Christian, You Are Known by Name(Apprising Ministries Link)

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I found a very encouraging post by Pastor Ken Silva today. Here’s an excerpt from it.:

Yes, beloved of God we do live in troubling times. But no matter how difficult your current trial may be, or whatever you may have done since you were born again, you can trust that God still knows thee by name; and if you will but turn from your sin, it’s not too late for you to begin all over again (see—1 John 1:9). And don’t you ever forget how precious you are to the Lord; so much so dear Christian, that He wrote your name on His palms at his crucifixion (see—Isaiah 49:16) and those nail-scarred hands of Christ Jesus are vivid proof of His love for all eternity!

Click here to read the entire article.

Also, Apprising Ministries has been one of the most outspoken ministries against the errors that are now plaguing Christendom. Over time, I have come to know Pastor Ken Silva personally as an honorable and very knowledgeable man whose writing and speaking contributions have edified me greatly. Like most ministries, his relies on the financial support of donors who are blessed by his ministry and would like his efforts extended to others who need godly wisdom. If you are led to donate, please use the link below (click picture) to donate monetarily to Apprising Ministries. If you can only support him in prayer, I’m sure he would appreciate that, too. Let’s remember our pastors as they make it a point to remember us.

Voddie Baucham - Is Christianity A Religion?

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There is a common mantra that has been around for a while, but which seems to be picking up steam. It goes like this: “Christianity is not a religion; it’s a relationship.” We’ve all heard it before. However, how many of us have bothered to evaluate this ubiquitous saying? I believe we must do just that. We must evaluate this mantra, and the syllogism by which it is frequently accompanied:

Religion is man’s attempt to reach God
Christianity is God’s attempt to reach man
Therefore, Christianity is not a religion.

I believe this syllogism is not only invalid, but patently false. If for no other reason, this syllogism must be rejected on the grounds that it contains at least one false premise. Religion is much more than man’s attempt to reach God. And Christianity is indeed a religion. Moreover, I believe it is dangerous –even foolish— to argue otherwise. The argument that Christianity is not a religion has many inherent problems. Most importantly, this line of reasoning is at odds with the English language, the history of the church, and good old common sense.

At Odds With the English Language

The first problem with the argument that Christianity is not a religion is the fact that it is a linguistic/grammatical fallacy. This in turn exposes an unavoidable logical fallacy in what is ultimately a question-begging argument. In order for the statement –Christianity is not a religion— to be true, one has to assume a certain definition of the word religion that does not exist (i.e., “religion is man’s attempt to reach God”). The Encarta World English Dictionary defines religion as:

1. People’s beliefs and opinions concerning the existence, nature, and worship of a deity or deities, and divine involvement in the universe and human life

2. A particular institutionalized or personal system of beliefs and practices relating to the divine

3. A set of strongly-held beliefs, values, and attitudes that somebody lives by

4. An object, practice, cause, or activity that somebody is completely devoted to or obsessed by

How do we get from here to “Man’s attempt to reach God” as a definition of religion? Even Encarta knows better. In fact, the distance between the true definition and this contemporary mantra is even more evident when one examines earlier sources. For instance, the definition of religion in Webster’s 1828 Dictionary of the English Language is far more disparate with the contemporary assertion. Webster offers a definition we would be hard-pressed to improve upon.

1. Religion, in its most comprehensive sense, includes a belief in the being and perfections of God, in the revelation of his will to man, in man’s obligation to obey his commands, in a state of reward and punishment, and in man’s accountableness to God; and also true godliness or piety of life, with the practice of all moral duties. It therefore comprehends theology, as a system of doctrines or principles, as well as practical piety; for the practice of moral duties without a belief in a divine lawgiver, and without reference to his will or commands, is not religion.

2. Religion, as distinct from theology, is godliness or real piety in practice, consisting in the performance of all known duties to God and our fellow men, in obedience to divine command, or from love to God and his law. James 1.

3. Religion, as distinct from virtue, or morality, consists in the performance of the duties we owe directly to God, from a principle of obedience to his will. Hence we often speak of religion and virtue, as different branches of one system, or the duties of the first and second tables of the law.
Note that Webster’s second definition has a reference attached. That reference (James chapter 1) says as much about the nature of early America as it does about early American English. Far from being presented as something at odds with biblical Christianity, the James 1 reference alludes to the fact that religion is the means by which true followers of Christ accomplish things like bridling the tongue, ministering to orphans, and escaping defilement by the world. James writes:

“If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, and the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” (James 1:26-27 ESV)

In case you were wondering whether or not the word ‘religion’ is an appropriate rendering of the Greek text, the ESV is not alone in translating qrhskei√a as ‘religion’ in James 1 (see also Acts 26:5; Col 2:18). NASB, KJV, HCSV, NJB, ASV, NLT, NET, NIV, Darby, Young, the Geneva Bible, etc., all translate the word the same. Thus, while the Bible does make a distinction between true and false religion, it does not teach that religion is something antithetical to biblical Christianity. Nor does the word mean, ‘Man’s attempt to reach God.’

At Odds With the History of the Church

Not only is the contemporary attitude toward religion at odds with the English language, it also stands at odds with the history of Christianity. Throughout the history of the church, Christianity has not only been viewed as a religion; it has been considered the only true religion. One cannot read Christian literature from any period prior to our own without encountering the routine use of the word religion in reference to the Christian faith. Whether it is Jonathan Edward’s Religious Affections, or Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion, or Whitefield’s sermon, The Great Duty of Family Religion, the consensus in historic Christian literature is evident.

