KEEPERS OF CHRIST'S TRUTH

BMWConf Promo Video

2010-03-01T20:01:00.000-08:00

THE FEW...... Does that include you?

2009-09-26T11:26:00.001-07:00

God's Wrath Is Coming - Are You Ready?

2009-08-17T15:27:00.000-07:00

What better video to start posting again with!

Do you want anything else?

2009-02-19T04:48:00.000-08:00

Jesus Is Lord - Tim Conway

2009-02-03T19:47:00.001-08:00

Jesus is Lord from I'll Be Honest on Vimeo.

No "Jesus as my boyfriend songs" around here!

2009-02-02T05:00:00.000-08:00

Conviction Alert!

2009-01-22T20:03:00.000-08:00

THE PORPOISE DRIVEN LIFE!

2008-12-14T04:43:00.000-08:00

What ever it takes to get people in the seats right?

The Only Way

2008-12-12T04:16:00.000-08:00

Christ in the Tabernacle

2008-12-03T03:21:00.000-08:00

Stop dating the church

2008-11-30T05:36:00.000-08:00

Is Jesus Everything

2008-11-26T10:15:00.000-08:00

Just when I thought it was safe to watch a paul washer video with out conviction came this gem!

Is Christ everything?

MacArthur Preaches on TBN this is not a joke! :)

2008-11-25T06:34:00.000-08:00

Hear the great gospel presentation John gave on TBN with Kirk. I feel this is one of the best Gospel presentations I have ever seen. YOU NEED TO WATCH THIS VIDEO!!!!

The Roman Catholic Doctrine Of Transubstantiation

2008-11-07T04:38:00.001-08:00

The error of "selective citing" (Also GO VOTE)

2008-11-04T03:45:00.000-08:00

Bible Teacher or a Philosopher?

2008-10-31T05:08:00.000-07:00

Did you know Adam could fly?
Did you know Adam was God?

Both these questions are obvious grossly incorrect statements. In the video clip you will here Mark Kielar address pastors who add, remove, and makeup their own ideas.

Side Note: I found if I add names of people and pastors to blog post that they will visit the site so I'm going to do an experiment.

Rob Bell, Doug Pagitt, Bill Hybels, Rich Warren, Robert Schuller, Brad Pitt, High School Musical.

Preaching & Preachers

2008-10-29T13:50:00.000-07:00

"Arrogant Legalism" or the offense of the Gospel?

2008-08-30T22:10:00.000-07:00

It is with great humility, thoughtful prayer, and diligent study that I've compiled this post as a response to a comment left on my blog. I did not want to reply to this comment with a harsh attitude. So I spent much time thinking of this reply. The comment is from a post I did called “Don't have people ask Jesus into their heart”

here is the comment from that post
“I believe this to be an incredibly arrogant display of legalism. To imply that on becoming a Christian our sin nature is completely done away with is ridiculous. Yes we live in Christ...exactly. We are not some person set on Jesus Auto-pilot. I'd like to see this article set to more biblical text. How would Romans 7:14-25 compare and contrast with this article? The first converts in Acts? How does this article interact with the book of Hebrews.“

Let me addressed a couple things that are pointed out in this comment. You can make the insertion that this is a display of legalism. But it's a display of what the Bible teaches. Further down in this article I will give ample scripture to back up my thoughts. If you walked out the front door of your house right now, and were hit by a car. You would instantly pass to heaven or hell. At that point, it doesn't matter if its legalism. What matters is, "is what the bible teaches true". You’re dead! and if you’re dead the question is did I repent of my sin (turn from sin) and believe in Christ. When you realize that we are dealing with eternity, we are dealing with people's souls that will be either tormented for eternity in hell or glorify God the Father and Jesus in heaven I don't consider it anything but the gospel. I ask everyone who reads this article to put aside things someone has told you, the thoughts that you've had about Christianity, conclusions you have, and listen to the Scripture

Matthew 7:13-23
13 "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.
14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
A Tree and Its Fruit
15 "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles?
17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.
18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.
19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. I Never Knew You
21 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
22 On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?'
23 And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.

In Matthew 7 you will clearly see that your profession in Jesus Christ means absolutely nothing. The person in verse 21 is someone who emphatically declares Jesus as Lord of their life and what does Christ's say to them. Depart from me you workers of lawlessness. Or iniquity. what is lawlessness? I want to point out that it says workers of lawlessness. When you see the word work or practice it is speaking of something, you continually do if I practice my baseball swing. That means I repeat the act of what I'm trying to accomplish. If I’m practicing on my swing, I keep swinging the bat. So if I practice lawlessness, than I would be someone who consistently breaks God's law. What is God's law? We could look at the standard that God has set for us, in the 10 Commandments. Now I am not saying that our works save us, but faith without works is dead (James 2:17).

The next thing I want to address in the comment is the sentence that says, “To imply that on becoming a Christian our sin nature is completely done away with is ridiculous.” Are we not new creatures in Christ; are we not dead to sin?

Hebrews 10:26-31
26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.
28 Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses.
29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?
30 For we know him who said, "Vengeance is mine; I will repay." And again, "The Lord will judge his people."
31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Does your conscience convict you? Or does your conscience speak clearly? In Paul's epistles he talks about the conscience. About having a clear conscience. About having nothing convicting him in his conscience. When he was being accused of this by people and he said my conscience is clear. Is your conscience clear? If you always lie, always steel, or always lust for women (or men), or when you blaspheme Gods name by flippantly using His Holy name. You are breaking Gods law.

In reference to Romans 7:14-25, Do we not all sin as Christians? Yes. The New Testament talks about the fact that as believers we still sin. If we say we do not sin. We make God a liar. There is a difference between stumbling and diving into sin. Never giving up your sin, longing for sin and enjoying the sin. Paul is simply talking about the fact that he doesn't want to sin, but it still happens the things you don't want to do, You are doing and you get frustrated and upset and disappointed that you've let God down. But your life is not marked by that sin. You are not defined by that sin; Paul's life was clearly not marked out by sin.

Below I've added several more Bible verses that reiterate the stance the bible takes on the issue of sin and the reason understanding sin is so important. It goes right back to Matthew 7, there are people in this world that believe they themselves are saved, they have prayed a prayer but have never turned their life over to Christ. They've never repented and believed and on the judgment day when Christ will say to them. Depart from me. I never knew you. You workers of lawlessness. That's why I come across boldly, because we cannot modify the Gospel. We can't make it more palatable. We can't take the offense out of it. We are all sinners. We all need a Savior. We all need a substitution and we have that in Jesus Christ. If you say I'm a Christian, But you bear bad fruit than on that day I hope you don't find your self as one of the many who lived on the broad road, who thought they were on the narrow road passing through the narrow gate. But hear Christ say depart from me!

