday night. Schilling’s termination comes after the former pitcher shared…
A small earthquake has been recorded 68 miles northeast of Youngstown. The Lamont Doherty Cooperative Seismographic Network reported a 2.2 magnitude tremor at around 6:30 a.m. between…
The drone footage that you are about to see is absolutely jaw-dropping. When I first watched it, I could hardly believe the extent of the devastation that…
Longtime televangelist and senior Pastor of New Destiny Christian Center in Apopka, Florida, Paula White offered her followers an Easter Sunday deliverance from a spiritual death sentence…
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is suffering its worst coral bleaching in recorded history with 93 percent of the World Heritage site affected, scientists said Wednesday, as they…
Pyongyang threatens to blow-up the world again, preparing for its fifth nuclear test. On Wednesday, China deployed troops along its border with North Korea as Pyongyang prepared…
(J.Lee Grady) Saturday Night Live launched the careers of some of America’s best-known comedians, including Steve Martin, Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Billy Crystal, Chevy Chase, John Belushi,…
A Georgia pastor has filed a federal lawsuit alleging he was fired from the state’s Department of Public Health one day after handing over sermons at the…
Last week southern Japan was struck with two earthquakes, first on Thursday April 14, a 6.2 magnitude and again early Saturday April 16, a 7.1 under Kumamoto,…
Mexican emergency crews are responding to a major fire at a Pemex oil facility in the port city of Coatzacoalcos that started after a powerful explosion. Hundreds…
Scientists say the Sierra’s eastern front is long overdue for a large earthquake along the California-Nevada line, where a magnitude 7 event expected on average every 30…
God made everything out of nothing, including you and me. His main purpose in creation was to bring him pleasure.
The chief way in which we as humanity do this is through loving, obeying, and enjoying him perfectly.
Instead of this, we have sinned against our loving Creator and acted in high-handed rebellion.
God has vowed that he will righteously and lovingly judge sinners with eternal death.
But God, being merciful, loving, gracious, and just, sent his own son, Jesus Christ, in the likeness of man to live as a man; fulfilling his perfect requirements in the place of sinners; loving, obeying, and enjoying him perfectly.
And further, his son bore the eternal judgment of God upon the cross of Calvary, as he satisfied the eternal anger of God, standing in the place of sinners. God treated Jesus as a sinner, though he was perfectly sinless, that he might declare sinners as perfect.
This glorious transaction occurs as the sinner puts their faith (dependence, trust) in the Lord Jesus Christ as their substitute. God then charges Christ’s perfection to the sinner, and no longer views him as an enemy but instead an adopted son covered in the perfect righteousness of his son.
God furnished proof that this sacrifice was accepted by raising Jesus from the dead.
God will judge the world in righteousness and all of those who are not covered in the righteousness of Christ, depending on him for forgiveness, will be forced to stand on their own to bear the eternal anger of God.
Therefore, all must turn from sin and receive Christ Jesus as Lord.
There is no greater message to be heard than that which we call the gospel. But as important as that is, it is often given to massive distortions or over simplifications. People think they’re preaching the gospel to you when they tell you, ‘you can have a purpose to your life’, or that ‘you can have meaning to your life’, or that ‘you can have a personal relationship with Jesus.’ All of those things are true, and they’re all important, but they don’t get to the heart of the gospel.
The gospel is called the ‘good news’ because it addresses the most serious problem that you and I have as human beings, and that problem is simply this: God is holy and He is just, and I’m not. And at the end of my life, I’m going to stand before a just and holy God, and I’ll be judged. And I’ll be judged either on the basis of my own righteousness–or lack of it –or the righteousness of another. The good news of the gospel is that Jesus lived a life of perfect righteousness, of perfect obedience to God, not for His own well being but for His people. He has done for me what I couldn’t possibly do for myself. But not only has He lived that life of perfect obedience, He offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice to satisfy the justice and the righteousness of God.
The great misconception in our day is this: that God isn’t concerned to protect His own integrity. He’s a kind of wishy-washy deity, who just waves a wand of forgiveness over everybody. No. For God to forgive you is a very costly matter. It cost the sacrifice of His own Son. So valuable was that sacrifice that God pronounced it valuable by raising Him from the dead – so that Christ died for us, He was raised for our justification. So the gospel is something objective. It is the message of who Jesus is and what He did. And it also has a subjective dimension. How are the benefits of Jesus subjectively appropriated to us? How do I get it? The Bible makes it clear that we are justified not by our works, not by our efforts, not by our deeds, but by faith–and by faith alone. The only way you can receive the benefit of Christ’s life and death is by putting your trust in Him–and in Him alone. You do that, you’re declared just by God, you’re adopted into His family, you’re forgiven of all of your sins, and you have begun your pilgrimage for eternity.
The Gospel In A Nutshell
Now, with regard to this rule of faith—that we may from this point acknowledge what it is which we defend—it is, you must know, that which prescribes the belief that there is one only God, and that He is none other than the Creator of the world, who produced all things out of nothing through His own Word, first of all sent forth; that this Word is called His Son, and, under the name of God, was seen “in diverse manners” by the patriarchs, heard at all times in the prophets, at last brought down by the Spirit and Power of the Father into the Virgin Mary, was made flesh in her womb, and, being born of her, went forth as Jesus Christ; thenceforth He preached the new law and the new promise of the kingdom of heaven, worked miracles; having been crucified, He rose again the third day; (then) having ascended into the heavens, He sat at the right hand of the Father; sent instead of Himself the Power of the Holy Ghost to lead such as believe; will come with glory to take the saints to the enjoyment of everlasting life and of the heavenly promises, and to condemn the wicked to everlasting fire, after the resurrection of both these classes shall have happened, together with the restoration of their flesh. This rule, as it will be proved, was taught by Christ, and raises amongst ourselves no other questions than those which heresies introduce, and which make men heretics.
Tertullian, “On Prescription Against Heretics,” Chapter XIIl
Ravi Zacharias explains the gospel in two minutes:
Can you explain the gospel in 30 seconds? In one minute? In five minutes?Here’s one way I have found helpful. The five main components of the gospel can be remembered on 5 fingers of one hand. Here they are:
1) Jesus’ birth 2) Jesus’ life 3) Jesus’ death 4) Jesus’ resurrection 5) Jesus’ ascension
Obviously each point can be elaborated on depending on how much time you have. Here’s the short version:
1) Jesus’ birth – Jesus, God himself, the creator of the universe, the Messiah, became a human being – took on flesh, and was born of a virgin.
2) Jesus’ life – Jesus lived a life of perfect obedience to his Father. Though he was tempted in every way as we are, he never once sinned.
3) Jesus’ death – on the cross, Jesus himself took all our sins and paid for them. God the father counted all our sins to Jesus as if he himself had personally committed them. Then Jesus bore God’s wrath towards sin – the punishment we deserved – as a substitute for us.
4) Jesus’ resurrection – within 3 days, Jesus rose physically from the dead, proving that his sacrifice for sins have been accepted by God, since the punishment for sin was death. Jesus was seen by numerous people after he rose including 500 at one time (1 Corinthians 15).
5) Jesus’ ascension – Jesus ascended physically into heaven where he reigns as King of kings and Lord of lords. And someday he will return to the earth.
That’s the gospel, the good news, and if we believe in Jesus Christ and this good news and call upon him he will save us from our sins and give us eternal life.
That’s a simple way to remember the gospel – five fingers. Even a child can do it. So ask God to give you opportunities to share his good news today.
Ready to start your new life with God?
Who do you think that I am?
With that brief question Jesus Christ confronted His followers with the most important issue they would ever face. He had spent much time with them and made some bold claims about His identity and authority. Now the time had come for them either to believe or deny His teachings.
Who do you say Jesus is? Your response to Him will determine not only your values and lifestyle, but your eternal destiny as well.
CanIKnowGod.com is a website inspired by LifesGreatestQuestion.com, with new content, images, audio and video that will help you understand more about who God is and how to know Him. The site is mobile responsive and has an infinite scroll which makes for a very user-friendly experience. After you indicate a decision on CanIKnowGod.com, you are directed to a page that details what it means to have a new and transformed life through Jesus Christ. There’s even a Facebook page for daily updates, encouragement and scripture sharing.
Look to Jesus
Have you ever felt a little lost and wished there was a quick-start guide to your relationship with God? This is it!
30 Day Next Steps
John Beckett, a leading Christian businessman, has written a series to read over 30 days for new believers.
New Believers Guide
The New Believer’s Guide is a series of articles designed to show you how to walk in the new life Christ has given you— a life of faith and freedom.
Jesus Booklet
Jesus is the Savior of the world. Discover who Jesus is today in this series.
It is not just a handful of texts that teach the perseverance of the saints: the entire gospel sustains and confirms it. The Father has chosen them before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4), ordained them to eternal life (Acts 13:48), to be conformed to the image of his Son (Rom. 8:29). This election stands (Rom. 9:11; Heb. 6:17) and in due time carries with it the calling and justification and glorification (Rom. 8:30). Christ, in whom all the promises of God are Yes and Amen (2 Cor. 1:20), died for those who were given him by the Father (John 17:6, 12) in order that he might give them eternal life and not lose a single one of them (6:40; 17:2); he therefore gives them eternal life and they will never be lost in all eternity; no one will snatch them out of his hand (6:39; 10:28).
The Holy Spirit who regenerates them remains eternally with them (14:16) and seals them for the day of redemption (Eph. 1:13; 4:30). The covenant of grace is firm and confirmed with an oath (Heb. 6:16–18; 13:20), unbreakable like a marriage (Eph. 5:31–32), like a testament (Heb. 9:17), and by virtue of that covenant, God calls his elect. He inscribes the law upon their inmost being, puts his fear in their heart (Heb. 8:10; 10:14ff.), will not let them be tempted beyond their strength (1 Cor. 10:13), confirms and completes the good work he has begun in them (1 Cor. 1:9; Phil. 1:6), and keeps them for the return of Christ to receive the heavenly inheritance (1 Thess. 5:23; 2 Thess. 3:3; 1 Pet. 1:4–5).
In his intercession before the Father, Christ acts in such a way that their faith may not fail (Luke 22:32), that in the world they may be kept from the evil one (John 17:11, 20), that they may be saved for all times (Heb. 7:20), that their sins will be forgiven them (1 John 2:1), and that they may all be where he is to behold his glory (John 17:24). The benefits of Christ, which the Holy Spirit imparts to them, are all irrevocable (Rom. 11:29). Those who are called are also glorified (8:30). Those who are adopted as children are heirs of eternal life (8:17; Gal. 4:7). Those who believe have eternal life already here and now (John 3:16). That life itself, being eternal, cannot be lost. It cannot die since it cannot sin (1 John 3:9). Faith is a firm ground (Heb. 11:1), hope is an anchor (6:19) and does not disappoint us (Rom. 5:5), and love never ends (1 Cor. 13:8).
(Alternative News, Apologetics, Current Events, Commentary, Opinion, Theology, Discernment Blog, Devotionals, Christian Internet Evangelism & Missions Activist).
“A simple layman armed with Scripture is to be believed above a pope or a council without it…” – Martin Luther
“In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity.”
— Augustine
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The Zika virus has been a popular topic in the news lately. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) says that, if contracted, the virus causes a fever, rashes, even joint pain. In addition, infants have acquired deformities, citing the virus’ strain in their systems. This is horrible!
Yet, the destructive nature of the Zika virus is no different than the Authority Virus that Jesus warned about in the realm of Christian leadership:
You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. (Matthew 20:25-28; Mark 10:42-43).
The Authority Virus is often masked under the coy language of a leadership style, but the leader uses their title and power over people, which is often rooted in sin. This kind of virus is carried by a self-centered leader, and it does not flow from the gospel. Such behavior is worldly and a fleshly response to sinful power that can hinder biblical leadership.
Five Gospel-Centered Leadership Characteristics
People, churches, and organizations need gospel-centered leaders. Here are five ways the gospel acts as a vaccine in leaders to wage war against the Authority Virus.
1. A gospel-centered leader clothes the mind in Christ’s humility (Colossians 2:18, 23).
If I lack humility, I am tempted to use my title and power inappropriately. I end up hurting my team, family, and friends. In addition, legitimate title and power is rooted in Scripture: “‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble’” (1 Peter 5:5). The gospel-centered leader recognizes that the “meekness and gentleness of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:1) is an appropriate use of title and power when under his Lordship.
2. A gospel-centered leader is an imitator of God (Ephesians 5:1).
We imitate God’s nature in our leadership, which means responding to others with kindness, gentleness, and compassion (Galatians 5:22; Colossians 3:12). We seek to communicate with those under our care (1 Peter 5:2-3), laying aside personal agendas for the Lord’s agenda.
3. A gospel-centered leader does not fan a resume of accomplishments and experiences (1 Corinthians 1:26-31).
I am often asked to supply a biography when I speak at churches, and this is something I dislike. I never want to become boastful or self-righteous in the things I have done. Jesus tells us that such high thinking is contrary to kingdom leadership. Jesus taught his disciples, “But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’” (Luke 14:10).
