Monday, March 30, 2009
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Pre-School Theology Question
Looking back over my own childhood, I remember asking my School Teachers, Sunday School Teachers, parents and family many questions from K-12th grade and beyond. Vividly remembering many of those responses, it seems that the answers I received fell into four categories. 1. A response that would help keep them assured for their own peace of mind 2. Biblical Truth 3. A watered down version of a Biblical Doctrine 4. Heresy
Over at The Reformed Stooge, Corey's son asks one of those questions...
From The Reformed Stooge:
My oldest son, who will be 5 years old this July (Lord willing), recently asked this question:
"If someone's faith runs out, will God send them to the lake of fire?"
So, how many precious doctrines come to mind when asked a question like that? One challenge as a father is making the attempt to answer in a way that he can "grasp"; yet not twist the truth by "watering down" the theology. One of my prayerful supplications is that I can address questions like the one above from everyone in my household, my immediate family, and others in my "circle of influence"...
Proverbs 1:7-9 (English Standard Version)
7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.
8 Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching,9for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.
End of post.
Over at The Reformed Stooge, Corey's son asks one of those questions...
From The Reformed Stooge:
My oldest son, who will be 5 years old this July (Lord willing), recently asked this question:
"If someone's faith runs out, will God send them to the lake of fire?"
So, how many precious doctrines come to mind when asked a question like that? One challenge as a father is making the attempt to answer in a way that he can "grasp"; yet not twist the truth by "watering down" the theology. One of my prayerful supplications is that I can address questions like the one above from everyone in my household, my immediate family, and others in my "circle of influence"...
Proverbs 1:7-9 (English Standard Version)
7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.
8 Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching,9for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.
End of post.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
No Great Hardship
"To be laughed at is no great hardship to me. I can delight in scoffs and jeers; caricatures, lampoons, and slanders are my glory. But that you should turn from your own mercy, this is my sorrow. Spit on me, but oh, repent! Laugh at me, but oh, believe in my Master! Make my body as the dirt of the streets, if you will, but damn not your own souls! Oh, do not despise your own mercies. Put not away from you the gospel of Christ. . . . I charge you, as I shall face you at the judgment bar of the Lord Jesus in the day of judgment -- I charge you, by your own immortal welfare, lay these things to heart."C. H. Spurgeon, 10 January 1858
End of post.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Friday, March 13, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Run In With Robbers - Part ll
From The Open Life Blog:
- By Michael Spotts
Some of my readers should recall last year, when I was attacked and robbed while riding a bicycle home from work. The astounding details of that incident are recorded in the post for July 7th, 2008, Run in With Robbers - Part I, but the gist of it was that I chose not to react violently because of my religious beliefs. Instead I prayed, gave them my knife and offered my possessions willingly and calmly in return for an opportunity to tell them the good news of Jesus. Rather than listen, the thieves ran off with nothing but an .mp3 player loaded with an audio bible and some gospel sermons. Afterward multiple police told me I should have attacked since it was not likely the men were armed. I held, however, to my belief that I was directed by God to refrain. I have wondered since then what I might do in a future similar circumstance.
Now, jump eight months forward to March 11, 2009.
Just after 2:00 PM I was riding my bicycle through the same infamous stretch of the Lowe's parking lot where I was mugged. During the daytime this is usually a busy area but at present I was alone, at least until a red Mustang sidled up and slowed to my pace. The driver was a unfamiliar Hispanic man, perhaps twenty-one years old, and he leaned over and pointed something at me. In his hand was a green iPod mini and some earphones. Sometimes people try to sell stolen items on the street, but an immediate thought which occurred to me was, 'don't stop pedaling, you might be getting set up again.'
He waved the item at me again and said, "Don't you remember me? I stole your .mp3 player last year." Instantly I clutched the brakes. My friend Erin was on the phone with me so I told her to pray and hung up. An enormous grin crossed my face as he stopped his car. Lord, thank you.
Again he expressed desire to give me the .mp3 player. "It's fine, man, I don't need it. I have another."
"But I want to do something for you... can I give you my number? I'll go to church with you... what can I do?"
I told the young man all I wanted was for him to go home and read the whole New Testament, and see for himself the Son of God who had transformed me from a worse criminal into someone capable of loving his enemies. As if to show his improvement without religion, he explained how he had cleaned up since the night when he mugged me. Apparently that event signaled the beginning of a realization he had about the foolishness of his life. Two weeks after, he totaled his car. Perhaps confronted with the thought of death, he resolved to live differently from then on.