The Augsburg Confession (1530) lists as one of its main purposes, “that… one pure and true religion may be embraced and maintained by us.” Article 30 of the Belgic Confession (1561) stresses the importance of deacons and elders in order “that by these means true religion may be preserved.” The Westminster Confession (1646) in its statement on the New Testament states that, “in all controversies of religion, the Church is finally to appeal unto [the Scriptures].” The framers of the London Baptist Confession (1689) echoed this sentiment when they identified one of their goals in writing their confession of faith as, “to manifest our consent… in all the fundamental articles of the Christian Religion.” Surely those who argue that Christianity is not a religion are not willing to follow their line of reasoning through to its logical conclusion and condemn the aforementioned brothers.

Not only has the church always understood Christianity to be a religion, the culture at large has agreed. Albert Einstein said, “Science without religion is lame; religion without science is blind.” The First Amendment of the United States Constitution assures us the freedom of religion. Article XXXVIII of the Constitution of South Carolina (1778) boldly and clearly stated, “The Christian Protestant religion shall be deemed, and is hereby constituted and declared to be, the established religion of this State.” History is definitely not on the side of those wishing to shed ‘religion’ in favor of relationship.

At Odds With Common Sense

In addition to being at odds with the English language, and the history of the Church, those who argue against referring to Christianity as a religion are at odds with common sense. For instance, what would these Christians say if modern academia took their mantra to heart and removed Christianity from World Religion texts? What if departments of religion around the country suddenly got rid of all their Christian professors in an acknowledgement of the fact that Christianity was no longer a religion? What if the United States Armed Forces removed all Christian chaplains, and the First Amendment to the United States Constitution was no longer applied to Christianity? Would those who refer to Christianity as a relationship and not a religion be pleased with any or all of these developments? I should think not.

Christianity is definitely a religion. Furthermore, it is the one true religion. It is the religion of religions. I have absolutely no apprehension about the term. I do however, have tremendous apprehension about the tendency to adopt unbiblical language in an effort to ‘relate’ to the culture. I challenge anyone to find the idea of a “personal relationship with Christ” in the New Testament. Certainly we are related to Christ by way of our new birth and adoption (Rom 8:15, 23; 9:4; Gal 4:5; Eph 1:5). However, this is a far cry from the often egocentric, narcissistic use of the phrase, ‘personal relationship’ with Christ.

Of course, there is also the danger of becoming irreligious. I have always found it ironic that people recoil from the idea of religion, but continue to tell new believers to be baptized, go to church, take the Lord’s Supper, read their Bibles regularly, witness, and do a whole host of other “religious” activities. However, lately there has been a movement away from such religious activities. If Christianity is all about my ‘personal relationship’ with Jesus, then why do I need to go to church? Why do I need to read my Bible? I can just wait ‘till my buddy, Jesus “tells me” what to do next. Who needs all that ‘religious’ stuff?

I understand what people are trying to say when they eschew the term religion. The goal is to assure skeptics that we are not offering dead ritual and empty tradition. The goal is to paint a picture of a vibrant life with our Lord, Jesus Christ. I get that. However, I do not believe that it is wise, or necessary to commit logical fallacies, and make trite, nonsensical arguments in order to do so. Arguing that Christianity is not a religion is like arguing that America is not a country. I believe honest, thinking people laugh when they hear some Christian trying to be hip and relevant by saying something as asinine and illogical as, “I’m not talking about religion… I’m talking about a relationship.” Enough already with the play on words. It’s not our job to make Christianity cool. We just need to make it clear. Unfortunately, since this “Christianity is not a religion” business is out of step with the English language, the history of the Church, and common sense, it compromises the clarity and the integrity of our message. I praise God for the fact that we have a religion and a relationship.

End of post.

Gospel Truth or Blatant Blasphemy?

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by John G. Reisinger

I have not always been convinced that Limited Atonement was a biblical doctrine. I saw the other four points at least five years before God taught me the truth about the nature of the atonement. I well remember tearing in half Arthur Pink’s booklet on Was the Sin Question Finally Settled at the Cross? and throwing it into the wastebasket saying, “I will never believe that!” I think the last three issues of Sound of Grace prove beyond question that I now not only believe the truth of Limited Atonement, but, along with J.I. Packer, I affirm that this truth is the very heart of true Evangelical faith.

(Click here to read this post)

Question and Answer Session with Paul Washer [1hr25min]

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This is a Question and Answer session with Paul Washer that was given at the True Disciple Conference a while back. There are many helpful things here.

From Sermonaudio.com:
“The sound quality improves after the introduction…

This Question & Answer session covers questions about: prayer, revival, fasting, quiet times (devotionals), evangelism, how Paul ended up in Peru, and what the hours of a Pastor’s schedule should look like.

The audio for this sermon was provided by The Spurgeon Baptist Association of Churches: www.sbaoc.org

For more info about Paul Washer go to:
www.heartcrymissionary.com

This sermon was preached at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Manhattan, KS.

This sermon was posted by Grace Community Church in San Antonio, TX:
www.gccsatx.com”

http://www.heartcrymissionary.com

Author: LaneCh
Keywords: paul washer question answer christianity calvinism evangelism
Added: October 7, 2008

Chritsian, You Are Known By Name

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For our many new readers who may not know Christian Research Net is a fully integrated auxiliary extending from Apprising Ministries. When you’re praying about labors in the Lord worthy of your support may you consider that there’s a whole lot more being done through AM then “controversial” articles. 

A case in point are the words of encouragement here in these difficult times; and which are also for someone who may feel they have strayed to far from the Lord to ever come home.

Paul Washer - Question and Answer Session

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End of post.

Christian, You Are Known By Name

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Here’s a beautiful piece from Pastor Ken Silva at Apprising Ministries. I hope it’s a blessing to you today.

Yes, beloved of God we do live in troubling times. But no matter how difficult your current trial may be, or whatever you may have done since you were born again, you can trust that God still knows thee by name; and if you will but turn from your sin, it’s not too late for you to begin all over again (see—1 John 1:9). And don’t you ever forget how precious you are to the Lord; so much so dear Christian, that He wrote your name on His palms at his crucifixion (see—Isaiah 49:16) and those nail-scarred hands of Christ Jesus are vivid proof of His love for all eternity!