4. A gospel-centered leader recognizes that there is one superior Rabbi or Master (Matthew 23:8-10).
Jesus reminds us that we should call no one Rabbi or Master. We are to avoid superior titles among the body of Christ. I like the way Eugene Peterson translates the beginning of Matthew 23 in TheMessage:
[The scribes and the Pharisees] love to sit at the head table at church dinners, basking in the most prominent positions, preening in the radiance of public flattery, receiving honorary degrees, and getting called “Doctor” and “Reverend.”
Jesus is concerned about the pride that comes with “high ranks” in his school of discipleship. Gospel-centered leaders avoid this, as well as using superior titles.
5. A gospel-centered leader seeks to be low in this life (Mark 10:44; James 2:3).
Taking a low position is counter-intuitive and counter-cultural. Yet, Jesus wanted his disciples, and wants us, to approach leadership from service, rather than kingship. Great leaders serve first, rather than demanding to be served.
Five Characteristics of Authority-Virus Leaders
What about leaders who have become infected by the Authority Virus? What are some of their characteristics? Here are five signs of the infection.
1. Pride and self-righteousness
These sins often mirror each other. They are twins, infecting a godly leader. Pride goes before a fall (Proverbs 16:18). Self-righteousness means boasting in one’s ability, rather than in Christ (1 Corinthians 1:26-31).
2. Being first rather than last
The Authority Virus spread rapidly in Jesus’ day, and even so in our institutions. Jesus confronted this within John and James’ mother because she wanted her boys to “sit at the right and left” of Christ (Mark 10:37). I see the disease everywhere. I am grieved by how leaders treat fellow leaders, and those under their authority. The disease spreads so discreetly that some leaders don’t even know they have the virus. A self-serving leader focuses on internal motivations and seeks to take the first-chair position.
3. A lack of peacemaking
The leader says they are a peacemaker, but their actions do not describe a sower of peace (Romans 12:18; James 3:18; Hebrews 12:14). The leader jockeys for position and often pushes back because their agenda must win. The leader is unable to keep a team together and, thereby, disrupts stability in the organization. They use words to fight, and in their speech, they lack grace-filled words (Titus 2:11).
4. Power words
The Authority Virus is often masked by power words. These words do not indicate leadership style, but sin. So, Jesus warns us, “Do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach” (Matthew 23:2). Again, Jesus says that we must avoid the Authority Virus by not becoming hypocrites (Matthew 23:13-29). Hypocrites are “blind guides” (v. 16) who keep the kingdom of heaven from men’s faces (v. 13).
5. Lack of genuine repentance
Genuine repentance is not just emotional outbursts of sorrow, but a real recognition that my sin offends God and betrays others. I must not be like Esau in my response to sin. Esau forfeited God’s blessing by a lack of genuine repentance (Hebrews 12:16).
A Spiritual Fight against the Gentile Virus
The Authority Virus plagues our churches, mission organizations, homes, and even Christian higher education. It can spread from one leader to next (Matthew 20:25-28), so it needs to be treated early. A correct diagnosis to the virus is essential to fighting it; the appropriate treatment to fight sin is through the gospel. In order to fight the virus, we must go to Jesus for help. We must learn from him gentleness and lowliness in Christian leadership (Matthew 11:29).
Authority-based leadership is oppressive and powerful. The virus spreads and infects others just like an infectious word spreads like fire (James 3:6). The only option we have is to be submissive to the life-transforming power of the gospel, which raised this dead body to a Spirit-filled life of righteousness (Romans 8:11).
Gospel-centered leadership is based in Christ. We need to take Jesus’ words seriously: “The greatest among you will be your servant” (Matthew 23:11-12). In order to fight the spiritual fight against the Authority Virus leadership, the godly leader must heed Christ’s words:
But go and learn what this means: “I desire compassion, and not sacrifice,” for I did come to call the righteous, but the sinner. (Matthew 9:13)
What are some other traits of a gospel-centered leader? What about a leader plagued with the Authority Virus?
10 For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond- servant of Christ. (Galatians 1:10 NASB)
What causes deception? We like to believe that people lying to those they deceive causes deception. However, if we think critically about that (yes, I know that post-modernists have lost that ability, but humor me) deception is not the direct result of the lie, but is only takes effect when the one being deceived desires something from the deceiver such as a relationship or something else that is offered. The deceived believe the lie in order to receive something else that they want. What has this to do with compromise in ministry? When theologians, preachers, or Christian leaders who once were not compromised suddenly appear to make these…
UnitedHealth Group Inc. will drop out of government-organized health insurance markets in at least 18 states as the U.S. industry leader tries to stem losses from participating in Obamacare, the healthcare overhaul that has brought coverage to millions of people.
The FBI confiscated 3,000 to 4,000 phones of all makes from October through March, of which 13 percent had encrypted data that couldn’t be accessed
The U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Maryland program that subsidized the construction of new power plants, saying it infringed on federal authority to regulate wholesale electricity rates.
Russia is planning to revamp its fiscal policy with a new budget rule designed to insulate its economy from swings in crude prices. The proposed mechanism would prevent the government from spending excess revenue above a pre-set oil price. The crude-price cutoff would be in the range of about $40 to $50 a barrel, and income received above that will be stowed away in reserves.
The maker of Dreyer’s ice cream will alter more than 100 products via changes that include ditching high fructose corn syrup and genetically-modified ingredients from some of them.
AP Top Stories
A fresh tremor rattled Ecuador before dawn Wednesday, a magnitude-6.1 magnitude jolt that set babies crying and adults pouring into the streets, fearful of yet more damage following a monster earthquake over the weekend.
Iran’s president criticized the use of thousands of undercover morality police in Tehran to report on young women who are not wearing a full Islamic hijab or those who play loud music in their cars.
China is marking National Security Education Day with a poster warning young female government workers about dating handsome foreigners, who could turn out to have secret agendas.
Motorcycle gunmen shot dead seven policemen guarding a polio vaccination team in Pakistan’s southern port city Karachi, officials said, a brazen attack in the country’s economic hub.
The Pentagon on Tuesday called on China to reaffirm it has no plans to deploy military aircraft in the Spratly Islands after Beijing used a military plane to evacuate sick workers from a new airstrip on an island it has created in the disputed South China Sea.
Air strikes on two markets killed up to 50 people in northwest Syria on Tuesday, as Syrian government forces backed by Russian air power also launched strikes against rebels in the province of Latakia, a rebel group and a conflict monitor said.
President Obama arrived in Riyadh on Wednesday to meet Saudi Arabia’s King Salman ahead of a summit with other Gulf Arab leaders on Thursday and with regional tensions with Iran likely to be high on the agenda.
Intel is cutting 12,000 jobs – about 11 percent of its workforce – as it reorganizes to confront a decline in sales of personal computers.
Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik has won part of his human rights case against the Norwegian state. The court upheld his claim that some of his treatment amounted to “inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”.
The death toll from Saturday’s devastating earthquake in Ecuador has risen to 525 and could increase by many more, authorities in the country say.
BBC
At least 330 million people are affected by drought in India, the government has told the Supreme Court. Authorities say this number is likely to rise further given that some states with water shortages have not yet submitted status reports.
German Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks has asked Belgium to close two nuclear reactors temporarily because of concerns over safety. The two ageing Doel 3 and Tihange 2 reactors were taken offline in 2012 when defects were found in the walls of the reactors’ pressure vessels.
Utah has become the first to declare pornography a public health risk in a move its governor says is to “protect our families and our young people”. The bill does not ban pornography in the mainly Mormon state.
The leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, has given a rare speech on the final day of the country’s Communist Party congress. The former president, 89, acknowledged his advanced age but said Cuban communist concepts were still valid and the Cuban people “will be victorious”.
An extensive aerial and underwater survey has revealed that 93% of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef has been affected by coral bleaching. This follows earlier warnings that the reef was experiencing its worst coral bleaching event on record.
Two people were burned to death on Monday during xenophobic violence in Zambia’s capital, Lusaka, the police have said in a statement.
The French government plans to extend a state of emergency imposed after the Paris attacks in November to cover the Euro 2016 football tournament, Prime Minister Manuel Valls has said.
Saudi Arabia is reported to be close to securing a $10bn loan deal from international banks as it tries to recover from plunging oil revenues.
WND
Tennessee’s General Assembly voted by a wide margin to sue the federal government over its refugee resettlement program, alleging violations of the Tenth Amendment, the one that guarantees states hold all rights not specifically delegated to the national powers.
Documents being revealed by the U.S. House Select Panel on Infant Lives, set up to investigate the abortion industry after David Daleiden and his Center for Medical Progress released videos in 2015 documenting Planned Parenthood officials negotiating for higher pay for baby body parts, confirm the profit in the trade.
Top News – 4/20/2016
Palmyra Arch: Destroyed by Daesh, Now Standing Tall in the Center of London
The project — commissioned by Oxford and Harvard Universities — used state of the art 3D technology to map the arch’s dimensions from thousands of images, before master craftsmen carved the 20ft replica from Egyptian marble. Only a single arch of the ancient ruins of the Temple of Bel remained after Daesh terrorists destroyed it in September last year.
With Cyclone Fantala, the Indian Ocean experiences its strongest storm on record
It’s now the Indian Ocean’s turn. After record setting cyclones in the Northeast Pacific (Hurricane Patricia, Oct. 2015), and the Southwest Pacific (Tropical Cyclone Winston, Feb. 2016), the Indian Ocean has now experienced its strongest storm on record. Fantala’s wind speeds reached an estimated 170 miles per hour on April 18, according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center.
Magnitude-6.1 tremor jolts Ecuador days after deadly earthquake
Ecuador – A fresh tremor rattled Ecuador overnight, a 6.1 magnitude jolt that was the strongest aftershock since a lethal earthquake killed hundreds of people on Saturday. There was no immediate report of further damage.
The terror academy
Al-Quds University (AQU) in Abu Dis, where some members of the next generation of Palestinian doctors and academics are studying, has become a terrorism nest during the latest wave of violence. Mohand Halabi, who killed Nahmia Lavi and Aaron Bennett in the current terror wave’s first stabbing attack, was a law student at the university.
Parents blast barmy council for telling kids as young as 4 to pick sex ’they identify with’
ANGRY parents have blasted a council that wants kids as young as four to choose the gender “they most identify with” before starting school. It wrote to parents urging them to support their child’s choice of “gender identity” in a letter confirming primary school places this week.
Ecuador quake deaths pass 500 with hundreds still missing
The death toll from Saturday’s devastating earthquake in Ecuador has risen to 525 and could increase by many more, authorities in the country say. Figures given by officials for the number of people missing ranged from 231 to 1,700. Thousands of people have been left homeless, making them vulnerable to dirty drinking water and disease.
Germany urges Belgium to shut nuclear reactors temporarily
German Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks has asked Belgium to close two nuclear reactors temporarily because of concerns over safety. The two ageing Doel 3 and Tihange 2 reactors were taken offline in 2012 when defects were found in the walls of the reactors’ pressure vessels. They were restarted late last year amid concern in the Netherlands and Germany.
France seeks state of emergency extension for Euro 2016
The French government plans to extend a state of emergency imposed after the Paris attacks in November to cover the Euro 2016 football tournament, Prime Minister Manuel Valls has said. Given the scale of the event, security has to be ensured, he said in a radio interview. The proposed two-month extension will require parliamentary approval.
India says 330 million people affected by severe drought
The Indian government has told the Supreme Court that 330 million people are affected by drought in the country. It said that nearly 256 districts across India, home to nearly a quarter of the population were impacted. Authorities say this number is likely to rise further given that some states with water shortages have not yet submitted status reports.
Sorry, North Korea: Kim Jong-un Isn’t God
North Korea without doubt is unique. If nothing else, its claimed accomplishments rival the faux Russian achievements cited by Pavel Chekov in the original Star Trek….But the North Korean regime has gone a step further in claiming that Great Leader Kim Il-sung, grandfather to Cute Leader Kim Jong-un, as I call the latter, is not only god, but recognized as such by America’s legendary evangelist Billy Graham.
Utah Governor Declares Pornography a Public Health Crisis
Utah Gov. Gary Herbert on Tuesday signed a resolution that declared pornography a public health crisis. The measure calls for education and policy changes to stop pornography exposure and addiction, which the resolution says leads to the hypersexualization of teens, prostitution and cheating spouses, among other problems. “We realize this is a bold assertion and there are some out there who will disagree with us,” Herbert told reporters at a news conference, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. “We’re here to say it is, in fact, the full-fledged truth.”
Intel to cut up to 12,000 jobs as PC industry swoons
Intel Corp said on Tuesday it would cut up to 12,000 jobs globally, or 11 percent of its workforce, as it refocuses its business towards making microchips that power data centres and Internet connected devices and away from the declining personal computer industry it helped found.