Over the next eight months he walked out of drugs and crime, and into a regular forty-hour job. "Now I need to be a man and earn a living. I can't be a fool anymore. I need to do good to people." He confronted his friends and convinced one of the attackers to straighten up. Now that man is apparently living in another city pursuing a decent life as well. With sober pride he even confessed his acceptance by a semi-pro baseball league in Mexico which he will be joining soon. "I was raised Roman Catholic, but I'm not sure about religion. Now I'm trying to find my own path, to be a good person."
"You can't take credit for that," I retorted, shaking my head. "For weeks after, hundreds of people were praying for you, from my church and around the country through my website." With manifest care, I added, "You'll be the best person in hell, friend, if you trust in anything but the perfect sacrifice of Christ for your standing before God. " I pointed to the drink in his cup-holder. "Does that taste good?" He nodded and smiled, "Sprite? Yeah, Sprite is good."
"But," I went on, "what if you opened the lid and saw black filth inside, all around the walls of the cup? You'd be disgusted and throw it out the window. Your deeds may be outwardly good but God sees your motives. The greatest commandment is not to love others, but to love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. Every thought, action, intention, is supposed to be for Him. Instead of using your muscles to rob people, you ought to be using them to help others for God's sake. Even a dog licks the hand of the one who feeds it, but how thankless towards God are you? If your ultimate reason for doing good things is not to glorify God first, but to magnify your self-worth, or elevate others, or shut your conscience up, then God sees it all as filthy rags. That's what Isaiah said."
This whole while he listened intently.
"It's a matter of values. If you saw someone kick a dog, you might not think twice. But if you saw someone kick an infant you would be enraged. That's because infants are more valuable to you than animals. But to God, every sin that a man commits is against the Lord, Himself. He takes it personally. Psalm 5:5 says, "The foolish shall not stand in God's sight: the Lord hates all workers of iniquity." After David committed murder and adultery, he said, "Against God alone have I sinned." The Bible says that only perfect people will be acquitted at God's judgment. And since God is infinitely valuable, His punishment upon offenders will go on infinitely. It's justice."
"But that's where Jesus comes in. From before time, God foresaw selfish, wicked, God-hating people like you and me and determined to save them by His grace. The Bible says, "Christ died for the ungodly," not those whom He foresaw doing good works to earn salvation. He wanted to magnify His kindness and generosity to undeserving sinners. So Jesus came and fulfilled the moral laws of God; he lived the way you and I should have. And then He suffered God's wrath as a substitute on the cross. He took the whole penalty in his soul and became accursed for others. He bore all the sins of everyone who would believe on Him, so that anyone who will believe can have faith that since Christ, the infinite Son of God, bore their entire judgment, they will receive His righteousness credited to them. It's a transfer: God looks at Jesus suffering to death and sees you; God looks at you and sees Jesus obeying throughout His life."
"God doesn't want you to try to earn anything. That takes away from His glory. It makes salvation a wage that you earned, instead of a gift to be received. He doesn't even want you to have faith in your faith. He wants you to turn from doing everything He hates, just to please Him, and to rely on Jesus' life and death to be good enough to satisfy the Father's justice. Rely on the resurrection as proof that Jesus was accepted by the Father."
"Anyways," I concluded, "I don't mean to overwhelm you."
"It's cool," he laughed, extending his hand. I gripped it and smiled once more.
"I just want to see you in heaven, and I want you to trust Jesus instead of your actions. Do good because it's right, but not in order to be right with God. When you believe, you're born again and obedience and good works come supernaturally by His Spirit."
"I've done a lot of bad stuff, man... that night we had a gun, we wouldn't have hesitated to shoot you."
"It doesn't matter. Christ bore all for all who believe on Him. He changed me. All I feel for you is love, bro. God bless you."
We shook hands again and he drove out. "Lord, thank You!" I shouted. Oh, how the Lord is good to such an undeserving sinner as me.
In consideration of the gun, I now realize more fully how close to the threshold of eternity I was! But really, am I further now? This life is a vapor that vanishes away.
Please pray for this man. He is near to the Kingdom of God.
End of post.
