Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Do I need to say more?

“I was trying to point out I’m not opposed to gays having their partnership. I’m opposed to gays using the term marriage for their relationship.” - Rick Warren

http://www.sliceoflaodicea.com/purpose-driven-madness/rick-warren-im-not-opposed-to-gays-having-their-partnerships/

Monday, December 22, 2008

How to make your child a false convert.



How to know if you're a false convert.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Rob who?

Friends, Family and all readers.

The time has come for me to officially expose (Eph 5:11, Gal 6:1,2) Rob Bell for his false teachings. If you look on my list of "Problematic Teachers" his name is there; however now is the time to take it a little deeper than just having him on a list. There are a lot of people who follow him, listen to him and a truly lead astray by his books, nooma videos and sermons. People always ask me,
"why don't you like Rob Bell?"
or "What's wrong with Rob Bell?"
or they will say things like, "Yeah I don't like everything he says, but some of it is good."
or "Its true some of the stuff he says is wrong, but he gives an interesting perspective on God."
The first question I would like to answer, which some of you maybe be asking is this: "Why write an article exposing Rob Bell?" or better said "Why expose, talk about or confront false teachers?" My first and gut response is, that the Bible calls us to expose false teachers.
Ephesians 5:8-12
"For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret."
And secondly Jesus did it. How many of you have read the gospel of Matthew Chapter 23? I have bolded the text which I would suggest reading. In all reality I would suggest reading the whole chapter, but for time sake, the bolded words will do.
Matthew 23
"Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments. They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’ But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.
“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.’ Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold? And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.’ Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift? Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it. He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it. And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’
“Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt. Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’”
Here you can see our Lord is first speaking to in verse one: "Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples" and what does He do? He warns them not to follow the scribes and Pharisees. He then goes on and speaks directly to them say "woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!" So not only does He tell the people not to follow them, He proceeds to tear them apart in front of the crowed!
So, why expose false teachers:
one the Bible commands it in Ephesians 5
two our Lord Jesus does it in Matthew 23.
Certainly there are more passages in scripture that speak to this topic, however these two will do fine for our purposes'.
Now, personally I don't like to always read long articles. and because I know some of you are like me, I'll put exposing Mr. Bell on hold and stop with the reasons why to expose him. My next post will be truly exposing his teachings. Please note this is not an attack on him as a person, it's on his teachings.
: )

Friday, December 19, 2008

spurgeon...


Of two evils, choose neither.

Monday, December 15, 2008

future men

Over the past, well, twenty years of my life I have noticed something. I noticed something that drastically needs to change about the boys of America. We will talk about that a little later; however I would like to bring up this simple fact: our boys will be men one day. Or put in other words, our boys are future men. So right now it would be appropriate for you to think about all the boys you know. Ponder and think about the boys you know that are under the age of 21... What did you think about them? Would you want to see them as fathers raising kids? Would you want to see them as managers running business's? Would you like to see them politicians running the country? How about husbands to their wives? The truth is, when I think and ponder about most of the boys, tears begin to fall. Sadly its true, all the boys you and I thought of will be men one day.
The past years those boys have been growing up into men and look at our society now. This is one of my passions and there is no doubt I could preach for days. Now before I started reading this book my passion for it was strong. This book took the words right out of my mouth, and with more eloquence. I have been reading a book called "Future Men" by Douglas Wilson. If you are a male and a christian you must pick up this book and read it.
I want to share with you a few thoughts from the book. Chapter one is called "The Shape of Masculinity" and it's all about men's role in this world. There are five roles men are supposed to fill and be. I will tell you the five, and then in another post expound on one of them.

The five: lords, husbandmen, saviors, sages and glory-bearers.

Those five give you a Biblical shape to masculinity. It will be my joy to talk about this further a little later on. Just know, boys, those five are for you to walk out and will bring you into the man God wants you to be. Boys, search the Bible for who God wants you to be, read proverbs...a lot!

I love you guys! : )

tim.
reformata.