Feds Building Massive Online DNA Database
A new online portal would let scientists access vast amounts of genomic data from patients involved in heart, lung, blood and sleep research studies.
Can a burgeoning satanic movement actually effect political change?
Robert Eggers’ period horror film “The Witch” has been one of the surprise hits of 2016. It’s even gained a second wind since its February 23 release: the first weekend of April it played on 666 screens around the country, raking in an additional USD$465,000.
Saudi Arabia takes out $10bn in bank loans
Saudi Arabia is raising $10bn from a consortium of global banks as the kingdom embarks on its first international debt issuance in 25 years to counter dwindling oil revenues and reserves.
Top Headlines – 4/20/2016
After big New York wins, Trump and Clinton cast themselves as inevitable (Read More)
Eastern States Take Turn in Presidential Primary Spotlight (Read More)
China’s Stocks Tumble Most in Seven Weeks to Break Trading Calm (Read More)
Oil falls on end to Kuwaiti strike, supply outlook (Read More)
Oil price’s decline weighs on global stock markets (Read More)
Blankfein’s Decade Ending With a Thud on a Humbled Wall Street (Read More)
Toyota to Resume Production at Most Japan Plants Next Week (Read More)
Apple refused China request for source code in last two years (Read More)
Japan’s Trade in Surplus as Imports Drop for Fifteenth Month (Read More)
EU charges Google with abusing Android market dominance (Read More)
Saudi $10 Billion Financial District Is Missing One Thing: Banks (Read More)
Brazil’s Rouseff slams impeachment drive as ‘sexist’ (Read More)
Lira Rises on Relief Turkey’s Interest Rate Cut Met Expectations (Read More)
VW resists move for trial instead of EPA settlement (Read More)
Coca-Cola Profit Tops Estimates as New Drink Sizes Boost Sales (Read More)
Saudi Arabia close to securing $10 billion bank loan: sources (Read More)
Commerzbank CEO Says Slow Quarter Means `Challenging’ 2016 (Read More)
EMC Earnings Fall Short as Storage Demand Is Hurt by Cloud (Read More)
Germany Asks Belgium to Shut Two Nuclear Reactors (Read More)
More than 25 million people live in the vicinity of Mt. Popocatepetl, including Mexico City’s 18 million residents. At 2:32 local time on Tuesday morning, the most dangerous volcano in Mexico roared to life in spectacular fashion, and this has many experts extremely concerned about what is coming next. Popocatepetl is an Aztec word that means “smoking mountain”, and historians tell us that once upon a time entire Aztec cities were buried in super-heated mud from this volcano. In fact, the super-heated mud flows were so deep that they buried entire Aztec pyramids. A full-blown eruption of Mt. Popocatepetl would be a catastrophe unlike anything that modern Mexico has ever experienced before, and considering what has been happening in Ecuador, Japan and at Yellowstone over the past week, I believe that there is great reason for concern. (Read More…)
Lawsuits involving TBN carry into fourth year
Posted on April 19, 2016 by World Magazine
MEDIA | A flood of lawsuits involving TBN and members of the Crouch family continues into a fourth year
Pat Boone Slams ‘SNL’ For ‘Taking Satan’s Side’ in Skit Mocking Christian Faith: ‘Believers in God Deserve an Apology’
Posted on April 19, 2016 by Gospel Herald
Legendary Christian singer Pat Boone has accused NBC and Saturday Night Live of “taking Satan’s side” following a recent skit which mocked the faith-based film “God’s Not Dead 2.”
German Pastor Vilified for Boldly Preaching Gospel: ‘Spiritual War Between Christ and Devil’
Posted on April 19, 2016 by Gospel Herald
A German pastor who has been criticized for preaching boldly, directly and unapologetically about the Gospel said he thinks it is his “duty to do this preaching in this way for our Lord.”
‘God Is Gay’: Blasphemous Saturday Night Live Skit Mocks Bakeries That Decline Same-Sex ‘Weddings’
The segment, entitled “God Is a B**b Man,” features comedienne Vanessa Bayer, who plays a small town baker named Beth Walsh.
In the movie trailer parody of the “God’s Not Dead” films, a man enters Walsh’s bakery and requests a wedding cake.
Christianity Demonized as a Global Menace – David Limbaugh
What’s the problem, you ask? Well, in the United States, according to Kivel, between 7,000 and 10,000 predominantly white Christian men run the major institutions and “colonize our mind” with Christianity’s core ideas, which leads to most of the world’s problems.
Is There Time to Make America Great Again? – Jan Markell
By Jan Markell
Had enough yet? Enough of “Campaign 2016.” Enough of the boasting, pride, self-aggrandizement, me-centered rhetoric from almost 20 presidential candidates over the last year? The Bible comes to modern day politics when you read II Timothy 3 in light of this year’s election. Those who are lovers of self really wear on you. One almost wants to push the pause button and shut them up as we can conveniently do with online videos.
Derivatives – the Elephant in the Room: If We Ignore It, Maybe It Won’t Crush Us
The most gargantuan financial time bomb in history – innocuously termed “derivatives” – is ticking. This Wall Street-created financial monstrosity now comprises over $700 trillion, and some estimates put it as high as $1.5 quadrillion. First created in the ’80s and ’90s by Wall Street as an insurance hedge for stocks, bonds, commodities, real estate mortgages, and other assets, derivatives have become the biggest speculative financial bubble in world history and presently threaten the entire global financial system. Even though they triggered the catastrophic 2008 global financial crisis, with trillions of dollars of subsequent losses, they have since grown substantially and are still not understood by 99.9% of the public or our political leaders.
Wall Street is ingenious in (notorious for) creating new, highly leveraged, speculative paper schemes that separate investors from their money and ring the Wall Street cash registers. Derivatives are the biggest and most speculative of these schemes, and have brought hundreds of billions in profits into the big banks and brokerage firms in recent years. It’s all about greed! Total United States bank exposure to derivatives at this writing is $280 trillion – up from about $15 trillion 20 years ago. This whole bizarre speculative bubble that Wall Street has created is reminiscent of the wild speculative activity on Wall Street in the 1920s just prior to the crash of 1929 – but this bubble is a thousand times bigger!
Derivatives are artificial instruments that derive (hence “derivatives”) their value from actual underlying investments, like stocks, bonds, real estate mortgages, etc. They include interest rate swaps, interest rate options, currency futures and options, stock index futures and options, swaptions, caps, floors, collars, Collateralized Mortgage Obligations, commodities futures and options, forward commodity contracts, equity linked bank deposits, IOs (Interest Only mortgages), POs (Principal Only mortgages), synthetic securities, MITTS (Market Index Targeted Term Securities), Eurodollar futures, yield curve notes, and dozens more such highly leveraged “investments” created by the Street in recent years. Mortgage derivatives (CMOs) are one of the most vulnerable areas of the global derivatives pyramid – costing institutions and investors trillions in losses in the great debt implosion of 2008.
(Excerpt from McAlvany Intelligence Advisor, December 2015)
ARTICLES I LIKE FROM AROUND THE WEB: (Click title to go to full article)
The Pastor’s “Typical” Week – “The pastor’s week doesn’t begin with the first item on your to-do list; it begins at the heart level. Here are a few reflections I have come to believe, followed by some suggestions aimed at encouraging the pastor’s heart during the week.”
Back To The Basics: Apologetics Pt 2 – A Biblical Perspective – “There are several important passages in scripture that shed considerable light on just what apologetics is and how it should be done. The first thing that you should understand from Scripture is that apologetics is a biblical word. It comes from the Greek word apologia which doesn’t mean an apology, but rather a defense (a verbal defense, in the legal sense) of something. The word is used this way in several passages in the New Testament including Acts 22:1, Acts 25:16 and 2 Tim 4:16 where Paul uses it to describe a legal defense in a judicial setting (or at least in the face of a mob bent on ‘justice’). It is also used in the more general sense of defending the Gospel or defending the validity of Christian hope in 1 Corinthians 9:3, Philippians 1:7, and of course 1 Peter 3:15 that says we are always to be ready to make a defense for the hope that is in us.”
Back To The Basics: Apolegetic Pt 3 – Presuppositional Apologetics – “The goal of presuppositional apologetics, like all other apologetic methods is to provide a rational basis for Christian faith. It does so by defending Christianity against the counter claims of non-religious world views such as atheism or secular humanism and against the claims of other religions. It also is used to attack (intellectually, we must always be winsome in an apologetic encounter) the claims of other world views and to show not only that Christian faith is reasonable, but that it is sure and that all other world views and religions are absolutely false (it is much more suited to this latter task than other apologetic methods).”
Isolation from the Church Is Dangerous – “Several years ago when we lived in Tennessee, my wife was visiting her parents in Georgia. She went to go inside after being outdoors with the children and she called for our dog, but he didn’t come. After searching around, she walked behind her father’s wood working shop and discovered a coyote holding Chipper, our little 6 pound shih tzu (who was 10 years old at the time of the attack), in his mouth. She immediately started clapping her hands and as she approached the coyote, he dropped Chipper and ran off into the woods. After a tedious surgery and a hefty bill at the local veterinarian’s office, little Chipper survived. After more than 6 years, the same exact thing happened to my in-laws’ dog just a couple of weeks ago. He was rescued by my father-in-law behind his shop where a coyote had him firmly clamped in his jaws in a death grip. After a trip to the same veterinarian, their dog looks as if he will make a full recovery as well.”
Visual Theology Releases Today! – “Today is the day! Today is the official launch day for my new book Visual Theology: Seeing and Understanding the Truth About God. This book is the result of a collaboration between me, a writer, and Josh Byers, a graphic designer. We worked together to create a book that brings together two great media—words and infographics. Combining the power of each of them, we created a book that both describes and illustrates the truth about God and man. Our purpose in creating Visual Theology is to provide a guide to the joy and privilege of Christian living, a systematic look at living in this world for the glory of God. We teach that living for God’s glory is a matter of Growing Close to Christ, Understanding the Work of Christ, Becoming Like Christ, and Living for Christ—the four major sections that comprise the book.”
This week’s deals from Westminster Books are all books authored by women, headlined by Jen Wilkin’s new book None Like Him. Also, check out Seeing Christ in All of Scripture, a new book from the Westminster faculty that’s available for purchase or free download.
This is so good and so important. “Unfortunately, for us to plant the kinds of churches we need to plant the men who feel called to planting must change their expectations and their definition of ‘success.’ We cannot bear another generation of church planters who want to be the next big thing. Men hungry for acclaim will do nothing to make a dent in the number of people in our culture who do not know Jesus.” (Jared Wilson’s article Listen to the Little Guy Too is complementary.)
“No matter how you define it, the core tenets of Reformed theology are woven into the fabric of African American Christianity. The sovereignty of God over all of life, his special prerogative in issues of salvation, and the authority of the Bible are endemic to the black church tradition.”
I can’t tell how many times I’ve seen the pattern: First people isolate themselves from the church, then they begin to distance themselves from Christ.
This Day in 1718. 298 years ago today, David Brainerd, missionary to New England’s Native Americans, was born in Connecticut. *
Rod Dreher on the way we spend our money: “I think this must be an extraordinary thing, in terms of history: people who spend recklessly to give themselves the lives they think they deserve. If you think about it, though, our culture, which valorizes Authenticity, encourages this.”
He’s right. We are obsessed. We are obsessed with bigger, better, faster. We define success according to quantity and presentation. We reckon churches increasing in size as effective. And so our heroes are the big church guys. They speak at the conferences, they publish the books, they exert the influence.
But the guys at the “little churches” have just as much, if not more, to teach us about how to shepherd and how to disciple.
A young teenage boy died recently, in a hotel room after an overdose of drugs. The partiers around him didn’t even know he was in trouble until it was too late. Sadly, that story is all too common. This story is different, though, because the partiers weren’t peers or friends. They were his mother and grandmother. This man’s mother, who didn’t have full custody, told police she had provided them with drugs because she wanted to be the “fun weekend mom.”
I have to admit that my first instinct is to judge this woman. After all, what kind of person would be this selfish to give her child what would destroy him, just so that he would view her the way he would his buddies? At the root here, though, is a temptation that every parent faces, though usually not to the extreme of dealing illicit drugs. We want our children to love us, and to like us, and many of us do this by asking what our children want and seeking to conform to that.
I like to be asked thought-provoking questions. However, in our busy lives it is difficult to take time to still our minds and follow Paul’s simple instruction to Timothy, “Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching” (1 Tim. 4:16). Jesus also instructed his disciples, “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down” (Luke 21:34). Three Questions is a series designed to put forth a few questions once a month. They can be used for personal reflection or perhaps as a way to spur on meaningful conversation in an accountability or small group.
