Reformed. Christianity. Evangelism. Modern Culture.
Why do so-called Christians forsake the pure wine of Gospel joy for the adulterated poison which the whore of the world smilingly holds out to them in her golden chalice? Is it because the message of the Gospel, which once sparkled in the preached Word, and furnished comfort to mourners, has now gone stale? Or has that stream of spiritual joy which has run through the lives of saints for so many generations, without mingling with the world’s polluted pleasures, at last fallen into them and lost its divine nature? No, the Gospel stays the same. . . and the joy it brings is as refreshing and restoring as it has always been. It will be lovely as long as God and Christ continue to be life, for it flows and is fed from their heart.
The problem is not in the Scripture; it lies in those who say they hold to it. Those who insist that they obey this Gospel are not like holy men and women of earlier times. The world has grown callous, and men’s priorities and affections have chilled and become cold. Our palate is no longer chaste; it no longer prefers the heavenly foods served in the Gospel. The cheer is as lively as ever but the guests are as deadened by constant contact with the world. We have grown debauched in our judgments and corrupt in our principles; no wonder that our joys are carnal.
Error is a whore that lures the heart away from Christ and His spiritual joys. Once the mind is confused by error and begins to malign the truth, it affects the heart, poisoning it with carnal joys. Here, then, is the root of the misery of our times. ..Read More!
Of man’s spiritual condition out side of Christ and obstacles he faces …
Under this head it will be our endeavour to show why it is that the natural man is unable to “come to Christ.” As a starting point let us again quote John 6:44, “No man can come to me, except the Father which has sent me draw him.” The reason why this is such a “hard saying,” even unto thousands who profess to be Christians, is because they utterly fail to realize the terrible havoc which the Fall has wrought; and, it is greatly to be feared, because they are themselves strangers to “the plague” of their own hearts (1 Kings 8:38). Surely if the Spirit had ever awakened them from the sleep of spiritual death, and given them to see something of the dreadful state they were in by nature, and they had been brought to feel that the carnal mind in them was “enmity against God” (Rom. 8:7), then they would no longer cavil against this solemn word of Christ’s. But the spiritually dead can neither see nor feel spiritually.
Excerpt from Studies on Saving Faith by A.W Pink
When Pastor Feelgood started his prosperity sermon series he got a massive turn out. He became popular. There were no seats left in the mega church. Offerings time was a real scuffle. Exiting church was a scuffle too. Till he brought in new personal ushers. 😉
The year was 2050…Prosperity preachers were still the most sought after teachers.
When I consider the absolute independency of God, and the necessary total dependence of all created things on Him, their first cause, I cannot help standing astonished at the pride of impotent, degenerate man, who is so prone to consider himself as a being possessed of sovereign freedom, and invested with a power of self-salvation, able, he imagines, to counteract the designs even of infinite wisdom, and to defeat the agency of Omnipotence itself…
And yet, because it so exactly coincides with the natural haughtiness of the human heart, men not only admit, but even relish the deception, and fondly incline to believe that the father of lies does, in this instance at least, speak truth. The Scripture doctrine of predetermination lays the axe to the very root of this potent delusion. It assures us that all things are of God; that all our times and all events are in His hand. ~ Augustus Toplady
HT Test all Things.
After pastor Ted Yang started his mega church he soon realised upon visiting his converts that they had found a new way of growing in the word. (satire)
The latest buzz in numbers of those flocking to a new church will always cause ears to prick up. The stats are certainly impressive, the buildings expensive, and the congregations expansive. And perhaps there is plenty of reason to be enthusiastic— lost people are attending weekend services. Isn’t it? But does the evangelistic philosophy behind the so-called “Church Growth Movement” match up to or follow the biblical model? Does it meet Scripture’s standards or does it fall short of God’s expectations? Where do “church growth consultants” come from and why do they insist on pastors identifying their number one asset “the high capacity person”? If all this is news to you FBC Jax watch dog explains….
Let’s start things off by looking at a 6-minute video produced by Jim Sheppard, the CEO of a consulting firm named “Generis”…
Jim produced the video [above] for an event called “The Nines” [in 2010], where 100 leaders gave 6-minute talks on the Internet to help church pastors… In his video, Jim explains to church leaders how they need to develop strategies for going after the very wealthy in their community, who he calls “the high capacity people”.
Here are some quotes from the video: …Read More!
What do you do to make young people interested in the Bible? Umm, coat it with bacon or chocolate or better still a pastor and his daughter have come up with another fad…
Two North Carolina pastors have recently created a Bible study based on the book series The Hunger Games.
The Rev. Andy Langford and his daughter, the Rev. Ann Duncan, created “The Gospel According to ‘The Hunger Games’ Trilogy” in the hopes of reaching out to youth.
“Many of our youth and young adults have been reading the books. Two youth from my church in Concord, N.C., are extras in the movie,” said Langford to The Christian Post.
“Ann’s husband, Nathan, teaches high school history, and alerted us that all his students were reading these books.”
Written by Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games book series is about a near future dystopian society where young people are forced to participate in a brutal sport game where only one can survive.
If the 12 Apostles preached prosperity gospel would they would not have been persecuted. Did they go out preaching ‘come to Jesus and you will have your best life now’?
Related articles
After perfecting his visually stunning gimmick, Pastor Antics only had to desperately look for a bible verse to tag along to the message…
Funny. We always have this caricature of rappers as geezers walking with dirty jeans balancing over their knees and featuring in lewd music videos. Right? Wrong. This article on CNN’s website is rather interesting in a way. Who surely would have thought Rap artists would be calling pastors to righteousness? Read on….
Two Christian Rap Artists, “IV His Son” and Jovan Mackenzy, in partnership with online production company CrownRightsMedia.com have made a video that is going all over the Christian community and causing quite a stir. In the video IV His Son and Jovan Mackenzy are seen standing in front of the popular mega churches of two controversial Atlanta pastors, Eddie Long and Creflo Dollar.
IV asks the listener if they are supposed to follow these men, despite all the problems with their “prosperity Gospel” and sexual accusations or are they supposed to follow the Bible.
A Twisted Crown of Thorns ® 