The Daily Spurgeon: What Is Your Answer To That Question?

The Daily Spurgeon: What Is Your Answer To That Question?: No event in history is so well authenticated as the resurrection of Christ, he was seen by individuals alone, and b...

     The greatest question anyone will ever answer is "Who is Jesus and what did you based on that answer. Either He will be your judge or He will be your Savior! As I heard it said in the video series Sharing Christ without fear, the host said there are only two kinds of religions in the world. Those that accept Jesus as the Savior and those who do not. Some say he was a great teacher or prophet, but not God in human form. As the article linked above states, no event in the history of man is so well documented and authenticated and yet so denied. Some men like Christopher Hitchens spend their whole life denying Him, but that does not change who He is. Christianity is not a religion, it is a reality. The question is what is your response to that reality?

Confronting the Problem(s) of Evil Biblical, Philosophical, and Emotional Reflections on a Perpetual Question - Desiring God

Confronting the Problem(s) of Evil Biblical, Philosophical, and Emotional Reflections on a Perpetual Question - Desiring God:

'via Blog this'I just wanted to share this link, John Piper wrote this right after the Sandy Hook tragedy. It really takes an in depth look at these issues from a Biblical perspective,

Unarmed Christians/Biblical Ignorance

    There has been quite a lot of stories about firearms and who should own them since the Sandy Hook tragedy. Who should be armed and who should not has been one of the major topics to come up in the Blogosphere. As a Christian man, I believe in the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States grants me the right to own and carry a firearm. That has been covered on the Net enough that I have nothing new to add to the subject. Of greater concern to me as a Christian is unarmed Christians in the Biblical sense.

     All the talk about weapons since the above mentioned tragedy got me to thinking about the most powerful weapon on Earth. The Bible. In Hebrews 4:12 " For the word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart. " There is no weapon ever devised by man that can do this! Not only that, but we have it at our disposal and use! Stop and think about that. We have the weapon that can stop the ultimate enemy we as Christians face, Satan. Jesus gave us this example in Matthew 4 where He was tempted by Satan. Here was a Master swordsman using the Sword of God as it was intended when being tempted by Satan.

     So many times Satan uses our Biblical ignorance to infiltrate the church because men who should know better do not because they do not saturate themselves daily with the Word of God. As I was studying my Sunday School lesson on 1 Timothy 3 & 4 I was struck by this thought. Here is the text "1Ti 4:1  But the Spirit saith expressly, that in later times some shall fall away from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons, 
1Ti 4:2  through the hypocrisy of men that speak lies, branded in their own conscience as with a hot iron; 
1Ti 4:3  forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by them that believe and know the truth. " The only way this can happen is if men embrace false doctrine and ignore the Word of God. I was watching a video on the contradiction of the Masonic Lodge and Christianity, here is the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCe2YoMEyuM. About halfway through the video the host asked the former Worshipful Master if a Christian man had taken these Masonic vows how could he tell if what the Lodge taught was in contradiction with the Bible? His response was, and I paraphrase here "A Christian man who is daily saturating himself in the Word of God will have no problem seeing the contradiction. The one who will is the one who is not studying the Word of God." If we do not daily saturate ourselves in God's Word we will be like the lazy man in Pro 19:24 " Some people are too lazy to lift a hand to feed themselves." We will not be ready or trained in how to use our weapon when the enemy attacks and or not even know when he attacks with false doctrine! 

Sen. Rob Portman's about face on homosexuality

     I recently read this story on NPR's website, here is the link http://www.npr.org/2013/03/16/174454419/a-fathers-change-of-heart. I enjoy Scott Simon on Weekend Edition, but I don't always agree with his point of view. I think that is the crux of the matter in a nutshell. Scott has a secular world view and I have a Biblical worldview. The point of the article was here is a senator who in the past has held strong anti homosexual views, but since his son has come  out as gay, has now changed his mind and accepts this lifestyle.
     
     Sen. Portman even sponsored the DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) bill in 1996 against same sex marriage, citing his religious beliefs. Now that his son has come out, those beliefs are suddenly set aside. I have a real problem with setting aside strongly held Biblical beliefs just because a close family member chooses to sin intentionally. This nor any other action on the part of man nullifies the Word of God. It is not that I am not sympathetic to people who participate in this lifestyle, but when God condemns sin in the Bible, I nor anyone else has the right to say it suddenly is right because of who is doing it or who or what it effects.
   
     Several points I want to make, first is the inerrancy of Scripture. Either The Bible is perfect or Christianity as we know it is a fraud! God's Word has stood the test of time and all issues that have tried to prove it wrong. It is the inspired Word of God "2Ti 3:16  Everything in the Scriptures is God's Word. All of it is useful for teaching and helping people and for correcting them and showing them how to live. ". Therefore if the Bible speaks against something and man says it is the opposite of what the Bible teaches, man is not only wrong, but blatantly defying God!