The Christian life is about loss. It can seem like everywhere you turn in Scripture, there is a command involving putting away, or taking off, or giving up. Jesus Himself made no bones about it, urging His followers to not have some kind of easy-belieivism, a following without sacrifice, but instead to know what they were getting into. To count the cost. To understand the implications before they jumped in. When the huge crowds were following Jesus, He didn’t try to win them over with clever rhetoric or veiled campaign promises; instead, Jesus would thin the crowds with difficult teachings and counter-intuitive commands.
No one ever accused the Messiah of being a great PR guy.
I packed up my notes and walked off stage mid-sermon | The Good Book Blog
“I was preaching one Wednesday night when, in the middle of the sermon, I packed up my notes and walked off the stage-with no explanation to the congregation. I had just had it, and I wasn’t going to take it any more.”
What To Do When a Pastor Falls | Russell Moore
“This is not the first time this has happened. I’ve seen it since I was a child, from preachers whose names virtually no one reading this would know to preachers most would recognize. Maybe you’ve experienced this, and like me you find yourself reeling in sadness, regret, and even anger. So what should we do?”
Reflections on Fallen Pastors | Timothy Raymond, Credo Mag
“Maybe it’s just me but whenever I hear this kind of news, almost always through blogs, I’m deeply disturbed. I’m sort of spiritually messed-up for the next couple days. Specifically, I have reactions of confusion, sadness, and fear.”
Taking Notes By Hand May Be Better Than Digitally, Researchers Say | James Doubek, NPR
“‘When people type their notes, they have this tendency to try to take verbatim notes and write down as much of the lecture as they can,’ Mueller tells NPR’s Rachel Martin. ‘The students who were taking longhand notes in our studies were forced to be more selective — because you can’t write as fast as you can type. And that extra processing of the material that they were doing benefited them.’”
Peaceful Polemics Online | Tim Challies, Ligonier.org
“Our fast-paced, always-on, digital world brings us unparalleled opportunities to speak. It allows us to extend our voices around the world with the simple click of a single button. But it also offers unparalleled opportunities to do so poorly, to do so in ways that deny rather than display the fruit of the Spirit.
Beijing has successfully tested a new long-range ballistic missile capable of engaging any potential target worldwide. The rocket takes just 30 minutes to cover its maximum 12,000km…
A pair of super-rich American technology gurus are planning to undergo surgery to install experimental implants directly into their brain. The two men are currently trying to…
An Indiana mother-to-be received what some are calling a divine surprise after a prenatal checkup! A sonogram of Aley Meyer’s baby boy appears to show an image…
Japan continues to reel from continues earthquakes as the USGS has reported a magnitude 5.8 earthquake has struck North East of Namie, Japan. At this time, there…
The Turkish government has seized the last remaining Christian churches in the war-torn southeastern city of Diyarbakir and declared them as state property. World Watch Monitor reports…
A federal circuit court ruled a Virginia school board violated Title IX law by prohibiting a girl who considers herself a boy from using the male restroom…
What is this mysterious red glow in the sky of Chalchuapa, El Salvador? The unexplained glow baffled residents on April 17, 2016. Could it be a meteor…
(Michael Snyder) Is it “anti-faith” to prepare for the very hard times that are coming? You would be surprised at how many Christians believe that this is…
A Baltimore City councilwoman introduced a bill Monday that would raise the city’s minimum wage to $15 an hour. City Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke introduced the bill…
Alliance Defending Freedom filed its opening brief with the U.S. Supreme Court Thursday in a case that addresses the question of whether states can exhibit hostility to…
In September, physicists made a monumental discovery that opened up a new window to the universe. Using equipment called the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), the researchers…
The search zone is growing smaller. Astronomers have further constrained the likely whereabouts of Planet Nine: the planet that, if it exists, is more massive than the…
Last October, Patricia came ashore in Mexico with the strongest hurricane winds ever recorded on Earth, at over 200 miles per hour. Then, this February, Winston broke…
Vikki Wachino’s Tuesday letter to state Medicaid agencies in all 50 states strongly reminded them that they can not cut funding to otherwise qualified medical providers just…
Hailstones said to be ‘as big as walnuts’ pounded Suruhuto-Asuto town, in Zunheboto district on April 18. According to local functionaries of a political party, the hailstones…
A meteor streaked across the St. Louis area on Friday at about 10:16pm. We received many reports from viewers about the shooting star. Sightings of the streak…
A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck off the coast of Ecuador this morning, just days after a major quake hit the country, killing nearly 500 people. This morning’s…
Saudi Arabia is raising $10bn from a consortium of global banks as the kingdom embarks on its first international debt issuance in 25 years to counter dwindling…
(Michael Snyder) More than 25 million people live in the vicinity of Mt. Popocatepetl, including Mexico City’s 18 million residents. At 2:32 local time on Tuesday morning,…
The magnitude-7.3 earthquake that pounded Kumamoto Prefecture early Saturday was more powerful than a foreshock that struck two days earlier. The seismic activity then moved northeast to…
Target is making a stand on the debate around what type of bathrooms transgenders can use. In a statement posted on its company website Tuesday, the discounter,…
A high school in California has converted a girls’ restroom into a “gender neutral” restroom to accommodate students who identify as transgender or no gender at all,…
The Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski recently called Russia ‘an existential threat’ to Poland and the EU. In his view, Russia is even more dangerous than so-called…
A subduction process similar to the one that caused the Ecuadorean quake is happening under the Himalayan region as well, where the Indian plate is getting inside…
(Ryan Lestrange) The day after TheCall, I was ministering in Chino, California when the spirit of prophecy broke out. This is a significant prophetic word for the…
A flurry of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions wreaked havoc around the globe in the past week and reignited widespread interest in the natural time bombs beneath humanity’s…
Monday was the second annual National Muslim Advocacy Day in which Muslims descended on Captol Hill to address concerns such as “Islamophobia” with their senators and congressmen….
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake recently struck north of South Georgia on Tuesday (April 19, 2016), as reported by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) earthquake bulletin. The…
From legs growing out to removing blindness, Dennis Lindsay recalls how God used his father J. Gordon Lindsay to perform miraculous healings. In one memory, Dennis recalls…
Robert Eggers’ period horror film “The Witch” has been one of the surprise hits of 2016. It’s even gained a second wind since its February 23 release:…
One of the top users of foreign workers imported via the H-1B visa program announced Tuesday it’s laying off about ten percent of its global workforce. Tech…
Rio de Janeiro said it’s running out of money to pay for basic services months before the Olympic Games while other Brazilian states warned of similar financial…
Two lawmakers claimed Tuesday that the U.S. Secret Service may need to seek outside help to fulfill its mission because agents are leaving the agency faster than…
God made everything out of nothing, including you and me. His main purpose in creation was to bring him pleasure.
The chief way in which we as humanity do this is through loving, obeying, and enjoying him perfectly.
Instead of this, we have sinned against our loving Creator and acted in high-handed rebellion.
God has vowed that he will righteously and lovingly judge sinners with eternal death.
But God, being merciful, loving, gracious, and just, sent his own son, Jesus Christ, in the likeness of man to live as a man; fulfilling his perfect requirements in the place of sinners; loving, obeying, and enjoying him perfectly.
And further, his son bore the eternal judgment of God upon the cross of Calvary, as he satisfied the eternal anger of God, standing in the place of sinners. God treated Jesus as a sinner, though he was perfectly sinless, that he might declare sinners as perfect.
This glorious transaction occurs as the sinner puts their faith (dependence, trust) in the Lord Jesus Christ as their substitute. God then charges Christ’s perfection to the sinner, and no longer views him as an enemy but instead an adopted son covered in the perfect righteousness of his son.
God furnished proof that this sacrifice was accepted by raising Jesus from the dead.
God will judge the world in righteousness and all of those who are not covered in the righteousness of Christ, depending on him for forgiveness, will be forced to stand on their own to bear the eternal anger of God.
Therefore, all must turn from sin and receive Christ Jesus as Lord.
There is no greater message to be heard than that which we call the gospel. But as important as that is, it is often given to massive distortions or over simplifications. People think they’re preaching the gospel to you when they tell you, ‘you can have a purpose to your life’, or that ‘you can have meaning to your life’, or that ‘you can have a personal relationship with Jesus.’ All of those things are true, and they’re all important, but they don’t get to the heart of the gospel.
The gospel is called the ‘good news’ because it addresses the most serious problem that you and I have as human beings, and that problem is simply this: God is holy and He is just, and I’m not. And at the end of my life, I’m going to stand before a just and holy God, and I’ll be judged. And I’ll be judged either on the basis of my own righteousness–or lack of it –or the righteousness of another. The good news of the gospel is that Jesus lived a life of perfect righteousness, of perfect obedience to God, not for His own well being but for His people. He has done for me what I couldn’t possibly do for myself. But not only has He lived that life of perfect obedience, He offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice to satisfy the justice and the righteousness of God.
The great misconception in our day is this: that God isn’t concerned to protect His own integrity. He’s a kind of wishy-washy deity, who just waves a wand of forgiveness over everybody. No. For God to forgive you is a very costly matter. It cost the sacrifice of His own Son. So valuable was that sacrifice that God pronounced it valuable by raising Him from the dead – so that Christ died for us, He was raised for our justification. So the gospel is something objective. It is the message of who Jesus is and what He did. And it also has a subjective dimension. How are the benefits of Jesus subjectively appropriated to us? How do I get it? The Bible makes it clear that we are justified not by our works, not by our efforts, not by our deeds, but by faith–and by faith alone. The only way you can receive the benefit of Christ’s life and death is by putting your trust in Him–and in Him alone. You do that, you’re declared just by God, you’re adopted into His family, you’re forgiven of all of your sins, and you have begun your pilgrimage for eternity.
The Gospel In A Nutshell
Now, with regard to this rule of faith—that we may from this point acknowledge what it is which we defend—it is, you must know, that which prescribes the belief that there is one only God, and that He is none other than the Creator of the world, who produced all things out of nothing through His own Word, first of all sent forth; that this Word is called His Son, and, under the name of God, was seen “in diverse manners” by the patriarchs, heard at all times in the prophets, at last brought down by the Spirit and Power of the Father into the Virgin Mary, was made flesh in her womb, and, being born of her, went forth as Jesus Christ; thenceforth He preached the new law and the new promise of the kingdom of heaven, worked miracles; having been crucified, He rose again the third day; (then) having ascended into the heavens, He sat at the right hand of the Father; sent instead of Himself the Power of the Holy Ghost to lead such as believe; will come with glory to take the saints to the enjoyment of everlasting life and of the heavenly promises, and to condemn the wicked to everlasting fire, after the resurrection of both these classes shall have happened, together with the restoration of their flesh. This rule, as it will be proved, was taught by Christ, and raises amongst ourselves no other questions than those which heresies introduce, and which make men heretics.
Tertullian, “On Prescription Against Heretics,” Chapter XIIl
Ravi Zacharias explains the gospel in two minutes:
Can you explain the gospel in 30 seconds? In one minute? In five minutes?Here’s one way I have found helpful. The five main components of the gospel can be remembered on 5 fingers of one hand. Here they are:
1) Jesus’ birth 2) Jesus’ life 3) Jesus’ death 4) Jesus’ resurrection 5) Jesus’ ascension
Obviously each point can be elaborated on depending on how much time you have. Here’s the short version:
1) Jesus’ birth – Jesus, God himself, the creator of the universe, the Messiah, became a human being – took on flesh, and was born of a virgin.
2) Jesus’ life – Jesus lived a life of perfect obedience to his Father. Though he was tempted in every way as we are, he never once sinned.
3) Jesus’ death – on the cross, Jesus himself took all our sins and paid for them. God the father counted all our sins to Jesus as if he himself had personally committed them. Then Jesus bore God’s wrath towards sin – the punishment we deserved – as a substitute for us.
4) Jesus’ resurrection – within 3 days, Jesus rose physically from the dead, proving that his sacrifice for sins have been accepted by God, since the punishment for sin was death. Jesus was seen by numerous people after he rose including 500 at one time (1 Corinthians 15).
5) Jesus’ ascension – Jesus ascended physically into heaven where he reigns as King of kings and Lord of lords. And someday he will return to the earth.
That’s the gospel, the good news, and if we believe in Jesus Christ and this good news and call upon him he will save us from our sins and give us eternal life.
That’s a simple way to remember the gospel – five fingers. Even a child can do it. So ask God to give you opportunities to share his good news today.
Ready to start your new life with God?
Who do you think that I am?
With that brief question Jesus Christ confronted His followers with the most important issue they would ever face. He had spent much time with them and made some bold claims about His identity and authority. Now the time had come for them either to believe or deny His teachings.
Who do you say Jesus is? Your response to Him will determine not only your values and lifestyle, but your eternal destiny as well.
CanIKnowGod.com is a website inspired by LifesGreatestQuestion.com, with new content, images, audio and video that will help you understand more about who God is and how to know Him. The site is mobile responsive and has an infinite scroll which makes for a very user-friendly experience. After you indicate a decision on CanIKnowGod.com, you are directed to a page that details what it means to have a new and transformed life through Jesus Christ. There’s even a Facebook page for daily updates, encouragement and scripture sharing.
