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Name: Bernie
Country: United States
State: Georgia
Metro: Athens


Interests: A grandfather, father, husband, man, child of God who is following Christ Jesus and working out his salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in me, both to will and to work for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:12-13)
Expertise: Only that which the Heavenly Father provides - for all else I must shoulder both the fault and the blame


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Friday, November 13, 2009

false gods, false religions and religious tolerance

False gods are no gods …

 

Therefore false religions serve no gods …

And religious tolerance of false religions is condemnation of those who either willingly, or unwillingly, find themselves in the snare of the devil.

Meaning false gods are oftentimes the work of demons … at other times simply the work of the flesh.

The Lord's bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.  2 Timothy 2:24-26

 

Please note Paul does not teach Timothy religious tolerance for those in opposition nor does he teach him to be quarrelsome with those in opposition.

 

He teaches Timothy (and us in turn) to be kind to all.

 

He teaches us that we must be able to teach those in opposition.

 

He teaches us that we must be patient when wronged by those in opposition.

 

He teaches us that with gentleness we must correct those in opposition.

 

BUT the outcome is the work of God.

 

“If perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth.”

 

How often do we teach or consider that repentance is granted by God?

 

“And by that repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, they may then come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil.”

 

They have been held captive by the devil to do his will …

 

Religious tolerance works in agreement with the devil to keep the captives ensnared.

 

We were once held by those very same snares … but …

 

For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.  2 Peter 1:4


We escaped the corruption of the world because God granted us a repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth.

Do we believe these truths from Scripture?

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.  John 14:6

 

 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.  John 15:4-6

 

 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.  2 John 1:9

 

If we do … then IMHO we will not offer tolerance to those who embrace false gods and their false religions, but instead will join the Father in His work for escape and reconciliation.

Thoughts, insights and comment?


Thursday, November 12, 2009

hypocrisy and pretending prevalent among Christians …

Christian Post article link: http://www.christianpost.com/article/20091110/megachurch-pastor-challenges-hypocrites-pretenders/index.html

Megachurch Pastor Challenges Hypocrites, Pretenders

A pastor at one of the largest churches in the country launched a new sermon series addressing the hypocrisy and the pretending prevalent among Christians.

Tue, Nov. 10, 2009 Posted: 03:21 PM EDT


A pastor at one of the largest churches in the country launched a new sermon series addressing the hypocrisy and the pretending prevalent among Christians.

Entitled "The Pretenders," the series draws attention to the biblical time when Jesus went not to the red light district, the nightclub or the boardroom to confront the hypocrites but to church.

"[Jesus'] main problem with the ... religious leaders in his day is that they were hypocrites," said Kyle Idleman, teaching minister at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Ky. "That's what he calls them to their face."

Over the weekend Idleman, who also admitted he wasn't perfect and was a sinner like everyone else, addressed the hypocrites in the church today saying, "There are pretenders among us. They're putting on a performance. ...They've learned to wear this mask in church."

There are unmarried couples who are "sitting next to each other in church pretending that their relationship was just as pure last night as it appears to be right now," he noted. "There are pretenders who will sing amazing grace with tear-filled eyes but they refuse to extend that same grace to a family member who hurt them."

"There are pretenders who have become experts at separating their faith from their political views ... from their money management ... and from their entertainment preferences," he added. "There are pretenders who spend an hour and a half every day in front of a mirror making sure everything looks great on the outside but just can't seem to find 10 minutes to read their Bible or to pray.

"There are pretenders who are so quick to point out and condemn the sexual immorality in their culture but don't seem too concerned about their lust."

Studies conducted by LifeWay Research in 2007 have shown that most people outside and inside the church believe hypocrisy is prevalent among believers. Among the unchurched, 72 percent said they think the church is full of hypocrites, and 67 percent of 20- to 29-year-olds said the same.

There are two groups of hypocrites Christians tend to fall into, Idleman observed. They include the Sadducees and the Pharisees, who made up the religious ruling body in Jesus' time. The Sadducees made up the chief priests and elders and were born into that position. The Pharisees, meanwhile, were Jews who studied their way into their position.

Many pretenders today see their faith as something they were born into and never chose, Idleman explained.

"You know how to act, you know what to say, you know what to do ... but you never chose it," the Southeast minister said. "You got the part down but it was never real."

