Do We Really Have Free Will?

This short piece is by someone I believe is not a Christian but it sure makes one think . My these non-Christians seem to be on to something.



HT Jollyblogger

Strep Throat!!!

So I arrived home from the Thanksgiving travel safe and sound only to wake up Monday morning with strep throat! I have been taking antibiotics and sleeping all week. I am feeling better but not well, I hope to be back to blogging very soon, meanwhile, why don't you watch some of the videos I have posted and you have neglected to watch so far:)

Thanksgiving Break

The family is headed north to Minn. for the Thanksgiving break. Just what I wanted, colder weather, man I can't wait for Christmas when we get to go to Mich., err, uhh, anyway I thought I would leave you with some humor for the break. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.



H.T. Homeward Bound

John MacArthur On Mega-Churches.

I saw this on the Reformed Voices blog and I love it.

(from Symphony of Scripture)

“When a sinner wanders into the church and sits through skits, mimes, interpretive dances, and the like, and yet never hears a clear, convicting message about his dangerous and tenuous spiritual situation– that he is a depraved sinner headed for an eternal fire because he is a daily offense to a holy God– how can that be called successful? You could achieve the same level of success by sending a cancer patient to receive treatment from a group of children playing doctor. A sinner must understand the imminent danger he is in if he is ever to look to the Savior. What’s worse is when seeker-focused churches baptize the masses with their watered-down gospel, assuring them that positive decisions, feelings, or affirmations about Christ equal genuine conversion. There are now multitudes who are not authentic Christians identifying with the church. As you set your strategy for church ministry, you dare not overlook the primary means of church growth: the straightforward, Christ-centered proclamation of the unadulterated Word of God.”
-John MacArthur

More On Warren

The Watcher's Lamp has many articles on Rick Warren and his "Purpose's." You can start with today's post found here. Then look around, there is plenty there to read.

Focus On The Family Yoking With A Heretic!

It appears that H. B. London of Focus on the Family will be speaking at Heretic Robert Schuller's "Rethink" conference in January 2008. Also speaking will be some other evangelical heroes such as Lee Strobel, Chuck Colson, Erwin McManu, Jay Sekulow, and a host of others. This is very disturbing. Ingrid over at Slice has a story here. The Herescope also has a story about it here. How has this happened, oh yes, the Church has forsaken discernment for relevance. For a complete list of those jumping on the heresy bandwagon go here.

It Really Is ALL God's Work.

If more men would preach the word of God like Paul Washer I think we would most definitely have less wealthy pastors. It is about God and the work HE does not about man and the work we do. I will never understand how someone can say we must make a decision for Christ and at the same time say that is not a works salvation. If we do ANYTHING it is a works salvation and not at all what the scripture teaches. Preach on brother Paul!!

Rob Bell Is Loving People Into Hell

I will probably get some flak for this but it is true. Watch these videos the guy in the second and third videos says it better than I could.

Refuting Decision Theology

Paul Washer at it again. No wonder he does not get invited back!

Two Questions

I just joined this facebook group called Christian Bloggers Network. One of the fellow bloggers suggested these two questions so I am asking them and seeing what the readers of this blog think.

What makes a great Pastor/Priest/Minister? And what makes a great church?

You can read the discussion thread here.

Still More On Preaching

I do not believe this can be overstated, and I will continue to state it until everyone understands it. Amen brother Sproul!

More On Preaching

One of the main problems with preaching and the worship service as a whole is the pastor/worship team and all involved betray their lack of trust in God's revealed word and also their lack of faith in God's promises. They do this by coming up with all sorts of programs, dramas, stories, and illustrations because they lack the faith that the preached gospel of God will be efficacious for the salvation of the lost. John Piper has hit the nail on the head with this brief video.

Christ Centered Preaching!

I have mentioned the diagnostic I use to determine if I am listening to a Christ-centered sermon before but I like the question this man uses in this short video. "Did Christ have to die on the cross to make what I heard in this sermon true?" If the answer is no, then it was not a Christ-centered, Cross-focused sermon. I love it.

A True Dichotomy, Paul Washer.

I was browsing around looking at videos for the previous post and found some more Paul Washer videos I just felt I had to post. It does seem like I spend more time on negative posts at least as far as the videos go, so here are some positive ones. Well I mean that the content is truthful.









