Sin: Today Versus Yesterday    Link

My blogging partner from StrangeBaptistFire.com has taken on a tough topic in one of the recent posts on his own blog. Specifically, why is it that when we read church history, we find out that some things used to be a sin, and now they no longer seem to be? Also, I might add, why is it that some important doctrines are no longer considered important today? We know that God is immutable and so it's not like He "loosened up" on sin recently. And then there's the theory that those old school Christians were just really naive and overly-literal, whereas we are a lot better at bible study today. I KNOW that's not the case; all you need to do is try to comprehend a random page from John Owen's 17th century classic The Death of Death to understand that guys like that had more biblical horsepower than anyone alive today that I can think of. So how do we explain these differences in what we perceive as sin today, versus what THEY perceived as sin? My friend Nathan White has some thoughts on this. ... [Read Link]

Which Biblical Doctrines Are 'Non-Essential'?

After my earlier post, which addressed today's tendency to classify unpopular biblical doctrines as "non-essential", I received an anonymous email from a reader in the seeker-sensitive camp. In their protest against all of this attention to doctrine, they said: "What???. . .the basics are what matters! Jesus was born of a virgin, died for our sins, and rose again! Does all this theology and doctrine study make us more like Christ or more like a Pharisee?" With the backdrop of that modern sentiment, I thought I'd allow someone from times-past to express his views on what biblical doctrines, if any, should be considered non-essential. ... [Read More!]

The Gump god: "Stupid is as Stupid Does"    Link

Does the Arminian view seem to suggest that God is lacking in the knowledge or skill that it takes to convince someone to see things his way? Using an analogy that everybody ought to understand, Peter Pike from Triablogue puts it in plain words as to what the problem is with believing in a God that seems unable to convince people. The author leaves you with an option that comes out looking a lot like what Calvinists believe: It's the notion that - perhaps man is totally depraved after all, and there is no amount of 'convincing' that anyone is going to do in order to get fallen sinners to believe in Jesus Christ. It's a reality that ought to change the way we look at evangelism. What's needed is the heart change that comes when God makes someone born again. The result of which is belief and saving faith. ... [Read Link]

The Emerging Church versus Reformation Theology    Link

The Emerging Church turns church history on it's head, says one author. All the great heroes of the faith end up becoming fools. "They undo the Reformation so they can go back to a quasi-Christian, medieval spirituality". Along those same lines, the very theology of the Reformation is hated by today's Emerging Church postmodernists. In my latest Strange Baptist Fire blog post, I'll take a look at why that is. Examples are drawn from a baptist pastor by the name of Rick Frueh who has recently found new involvement with Emerging Church participants. ... [Read Link]

"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!]

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!]

"Let Me Give You The True Meaning of Predestination"

In this post, we will discuss the statements made by an Old Truth commenter named Tae who believes there is a biblical problem with what he calls "Calvin's view of salvation". He promises to give us "the right view" of predestination instead, and as he calls it elsewhere "the true meaning". Along the way he brings up many of the same prooftexts that we've answered here many times including 2 Peter 3:9. I'll post his remarks and see if a productive two-way discussion can be had. That's going to require him to answer some questions too. Here's what he had to say: ... [Read More!]

'Man Saves Man' and Decisions Are The Plan

Where did we ever get the idea that people can save other people, and even save themselves? Sure, nobody comes right out and says that, but you can tell that they think it. It's amazing how this one theological error upstream ends up causing an entire evangelism epidemic downstream. No, theology is not useless "head knowledge", it impacts our actions. And in this case, bad theology has produced an entire errant evangelistic system. ... [Read More!]

Synergism Belongs in a Car Dealership, not in Divine Salvation.    Link

The "Calvinist vs. Arminian" debate throughout church history is substantially a debate between what is called "synergism" and "monergism." It is impossible for there to be any third option (well, ok, if one is willing to be a Pelagian). For those who are new to the Calvinist-Arminian debate, the following is an instructive primer on the two perennial branches of theological systems in Christianity. Or to put it another way, there are two very different ways for believers to view their salvation. ... [Read Link]

Shallow Conversionism & Church Growth Idolatry   James White

Anyone who has endured the end-of-the-year push to meet a goal of baptisms for a year knows well what takes place. Entire sermons on baptism, all aimed at getting as many bodies through the baptistery as possible, along with "bring a friend" drives, all end up producing what can only be called Christian mutations: baptism without conversion, religiosity without repentance, non-discipled disciples, moistened but now guilty of religious hypocrisy as well. The numbers may look good, but what do they represent? ... [Read More!]

Man's Religion versus God's Religion   Horatius Bonar

Man's religion makes man its center. It is constructed so as to revolve around himself. He is its Alpha and Omega - its first and its last. It makes him live for himself, think of himself, magnify himself. It teaches him to lessen the distance between himself and God, for the purpose of enabling him to remove that distance by his own endeavors; so that God is not the infinitely glorious Being, nor man the helpless and unworthy thing which Revelation declares him to be. Man's religion is like the old astronomy, with the vast earth in the center, and the puny sun revolving round it! ... [Read More!]

Wrong Evangelism Fails To Start With Doctrine   Martyn Lloyd-Jones

The trouble with all false evangelism is that it does not start with doctrine, it does not start by realizing man's condition. All fleshly, carnal, man-made evangelism is the result of inadequate understanding of what the apostle teaches us in the first ten verses of this second chapter of Ephesians. If you and I but realized that every man who is yet a sinner is absolutely dominated by 'the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience', if we only understood that he is really a child of wrath and dead in trespasses and sins, we would realize that only one power can deal with such an individual, and that is the power of God, the power of the Holy Ghost. And so we would put our confidence, not in man-made organizations, but in the power of God, in the prayer that holds on to God and asks for revival and a descent of the Spirit. We would realize that nothing else can do it. ... [Read More!]

Theology Q&A's: Does Prayer Change God's Mind?    Listen

Does God actually listen to the prayers of people and
then respond by doing something that they asked for?
Here's a more difficult question: does prayer actually change God's mind? They seem simple, but there is some 'heady' theology behind those questions. It underscores the need for theological study. That's why it's always so sad to hear today's trendy church leaders putting-down the study of theology. Well in this short audio clip, RC Sproul answers those questions, plus tells you two additional things that you must know about prayer. ... [Play/Download MP3]

Unbelievers Can't Choose Christ or Make Him Lord   Obadiah Sedgwick

True faith takes Christ and Him only to be it's Lord. Many will come to Christ and have a feast, but few come to Christ to bear His scepter. Some would come under the safety of His blood, but disdain the authority and dominion of His sword; they like Christ the priest, but not Christ the Lord. I will briefly show you two things - unbelievers will not accept Christ to be their Lord only, because their heart has another Lord. He is our Lord to whom we give service, and we His servants who obey Him. Let the commands of profit or pleasure versus Christ come into competition and you shall see that the unbelieving heart will go after it's lord; it will not hearken to Christ, for it prefers sin before Him. The unbelieving heart will easily adventure Christ's displeasure to fulfill it's own lusts. Again, the unbelieving heart cannot choose Christ... [Read More!]