Judge not let you be judged

1 John 2: 3-4
3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.
4 Whoever says "I know him" but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him,

1 John 2: 29
29 If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.

1 John 3:4-10
4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.
5 You know that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.
6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.
7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.
8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.
9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.
10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

Romans 1:28-32
28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.
29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips,
30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
32 Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

Romans 2:2-6
2 We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things.
3 Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God?
4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
6 He will render to each one according to his works:

Romans 2:12-16
12 For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.
13 For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.
14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law.
15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them
16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

Romans 6:11-14
11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.
13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.
14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

Romans 8:4-7
4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.
6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.

1 Corinthians 3:1-3
1 But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ.
2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, 3 for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?

2 Corinthians 13:5-6
5Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!
6 I hope you will find out that we have not failed the test.

Hebrews 10:26-31
26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.
28 Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses.
29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?
30 For we know him who said, "Vengeance is mine; I will repay." And again, "The Lord will judge his people." 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

James 1:21-25
21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.
24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.
25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

James 2:17
17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

James 4:7-10
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

1 Peter 2:11-12
11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.
12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

All referenced Scripture is from the ESV Bible

Don't have people ask Jesus into their heart

2008-08-22T20:55:00.000-07:00

Jeff makes a excellent point in this video about asking Jesus in to your heart or praying a salvation prayer. Below I have attached and article from Todd Friel called "Ten Reasons To Not Ask Jesus Into Your Heart". Please take the time to read it, this is a very important issue

Ten Reasons To Not Ask Jesus Into Your Heart

The music weeps, the preacher pleads, "Give your heart to Jesus. You have a God shaped hole in your heart and only Jesus can fill it." Dozens, hundreds or thousands of people who want to get their spiritual life on track make their way to the altar. They ask Jesus into their heart.

Cut to three months later. Nobody has seen our new convert in church. The follow up committee calls him and encourages him to attend a Bible study, but to no avail. We label him a backslider and get ready for the next outreach event.

Our beloved child lies in her snugly warm bed and says, "Yes, Daddy. I want to ask Jesus into my heart." You lead her in "the prayer" and hope that it sticks. You spend the next ten years questioning if she really, really meant it. Puberty hits and the answer reveals itself. She backslides. We spend the next ten years praying that she will come to her senses.

Telling someone to ask Jesus into their hearts has a very typical result, backsliding. the Bible says that a person who is soundly saved puts his hand to the plow and does not look back because he is fit for service. In other words, a true convert cannot backslide. If a person backslides, he never slid forward in the first place. "If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation." (II Cor.5) No backsliding there.

Brace yourself for this one: with very few if any exceptions, anyone who asked Jesus into their hearts to be saved...is not. If you asked Jesus into your heart because you were told that is what you have to do to become a Christian, you were mis-informed.

If you have ever told someone to ask Jesus into their heart (like I have), you produced a false convert. Here is why.

1. It is not in the Bible. There is not a single verse that even hints we should say a prayer inviting Jesus into our hearts. Some use Rev. 3:20. To tell us that Jesus is standing at the door of our hearts begging to come in. "Behold, I stand at the door and knock." There are two reasons that interpretation is wrong.

The context tells us that the door Jesus is knocking on is the door of the church, not the human heart. Jesus is not knocking to enter someone's heart but to have fellowship with His church. Even if the context didn't tell us this, we would be forcing a meaning into the text (eisegesis). How do we know it is our heart he is knocking at? Why not our car door? How do we know he isn't knocking on our foot? To suggest that he is knocking on the door of our heart is superimposing a meaning on the text that simply does not exist.

The Bible does not instruct us to ask Jesus into our heart. This alone should resolve the issue, nevertheless, here are nine more reasons.

2. Asking Jesus into your heart is a saying that makes no sense. What does it mean to ask Jesus into your heart? If I say the right incantation will He somehow enter my heart? Is it literal? Does He reside in the upper or lower ventricle? Is this a metaphysical experience? Is it figurative? If it is, what exactly does it mean? While I am certain that most adults cannot articulate its meaning, I am certain that no child can explain it. Pastor Dennis Rokser reminds us that little children think literally and can easily be confused (or frightened) at the prospect of asking Jesus into their heart.

3. In order to be saved, a man must repent (Acts 2:38). Asking Jesus into your heart leaves out the requirement of repentance.

4. In order to be saved, a man must trust in Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31).
Asking Jesus into your heart leaves out the requirement of faith.

5. The person who wrongly believes they are saved will have a false sense of security. Millions of people who sincerely, but wrongly, asked Jesus into their hearts think they are saved but struggle to feel secure. They live in doubt and fear because they do not have the Holy Spirit giving them assurance of salvation.

6. The person who asks Jesus into his heart will likely end up inoculated, bitter and backslidden. Because he did not get saved by reciting a formulaic prayer, he will grow disillusioned with Jesus, the Bible, church and fellow believers. His latter end will be worse than the first.

7. It presents God as a beggar just hoping you will let Him into your busy life. This presentation of God robs Him of His sovereignty.

8. The cause of Christ is ridiculed. Visit an atheist web-site and read the pagans who scoff, "How dare those Christians tell us how to live when they get divorced more than we do? Who are they to say homosexuals shouldn't adopt kids when tens of thousands of orphans don't get adopted by Christians?" Born again believers adopt kids and don't get divorced. People who ask Jesus into their hearts do. Jesus gets mocked when false converts give Him a bad name.

9. The cause of evangelism is hindered. While it is certainly easier to get church members by telling them to ask Jesus into their hearts, try pleading with someone to make today the day of their salvation. Get ready for a painful response. "Why should I become a Christian when I have seen so called Christians act worse than a pagan?" People who ask Jesus into their hearts give pagans an excuse for not repenting.

10. Here is the scary one. People who ask Jesus into their hearts are not saved and they will perish on the Day of Judgment. How tragic that millions of people think they are right with God when they are not. How many people who will cry out, "Lord, Lord" on judgment day will be "Christians" who asked Jesus into their hearts? So, what must one do to be saved? Repent and trust. ( Heb.6:1) The Bible makes it clear that all men must repent and place their trust in Jesus Christ. Every man does have a "God shaped hole in their hearts," but that hole is not contentment, fulfillment and peace. Every man's heart problem is righteousness. Instead of preaching that Jesus fulfills, we must preach that God judges and Jesus satisfies God's judgment...if a man will repent and place his trust in Him.