     Second, at no time are we justified or commanded in the Bible to bash homosexuals. We are to reach out to them with the Gospel just like any other lost person we may meet. We have the way of eternal life to offer to them, but we will not have that chance to communicate that to them if we alienate them with condemnation and harsh words. Remember hate the sin, but love the sinner. I think Ravi Zacharias gave the most well balanced and Biblical view on homosexuality here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIw6ngIqaD0.


     Third and final point, if we do stand on the firm foundation of the Word of God we will be like the example Jesus gave in Mat 7:24  "Anyone who hears and obeys these teachings of mine is like a wise person who built a house on solid rock.
Mat 7:25  Rain poured down, rivers flooded, and winds beat against that house. But it did not fall, because it was built on solid rock. Mat 7:26  Anyone who hears my teachings and doesn't obey them is like a foolish person who built a house on sand.
Mat 7:27  The rain poured down, the rivers flooded, and the winds blew and beat against that house. Finally, it fell with a crash." We as Christians must stand on the Word of God, even when it is difficult, not popular or politically correct.

How can a Loving God send people to Hell?

     The question has been asked many times " How can a God of Love send people to Hell?"
     The answer is rather simple if you will just spend some time in the Bible. Let's start with why was Hell created in the first place? Answer : it was created as a place of punishment for Satan and his angels. Matthew 25:41 " Then the king will say to those on his left, "Get away from me! You are under God's curse. Go into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels!" Hell is not the place where Satan rules his kingdom from, but is the final place of punishment for him and all who follow him. The idea of Satan ruling Hell comes from writings like Milton's poem Paradise Lost where the quote " better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven" is found. Just like the description of Satan with red skin and horns come from the Middle Ages, much about him is folklore and legend not true fact. In fact the Bible tells us in Ezekiel 28:12  Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. He was and is a very beautiful archangel, so powerful even Michael the archangel would not argue with him "Jude 1:9  But Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing judgment, but said, The Lord rebuke thee." 
      
      I am convinced through my study of the Bible that God does not send anyone to hell, they choose to go there by their own free will! God gives us a choice to choose to follow Him or Satan, if we choose to follow Satan, how can we expect to escape the punishment set for Satan and his angels?! I am constantly amazed at how stubborn some people are when God makes Himself so clear to them and they still refuse to repent. No greater example of this than in Revelation Chapter 16:9,11&21 people are experiencing the worst of the Great Tribulation and know full well it is from God, yet still blaspheme God.Why? Because of the inherent sin nature of man.  

     One of the biggest objections people have of Reformed theology is the view of limited atonement. In other words not all who are called will respond in faith. The verses in Revelation 16 seem to make this crystal clear, no matter what happens some will follow Satan into Hell regardless of what happens. According to Revelation 12:7 Satan, in his rebellion in Heaven, was able to draw away 1/3 of the stars of Heaven i.e. Angels. It should not surprise us if mere mortal men follow him too.

Will more gun laws really help?

Did any of the 22,000 gun laws on the books help prevent the tragedy at Newtown Conn.? Of course not! Why? Because gun laws are not the problem, mental illness is. This young man who committed this tragedy obviously had some sever mental problems, I mean think about. What kind of deranged individual shoots 20 young children and 7 adults that as far as we know he had no connection with. 

     On Friday Dec.21, 2012 NRA's  Wayne LaPierre gave a speech on their response to the tragedy, here is the link  http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/12/21/167785169/live-blog-nra-news-conference. I agree whole heartedly with him on this, the only way to stop these people is with an armed security guard. I know as all law abiding gun owners do that had someone who was properly trained in security and firearms could have stopped this tragedy! This was totally preventable, totally avoidable! As is mentioned in the audio clip above we have advertised the fact that there are no guns on the school campuses, thereby creating a perfect environment for something like this to happen! The shooter knew he could walk in there absolutely unopposed and totally safe. Just to type those words makes me sick! I am a CLEET certified armed security guard and I and others like me know how easily this could have been avoided. 

     The NRA has made a generous offer to schools nationwide to train and equip at no cost armed guards for our schools to prevent this from happening again. Leave it up to the liberal media to spin this in some negative way. I do not like the idea of having an armed guard in every school, but given the choice of what may happen again and in all likely hood will happen again if these steps are not followed.

   Of course most important is that we repent before God and ask His forgiveness of our sins and heal our land. We have taken God out of the schools and our society for the last 50 years and have seen a steady decline in education, morality, and the direction of this once great nation of ours.

