Quote of the Day

"If any man doth ascribe aught of salvation, even the very least, to the free-will of man, he knoweth nothing of grace, and he hath not learnt Jesus Christ aright." —Martin Luther (1483-1546)

Assailing The Sovereignty of God

"Let me indicate especially the doctrines of free-will. I know there are some good men who hold and preach them, but I am persuaded that the Lord must be grieved with their doctrine though he forgives them their sin of ignorance. Free-will doctrine—what does it? It magnifies man into God; it declares God's purposes a nullity, since they cannot be carried out unless men are willing. It makes God's will a waiting servant to the will of man, and the whole covenant of grace dependent upon human action. Denying election on the ground of injustice it holds God to be a debtor to sinners, so that if he gives grace to one he is bound to do so to all. It teaches that the blood of Christ was shed equally for all men and since some are lost, this doctrine ascribes the difference to man's own will, thus making the atonement itself a powerless thing until the will of man gives it efficacy. Those sentiments dilute the scriptural description of man's depravity, and by imputing strength to fallen humanity, rob the Spirit of the glory of his effectual grace: this theory says in effect that it is of him that willeth, and of him that runneth, and not of God that showeth mercy. Any doctrine, my brethren, which stands in opposition to this truth—"I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy," provokes God's jealousy. I often tremble in this pulpit lest I should utter anything which should oppose the sovereignty of my God; and though you know I am not ashamed to preach the responsibility of man to God—if God be a sovereign, man must be bound to obey him—on the other hand, I am equally bold to preach that God has a right to do what he wills with his own, that he giveth no account of his matters and none may stay his hand, or say unto him, "What doest thou?" I believe that the free-will heresy assails the sovereignty of God, and mars the glory of his dominion. In all faithfulness, mingled with sorrow, I persuade you who have been deluded by it, to see well to your ways and receive the truth which sets God on high, and lays the creature in the dust. "The Lord reigneth," be this our joy." —C. H. Spurgeon (1834-1892)

WOW!

Wow, what an attack on the Word of God and an out right denial of it's own doctrinal statement with the realease of “A Statement of the Traditional Southern Baptist Understanding of God’s Plan of Salvation”

"In all this opposition to the absolute will of God, we see the self-will of the last days manifesting itself. Man wanted to be a god at the first, and he continues the struggle to the last. He is resolved that his will shall take the precedence of God's. In the last Antichrist, this self-will shall be summed up and exhibited. He is the king that is to do 'according to his will'. And in the freewill controversy of the day, we see the same spirit displayed. It is Antichrist that is speaking to us, and exhorting us to proud independence. Self-will is the essence of anti-christian religion. Self-will is the root of bitterness, that is springing up in the churches in these days. And it is not from above, it is from beneath. It is earthly, sensual, devilish." - Horatius Bonar (1808-1889)

Free-will

"Free-will somebody believes in. Free-will many dream of. Free-will! Wherever is that to be found? Once there was Free-will in Paradise, and a terrible mess Free-will made there; for it spoiled all Paradise and turned Adam out of the garden. Free-will was once in heaven; but it turned the glorious archangel out, and a third part of the stars of heaven fell into the abyss. I want nothing to do with Free-will, but I will try to see whether I have got a Free-will within. And I find I have. Very free will to evil but very poor will to that which is good. Free-will enough when I sin, but when I would do good, evil is present with me, and how to do that which I would I find not. Yet some boast of Free-will. I wonder whether those who believe in it have any more power over persons’ wills than I have? I know I have not any. I find the old proverb very true, "One man can bring a horse to the water but a hundred cannot make him drink." I find that I can bring you all to the water, and a great many more than can get into this chapel; but I cannot make you drink; and I don’t think a hundred ministers could make you drink. I have read old Rowland Hill, and Whitefield, and several others, to see what they did; but I cannot discover a plan of turning your will. I cannot coax you, and you will not yield by any manner of means. I do not think any man has power over his fellow-creature’s will, but the Spirit of God has. "I will make them willing in the day of my power." He maketh the unwilling sinner so willing that he is impetuous after the gospel; he who was obstinate now hurries to the cross. He who laughed at Jesus now hangs on his mercy; and he who would not believe is now made by the Holy Spirit to do it, not only willingly, but eagerly; he is happy, is glad to do it, rejoices in the sound of Jesus’ name, and delights to run in the way of God’s commandments. The Holy Spirit has power over the will." —C. H. Spurgeon (1834-1892)

A Common Word?

I pointed this out here and here back in 2009. Wake up church!