- By Michael Spotts
Some of my readers should recall last year, when I was attacked and robbed while riding a bicycle home from work. The astounding details of that incident are recorded in the post for July 7th, 2008, Run in With Robbers - Part I, but the gist of it was that I chose not to react violently because of my religious beliefs. Instead I prayed, gave them my knife and offered my possessions willingly and calmly in return for an opportunity to tell them the good news of Jesus. Rather than listen, the thieves ran off with nothing but an .mp3 player loaded with an audio bible and some gospel sermons. Afterward multiple police told me I should have attacked since it was not likely the men were armed. I held, however, to my belief that I was directed by God to refrain. I have wondered since then what I might do in a future similar circumstance.
Now, jump eight months forward to March 11, 2009.
Just after 2:00 PM I was riding my bicycle through the same infamous stretch of the Lowe's parking lot where I was mugged. During the daytime this is usually a busy area but at present I was alone, at least until a red Mustang sidled up and slowed to my pace. The driver was a unfamiliar Hispanic man, perhaps twenty-one years old, and he leaned over and pointed something at me. In his hand was a green iPod mini and some earphones. Sometimes people try to sell stolen items on the street, but an immediate thought which occurred to me was, 'don't stop pedaling, you might be getting set up again.'
He waved the item at me again and said, "Don't you remember me? I stole your .mp3 player last year." Instantly I clutched the brakes. My friend Erin was on the phone with me so I told her to pray and hung up. An enormous grin crossed my face as he stopped his car. Lord, thank you.
Again he expressed desire to give me the .mp3 player. "It's fine, man, I don't need it. I have another."
"But I want to do something for you... can I give you my number? I'll go to church with you... what can I do?"
I told the young man all I wanted was for him to go home and read the whole New Testament, and see for himself the Son of God who had transformed me from a worse criminal into someone capable of loving his enemies. As if to show his improvement without religion, he explained how he had cleaned up since the night when he mugged me. Apparently that event signaled the beginning of a realization he had about the foolishness of his life. Two weeks after, he totaled his car. Perhaps confronted with the thought of death, he resolved to live differently from then on.
Over the next eight months he walked out of drugs and crime, and into a regular forty-hour job. "Now I need to be a man and earn a living. I can't be a fool anymore. I need to do good to people." He confronted his friends and convinced one of the attackers to straighten up. Now that man is apparently living in another city pursuing a decent life as well. With sober pride he even confessed his acceptance by a semi-pro baseball league in Mexico which he will be joining soon. "I was raised Roman Catholic, but I'm not sure about religion. Now I'm trying to find my own path, to be a good person."
"You can't take credit for that," I retorted, shaking my head. "For weeks after, hundreds of people were praying for you, from my church and around the country through my website." With manifest care, I added, "You'll be the best person in hell, friend, if you trust in anything but the perfect sacrifice of Christ for your standing before God. " I pointed to the drink in his cup-holder. "Does that taste good?" He nodded and smiled, "Sprite? Yeah, Sprite is good."
"But," I went on, "what if you opened the lid and saw black filth inside, all around the walls of the cup? You'd be disgusted and throw it out the window. Your deeds may be outwardly good but God sees your motives. The greatest commandment is not to love others, but to love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. Every thought, action, intention, is supposed to be for Him. Instead of using your muscles to rob people, you ought to be using them to help others for God's sake. Even a dog licks the hand of the one who feeds it, but how thankless towards God are you? If your ultimate reason for doing good things is not to glorify God first, but to magnify your self-worth, or elevate others, or shut your conscience up, then God sees it all as filthy rags. That's what Isaiah said."
This whole while he listened intently.
"It's a matter of values. If you saw someone kick a dog, you might not think twice. But if you saw someone kick an infant you would be enraged. That's because infants are more valuable to you than animals. But to God, every sin that a man commits is against the Lord, Himself. He takes it personally. Psalm 5:5 says, "The foolish shall not stand in God's sight: the Lord hates all workers of iniquity." After David committed murder and adultery, he said, "Against God alone have I sinned." The Bible says that only perfect people will be acquitted at God's judgment. And since God is infinitely valuable, His punishment upon offenders will go on infinitely. It's justice."