I read this on View Point and reposted it here. Excellent article. How to Ruin a Country

By T. M. Moore|Published Date: June 04, 2012 Are we holding the door for a nation rushing to ruin? What I have to deplore with mournful complaint is a general loss of good, a heaping up of bad. But no one should think that anything I say is said out of scorn for humanity or from a conviction that I am superior to all men. No, I sympathise with my country’s difficulties and troubles, and rejoice in remedies to relieve them. A timely word These words have a strikingly contemporary sound; indeed, many of us will agree wholeheartedly with them. But these are not words from some conservative pundit or evangelical blogger. They were written in the middle of the 6th century by the monk, Gildas. He was reflecting on the decline of his beloved Britain, which was everywhere unraveling around him. Spiritually, morally, politically, economically — Britain, over a period of around a hundred years, descended from a superficial height of Roman splendor to the depths of medieval darkness. And Gildas wept to see what he described as “The Ruin of Britain.” Spiritual ruin How do countries come to ruin? What causes them to lose integrity and descend into corruption, wickedness, and waste? We might be tempted to think the problem is chiefly political: corrupt politicians, radical judges, influential lobbies and corporations, and so forth. That was not Gildas’ perspective, however. He laid the problem firmly at the feet of the Church. As he saw the matter, the salt of Britain had become tasteless, and it was everywhere being thrown out and trampled under foot: “Britain has priests, but they are fools; very many ministers, but they are shameless; clerics, but they are treacherous grabbers...They do not reprimand the people for their sins; indeed they do the same things themselves.” The ruin of Britain was, in the first instance, a spiritual ruin, and that came about because Christian people — led by their ministers — left off fearing God. “What daring of man,” Gildas asked, “can, now or in the future, be more foul and wicked than to deny fear to God...?” The ministers of Britain had become so consumed by their own projects and perks that they lost all fear of God and concern for instructing the people in the ways of His Law. These were the same ministers, by the way, who tried to keep Patrick from going to Ireland as a missionary and who, at the end of his enormously successful career, wanted to remove him from the field. When ministers lose sight of their calling, the Church ends up denying its true identity and mission. Greasing the skids Abraham’s self-serving compromise in Genesis 20 was nearly the ruin of Abimelech and his nation. By turning from his calling and the fear of God, Abraham became more concerned about his present wellbeing than God’s plan for his future. He denied his true identity before the pagan king and thus opened the door for him to act corruptly toward Sarah, Abraham’s wife. When ministers lose sight of God’s calling, to seek His Kingdom and build His Church, and when their own projects and prospects become their main objective in ministry, they deny their true identity and lead the people in their charge into a similar compromise. Thus they open the door for corruption and wickedness in the surrounding culture, and this greases the skids toward the judgment of God and the ruin of nations. In his book, "Without God, Without Creed," James Turner, convincingly argues that Christian theologians and leaders in the mid-19th century, in an effort to save face with the intellectual community, denied their true Biblical identity, cozied up to Darwinism, and thus opened the household of faith to evolution’s corrosive powers. America went from being a people with a clear creed and a convincing faith in God to one where God hardly matters and the people believe, not anything, but everything and nothing. Francis Schaeffer argued in "The Great Evangelical Disaster" that evangelical leaders at the beginning of the 20th century failed to show up when secularism and modernism began laying claim to all the arenas of thought and culture. The corrosive power of materialism and pragmatism spread through society and culture and now has begun to work its cancer even within the churches. Helmut Thielicke reminded us, in The Trouble with the Church, that “today all the really vital questions that touch the depths of existence enter man’s consciousness through the medium of persons in whom these questions are, as it were, incarnated.” Who is to blame? The materialistic, pragmatic, and hedonistic followers of the pagan god of self have been more consistent, effective, and outspoken in embodying their worldview than we in the Christian community have our own. Have our pastors and leaders confronted us in our complacency? Challenged our lifestyle of “limping” between two worldviews – materialism and Christianity (1 Kgs. 18:21)? Failed to teach us the compelling vision and comprehensive glory of the Christian worldview? Have they, if only by neglect, encouraged us to believe that we can know the Lord and the pleasures of this age equally? And have they thus failed in making us true disciples and, instead, led us to deny our true identity and calling, and to exchange the glory of the Kingdom for the false hopes of ease and prosperity? If our nation is on a course toward ruin, then let us not lay the blame at the feet of our secular neighbors or our political leaders. They have merely charged through the door to folly which we hold open to them every day. The way to ruin a nation is for Christians to deny their true identity, compromise their calling, and do their best to fit in with however the winds of the age choose to blow. This was true in Abraham’s day and Elijah’s, as well as in Gildas’ generation. And it is true for us as well. If we ask who is to blame for the ruin of our nation, dear friends, let us look first to our own failure to repent of our folly, seek the Lord for revival, and be renewed in true worship, discipleship, and mission. Our nation will not awaken from the torpor of unbelief until the people of God are revived and renewed. And we will not be revived and renewed until we seek these earnestly in prayer. Pastors, church leaders: Will you lead us there?