June 30, 2008
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It is so helpful to stop and reflect on what God has done for us in Christ. No matter how many false prophets and enemies of the Gospel attempt to thwart God’s work, we have reason to rejoice. Thy right hand, O Lord, has become glorious in power. In Christ, sin, death and hell were conquered.
1. Dear Christians, one and all, rejoice,
With exultation springing,
And, with united heart and voice
And holy rapture singing,
Proclaim the wonders God hath done,
How His right arm the victory won;
Right dearly it hath cost Him.
2. Fast bound in Satan’s chains I lay,
Death brooded darkly o’er me,
Sin was my torment night and day,
In sin my mother bore me;
Yea, deep and deeper still I fell,
Life had become a living hell,
So firmly sin possessed me.
3. My own good works availed me naught,
No merit they attaining;
Free will against God’s judgment fought,
Dead to all good remaining.
My fears increased till sheer despair
Left naught but death to be my share;
The pangs of hell I suffered.
4. But God beheld my wretched state
Before the world’s foundation,
And, mindful of His mercies great,
He planned my soul’s salvation.
A father’s heart He turned to me,
Sought my redemption fervently:
He gave His dearest Treasure.
5. He spoke to His beloved Son:
‘Tis time to have compassion.
Then go, bright Jewel of My crown,
And bring to man salvation;
From sin and sorrow set him free,
Slay bitter death for him that he
May live with Thee forever.
6. This Son obeyed His Father’s will,
Was born of virgin mother,
And God’s good pleasure to fulfill,
He came to be my Brother.
No garb of pomp or power He wore,
A servant’s form, like mine, He bore,
To lead the devil captive.
7.To me He spake: Hold fast to Me,
I am thy Rock and Castle;
Thy Ransom I Myself will be,
For thee I strive and wrestle;
For I am with thee, I am thine,
And evermore thou shalt be Mine;
The Foe shall not divide us.
8. The Foe shall shed My precious blood,
Me of My life bereaving.
All this I suffer for thy good;
Be steadfast and believing.
Life shall from death the victory win,
My innocence shall bear thy sin;
So art thou blest forever.
9. Now to My Father I depart,
The Holy Spirit sending
And, heavenly wisdom to impart,
My help to thee extending.
He shall in trouble comfort thee,
Teach thee to know and follow Me,
And in all truth shall guide thee.
10. What I have done and taught, teach thou,
My ways forsake thou never;
So shall My kingdom flourish now
And God be praised forever.
Take heed lest men with base alloy
The heavenly treasure should destroy;
This counsel I bequeath thee.
Dr. Martin Luther, 1523
Titled: “Nun freut euch, liebe Christen g’mein”
Tune: “Nun freut euch”
1st Published in: Etlich’ christliche Lieder
Town: Wittenberg, 1524
From: The Lutheran Hymnal Online
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June 30, 2008
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I just received this email and thought many of you would like to be informed of this if you aren’t already:
Dear Friend of Issues, Etc.,
We’re excited about the return of Issues, Etc.! Since the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod canceled the show on March 18, we’ve been working on the show’s return. We’re very happy to announce that Issues, Etc. will be back on the Radio and Internet starting Monday, June 30!
The show will broadcast LIVE from 3-5 p.m. CST weekdays at our website, www.issuesetc.org. Issues, Etc. will also air LIVE from 4-5 p.m. CST on KSIV, 1320 AM in St. Louis. Of course, both hours will be available for on-demand downloads.
As always, Issues, Etc. is listener supported. Lutheran Public Radio is the producer of Issues, Etc. Please consider making a special startup gift to Lutheran Public Radio. You can make a secure online donation at our website or you can also donate by check to:
Lutheran Public Radio
P.O. Box 1046
San Juan Capistrano, CA 92693
If you have any questions, email me or call me at (618) 223-8385.
Thanks for your support!
Wir sind alle Bettler,
Todd Wilken, Host
Issues, Etc.