"But that's where Jesus comes in. From before time, God foresaw selfish, wicked, God-hating people like you and me and determined to save them by His grace. The Bible says, "Christ died for the ungodly," not those whom He foresaw doing good works to earn salvation. He wanted to magnify His kindness and generosity to undeserving sinners. So Jesus came and fulfilled the moral laws of God; he lived the way you and I should have. And then He suffered God's wrath as a substitute on the cross. He took the whole penalty in his soul and became accursed for others. He bore all the sins of everyone who would believe on Him, so that anyone who will believe can have faith that since Christ, the infinite Son of God, bore their entire judgment, they will receive His righteousness credited to them. It's a transfer: God looks at Jesus suffering to death and sees you; God looks at you and sees Jesus obeying throughout His life."
"God doesn't want you to try to earn anything. That takes away from His glory. It makes salvation a wage that you earned, instead of a gift to be received. He doesn't even want you to have faith in your faith. He wants you to turn from doing everything He hates, just to please Him, and to rely on Jesus' life and death to be good enough to satisfy the Father's justice. Rely on the resurrection as proof that Jesus was accepted by the Father."
"Anyways," I concluded, "I don't mean to overwhelm you."
"It's cool," he laughed, extending his hand. I gripped it and smiled once more.
"I just want to see you in heaven, and I want you to trust Jesus instead of your actions. Do good because it's right, but not in order to be right with God. When you believe, you're born again and obedience and good works come supernaturally by His Spirit."
"I've done a lot of bad stuff, man... that night we had a gun, we wouldn't have hesitated to shoot you."
"It doesn't matter. Christ bore all for all who believe on Him. He changed me. All I feel for you is love, bro. God bless you."
We shook hands again and he drove out. "Lord, thank You!" I shouted. Oh, how the Lord is good to such an undeserving sinner as me.
In consideration of the gun, I now realize more fully how close to the threshold of eternity I was! But really, am I further now? This life is a vapor that vanishes away.
Please pray for this man. He is near to the Kingdom of God.
End of post.
Run In With Robbers - Part l
From The Open Life Blog:
- By Michael Spotts
An Account of How I was Attacked and Robbed on my Way Home from Work, Thursday, July 3, 2008.
I have written this account for two purposes. First, to express gratitude to Sovereign God for sparing me from what could have been much worse. And secondly, to warn others to exercise caution around town.
Fifteen minutes after leaving the store on Thursday evening, while riding my bicycle past Lowe's Hardware on the 76, the last thing on my mind was getting mugged. The sun had just set and I was in a fairly public place through which I had ridden hundreds of times to and from work.
Three young men, aged 19-22, were walking across the lot towards Mission Ave. Just as I passed, one called out, saying something about wanting to "borrow" my bike to get gas for their car. I had no intention of stopping, since three young men don't need a bike to get gas. Never mind the fact that there's a station right there in the Lowe's parking lot, and these guys were headed in the other direction! I said over my shoulder, "if you really needed it, I'd let you borrow it, but it's not my bike." Feeling uncomfortable, I decided to pedal quicker.
I recall then hearing their footsteps as they began to run after me. Before I could even shift gears to accelerate, one of the men had grabbed my backpack and pulled me from the bike. Half crouching, I turned and faced them just as the first person kicked me. He aimed for my head but thankfully hit my shoulder. If he had met his mark, I might not be here now. The second two threw punches but theirs didn't land because of the bicycle fell between us. This left me backed up against the railing of a fence and surrounded by three larger men.
My hand went instinctively for my knife. In writing that, I should mention how three years ago I ventured into an abandoned house with some friends, in the countryside. It was past midnight in a room lit only by moonlight streaming through a gaping rend in the wall. From out of the shadows came a homeless in a trench coat, lurching towards us. Without hesitating, I went for my knife and prepared to fight him. Thank God I didn't! It turned out my friends had set me up to scare me as a prank. I only mention this to say that it wouldn't be the first time I' reached for my knife with an intention to use it.
So, here I was being attacked, and I put my hand to my back pocket. That moment, however, I was powerfully impressed with my recent determination not to use violent force unless defending someone else. Many other times I have wielded violent force against people that threatened me, but since coming to Christ two years ago I had been subdued to fight differently, with prayer, faith, and love, knowing my true enemy to be spiritual. So, on the principle that it is better to trust God with my mortal life so I might extend the selfless news of Jesus to lost men, I took my hand off of the knife and extended both arms low.