Look to Jesus
Have you ever felt a little lost and wished there was a quick-start guide to your relationship with God? This is it!
30 Day Next Steps
John Beckett, a leading Christian businessman, has written a series to read over 30 days for new believers.
New Believers Guide
The New Believer’s Guide is a series of articles designed to show you how to walk in the new life Christ has given you— a life of faith and freedom.
Jesus Booklet
Jesus is the Savior of the world. Discover who Jesus is today in this series.
It is not just a handful of texts that teach the perseverance of the saints: the entire gospel sustains and confirms it. The Father has chosen them before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4), ordained them to eternal life (Acts 13:48), to be conformed to the image of his Son (Rom. 8:29). This election stands (Rom. 9:11; Heb. 6:17) and in due time carries with it the calling and justification and glorification (Rom. 8:30). Christ, in whom all the promises of God are Yes and Amen (2 Cor. 1:20), died for those who were given him by the Father (John 17:6, 12) in order that he might give them eternal life and not lose a single one of them (6:40; 17:2); he therefore gives them eternal life and they will never be lost in all eternity; no one will snatch them out of his hand (6:39; 10:28).
The Holy Spirit who regenerates them remains eternally with them (14:16) and seals them for the day of redemption (Eph. 1:13; 4:30). The covenant of grace is firm and confirmed with an oath (Heb. 6:16–18; 13:20), unbreakable like a marriage (Eph. 5:31–32), like a testament (Heb. 9:17), and by virtue of that covenant, God calls his elect. He inscribes the law upon their inmost being, puts his fear in their heart (Heb. 8:10; 10:14ff.), will not let them be tempted beyond their strength (1 Cor. 10:13), confirms and completes the good work he has begun in them (1 Cor. 1:9; Phil. 1:6), and keeps them for the return of Christ to receive the heavenly inheritance (1 Thess. 5:23; 2 Thess. 3:3; 1 Pet. 1:4–5).
In his intercession before the Father, Christ acts in such a way that their faith may not fail (Luke 22:32), that in the world they may be kept from the evil one (John 17:11, 20), that they may be saved for all times (Heb. 7:20), that their sins will be forgiven them (1 John 2:1), and that they may all be where he is to behold his glory (John 17:24). The benefits of Christ, which the Holy Spirit imparts to them, are all irrevocable (Rom. 11:29). Those who are called are also glorified (8:30). Those who are adopted as children are heirs of eternal life (8:17; Gal. 4:7). Those who believe have eternal life already here and now (John 3:16). That life itself, being eternal, cannot be lost. It cannot die since it cannot sin (1 John 3:9). Faith is a firm ground (Heb. 11:1), hope is an anchor (6:19) and does not disappoint us (Rom. 5:5), and love never ends (1 Cor. 13:8).
(Alternative News, Apologetics, Current Events, Commentary, Opinion, Theology, Discernment Blog, Devotionals, Christian Internet Evangelism & Missions Activist).
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Saying “I love you” to your spouse would ring hollow if you never showed your affection through actions. In the same way, when a person professes faith in Christ yet doesn’t evidence his profession by good works, that faith is rightly suspect.
Anyone can say they believe in Christ. But Scripture—and in particular, James’s epistle—is clear that true faith is always proven by good works.
The first thirteen verses of James 2 continue to expand on James’s contention that believers are by disposition doers of the Word, not mere hearers. In verse 14, after warning his readers that they were facing judgment for their unholy and unmerciful behavior (v. 13), James turns to the heart of the matter: their apparent misconception that faith is an inert ingredient in the salvation formula. His challenge could not be clearer:
What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.
But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God. You see that a man is justified by works, and not by faith alone. And in the same way was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works, when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead. (James 2:14–26, emphasis added)
No less than five times in that passage (vv. 14, 17, 20, 24, and 26), James reiterates his thesis: Passive faith is not efficacious faith. It is a frontal attack on the empty profession of those whose hope is in a dormant faith.
In contrast to how his epistle is often mischaracterized, James cannot be teaching that salvation is earned by works. He has already described salvation as a “good thing bestowed” and a “perfect gift” given when “in the exercise of His will [God] brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we might be, as it were, the first fruits among His creatures” (James 1:17–18). Faith is part and parcel of that perfect gift. It is supernaturally bestowed by God, not independently conceived in the mind or will of the individual believer.
Empty Profession
As we noted earlier in this series, faith is not a wistful longing, or a blind confidence, or even “inward conviction.” Faith is a gift of God, not something conjured up by human effort, so no one can boast—not even about his faith (cf. Ephesians 2:8–9).
In the phrase “if a man says he has faith, but he has no works” (James 2:14), the verbs are present tense. They describe someone who routinely claims to be a believer yet continuously lacks any external evidence of faith. The question “Can that faith save him?” employs the Greek negative particle mē, indicating that a negative reply is assumed. It might literally be rendered, “That faith cannot save him, can it?” James, like the apostle John, challenges the authenticity of a profession of faith that produces no fruit (cf. 1 John 2:4, 6, 9). The context indicates that the “works” he speaks of are not anyone’s bid to earn eternal life. These are acts of compassion (James 2:15).
Faith in this context is clearly saving faith (James 2:1). James is speaking of eternal salvation. He has referred to “the word implanted, which is able to save your souls” in 1:21. Here he has the same salvation in view. He is not disputing whether faith saves. Rather, he is opposing the notion that faith can be a passive, fruitless, intellectual exercise and still save. Where there are no works, we must assume no faith exists either. On this matter James merely echoes Jesus, who said,
You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. (Matthew 7:16–18)
No works, no faith. Real faith inevitably produces faith-works.
James follows with an illustration comparing faith without works to phony compassion, words without action: “If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,’ and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?” (James 2:15–16). The faith of a false professor is similarly useless: “Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself” (v. 17).
James concludes with a challenge to those whose profession is suspect: “But someone may well say, ‘You have faith, and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works’” (v. 18). James’s point is clear: The only possible evidence of faith is works. How can anyone show faith without works? It cannot be done.
Demonic Orthodoxy
James continues his assault on passive faith with this shocking statement: “You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder” (James 2:19). Orthodox doctrine by itself is no proof of saving faith. Demons affirm the oneness of God and tremble at its implications, but they are not redeemed. Matthew 8:29 tells of a group of demons who recognized Jesus as the Son of God. They even exhibited fear. Demons often acknowledge the existence and authority of Christ (Matthew 8:29–30; Mark 5:7), His deity (Luke 4:41), and even His resurrection (Acts 19:15), but their diabolical nature is not changed by what they know and believe. Their fearful affirmation of orthodox doctrine is not the same as saving faith.
James implies that demonic faith is greater than the fraudulent faith of a false professor, for demonic faith produces fear, whereas unsaved men have “no fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:18). If the demons believe, tremble, and are not saved, what does that say about those who profess to believe and don’t even tremble?
Dead Faith
James utters his strongest rebuke so far: “Are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?” (James 2:20). He labels the objector “foolish,” meaning “empty, defective.” The man is hollow, because he lacks a living faith; his claim that he believes is fraudulent; his faith is a sham.
Both “faith” and “works” in verse 20 carry definite articles in the Greek (“the faith without the works”). “Useless” is argē, meaning “barren, unproductive.” The sense seems to be that it is unproductive for salvation. The King James Version uses the word dead. Certainly that is the sense conveyed here (cf. vv. 17, 26). Dead orthodoxy has no power to save. It may in fact even be a hindrance to true and living faith. So James is not contrasting two methods of salvation (faith versus works). His contrast is between two kinds of faith: one that saves and one that doesn’t.
James is simply affirming the truth of 1 John 3:7–10:
Little children, let no one deceive you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil. By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.
Righteous behavior is an inevitable result of spiritual life. Faith that fails to produce such behavior is dead.
For brevity’s sake, we must forego looking closely at the examples of living faith from the lives of Abraham and Rahab (2:21–25). Nonetheless, here is an abridged statement of the point James is making: Abraham and Rahab, though they came from opposite ends of the social and religious spectrum, both had an attitude of willingness to sacrifice what mattered most to them because of their faith. That submission was proof their faith was real.
James vs. Paul?
The most serious problem these verses pose is the question of what verse 24 means: “You see that a man is justified by works, and not by faith alone.” Some imagine that this contradicts Paul in Romans 3:28: “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.” John Calvin explained this apparent difficulty:
It appears certain that [James] is speaking of the manifestation, not of the imputation of righteousness, as if he had said, Those who are justified by faith prove their justification by obedience and good works, not by a bare and imaginary semblance of faith. In one word, he is not discussing the mode of justification, but requiring that the justification of all believers shall be operative. And as Paul contends that men are justified without the aid of works, so James will not allow any to be regarded as Justified who are destitute of good works. . . . Let them twist the words of James as they may, they will never extract out of them more than two propositions: That an empty phantom of faith does not justify, and that the believer, not contented with such an imagination, manifests his justification by good works. [1] John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, trans. Henry Beveridge, 3:17:12 (reprint, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1966), 2:115.
James is not at odds with Paul. “They are not antagonists facing each other with crossed swords; they stand back to back, confronting different foes of the gospel.” [2] Alexander Ross, “The Epistles of James and John,” The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1954), 53.
Those who imagine a discrepancy between James and Paul rarely observe that it was Paul who wrote, “Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be!” (Romans 6:15); and “Having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness” (v. 18). Thus Paul condemns the same error James is exposing here. Paul never advocated any concept of dormant faith.
Moreover, James and Paul both echo Jesus’ preaching. Paul’s emphasis resounds with the spirit of Matthew 5:3: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” James’s teaching has the ring of Matthew 7:21: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.” Paul represents the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount; James the end of it. Paul declares that we are saved by faith without the deeds of the law. James declares that we are saved by faith, which shows itself in works. Both James and Paul view good works as the proof of faith—not the path to salvation.
James could not be more explicit. He is confronting the concept of a passive, false “faith,” which is devoid of the fruits of salvation. He is not arguing for works in addition to or apart from faith. He is showing why and how true, living faith always works. He is fighting against dead orthodoxy and its tendency to abuse grace.
The error James assails closely parallels the teaching of no-lordship salvation. It is faith without works; justification without sanctification; salvation without new life.
Again, James echoes the Master Himself, who insisted on a theology of lordship that involved obedience, not lip-service. Jesus chided the disobedient ones who had attached themselves to Him in name only: “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46). Verbal allegiance, He said, will get no one to heaven (Matthew 7:21).
That is in perfect harmony with James: “Prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves” (1:22); for “faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself” (2:17).
Kelsey Harkness of The Daily Signal gives us a rundown on the dollar value of baby body parts abortion mills are offering for sale:
Photo: Kelsey Lucas/Visualsey/The Daily Signal
Republicans on the special House panel investigating the transfer of fetal tissue from aborted babies will present evidence in a hearing today that breaks down the price per body part.
With release of this evidence, Republicans say, they have enough documentation to show that several abortion clinics and middleman procurement businesses may have violated federal law.
“It is just horrifying,” Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., who leads the House’s investigation of the fetal tissue industry, told The Daily Signal. “They are putting a dollar value on these organs from these children—unborn children that have been aborted. It is just beyond belief.”
28 Therefore they said to Him, “What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?” (John 6:28 NASB)
The flesh is still with us all, even those who have been born again unto eternal life. The flesh does not understand grace. The flesh does not understand the relationship to the Christian being born again unto good works (Ephesians 2:10). Therefore, the visible church is ripe with false teaching at this time that emphasizes all the wrong things, and, coupled with rampant Biblical illiteracy, most professing Christians are like those Jesus was confronting in John 6 who could not conceive what our Lord boldly told them in vv35-40 that belief and salvation was a gift from God not something earned or deserved.
President Obama’s approval of Pentagon efforts to intensify the U.S. effort in Iraq may matter less for the small contingent of troops being added than for the decision to allow them closer to the front lines of the war against Islamic State.
An armed takeover of an Oregon national wildlife refuge is part of a disturbing “extreme movement” to seize public lands and reject the rule of law – putting communities and public employees at risk throughout the West, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell says in a speech outlining Obama administration conservation policies.
Two U.S. Senate Democratic leaders said they’ll continue to push a Sept. 11-related bill that has angered Saudi Arabia and is opposed by President Obama. The measure, which would allow Saudi Arabia to be held responsible in U.S. courts for any role in the 2001 terrorist attacks, threatens to create a major rift with a key U.S. ally just as the president is gearing up for a diplomatic visit and pits Obama against many top Democrats.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the worst performer in the Dow Jones Industrial Average this year, posted a 60 percent drop in profit as the firm reported its lowest revenue for a first quarter since Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein took the top post in 2006.
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is seeking to recruit senior bankers to help the kingdom run what may become the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund. Saudi Arabia is preparing itself for the twilight of the oil age by expanding the PIF so it eventually controls more than $2 trillion.