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June 30, 2008
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This Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I will be guest hosting for Adam McManus’s drive-time show on KSLR in San Antonio, Texas. Adam’s show reaches a huge swath of South Texas. The show airs from 3-6pm Central time. One of the topics we’ll be discussing on Tuesday’s show is the popular novel, The Shack, and the false Jesus it presents. I’ll post an update when I have guests firmed up. You can listen live at the KSLR website.
I invite Slice readers to weigh in on some of the important topics you think should be discussed during the 9 hours of radio this represents. There are so many important things I could address, it is a matter of triage. Email me at ingrid@vcyamerica.org if you want to share your thoughts.
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June 30, 2008
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If evangelical seminaries canonized saints, Henri Nouwen’s name would surely be first on the list. I interviewed a guest on Crosstalk who described hearing chanting in the next room while attending a class at a well-known, supposedly conservative seminary. He was in a class with a handful of others studying the Scriptures. Next door, the room was packed out for a class on, you guessed it, St. Henri.
But what about Henri Nouwen? What are the teachings that so fascinate hordes of evangelical seminarians, authors and teachers today? What did Henri Nouwen espouse and promote? Who did Nouwen look to for inspiration and teaching on meditation? This piece from Apprising Ministries discusses Nouwen’s views on meditation. It is helpful to see what Nouwen actually believed, and ask ourselves how any of this lines up with the Bible.
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June 30, 2008
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John Hendryx from the Reformation Theology blog weighs in on the recent Time Magazine article on Christians and tolerance. The headline in Time is: Christians: No One Path to Salvation. Universalism, in the name of compassion, is being increasingly found in evangelical churches thanks to years of seeker, circus-church foolishness substituting for biblical teaching, as well as the tireless efforts of some in the emerging church movement. Some emergent leaders won’t even answer when pressed as to whether those who don’t know Christ will go to hell. “We’ll let God decide that,” they say. Well, God already did decide that and recorded his decision in his Word.
If all paths lead to God, then why not just turn out the lights at our churches, lock the doors and join the local Bahai’s or Sikhs down the street? What was the point of Jesus dying a brutal death on the cross if all paths ultimately lead to salvation? He could have saved himself a whole lot of trouble. Do we see now the ugly fruit of abandoning sound biblical preaching in our churches? We now have professing Christians accepting rank heresy because it feels better to say all paths lead to God. Holy Scripture is clear:
This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.
Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.
–Acts 4:11-13
It’s time for some holy boldness among those who still believe the immutable truths of God’s Word, and it is time to expose these heretical evangelical churches for the shams that they are.
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June 30, 2008
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June 30, 2008
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Berit Kjos has written a new article on the paranormal phenomena at Todd Bentley’s Lakeland “revival”. Those who are convinced that the manifestations they are seeing are of God forget that there is a beautiful side of evil. Satan doesn’t manifest himself as a hideous creature trailing clouds of sulfur when he wants to attract followers. He comes as an angel of light. How often we forget that.
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June 30, 2008
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“The grace of God reveals One who loves us so much as to have made Calvary possible, but who hates sin so much as to make Calvary necessary.”
-T.S. Mooney
June 30, 2008
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MY SHEEP (by J. C. Ryle in "The Gospel of John")
"My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand." John 10:27,28
Christ calls His people, "My sheep." The word "sheep," no doubt, points to something in the character and ways of true Christians. It would be easy to show that weakness, helplessness, harmlessness, usefulness–are all points of resemblance between the sheep and the believer.
But the leading idea in our Lord’s mind was the entire dependence of the sheep upon its Shepherd.
Just as sheep hear the voice of their own shepherd, and follow him–so do believers follow Christ. By faith they listen to His call. By faith they submit themselves to His guidance. By faith they lean on Him, and commit their souls implicitly to His direction.
The expression, "My sheep," also points to the close connection which exists between Christ and believers. They are His by gift from the Father, His by purchase, His by election and effectual calling, and His by their own consent and heart submission.