If you are reading this and you asked Jesus into your heart, chances are good you had a spiritual buzz for a while, but now you struggle to read your Bible, tithe, attend church and pray. Perhaps you were told you would have contentment, purpose and a better life if you just ask Jesus into your heart. I am sorry, that was a lie.

If you have been preaching that people should ask Jesus into their hearts, I beg you to stop immediately. You will give an account for all the souls you have led astray. ***

Learn how to share the gospel simply, effectively, biblically, the way Jesus did.
Check out:
Hell's Best Kept Secret

Jacked Up!

2008-08-22T20:45:00.000-07:00

The title says it all. You can listen to these people for hours and never hear a bible versus. There is a reason for that.... because most of it is un-biblical.

Watch in disbelief!

Patricia King "Excellent" Not , but truly "Bogus"

2008-08-22T20:16:00.000-07:00

If anyone has studied the word of faith movement undoubtedly they have see Patrica King. I was crying inside because this video is so funny. These people are way out their but that doesn't mean we shouldn't pray for their salvation. I hope God speaks the true gospel in to her life and the people that watch her show.

If your my age, and remember Bill and Ted's excellent adventure you will like this clip.

Preach God's Word, Boldly, and nothing else!

2008-08-17T05:07:00.000-07:00

something that has bothered me a lot over the last couple years in a lot of different churches. Is this toning down, dumbing down, simplifying of the Gospel. too many pastors now a days are worried about growing their church telling funny jokes making people laugh. When they should be worried about convicting God's people of their sin, preaching the Word faithfully, boldly without hesitation and equip God's people to go out and share their faith. Some people call this trend "seeker sensitive" or "church growth". This has always been something that's bothered me, but I really haven't noticed how un-Biblical it is until I watched a couple of the following clips. When I was attending together for the Gospel Mark never did a lesson on the centrality of the Gospel. Matter of fact, the title of his lesson was "improving the Gospel; exercises in un-biblical theology". prior to this together for the Gospel event, I always felt that pastors were more worried about pleasing the people then they were honoring and glorifying God in their preaching. Now I know, a lot of pastors don't wake up on Sunday morning and say, how can I please people. I think many of them have motives that are good (as much as our motives can be good with out following God's plan), but is that biblical? so watch the next couple clips. The first one is by Jim McCarty about seeker sensitive churches, the second clip is of RC Sproul and the third clip is of Alistair Begg. I have also added a link to Mark Dever's, hour-long presentation from together for the gospel.

I hope that God uses this post to speak into some hearts on what the purpose of preaching and the church is. I think Paul in 2 Timothy 15 could of benefited from the seeker sensitive model of building a church. Everybody in Asia was turning their backs on him because he would boldly, unequivocally, without hesitation, without taking the offense out, He preached the Gospel and he preach it hard!

"Improving the Gospel; exercises in un-biblical theology" by Mark Dever

Sharing Your Faith - The Law

2008-08-08T04:54:00.000-07:00

This is going to be the first in a series of posts that I'm going to put on on my blog that have to do with sharing your faith. The way I share my faith is based off of the way of the master teaching Ray Comfort started. The teaching is called Hell's best-kept secret, and it goes through why the law should be used to pierce the heart of the sinner to go past the logic and go straight to the conscience. A lot of Christians get freaked out with sharing their faith, and there's really no reason to. Mark Cahill says it's a win-win situation. If they reject you, they are not rejecting you they are rejecting God. You may also think you failed but you planted a seed.

This video is of a witness encounter were Steve Sanchez is using the law to witness to a young lady who "is a christian". He walks her through the law to show her how sinful she is in God's eye. He pulls away the self righteous idea that she is a good person.

Did I forget to mention the women is a Lesbian? Get what.... it doesn't matter. The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul Psalm 19:7

Here is a link to the HBKS teaching by Ray Comfort
http://www.livingwaters.com/listenwatch.shtml

Church Reform When You're Not the Pastor (Part 2)

2008-08-03T04:49:00.000-07:00

I originally posted 5 articles from over at 9 Marks ministries blog titled "Church Reform When You're Not the Pastor". Well the boys over at 9 Marks have post more articles to the series so instead of updating the old post I created a new "part 2" so everyone would see it. These articles have been very helpful for myself. Hopefully they can speak to you and your situation at your church http://blog.9marks.org/

by Greg Gilbert

6. Train other leaders. Aim for majorities.

One of the things I've learned in my few years working on reforming a church is that congregation-wide agreement does not fall out of the sky on a silver platter. Reforming a church is a long process that requires a whole lot of conversations, a whole lot of persuasion---and a whole lot of votes. And at the end of the day, if you're going to facilitate reform, you need majorities that will vote for it.

Once you've been recognized as a leader in your church, the next step is to work on discipling other men who could also be recognized as leaders, and who, eventually, could join you in forming a majority of the leadership that wants to press for reform. As in so much of the Christian life, that's a long process of identifying men whom God has gifted for leadership, spending time with them, teaching them, and preparing them spiritually and otherwise for leadership.

When I came to Third Avenue, there were three men (including Aaron Menikoff who blogs here occasionally) on the board of deacons who were in favor of change. But there were three other men on the board who were not. When I was elected as a deacon, after several months of serving as a member in the church, all of us knew that my becoming a deacon made it 4-3 in favor of reform. And so we started reforming the church on a series of 4-3 votes.

Now one can argue that this was somehow unethical, and that it would have been better to try to persuade one (or even all three) of the other men to agree with the idea of reform.........

Click below to finish reading the articles
Article 5
Article 6
Article 7
Article 8

Do you love hymns!

2008-07-27T14:30:00.000-07:00

today in church I was standing at the back of the sanctuary, and during worship I was thinking about how much I miss hymns. To be completely honest I never really remember singing hymns in church. We have always sung contemporary music for the most part since I've been a believer. But that all changed for me while I was down at the together for the gospel conference in Kentucky. We Sung hymns before every speaker would get up and after every speaker was done. It could've been the fact that over 5000 men were singing hymns with me. But there was something about worshiping to those hymns. It just felt more majestic more glorious and more honoring to God . The lyrics in the song just seemed to focus me directly upon God and upon Christ and the work he did on the cross. They were so deep in theology I felt convicted just singing the songs.

The title to the first video I have attached to this article is “do you hate old hands because you're unregenerate”. Right off the bat people will jump to battle stations and say that's ridiculous, contemporary music is just fine for Christians to worship to. In the general context of the argument I don't have an issue with contemporary christian music. But I also agree with the point that they make on this clip when they say, “is it possible that you do not like hymns because you are unregenerate (not saved)”? I believe that I was that guy, I couldn't stand to listen to hymns. hymns were just boring and dry and long and drawn out. But at the time I thought that way about hymns I obviously was unregenerate when I look back. Of course, I prayed the prayer , you know accept Jesus into my heart. The more I studied God's word the more I realized that those are all just outward signs. Inwardly I wasn't bored again.