"As long as you could remember you've always had that mask. In fact, you've had it so long that you don't even know what you look like without it," he added.

To such pretenders, Jesus would say "woe to you, you hypocrites," Idleman said.

But a lot of pretenders are more like the Pharisees, Idleman believes. They see their faith as "intellectual knowledge and behavioral compliance."

Such Christians may say all the right things and follow all the rules, but their hearts don't reflect that, he indicated.

"It's not enough just to know the right things and to say the right things. [Jesus] wants it to be in your heart," the minister stressed. "Jesus summed up the Pharisees in this way – they honor me with their lips but their hearts are far from me."

Just as Jesus was upfront and harsh in rebuking the hypocrisy among the religious leaders, Idleman urged Christians to also be brutal with themselves.

"Be brutal. Be broken," he encouraged. "Jesus is trying to hold up a mirror and tell us the truth."

The cure for pretending, he said, is confessing one's sins.

"When you take the mask off ... you find a peace for your soul that just doesn't come when you're faking it," said Idleman.

Southeast Christian Church is the 12th largest church in America, according to Outreach magazine's 2008 top 100 list.

Audrey Barrick
Christian Post Reporter


Thoughts and impressions?




Wednesday, November 11, 2009

family friendly or family divisive churches?

WARNING: RANT AHEAD

I have been seeking to find a church that embraces and encourages the family to worship together … that truly encourages and teaches and trains the father to be the head of the family.  They are virtually non-existent locally … the two closest ones I have found are both 45 minutes or more away … which violates my belief that the church family you are a part of needs to be in the community in which you live.

Perhaps those churches that advertise and market themselves as ‘family friendly’ should instead use the phrase ‘family member friendly’ … only because ‘family divisive’ might not be viewed in a positive light.

How often do we ride together to church (if indeed we do even that), only as a family to depart from each other’s company in the parking lot only to reunite once again in that same parking lot after the Sunday morning activities?

The church has taken the graded school system (primary, junior and high school) and expanded upon it taking that exact same grading system and applying it all the way thru senior adults … no I’m not talking about seniors in high school.

The odd thing is that the graded school system we are all so familiar with is fairly well grounded in evolution, psychology and humanism oriented concepts of child growth and development (see G. Stanley Hall, John Dewey, etc.) vs. growth guided by parents, grandparents, family and elders.

I have been a part of churches that have folks grouped for Sunday school/small groups like this …
- One and under
- Two to four
- Four and Five
- By grade, First thru Twelfth … and sometimes that is subdivided by male/female
- College/career
- Young Married
- Singles
- Divorced
- Then typically from 30 on in 10 year increments – married (actually it is more likely to see the men and women divided)

And this is not to mention things like …
- Awanas and similar programs
- Middle school youth group
- High School youth group
- Young adults

If you are a part of the homeschooling movement, one of the main questions you get is ‘What do your kids do about socialization?’

I now simply hit that same question right back to them.

I have actually posed that question to teachers and counselors in the public education system and they consistently respond that the socialization skills children learn in school, they learn from each other …

Chew on that a little bit … no wonder there are so many problems in society.

Regarding my own children’s socialization … they learn to respect and interact with their elders.  We’re still working on the each other angle.

I would laugh if It wasn’t so sad … I take my grandson to the playground and he goes up to play with kids his age and older.  He tells them his name and ask them if they would like to play … and 9 times out of 10 the other kids run in fear because they don’t know what to do.  Oh yeah, and the 1 in 10 is usually there with a parent who then reveals they homeschool.

As long as we in the church remain age-group and peer focused, the younger cannot benefit from the relationships and wisdom of the older.  And the older cannot benefit from training up the younger and impacting multiple generations.  The 20th century concept of retirement and you now deserve to do your own thing is having a very negative impact on the subsequent generations.

Not only that but I strongly believe such an individualistic approach has undermined the body life of the church.  The original body life is grounded in Father, Son and Spirit.  With man, body life begins in marriage as husband and wife become one.  That body grows as they have children, but yet is still to move as one … sharing in many of the characteristics revealed about the body of Christ.  This is where body life is first lived … then living in the body of Christ has so many foundational concepts built in.

We can’t focus on encouraging believers to be individualistic and then complain because the body life in the church is fragmented.

