Just finished another MacArthur book given to me over the Christmas Holidays by my fantastic Sunday School teacher named Coby Sutherland (I am on roll in his class but I teach Youth, but my wife is still in his class )called "The Heart of the Bible"........great book, now I will get back into "The Murder of Jesus", I kinda felt like it was an appropriate read at this time of year being the Season everyone recognizes the birth of Our Lord in human form.....even though I personally feel he was born in the spring since shephards were tending the sheep (not something done in the winter).
Bye for Now!
Friday, December 30, 2005
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
RC Sproul Comment
"Bah! Humbug!" These two words are instantly associated with Charles Dickens' immortal fictional anti-hero, Ebenezer Scrooge. We all recognize that Ebenezer Scrooge was a mean person - stingy, insensitive, selfish, and unkind. What we often miss in our understanding of his character is that he was preeminently profane. "Bah! Humbug!" was his Victorian use of profanity. It was profane in that Scrooge demeaned what was holy. He trampled on the sanctity of Christmas. He despised the sacred. He was cynical toward the sublime.
Christmas is indeed the world's most joyous holiday. It is called a "holiday" because the day is holy. It is a day when businesses close, when families gather, when churches are filled, and when soldiers put down their guns for a 24-hour truce. It is a day that differs from every other day.
Every generation has its abundance of Scrooges. The church is full of them. We hear endless complaints of commercialism. We are constantly told to put Christ back into Christmas. We hear that the tradition of Santa Claus is a sacrilege. We listen to those acquainted with history murmur that Christmas isn't biblical, that the Church invented Christmas to compete with the ancient Roman festival honoring the bull-god Mithras. All this carping is but a modern dose of Scroogeism, our own sanctimonious profanation of the holy.
Sure, Christmas is a time of commerce. The high degree of commerce at Christmas is driven by one thing: the buying of gifts for others. To present our friends and families with gifts is not an ugly, ignoble vice. It incarnates the amorphous "spirit of Christmas." The tradition rests ultimately on the supreme gift God has given the world. God so loved the world, the Bible says, that He gave His only begotten Son. The giving of gifts is a marvelous response to the receiving of such a gift. For one day a year at least, we taste the sweetness inherent in the truth that it is more blessed to give than to receive.
Christ is still in Christmas, and for one brief season the secular world broadcasts the message of Christ over every radio station and television channel in the land. Not only music but the visual arts are present in abundance, bearing testimony to the historic significance of the birth of Jesus.
Kris Kringle is a mythical hero, not a villain. He is pure fiction - but a fiction used to illustrate a glorious truth. And the early Christians had the wisdom to flee from Mithras and direct their zeal to the celebration of the birth of Christ. Who associates Christmas today with Mithras?
We celebrate Christmas because we cannot eradicate from our consciousness our profound awareness of the difference between the sacred and the profane. Man, in the generic sense, has an incurable propensity for marking sacred space and sacred time.
When God touches earth, the place is holy. When God appears in history, the time is holy. There was never a more holy place than the city of Bethlehem, where the Word became flesh. There was never a more holy time than Christmas morning when Emmanuel was born. Christmas is a holiday. It is the holiest of holy days. We must heed the warning of Jacob Marley: "Don't be a Scrooge" at Christmas.
Christmas is indeed the world's most joyous holiday. It is called a "holiday" because the day is holy. It is a day when businesses close, when families gather, when churches are filled, and when soldiers put down their guns for a 24-hour truce. It is a day that differs from every other day.
Every generation has its abundance of Scrooges. The church is full of them. We hear endless complaints of commercialism. We are constantly told to put Christ back into Christmas. We hear that the tradition of Santa Claus is a sacrilege. We listen to those acquainted with history murmur that Christmas isn't biblical, that the Church invented Christmas to compete with the ancient Roman festival honoring the bull-god Mithras. All this carping is but a modern dose of Scroogeism, our own sanctimonious profanation of the holy.
Sure, Christmas is a time of commerce. The high degree of commerce at Christmas is driven by one thing: the buying of gifts for others. To present our friends and families with gifts is not an ugly, ignoble vice. It incarnates the amorphous "spirit of Christmas." The tradition rests ultimately on the supreme gift God has given the world. God so loved the world, the Bible says, that He gave His only begotten Son. The giving of gifts is a marvelous response to the receiving of such a gift. For one day a year at least, we taste the sweetness inherent in the truth that it is more blessed to give than to receive.