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A.W. TOZER: POPULARITY DOES NOT NECESSARILY EQUAL EXCELLENCE

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We have but to become acquainted with, or even listen to, the big names of our times to discover how wretchedly inferior most of them are. Many appear to have arrived at their present eminence by pull, brass, nerve, gall and lucky accident…

[T]he church also suffers from this evil notion. Christians have fallen into the habit of accepting the noisiest and most notorious among them as the best and the greatest. They too have learned to equate popularity with excellence, and in open defiance of the Sermon on the Mount they have given their approval not to the meek but to the self-assertive; not to the mourner but to the self-assured; not to the pure in heart who see God but to the publicity hunter who seeks headlines.

A.W. Tozer

Say, “It Ain’t So”, Immanuel Baptist Church

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More Purpose Driven fallout exposed over at Watcher’s Lamp. It isn’t rocket science to see this pragmatic PDL postevangelicalism operates just the same way as a corporation which takes over individual companies in the secular arena.

Promise good things; implant new leadership, and force out all those who resist. That’s about as Christian as Al-Qaeda.

CHARLES SPURGEON ON ROMAN CATHOLICISM: “A VAST MOUNTAIN OF RUBBISH COVERING THE TRUTH.”

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Soon after apostolic times there came the old
Roman rubbish, which in the end proved a
worse hindrance to the gospel than all the
errors which had preceded it.

This Popish rubbish was found in layers; first
one doctrinal error, and then another, and then
another, and then another, and then another,
until at this time the errors of the Church of
Rome are as countless as the stars, as black
as midnight, and as foul as hell.

Her abominations reek in the nostrils of all
Christian men. Her idolatries are the scorn
of reason and the abhorrence of faith.

The iniquities of her practice, and the
atrociousness of her doctrine, almost
surpass belief.

As the gospel is the masterpiece of God,
“Popery” is the masterpiece of Satan!

There can scarcely be imagined anything of
devilish craftiness or Satanic wickedness
which could be compared with her.

She is the unparalleled queen of iniquity!
Behold upon her forehead the name, Mystery,
Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and
abominations of the earth.

The church of Rome and her teachings are a
vast mountain of rubbish covering the truth.

Charles Spurgeon, sermon on Nehemiah 4:10, “Rubbish” (No. 1156)

CHRISTIAN, YOU ARE KNOWN BY NAME

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The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent. Moses said to the LORD, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’ If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.” (Exodus 33:11-13)

I Know Thee By Name; I have Engraven Thee Upon The Palms Of My Hands

Above we see that Moses, the prophet and lawgiver whom God raised up to lead His chosen people Israel out of bondage and into the promised land, desired a close relationship with the Lord. He not only had an intimate walk with God, but he was also graciously granted a relationship where he and the Lord would actually converse with one another face to face! Here’s a bit of important background about what had been going on at the time described in our text. Moses, whom the Bible informs us in Numbers 12:3 was very meek (KJV) and a very humble man (NIV) had been up on Mount Sinai for 40 days as Yahweh Elohim, the LORD God Himself, gave His Law to His humble servant.

However, while Moses was gone the Israelites had grown impatient and had begun to rebel against the prophet. In a similar fashion we’re seeing something similar today with evangelicalism turning away from Sola Scriptura, the final authoority of the Bible, in favor of Contemplative Spirituality/Mysticism. But as we know from the Master, the Lord Jesus, to rebel against those whom God sends to speak for Him is to actually rebel against the Lord Himself — He who listens to you listens to Me; he who rejects you rejects Me; but he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me (Luke 10:16).

But because Moses was away so long the Hebrew people began to do things their own way, and began to run their lives the way they wanted to, instead of the way their Creator had commanded them to. This is a also vivid picture of our own day: Our Great Shepherd, Jesus Christ, has been away for a long time and today the unbelieving pagans are busy doing that which is right in his own eyes (see—Judge 17:6). And sadly, many who would call themselves Christians in the Emerging Church are busy imitating them as well. In Exodus 33:5 we read of God’s anger against this rebellious people, the LORD had said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. If I were to go with you even for a moment, I might destroy you.

But Moses, instead of causing division among his people—his congregation—and rather than being “holier than thou,” humbly identified himself with this flock he’d been called to shepherd and interceded on their behalf in prayer to the Lord. This type of identification with, and intercession for, God’s people is something that you will see over and over from Yahweh’s true prophets in the Old Testament. No matter how much spiritual insight we may feel we have we need always remember, but for the grace of God we’d be those we’re interceding for (see—1 Corinthians 15:10).

Now let me draw your attention to the “b part,” or the last part of verse 12 above — [Lord] You have said, “I know you by name and you have found favor with me.” The King James Version says, “I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in My sight.” Now to us the phrase, “I know you by name” may sound a little odd, but to the Hebrew people, to know someone “by name” signified an intimate personal relationship. As professor of Semitic Languages and Old Testament Dr. Walter Kaiser points out, “I know you by name” (v.12) is tantamount to saying, “I have singled you out” or “I have chosen/selected you.” And this is also a picture of the relationship that we as Christians have with God as well; Who knows each of us by name, having singled us out from the world.

In fact Ephesians 1:4 says — For [God] chose is in [Christ] before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. So even though sometimes people think: “I’m not that important; God is too big and too remote to really hear my prayers,” the Scripture we just read in Ephesians clearly tells us that every Christian has been specifically chosen by God because He knows each of us by name. Why, even the very hairs of your head are all numbered as Jesus tells us in Luke 12:7. And granted, for some of us this numbering of the hairs grows easier as it disappears.

