Reformed. Christianity. Evangelism. Modern Culture.
FREE AGENCY
1. Are all men both saint and sinner free agents? If so, is not the sinner as free as the saint?
2. If a sinner cannot come to Christ of his own free will, is he a free agent?
3. If all sinners possess will and power to come to Christ, why did Christ say (John 6:44), “No man can come unto Me except the Father which hath sent Me draw him?”
4. Has any man the power to refuse to come to Christ when the Father draws him?
5. Are those characters free agents that shall do wickedly and none of them shall understand? (Dan. 12:10) …Read More!
Can we trust the historical accuracy of the Bible? Is the text reliable? How can we know for sure?
Im currently reading about puritans (and wow) it is challenging to learn about their high view of God. More so how they lived their lives. Here is a quote from Richard Baxter about parenting:
Parents! Your example and life are a continual and powerful sermon, which is always seen by your children! Parents! Your children have an everlasting inheritance of happiness to attain–and it is that which you must bring them up for. They have an endless misery to escape–and it is that which you must diligently teach them. If you don’t teach them to know God, and how to serve Him, and be saved, and to escape the flames of hell–you teach them nothing, or worse than nothing. It is in your hands to do them the greatest kindness or cruelty in all the world! Help them to know God and to be saved, and you do more for them than if you helped them to be kings or princes. …Read More!
This short clip expounds on the doctrine of total depravity:
The recent brutal whipping of teenager by her father has sparked alot of discussion. Some of which has been absolutely irrational and stipped in knee jerk sensationalism. While sharing the outrage at this abuse, I sought to see what the bible and other Christians say about spanking and child discipline. Michael Spotts has a very comprehensive article pointing out some of the logical flaws and drawing a fine distinction as to what the biblical perspective on physically chastening children is:
Instead of overreacting, I believe we should maintain a distinction between what is acceptable physical discipline and what constitutes actual abuse. This allows us to condemn the latter without outlawing the former. Throughout this article I will refrain from using the word “punishment” when describing parental responses to disobedience. Punishment, strictly speaking, is primarily concerned with subjecting guilty persons to penalties without regard for either their moral improvement or personal well being. An extreme example of punitive action is the death penalty, which punishes without any interest in improving those who receive it. Worse still is the idea of parents inflicting pain upon children merely to “get back” at them or vent anger. …Read More!
If you walk into your local Christian music store in the next couple of days dont forget to ask for a copy of Shai Linne’s new album, The Attributes of God. Well its out and from what I hear about it I think its had a good reception especially among conservative Christians.
Okay, okay! Just because you asked I will feature one piece from the album. Here is his wife Blair reciting “The Perfection of Beauty”:
One friend on Facebook drew my attention to one of the songs The Glory of God. She said:
“Never thought I would be a huge fan of Hip-hop. Thanks to Shai Linne, now I am. I find amazing Shai Linne songs [sic], and put them on “replay-endlessly”. They are so rich, it takes several listenings to hear it all, and several more to digest it. SDG, Shai!” …Read More!
I know many people do not get to talk about the persecuted church. Just because you seem to be enjoying apparent freedom shouldn’t dull your ears to their cries for prayers.
Every week somebody runs to the news papers with a chunk of bacon, half eaten pizza and wet patch on a nappy claiming to see the face of Jesus. Yes, they say it is the very face of the Lord Jesus Christ. It almost seems to be a sure way of getting attention these days. If I were to line up and sell all the things in my house (let alone the kitchen) that appeared like a hungry man with stringy iron filings for a beard I would be a rich man in two days!
Lupita la Bourdette said one such image appeared to her on the screen door leading into her home. Well…
“This is something that people have to see to believe,” la Bourdette, a Catholic, told KRGV reporters. “When I saw it, I wanted to cry. It impressed me so much.”