Random thoughts about the law from Johnny Mac-

God’s grace cannot be faithfully preached to unbelievers until the law is preached, and man’s corrupt nature is exposed. It is impossible for a person to fully realize his need for God’s grace until he sees how terribly he has failed the standards of God’s law.

- John MacArthur

Thursday, December 4, 2008

the gospel is the power of God



How do you read Romans 1:16?

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes . . . Romans 1:16

How you read Romans 1:16 tells a lot about you. Which of the following best resembles how you interpret the text?

For I am not ashamed of the gospel (the death burial and resurrection of our Lord and Savior), for it (the preaching of that gospel and absolutely nothing else) is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (not a superficial shallow mental ascent, but a complete dependence and trust upon Christ) . . .

- Christian

For I am not ashamed of the gifts of the spirit, for they are proof of the power of God and proof of your salvation to everyone who believes . . .

-Charismaniac

For I am not ashamed of pleading for money, for sowing your faith seed offering is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes . . .

-Word of Faith Charismaniac

For I am not ashamed of Mary, the Pope, and the Mother Church, for they are the power of God and the only way to salvation to everyone who believes and receives the sacraments, attends meritorious masses, is baptized, keeps the law, does good works, purchases indulgences, endures purgatory, etc. . . .

- Roman Catholic

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of the New Earth that we peddle door to door, for the Watchtower is the only ones who speak for God and is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes and exhaustively works their tails off for the Watchtower almost every waking hour of the day for their entire life to obtain Jehovah’s favor, which is not guaranteed . . .

- Jehovah’ Witness

For I am not ashamed of the restored gospel, even though I am ashamed and embarrassed about our church history and the things our church prophets have said (that was just their opinion and they were not speaking for God when they said all those awful things) for the Melchizadek Priesthood which only we have is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes and follows the following conditions as outlined in Gospel Principles pages 303-304 (1997 edition): 1.) We must be baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ. 2.) We must receive the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. 3.) We must receive the temple endowment. 4.) We must be married for time and eternity.In addition to receiving the required ordinances, the Lord commands all of us to– 1. Love and worship God. 2. Love our neighbor. 3. Repent of our wrongdoings. 4. Live the law of chastity. 5. Pay honest tithes and offerings. 6. Be honest in our dealings with others and with the Lord. 7. Speak the truth always. 8. Obey the Word of Wisdom. 9. Search out our kindred dead and perform the saving ordinances of the gospel for them. 10. Keep the Sabbath day holy. 11. Attend our Church meetings as regularly as possible so we can renew our baptismal covenants by partaking of the sacrament. 12. Love our family members and strengthen them in the ways of the Lord. 13. Have family and individual prayers every day. 14. Honor our parents. 15. Teach the gospel to others by word and example. 16. Study the scriptures. 17. Listen to and obey the inspired words of the prophets of the Lord. Finally, each of us needs to receive the Holy Ghost and learn to follow his direction in our individual lives.

- Mormon

For I am not ashamed of the value found in all religions regardless of whether or not they conflict with one another on core issues , for whatever truth is for you, it is the power of God, gods, goddess, no god, or whatever you believe for a better world to everyone who believes or chooses not to believe . . .

- Universalist Unitarian


For I am not ashamed of shameless church marketing, for the end justifies the means and pragmatism is the power of God for filling seats on Sundays to watch our awesome worship rock band followed by our hip and and oh, so cool pastor and we’re also giving away free gas cards to everyone who attends our local campus . . .

- Seeker-Friendly

For I am not ashamed of supporting any socialist cause or liberal issue, for a woman’s right to choose and a homosexual’s right to marry is the power of self-empowerment for salvation from the oppressive chains that the white, Anglo-Saxon, Capitalist, fascists have placed on the backs of everyone in this nation . . .

- Liberal


Romans? Is that in the Bible?

- Emergent / Emerging

taken from: http://defendingcontending.com/2008/08/03/how-do-you-read-romans-116/