"Always remember, when somebody comes up with something new,
it's usually wrong. We are to be plagiarists of the same information that
God gave the first Christians." -- Dr. Matthew McMahon, aPuritansMind.com

 

27 September, 2007   comments: (0) Classic Devotion   Recognize Your Dependency on The Spirit   AW Pink The majority of Christians do not realize that they are as wholly dependent upon the gracious operations of the Spirit within them as they are upon the meritorious righteousness of Christ without them. Therefore they need to seek God and count on the enablings of the former as definitely and as constantly as they trust in and rely on the finished work of the latter. ... [Read More!] 24 September, 2007   comments: (0) Changed Message   Ministry Integrity, Dignity, and Soundness   James White [We can] by the means we use to proclaim the gospel, alter it and in fact empty the cross of its power, making it void. If we use worldly words of wisdom - human methodologies that prove we really do not trust God's Spirit to make God's message come alive in the hearts of His people - we may see "results" but they will not be abiding results to the glory of God. They will be man-made, and the resultant church anything but divinely blessed. An impure Gospel results in impure saints at best, or pure hypocrites at worst. Today the emphasis is upon the "end result" and being "user friendly." The fact that men of God are called to be His ambassadors and to proclaim His message without diminishment or alteration has been lost to a large portion of those who stand behind pulpits today. ... [Read More!] 20 September, 2007   comments: (0) Postmodernism   The Emerging Church: Old, Worn and Deadly I've been spending an usual amount of time this week researching the Emerging Church Movement, and I'm always fascinated when I run across any of their blogs that want to claim ownership of John Piper for their movement. I've found a similar pattern in the Church Growth Movement, whose pastors often link to John Piper. Everybody wants to own a piece of Piper it seems. In this post, I'm not going to try and answer who actually does "own him", nor am I going to stake any ownership claims of my own. What I will do however, is provide some evidence to the two aforementioned movements, which should suggest that some reevaluation is needed if they're assuming that they've found a backer in this popular preacher. In the case of the Emerging Church, they may be surprised to hear the title of this post being used by him to describe some of their foundational thought. ... [Read More!] 20 September, 2007   comments: (0) Today's Pragmatism   Small Churches MUST "Depend on Creativity"? UPDATED 9/30/07 - This one is a little too wordy to squeeze into the scrolling ticker, so I'll leave it here for a few days and then remove it. Every once in a while you run across a leader in the Church Growth Movement that has a verbal slip which reveals their thinking, and exposes the rotten root structure that this movement is based on. Now perhaps this church leader doesn't realize what he's just said, and his statement may not reflect his true beliefs, but have a look at point 3 in his list. He says: "It's important to learn from churches bigger and smaller then you. Churches that are smaller have to be even more creative, because their success depends on it". I certainly hope he doesn't believe that ANY church's success depends on human creativity. The Apostle Paul never talked like that; he spoke as though success depends on God, and he didn't want to do anything that would replace or "enhance" the Gospel with human wisdom and cleverness. Comments now open. ... [Read More!] 18 September, 2007   comments: (0) Resource Spotlight   "Why Me God?" (The Problem With Pleasure) We've all had our fill of megachurch power-pastors posting on their blogs about the 'cold' or muscle cramps that they just got over. I made up my mind early-on that I would not waste my blog space on "personal news" like that. I'm not hiding anything; I always try to communicate through email with people who want to know more about me, but I hate using blog posts for that. In this one however, I'll break from that tradition, and I'll also introduce you to somebody who has carried a greater burden than most of us can imagine (no it's not the guy in the picture). If you struggle with a "Why Me?" attitude when things go wrong, this post is a must read. ... [Read More!] 17 September, 2007 - by Chad   comments: (0) Resource Spotlight   Old Christianity and God's Will For Suffering An Emerging Church blogger recently took aim at the Family Worship resource that I reviewed last year. His postmodernism apparently conflicted with the male/female family roles, and the call for a return to an emphasis on family devotions the old way: "I am especially interested in hearing from women and parents . . . is the solution to the problem of the family really going to be a 'present return to the old paths'?" You don't have to look far for disdain towards past Christianity; there's not much use for it today. But in this post, Chad reminds us of yet another resource from the past that you can use to