In the highest sense they are Christ’s property; and just as a man feels a special interest in that which he has bought at a great price and made his own–so does the Lord Jesus feel a peculiar interest in His people.
We should notice the vast privileges which the Lord Jesus Christ bestows on true Christians. He uses words about them, of singular richness and strength.
Christ "knows" His people with a special knowledge of interest and affection. By the world around them they are comparatively unknown, uncared for, or despised. But they are never forgotten or overlooked by Christ.
Christ "gives" His people "eternal life." He freely bestows on them–a right and title to heaven, pardoning their many sins, and clothing them with a perfect righteousness.
Money, and health, and worldly prosperity He often wisely withholds from them. But He never fails to give them grace, peace, and glory.
Christ declares that His people "shall never perish." Weak as they are–they shall all be saved. Not one of them shall be lost and cast away; not one of them shall miss heaven. If they err–they shall be brought back; if they fall–they shall be raised.
The enemies of their souls may be strong and mighty–but their Savior is mightier; and none shall pluck them out of their Savior’s hands! "My sheep shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of My hand."
HT – GraceGems
June 30, 2008
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June 29, 2008
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Augustus Montague Toplady was a preacher who lived from 1740-1778. He wrote numerous hymns including the famous “Rock of Ages” sung here by Chris Rice:
A while back, I got Toplady’s complete works and have been reading them since. His views on Arminianism and “free”-will may be shocking to some, but keep in mind that this is a preacher from just a little over 200 years ago. He understood the problems and self-contradictions these two doctrines demand and commented on them in sometimes a humorous and sometimes direct manner, but he always was explicit about where he stood in regards to these issues which is something that is lacking among many today. Here are several quotes from his complete works:
Arminianism
“I much question whether the man that dies an Arminian can go to heaven. But certainly he will not be an Arminian when he is in heaven. The employ of the blessed is to cast their crowns at the feet of God and the Lamb, and to sing, “Not unto us O Lord.”
Should it be thought harsh to question the salvation of one who dies under the blindness of Arminianism; as if a man who only robs God in part might miss of glory; let it be considered that, even on earth, if a person robs me only of my watch, or of a single guinea, he has forfeited his life to the law, as much as if he had robbed me of all I am worth.”
“The old Arminians mentioned in Scripture are blamed for thinking wickedly that God was such an one as themselves; but our new Arminians out-sin their predecessors, and actually represent God as a being in many respects considerably inferior to themselves. They suppose him both to form schemes with less wisdom, and to execute them with less power, spirit, and success, than a prime minister of common sense forms and executes his. They dare ascribe to God such impotence, blunders, imperfections, and disappointments, as they would blush to ascribe to a Ximenes, or a Sully.”
“Arminians consider the grace that is inspired into a true believer’s heart, as a text of Scripture written upon a pane of glass, liable to be demolished by the first hand that flings a stone at it.”
“All the disputes between us and the Arminians may be reduced to these two questions:
1. Is God dependent on man, or is man dependent on God?
2. Is man a debtor to God, or God a debtor to man?”
“The Arminians think, that in conversion God does little or nothing for men, but gives them a pull by the elbow, to awake them from their sleep. Rather, he acts as maritime officers do by their sailors; he cuts down the hammock of carnal security in which the elect are; down they fall, and the bruises and surprise they receive awaken them from their death in sin, and bring them to themselves whether they will or no.”
“According to Arminianism, grace has the name, but ‘free’-will the game.”
“Arminians suppose God to give us heaven, as the king grants a brief for building a church. The brief runs, “We have granted our most gracious letters patent.” But these same most gracious letters are amply paid for before they are granted. No fee, no brief.”
“Arminians will ask, “Where’s the use of preaching the doctrines of grace, even supposing them to be true? Since we may go to heaven without a clear knowledge of them.” And a man may go to heaven with broken bones; yet it is better to go thither in a whole skin. A man may get to his journey’s end, though it rain and thunder all the way; yet it is more comfortable to travel in fair weather. Your or I might make a better shift to live upon a scanty allowance of bread and water; yet, surely, an easy fortune, and a decent table are, in themselves, abundantly preferable to poverty and short commons. Who would wish to go upon thorns when his way may be strewed with roses?”