Yes, beloved of God we do live in troubling times. But no matter how difficult your current trial may be, or whatever you may have done since you were born again, you can trust that God still knows thee by name; and if you will but turn from your sin, it’s not too late for you to begin all over again (see—1 John 1:9). And don’t you ever forget how precious you are to the Lord; so much so dear Christian, that He wrote your name on His palms at his crucifixion (see—Isaiah 49:16) and those nail-scarred hands of Christ Jesus are vivid proof of His love for all eternity!

Today, may you hear the Lord as he says to you, “Welcome home.”

A Word to Wives

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Leaving the Theater of the Absurd for a moment, I have written a post about a subject that came to my mind several weeks ago. CNN had an article this week about a recent study that claims one out of every 2.7 men now have affairs. One of the results of the hard-driving, two-career lifestyle where the kids’ schedules destroy any real family time and couples barely see each other any more is this kind of tragedy. In the midst of living these hectic lives, couples who do not take care can grow apart to a dangerous degree.

I have seen numerous books from Christian publishers through the years about men taking the time to show love to their wives. Crosstalk mailed out a big number of books several years ago when we featured the author of, 365 Ways to Bless Your Wife. When I did a search, however, on similar books about wives blessing their husbands, I found some good blog posts but few books. So I have written a short piece addressing this topic in hopes that I can be an encouragement to a Christian wife who reads it. I hope that somewhere, some husband may be surprised today when his wife lets him know just how dear he is to her.

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Question and Answer Session with Paul Washer

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This is a Question and Answer session with Paul Washer that was given at the True Disciple Conference a while back. There are many helpful things here.

From Sermonaudio.com:
“The sound quality improves after the introduction…

This Question & Answer session covers questions about: prayer, revival, fasting, quiet times (devotionals), evangelism, how Paul ended up in Peru, and what the hours of a Pastor’s schedule should look like.

The audio for this sermon was provided by The Spurgeon Baptist Association of Churches: www.sbaoc.org

For more info about Paul Washer go to:
www.heartcrymissionary.com

This sermon was preached at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Manhattan, KS.

This sermon was posted by Grace Community Church in San Antonio, TX:
www.gccsatx.com”

http://www.heartcrymissionary.com

Author: LaneCh
Keywords: paul washer question answer christianity calvinism evangelism
Added: October 7, 2008

I AM THE WORST OF SINNERS

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From my friend Jean over at The Virtuous Woman:

This is something I never thought I would ever share with anyone in my life . I never thought I will ever be able to face the world if people knew who I really was. This is something I thought I would keep in my heart as my secret for life. Never have I ever thought I would one day write this on my blog, but God has humbled me. Over the last months my Lord God has taken me on a journey and he has shown me who I really am, that I am wicked in my heart, only a wicked woman could have done what I did. I cannot even understand fully why I am saved, the only bit I understand is that it is called grace. I do not deserve salvation.

On Friday 26 September my husband and I were blessed with a bouncy baby boy Kunashe. He is a big, healthy and beautiful boy. He is a child I do not deserve. In fact all my children I do not deserve them, why God has given me children, I can only say its because of his grace. The reason why I say this is because Kunashe is actually my fourth child. But today I only have 3 children. I have three children and one is missing because when I was 18 years old I chose to kill my first baby. I was at University and I chose to put my career and pride before the life of my own baby. When my baby was about three months I had him killed by means of an abortion.
Today when I hold my new born son in my arms, I feel so happy and so blessed. Kunashe has reminded me of the baby I killed. I am still grieving over my first baby. Even though it has been 8 years, it feels like yesterday. I want my baby back, I want to hold him in my arms and cuddle him the way I have cuddled my other 3 children. To think I was supposed to be his protector and his mummy, but I took my own child’s life. My baby was broken into pieces inside my womb , he was vacuumed like a piece of dirt and thrown in the bin. He must have felt pain, I know that. I have my baby’s blood dripping in my own hands. Today I will give anything to have my baby back, but its too late. My baby is dead. I call my baby he, because I have always believed it was a boy.

Why would I write this on my blog? I have chosen to confess my sin to others, that perhaps I may be healed, James 5:16. I do not want this to be a secret anymore. Firstly even though I am humiliated over what I did, I want everyone who read this blog to know what a sinner I am, that I am the worst of the worst. I don’t want to give the picture that I am a good person, because I am not. Secondly I pray that if there is any woman out there who is considering an abortion, please do not do it. Please do not take your baby’s life away. Do not be like me, you will spend your whole life regretting it. You are killing a baby, and one day you will have to give an account to God for what you are doing. Women please do not kill your babies. Thirdly, I want to let any women who have already had abortions know that there is hope. 2000 years ago Christ Jesus hung on a tree and he suffered and died for our sins. If you repent and put your trust in Jesus you can be forgiven. God can forgive even abortion. He did that for me. But even though I am forgiven, I still have to live with what I did. I cannot turn back the clock. I have put my trust in my Lord Jesus and his love has comforted me. All glory belongs to God, He takes the worst of the bunch and cleanses them by the blood of Jesus. My prayer and hope is that even one baby’s life is saved by this post.

End of post.

We Have Forgotten that the Way is Narrow.(Paul Washer)

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This is one of the greatest sermons that I’ve heard Paul Washer preach.

For more of Paul Washer’s sermons, go here.

Answer Me When I Call

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To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of David. Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have given me relief when I was in distress. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer! (2) O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame? How long will [...]

Salvation From First to Last is of the Lord

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“There can be no grace when there is no sovereignty. Deny God’s right to choose whom He will and you deny His right to save whom He will. Deny His right to save whom He will, and you deny that salvation is of grace. If salvation is made to hinge on any desert or fitness [...]

Tony Campolo with “Mystical Encounters for Christians”

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Recently in Tony Campolo To Enlighten Southern Baptists In Virginia over at Apprising Ministries we brought to your attention that Tony Campolo will be featured speaker at the “185th Annual Meeting of the BGAV” for the Baptist General Association of Virginia coming up November 11-12.

