Charles Spurgeon – The Imputation of Sin
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Spurgeon On Good Nature And Firmness
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Do not be all sugar, or the world will suck you down; but do not be all vinegar or the world will spit you out. There is a medium in all things, only blockheads go to extremes. We need not be all rock or all sand, all iron or all wax. We should neither fawn [...]
Spurgeon On Good Nature And Firmness
Click the post title to be taken to the source.
Do not be all sugar, or the world will suck you down; but do not be all vinegar or the world will spit you out. There is a medium in all things, only blockheads go to extremes. We need not be all rock or all sand, all iron or all wax. We should neither fawn [...]
CARM: Do The Laws of Logic Contradict Miracles?
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Posted in Videos Tagged: Atheism, carm, logic, matt, resurrection, slick, walking on water 
CARM: Do The Laws of Logic Contradict Miracles?
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Posted in Videos Tagged: Atheism, carm, logic, matt, resurrection, slick, walking on water
ENCOURAGED TO ENDURE CONFERENCE FEATURING JEFF NOBLITT
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My friend Brett Beasely, pastor of Second Baptist Church, West Frankfort, IL made me aware of his Encouraged To Endure Conference August 20-22, which will feature another friend of mine Randall Easter, as well as Jonathan Sims, and Jeff Noblitt, Senior Pastor-Teacher of Grace Life Church of the Shoals. Most of you know that Noblitt is also Founder and President of Anchored in Truth Ministries, which puts on the very popular True Church Conference each year.
Having a heart from the Lord as I do to encourage those struggling in ministry right now, with apostasy spreading as quickly as an Oklahoma wildfire throughout the visible church and the added burden of this difficult economy, pastor Brett Beasely reminds you:
Striving to be truly Biblical in your church, family, or personal Christian life can sometimes be a very lonely place. The prevailing religious culture of our day remains entrenched in easy believism, the traditions of men, and market driven strategies. The world we live in is saturated with sin and temptation. When you desire truth and practice Biblical principles you are often met with opposition, misrepresentation, and scorn. We want you to know you are not alone!
The purpose of the “Encouraged to Endure Conference,” is to strengthen and challenge Christians from all walks of life: the church leader facing opposition at every turn, the lay person starving to be part of a healthy church, the spouse desiring a Biblecentered home, the student openly living a Christcentered life. Please consider attending the conference; we want to be a blessing to you. Together we will encourage one another to continue on in the sufficiency of the Word of God and the power of God’s glorious Gospel. (Online source)
You can find out all about Encouraged To Endure Conference as well as all the information needed to attend this special conference by clicking here.
Encouraged to Endure Conference Featuring Jeff Noblitt
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Details at Christian Research Net.
TIM KELLER ENDORSING COUNTER-REFORMATION CONTEMPLATIVE SPIRITUALITY?
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It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:1, NASB)
“Circle Up The Wagons Because We’re Heading Home To Romanticized Rome!”
This is a short follow-up to the Apprising Ministries post “The Way Of The Monk” At Tim Keller’s Redeemer Presbyterian Church. There we note that it indeed appears Contemplative Sprituality/Mysticism (CSM), ala the spurious Spiritual Formation espoused by Living Spiritual Teacher and Quaker mystic Richard Foster along with his spiritual twin SBC minister Dallas Willard, keeps showing up in all the wrong places.
A case in point would be the following endorsements of the Spiritual Disciplines Handbook (SDH) by Adele Calhoun:
Reviews & Endorsements
“I have long profited from Adele Ahlberg Calhoun’s gifts in the field of spiritual development, and I am delighted that she has compiled her experience with spiritual disciplines into book form. I highly recommend it and I look forward to using it as a resource at our church.”
—Dr. Timothy Keller, Redeemer Presbyterian Church, NYC“I love this book! Adele has provided a treasure trove of spiritual disciplines that will nourish your soul, striking a delicate balance between accessibility and depth that comes from her own faithful practice. Read it, engage the disciplines, and allow God to transform you in the deepest levels of your being.”