Christ is still in Christmas, and for one brief season the secular world broadcasts the message of Christ over every radio station and television channel in the land. Not only music but the visual arts are present in abundance, bearing testimony to the historic significance of the birth of Jesus.
Kris Kringle is a mythical hero, not a villain. He is pure fiction - but a fiction used to illustrate a glorious truth. And the early Christians had the wisdom to flee from Mithras and direct their zeal to the celebration of the birth of Christ. Who associates Christmas today with Mithras?
We celebrate Christmas because we cannot eradicate from our consciousness our profound awareness of the difference between the sacred and the profane. Man, in the generic sense, has an incurable propensity for marking sacred space and sacred time.
When God touches earth, the place is holy. When God appears in history, the time is holy. There was never a more holy place than the city of Bethlehem, where the Word became flesh. There was never a more holy time than Christmas morning when Emmanuel was born. Christmas is a holiday. It is the holiest of holy days. We must heed the warning of Jacob Marley: "Don't be a Scrooge" at Christmas.
Thursday, December 08, 2005
Is the Will Free by Nature or by Grace?
You may be surprised to discover that this subject is much more simple than most people tend to make it. The fact is, it can easily be proven to all Christians, that fallen man has no free will, as the Bible defines it. Ask most evangelicals, however, whether man has a free will, and most will answer, "yes of course". Here are two simple questions which will remove all false presuppositions and prove, once for all, that the natural man has no free will:
1. Do you believe that the Holy Spirit plays any role in the sinner coming to faith in Christ? (All true evangelicals will answer 'yes')
2. Do you believe that, apart from any supernatural work of the Holy Spirit, the sinner, by nature, has the will, ability, affection and desire to come to Christ? (All true evangelicals will answer 'no')
Thus you have, in two simple questions, completely disarmed any and all argument against the free will of man. Here is plain proof that all Christians, without exception, believe that no man is found NATURALLY willing to submit to the humbling terms of the gospel of Christ. The natural man, apart from the Holy Spirit, has no free will, because, of necessity, due to a corruption of nature, he would never naturally submit to Christ. The Scripture describes fallen man as those who love darkness (John 3:19), are in bondage to sin (Gal 4:3; 6:17, 20), and taken captive by Satan to do his will (2 Tim 2:25), until the Son sets them free (John 8:36). Why would the Son need to set them free from sin unless they were not free, i.e. slaves to sin? When we speak of man having no free will we are not saying man's will is not self-determined, because it is. It is not because of some outside coercion that the will is not free, because the will is not coerced. We simply do not believe that. Rather, the Scripture simply says that the will is evil by a corruption of nature, but only becomes good by the grace of the Holy Spirit. It is not because of natural strength that we believe. We do not, in our unregenerate state, convert ourselves. By our own efforts, apart from the Holy Spirit, we cannot achieve this for Jesus says 'apart from Me you can do nothing.' The Scripture further testifies that "no one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except by the Holy Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:3) and the natural man does not understand the things of the Spirit, because they are spiritually appraised. They are foolishness to him (1 Cor 2:14) and he acts only as he is acted upon, in accordance to the measure of grace he has received. While the preaching of the gospel is necessary to cast forth the seed of the gospel, it will not fall onto good soil unless the Spirit plows up the fallow ground and germinates the seed (so to speak). The soil is not good by nature but is made good by grace.
People generally tend to confuse coersion with necessity. Recently a gentleman named Ron Rhodes was interviewed on radio station and he said God did not create us as robots ... and this is correct, and then he said, God gave us free choice [between good and evil]... which is right when applied to Adam (since his will was not yet corrupted)... but then he commits a fatal error is when he said that "our will is free just like Adams'" ...which is nonsense. Our will is corrupted and in bondage till Christ sets us free. What Rhodes means to say, I believe, is that we are not robots, which is true ... but this is not how the Scripture defines the will which is not free ... so it is wrong to teach that man has a free will. It destroys the very gospel we preach.
