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October brings with it many changes. Along with the delightful weather, I look forward to Mike Gendron’s quarterly publication called ‘Proclaiming the Gospel’. This newsletter’s main article is on repentance. which has been addressed on a previous post. May you be blessed by his article: The Role of Repentance in the Salvation of Sinners.
I recently found an excellent resource for Bible study. Precept Austin is a web ministry that has a plethora of information! From commentaries to charts and hymns to maps, this site has anything you could possibly need to aid you in your study. Here’s the link: http://preceptaustin.org/
This past January I started studying the book of Daniel. I used Dr. John Walvoord’s commentary as my guide. It took me over eight months to finish, however, it was a thorough study. One of the aspects of Dr. Walvoord’s teaching that I truly appreciate is the fact that he includes interpretations from others that differ from his, while offering reasons why he disagrees with biblical support for his view. Very insightful. Here’s the link to that series: http://www.walvoord.com/series.php?series_id=24
Lastly, may I suggest you spend some quality time reading the latest from the Berean Call. Dave Hunt and T.A. MacMahon consistently point us to the truth of Scripture. Here’s their latest offering: http://www.thebereancall.org/node/8076
Have a blessed weekend!
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T.A. McMahon, of The Berean Call, has written a hard-hitting article titled, ‘The Battle over Truth for Our Youth’. McMahon rightly asserts that Satan, from the beginning, has employed a subversive strategy of questioning God’s Word in his effort to draw sinners away from Truth. Today, we find,
The “Yea, hath God said…?” strategy has been very successful in undermining the critical belief in the sufficiency of the Word of God. Although the Bible claims to be sufficient for “all things that pertain unto life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3), many Christians who profess to believe the Bible no longer regard it as sufficient.
‘Sola scriptura’, or scripture alone, was a battle cry of the Reformation. Today, however, our youth are being seduced by churches and parachurch ministries that offer,
the “new” experiences, … religious art (primarily impressionistic images of “Jesus”), “biblical” films, rituals based upon Catholic/Orthodox liturgy, “community,” personal relationships, contemplative spirituality and mysticism (some include yoga), Bible “dialogues,” ecumenical interaction with “people of faith,” a social gospel, plans to save the planet, restore the kingdom, and so forth.
McMahon concludes that the only preventative measure for such enticements is to ground our children in God’s Word; to discipline and teach them sound doctrine. I would add that parents must be the primary providers of this teaching and discipleship. Sunday School teachers, youth pastors and private schools will NOT be held accountable for what YOUR child is taught. YOU WILL BE!
Sadly, the following is so true:
The Bible is the most exciting book there is, yet for years here in the U.S. our children have been fed a “let me entertain you” diet with only a hint of scriptural nutrition. That’s part of Satan’s “Yea, hath God said…?” strategy. The consequence is an upcoming generation that is, for the most part, spiritually anemic and ripe for the various schemes of apostasy. Deprived of the objective truths of Scripture, they are easy prey for those who would entice them through the subjective and experiential, that is, their “feelings.” Nevertheless, our marching orders involve a rescue operation as found in 2 Timothy 2:24-25: “And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth.” (emphasis mine)
I encourage you to read the entire artice which can be found at this link: http://www.thebereancall.org/node/7636.
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With Easter on its way, this timely article helped me to put things into perspective.
FROM: Chuck Missler of K-House eNews
The Easter Season is here, complete with baskets and cellophane grass and chocolate bunnies in every store. While we enjoy the chocolate bunnies and malted eggs, it’s pretty obvious that cellophane grass has absolutely nothing to do with the Resurrection of our Lord. This time of year brings with it the annual uncomfortable question; what should we – as Christians – celebrate?
The term “Easter” itself alludes to the pagan roots of the holiday. The name comes from the Babylonian goddess, Ishtar (also, Astarte). It was the pagan preoccupation with fertility that linked rabbits’ rapid breeding with the golden egg of Astarte. Passover, and therefore the Resurrection of Jesus, occur in the springtime. As Christianity spread, the celebration that Christ had conquered death came neatly at a time when the pagan world was celebrating the renewal of nature after the death of winter. And so, today we have Easter egg hunts at churches across America on Resurrection Sunday.