So not to leave you hanging the second clip that I have in this post is really awesome. It is a clip of Wintley Phipps talking about the slave scale on the piano, and how almost all the Negro spiritual songs come from the slave scale or the Black Keys. And it's just a cool little clip where he explains how the melody for Amazing Grace possibly could've came about.

Vacation Bible School...Rededicating Your Life...Ask Jesus Into Your Heart?

2008-07-15T04:47:00.000-07:00

Stuff = Not born again ?

2008-07-15T04:20:00.000-07:00

If your first reaction was "no" to the title maybe you have too much stuff!

Sometimes I think to myself "it is so hard to be a Christian in this country, because we have so much stuff" we have stuff everywhere, our goal in America is getting more stuff, being more secure in our stuff , trying to get other peoples stuff, and all that stuff gets in the way of God and of Christ. Do you ever stop to think of all the things you would put before reading your Bible. We think of our Bible as a Book. How often do we put things in front of simply reading our Bible? oh I have to get ready to go to work, I want to watch TV, let's go out to eat, I'm going to bed early, let's go on a bike ride, or a walk. How often do we put things before reading God's Word to us!

Think of how many things you have in your house in your life that mean nothing on the day of judgment. When Christ comes back the things that mean absolutely nothing! I can go down the list, just as easily as anybody else. As Christians we should have nothing we place before Christ and all things that compete with Christ in our lives should be pushed away!

Church Reform When You're Not the Pastor

2008-07-13T05:26:00.000-07:00

I saw these articles over at 9 Marks ministries blog. They have been very helpful for situations that I find myself in. Hopefully they can speak to you and your situation at your church
http://blog.9marks.org/

by Greg Gilbert

There's been some talk here lately, in the comments sections, about how on earth one can go about reforming a church---or even moving it in a good direction---when you're not the pastor. For the next few weeks, I want to post a series of little nuggets of what I hope will be help to people in that kind of situation. All these come from my own experience as one of several men who have worked to reform Third Avenue Baptist Church in Louisville. I don't claim universality for any of these; some of them might be helpful to you in your situation; others might be positively unhelpful. You'll have to use your own wisdom as you think through them. But I hope that the lot of them will provide some helpful perspective as you try to navigate the admittedly tough job of trying to steer a church into a more healthy direction.

Let me know what you think of these. Add others if you want, especially you other 9M bloggers who have more experience in this area than I do. I have thirteen points in mind right now. That may get longer or shorter as we go. But here we go.......

Here are the links to part 1, 2, 3, and 4 of this article
article 1
article 2
article 3
article 4
article 5

The Emerging Church (the ultimate post)

2008-07-06T14:47:00.000-07:00

Below I've posted a couple clips of Mark Driscoll explaining the different emerging lanes. These are the different as he calls them the lanes or highways in the emergent church. He was originally associated with the fourth stream that he talks about with Rob Bell and Brian McLaren. His envolment started before the Terra nova project. I also saw a presentation by Jason Carlson. If I remember correctly, Jason Carlson was actually a student of Doug Pagitt. Doug Pagitt was basically his youth pastor I believe and Doug Pagitt decided to start Solomon's porch and Jason Carlson tells a similar story to Mark Driscoll, where they started realize some of the underpinnings of this movement that this fourth emergent lane where people were questioning, certain Biblical doctrines we would normally consider absolutes in Christendom. Mark Driscoll goes on to explain this in these video clips. I would like to find some of the videos from Jason, I actually have a presentation on DVD from a worldview weekend conferences. But I'm pretty sure that will violate some type of copyright infringement.

just to give you a little insight into some of the people in the emergent church here is an interview that Todd Friel of Way of the Master radio did with the Doug Pagitt.

How to Refute a Straw Man

2008-07-05T09:45:00.000-07:00

Truth Wars

2008-07-02T11:24:00.000-07:00

This is probably as close as I will ever get to posting a star wars clip on this blog!

King James Only!

2008-06-29T05:37:00.000-07:00

I saw a Kent Hovind video at the bottom of this post a couple weeks ago. It seemed like a very good presentation for using the KJVO (I'm not a JKV only person). Thank the lord for James White. He shreds Kent Hovind presentation to bits. If you you think JKV is the only good version of the bible our you have run into a KJV Only person you need to watch these clips.

Here is the original clip

Here is a link to and article AIG did on Kent
http://web.archive.org/web/20050313064211/http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2002/1011hovind.asp

"I Grew Up a 'Christian'." (Susan Yenser's)

2008-06-28T12:21:00.000-07:00

I can't remember when I ran into Susan's blog but it was some time ago. After hearing her testimony in this video I realized we seem to be on the same path at the same time. (as you can see I use the quote she has on her blog for mine also). Listening to her testimony it is so convicting. We must all remember to examine our self not follow the same American Christianity everyone else has!

This is a testimony of Susan Yenser. Susan gave this recently at an FCA meeting at the University of Florida.

Her blog is:
http://denyyourselfdaily.blogspot.com

Election = Violation of free will (that is the question)

2008-06-21T05:56:00.000-07:00

I talked about this clip in Sunday school a couple weeks ago when we were discussing free will. Mark does a nice job of explaining election in this clip. If this clip doesn't help you with the doctrine of election I can always go back to my default stance...... Where is free will in the bible? :)

Can you articulate your faith like this!

2008-06-21T05:50:00.000-07:00

Sadly.... and I mean very sadly most Christians can't. Listen all the way to the end. It's a shocker!

I hope your convicted, now go learn about your GOD Christian!

"If Election is True, Why Evangelize?"

2008-06-18T19:00:00.001-07:00

Testimony - True Conversion!

2008-06-18T18:48:00.000-07:00

I love listening to these to testimonies. It really make you think about conversion. Do you have the fortitude to stay as long as it takes for lost souls? Do you have the knowledge to share your faith to lost souls when it's not as easy as "asking Jesus in to their heart"?

I hope these testimonies deeply impact your soul Christian!

Hidden With Christ in God

2008-06-18T18:18:00.000-07:00

Should God Forgive a Child Molester?

2008-06-11T16:14:00.000-07:00

UNTITLED

2008-06-11T05:20:00.000-07:00

When I saw this post on Slice. The title was "Jesus is All To Us or He is Nothing". The title is a fine title but this clip from Paul Washer hits on many points. I couldn't come up with a title so I called it "UNTITLED".

Paul Washer Brings it again!