That post also provided the links to a plethora of materials concerning Contemplative Spirituality/Mysticism along with a Recommended Reading section from the Virginia Baptist Mission Board that features a number of highly questionable sources. Now in this post AM references one Campolo’s earlier Beliefnet articles, “Mystical Encounters for Christians,” as it concerns his own testimony about the CSM “discipline” of Contemplative/Centering Prayer (CCP).

Therein this “Progressive Evangelical,” as Campolo’s billed, gives us quite a bit of detail pertaining to his view about CCP and his personal practice of it. But before we look at that it’s important to introduce you a bit to what we’re talking about with the term “Red Letter Christian”; how it also relates to Campolo’s being a “Progressive Evangelical,” and the agenda being forged by these progressive neo-Gnostics.

New Harvest Sexes up Church

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Here we go again. The church leaders at New Harvest Church can’t help themselves. Like lemmings following each other off a cliff or like a pack of junior high kids at the mall without an original thought in their heads, New Harvest is following the crowd. Monkey see, monkey do. Kansas City is the latest metropolis to be victimised, or should I say vandalized, by the Lust Evangelism task force. Hide the children, honey, the Christians are coming. You think I jest? Here are the billboards thrust into the faces of unsuspecting Kansas Citians (?). Not just billboards, readers, but 150 yard signs, as well, promoting www.KCSEXCHALLENGE.com. There’s a Presidential election on, and Christians are erecting signs about sex. Onward Christian soldiers.

Reaction, it is reported, has been mixed. If I lived across the street from one of those yard signs and my young son had to look at it while playing outside, I’d give the church some reaction alright and it wouldn’t be mixed.

I’m done hearing these hirelings’ excuses about how God made sex, and sex is good, and we’re just gonna talk about it and tell everybody how to do it right. What an excuse for pastors, many of which are hitting middle-age, to strut around on “stage” at church getting their thrills from breaking taboos. I have seen these videos, and these guys are having the time of their lives in mixed settings, talking about these subjects in great detail. One church even featured a blog where the pastor’s wife posted personal video updates on their 30 Days of Sex campaign. It’s an excuse for the flesh and a chance to get media and female/male attention. A word to pastors at New Harvest: Serial killers and rapists get media attention, too, so just because KMBC shows up with cameras doesn’t mean you’re attracting admirers. The media also covered Hurricane Katrina and 9-11, just remember that.

Where do things go from here once these pastors have exhausted this line of outreach? Things will have to get worse more cutting edge—you know that. I’ve already made my prediction that there will be live “drama” on “stage” in these churches soon, all done with married participants to justify it. I hold to my prediction, and the way things are going, it won’t be long now.

Here is the full story from KMBC.

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TONY CAMPOLO WITH “MYSTICAL ENCOUNTERS FOR CHRISTIANS”

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O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the LORD. For you have rejected your people, the house of Jacob, because they are full of things from the east and of fortune-tellers like the Philistines, and they strike hands with the children of foreigners.

Their land is filled with silver and gold, and there is no end to their treasures; their land is filled with horses, and there is no end to their chariots. Their land is filled with idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their own fingers have made. (Isaiah 2:5-8, ESV)

Looking Like Rip Van Winkle SBC “Leaders” Simply Press The CSM Snooze Alarm

Recently in Tony Campolo To Enlighten Southern Baptists In Virginia here at Apprising Ministries we once again reminded the Body of Christ that practice of corrupt Contemplative Spirituality/Mysticism (CSM), which originally flowered in the antibiblical monastic traditions of apostate Roman Catholicism, has already been poisoning evangelical seminaries for years now through so-called Spiritual Formation as promulgated by Living Spiritual Teacher and Quaker mystic Richard Foster—with an intellectual assist from his friend and spiritual twin Dallas Willard.

Within that post I also provided the links to a plethora of CSM materials along with a Recommended Reading section from the Virginia Baptist Mission Board that features a number of highly questionable sources; not the least of which are the late Spiritual Master and Roman Catholic monk M. Basil Pennington, Linda Graybeal (Richard Foster’s personal assistant), SBC minister and mystic Dallas Willard, Emergent Church theologian Leonard Sweet, quasi-New Age Christian Ken Blanchard, and Emerging Church pastor Dan Kimball.

Also at the bottom of the page under “Emergent Culture Recommended Reading” we find a whole who’s who of the Emergent postliberal cult and its outright rebellion against Sola Scriptura such as Rob Bell, Spencer Burke, Shane Claiborne, Alan Jones, Tony Jones, Brian McLaren, and Doug Pagitt. Only those who know nothing of the Emergent Church are unaware that CSM was a core doctrine of this movement from its very inception. Emergent Guru McLaren already told those who would pay attention that Foster and Willard were “key mentors” of the Emerging Church. So what did you think they were “mentoring” these initial youth ministers and youth pastors in; Reformed theology? Nope; more like De-formed theology.

The fact is that this CSM has now even taken firm root within entire State Conventions of the pretending to be “Protestant” Southern Baptist Convention e.g. the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina as shown in Apostasy, Contemplative Spirituality/Mysticism (CSM) in the SBC and Disease in the Church as well as in Georgia Baptist Convention (SBC) Now Promoting the Cult of Richard Foster. However, this spurious CSM has about as much to do with Protestant theology as Dr. Walter Martin (1928-1989) did with the Cult of Liberal Theology. And take a look for yourself in A Progressive Poisoning Of American Christianity at just how it was that what Martin referred to as “the most insideous and all-pervasive cult operating in the Church” first began to inject its lethal spiritual poison into the very bloodstream of American Christianity through apostatizing mainline denominations.