deepen your present understanding of the Lord. It's another timeless Puritan classic on the wisdom and sovereignty of God displayed in the afflictions of men. Tomorrow I'll be back with a short example of it, being lived out in the life of a brother who God has been sustaining for years under incredible trials. ... [Read More!] 14 September, 2007   comments: (0) Postmodernism   The Church is a Soul Expert, Not a Social Agency   Martyn Lloyd-Jones Some think the church's task is purely a matter of social work and relief work, but that is not the business of the church. I am not saying that this does not come into the matter, but I am saying it is not primary. And that is what Peter put so clearly, once and forever, in this resounding, memorable phrase: "Silver and gold have I none." In other words, "Do not look to me for that. That is not what we are here to provide." Are you looking to the church for the right thing? What do you expect from the Christian church in this troubled state of the world? . . . The church is not here to talk politics, to play music, to give philosophical discourses, to produce art, or to provide social improvement or psychological treatment. ... [Read More!] 13 September, 2007   comments: (0) Today's Worship   Remembering The Terror of The Lord - Part 2   Walter Chantry Western society pretends to be above such ideas as blood payment for great sins. To cater to the delicate tastes of modern man, teaching on the need for blood atonement and appeasement of the wrath of God is set aside. Much is said of mercy, love, and pardon, while a curtain is drawn to hide the transactions by means of which God forgives. The process by which the guilty may be pardoned is unmentioned. Nevertheless, the Bible is not so fastidious. Is it possible to know the grace of God without having first experienced the terror of God? ... [Read More!] 11 September, 2007   comments: (0) Classic Devotion   Remembering The Terror of The Lord - Part 1   Walter Chantry In our times, some Christian ministers have taken it upon themselves to explain precisely what factor was on God's mind in his bringing about a natural tragedy or a military catastrophe. Yet these men are not prophets. David, being a true prophet, waited for the Almighty to explain Himself. God does visit the furies of created powers upon nations because of their moral guilt. Ruinous earthquakes, floods, winds, and drought should lead us to repentance for all our sins, but we must be cautious not to claim knowledge of the particular sin that lies behind a particular desolation. ... [Read More!] 10 September, 2007   comments: (0) Unity At What Cost?   Making Truth a Matter of Personal Opinion "The glorious charity of the present day is such, that it believes lies to be as good as truth; and lies and truth have met together and kissed each other; and he that telleth truth is called a bigot, and truth has ceased to be honourable in the world!". Those words of Charles Spurgeon apply to our postmodern time perhaps even more than his era. Many Christians today actually think it's normal and even noble to make truth a matter of personal opinion. As a short demonstration of this, here are some actual quotes, taken from the statements of faith - of large highly respected evangelical churches: ... [Read More!] 7 September, 2007   comments: (0) Back To The Bible   How The Puritans Interpreted Scripture   JI Packer To the Puritans, no discipline was so exacting, and no labor so rewarding as the interpretation of the scriptures. The soundness of their method is unquestionable; we shall do well to follow in their footsteps. That will mean asking six questions of each passage or text that we seek to expound: ... [Read More!] 6 September, 2007   comments: (0) Back To The Bible   Blinded By Relevance - Volume 1 When church leaders peer through cool shades at God's Word, the true meaning often gets traded for an idol that they long to see. Welcome to the start of an ongoing series of posts on Old Truth, dedicated to demonstrating the perils of approaching scripture with an already decided idea of what you want it to say. In the weeks ahead, we'll examine how the only thing needed to make a scriptural square peg fit in a culturally relevant round hole is the hammer of haphazard bible interpretation. Here now is volume 1. ... [Read More!] 2 September, 2007   comments: (0) Sound Doctrine   Definitely Not Church As Usual I will admit it, the church that I attend is not normal, at least by today's standards. The seeker church that I was once a part of had a sign outside the building that said the words "definitely not church as usual". Years later now, I actually think that my former church is pretty typical, and the church that I attend now is the highly UNusual one. Let's face it, now days - it's really unusual to care a whole lot about what you believe, and so - just in that area alone, my church would probably be thought of today as having an unnecessary obsession with things doctrinal. Is that valid criticism? Take a short tour with me and find out. ... [Read More!] Page: [ 1 >> ] Prev | Next Page of 1. Prev | Next        Home  |   About  |  Videos   |  Calvinism