Taliban militants launched a deadly attack on an elite Afghan intelligence agency in central Kabul on Tuesday, killing about 30 people and leaving more than 320 wounded.
A Chinese-led group agreed to buy Australia’s most iconic cattle company in a deal valued at more than $288 million after partnering with local investors.
AP Top Stories
The founder of Germany’s xenophobic and anti-Islamic Pegida movement went on trial Tuesday on hate speech charges for allegedly branding refugees “cattle” and “scum” on social media.
Syrian government forces backed by Russian air power launched a counter-attack against rebels in the northwestern province of Latakia, a rebel group and a conflict monitor said, as violence was reported across much of the northwest on Tuesday.
There are signs that more Islamic State inspired militants have been sent to Belgium and Europe, Belgian authorities said, maintaining the country’s threat status at the second-highest level.
A Jerusalem court on Tuesday convicted an ultra-Orthodox Israeli Jew of murder for fatally stabbing a teenage girl at a gay pride parade last year.
South Korea, Japan and the United States on Tuesday warned North Korea of harsher sanctions and deeper isolation if it went ahead with a fifth nuclear test or other provocations.
Police at Austin Peay State University in Tennessee have removed six rainbow colored nooses – widely seen as a symbol of racial hatred – hanging from a tree on campus, the school said.
China announced its first-ever “fix” for the gold price on Tuesday, as the world’s biggest producer and consumer of the yellow metal seeks to establish its own benchmark. The Shanghai Gold Exchange set the price for 99.99 percent gold at $39.71 per gram, it said on its website. It was marginally higher than the international price at the time.
The Nigerian army, backed by the country’s air force, on Monday repelled an attack an attack by Boko Haram fighters near the border with Niger in the jihadists’ northeast heartland.
Investigators were on Tuesday examining two more pieces of debris for clues to the fate of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, along with marine life found on two other items which “almost certainly” came from the lost jet.
The Panama Canal is taking reservations for ships to transit its new locks starting June 27, the day after the inauguration of a $5.25 billion project to double the waterway’s capacity. The Panama Canal Authority said it processed 25 slots in the first hours since reservations opened.
Visa says its improving its smart chip-embedded cards, which have been the source of grumbling from businesses and customers forced to wait for transactions to go through. The company said Tuesday that Quick Chip for EMV will let customers dip and remove cards, usually in two seconds or less, without waiting for purchases to be finalized.
CVS announced the launch of CVS Express, a mobile ordering and pickup program, in partnership with tech startup Curbside. With CVS Express, customers can pick up products ordered using the CVS App from outside the stores about an hour after placing their orders. Thanks to Curbside’s arrival detection technology, customers never even have to leave their cars.
BBC
Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko has said he has agreed with Russian President Vladimir Putin on a mechanism to swap a high-profile Ukrainian prisoner for two Russians.
A Kenyan hospital will provide free cancer treatment to 400 patients from Uganda as the neighboring country’s only radiotherapy machine has broken.
Rockets fired from northern Syria have killed four Syrians, three of them children, in the Turkish border town of Kilis, local officials say.
At least 21 people have been wounded by a bomb explosion on a bus in south Jerusalem.
WND
Surging demand for guns over the course of President Obama’s administration has led to the addition of nearly 25,000 new jobs in related retail and manufacturing industries.
School officials in Wisconsin were caught on video trying to intimidate parents into closing down a weekly “Jesus Lunch” for hungry kids in a local park, and now the police are involved. Mothers in Middleton have been hosting a Jesus Lunch 16 times per year since 2014 in Fireman’s Park. Students from Middleton High School, who may eat at local dining establishments, often choose a free lunch provided by the mothers.
Top News – 4/19/2016
Yemeni rebels detain Jew over smuggling out old Torah scroll
A member of Yemen’s Jewish minority has been detained over allegations he helped smuggle an 800-year-old scroll out of the country to Israel, Yemeni officials said Tuesday, weeks after some of Yemen’s last remaining Jews arrived in Israel following a clandestine operation.
China Flight Tests New Multiple-Warhead Missile
China conducted another flight test of its newest and longest-range intercontinental ballistic missile last week amid growing tensions with the United States over the South China Sea.
Passover Sacrifice Makes Comeback Overlooking Temple Mount
Just four days before Passover, the day the Bible commands Israel to bring a lamb to the Temple to be sacrificed, a group of Kohanim (members of the Jewish priestly class) sacrificed a lamb on Mount Scopus overlooking the site of the Temple. The Kohanim wore ritual clothes conforming to Biblical requirements and were accompanied by music played on silver instruments specially made to serve in the Third Temple.
Could Yellowstone soon ERUPT? Terrifying video shows surface SIMMERING
The Yellowstone Caldera super volcano could be about to ERUPT, it is feared, after new footage showed it seemingly SIMMERING beneath the surface. Terrifying new footage shows steam and ash rising beneath the surface of the 2,805m tall volcano in Wyoming, US, fuelling fresh concern it could be about to blow.
Egyptian Amulet Bearing Name of Pharaoh Found in Soil from Temple Mount
A rare amulet, more than 3,200 years old, bearing the name of the Egyptian ruler Thutmose III, Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty who reigned from 1479 – 1425 BCE, was discovered at the Temple Mount Sifting Project located in Jerusalem’s Tzurim Valley National Park in soil discarded from the Temple Mount, and was only recently deciphered by archeologists.
Islam: Not conforming to liberal expectations
No matter what the question, the liberal response is the same: native Europeans need to understand, ‘celebrate’ difference, and be willing to integrate alien ideologies – because it’s so enriching. But if it is all so enriching, liberals struggle to explain to themselves and others why Islamic communities are not ‘celebrating’ their own differences.
Shake ‘n’ bake: Quakes, volcanoes in sudden eruption spree
A flurry of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions wreaked havoc around the globe in the past week and reignited widespread interest in the natural time bombs beneath humanity’s feet.
The Storm Over Houston Has Been Dropping a Month of Rain an Hour
Well, it’s floodin‘ down in Texas, and all the telephone lines are down. Or at least, busy with calls from relatives, friends, and journalists calling to find out exactly what happened, who is safe, and what has drowned in the city of Houston.
Syrian government says Assad’s future not up for discussion
The Syrian government’s chief negotiator said President Bashar al-Assad’s future was not up for discussion at peace talks… Bashar Ja’afari, speaking to Lebanese TV station al Mayadeen, also said his team was pushing for an expanded government as the solution to the war – an idea rejected by the opposition fighting for five years to topple Assad.
Magnitude 5.5 quake hits southern Japan
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.5 hit Kumamoto prefecture in southern Japan on Tuesday, broadcaster NHK said. A tsunami warning had not been issued, NHK added.
Belgium says seen signs that Islamic State has sent more fighters to Europe
There are signs that more Islamic State inspired militants have been sent to Belgium and Europe, Belgian authorities said on Tuesday, maintaining the country’s threat status at the second-highest level. Belgium’s alert level was cut to three from the maximum of four just two days after the March 22 attacks which killed 32 people at the airport and on the metro in Brussels. It has remained at that level since.
US: Golan Heights are not part of Israel
Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs and Department Spokesperson, John Kirby, sought to clarify the US position on the status of the Golan Heights…he said has been “longstanding and is unchanged.” …Kirby declared, before a group of reporters at the State Department in Washington, that “Every administration on both sides of the aisle since 1967 has maintained that those territories are not part of Israel.”
Georgia: Six caught trying to sell $200 million in uranium
Authorities in the former Soviet state of Georgia have arrested six people for trying to sell $200 million worth of uranium, Reuters reports. The most high-profile case occurred in 2006, when a man attempted to sell weapons-grade uranium to radical Islamists for a million dollars.
US feels ‘overwhelming frustration’ with Israeli government, says Biden
Joe Biden, has delivered an unusually sharp critique of the government of Binyamin Netanyahu, saying the Israeli prime minister is leading Israel in the wrong direction through his policies, including settlement building. Biden described the Obama administration’s “overwhelming frustration” with Israel
Jerusalem bus bombing wounds 21 Israelis
A bus exploded in Jerusalem on Monday, wounding at least 21 people in what police said was a “terror attack,” raising fears of a return to the Palestinian suicide bombings that ravaged Israeli cities a decade ago. “There is no doubt that this was a terror attack,” Jerusalem police commissioner Yoram Halevy said. He said it was too early to know the identity of the attacker or if it was a suicide bombing.
Mexican volcano spews ash on nearby towns
Mexico’s Popocatepetl volcano has seen a dramatic overnight explosion that sent ash blowing over the major city of Puebla directly to the east, forcing closure of the city’s airport. Officials there are urging to people to wear masks to avoid inhaling the fine grit that has covered houses and cars. It can cause respiratory problems and damage car and plane engines.
Mexico’s Popocatépetl volcano erupts in fiery show – video
Mexico’s Popocatépetl volcano erupted early on Monday in a fiery show of smoke, ash and lava flows. The eruption spewed ash over the nearby city of Puebla, causing the local airport to close. (video)
Dozens of Large Earthquakes Could Split Japan’s Southern Island
Over the past 48 hours, our planet has been hit by literally dozens of earthquakes of magnitude 4.0 or greater, and scientists are acknowledging that what is taking place is highly unusual. This strange shaking began toward the end of last week when the globe was struck by five major earthquakes over the space of just two days, and over the weekend the seismic activity just continued to escalate.
Mystery ‘body possession’ epidemic sweeps through Malaysian schools…
Schools in Malaysia have been struck by a mass hysteria ‘epidemic’ in which students claim they are having visions of female vampiric ghosts and are being physically pinned down by evil spirits. Called ‘body possession phenomenon’, one bizarre incident saw 20 female students sent home from a single school after complaining of being overwhelmed by it.
Houston floods: Disaster zone declared after ‘historic’ rainfall
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has declared a state of emergency in Houston after record rainfall claimed five lives. Meteorologists said some 17.6in (44.7cm) of rain fell on Houston on Monday alone, levels national officials said were “historic”. Rivers burst their banks in downtown Houston and 1,200 people were rescued from rising floodwaters.
German far-right Pegida founder Bachmann in race trial
The founder of Germany’s anti-Islamist Pegida movement has gone on trial in Dresden on hate speech charges. Lutz Bachmann, 43, is accused of inciting racial hatred in Facebook posts, in which he called refugees “cattle”, “scumbags” and “filth”. Pegida’s rallies have attracted thousands of supporters in Germany.
Afghanistan violence: Deadly suicide bomb hits Kabul
At least 28 people have been killed and 329 injured in a huge explosion in the centre of the Afghan capital Kabul, police and officials say. A suicide attacker detonated a vehicle and gunmen stormed the area, reports say. Officials say the gunfight is now over and the area has been cleared. A Taliban spokesman said the group carried out the attack.
El Niño declining; 50 per cent likelihood of La Niña for later in 2016
While the 2015–16 El Niño remains at weak to moderate levels, recent changes in the tropical Pacific Ocean and atmosphere, combined with current climate model outlooks, suggest the likelihood of La Niña forming in 2016 has increased to around 50%.
$1,000 Gun Tax Pushed as “Role Model” for States
A $1,000 per gun tax should serve as a “role model” for states, according to the governor of the U.S. territory of the Northern Mariana Islands, which imposed the $1,000 gun tax earlier this month. An idea first endorsed by Hillary Clinton in 1993, steep gun taxes have now taken hold in Cook County, Ill. the city of Seattle, and now a U.S. territory.
Putin Shuts Down Nuclear Reduction
In March 2009, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton presented a toy “reset button” replica to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov symbolizing a cooperative “New START” era of mutual nuclear arms reduction. As Russia grows their nuclear arsenal while we shrink ours, it isn’t working out quite as advertised.
White House signals veto on Saudi 9/11 bill
The White House on Monday signaled President Obama would veto legislation to allow Americans to sue the government of Saudi Arabia for any role officials played in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
Why the US is sending more troops and helicopters to Iraq
The United States will send more than 200 additional troops and eight apache helicopters to Iraq in an effort to bolster local forces as they prepare to retake Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, from the so-called Islamic State.
Ecuador counts over 400 quake deaths, damage in the billions
Touring a city ravaged by the earthquake that killed at least 413 people, Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa on Monday contemplated a rebuilding costing billions of dollars and a potentially “huge” impact on the fragile OPEC economy.
Obama Administration Makes Stunning Admission: “Seed Money For Al Qaeda Came From Saudi Arabia”
Following a dramatic deterioration in official diplomatic channels between the US and Saudi Arabia when over the weekend the Saudis threatened the U.S. with dumping billions in Treasuries if Congress were to pass a bill probing into their alleged support of Sept 11 terrorists in the aftermath of last weekend’s 60 Minutes report on the classified “28 pages” from the Septemeber 11 commission, moments ago the Obama administration made a stunning admission, when for the first time it revealed on the record that the Saudis were the original source of funding for Al Qaeda.