“I can compare some ranting Arminian preachers, who represent salvation as a matter of chance, and press men to help forward their own conversion, upon pain of damnation, to none so well as to auctioneers; who, with the hammer in their hands, are always bawling out, “Now is your time; now is your time: a-going, a-going, a-going.”
Such a method is equally inconsistent with the analogy of faith, and subversive of the majesty of the gospel. Shall I order a dead soul to awake, and raise itself to life? Let me rather address the living God, and say, “Awake, and put on thy strength, O arm of the Lord! Breathe on these slain that they may live!” “
“Free”-Will
“A man’s ‘free’-will cannot cure him even of the tooth-ache, or of a sore finger; and yet he madly thinks it is in its power to cure his soul.”
“The greatest judgment which God himself can, in the present life, inflict upon a man is to leave him in the hand of his own boasted ‘free’-will.”
“Look where you will, and you will generally find that ‘free’-willers are very ‘free’-livers.”
You can purchase Toplady’s complete works in the link below. The letters he wrote to John Wesley which are included here are amazing. If what he asserts in these is true, Wesley was not an honest man in all his dealings.
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June 29, 2008
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The issue of whether a Christian can lose their savlation is one of the most debated topics in all of Christendom. Doug Eaton discussed the arguments those opposed to God preserving His saints often make and made a case from Scripture that eternal security is a biblical teaching.
Doug’s Youtube Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/deaton29
Doug’s Blog:
http://godwardthoughts.blogspot.com
Another Website Doug Contributes to:
http://christiantheology.wordpress.com
(Thanks to Ben Davis of Symphony Of Scripture for making the graphics for this presentation.)
END OF POST
June 29, 2008
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“The greatest mission field on the face of the earth is Southern Baptist Churches, because so many of the people in there have no godliness about them, no passion for Christ, no desire to know His Word, and so on and so forth… but they are secure because one time they prayed a prayer and asked Jesus to come into their life and not only that, they stay in church not because of Christ but because of the entertainment.”
-Paul Washer
June 29, 2008
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Pastor Jon Sharp of "Living in The Way" has posted a controversial article based upon the Pew Forum "U.S.Religious Landscape Survey" (mentioned several times in recent CRN posts) which polled 35,000 Americans on matters of their faiths and religions.
Based upon the data collected by the Pew Forum, "Living in The Way" has made the shocking statement that Jehovah’s Witnesses LIVE THEIR FAITH more consistently and are better Christians than the majority of Protestants who "regularly and consistently FAIL to do the ’stuff’ that most would classify as ‘Christian Activity’".
"Living in The Way" cites the Pew Forum poll to back up statements like "the vast majority of self-proclaimed ‘Christians’ are not truly saved" and "the majority of people sitting on pews in American churches are NOT Christians".
Read the entire post HERE
June 28, 2008
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As one who is myself a former Roman Catholic, whom the Lord graciously delivered from the religious bondage of apostate Roman Catholicism into the glorious liberty of the sons of God, I ask you to consider: Is the following really in line with the Southern Baptist Convention and Protestant evangelicalism?
“The small group structure is the structure of renewal in every facet of Christianity — including Catholicism.”
Rick Warren, (Pew Forum)
“Now I don’t agree with everything in everybody’s denomination, including my own. I don’t agree with everything that Catholics do or Pentecostals do, but what binds us together is so much stronger than what divides us,” he said. “I really do feel that these people are brothers and sisters in God’s family. I am looking to build bridges with the Orthodox Church, looking to build bridges with the Catholic Church,….”
Rick Warren, (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
“The Church, in all its expressions—Catholic, Evangelical, Pentecostal, Protestant and many others—has 2.3 billion followers.”