Broken Clocks

After hearing the itching ears conference better known as the ER2 fiasco, I have come to the conclusion that I am very greatful for this event. Why, well I have always had my doubts about Ol' McDonalad and Mark (The Cussing Pastor) Driscoll and this event has put my mind at ease on how best to look at these two so called leaders. Broken clocks best describe them for even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Just a few links to help clairify the issue at hand.
"Is Nicene Christianity Important?" by Carl Trueman
"The Collateral Damage" by Thabiti Anyabwile
"The Elephant in the Room" by Voddie Baucham
"Elephantiasis" by Phil Johnson

A Call for Discernment Session 1 - Dangerous Doctrine

A Call for Discernment Session 2 - Mangled Manifestations

A Call for Discernment Session 3 - The Hurt of Healing

Dazzling Confusion

"The repulsion between Revelation and much of modern thought is expressing itself in many ways and through many channels. Man is now thinking out a Bible for himself; framing a religion in harmony with the development of liberal thought; constructing a worship on the principles of taste and culture; shaping a god to suit the expanding aspirations of the age. The process of evolution on all these points is so satisfactory and so well advanced that disguise is no longer needful. Faith and certainty in things outside our senses are, in the meantime at least, not to be taken into account. Whether the human mind was really made for such uncertainty is a question that each one must settle for himself; and whether there may not be a way of escape from uncertainties into a region of absolute truth, in things of religion as well as in those of science, is certainly worth the consideration of the age.

Amid all this dazzling confusion, it is well to keep in mind that the way leading to life is narrow; the way leading to death is broad. The danger arising from want of spiritual discrimination between light and darkness is more serious than many think. For one authentic light, there are a thousand spurious60 ones. The false Christs are many, the true Christ is but one; and whilst glorying in the vitality of truth we must stand in awe of the marvelous fecundity61 of error. Discrimination is not censoriousness." —Horatius Bonar (1808-1889)

Quote of the Day

"A man fond of contention in religious things is seldom one who has much love for the practical duties of piety, or any very deep sense of the distinction between right and wrong." -Albert Barnes

None Seeketh!!!

Romans 3:11 "There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God." Why do people consider a song to be Christian when it presents anti-biblical teaching? Just because a song maybe positive and encouraging doesn't make it a Christian song!

Brotherly Love

"It (brotherly love) is, as unto its luster and splendor, retired to Heaven, abiding in its power and efficacious exercise only in some comers of the earth. Envy, wrath, selfishness, love of the world, with coldness in all the concerns of religion, have possessed the place of it. And in vain shall men wrangle and contend about their differences in faith and worship, pretending to design the advancement of religion by an imposition of their persuasions on others: unless this holy love be again re-introduced among all those who profess the name of Christ, all the concerns of religion will more and more run into ruin. The very name of a brotherhood amongst Christians is a matter of scorn and reproach, and all the consequents of such a relation are despised." —John Owen (1616-1683)

Spurgeon on Rob Bell

“Find if you can, beloved, one occasion in which Jesus inculcated doubt or bade men dwell in uncertainty. The apostles of unbelief are everywhere today, and they imagine that they are doing God service by spreading what they call “honest doubt.” This is death to all joy! Poison to all peace!…

I have not much patience with a certain class of Christians nowadays who will hear anybody preach so long as they can say, “He is very clever, a fine preacher, a man of genius, a born orator.” Is cleverness to make false doctrine palatable? Why, sirs, to me the ability of a man who preaches error is my sorrow rather than my admiration.

I cannot endure false doctrine, however neatly it may be put before me. Would you have me eat poisoned meat because the dish is of the choicest ware? It makes me indignant when I hear another gospel put before the people with enticing words, by men who would fain make merchandise of souls; and I marvel at those who have soft words for such deceivers.” —C. H. Spurgeon (1834-1892)

Being Balanced

There are times when I find myself in a situation where if I say what I believe then I am sure I'll alienate some people, but do I say what I believe based on internal principles or do I succumb to the external pressure and let them hear what they'd rather hear or say nothing at all and let them think I'm on the same page as they are or speak from conviction and let the chips fall where they may? I truly have no desire on my part in any way to alienate a brother or sister in Christ simply based on my own preferences but my goal is simply to stand on the Word of God and the principles laid down in scripture as best as I know how too. Sometimes there's a sense in which people may think your all about the negative rather than the positive. I know that one of the hardest things for me in the Christian walk is reminding myself to stay balanced so that I don't make myself an undesirable person, because I know there is no chance of me ever becoming a mushy man-pleaser, just not wired that way (must have been my military training?). The Biblical message is both negative (Law) and positive (Gospel) and it is always negative first in order to strip us of our human pride so that we might see our need of a savior and then the positive is presented that it might rescue us from our dreadful state. Please be patient with me in my sanctification process as I sincerely seek the grace of Christ to be more Biblically balanced.