Is not the difference between Paul Washer and Rick Warren clear? Rick Warren sells millions of books, tickling people's ears. Paul Washer does not get invited back to most of the places at which he speaks. Preach on brother Paul!!
To hear more of Paul Washer go here.

Digging Deeper Into Rick Warren.

Let's take a look at Rick Warren's evangelism video and then we will talk about it and see if I might have been unfair to Mr. Warren in my previous post.



Warren starts out talking about how God loves you. This is a problem if he is talking to unbelievers because God hates sinners, yes sinners, not just sin. Ps. 5:5-6 says:

5 The boastful shall not stand before your eyes;
you hate all evildoers.
6 You destroy those who speak lies;
the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
The Holy Bible : English Standard Version., Ps 5:5-6 (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001).

Warren cites some verses that talk about believing and receiving but never once mentions repentance, this is also misleading. Also lacking in this "evangelistic" message is talk of sin. He mentions a "prideful attitude," as the source for all your troubles here on earth but never mentions sin as the source of all your troubles after leaving earth.

Rick Warren has a major misunderstanding of what preaching is about. This is not Law vs. Gospel, that is a false dichotomy, preaching must be Law AND Gospel. The good news can't be that good unless the bad news is that bad. But Warren preaches the Law AS Gospel. In his own words he says we need a new reformation this time about deeds not creeds. What is this if not preaching the Law as Gospel? Warren confuses belief as well. Belief is a fruit of the Spirit not the cause of salvation.
He also falls into the "decisional regeneration" problem so prevalent in todays Christianity. Now watch this video that explains the error of this false gospel.



One of my biggest concerns in the church today is the utter lack of discernment. It is my intention to help in whatever way I can in this regard. My goal is not to sling mud but when some are in error I will not back down in standing for the truth of God and His gospel.

P. S. Here is a short clip of what true preaching is really like. This is Paul Washer, if you do not know him I urge you to listen to as much of him as you can. He is a Baptist but we will not hold that against him, he truly preaches the Law and Gospel.

Rick Warren, Heretic!

If you do not believe me when I call Rick Warren a heretic, maybe you will believe him. Here he is in his own words, using his own voice, denying Biblical truth. Rick Warren is preaching all Law and no Gospel, this is heresy of the first order because he is leading so many astray.



HT: A Little Leaven

Faith Healer Exposes Himself

I urge you to watch this video closely. This man was raised by his mother to be a Pentacostal preacher and faith healer. This is a movie he made about his fraudulent practices back in the early 1970's watch closely and you can see some eerily similar things to what is going on in today's TBN culture.



Thanks to Independent Conservative for this video

And Can It Be That I Should Gain

Last week in church, we sang a hymn that had caught my attention a few weeks earlier, but I didn't get a chance to look it up before forgetting what it was! (That sort of thing doesn't only happen to me, right?) This time, I made sure I kept the bulletin.

Now, when I looked up the lyrics on the Internet, I found them on a site that provides the music in MIDI format. You can choose piano, organ, or bells, and the MIDIs are free to download. I considered putting the MIDI in this post so that it would play while you're reading, but I chose not to—instead, I want you to read the lyrics and really think about the words. That's more difficult to do when the music is playing because the the phrases get split up to fit the meter of the music.

Please take a few moments to read the words of this beautiful hymn. Following the hymn is a link to the site that has the MIDI file. If these words touch you as you read them, please leave a comment. And if any of the phrasing makes you wonder what Mr. Wesley was thinking, let's discuss it!

And Can It Be That I Should Gain

And can it be that I should gain
an interest in the Savior's blood!
Died he for me? who caused his pain!
For me? who him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be
that thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
Amazing love! How can it be
that thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

'Tis mystery all: th' Immortal dies!
Who can explore his strange design?
In vain the firstborn seraph tries
to sound the depths of love divine.
'Tis mercy all! Let earth adore;
let angel minds inquire no more.
'Tis mercy all! Let earth adore;
let angel minds inquire no more.

He left his Father's throne above
(so free, so infinite his grace!),
emptied himself of all but love,
and bled for Adam's helpless race.
'Tis mercy all, immense and free,
for O my God, it found out me!
'Tis mercy all, immense and free,
for O my God, it found out me!

Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
fast bound in sin and nature's night;
thine eye diffused a quickening ray;
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
my chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed thee.
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed thee.