Is that good? Should we, as Christians, allow remnants of pagan celebrations into our celebration of Christ? For those who understand that Easter’s fuzzy bunnies are really the residue of ancient Babylonian fertility religions, there seems to be two choices.
1. Reject Easter Traditions: Some Christians separate themselves from the remnants of those old fertility religions. They remember Christ’s Resurrection and forgo all the chocolate and hard boiled eggs. They may even celebrate Passover, and Jesus as the Passover Lamb. They rejoice that he was raised again as the Firstborn from the dead (Col 1:18) on Sunday, the Feast of Firstfruits.
2: Make Use Of Easter Traditions: Some Christians, on the other hand, see the Easter traditions as another opportunity to spread the Gospel and use the eggs as teaching tools. Some take 12 plastic eggs, for example, and fill each one with one object from the story of Jesus’ betrayal and death and his raising from the dead. The eggs contain things like coins, a sponge, nails, and a cross while the last one is empty, representing the empty tomb. Other people dye eggs, using each color to symbolize a different aspect of Christ’s death and resurrection (red stands for his blood, etc). There are dozens of ways that Sunday School teachers and parents have incorporated the current Easter traditions into the celebration of Jesus Christ’s resurrection.
Which is the better way?
We do not face this issue only at Easter. Most Christian holidays have leftover pagan traditions mixed into their celebrations. Do we stop giving out Valentines because boys and girls paired up for the (loosely connected) Roman festival of Lupercalia? Do we stop hanging mistletoe because it was once a part of fertility rights – or throw out Christmas altogether because the Romans celebrated Saturnalia in late December? Are those things unholy because they were once connected to paganism? Or can we use them as opportunities to spread the Gospel to our secular culture? How do we deal with these things according to the Word of God?
To The Jews First:
God gave Israel a law and a sacrificial system that would help them understand how the death of the Messiah could pay for sins. He gave them the Passover so they could understand that the blood of the Lamb would protect them from the wrath of God. God gave Israel feasts that stood as prophetic symbols, as types, of His plan for redemption. The Jews were primed to understand the purpose and mission of the Messiah, and while the eyes of many were blinded for a time, Jesus clearly stated that he came to the lost sheep of the House of Israel (Matt. 15:24).
Yet, Jesus came to save the whole world. The Gospel was for the Jews first, but also for the Gentiles according to the Scriptures (Isaiah 49:6, Acts 10:45, Rom. 1:16). The purpose of Israel was to be a light that shined the truth of God to all peoples.
And Also to the Gentiles:
When evangelists in the Early Church went out to preach to the world, though, the pagan nations did not have the same background that the Jews had. They had sacrificial systems as well, but without the precious subtleties provided by the Law. They did not have the same feasts and laws to give them a cultural understanding of the messages they were being given. The missionaries had to find ways within the existing pagan cultures to help the gentiles appreciate who Jesus was. St. Patrick in Ireland was not alone. Many early Church evangelists incorporated Christian teachings into existing celebrations, “Christianizing” those traditions.
Whether that was a good or bad thing has long been the subject of debate. Some argue that those celebrations are not in the Bible and that mixing Christian beliefs with pagan traditions is at best distracting and is at worst a form of bowing the knee to those false gods.
“Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,” (2 Cor. 6:17)
Others argue that Christianity has sanctified those celebrations, making the unholy holy.
“Unto the pure all things are pure:” (Titus 1:15)
Paul and Plato:
The Apostle Paul, sent by God to minister to the gentiles, believed in making the most of every opportunity (1 Cor. 9:18-23). Paul is famous for his use of Greek culture to get ideas across to his Greek audience. He constantly makes allusions to Plato with statements like, “…which are a shadow of things to come,” (Col. 2:17) and “For now we see through a glass, darkly,” (1 Cor. 13:10). Do Paul’s frequent allusions to Plato indicate that Plato himself was inspired by God? No. Rather, Paul made use of Plato because his Greek audience understood Plato, and he could use Plato’s ideas as tools to help gentile minds understand the truth about our lives in Jesus Christ.