Here I will also take the opportunity to remind you again that I happen to be a Southern Baptist pastor (for now) and one who was graciously delivered by the Lord from apostate Roman Catholicism into the glorious liberty of the sons of God. So I will, in gratitude to Jesus, gladly point out yet again this most obvious departure from the proper Biblical theology recovered from the harlot who is the Church of Rome during the Lord’s Reformation currently going on today within the Slowly Becoming Catholic. Case in point is the Baptist General Association of Virginia bringing in a man like “Red Letter Christian” Tony Campolo to tell them what they want to hear, er, speak at “185th Annual Meeting of the BGAV” coming up November 11-12. (Online source)

And I also find it interesting that despite the many times I have exposed this falling away from Sola Scriptura within the “Protestant” SBC in favor of mere subjective speculations I have received but one response from any pastors and/or readers. And that email was weeks ago from a very higher-up within one of the SBC State Conventions mentioned above who assured me he was “concerned.” Uh-huh; right. Well, based upon no further response from my reply back to him my considered guess is that each morning while shaving he now has to stand back further from the mirror to keep from bumping his nose, if you catch my drift. Is ok though I can wait; I’ve been ignored before and should the Lord see fit to sustain me I have an infinite amount of patience from Him at my disposal.

Progressive Christianity Is Neither Progressive Nor Is It Christianity

Men and women, as tedious as it can be at times this really is necessary background before we later turn more specifically to Campolo himself and to some of the issues I’ve been covering in Tony Campolo: “Christian Mysticism” Trumps The Bible. As this progresses we’re going to focus upon one of Campolo’s earlier Beliefnet articles, “Mystical Encounters for Christians,” as it concerns his own testimony about the CSM “discipline” of Contemplative/Centering Prayer (CCP). Therein this “Progressive Evangelical,” as Campolo’s billed, gives us quite a bit of detail pertaining to his view about CCP and his personal practice of it. But before we look at that it’s important to introduce you a bit to what we’re talking about with the term “Red Letter Christian,” which I used earlier, and how it also relates to Campolo’sbeing a “Progressive Evangelical.”

Since the point of this work is more about Campolo’s CCP practice we’re not going to spend a whole lot of time with this right now. In ”What’s A Red Letter Christian?” at the Sojouners website, home to “Red Letter Christians” (RLC), Campolo tells us that RLC originally came about from a meeting of “a group of religious leaders” disgruntled with what they see as “the alliance between evangelical Christians and the Republican Party.” Campolo also informs us that a man named “Karl Rove” was the one who “arrange[d] this union, which” would later become RLC.

Campolo further fills us in below concerning who was initially involved in RLC and what these people stand for:

The meeting was joined by the Rev. Jim Wallis of Sojourners magazine; Father Richard Rohr, a well-known Catholic writer and speaker; Brian McLaren, a leader of the emergent church movement; the Rev. Dr. Cheryl J. Sanders, a prominent African-American pastor; the Rev. Noel Castellanos, a strong voice in the Hispanic community; and several other outstanding Christian communicators.

The purpose of this gathering was not to create a religious left movement to challenge the religious right, but to jump-start a religious movement that will transcend partisan politics. Believing that Jesus is neither a Republican nor a Democrat, we want to unite Christians who are concerned about what is happening in America. We are evangelicals… Who first suggested the label? A secular Jewish Country-and-Western disc jockey in Nashville, Tennessee. During a radio interview he was conducting with Jim Wallis, he happened to say, “So, you’re one of those Red-Letter Christians - you know - who’s really into those verses in the New Testament that are in red letters!”

Jim answered, “That’s right!” And with that answer, he spoke for all of us. By calling ourselves Red-Letter Christians, we are alluding to the fact that in several versions of the New Testament, the words of Jesus are printed in red. In adopting this name, we are saying that we are committed to living out the things that He said. Of course, the message in those red-lettered verses is radical, to say the least. If you don’t believe me, read Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). In those red letters, He calls us away from the consumerist values that dominate contemporary American consciousness. (Online source)

As you can plainly see in addition to theological beliefs there’s also a political agenda which underlies and unites RLC. But for our purposes here I will simply draw to your attention the name “Father” Richard Rohr, who is a contemplative Roman Catholic Fransican priest. Yet note above that Campolo, a “Progressive Evangelical” and ostensibly Protestant RLC, includes the Roman Catholic Rohr when he says, “We are evangelicals.” For more on Rohr I refer you to Who Is Richard Rohr? But by way of quick introduction let me point out that in January of 2008 Rohr was a “presenter” at Jesus and Buddha: Paths to Awakening (Online source).

This event was sponsored by his own Center for Action and Contemplation, which Rohr founded and remains as director. There, in true contemplative mystic theology completely consistent with The New Spirituality, Roshi Rohr taught the equality of Buddha with Christ and the indwelling of God “in all things” i.e. creation:

The Four Noble Truths are the distilled essence of the Buddhist teaching. In this retreat, each of the Four Noble Truths will be introduced and explored, with emphasis given to the presence of each Noble Truth at the heart of Jesus’ call to awaken to God’s presence in every detail of our daily lives…

The teachings of both Jesus and Buddha call us to transformational honesty. They are both teaching us how to see, and how to see all the way through! They both knew that if you see God for yourself, you will see the Divine in all things. (Online source)

Anyone with eyes that see will know immediately this can’t be supported at all by the red letters, i.e. what Jesus taught, within the New Testament. But now you have a little working knowledge to show you that RLC is just another repudiation of the final authority of God’s Word in favor of highly subjective human feelings concerning a reimagined version of the old social gospel of liberal theology aka “modern theology.” What we’re actually dealing with here is a repackaged post-modern theology; a post-liberalism, which then leads us nicely into the term “progressive” as they apply it to Christianity. And now we’re essentially referring to the way, for example, someone like “Progesssive Christian” and fellow of the Jesus Seminar Dr. Marcus Borg reinterprets—oops, reimagines the historic, orthodox Christian faith.