If there is one molecule in this universe running around loose

2008-06-10T19:28:00.000-07:00

In my classes in the seminary, I raise questions like, “Is God in control of every single molecule in the universe?” When I raise that question, I say, “The answer to that question will not determine whether you are a Christian or a Moslem, a Calvinist or an Arminian, but it will determine whether you are a theist or an atheist.” Sometimes the students can’t see the connection.

And I say to them, “Don’t you realize that if there is one molecule in this universe running around loose outside the scope or the sphere of God’s divine control and authority and power, then that single maverick molecule may be the grain of sand that changes the entire course of human history, that blocks God from keeping the promises he has made to his people?” It may be that one maverick molecule that will prevent Christ from the consummation of his kingdom.

For if there is one maverick molecule, it would mean that God is not sovereign. If God is not sovereign, then God is not God. If there is any element of the universe that is outside of his authority, then he no longer is God over all. In other words, sovereignty belongs to deity. Sovereignty is a natural attribute of the Creator. God owns what he makes, and he rules what he owns.

R. C. Sproul

HT: Symphony of Scripture

American "Christianity" - Hard Preaching Warning!

2008-06-05T04:36:00.000-07:00

Who feels like being convicted today?

What hast thou to do with sin?

2008-06-05T04:31:00.000-07:00

"Christian, what hast thou to do with sin? Hath it not cost thee enough already? Burnt child, wilt thou play with the fire? What! when thou hast already been between the jaws of the lion, wilt thou step a second time into his den? Hast thou not had enough of the old serpent? Did he not poison all thy veins once, and wilt thou play upon the hole of the asp, and put thy hand upon the cockatrice's den a second time? Oh, be not so mad! so foolish! Did sin ever yield thee real pleasure? Didst thou find solid satisfaction in it? If so, go back to thine old drudgery, and wear the chain again, if it delight thee. But inasmuch as sin did never give thee what it promised to bestow, but deluded thee with lies, be not a second time snared by the old fowler---be free, and let the remembrance of thy ancient bondage forbid thee to enter the net again!"
-Spurgeon

The Heart of the True Christian - a long but needed post

2008-05-31T21:55:00.000-07:00

I met with a small group of men last night. We had several very deep and though provoking conversations. I hope these videos will help flush out the views I expressed. These videos get to the heart of my thoughts on what I will call a "Carnal Christan". Someone who has said a prayer or dives into a continual habitual sin, They have no fruit. I can't plead enough, check you self against God's word! Hack any remnant of sin in your life to pieces and don't let it linger.

Matthew 7
12"So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. 13"Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

15 "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

21 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' 23 And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'

24 "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it."

All too often we hear people "Accept" or "pray and asked Jesus into their heart"...is it that easy to pass from death to life? Can you live in the Broadway and pass through the narrow gate?...

Is Repentance Necessary for Salvation?

by John Hendryx

First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles also, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds.” Acts 26:20

“I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.” Acts 20:21

There is a divergence of viewpoints on this topic that, recently, has led to quite a bit of contention among evangelicals. This has also been known as the Lordship, no-Lordship debate. After we strip away the bark what is left is the difference between the Reformed and a dispensational view of salvation. After doing some serious personal contemplation over this I have personally come to the conclusion that the difference lies in each camps’ understanding of the doctrine of regeneration.

The dispensationalists will argue that to require repentance, as part of salvation, is to actually add another requirement to ‘faith alone’. In other words, to require belief in Christ’s Lordship in addition to the belief in Christ as Savior is tantamount to adding a work and confusing the simple gospel of faith alone with some action on the believers’ part. Any addition to simple faith is seen as another gospel and dangerously close to salvation by works. Such critics would thus define repentance to only mean a change of mind towards one’s previous view of Christ.

Finish reading this article at Possessing the Treasure

Why every Christian is a Calvinist of sorts

2008-05-27T17:20:00.000-07:00

(by Phil Johnson)

Is Arminianism damnable heresy?

I love the doctrines of grace and don’t shy away from the label “Calvinist.” I believe in the sovereignty of God. I’m convinced Scripture teaches that God is completely sovereign not only in salvation (effectually calling and granting faith to those whom He chooses); but also in every detail of the outworking of Providence. “Whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified” (Romans 8:30). And He makes “all things work together for good to those who love God, [i.e.,] to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). Quite simply, He “works all things according to the counsel of His will” (Ephesians 1:11).

That’s what people commonly mean when they speak of “Calvinism.” When I accept that label, I am not pledging allegiance to the man John Calvin. I am not affirming everything he taught, and I’m not condoning everything he did. I’m convinced Calvin was a godly man and one of the finest biblical expositors and theological minds ever, but he wasn’t always right. As a matter of fact, my own convictions are baptistic, so I am by no means one of Calvin’s devoted followers. In other words, when I accept the label “Calvinist,” it’s only for convenience’s sake. I’m not saying “I am of Calvin” in the Corinthian sense.

Furthermore, I’m not one of those who wears Calvinism like a big chip on his shoulder, daring people to fight with me about it. It’s true that I can get feisty about certain points of doctrine—especially when someone attacks a principle that goes to the heart of the gospel, like substitutionary atonement, or original sin, or justification by faith and the principle of imputed righteousness. When one of those principles is challenged, I’m ready to fight.

You can read the full article at Pulpit Magazine...

Can Christians Become Demon-Possessed?

2008-05-27T17:02:00.000-07:00

(By John MacArthur)

We must remember, first of all, that God’s Word is our only reliable source of truth about Satan and demons.

Princeton theologian and scholar Dr. Charles Hodge rightly warned: No amount of learning, no superiority of talent, nor even the pretension to inspiration, can justify a departure from the . . . truths taught by men to whose inspiration God has borne witness. All teachers must be brought to this standard; and even if an angel from heaven should teach anything contrary to the Scriptures, he should be regarded as anathema, Gal. 1:8. It is a matter of constant gratitude that we have such a standard whereby to try the spirits whether they be of God (Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1972], p. 395).

What does God’s Word, the touchstone of truth, say? Can demons inhabit or spatially indwell a true believer? Can they walk through an open door and become a squatter? Proponents of today’s spiritual warfare movement say yes, but they base their answer on subjective experience, not on God’s Word. The Bible makes it clear that such a claim has no justifiable basis.

There is no clear example in the Bible where a demon ever inhabited or invaded a true believer. Never in the New Testament epistles are believers warned about the possibility of being inhabited by demons. Neither do we see anyone rebuking, binding, or casting demons out of a true believer. The epistles never instruct believers to cast out demons, whether from a believer or unbeliever. Christ and the apostles were the only ones who cast out demons, and in every instance the demon-possessed people were unbelievers.