The resident of Pharr, Texas, said the image of Jesus and his mother Mary, whom she says appears to be holding a baby, showed up on the metal screen six years ago, shortly after she had a dream in which a little girl told her to pray for the world because “a lot of bad things are going to happen.” …Read More!
Some people believe there should be a state of ceremonial purity when touching a holy book. A man or woman must take a ritual shower or bath to attain a heightened level of righteousness before he even glimpses into the written mind of God as it were. Christians on the other hand come in two categories. Those who love their bibles and those who really love their bibles. Today I will dwell on the eccentric latter.
“A bible that’s falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn’t.” -Charles Spurgeon
They are called Bible markers! Are you one of them? …Read More!
For some reason I love this evangelism clip. It goes step by step in a conversational manner in introducing the gospel. Watch this:
Mark Spence and Tony “The Lawman” Miano found this young man on the waterfront, in Long Beach (CA), during Ambassadors’ Academy #1. …Read More!
HT Jim McMaster via Facebook
Fads and superstition in sports have always drawn the usual cursory glance. Not any more it seems. There seems to be a growing viral trend intermarrying the two and tugging God at the end of it all. It all started with mundane actions like athletes making or kissing imaginary crosses before the 100 metre dash to heaven-ward finger pointing gestures and gesticulations after scoring goals in football. The other day spectators were taken aback when one soccer player decided to rend the heavens loose by lay hands and praying for his misfiring colleague who hadn’t scored for the team in several months following a big money transfer from a rival team. Well the striker got rewarded with two goals in the game. So, do these fads and trends have some theological magic formula of sorts? Do they pull God closer to one team against the other? Well to add fuel to fire, another one has started (and it’s EPIC!!)…
It was only a matter of time before the sports world had its planking equivalent: Tebowing. Tebowing, according to the new Tumblr blog Tebowing.com, is “to get down on a knee and start praying, even if everyone else around you is doing something completely different.” Its namesake is Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow, who inadvertently invented Tebowing. In the last week alone, people have been photographed Tebowing in the U.S. Capitol, Korea and an operating room; near a beer-pong table, the Chrysler Building and a toilet; and mimicking the “Abbey Road” cover. Toddlers have Tebowed. Adrian Beltre accidentally Tebowed. The act of Tebowing has even been carved into a pumpkin. …Read More!
Conservative Christian values are very despised these days in Evangelical circles. Its no wonder that anything passes for Christianity these days. Its not uncommon to see pets taking Holy Communion, motor cycles being ridden in the sanctuary instead of preaching, essential doctrines being challenged (like the doctrine of Hell), re-introduction of ancient heresies (like modalism) and the list goes on. It therefore didn’t come as a surprise when I heard that…
A Kentucky Baptist association denied membership to a church after a credentials committee found its confessional statement too Calvinistic, according to a report in the Western Recorder.
Daviess-McLean Baptist Association voted 104-9 to deny membership to Pleasant Valley Community Church in Owensboro during its annual meeting held Oct. 17-18, the Kentucky Baptist Convention news journal reported in its Oct. 25 issue.
“Our concern in the initial stages of our investigation revolved around the fact that Pleasant Valley Community Church’s confessional statement is one that (is) Calvinistic in nature,” the newspaper quoted from a recommendation by the association’s credentials committee. “It affirms the doctrine of election and grace.” …Read More!
Trip Lee is a lovable Christian musician who gets asked the same question over and over. (Seeing that he got married at the age of twenty one). This is what he thinks of it:
Yesterday I made a late night stop at the store to grab a few things and I had a very interesting conversation with the cashier. We made small talk as she scanned my items, and then she offered me a discount card but I told her my wife already had one. That’s when the conversation got fun. I know this conversation all too well because I’ve had it many times before. It goes something like this…
Person: What!? You’re married?
Me: Yeah I’ve been married for two and a half amazing years.
Person: How old are you? You look like a baby.
Me: I’m twenty three.
Person: You’re so young! Why in the world would you do that?
Me: Why wouldn’t I?