With as calm and firm a tone as I could summon, I shouted, "Stop! Wait a second!" To my relief and surprise, all three halted and listened intensely as I said, "I'm not going to fight you. I'll give you whatever you want, but I need to tell you something important." Drawing out my .mp3 player I tossed it to the person on my left. The one who kicked me then asked what was in my back pocket. Should I lie? Was this now my final chance to use the knife, and perhaps flee over the fence? My prayer rose to God, and by His grace I accepted that He who decreed the apostles to be murdered might also have wisely ordained my injury this night. Lord, Thy will be done.
His eyes went wide when I slipped the knife out, rotated it towards myself and extended the handle to him calmly and in dead earnest. "I received this knife as a gift at a wedding. I'm giving it to you willingly. Now let me tell you something important." He face seemed to flush with shame. To my utter surprise he thrust the knife back, saying, "I can't take this from you, man," and looking over me, "What else do you have?"
Inside I began to rejoice. It seemed that his conscience had been touched and I was now encouraged to believe God would let me speak to them. Truly Santa couldn't have been more jolly than I was then as I opened my backpack to see what I could offer. But a thought occurred that they might take my stuff and run off without letting me explain the good news of the gospel. So fumbling around for an expensive voice recorded I keep with me, I asked the one who kicked me, "Are you going to let me tell you what I want to say?"
Completely distraught, he shook his head and grunted, "No!" Surprising even myself, I jumped to my feet and scolded him, "No! I need to tell you something. Here, take this voice recorder. It's worth $120, but you can have it. Just let me tell you something that you need to know!" Now it looked like I was holding him up. At this moment, without explanation, one of the assailants ran away towards their car.
As if to protect himself from a duty to hear my message the man continued refusing to accept the expensive things I kept offering him. But now the second attacker ran away, leaving only him. Confused, convicted, and frustrated, he too then turned and ran! As they went I yelled, "Please, you have to listen to me! God is alive! This world didn't come from nothing! I was like you, I was a slave of sin! God will judge you in your sins and you'll be damned in hell forever unless you turn from your sins and come under Jesus for forgiveness!" The louder I yelled, the faster they ran!
Peeling off into the night, the drove away to leave me standing by myself in the parking lot, nervously rejoicing and very shaken up, to the point of giddiness. I had enough presence of mind to contact the police who met with me nearby. Ironically, they told me that I should have used the knife against the attackers. Their reasoning is that had my assailants possessed weapons, they would have brandished them. And even three men don't want to risk getting stabbed. I'm not entirely sure, but I believe in this case I obeyed the truth God impressed on my conscience in not fighting.
So, in conclusion, I went home with no other damage but a bruised shoulder, a lot of adrenaline in my blood, and many thanks on my lips to my God for delivering me. And all I lost was a cheap .mp3 player loaded with an audio bible and some fiery gospel sermons by Rolfe Bernard, such as "The God of the Bible kills people." I prayed dearly that they might be saved through this peculiar circumstance and really felt for them as friends. As well, my church and hundreds online were brought to pray for them as well. God knows what will come of this.
Anyways, be careful out there. To everyone who warned me to be more cautious riding home, you were right. Oceanside is more intense than I thought.
I feel very alive.
End of post.
- By Michael Spotts
An Account of How I was Attacked and Robbed on my Way Home from Work, Thursday, July 3, 2008.
I have written this account for two purposes. First, to express gratitude to Sovereign God for sparing me from what could have been much worse. And secondly, to warn others to exercise caution around town.
Fifteen minutes after leaving the store on Thursday evening, while riding my bicycle past Lowe's Hardware on the 76, the last thing on my mind was getting mugged. The sun had just set and I was in a fairly public place through which I had ridden hundreds of times to and from work.
Three young men, aged 19-22, were walking across the lot towards Mission Ave. Just as I passed, one called out, saying something about wanting to "borrow" my bike to get gas for their car. I had no intention of stopping, since three young men don't need a bike to get gas. Never mind the fact that there's a station right there in the Lowe's parking lot, and these guys were headed in the other direction! I said over my shoulder, "if you really needed it, I'd let you borrow it, but it's not my bike." Feeling uncomfortable, I decided to pedal quicker.
I recall then hearing their footsteps as they began to run after me. Before I could even shift gears to accelerate, one of the men had grabbed my backpack and pulled me from the bike. Half crouching, I turned and faced them just as the first person kicked me. He aimed for my head but thankfully hit my shoulder. If he had met his mark, I might not be here now. The second two threw punches but theirs didn't land because of the bicycle fell between us. This left me backed up against the railing of a fence and surrounded by three larger men.