Top Headlines – 4/19/2016
Early Warning Signs of Recession Flash Faintly in U.S. Jobs Data (Read More)
Who Needs Buybacks? One S&P 500 Variant Just Rallied to a Record (Read More)
The unpredictable new voice of Saudi oil (Read More)
Saudi’s Other Warning Makes Oil Traders Sweat After Doha Failure (Read More)
U.S. oil investors rush for protection at $35 as Doha talks collapse (Read More)
Trump candidacy: Where some fear to tread others see a path to victory (Read More)
Iron Ore Powers Above $60 as Steel Rally in China Spurs Demand (Read More)
Syrian government says Assad’s future not up for discussion (Read More)
Why has the United States been hit by historic flood after historic flood in recent months? The flooding that is pummeling the city of Houston is the 8th historic flood in this country since the end of September. City officials down in Houston have labeled the flooding that is currently slamming the city “a life-threatening emergency“, and they are insisting that “Houston residents should avoid travel at all costs today.” At this point, dozens of subdivisions have been flooded and major sections of Interstate 10 and Interstate 45 are under water near downtown. Authorities are telling us that water is getting to areas that it has never been before, and Fire Department spokesman Jay Evans announced that the water is already 10 to 15 feet deep in some areas. But even though some parts of Houston have already gotten close to 20 inches of rain within the last 24 hours, there is more rain in the forecast, so this crisis is far from over. (Read More…)
The Dow closed above 18,000 on Monday for the first time since July. Isn’t that great news? I truly wish that it was. If the Dow actually reflected economic reality, I could stop writing about “economic collapse” and start blogging about cats or football. Unfortunately, the stock market and the economy are moving in two completely different directions right now. Even as stock prices soar, big corporations are defaulting on their debts at a level that we have not seen since the last financial crisis. In fact, this wave of debt defaults have become so dramatic that even USA Today is reporting on it… (Read More….)
Is There a Place for Suffering in the Church?
Posted on April 18, 2016 by Crosswalk
True healing, whatever your scars, isn’t accomplished in isolation.
You may be a hypocrite and not even realize. It is a subtle mentality that can drive someone right away from God. Find out if you and how to return to God.
J. Warner Wallace is interviewed by Leon Fontaine of the Leon Show and talks about the need all of us have, as Christians, to be able to make the case for what we believe. Why aren’t more of us prepared to defend our beliefs? What can we do to change the situation? For more information about the Leon Show, please visit: miraclechannel.ca. For more information about J. Warner Wallace’s book, God’s Crime Scene, please visit: godscrimescene.com
To see more interview videos with J. Warner Wallace, visit the YouTube playlist.
The Re-Education Camps We Call Universities
News media critic Cliff Kincaid of Accuracy In Media pulls no punches as he goes after those who administer what he considers “Marxist re-education camps.” Now is the time, he says, for taxpayers to “revolt against the socialism that rules higher education in America.” The fact that socialism rules higher education should come as no […]
I’m going to go out on a limb and state that Anne Graham Lotz is not someone Christian women can trust to teach them the Bible, as she has demonstrated that she does not rightly handle the Word of Truth. (2 Tim. 2:15) My saying this will surely upset women who believe that Anne’s a solid […]
American Library Association: Bible among top 10 most challenged books
Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. (Psalm 119:11) Journalist Bill Wilson reports: The American Library Association has released its list of the top 10 ‘challenged’ books in America. Among books that are sexually explicit, promote sex outside of marriage, those about transgendered teens, promote homosexuality and […]
Doug Evans of Asleep No More delves into IHOP-KC guru Mike Bickle’s background. Evans uncovers solid evidence that Bickle’s teaching on prayer is highly unbiblical yet, unbelievably, the man heads up a noted “Christian” prayer ministry. What are young people who flock to IHOP exposed to? Contemplative prayer. Allow me to explain. CP is a prayer […]
A little over a year ago Steven Furtick, prophet-pastor of the highly influential Elevation Church in North Carolina, taught his congregation that God broke the law of love. Recently he posted a two minute clip from that sermon on Facebook which caused quite a stir. For those who are unfamiliar with Pastor Steven, the late […]
Todd Bentley posts “proof” of angel feathers and gem stones
Romans 16:17 tells us to mark and avoid false teachers. Todd Bentley has been marked and (hopefully) avoided by most discerning Christians, but unfortunately he claims millions of followers around the world who are impressed by his “miracles.” Now he has snapped a photo of something that allegedly fell from the ceiling. (Why do these […]
ARTICLES I LIKE FROM AROUND THE WEB: (Click title to go to full article)
Spiritual Drafting and the Danger of Christian Complacency – “I’m no fan of most forms of racing. Cars, horses, drones, people—none of them do much for me. I find bicycle racing especially drab, except for those Olympic sprint events that suddenly grab my attention every four years. I do not know a whole lot about racing (which may well be why I don’t enjoy racing), but I do know enough to understand what they call drafting. Drafting is when a rider tucks himself immediately behind another racer, often settling just inches off his rear tire. When he does this, the lead rider has to muscle through the air resistance while the follower can enjoy the little vacuum that forms behind. The first rider has to work just a little bit harder which allows the second to conserve energy for that final push. In other words, the second rider benefits from the strength and diligence of the first.”
Tongue Twisters (what the Bible Says About Praying in Tongues) – “So I’d like to come back to Neil’s question from 2015 and answer it the right way in 2016. You’re right, Neil. We should not advise that it’s okay to use the gift of tongues for personal edification. Paul didn’t either. I’d further your question and my answer by adding that the babbling we refer to now as ‘speaking in tongues’ isn’t. I’m going to expound on this response by coming to the text so we can understand what speaking in tongues actually is and what it isn’t, all according to what the Bible says. So grab your Bible. But before I get to that, permit me to share my experience from this past week.”
The Faith That Doesn’t Work – “A tract written by one of the most extreme defenders of no-lordship salvation seeks to explain redemption: ‘Even at your best, you can never earn or deserve a relationship with God. Only the object of your faith, Jesus Christ, has the merit.’ I agree with that. It is the clear teaching of Scripture (Titus 3:5–7). But the same tract also says, ‘Your personal sins are not an issue to God.’ When the author attempts to explain faith in practical terms, he says this: ‘You respond to God the Father by simply forming the words privately in your mind, ‘I believe in Christ.’”
Was Early Christianity Hostile to Women? – “Since we live in a culture that is obsessed with gender identity and gender issues, it is not surprising to find Christianity on the receiving end of serious criticisms regarding its view of women. Christianity–particularly if it embraces a complementarian theology–is viewed by many in our culture as oppressive and harmful to women. It does not provide, we are told, a friendly and welcoming environment where women can grow and thrive.”
Does God Talk to Us? A Post by Michael Horton. – “Does God talk to us? Lots of people think so. Some attract media attention for claiming to have died and returned from heaven with the details. Others say that God speaks to them every day in audible terms, telling them where to go and what to do. Maybe you wonder, ‘Why doesn’t that happen to me?’ But the truth is it does happen to you—God still speaks to us today. But he does so through his Word. We speak to God in prayer and he speaks to us in the Bible. God especially speaks to us in the public gathering of his people each Lord’s Day through the preaching of his Word.”
John Piper shares some helpful tips. “Give 10% of your focus in life to avoiding obstacles to productivity and 90% of your focus to fastening on to great goals and pursuing them with all your might.”
I really appreciate this “Reformed ‘Spotlight’” series from David Murray:
In my first post on spiritual abuse, I said I would provide a definition that would help in subsequent discussions. I’d welcome your input on this so that we can develop a clear and comprehensive definition, but here’s my suggestion to start the conversation, followed by my “exposition”:
Spiritual abuse is a sinful use of spiritual authority by Christian leaders to promote, protect, or enrich a person or a Christian institution regardless of the spiritual damage done to innocent parties and the cause of Christ.
We’ve all heard the alarms: an entire generation of “nones” and “dones” have supposedly left the church. There are good reasons for this exodus. The church is full of problems, now on display for all to see online. Everywhere we click, there’s another op-ed telling us how church has failed, how church leaders have lost touch with their congregants, and how technology and parachurch ministries will finally free us from the physical confines of our gathering places and the dysfunctions of our mismatched families.
How do we “hear” online? We use our eyes. We read articles, blog posts, and status updates. We also use our minds. We consider the context of an author’s words and chew over them to ensure we have “heard” them correctly. Or at least, that’s what we should do. If James were writing today, perhaps he would call us to be quick to read and slow to comment.
Recently I was under conviction when I had the opportunity to share the gospel and did not take it. As I drove home in my car, I prayed that someone would be faithful and share the gospel with the person with whom I had not spoken. Developing godly habits is extremely important. And one of these healthy habits is to share the gospel with those we encounter.
This passage confuses us because it relates to how we process the relationship between the gospel’s promises and its admonitions. In fact, doctrinal strain between warning and promise prompts many to remove the tension altogether, since they regard it as uncomfortable if not contradictory.
Be Quick to Read and Slow to Comment | Nathan W. Bingham
“It’s a sad day when Christians, not unbelievers, are the ones driving many Christian blogs to shut down their comments section. Would it be such a bad thing if Christians only commented on articles that they had read in full?”
Avoiding Hyper-Calvinism as We Preach | Barry York, Gentle Reformation
“Could it be that, in heart and practice, many of us in Reformed churches are not preaching evangelistically because we allow our Calvinism to bind us rather than propel us as it should? Perhaps we can learn from a controversy in Spurgeon’s time. ”
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, said on Sunday that there is a real possibility of perhaps dozens or…
Legally recognized as a religious organization in New Zealand, the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster cooked up its first official wedding this weekend. Marriage is the…
Guillaume Bignon grew up in a nominal Catholic family outside Paris, but stopped going to church when he recognized he didn’t believe “any of it.” “I hated…
After the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, Greater Cincinnati Water Works customers are now being warned that a great portion of the city-owned service lines are made…
Nordstrom said Monday it was slashing 400 jobs at its corporate headquarters. The move comes two months after the department store chain reported a 3% drop in…
(Jennifer A. Miskov) Can thousands of people gathered together for one purpose shift a generation into the next Great Awakening? What if the date and location of…
A pro-life leader insists the latest declaration about the Zika virus from the Centers for Disease Control only underscores the need for a change in the culture….
Top insurer Lloyds warns that a “pandemic” of global civil unrest could go viral, threatening international stability. Lloyds commissioned leading global risk management consultancy the Risk Advisory…
Imagine using your hand as an interactive touch-screen display. Sounds like science fiction, but Nokia Research Centre and the European Research Council have funded a study, led…
(Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz ) Four earthquakes were recorded around the globe, including three major shakers in the last 48 hours. A minor earthquake hit eastern Israel Friday morning…
(Michael Snyder) Why has the United States been hit by historic flood after historic flood in recent months? The flooding that is pummeling the city of Houston…
Mexico’s Popocatepetl volcano has seen a dramatic overnight explosion that sent ash blowing over the major city of Puebla directly to the east, forcing closure of the…
NASA has been accused of an alien cover up after a live ISS feed appearing to show a horseshoe UFO suddenly went down. Conspiracy theorists are having…
The governor of Texas has declared a state of emergency in nine counties after widespread, deadly flooding hit Monday morning. Rainfall came down at rates as high…
School officials in Wisconsin were caught on video trying to intimidate parents into closing down a weekly “Jesus Lunch” for hungry kids in a local park, and…
Wearable technology is getting even closer to your body. There have been ingestibles and implantables, and now you can add a wearable, disposable stamp to the mix….
Schools in Malaysia have been struck by a mass hysteria ‘epidemic’ in which students claim they are having visions of female vampiric ghosts and are being physically…
NASA’s March temperature data was released Friday, showing that it was the planet’s second-most unusually mild month on record, only somewhat cooler than February 2016. The NASA…
Get ready to step over some landmines, investors. The number of companies defaulting on their debt is hitting levels not seen since the financial crisis, and it’s…
(Taylor Berglund) David’s Tent has been worshipping for over six months straight—and has no intention of stopping anytime soon. David’s Tent is a 24/7 worship tent set…
(Mark Dejesus) As someone who has had to face depression and overcome it, I’ve also helped many press through the storms that depression can bring and develop…
More than a foot of rain fell Monday in parts of Houston, submerging scores of subdivisions and several major interstate highways, forcing the closure of schools and…
Seismic activity in southern Japan is mystifying geologists and keeping the nation on edge. The island of Kyushu has been struck by a series of significant earthquakes,…
God made everything out of nothing, including you and me. His main purpose in creation was to bring him pleasure.
The chief way in which we as humanity do this is through loving, obeying, and enjoying him perfectly.
Instead of this, we have sinned against our loving Creator and acted in high-handed rebellion.
God has vowed that he will righteously and lovingly judge sinners with eternal death.
But God, being merciful, loving, gracious, and just, sent his own son, Jesus Christ, in the likeness of man to live as a man; fulfilling his perfect requirements in the place of sinners; loving, obeying, and enjoying him perfectly.