In 2009, I got married at the barely legal and barely respectable age of twenty one years old. During my courtship, engagement, and short marriage, I’ve been asked time and time again questions like, “Why get married so young? What’s the rush?”, and my personal favorite, “You should have waited and enjoyed your life!” …Read More!
A very interesting article here on pragmatism and the modern day believer. Don’t tell me you haven’t been tempted to see the stats and blush. Well…
I’ll admit to being weary, to the point of irritation, whenever I hear ministers of the gospel reporting their statistics as external evidences of success. And I know I’m not the only one…
Enough already.
I’m not saying I’m less tempted than the next guy to hope for big numbers and stats, the apparent signs of God’s blessing on my ministry. I am. But I’ve seen the focus on numbers as a temptation to be resisted, not something to be embraced. And when preachers find a way to mention the numbers in public, and often, it comes across as bragging; it’s worldly and unbecoming of Christians who are to be characterized by humility and meekness. …Read More!
I remember a couple of years ago when a friend, Ryan (not his real name), came rejoicing to church. Another buddy of his had come to faith in Christ. This of course was greeted with the usual jubilance when a sinner comes to repentance. Then my friend said something that got me thinking. Ryan said now that Rooney (not his real name too) was saved, he needed to pray hard so that he could receive the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is given to all Christians. Actually no body can be saved without the work of the Holy Spirit in applying the preaching of the gospel in regeneration of a sinner. Pentecostalism teaches that the Holy Spirit is given to Christians after they believe in Christ –as an additional or second blessing. This implies then that there is a split-level church. …Read More!
David Murray has had the privilege of hearing many beginning preachers preach their first sermon. Sometimes, it’s stunning how God has gifted a person and you hope Seminary doesn’t spoil them! Usually, however, first sermons confirm the need for much further training. Here, David has graciously highlighted a few of the mistakes that keep recurring among budding preachers. I must of course add that though one can never deliver the “perfect sermon” it is good to learn how to communicate effectively:
1. Cramming: Squeezing all you have ever studied about the Bible over the years into 30 minutes.
2. Skimming: Taking too many verses and simply skimming over the surface of the text, teaching nothing that someone with average intelligence would not have derived from the text themselves.
3. Floating: The preacher says many things that relate to the text, floating or hovering above the text, but fails to show how they are anchored in the text.
4. Proof-texting: Including lots and lots of texts from all over the Bible, and sometimes diverting hearers by expounding the proof texts as much as the sermon text.
5. Quoting: Too many quotes from commentators, theologians, and other preachers from the past and the present. …Read more!
When you put Christianity and atheism side by side, you will realise that…
Christianity is defined by a belief in something — particularly, a belief in the God of the Bible. Atheism is defined by a non-belief in something — particularly, a non-belief in the God of the Bible.
Christians choose to be identified by that which they believe to be true. Atheists choose to be identified by that which they believe to be false.
The practice of Christian apologetics is based on defending a belief. The practice of atheist apologetics is based on attacking a belief. …Read more!
A very interesting article looking at mice. Okay, its not really about mice but I wont tell you till you read through.
Imagine this scene: you are enjoying an evening dinner party at your home. All of a sudden a mouse scurries across the floor parting the room like the Red Sea. The men jump up on their chairs and begin screaming for someone to get the intruder. One of the ladies puts down her appetizer plate and calmly grabs the broom and corals the little varmint. The disaster has been averted.
Is there anything wrong with this scene? …Duh, Read More!
This is a missionary video clip. The people have just heard that they are sinners. They have also just heard that God sent Jesus Christ to bear the sins (be the sin bearer) of those who would believe. [Watch this short clip and see what happens next]
Or do we no longer use the word sin any more in our messages on Sunday? The gospel is good news to the agonising, wretched sinner who understands the completed work of Christ on the cross on his behalf as his sin bearer. …Read More!