—Ruth Haley Barton, cofounder, The Transforming Center, and author of Sacred Rhythms and Invitation to Solitude and Silence (Online source)
Now as one whose been tracking the infestation of CSM, which is rooted in Counter Reformation spirituality of apostate Roman Catholicism e.g. , I can easily understand why Guru Ruth Haley Barton would gush over SDH. However, Dr. Tim Keller does take me a bit by surprise in his ”highly” recommending SDH and then ”using it as a resource” at Redeemer Presbyterian Church (RPC). A source close to AM tells me they tried several times to ask Keller about this when he was commenting at a particular blog a while back but, not surprisingly, he avoided answering the questions.
According to the Christianity Astray Today article How Tim Keller Found Manhattan the worship at Dr. Keller’s RPC is “is seemly and traditional.” We’re also told that:
In the late 1980s, Keller was happily teaching at Westminster, the staunchly Reformed Philadelphia seminary, while working for his denomination, the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). Two things happened. At Westminster, he came under the influence of a small band of urban missiologists led by Harvie Conn. At the PCA’s home missions department, he was recruited by its head, Terry Gyger, who wanted to start a church in Manhattan. (Online source)
So there’s no doubt that Dr. Keller is, at the very least, well aware of Reformed theology. Returning now to his most unfortunate endorsement of Calhoun’s SDH, I first discussed SDH in Southern Baptist Pastor Rick Warren And Saddleback Church Openly Recommend Contemplative Spirituality. No big surprise there because in my opinion Rick Warren is about as reformed as I am Emergent. For those who don’t know, Adele Ahlberg Calhoun is:
currently copastor, with her husband, Doug, of Redeemer Community in Wellesley, Massachusetts. She was formerly pastor of spiritual formation at Christ Church in Oak Brook, Illinois. A trained spiritual director, she has taught courses at Wheaton College and Northern Baptist Theological Seminary. (Online source, emphasis mine)
Interesting that Dr. Keller would promote Calhoun at his reformed RPC who, in violation of God’s Word, is allegedly a pastor. And right on the backcover of her SDH Calhoun tells us this handbook of heresy features “how to” information on Contemplative/Centering Prayer (CCP) and Lectio Divina. O yes, as I peruse my personal copy of SDH I’m informed that I can learn how to “open myself to God” through the Examen of Counter Reformation figure Ignatius of Loyola, founder of that militantly pro-Roman Catholic Church spiritual Gestapo Unit aka the Jesuits; who weren’t real fond of Protestant Reformers.
We’re also told that in Calhoun’s SDH we will learn the ways we can “reliquish the false self” through mantric meditation ala John Main, which actually originated in pagan Eastern religions:
Go into silence, placing yourself in the presence of God with the words “Here I am.” As distractions come to mind, let them go by imagining they are boats floating down a river. Let the current take the distractions away. Don’t follow the distractions. Gently return to God repeating “Here I am.” Let the current of God’s Spirit carry you. What is this like for you? (110)
Well, wouldn’t you know it; one of the “Resources on Silence” Calhoun recommends in SDH is another book on CCP by the aforementioned Swami Ruth Haley Barton. Actually the list of “pastor” Calhoun’s acknowledgements in SDH is a veritable who’s who of spurious spirituality including Ignatius of Loyola, Willard, Foster, Phyllis Tickle, Richard Rohr, Teresa of Avila “and many more.” Calhoun then informs us that, “Their ideas, voices and examples have shaped my own words and experiences of the disciplines” (10). A sad roll call indeed.
In closing this for now, I’m told that some website somewhere published an alleged response from RPC staff member Susan Castillo who, ”wholly espouses Reformed Presbyterian theology while continuing to embrace her ‘inner monk,’” was mentioned in “The Way Of The Monk” At Tim Keller’s Redeemer Presbyterian Church. Apparently, if that email is actually from her, she takes issue with some things I say within. If so, I can be reached at apprising@hughes.net
But as I’ve said before; the mainstream pretending to be Protestant evangelical drift right back into the spiritual bondage, which brought about the Reformation to begin with, continues its accelerating into apostasy.