And further, his son bore the eternal judgment of God upon the cross of Calvary, as he satisfied the eternal anger of God, standing in the place of sinners. God treated Jesus as a sinner, though he was perfectly sinless, that he might declare sinners as perfect.
This glorious transaction occurs as the sinner puts their faith (dependence, trust) in the Lord Jesus Christ as their substitute. God then charges Christ’s perfection to the sinner, and no longer views him as an enemy but instead an adopted son covered in the perfect righteousness of his son.
God furnished proof that this sacrifice was accepted by raising Jesus from the dead.
God will judge the world in righteousness and all of those who are not covered in the righteousness of Christ, depending on him for forgiveness, will be forced to stand on their own to bear the eternal anger of God.
Therefore, all must turn from sin and receive Christ Jesus as Lord.
There is no greater message to be heard than that which we call the gospel. But as important as that is, it is often given to massive distortions or over simplifications. People think they’re preaching the gospel to you when they tell you, ‘you can have a purpose to your life’, or that ‘you can have meaning to your life’, or that ‘you can have a personal relationship with Jesus.’ All of those things are true, and they’re all important, but they don’t get to the heart of the gospel.
The gospel is called the ‘good news’ because it addresses the most serious problem that you and I have as human beings, and that problem is simply this: God is holy and He is just, and I’m not. And at the end of my life, I’m going to stand before a just and holy God, and I’ll be judged. And I’ll be judged either on the basis of my own righteousness–or lack of it –or the righteousness of another. The good news of the gospel is that Jesus lived a life of perfect righteousness, of perfect obedience to God, not for His own well being but for His people. He has done for me what I couldn’t possibly do for myself. But not only has He lived that life of perfect obedience, He offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice to satisfy the justice and the righteousness of God.
The great misconception in our day is this: that God isn’t concerned to protect His own integrity. He’s a kind of wishy-washy deity, who just waves a wand of forgiveness over everybody. No. For God to forgive you is a very costly matter. It cost the sacrifice of His own Son. So valuable was that sacrifice that God pronounced it valuable by raising Him from the dead – so that Christ died for us, He was raised for our justification. So the gospel is something objective. It is the message of who Jesus is and what He did. And it also has a subjective dimension. How are the benefits of Jesus subjectively appropriated to us? How do I get it? The Bible makes it clear that we are justified not by our works, not by our efforts, not by our deeds, but by faith–and by faith alone. The only way you can receive the benefit of Christ’s life and death is by putting your trust in Him–and in Him alone. You do that, you’re declared just by God, you’re adopted into His family, you’re forgiven of all of your sins, and you have begun your pilgrimage for eternity.
The Gospel In A Nutshell
Now, with regard to this rule of faith—that we may from this point acknowledge what it is which we defend—it is, you must know, that which prescribes the belief that there is one only God, and that He is none other than the Creator of the world, who produced all things out of nothing through His own Word, first of all sent forth; that this Word is called His Son, and, under the name of God, was seen “in diverse manners” by the patriarchs, heard at all times in the prophets, at last brought down by the Spirit and Power of the Father into the Virgin Mary, was made flesh in her womb, and, being born of her, went forth as Jesus Christ; thenceforth He preached the new law and the new promise of the kingdom of heaven, worked miracles; having been crucified, He rose again the third day; (then) having ascended into the heavens, He sat at the right hand of the Father; sent instead of Himself the Power of the Holy Ghost to lead such as believe; will come with glory to take the saints to the enjoyment of everlasting life and of the heavenly promises, and to condemn the wicked to everlasting fire, after the resurrection of both these classes shall have happened, together with the restoration of their flesh. This rule, as it will be proved, was taught by Christ, and raises amongst ourselves no other questions than those which heresies introduce, and which make men heretics.
Tertullian, “On Prescription Against Heretics,” Chapter XIIl
Ravi Zacharias explains the gospel in two minutes:
Can you explain the gospel in 30 seconds? In one minute? In five minutes?Here’s one way I have found helpful. The five main components of the gospel can be remembered on 5 fingers of one hand. Here they are:
1) Jesus’ birth 2) Jesus’ life 3) Jesus’ death 4) Jesus’ resurrection 5) Jesus’ ascension
Obviously each point can be elaborated on depending on how much time you have. Here’s the short version:
1) Jesus’ birth – Jesus, God himself, the creator of the universe, the Messiah, became a human being – took on flesh, and was born of a virgin.
2) Jesus’ life – Jesus lived a life of perfect obedience to his Father. Though he was tempted in every way as we are, he never once sinned.
3) Jesus’ death – on the cross, Jesus himself took all our sins and paid for them. God the father counted all our sins to Jesus as if he himself had personally committed them. Then Jesus bore God’s wrath towards sin – the punishment we deserved – as a substitute for us.
4) Jesus’ resurrection – within 3 days, Jesus rose physically from the dead, proving that his sacrifice for sins have been accepted by God, since the punishment for sin was death. Jesus was seen by numerous people after he rose including 500 at one time (1 Corinthians 15).
5) Jesus’ ascension – Jesus ascended physically into heaven where he reigns as King of kings and Lord of lords. And someday he will return to the earth.
That’s the gospel, the good news, and if we believe in Jesus Christ and this good news and call upon him he will save us from our sins and give us eternal life.
That’s a simple way to remember the gospel – five fingers. Even a child can do it. So ask God to give you opportunities to share his good news today.
Ready to start your new life with God?
Who do you think that I am?
With that brief question Jesus Christ confronted His followers with the most important issue they would ever face. He had spent much time with them and made some bold claims about His identity and authority. Now the time had come for them either to believe or deny His teachings.
Who do you say Jesus is? Your response to Him will determine not only your values and lifestyle, but your eternal destiny as well.
CanIKnowGod.com is a website inspired by LifesGreatestQuestion.com, with new content, images, audio and video that will help you understand more about who God is and how to know Him. The site is mobile responsive and has an infinite scroll which makes for a very user-friendly experience. After you indicate a decision on CanIKnowGod.com, you are directed to a page that details what it means to have a new and transformed life through Jesus Christ. There’s even a Facebook page for daily updates, encouragement and scripture sharing.
Look to Jesus
Have you ever felt a little lost and wished there was a quick-start guide to your relationship with God? This is it!
30 Day Next Steps
John Beckett, a leading Christian businessman, has written a series to read over 30 days for new believers.
New Believers Guide
The New Believer’s Guide is a series of articles designed to show you how to walk in the new life Christ has given you— a life of faith and freedom.
Jesus Booklet
Jesus is the Savior of the world. Discover who Jesus is today in this series.
It is not just a handful of texts that teach the perseverance of the saints: the entire gospel sustains and confirms it. The Father has chosen them before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4), ordained them to eternal life (Acts 13:48), to be conformed to the image of his Son (Rom. 8:29). This election stands (Rom. 9:11; Heb. 6:17) and in due time carries with it the calling and justification and glorification (Rom. 8:30). Christ, in whom all the promises of God are Yes and Amen (2 Cor. 1:20), died for those who were given him by the Father (John 17:6, 12) in order that he might give them eternal life and not lose a single one of them (6:40; 17:2); he therefore gives them eternal life and they will never be lost in all eternity; no one will snatch them out of his hand (6:39; 10:28).
The Holy Spirit who regenerates them remains eternally with them (14:16) and seals them for the day of redemption (Eph. 1:13; 4:30). The covenant of grace is firm and confirmed with an oath (Heb. 6:16–18; 13:20), unbreakable like a marriage (Eph. 5:31–32), like a testament (Heb. 9:17), and by virtue of that covenant, God calls his elect. He inscribes the law upon their inmost being, puts his fear in their heart (Heb. 8:10; 10:14ff.), will not let them be tempted beyond their strength (1 Cor. 10:13), confirms and completes the good work he has begun in them (1 Cor. 1:9; Phil. 1:6), and keeps them for the return of Christ to receive the heavenly inheritance (1 Thess. 5:23; 2 Thess. 3:3; 1 Pet. 1:4–5).
In his intercession before the Father, Christ acts in such a way that their faith may not fail (Luke 22:32), that in the world they may be kept from the evil one (John 17:11, 20), that they may be saved for all times (Heb. 7:20), that their sins will be forgiven them (1 John 2:1), and that they may all be where he is to behold his glory (John 17:24). The benefits of Christ, which the Holy Spirit imparts to them, are all irrevocable (Rom. 11:29). Those who are called are also glorified (8:30). Those who are adopted as children are heirs of eternal life (8:17; Gal. 4:7). Those who believe have eternal life already here and now (John 3:16). That life itself, being eternal, cannot be lost. It cannot die since it cannot sin (1 John 3:9). Faith is a firm ground (Heb. 11:1), hope is an anchor (6:19) and does not disappoint us (Rom. 5:5), and love never ends (1 Cor. 13:8).
(Alternative News, Apologetics, Current Events, Commentary, Opinion, Theology, Discernment Blog, Devotionals, Christian Internet Evangelism & Missions Activist).
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— Augustine
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This is a slightly edited re-post of an article I wrote a couple of years ago which is relevant to our discussion of spiritual abuse. I also want to say that my focus in this series is not primarily the spiritual abuses of celebrities that end up on the “front pages,” but rather the largely unnoticed and unreported spiritual abuse that goes on in “ordinary” churches and Christian organizations. However, there is often a connection as the examples of the well-known are copied, and those motivated by the desire to be famous are more likely to resort to spiritual abuse when anyone or anything gets in their way.
In any discussion about spiritual abuse it’s important to distinguish between authority and authoritarianism? Let’s begin with some broad definitions:
Authority is the lawful use of lawful authority: God, the church, the state, or a business has given someone the right to govern and guide your life in a certain area, and that authority is being exercised in the right areas in the right way.
Authoritarianism is the exercise of unlawful authority: It’s someone who has not been given any authority over my life trying to rule and run my life, or someone who has authority in one limited area of my life, trying to rule and run other parts or every part of my life.
Authoritarianism is also the unlawful use of lawful authority: Someone takes the authority they’ve been given and abuses it by exercising it in ways that only benefits them and usually damages me.
Definitions help us to some degree, but illustrations can take us further. So let’s put together some marks of authoritarianism. What does this look like? How do I recognize it? How do I know if I’m being authoritarian or just exercising legitimate authority? How do I know if I’m being a victim of authoritarianism? Let’s see if we can build a description of “Mr Controller.”
1. Mr Controller is power hungry. He’s always trying to get more control over your life. He’s never satisfied with knowing what he knows about you, but always want to know more. He’s never content with power in one or two areas, but wants power in every area. He gets his biggest thrills from ordering other people around and making them feel subservient.
2. Mr Controller never suspects he may be abusing his power. He never says, “Please let me know if I you ever think I’m overstepping my bounds.” He has little or no awareness about his own tendency to misuse power.
3. Mr Controller gets easily and terribly offended whenever anyone questions his authority. “How dare you speak to me like that!” “Do you know who I am?” Any questioning is viewed as insubordination, rebellion, disrespect, etc.
4. Mr Controller thinks of himself more as a King than a servant. He rarely thinks or asks “How can I serve you?” Instead, his prevailing attitude is “How can I rule you?” He’s out to gain more control not to give more help. He empowers himself rather than others.
5. Mr Controller threatens when threatened. Whenever his authority or power is questioned or challenged, even when it’s done humbly and appropriately, he warns of unpleasant consequences for the questioner. He certainly never pauses to ask, “Did I exceed my authority? Did I handle this correctly? Have I made a mistake?”
6. Mr Controller keeps a long record. His position of power has enabled him to build big memory files on his “victims,” which he does not hesitate to use (or hint at using) when necessary.
7. Mr Controller tells rather than teaches. He orders people around without explaining why. “Just do it!” He doesn’t take the time or make the effort to explain himself or his “guidance.” He prefers law and sanction to teaching, instruction, and motivation. He’s afraid that if he teaches principles and aims at changing the heart, that people will then work out things for themselves rather than be dependent upon him for everything.
8. Mr Controller clings to power. Unlike true leaders who love to train other leaders and delegate power to them, he clings to power and refuses to let go. Because, of course, no one is as wise and competent as he is.
9. Mr Controller hates to be controlled. He’s often resistant to anyone being in authority over him or telling him what he should be or do. He’s often a vociferous critic of other sources of power and authority around him. He figures, “If I can weaken him/her/them, I strengthen myself.”
10. Mr Controller lacks self-control. This is his weirdest characteristic. You’d think that such an addiction to control would produce a deeply disciplined person. Not at all. Most controllers have major deficits in the self-control department. Perhaps it’s because they are so busy interfering in other people’s lives that they neglect their own. Maybe it’s because they find it easier to direct and discipline others than themselves. I don’t know, but watch out for this. Behind most authoritarian personalities is usually a lack of biblical authority, often manifested in bad morals or bad temper.
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