My hand went instinctively for my knife. In writing that, I should mention how three years ago I ventured into an abandoned house with some friends, in the countryside. It was past midnight in a room lit only by moonlight streaming through a gaping rend in the wall. From out of the shadows came a homeless in a trench coat, lurching towards us. Without hesitating, I went for my knife and prepared to fight him. Thank God I didn't! It turned out my friends had set me up to scare me as a prank. I only mention this to say that it wouldn't be the first time I' reached for my knife with an intention to use it.
So, here I was being attacked, and I put my hand to my back pocket. That moment, however, I was powerfully impressed with my recent determination not to use violent force unless defending someone else. Many other times I have wielded violent force against people that threatened me, but since coming to Christ two years ago I had been subdued to fight differently, with prayer, faith, and love, knowing my true enemy to be spiritual. So, on the principle that it is better to trust God with my mortal life so I might extend the selfless news of Jesus to lost men, I took my hand off of the knife and extended both arms low.
With as calm and firm a tone as I could summon, I shouted, "Stop! Wait a second!" To my relief and surprise, all three halted and listened intensely as I said, "I'm not going to fight you. I'll give you whatever you want, but I need to tell you something important." Drawing out my .mp3 player I tossed it to the person on my left. The one who kicked me then asked what was in my back pocket. Should I lie? Was this now my final chance to use the knife, and perhaps flee over the fence? My prayer rose to God, and by His grace I accepted that He who decreed the apostles to be murdered might also have wisely ordained my injury this night. Lord, Thy will be done.
His eyes went wide when I slipped the knife out, rotated it towards myself and extended the handle to him calmly and in dead earnest. "I received this knife as a gift at a wedding. I'm giving it to you willingly. Now let me tell you something important." He face seemed to flush with shame. To my utter surprise he thrust the knife back, saying, "I can't take this from you, man," and looking over me, "What else do you have?"
Inside I began to rejoice. It seemed that his conscience had been touched and I was now encouraged to believe God would let me speak to them. Truly Santa couldn't have been more jolly than I was then as I opened my backpack to see what I could offer. But a thought occurred that they might take my stuff and run off without letting me explain the good news of the gospel. So fumbling around for an expensive voice recorded I keep with me, I asked the one who kicked me, "Are you going to let me tell you what I want to say?"
Completely distraught, he shook his head and grunted, "No!" Surprising even myself, I jumped to my feet and scolded him, "No! I need to tell you something. Here, take this voice recorder. It's worth $120, but you can have it. Just let me tell you something that you need to know!" Now it looked like I was holding him up. At this moment, without explanation, one of the assailants ran away towards their car.
As if to protect himself from a duty to hear my message the man continued refusing to accept the expensive things I kept offering him. But now the second attacker ran away, leaving only him. Confused, convicted, and frustrated, he too then turned and ran! As they went I yelled, "Please, you have to listen to me! God is alive! This world didn't come from nothing! I was like you, I was a slave of sin! God will judge you in your sins and you'll be damned in hell forever unless you turn from your sins and come under Jesus for forgiveness!" The louder I yelled, the faster they ran!
Peeling off into the night, the drove away to leave me standing by myself in the parking lot, nervously rejoicing and very shaken up, to the point of giddiness. I had enough presence of mind to contact the police who met with me nearby. Ironically, they told me that I should have used the knife against the attackers. Their reasoning is that had my assailants possessed weapons, they would have brandished them. And even three men don't want to risk getting stabbed. I'm not entirely sure, but I believe in this case I obeyed the truth God impressed on my conscience in not fighting.
So, in conclusion, I went home with no other damage but a bruised shoulder, a lot of adrenaline in my blood, and many thanks on my lips to my God for delivering me. And all I lost was a cheap .mp3 player loaded with an audio bible and some fiery gospel sermons by Rolfe Bernard, such as "The God of the Bible kills people." I prayed dearly that they might be saved through this peculiar circumstance and really felt for them as friends. As well, my church and hundreds online were brought to pray for them as well. God knows what will come of this.
Anyways, be careful out there. To everyone who warned me to be more cautious riding home, you were right. Oceanside is more intense than I thought.
I feel very alive.