The collective teaching of Scripture is that demons can never spatially indwell a true believer. A clear implication of 2 Corinthians 6, for example, is that the indwelling Holy Spirit could never cohabit with demons:

What harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people” (vv. 15–16).

In Colossians 1:13, Paul says God “delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.” Salvation brings true deliverance and protection from Satan. In Romans 8:37, Paul says we overwhelmingly conquer through Christ. In 1 Corinthians 15:57, he says God gives us the victory. In 2 Corinthians 2:14, he says God always leads us in triumph. In 1 John 2:13, John says we have overcome the evil one. And, in 4:4, he says the indwelling Holy Spirit is greater than Satan. How could anyone affirm those glorious truths, yet believe demons can indwell genuine believers?

To read the full article from the pulpit click here

Tony Campolo and "Jesus' Central Teaching"

2008-05-24T04:19:00.000-07:00

I had some people take issue with my 'Rick Warren Twisting Scripture' post. Several people pointed out to me that I don't know if Rick Warren was taken out of context in the clip I played (I'm confident he was not, due to other research that I have done before posting that video). I do however understand why this is important. I will make every attempt to post original content with the cut content.

Tony Campolo and "Jesus' Central Teaching" will be the first post where I follow this new method. The first video is of Todd Friel (the same guy who did the warren clip) of way of the master radio and Johnny Mac. Can I state at this point I do not have an obsession with John MacArthur, He just seems to be on everything I think is worth posting. The second clip is the clip of Tony Campolo that they are talking about.

Clip 1

Clip 2

Look at me!

2008-05-23T17:51:00.001-07:00

Where's JimmyD?
I was on you tube looking for T4G videos and guess what? I found a video of me! I'm Famous..... "Thank you thank you, I would like to thank the academy for this award, I couldn't of done this with out John Piper walking in front of me and cutting me off, Thank you and god bless". I don't know the person who made this video. When watching this video you will see me in a green shirt with brown paints and my bag over my shoulder.

Look for me at :34, :56, 2:03, 2:27

He became furious and very angry - rant

2008-05-21T04:49:00.000-07:00

Ok, You can probably tell I completely ripped the title for this post completely out of context (Nehemiah 4:1). I saw the following clip on you tube after watching a clip about the evangelical manifesto. At first I was angry when I saw how these men were mocking Christians. Then my anger focused on the Christians that they were mocking. I was mad that people in the name of Christ were doing things that make the world say "see they only want money" or "see God wants your $1000 dollars commitment and he will fix any problems you have". I know as Christians we will be mocked and that is fine I take joy in that like the apostles did (Acts 5:41). When I see my faith mocked not because someone is preaching the gospel in public, worshiping the lord, or publicly reading their bible on lunch or something like that it makes me angry VERY ANGRY!

Is Calvinism Dangerous

2008-05-20T14:45:00.000-07:00

Jim McClarty and Jeff Young of Grace Christian Assembly respond to an anti-calvinist message.

This is a long listen but has a lot of good stuff!

To listen to the whole conversation go to Reformed Voices

James White - Who Controls Salvation - Man or God?

2008-05-14T14:35:00.001-07:00

This comes from James White's Alpha and Omega Ministries it is his Closing Statement for a Debate on Calvinism he had.

Rick Warren Twisting Scripture - Sermons DO NOT Produce Spiritual Maturity

2008-05-14T14:34:00.001-07:00

No introduction needed here. Please watch/listen to these 2 videos and leave us your comments.

Part 1

Part 2

Saved or Deceived - This is a must listen!

2008-05-12T19:32:00.000-07:00

I have been trying to give some truth to a professed believer that I know, but I'm rejected at ever turn. They live like the world, act like the world, they are shacked up, having sex, going to clubs and drinking. This person works at a local church and is a "Christian" or so they clam. They say "you can't judge me" If only they new I'm not judging but not seeing any fruit and pleading with them. PLEASE TEST YOU SELF! PLEASE IF YOU NEVER LISTEN TO ANOTHER WORD I SAY LISTEN TO THIS, TEST YOUR SELF AGAINST GOD'S WORD. This message in bodies what I want that person to here.

I wish that every believer had to listen to this message. Please take the time to listen to both 1o minute clips. You will not be sorry.....are you Saved or Deceived?

Part1

Part2

The Most Important Test You’ll Ever Take!

2008-05-08T21:30:00.000-07:00

The late Dr. Francis Schaeffer was one of the greatest defenders of the Christian faith in the 20th Century. He predicted the American church would become inconsequential because of a false concept of spirituality. Self-professing Christians would talk about God and proclaim a belief in God while rejecting the God of the Bible—instead following a man-made New Age god.

I believe one of the main reasons we have a crisis in the American church, that Christians poll no differently from the world, and that students are leaving the church in large numbers is that we have an epidemic of false converts within the American church. Many people today call themselves Christians but do not believe in many, if any, of the essential Christian doctrines.

My own study of the Old Testament moral law revealed to me that I was not a good person, but it was when I opened the book of 1 John, took a pen, and underlined every sign of a true convert that I realized I did not meet even half of them. To my dismay, I recognized myself as a false convert.

First John 5:13 tells why the book of 1 John was written: “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life” (emphasis mine).

Here are 1 John’s ten signs of a true convert (you might want to compare yourself to make sure you’re where you think you are):

1. A true convert admits he or she is a sinner. He does not believe he can go to heaven by being a “good” person. She understands her own totally depravity. (1 John 1:8)

2. A true convert lives a life of obedience by keeping God’s commandments more often than breaking them. A true convert is not a habitual sinner. There’s a difference between stumbling into sin and jumping in with both feet. While true converts may continue to sin as part of the struggle with our sin nature, the life of a true convert is marked by a desire to pursue holiness and walk in obedience to God’s Word. (1 John 2:3-6, 3:6, 5:2)

3. A true convert does not harbor hate for his brother but displays forgiveness, love, and compassion. (1 John 2:9, 2:11, 3:15, 4:16, 4:20)

4. A true convert does not love the world or the things of the world, nor the world’s system of evil, ruled by Satan. (1 John 2:15)

5. A true convert proclaims Jesus Christ as the Son of God and defends the exclusivity of Christ in a world of multiple religious systems. (1 John 4:15)

6. A true convert hopes and longs for the return of the Lord. (1 John 3:2-3)

7. A true convert desires to serve and help other Christians. (1 John 3:17, 3:14)

8. A true convert loves being with other believers and hearing the Word taught. (1 John 5:1)

9. A true convert rejects false teaching. (1 John 2:22-23)

10. A true convert remains in the truth and perseveres in the faith. (1 John 2:24)

see full article here

Reformation Theology On The Rise

2008-05-07T04:53:00.000-07:00

It is no surprise to most of you that there is a renewed interest among young people in reformed theology. My last blog poll showed that the majority of Reformed Voices visitors fall into the 20-29 year old age group. It is an exciting time as God is opening up the eyes of lukewarm church goers to a greater understanding of His sovereignty and His amazing grace. Samuel at Always Ready writes about this resurgence, reflecting on his personal experience growing up in typical 'American Christianity' and the influences that has led him to embracing reformed theology. Samuel also points us to an article by Nathan Pitchford at Reformation Theology Blog on the same topic. Check them both out.