See also:
RICHARD FOSTER FORMING PROTESTANT SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION SPIRITUALITY
“INWARD JOURNEY” ESPOUSED BY RICHARD FOSTER IS A FORM OF DIVINATION
SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES AMIDST SPIRITUAL DECEPTION
“CELEBRATION OF DISCIPLINE” BY RICHARD FOSTER AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THEOLOGICAL ERROR
EVANGELICAL RIP VAN WINKLES EMPLOY QUAKER MYSTIC RICHARD FOSTER FOR BEDTIME FABLES
MOVE OVER PASTORS FOR SPIRITUAL DIRECTORS/GURUS
Besides Death and Taxes
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There are only two things which I am sure of
When I was young, I was sure of many things.But now that I am old, there are only two things which I am sure of: One is that I am a miserable sinner! Secondly, that Christ is an all-sufficient Savior! He is well taught–who learns these two lessons.”This saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance: ‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners’–and I am the worst of them!” 1 Timothy 1:15
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“The Way of the Monk” at Redeemer Presbyterian Church
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A short post showing how it appears that contemplative spirituality keeps showing up in all the wrong places.
DEBUNKING ANOTHER EMERGING CHURCH MYTH CONCERNING SALVATION
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Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. (Romans 8:8, ESV)
The First To Present His Case Often Appears Right…Until…
In MYTH #6: You Must Believe Jesus Is the Son of God To Follow Him by Tim Timmons over at the hugely popular the Emerging Church aka Emergent Church, now morphing into Emergence Christianity, website The Ooze we read:
Now, in debunking this myth I want to direct your attention again to the early disciples. When they first answered the call to follow Jesus, did they believe that Jesus was the Son of God? No!
They believed Jesus was the latest and greatest Rabbi on the religious scene. They believed Jesus was an amazing teacher and example. (Online source)
Really; that’s odd, when John the Baptist sees Jesus his own disciple John—who would go on to follow Christ—informs us that John the Baptist says, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). In verse 34 John the Baptist is also quoted as saying, “I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”
These statements actually equate Jesus of Nazareth to ha Mashiach (i.e. Messiah; the Christ) Whom they both had been expecting might just possibly arrive in their lifetime. In fact, then John the Baptist calls Jesus, “the Lamb of God” again to two of his disciples (v. 35). As respected Bible scholar Dr. Robert Reymond brings out in his Jesus: Divine Messiah:
In sum, John intended by this epithet to ascribe nothing short of deity to Jesus, and here accordingly at the very dawn of the New Age in the Forerunner’s testimony is the highest conceivable declaration about [Jesus]…we must conclude that for John [the Baptist] Jesus was the Christ, the Lord who was to come into his temple, the messanger of the covenant who was to come, indeed, just Yahweh himself who spoke in Malachi 3:1, and thus the divine Son of God. (304, 305)
And one of those disciples of the Baptist mentioned above, who wrote this eyewitness deposition that we now call the Gospel of John, then informs who that other disciple was:
who heard John speak and [then] followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. (John 1:40-42, ESV)
That’s pretty clear from the record. Now Timmons does suppose that:
The disciples have been following this attractive, irresistible and relevant Jesus for quite some time and now the question comes from Jesus: “Who do you say I am?” Peter’s answer was right on when he said, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” This is the first time this has been expressed with a sense of conviction by the disciples. The thought was there, but this seems to nail it down. (Online source)
The above actually tends to work against his own thesis; however, because the Emerging/ent/ence Church has an incorrect seeker-sensitive soteriology (doctrine of salvation)—one that’s actually backward—in what follows Timmons will end up outlining a works-righteous system. One in which as a person is supposedly ”following Jesus,” essentially meaning while attempting to rectify societal ills, “you will at some point discover your Creator-God.”
No; sorry about that. The Light of our opening text above cuts through this EC mystic maze with the exacting precision of a lazer beam thus revealing that Timmons is dead wrong when he surmises:
There seem to be three stages of following Jesus. FIRST—Jesus is followed because He is so flawless and attractive—unimpeachable. He is the one person who has truly walked the walk and the talk perfectly. No one argues with this. And the disciples believed in Him enough to follow Him. There is nothing wrong with this type of following Jesus at all.
SECOND—Then as you follow this attractive Jesus, you will begin to embrace His lifestyle, teachings and principles and find them to be very practical and meaningful for your life. Following this Jesus just makes sense.
THIRD—Finally, as you continue to follow this Jesus and find His teachings meaningful, you will at some point discover your Creator-God. You will experience transformation of your heart and your mind and see Jesus as the Son of God.