End of post.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Sunday, March 08, 2009
Saturday, March 07, 2009
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Tony Miano - Marks Of A False Convert
Ten Marks of a False Convert:
1. You believe that you are inherently a good person, thus denying the doctrine of Original Sin.
2. You commit idolatry of the mind and blaspheme the very character of God by denying essential doctrines such as judgment, hell, regeneration, and justification by faith alone; and you replace the truth with lies such as sinless perfection and open theism.
3. You think that only the red-lettered words in your Bible are the words of Jesus and, therefore, the rest of the Bible can be interpreted and applied to your liking.
4. You believe that a person can be a Christian while wantonly engaging in habitual sin; such as homosexuality, fornication, adultery in mind or body, the support in any way whatsoever of the murder of the unborn, or any other sin.
5. You believe that because a person has prayed a prayer and asked Jesus into their heart, then they are saved.
6. You believe a person can be a Christian, even if they bear no fruit after making a profession of faith in Christ. You treat the grace of God as a license to sin. You like the word backslider.
7. You struggle with the thought of missing a meal; but going days, weeks, even months without reading your Bible doesnt faze you.
8. You pray when you want something from God; but beyond that you have very little time for conversation with Him.
9. You believe that Darwinian, macro-evolution is a scientific fact and compatible with belief in the God of the Bible.
10. You see evangelism as a gift other people have; and you have no real concern about the fact that 150,000 people die every day, with the vast majority of them bound for hell. You soothe your conscience by convincing yourself that friendship evangelism, as it is most commonly practiced among American Christians, is actually in the Bible. You think that if you let your little light shine, you dont have to verbally proclaim the gospel.
End of post.
Monday, March 02, 2009
The Missionaries - Vintage Paul Washer Footage
The Missionaries is a poem by Jason Bellard. This clip has some vintage footage from Paul Washer's earlier years. Poem by Jason Bellard. Music by Martha Smith.
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Sunday, March 01, 2009
Are Animals Capable Of Praising God?
From Eternal Perspective Ministries:
We've been having an discussion about animals, and whether they are capable of praising God. What do you think?
Answered by Randy Alcorn (excerpted from his book Heaven)
Throughout Scripture we read that animals praise God. I don't know exactly how animals praise God, but our inability to understand it shouldn't keep us from believing it.
Consider the psalms. Psalm 148 commands all of creation to praise the Lord, including the animals: "Wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds, kings of the earth and all nations, you princes and all rulers on earth, young men and maidens, old men and children. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his splendor is above the earth and the heavens" (vv. 10-13). If in some sense fallen animals, shadows of what they once were, can praise God on this fallen Earth, how much more should we expect them to do so on the New Earth? "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord" (Psalm 150:6). Since animals are said to have breath, they are included among those directed to praise God.
Passages in Revelation also indicate that the animals will praise their creator: "Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: 'To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!'" (Revelation 5:13). What are these "creatures" said to do? To sing praises to God in worship. If "every creature in heaven and on earth" includes animals, then animals praise God.
The most striking example of animals praising God in Heaven is often overlooked because of word selection in our Bible translations. We're told eight times in Revelation of "living creatures" in the intermediate Heaven: "Day and night they never stop saying: 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.'... The living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne" (Revelation 4:8-9).
The word translated "living creatures" is zoon. Throughout most of the New Testament the word is translated "animal" and is used to indicate animals sacrificed in the temple and wild, irrational animals (Hebrews 13:11; 2 Peter 2:12; Jude 1:10). In the Old Testament, the Septuagint used zoon to translate the Hebrew words for animals, including the "living creatures" of the sea (Genesis 1:21; Ezekiel 47:9). In extrabiblical writings, zoon commonly referred to ordinary animals and was used of the Egyptians' divine animals and the mythological bird called the Phoenix (1 Clement 25:2-3 1 Clement 25:2-3 ). In virtually every case inside and outside of Scripture, this word means not a person, not an angel, but an animal. The King James version translates zoon "beasts" in Revelation, but the negative connotations of that word led subsequent translators to settle on "living creatures." The most natural translation would be simply "animals." That word would likely have been chosen by translators if it didn't sound so strange for readers to envision talking animals praising God around his throne! The "living creatures" look like a lion, ox, a man, and an eagle (Revelation 4:7 Revelation 4:7 ). They appear to be the same creatures of Ezekiel 1:5-14 and Ezekiel 10:10-14, also called the cherubim, who are distinguished from angels (Revelation 15:7). The cherubim are first mentioned in Genesis 3:24, as Eden's guardians. Their images were carved out of gold and placed on the Ark of the Covenant, indicating their closeness to God.