Samuel writes,

"In recent days, there has been a resurgence of reformed theology; especially among younger generations who are turned off by the error of the emerging church and the excesses of the mega churches. This has puzzled some and excited others. In an attempt to answer why this is occuring, Nathan Pitchford of the Reformation Theology blog wrote a short piece entitled, “Why Reformed?“, describing what he believes are the major factors contributing to this resurgence."

This Article comes from http://www.reformedvoices.com

Does God So Love the World?

2008-05-05T04:58:00.000-07:00

by John MacArthur

Love is the best known but least understood of all God's attributes. Almost everyone who believes in God these days sees Him as a God of love. I have even met agnostics who are quite certain that if God exists, He must be benevolent, compassionate, and loving.

All those things are infinitely true about God, of course, but not in the way most people think. Because of the influence of modern liberal theology, many suppose that God's love and goodness ultimately nullify His righteousness, justice, and holy wrath. They envision God as a benign heavenly grandfather-tolerant, affable, lenient, permissive, devoid of any real displeasure over sin, who without consideration of His holiness will benignly pass over sin and accept people as they are.

Liberal thinking about God's love also permeates much of evangelicalism today. We have lost the reality of God's wrath. We have disregarded His hatred for sin. The God most evangelicals now describe is all-loving and not at all angry. We have forgotten that "It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Hebrews 10:31). We do not believe in that kind of God anymore.

We must recapture some of the holy terror that comes with a right understanding of God's righteous anger. We need to remember that God's wrath does burn against impenitent sinners (Psalm 38:1-3). That reality is the very thing that makes His love so amazing. Only those who see themselves as sinners in the hands of an angry God can fully appreciate the magnitude and wonder of His love.

In that regard, our generation is surely at a greater disadvantage than any previous age. We have been force-fed the doctrines of self-esteem for so long that most people don't really view themselves as sinners worthy of divine wrath. On top of that, religious liberalism, humanism, evangelical compromise, and ignorance of the Scriptures have all worked against a right understanding of who God is. Ironically, in an age that conceives of God as wholly loving, altogether devoid of wrath, few people really understand what God's love is all about.

You can find the rest of the article here. http://www.oneplace.com/Articles/Print-Friendly.asp?article_id=1047

Are We Like Judas?

2008-05-04T05:04:00.000-07:00

Have you noticed that we rarely hear examples of daily sin from the pulpit anymore? Is it any wonder we have trouble recognizing our total depravity? This piece was a sobering wake up call for me. I pray it is for you, too.

The sin in our lives is the kiss of death.

Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, "What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?" And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him. - Matthew 26: 14-16

It’s important to note that Judas did not publicly reject Jesus or even quietly resign his position as a disciple before opposing him. Instead he deceitfully USED his position as a cowardly cover for his wickedness. In other words, Judas betrayed Jesus while pretending to be His friend and ally.

In light of Pontius Pilate’s own declaration of Jesus' innocence and the agonizing crucifixion that followed, it’s very easy for us to sit back on our “blessed assurance” some two thousand years later and look repugnantly at a man like Judas as if we were somehow more honorable. But I would suggest to you that many of us who claim to be Disciples of Christ betray Him daily with a kiss.

Every time we seek wealth, riches and glory in the name of Christ, we betray Him with a kiss. Every time we endeavor to make a name for ourselves by using His, we betray Him with a kiss. Every time we seek, encourage and accept the praise and applause of others for what God has done through us, ESPECIALLY in a worship service, we betray Him with a kiss. Every time we exchange awards and accolades among ourselves for our “reasonable service” to God, we betray Him with a kiss.

Every time we, as believers, take advantage of another emotionally, psychologically, spiritually, sexually, financially or politically, at home, at church, at work or on the street, we betray Him with a kiss. Every time we use our talents, our gifts, our testimony, our career, our ministry, our credentials, our reputation, our church, our resources or our popularity to bring attention and recognition to ourselves instead of God, we betray Him with a kiss.

Every time we sit silent as a preacher, pastor, teacher, deacon, elder or lay leader deceives another with what we know to be false and unscriptural in the interest of peace and unity, we betray Him with a kiss. Every time we fill the ears of “seekers” with humorous anecdotes, seductive flattery, humanist psychology and 'creeker-speak' rather than risk offending them with the whole council of God, we betray Him with a kiss.

Every time we keep the gospel to ourselves for the sake of career, convenience, compromise, compatibility, camaraderie or political correctness, we betray Him with a kiss. Even one that does nothing worse than give lip service to God on Sunday morning betrays Him with a kiss.

I guess we’re not so different from Judas after all, are we?

We would do well to remember just how much we have in common with him as we stroll into church this Sunday. Let’s not, as my pastor so aptly put a few weeks ago, “Do not confuse God’s approval with God’s mercy”. It could be the kiss of death.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. - Romans 12:1

HT: coffeetrader-news&views

Paul Washer - Reality Check

2008-04-27T05:28:00.000-07:00

I Am Not Ashamed of the TRUE Gospel

How then shall we live?

The Psychological Manipulation of the "Invitation"

The Modern Church Worships and Serves Humanism

Legalism and Modern Evangelicalism

Together for the Gospel (T4G)

2008-04-19T04:40:00.000-07:00

T4G Was great! I was convicted, lifted, taut, by god's gifted. I rode with 3 other men from FirstEFree and it was encouraging to get to know other brothers in the church. We were taken in by brother Brian. He is around the same age and it was great meeting other belivers that have a passionate for the gospel and doctrine as I do. I will mark T4G on my calender for 2010.

Thank you to everyone who made this a great conference.

Over 2 Million Have Joined!

2008-04-04T04:50:00.000-07:00

I was shock by the response I receive from a fellow Christian last week when I brought up the person in the video. So many Christian are deceived, this is why doctrine is so important.