Was he right to do this? Didn’t he run the risk of making people think he was legitimizing the many unbiblical ideas Plato had? That’s a good question.
Yet, Jesus appears to have done the exact same thing. Jesus makes a puzzling statement in Acts when he knocks Paul (still “Saul” at that time) off his donkey on the road to Damascus. He says, “I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks,” (Acts 9:5).
“Kick against the pricks” is a phrase used multiple times in Greek plays, including in Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus, and The Bacchae by Euripides. In both cases it has to do with a mortal’s stubborn defiance. In The Bacchae, the mortal Pentheus has the god Dionysus bound, refusing to believe that he’s a god. Dionysus tells Pentheus, “Better to yield [me] prayer and sacrifice than kick against the pricks…”
Does this reference mean that Jesus himself was anything like the god Dionysus? Of course not. It also does not indicate that Paul would suffer Pentheus’ fate of being torn apart by wild women Yet, the idiom would have instant meaning for Saul of Tarsus with his education in Greek literature. It would also have had meaning to those in the Greek culture to whom Paul told his conversion story.
Tripping Our Brothers:
What do we do today? Hunting Easter eggs hardly makes children think of Babylonian fertility goddesses, and there is nothing intrinsically evil in eggs or chocolate rabbits. At the same time, we do have knowledge of the Feasts of Israel, the original celebrations meant to point the way to Christ. How should we behave?
Here is what Paul says on the matter. “I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean,” (Romans 14:14).
If you believe it is wrong to give your children Easter baskets, then it is wrong for you to do so. If, however, you are fully persuaded in your conscience that it’s harmless fun, then rejoice in your liberty. Paul says about these sorts of things, “Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind,” (Romans 14:5).
And yet, we have a responsibility to not cause our brothers to stumble. “But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock…” (1 Cor. 8:9, 11).
We should do nothing that could harm our fellow Christians or cause them to do something against their own consciences. We need to do everything we do with the heart of Christ, with love, and not out of pride or selfishness or judgmentalism. After all, the whole point of any Christian celebration is to bring glory to God. Let’s make sure every decision we make it focused on that goal. [And if we can enjoy some chocolate at the same time, then may God be glorified in that as well!]
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VERSE OF THE DAY: Matthew 16:18
(Jesus said) . . . you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church . . .
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
The church foundation is Jesus, not Peter.
MINI BIBLE STUDY FOR THE DAY:
Many in the Catholic church have been taught that this verse means Christ appointed Peter as the first Pope, and all subsequent Popes followed Peter’s charge. But a close look supports another translation.In the Greek, the word Peter is “Petros,” a person, masculine. But the word “rock,” “petra,” is feminine and doesn’t refer to a person but rather to Peter’s declaration one verse earlier that Jesus was the “Christ.” Jesus was saying that the truth Peter had confessed was the foundation upon which Christ would build His church.
Jesus simply made two different statements. “you are Peter’ and, “Upon this rock (change of gender, indicating a change of subject) I will build My church.” To accept the Catholic Church’s translation, you would have to translate this to basically say, “And I say to you, that you are Mr. Rock, and upon this, the Miss Rock, I will build My church. Clearly it was upon the deity of Christ, and not sinful Peter, that the church would be founded.
I Cor. 3:11 ~”For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.“~
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FROM: Good Morning, Lord!
Compass International www.compass.org
Having been raised in a mainline, Protestant denomination, I was unfamiliar with what is today called, the sinner’s prayer. After moving into our current community, my family began attending a large, Baptist church where each Sunday an ‘alter call’ was given. Initially, I agreed with this practice, however, the Holy Spirit quickly opened my eyes to its lack of Scriptural support.