A good friend of mine’s mother died last week. The funeral is this week and yes we are all going to attend the funeral. Kids and all! I believe at funerals and burials we are reminded of the repulsiveness of death. We are also reminded that it was because of sin that death came into our world. Sin is as repulsive to God just as much as we find death among ourselves. However a very interesting trend these days is unfolding regarding death and funerals. I don’t know if you have seen this but….
I’ve concluded that the typical evangelical funeral can go quite a ways to making a person an atheist. I’ve also concluded that the church needs to reclaim the fundamental truth that Christianity is primarily for dying. Not primarily for living, but for dying; and because it is primarily about preparing to die, it has something profound to offer about living. Funerals need to rediscover death and thus once again have something to say to the living.
Before looking at the causes of the death of the funeral, a true confession about a funeral–oops, sorry, a celebration of life–I recently attended. (I am just getting out of theological therapy from the experience.)
My rescue came from the Christian funeral and burial of my mother, who died on Epiphany. All I can say is thanks be to God for a Christ-centered [burial], for a graveside service providing the godly focus on the death of death, and for a faithful pastor bringing Jesus in his forgiving and saving office to all present.
“Bob” was a prominent evangelical businessman. He surfed. He married. He procreated. He made barn loads of money. And so the assembly was treated to body-length photos of Bob the Action Figure. …Read More!
Kirk Franklin’s meteoric rise in the late 1990s across the Christian-secular divide was followed by instant world wide recognition. With unprecedented popularity came the usual questions. Would he sell out and water down his message? Would there be a down grade? Would he let the whole world sing to traditional gospel songs like Savior more than Life To me or The Reason Why We Sing ? Kirk’s best answer to that question was his next ear deafening hit aptly titled Stomp.
Stomp, featuring Cheryl “Salt” James (of Salt-N-Pepa), was a huge hit, enjoying heavy rotation on MTV and other music channels, and charting at No. 1 on the R&B Singles Airplay chart for 2 weeks, even making it in to the Top 40. This was the long awaited manna in form of a groovy Holy Hip hop tune. Kirk had finally introduced the entertainment world to a luke warm ‘lovable Hip Jesus’ who you could dance and groove to till you got high. Theologically by popularising his message of a ‘lovable Hip Jesus’ was he making both church folk and secular audiences happy with the same tune? Or was he another pied piper dulling the ears of a generation and making the Holy appear common? …Read More!
The next time you strut around like a rooster with your tattoos all emblazoned on your heavily biceped arm or six pack torso remember not to annoy the fashion police in Saudi. A BIG no-no is a Jesus tattoo (that is if you even know what he looks like). One soccer star lived to tell the story….
Saudi Arabia’s religious police have arrested a South American soccer star in a shopping mall in the Saudi capital for failing to cover up his tattoo of Jesus.
Juan Pablo Pino, 24, who plays for the An-Nasr professional team was wearing a sleeveless shirt while walking with his young pregnant wife in a shopping mall in Riyadh, reported Asia News.
“The tattoo on his left shoulder led to the insults of some local Muslims,” reported the Vatican Insider newspaper. “The incident attracted the attention of the so-called ‘police for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice,’ who stopped the couple.” …Read More!
A very interesting article here. Remember those veggies that sung like helium intoxicated chip munks and told stories from the bible almost similar to bible stories? Now there seems to be a hint of regret. You see…
VeggieTales “convinced kids to behave Christianly without actually teaching them Christianity.” So says founder Phil Vischer in a new interview.
VeggieTales was a rags-to-riches entrepreneurial success story. Vischer and his counterpart, Mike Nawrocki, left college to pursue their dream of making wildly creative children’s videos. At the height of their success in the late 1990s, VeggieTales videos sold 7 million copies in a single year and generated $40 million in revenue. Though primarily aimed at a Christian market, VeggieTales had a broader cultural influence, pushing forward the boundaries of computer animation and children’s programming
But success brought failure. …Read More!
A Twisted Crown of Thorns ® 