...... But I keep sinning

2008-04-03T04:28:00.000-07:00

Some times I think it is funny how we as people will come up with every gimmick under the sun to justify our sin. We will blame it on our past or present situation. A book will come out to give us purpose or water down the severity of sin. you always here I can't stop looking at porn, I can't stop lusting after women, I can't stop hating that person, I can't stop drinking, or I can't stop sleeping with my boyfriend. Stop it....just stop it.

If you are struggling with sin, repent, and believe. ask god to lead you from temptation, pluck your eye out, and stop it.

Mark 9:47 (English Standard Version)

47 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell,

Why do we have a deacon board? What about Elders?

2008-03-11T19:30:00.000-07:00

At my home church we have deacons and trustees. We have made changes to the deacon board and I had a lot of questions about these changes. These question centered around, is a “deacon board” biblical, what is a deacon, why don't we have elders? Researching the issue I found that deacon means “to serve”. Deacon came to denote any service in the church. The deacon board in my church doesn't just serve, they are the spiritual leaders of the church. So why are they called deacons? According to the biblical definition they are elders, overseers, pastors plus deacons. What would happen if we had a elders board instead of a deacon board? Then we would get the elder (leaders) that the bible describes.

1 Timothy 3:1-7 (English Standard Version) 1The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. 2Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, 5for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? 6He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. 7Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.

Now this being my first post where I have given my opinion I wanted to bring in a more seasoned Christian so below is a small chunk of text from “Answering the Key Questions About Elders” by John MacArthur.

Twentieth-century American evangelicalism, with its heritage of democratic values and long history of congregational church government, tended to view the concept of elder rule with suspicion. Some are still vocal in characterizing it as a new and subversive concept that threatens the very life of the church. Yet I find when I speak with pastors and other church leaders from all over the world, the most frequently asked questions I get are about elders. At our semiannual Shepherds' Conferences, the most popular seminars invariably are those that deal with the issue of elders. Pastors want to know what elder rule is, and if government by elders genuinely strengthens the church, how they can implement it in their churches.

Proper biblical government by elders does strengthen the church, and the biblical norm for church leadership is a plurality of God-ordained elders. Furthermore, it is the only pattern for church leadership given in the New Testament. Nowhere in Scripture do we find a local assembly ruled by majority opinion, or by one pastor.

I am confident that a return to the biblical pattern of leadership would do much to revitalize the contemporary church. Thus whatever can be done to clear up some of the confusion and dispel the misconceptions about elder rule is worthwhile. I have written this article as an overview of the biblical data on elders. My hope is that it will serve both as an introduction to those unfamiliar with the concept of elders, and as a reminder to the rest of us to establish ourselves in the truth.

For the full article “Answering the Key Questions About Elders” by John MacArthur click here

Can God Judge Me

2008-03-03T05:09:00.000-08:00

Why Is Preaching Worth Fighting For?

2008-02-23T17:14:00.001-08:00

I was absolutely blown away by this sermon from John MacArthur. He once again nails it on the head. John MacArthur explains the importance for strong preaching in a church. GTY is such a blessing to me and I hope for you also.

Preaching the Word of God, teaching the Word of God is a critical function in the life of the church. And, of course, we live in a time when preaching is being depreciated and it is being set aside in favor of other forms of communication. But the essential reality for the church, that which basically dictates its strength or weakness, is the character of its preaching and teaching. You show me a church where there is strong biblical preaching and teaching, and I will show you strong people and strong ministry. You show me a church where there is weak biblical preaching and I will show you a church with weak people and weak ministry. That's just how it goes because the Word of God is the food that makes believers mature and strong.
And the reality is that people in churches all across our country and all around the world are frankly starving. I hear it all the time, everywhere I go. It comes through the mail bags every day. People saying, "I can't find any place where I can be fed. I'm starving here or there or wherever it might be. Where do I find some food for my soul? Isn't anybody going to teach me the Word of God?" Cries from people all across the world, really. People are starving.

Click here for audio message

Click here for transcript

progressive creationism

2008-02-23T16:59:00.000-08:00

Either Answers in Genesis or Hugh Ross is seriously misleading the public on some testable claims!

We make these public comments with a heavy heart, and with the overriding emphasis that our intention is not personal attack. Our mandate is to defend the faith, and the authority of Scripture. We have long believed that (and explained why) one of the most dangerous attacks on biblical authority in evangelical circles today is ‘progressive creationism’. This widespread compromise with the plain words of Scripture is capable of immense harm, precisely because it is proclaimed as being done in the name of upholding Scripture.

Click here for the full article at AIGs web site

Relevant Church 30 Day Sex Challenge

2008-02-17T06:18:00.000-08:00

The "Relevant Church" is asking it's single non married attenders not to have sex for 30 days!
I really have nothing else to say.......... I'm speechless.

Here is the "Relevant Church"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpeFLaz8cmQ

Rob Bell Undefines - Holiness

2008-02-15T07:44:00.000-08:00

This article comes from World View Network By Bob DeWaay

In Velvet Elvis, Bell lists a number of transcendent experiences that he claims overwhelmed him to be in awe of God. The first one for Bell happened as a teenager at a concert performed by Irish rock group U2, where he was �overwhelmed with the word true.�[i] These extraordinary experiences he also describes as �holy� and �sacred.� The problem is that his usage has nothing to do with the Biblical meaning of the terms �holy� or �or sacred.�

Please click here to read the full article.

The Bible Driven Church

2008-02-11T04:08:00.000-08:00

We need to be more relevant?

Really!

Amen

Should Rob Bell's NOOMA videos be shown to our children (or us) ?

2008-01-05T04:44:00.000-08:00

ROB BELL NOOMA EXPOSE STIRS UP DUST

They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. (1 John 4:5, NKJV)

Apprising Ministries is pleased to bring you the video clip below about Rob Bell, a very influential pastor in the emerging church, where Cameron Buettel shares his thoughts concerning the Rob Bell Nooma DVD “Dust.” Let’s get this straight once for all: Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)

Jesus is God; God hopes for nothing because He already knows all things, therefore God cannot have faith in anyone or anything. This is just more man-centered mumbo jumbo because disciples of Jesus don’t convert anybody; God does.

This artical was found on http://www.apprising.org/

Whats going on?

2008-01-04T15:30:00.000-08:00

Right now KOCT is the only blogger contributing to this blog. If you have questions or problems with posting send and email to kotcqc@gmail.com. If you would like to have something posted or request permissions to post please send us an email to kotcqc@gmail.com.

"Could it be that too many of God's true children, and especially the preachers, are sinning against God by guilty silence?...I for one am waiting to hear the loud voices of the prophets and reformers sounding once more over a sluggish and drowsy church. They'll pay a price for their boldness, but the results will be worth it."

- AW Tozer