In the most recent newsletter from Proclaiming the Gospel ministry, Mike Gendron addresses a question concerning this modern method of evangelism.
The practice of leading someone in a sinner’s prayer for their salvation has produced many tares or false converts in churches over the last 100 years. (Matthew 13:25-40). This “evangelical tradition” cannot be found anywhere in the New Testament. Those who desire to evangelize God’s way will follow the instructions given by the Lord of the Harvest. He commissioned us to go and make disciples, not decisions (Matthew 28:18) The way we make disciples is by teaching people what God’s Word says about us and about Him. We must use the Bible to show guilty and condemned sinners why they need a Savior. When the Holy Spirit has convicted them of their sin and coming judgment, they will probably ask a question similar to the one Philippian jailer asked Paul–”What must I do to be saved?” Please note that Paul did not say, “Repeat this prayer after me.” Instead he said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31). I encourage you to keep sowing the imperishable seed of God’s Word until it finds fertile soil and begins to grow. (1 Peter 1:23).
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May the Lord bless our efforts and guide our methods.
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Martin and Deidre Bobgan have a ministry called Psychoheresy Awareness Ministry. Through the years, their newsletter and books have been a tremendous help to me in understanding error that has permeated the American church.
This from their website:
PsychoHeresy Awareness Ministries, in our 10th year, is a non-profit religious corporation
for the purpose of informing and educating Christians about psychoheresy.
Psychoheresy is the integration of secular psychological counseling theories and therapies with the Bible. Psychoheresy is also the intrusion of such theories into the preaching and practice of Christianity, especially when they contradict or compromise biblical Christianity in terms of the nature of man, how he is to live, and how he changes.
The primary purpose of informing Christians about psychoheresy is to encourage them to find
Jesus Christ and the Word of God sufficient for matters of life and conduct and to
encourage believers to use the Bible to understand humanity, how they are to live, and how
they are to confront problems of living. Careful distinctions are made to delineate the area
of concern – what constitutes psychoheresy in contrast to what might be benign investigation of behavior.
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Now they have made all of their books available for free as e-books.
You can check them out here.
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Grab a cup of coffee and take a few minutes to listen to a great interview with Norm Geisler. Dr. Geisler 
touches on a number of fascinating topics ranging from the primacy of God, the Creator to the skeptic’s view of Scripture. He has a delightful way of presenting Biblical Truths. Enjoy!
Here’s the link to the video: http://worldviewtube.com/video.php/4341/Brannon-Howse/Brannon_Howse_
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I am pleased to announce a new discernment blog:
This blog is a labor of love for my sister-in-law, Judy, and myself. Because we love our Lord and Savior Jesus as well as His Church, we felt compelled to start this ministry to women.
It is our prayer that you will be edified and God will be glorified as we attempt to expose the unfruitful works of darkness.
(Ephesians 5:11)
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As I wrote in ‘Who? and Why?’, my journey out of the cloud which is the American Church began when I was doing research into a book my mother-in-law was reading with her church. At the time, I had no idea what a discernment ministry was or who to turn to for information. I just googled book titles and names and read the articles that I found. It did not take me long to discover that the Internet had opened the door to an entirely new world of options for ministry, especially concerning discernment!
In Acts 17:11, we read that Paul and Silas taught in the synagogue of the Jews in Berea. These Bereans “were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.” (Emphasis mine.)
Did you get that?
These Jew checked up on the teachings of Paul! They did not just listen and accept everything that was said as truth! They went to the Scriptures to compare it to Paul’s teaching!
We need to be doing this, also!
Here are a few of the websites that helped me early on. This is just a few. I will post more later.
~~~It is my prayer that you will find these sites as spiritually eye-opening as I have. ~~~
Eastern Regional Watch: http://www.erwm.com/
The Berean Call: http://www.thebereancall.org/
Herescope: http://herescope.blogspot.com/
Lighthouse Trails Research: http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/
Be a Berean!
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