Somehow we have failed to grasp that the "living creatures" who cry out "Holy, holy, holy," are animals—living, breathing, intelligent and articulate animals who dwell in God's presence, worshiping and praising him. They are greater than the animals we know, and they preexisted the animals we know. Perhaps they're the prototype creatures of Heaven after whom God designed Earth's animals. But even though they're highly intelligent and expressive, they're still animals; that's what Scripture calls them.
When we grasp these passages, we'll see the error of the statement, "Clearly animals do not fit into the main purpose of heaven, which is the articulation of God's praise."1 On the contrary, the primary beings shown articulating God's praise in Heaven, along with angels and humans (the elders), are animals!
1 John Gilmore, Probing Heaven (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1991), 132.
End of post.
We've been having an discussion about animals, and whether they are capable of praising God. What do you think?
Answered by Randy Alcorn (excerpted from his book Heaven)
Throughout Scripture we read that animals praise God. I don't know exactly how animals praise God, but our inability to understand it shouldn't keep us from believing it.
Consider the psalms. Psalm 148 commands all of creation to praise the Lord, including the animals: "Wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds, kings of the earth and all nations, you princes and all rulers on earth, young men and maidens, old men and children. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his splendor is above the earth and the heavens" (vv. 10-13). If in some sense fallen animals, shadows of what they once were, can praise God on this fallen Earth, how much more should we expect them to do so on the New Earth? "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord" (Psalm 150:6). Since animals are said to have breath, they are included among those directed to praise God.
Passages in Revelation also indicate that the animals will praise their creator: "Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: 'To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!'" (Revelation 5:13). What are these "creatures" said to do? To sing praises to God in worship. If "every creature in heaven and on earth" includes animals, then animals praise God.
The most striking example of animals praising God in Heaven is often overlooked because of word selection in our Bible translations. We're told eight times in Revelation of "living creatures" in the intermediate Heaven: "Day and night they never stop saying: 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.'... The living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne" (Revelation 4:8-9).
The word translated "living creatures" is zoon. Throughout most of the New Testament the word is translated "animal" and is used to indicate animals sacrificed in the temple and wild, irrational animals (Hebrews 13:11; 2 Peter 2:12; Jude 1:10). In the Old Testament, the Septuagint used zoon to translate the Hebrew words for animals, including the "living creatures" of the sea (Genesis 1:21; Ezekiel 47:9). In extrabiblical writings, zoon commonly referred to ordinary animals and was used of the Egyptians' divine animals and the mythological bird called the Phoenix (1 Clement 25:2-3 1 Clement 25:2-3 ). In virtually every case inside and outside of Scripture, this word means not a person, not an angel, but an animal. The King James version translates zoon "beasts" in Revelation, but the negative connotations of that word led subsequent translators to settle on "living creatures." The most natural translation would be simply "animals." That word would likely have been chosen by translators if it didn't sound so strange for readers to envision talking animals praising God around his throne! The "living creatures" look like a lion, ox, a man, and an eagle (Revelation 4:7 Revelation 4:7 ). They appear to be the same creatures of Ezekiel 1:5-14 and Ezekiel 10:10-14, also called the cherubim, who are distinguished from angels (Revelation 15:7). The cherubim are first mentioned in Genesis 3:24, as Eden's guardians. Their images were carved out of gold and placed on the Ark of the Covenant, indicating their closeness to God.
Somehow we have failed to grasp that the "living creatures" who cry out "Holy, holy, holy," are animals—living, breathing, intelligent and articulate animals who dwell in God's presence, worshiping and praising him. They are greater than the animals we know, and they preexisted the animals we know. Perhaps they're the prototype creatures of Heaven after whom God designed Earth's animals. But even though they're highly intelligent and expressive, they're still animals; that's what Scripture calls them.
When we grasp these passages, we'll see the error of the statement, "Clearly animals do not fit into the main purpose of heaven, which is the articulation of God's praise."1 On the contrary, the primary beings shown articulating God's praise in Heaven, along with angels and humans (the elders), are animals!
1 John Gilmore, Probing Heaven (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1991), 132.
End of post.
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