Rick Warren, (Forbes)
June 28, 2008
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“Looking unto Jesus.”-Hebrews 12:2
It is ever the Holy Spirit’s work to turn our eyes away from self to Jesus; but Satan’s work is just the opposite of this, for he is constantly trying to make us regard ourselves instead of Christ. He insinuates, “Your sins are too great for pardon; you have no faith; you do not repent enough; you will never be able to continue to the end; you have not the joy of His children; you have such a wavering hold of Jesus.” All these are thoughts about self, and we shall never find comfort or assurance by looking within. But the Holy Spirit turns our eyes entirely away from self: He tells us that we are nothing, but that “Christ is all in all.”
Remember, therefore, it is not thy hold of Christ that saves thee-it is Christ; it is not thy joy in Christ that saves thee-it is Christ; it is not even faith in Christ, though that be the instrument-it is Christ’s blood and merits; therefore, look not so much to thy hand with which thou art grasping Christ, as to Christ; look not to thy hop e, but to Jesus, the source of thy hope; look not to thy faith, but to Jesus, the author and finisher of thy faith. We shall never find happiness by looking at our prayers, our doings, or our feelings; it is what Jesus is, not what we are, that gives rest to the soul. If we would at once overcome Satan and have peace with God, it must be by “looking unto Jesus.” Keep thine eye simply on Him; let His death, His sufferings, His merits, His glories, His intercession, be fresh upon thy mind; when thou wakest in the morning look to Him; when thou liest down at night look to Him. Oh! let not thy hopes or fears come between thee and Jesus; follow hard after Him, and He will never fail thee.
“My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesu’s blood and righteousness:
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.”
From C.H. Spurgeon’s Morning Devotional for Saturday June 28, 2008
June 28, 2008
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Here is the video and commentary from Way of the Maste Radio of self-proclaimed "revivalist" Todd Benltey physically assaulting someone with stage four colon cancer onstage at one of his productions all in the name of Jesus Christ. As always, Todd Friel does a great job of critiquing this "event." Beware of Todd Bentley. This is disgusting.
June 28, 2008
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This is absolutely ludicrous; and yet, it’s further proof that the vipers of the cult of liberal theology are sowing more division within the Body of Christ than those like me derisively labeled as a "fundamentalist" would ever dream of. Christian Post brings us the ridiculous details:
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s highest governing body voted Friday in favor of a proposal that would allow for the ordination of non-celibate gays and lesbians. The 218th General Assembly, meeting in San Jose, Calif., this week, voted 380-325 to send the overture – that would delete the requirement that clergy live in "fidelity within the covenant of marriage between and a man and a woman, or chastity in singleness" – to the denomination’s 173 presbyteries for approval.
Adding to the blow to conservatives, the Assembly also adopted a supplementary authoritative interpretation of the PC(USA) constitution that would allow gay and lesbian candidates for ordination to conscientiously object the current "fidelity and chastity" standard and the local ordaining body to discern whether the declared objection is disqualifying…
One wonders, would this then include "pastors" who wish to also "conscientiously object" so that they may have affairs outside their marriages? And the following is another prime example of why God does not permit the ordination of women:
But with discussion on ordination standards having gone on for 30 years, the Rev. Susan Fisher of Pacific Presbytery felt "compelled" to advance the amendment to the presbyteries to "let the wider church decide if now is the time” to change the standards.
Um, "Rev." Susan, the time is never right to erase change God’s standards. You see "Rev." they are not ours to change.
June 28, 2008
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Here is video of self-proclaimed “revivalist” Todd Bentley physically assaulting someone with stage four colon cancer all in the name of Jesus Christ. I’m not a psychologist, but I believe this is evidence enough to say that anyone who is still considering that this charlatan is legit needs to get their head checked. This is utter blasphemy.
Here is Todd Friel critiquing Bentley’s physical assault on Way of the Master Radio:
Video HT:
Way of the Master Radio
Here are two more videos exposing this charlatan who, amazingly, is becoming “Rick Warren-esque” in terms of popularity with certain professing evangelicals:
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June 28, 2008
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