The “Progressive” Campaign Of Take Over Within American Christianity Not So New

For those who may be interested I covered this a little further in “Progressive Christianity” Is Neither Progressive Or Christian but it’s actually quite close to the corrupt “Christianity” espoused by Campolo’s fellow RLC Diana Butler Bass, who also blogs along with Campolo and his friend Brian McLaren over at Progressive Revival. You should know that Bass is author of the book Christianity For The Rest Of Us, which the aforementioned Marcus Borg tells us is,  “The most important book of the decade about emerging Christianity and the renewal of mainline congregations.” By the way Bass is also “currently Senior Fellow at the Cathedral College of the Washington National Cathedral” along with Phyllis Tickle. Did you really think it’s an only odd coincidence that these same ol’ folks so often appealed to by writers within the Emerging Church movement keep cropping up together?

And you also need to understand that the Washington National Cathedral is a virual spiritual blackhole of postliberal and corrupt contemplative theology as you could find out in the AM article Who Is Phyllis Tickle? Men and women, the sad situation within American Christianity is the putrid progeny of the original cult of liberal theology slithering around within this current Emerging postevangelical rebellion against Sola Scriptura is right now using the exact same methodology to take over your evangelical seminaries and churches once used by their spiritually fetid forebears. Yet circa 1987 Walter Martin blew the trumpet in an attempt to arouse slumbering evangelical leaders who, unfortunately, would simply decide to lazily hit their own spritial snooze alarm:

There is a progression that takes place in liberal theology: It begins with a corrupt bibliology, a corrupt view of the nature and the inspiration of Scripture. They havea corrupt theology because once you are picking and choosing from the Bible what you want, your theology has to suffer from it, because your human reason is corrupt… every major theological seminary that has turned from orthodox Christianity began with disbelief of Biblical doctrine. There wasn’t a single exception.

This corrupt Bibliology then lead them to the next step. Their Theology began to be touched by it, their view of the Cross, the Virgin Birth bwere both immediately questioned; then came the miracles of Christ… And finally they had emptied the Gospel of all its content; they were simply using the outward shell so that they go on collecting money from the people and the churches; because they knew that if the people in the pew knew that they were apostate, they’d throw them out. So the strategy was hang on to the trust funds; hang on to the money we’ve got; hang on the properties we control, and we will gradually educate the laymen into this new approach to theology.

And then finally we will take control of everything. The gradual process of feeding you theological poison until you become immunized enough so that you don’t know what’s happening to you. And when you wake up to what’s happening to you, it’s too late they’ve got everything. That is not a baseless charge, I stand prepared to prove that the Cult of Liberal Theology in the United States has deliberately and consistently followed this methodology to entrap, control and dominate the denominations and the churches of the United States and our educational institutions. (The Cult of Liberalism, available from Walter Martin Religious InfoNet)

 Postmodern Neo-Gnostics With Their Supposedly Superior Spirituality

For those who actually want to know, this is the backdrop against which one can really begin to see the agenda being pressed forward since the Trojan Horse of postliberal cult of the Emergent Church arrived within the walls of evangelicalism. As I previously pointed out in Tony Campolo: “Christian Mysticism” Trumps The Bible (Part 2) these neo-Gnostics are filled with spiritual pride when it comes to their reimagined form of so-called “Christian” mysticism. In their delusion they really do believe that its type of transcendental meditation—though they eschew that description—is the “common ground” upon which all of the various “faith traditions,” which is the neblous term they use for other religions, will eventually unite. And actually in a way they’re right; it is, but now we’ll immediately find ourselves in direct contradiction to what Jesus tells us about the future state of mankind:

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” (Matthew 7:13-15).  

O, if only all of this was simply another campy episode of the original Star Trek but it’s not. However, at the same time based upon what Christ just said it sure doesn’t sound like as Christians we should be having meditation pow wows with other religions about some ficticious Fatherhood of God, Brotherhood of Man, and whatever neighborhood you live in, does it. No, the real role of the actual Body of Christ has exactly zero to do with bringing together of the world’s religions for the LORD God Almighty of the Bible. But you may find the following a little bit startling because this uniting of religions does happen to be the goal of the god of this age; at least for a time. As we begin to steer this opening article toward a close we have now come full circle in returning to the vehicle with which Satan will eventually temporarily accomplish his unity among religions—Mystical Encounters.

I can tell you that in my studies concerning the amazing influx of CSM within evangelicalism, and CSM has already been a part of dead mainline denominations for years, the one common thread I’ve seen in their interspiritual dialogues is the practice of meditation. However, no matter how many times those like Borg or Campolo repeat their mystic mantra these neo-Gnostics simply cannot establish any actual evidence whatsoever that this quasi-transcendental mediation was ever a part of Christ’s doctrine aka the Apostles’ teaching (see—Acts 2:42). This is because it’s beyond question that Jesus Himself never practiced or taught CSM and therfore neither did His Apostles. And if AM can survive, Lord willing, in forthcoming articles you’ll come to see from their own books that this supposedly Christian version of CSM with its CCP is really the same numbing of the conscious mind in a vain attempt to “journey inward” down into the supposed “true” or “authentic” self such as that found in the meditation of pagan religions.