So, wherever you are in this continuum of the stages in following Jesus, ultimately you are seeking and hoping to receive this gift of transformation from God Himself. When you understand this, you then can embrace the fact of Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, Agnostics, Muslims and even Christians who are followers of Jesus. (Online source)
What needs to be understood here is that Emerging/ent/ence Church truly began as an extention of the seeker-sensitive Church Growth Movement as you can see in e.g. in the Apprising Ministries article The Emerging Church Sowing Its Neo-Orthodox Confusion On Scripture. There you’ll also find the link to an excellent piece from my friends at the fine online apologetics and discernment ministry Herescope wherein they expose the rotten root of this whole EC Diseased Tree.
It’s an ill-fated attempt to make Biblical Christianity relevant and appealing to the alleged “postmodern” [read" relativistic] culture. I have no reason to doubt that Timmons is sincere in tyring to make being a “Christ-follower” attractive, but he is, sincerely wrong. What’s missing here in this man-made attempt to add to the Lord’s Church is the requisite role of God the Holy Spirit. And don’t forget that He Himself tells us above that — Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
That means one in an unregenerate (i.e. spiritually dead) state is not able to follow Christ. And the truth is that the below from Dr. F.F. Bruce (1910-1990), whom many looked to as “the dean of evangelical scholars,” gives us a much more accurate picture of the real Jesus of Nazareth—the Christ—Who died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, was buried, and was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures (see—1 Corinthians 15:3-4):
Our Lord’s sayings were all of a piece with His actions and His way of life in general. The fewer preconceptions we bring from the outside to the reading of the Gospels, the more clearly shall we see Him as He really was. It is all too easy to believe in a Jesus Who is largely a construction of our own imagination—an inoffensive Person Whom no one would really trouble to crucify.
But the Jesus we meet in the Gospels, far from being an inoffensive Person, gave offense right and left. Even His loyal followers found Him, at times, thoroughly disconcerting. He upset all established notions of religious propriety. (Hard Sayings of the Bible, 18, 19)
See also:
MAINSTREAM EVANGELICALISM NOW ON THE RAPID SLIDE TO APOSTASY
THE NEW CHRISTIANS WITH CHRISTIANITY WORTH BELIEVING—NO SOLA SCRIPTURA: YES, WOMEN PASTORS AND QUEER CHRISTIANS
TONY JONES, PETER ROLLINS AND ROB BELL
ROB BELL, PETER ROLLINS AND PHYLLIS TICKLE TOGETHER ADVANCING EMERGENCE CHRISTIANITY
NOT THE GOSPEL OF JESUS ROB BELL; IT’S NOT ANYWHERE NEAR IT
DOUG PAGITT AND CHRISTIAN UNIVERSALISM
APPRISING MINISTRIES WITH A PEEK AT THE COMING SOTERIOLOGY OF EMERGENCE CHRISTIANITY
R. Scott Clark: A Gentle Rebuke To Brother John (Updated)
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This is an excellent article dealing with disagreements between Clark and John Piper, and a loving expression of concern. I encourage you to check it out! – JT
The remarks that follow highlight areas of significant disagreement so let me preface my remarks thus: I am thankful for the good work that John Piper has done. [...]
The Potty Driven Life
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By Todd Friel
Mainstream evangelicalism is literally in the toilet.
Christ’s Family Church of Hastings, Minnesota is now using the bathroom as a way to reach out to lost souls. http://cfc.ccbchurch.com/app/
“Our men’s room (decorated in race car motif) gives members a reason to invite people to church. That is what Christ Family Church is all about; reaching those who have become disenchanted with religion but are searching for a relationship with Jesus Christ.”
“Our men’s room (decorated in race car motif) gives members a reason to invite people to church. That is what Christ Family Church is all about; reaching those who have become disenchanted with religion but are searching for a relationship with Jesus Christ.”
That’s right. Toilet evangelism.
Somehow, a zoomy bathroom is supposed to save sinful souls. Even the local newspaper wrote an article titled, “Come for the Bathroom, Stay for the Service.” We have moved from John the Baptist proclaiming truth in the wilderness, to using a testosterone designed men’s room to lure people to a building. While there is nothing wrong with a nifty water closet, there is plenty wrong with using it to attract people to Jesus. We implore people to come to the Savior, not come for the bathroom. We promote Jesus, not the amenities. Church is for Christians, not curiosity seekers. We win them to the Lord, not by being hip. Evangelism is to be done by church members, not the church bathroom.
How could we sink so low?
Read the rest of this article HERE.
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