What role does the church play in building strong marriages?

What role does the church play in building strong families?

What role does the church play in encouraging men to lead as husbands, fathers, grandfathers?

What role does the church play in encouraging women in their roles as wives, mothers, and grandmothers?

What role does the church play in encouraging children to honor their parents, grandparents and elders?

Actually the question should really be posed as ‘What role does Christ Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the Scripture and the church play …’

One of my favorite rants is: you got to have a license for your dog, a license to fish, a license to hunt, a license to drive, a license to sell real estate, a license to sell insurance, a license to do business, a license to get married … but anyone can be a parent without restriction … and that is indeed how we approach it.  Now this is not to say parental licensing should be required … it just reveals a bit about the values of our society and our government.  Lord knows, we don’t need more government involvement.  Lord knows, we need His intervention.

Interestingly enough both the Greeks and Romans discovered that after doing all they could to undermine the family, that as a nation they were stronger when the family was stronger … and the Romans also discovered when the church was stronger.

My hope IN Christ is that the church and the children of Christ will remember God’s design for family.  And then if the nation will realize the foundational strength of a nation is found in the family and the church … with man this impossible, but with God ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE!!!

Oh well, I’ve run my rant out.

It’s your turn.
 


Tuesday, November 10, 2009

drawn by “carnal means” ... or drawn by "divine means"?

A few weeks ago I shared a YouTube video with Paul Washer titled Regeneration vs. Decisionism.  In the midst of that video, Paul said the following:

 

“If you draw people (unto Christ and into the church) using carnal means, you will have to keep people using carnal means.”

 

Now if you’re like me, you may have a bit of an assumed understand of how carnal is defined that makes that quote a bit difficult to understand … my understanding was probably formulated based on a movie in the 70’s.

 

So off to Merriam-Webster Online I went for their definitions.  And indeed there is basis for my assumed understanding based on the following definitions:  relating to or given to crude bodily pleasures and appetites, marked by sexuality, bodily, corporeal (seen with carnal eyes).

 

But down at the bottom of their list of definitions are the following:  temporal and worldly.

 

So what Paul Washer seems to be saying is the following:  If in our evangelism and outreach, we draw people unto Christ and into the church using temporal and worldly means, we will have to use temporal and worldly means to keep those same people in the church and Christianity (please note I did not say ‘and IN Christ’.)

 

Does that seem like a valid interpretation on my part?

 

If so, then do you agree with what Paul Washer has said in the above quote?

 

But I think there is another really key word in that quote … draw.

 

Back to the dictionary for a few definitions.  Many definitions are offered but here are a few that seem applicable:  to cause to move continuously toward or after a force applied in advance, to cause to go in a certain direction (as by leading), to bring by inducement or allure.  Looks to me like there is a whole theology lesson in those definitions.

 

So what or who does Scripture say should draw people unto Christ?

 

The sixth chapter of John seems to have quite a bit to say about that …

 

 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. (37)

 

 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. (44)

 

It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught of God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me. (45)

 

 And He was saying, "For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father." (65)

 

Now I am not sure I have always rightly interpreted all the above verses before.  Because it now appears to me that these particular verses may specifically be regarding those apostles and disciples drawn to Christ prior to the crucifixion. 

 

Basically no one could come to Jesus but by the Father.

 

Post crucifixion that all appeared to change … I certainly stand ready for correction and clarification from those of you who may see this differently.  First change … now men can only come to the Father through Christ Jesus.

 

And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself. John 12:32

 

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”  John 14:6

 

Second … the unbelieving world will only be convicted concerning their sin and a need to believe in Christ Jesus thru the work of the Holy Spirit:

 

But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, 'Where are You going?' 

But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.

But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.

And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment;

concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me;

and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me;

and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. 

John 16:5-11

 

And the Holy Spirit does that by the sword of truth He wields, the word of God … the gospel.

 

When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they raised their voice, saying in the Lycaonian language, "The gods have become like men and have come down to us."

And they began calling Barnabas, Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.

The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, and wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds.

But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their robes and rushed out into the crowd, crying out

and saying, "Men, why are you doing these things? We are also men of the same nature as you, and preach the gospel to you that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.

Acts 14:11-15

 

So what would you add or take away from the list of ‘divine means’ God has provided for drawing people into Christ and His bride church?

 


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