1. Do you believe that the Holy Spirit plays any role in the sinner coming to faith in Christ? (All true evangelicals will answer 'yes')
2. Do you believe that, apart from any supernatural work of the Holy Spirit, the sinner, by nature, has the will, ability, affection and desire to come to Christ? (All true evangelicals will answer 'no')
Thus you have, in two simple questions, completely disarmed any and all argument against the free will of man. Here is plain proof that all Christians, without exception, believe that no man is found NATURALLY willing to submit to the humbling terms of the gospel of Christ. The natural man, apart from the Holy Spirit, has no free will, because, of necessity, due to a corruption of nature, he would never naturally submit to Christ. The Scripture describes fallen man as those who love darkness (John 3:19), are in bondage to sin (Gal 4:3; 6:17, 20), and taken captive by Satan to do his will (2 Tim 2:25), until the Son sets them free (John 8:36). Why would the Son need to set them free from sin unless they were not free, i.e. slaves to sin? When we speak of man having no free will we are not saying man's will is not self-determined, because it is. It is not because of some outside coercion that the will is not free, because the will is not coerced. We simply do not believe that. Rather, the Scripture simply says that the will is evil by a corruption of nature, but only becomes good by the grace of the Holy Spirit. It is not because of natural strength that we believe. We do not, in our unregenerate state, convert ourselves. By our own efforts, apart from the Holy Spirit, we cannot achieve this for Jesus says 'apart from Me you can do nothing.' The Scripture further testifies that "no one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except by the Holy Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:3) and the natural man does not understand the things of the Spirit, because they are spiritually appraised. They are foolishness to him (1 Cor 2:14) and he acts only as he is acted upon, in accordance to the measure of grace he has received. While the preaching of the gospel is necessary to cast forth the seed of the gospel, it will not fall onto good soil unless the Spirit plows up the fallow ground and germinates the seed (so to speak). The soil is not good by nature but is made good by grace.
People generally tend to confuse coersion with necessity. Recently a gentleman named Ron Rhodes was interviewed on radio station and he said God did not create us as robots ... and this is correct, and then he said, God gave us free choice [between good and evil]... which is right when applied to Adam (since his will was not yet corrupted)... but then he commits a fatal error is when he said that "our will is free just like Adams'" ...which is nonsense. Our will is corrupted and in bondage till Christ sets us free. What Rhodes means to say, I believe, is that we are not robots, which is true ... but this is not how the Scripture defines the will which is not free ... so it is wrong to teach that man has a free will. It destroys the very gospel we preach.
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Finished!!!!!
Finished another good book.....what to start on now, is the next question. Anyone have any suggestions?
Friday, November 18, 2005
Another FANTASTIC book to read
Hard to Believe..........not a statement, but the name of John MacArthurs book I am halfway through. I must warn you though, if you are expecting to get all "feel good" inside like you would from a Joel Osteen book, then this one is NOT for you!!!! It hits ya where it hurts and leaves the seeker sensitive garbage on the shelf at Lifeway under the heading "40 Days of Purpose" where it should be........I say we use Rick Warrens books to heat homes and save our natural gas for the next time we have a fuel crisis.
Thursday, November 17, 2005
Thought for the day
For the Lord will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance. (Psalm 94:14)
No, nor will He cast even so much as one of them. Man has his castoffs, but God has none; for His choice is unchangeable, and His love is everlasting. None can find out a single person whom God has forsaken after having revealed Himself savingly to him.
This grand truth is mentioned in the psalm to cheer the heart of the afflicted. The Lord chastens His own; but He never forsakes them. The result of the double work of the law and the rod is our instruction, and the fruit of that instruction is a quieting of spirit, a sobriety of mind, out of which comes rest. The ungodly are let alone till the pit is digged into which they will fall and be taken; but the godly are sent to school to be prepared for their glorious destiny hereafter. Judgment will return and finish its work upon the rebels, but it will equally return to vindicate the sincere and godly. Hence we may bear the rod of chastisement with calm submission; it means not anger, but love.
No, nor will He cast even so much as one of them. Man has his castoffs, but God has none; for His choice is unchangeable, and His love is everlasting. None can find out a single person whom God has forsaken after having revealed Himself savingly to him.
