Reformed. Christianity. Evangelism. Modern Culture.
Heads pawed, eyes claws-ed
Then I said: “Ah, Lord God, behold, the prophets say to them, ‘You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you assured peace in this place.’” Jer 14:13 ESV
With heads bowed and eyes closed, the music was just right. The preacher shuffles and gently casts his gaze over the reverently silent congregation before he beckons, “Put your hand up if you have tried everything and now you want to accept Jesus into your heart. See, you have a God shaped hole in your heart and only Jesus can fill it.” A hundred to two hundred hands go up in the air. They ask Jesus into their hearts that day-a decision they may well repeat a few more times through that year.
A major denomination which has 11,500 churches throughout the US – in 1991, their first year of what they called “the decade of harvest,” they got 294,000 decisions for Christ. They found that only 14,000 remained in fellowship. That is, they couldn’t account for 279,000 of their decisions for Jesus. And this is normal modern evangelical statistics when it comes to crusades and local churches. Many converts don’t fall away. They get followed up and squeezed into a local church where they’re surrounded by a good social life, and they stay within the church given assurance they’re saved when there is no grounds for their salvation, because they do not have the things that accompany salvation. –True and False Conversions by Ray Comfort
God shaped hole in heart
When we hear Christian clichés like ‘Accept Jesus Christ as your personal saviour;’ ‘Ask Jesus into your heart;’ ‘Invite Christ into your life;’ or ‘Make a decision for Christ’ and find that such theology is not scripturally based then we realise something must have been omitted. In order to be saved, a man must repent (Acts 2:38).Asking Jesus into your heart leaves out the requirement of repentance and trust in Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31, Heb 6:1). How could it sound so right, yet be so un-right? Yeah. Welcome to the shaken and stirred Gospel Lite! Read More
A certain wise man once said:
“The pious mind must ascend still higher, namely, whither Christ calls his disciples when he says, that every one of them must “take up his cross,” (Mt. 16:24). Those whom the Lord has chosen and honoured with his intercourse must prepare for a hard, laborious, troubled life, a life full of many and various kinds of evils; it being the will of our heavenly Father to exercise his people in this way while putting them to the proof. Having begun this course with Christ the first-born, he continues it towards all his children.”
Well, that man was a pastor called John Calvin in the 16th Century.
Several years later (okay five centuries or more later) a new breed of suave pastors has cropped up. They seem to have conveniently swapped spiritual piety for earthly notoriety. No longer do they say the “Lord is my shepherd” for they already have had their fill beside sprinkler automated plastic astro -turf.
You see, in Africa apparently…
An African Church
A few wealthy Nigerians spent at least $225 million acquiring private jets between March 2010 and March 2011, a Nigerian newspaper reported…
Apart from wealthy business tycoons, Nigerian clergymen and spiritual leaders are also joining the very elite league of jet owners. …Read More!
Micah Horner has come up with 50 deal breakers when looking for a church. It is an interesting list and I must say a must read. Okay, are you seated? Here they are:
If the only time your pastor mentions Jesus is in the prayer, it’s time for a new church.
If your pastor preaches sermons consisting almost entirely of quaint illustrations, and funny stories about grandma’s and puppies, it’s time for a new church.
If your pastor uses the first 15-20 minutes of the service to tell corny, irreverent, borderline blasphemous jokes, talk about sports and poke fun at church members for being K-State fans, it’s time for a new church.
If your pastor doesn’t open his Bible during the sermon, it’s time for a new church.
If your pastor prepares a sermon by picking a topic he wants to preach on, and then finds 30 verse fragments taken out of context, in 15 different translations to keep the sermon “Biblical”, it’s time for a new church.
If your pastor uses ‘Nooma’ videos during any part of any sermon (unless to deconstruct it, explain its errors, and warn you about the heresy within) it’s time for a new church. Read More
During a great war, there was a man who invented a parachute that was one hundred percent trustworthy. It made no difference whether the user was large or small; it opened every time and got him safely to the ground. The key was in the way it was folded. (story continued below)
A Twisted Crown of Thorns ® 