No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in him, is mine;
alive in him, my living Head,
and clothed in righteousness divine,
bold I approach th' eternal throne,
and claim the crown, through Christ my own.
Bold I approach th' eternal throne,
and claim the crown, through Christ my own.

Text: Charles Wesley, 1707-1788
Music: Thomas Campbell

Download the MIDI file for And Can It Be That I Should Gain.

John Owen on Worship

Question 2 — By what means do we come to know that God will thus be worshipped?

Answer — That God is to be worshipped, and that according to his own will and appointment, is ^a a principal branch of the law of our creation written in our hearts, the ^b sense whereof is renewed in the second commandment; but the ways and means of that worship depend merely on God’s ^c sovereign pleasure and institution.

a Rom. i. 21, ii. 14, 15 ; Acts xiv. 16, 17, xvii. 23-31 .
b Exod. xx. 4-6 .
c Jer. vii. 31 ; Exod. xxv. 40 ; Heb. iii. 1-6 ; John i. 18 .

Explication — These two things all men saw by nature:—

First, That God, however they mistook in their apprehensions of him, would be, and was to be, worshipped with some outward solemn worship; so that although some are reported to have even cast off all knowledge and sense of a Divine Being, yet never any were heard of that came to an acknowledgment of any God, true or false, but they all consented that he was constantly and solemnly to be worshipped, and that not only by individual persons , but by societies together; that so they might own and honour him whom they took for their God. And thus far outward worship is required in the first commandment, — namely, that the inward be exercised and expressed. When we take God for our God, we take him to worship him, Deut. x. 12, 13 . Other thoughts, — namely, of inward worship without outward expression, at all or any time, or in any way, — are but a covert unto atheism. And, —

Secondly, This also they were led to an apprehension of by the same light whereby they are “a law unto themselves,” Rom. ii. 14 , that God would be worshipped in the way and by the means that he himself appointed and approved: whence none among the heathen themselves undertook to appoint ways and ceremonies of worship, but still they pretended to derive the knowledge of them from the gods themselves ; of whom they reckoned that every one would be worshipped in his own way. And because, notwithstanding this pretence, being left of God and deluded of Satan, they did invent false and foolish ways of worship, not only not appointed of God, but such as were unsuited unto those inbred notions which they had of his nature and excellencies, the apostle convinces and disproves them, as men acting against the light of nature and principles of reason, Rom. i. 20, 21 , they might have seen that in their idolatry they answered not their own inbred conceptions of the divine power and Godhead, so as to “glorify him as God;” and in the like manner doth he argue at large, Acts xvii. 22-31 . But beyond this the inbred light of nature could not conduct any of the sons of men; this alone is contained in the first precept. That God was to be worshipped they knew, and that he was to be worshipped by ways and means of his own appointment they knew; but what those means were they knew not. These always depended on God’s sovereign will and pleasure, and he made them known to whom he pleased, Ps. cxlvii. 19, 20 . And although some of the ways which he doth appoint may seem to have a great compliance in them unto the light of nature, yet in his worship he accepts them not on that account, but merely on that of his own institution; and this as he hath declared his will about in the second commandment, so he hath severely forbidden the addition of our own inventions unto what he hath appointed, sending us for instruction unto Him alone whom he hath endowed with sovereign authority to reveal his will and ordain his worship, John i. 18 ; Matt. xvii. 5 ; 1 Chron. xvi. 7 .

John Owen, A Brief Instruction in the Worship of God, 4 (Joseph Kreifels).

Calling a Spade a Spade

I just have to say, on the heels of my wife pointing out that she used to think everything labeled "Christian" was (but has thankfully learned some discernment in the last few months), that this is outright heresy. This is another gospel, another Jesus, and another way of salvation which is no salvation at all. As Paul said in Galatians 1:6-9:

6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.

The Holy Bible : English Standard Version., Ga 1:6-9 (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001).

Traffic

I am happy with all the traffic that has come this blogs way in the last 24 hours but if you would please stop by this post's comments and let me know who you are, where you are, and how you found out about my blog that would be great.
Thanks
Alan

Relativism, True For You But Not For Me

I have been under the weather for the last week or so but I hope you enjoyed my wife's first entry. I am encouraging her to post more so if you enjoyed her insight please comment on her post and make her feel good. I found this video over at A Little Leaven and I am astounded to find that even secular, as far as I know, people are starting to understand the irrationality of postmodernism.