These practitioners and teachers of CSM, for example Ruth Haley Barton who is currently teaching this skubalon at Zondervan’s National Pastors Conference each year, are well aware that this type of spirituality is of identical nature to that of other world religions e.g. Zen Buddhism and Hinduism. This is why they make such a concerted effort to try and get around this similarity by saying “the goal” of their brand of CSM “is different.” I’ve covered this a few times elsewhere so here we’ll just quickly call in an expert witness who’ll explain to you that the goal of CCP is actually to reach our alleged authentic, true, and sinless self. We turn to apostate Roman Catholic monk Thomas Merton—one of the most prized Golden Buddhas of CSM who had all but become a Buddhist himself by the time of his accidental death—who testifies:

At the center of our being is a point of nothingness which is untouched by sin and by illusion, a point of pure truth, a point or spark which belongs entirely to God, which is never at our disposal, from which God disposes of our lives, which is inaccessible to the fantasies of our mind or the brutalities of our own will. This little point of nothingness and of absolute poverty is the pure glory of God in us. (Conjectures Of A Guilty Bystander, 158, emphasis mine)

But any way we slice, dice, and/or reimagine it, if there really is “a point of nothingness which is untouched by sin“, we have a denial of the doctrine of original sin on our hands. However, to find the key we need to really understand what our mystic monk is driving at we’ll need to focus in on his mythical musing that inside of “our being” i.e. human beings there’s ”a point or spark which belongs entirely to God.” Space doesn’t allow further discussion so for the interested reader this false teaching is covered and refuted Biblically in Understanding The New Spirituality: God Indwells Mankind. For now I’ll just tell you that this fantasy is as old as mysticism itself and what is more it does actually find its own twisted root in Holy Scripture. ‘Tis true; O, but it’s also a lie.

How so? Well you see, a hint of this idea above about the Lord’s creatures, and for the really deluded even His creation itself, having a “divine spark” or “a spark of the divine” within is found in the Old Testament. Unfortunately for the silly CSM crowd it happens to have originated from the one Jesus referred to as “the father of lies.” Scripture does tell us that the Devil himself announced the following to His Creator — “I will make myself like the Most High” (Isaiah 14:14). Yeah, the epitome of a bad idea. However, if someone believes that prior to the Biblical doctrine of regeneration all created beings already have a spark of the divine untouched by sin then then through these mystic fools Satan has, in a sense, made himself like God. And defined Biblically this is exactly what they have made themselves.

The More Things Change The More The More They Remain The Same

We close now with the following from “Mystical Encounters for Christians” by Tony Campolo who also uncovers rejection of the suffiency of Scripture and the love of self ala 2 Timothy 3:2 when he says, “When I sensed that believing in Jesus wasn’t enough and yearned for more, I turned to older forms of prayer.” No, these selfish spiritual babies crave more and the following will give you a small preview of the existential “feelings-oriented” form of spirituality he and his progressive people are attempting to pass off as orthodox Christianity:

It’s one of the most popular questions of our day: Is America having a spiritual revival? I think the answer is a resounding YES! But while men and women clearly have an intense hunger for experiences that will nurture their souls, many of these questing spiritual nomads have not found what they are looking for in churches. They have tried the church and have heard theological discourses and social justice sermons, but have failed to discover much that offers them mystical encounters with transcendent spiritual powers.

They long for experiences that could create the ecstasies of heart and mind that German phenomenologist Rudolph Otto [1869- called the mysterium tremendum. Consequently, many have sought and found spiritual food outside of organized Christianity or Judaism. Today, some of the most spiritual people I know claim to be without religion. (Online source)

Next time we’ll look more specifically at what Campolo teaches in regard to Centering prayer, which you will see in Meditating On Contemplative/Centering Prayer is actually synonymous with Contemplative Prayer. Right now I leave you with a couple of thoughts in regard to what Emergent Evangelical Prophet Tony Campolo has just said above. Let’s put a proper Biblical context to this continual Emergent whine about supposed seekers, who according to the mystic progessives, are sincerely seeking God. But then the stodgy ol’ fundies control the churches which is why “many of these questing spiritual nomads have not found what they are looking for in churches.” Again we see the typical play for sympathy and for the public to support their postliberal agenda.

The problem for these progressive psuedo-Christians is the Bible flatly contradicts that mistaken notion, which is another reason these neo-Gnostic mystics are attacking Sola Scriptura. God Himself has quite clearly told us:

“None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” (Romans 3:10-12, ESV)

If you wonder why the above citation of Holy Scripture is within quotation marks it would be because the inspired Apostle Paul was moved by the Spirit to reiterate something God had said previously; and not once but twice before in Psalm 14:1-3 and again in Psalm 52:1-3. We can be sure the Lord is attempting to make a point which He thinks is of critical importance. Let’s see if we can convey it in a “relevant” way as I paraphrase popular Emergent Church leader Dan Kimball; they don’t like God and they don’t like His Church. Also for those who don’t know about “German phenomenologist Rudolph Otto” he was a prominent theologian who denied the Deity of Jesus Christ along with the very cult of liberal theology Dr. Martin warned about above:

As a Christian theologian Otto was interested in issues within the Christian faith, although he - more than most theologians of the time - saw the history of religions as a necessary backdrop for Christian theology. His last work, The Kingdom of God and the Son of Man, published in German in 1934, is a major study on Christology, one that deals with the New Testament data but does so from Otto’s unique perspective on the history of religions.

This work made an important contribution to the study of eschatology in the formation of New Testament thought. Otto’s theory was that the ultimate source of the concept of the kingdom of God was the Iranian tradition of the kingdom of ‘Asura’. Jesus’ eschatology took the form of an announcement of the spiritual power of the end-time kingdom already here; Jesus’ own particular role can best be defined, according to Otto, as that of charismatic evangelist and exorcist. (Online source)

Now as it concerns the agenda of these postmodern progressive Christians which we have been discussing above you just might want to carefully note what I highlight below:

Rudolf Otto was also much interested in the sphere of practical religious experience. He offered many suggestions for a dignified celebration of the Christian Eucharist, and his own experimental liturgy embodied the sense of the numinous by culminating in silence. He proposed an ecumenical unity of all Christians in Germany long before the Christian ecumenical movement became popular.

Through his interest in symbols and ideograms he established at Marburg a collection of religious symbols, artifacts, and apparatus of the religions of all peoples. And his broad understanding of religious similarities and differences led him to propose and participate in a ‘religious league of mankind,’ challenging the people of all religions to unite against the common problems that confront human beings.
(ibid., emphasis mine)

And so a question now comes *ahem* emerging: Wherever have I heard that before?

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