This grand truth is mentioned in the psalm to cheer the heart of the afflicted. The Lord chastens His own; but He never forsakes them. The result of the double work of the law and the rod is our instruction, and the fruit of that instruction is a quieting of spirit, a sobriety of mind, out of which comes rest. The ungodly are let alone till the pit is digged into which they will fall and be taken; but the godly are sent to school to be prepared for their glorious destiny hereafter. Judgment will return and finish its work upon the rebels, but it will equally return to vindicate the sincere and godly. Hence we may bear the rod of chastisement with calm submission; it means not anger, but love.
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
WOW!!!!!! WHAT A WEEKEND!!!!!!!
My mind is still on overload........I was at an Evangelistic Conference this past weekend and had the pleasure of listening to many speakers and two of them being (1) Dr. Sinclair Ferguson and (2) Dr. John MacArthur.......it was FANTASTIC!!!!!! I have been fed with the spirit and inspiration from a BUFFETT of unbelievable magnitude....If you missed it,,,,,,,I apologize....I took my father-n-law, and a very close friend of mine...unfortunately my wife was not able to make it....just let me say this, if you ever have the opportunity to hear MacArthur in your area DON'T MISS IT!!!!! He teaches the Word for what the Word says. Oh, he also signed my recently purchased MacArthur Study Bible which I thought was COOL!!!! Alot of preachers and Evangelist are different when they are not in front of a camera but MacArthur is not one of them......he is a TRUE SHEPHARD led by The Spirit of our Great and Mighty GOD!!!
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
Living Daily in the Presence of His Glory
We live in a time where people say that Elvis lives and God is dead. We live in a generation that plants trees but uproots marriages. We live in a culture where individuals will bring nations together to save a few dying whales, but are swift to kill unborn babies. It's against the law to post The Ten Commandments in public schools, but it's responsible education for teachers to hand out condoms. Sin is now called sickness; disobedience is now called disease; and adultery is now called addiction--nothing more than extra-curricular political activity for the politicians. How is it in the midst of this kind of moral and spiritual chaos that we can and must live lives that will bring glory to God?
We all have Phd's in rationalizing our behavior, don't we? We can cast blame and avoid responsibility for our own actions by putting it off on others so effortlessly; this has even become acceptable within the church. I know that this technique is considered by many to be a "spiritual gift." Even Pastors have fallen prey to the times; no longer do men of God shepherd or disciple their people, but sadly they have become a referral service for the local psychologist who are more than willing to confuse your spiritual lives for only $150 an hour. Church discipline is rarely exercised for fear of being sued, viewed as judgemental, or unloving. This is caused, I believe, because people have lost a right view of the glory of God and their duty to live every part of their lives for His names sake.
We all have Phd's in rationalizing our behavior, don't we? We can cast blame and avoid responsibility for our own actions by putting it off on others so effortlessly; this has even become acceptable within the church. I know that this technique is considered by many to be a "spiritual gift." Even Pastors have fallen prey to the times; no longer do men of God shepherd or disciple their people, but sadly they have become a referral service for the local psychologist who are more than willing to confuse your spiritual lives for only $150 an hour. Church discipline is rarely exercised for fear of being sued, viewed as judgemental, or unloving. This is caused, I believe, because people have lost a right view of the glory of God and their duty to live every part of their lives for His names sake.
Thursday, September 08, 2005
Hurricane Katrina is not a senseless tragedy!!!!!!
Because God is sovereign over tragedies like this with a purpose of grace, we should respond not with anger at him but with abiding hope and praise. This is not a senseless tragedy, because God will bring good through it for those who trust in him (Rom. 8:28). The most horrific, wicked, and evil event ever to happen on the planet Earth was the murder of the holy Son of God, Jesus Christ – an event in which God was completely sovereign and man was completely guilty. But the cross was made by God the most blessed, glorious, and holy event ever to happen on the planet Earth. Likewise, Katrina was a terrible event. But God will bring good from it. Through death he offers resurrection life, if we will turn through faith in Christ to the sovereign God of holiness and grace.
Monday, August 29, 2005
12 Ordinary Men By John MacArthur
I would rate this book as a must have for people who think they are not good enough to be used by God!!! It is an AWESOME read and a MUST HAVE in my opinion..... also check out RC Sprouls "Chosen By God" and John Pipers book "Desiring God".
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