What is Christmas really all about?

A message to my 4 little girls.

"A girl should get so lost in God, that a guy has to seek God to find her!" ~

Dannah Gresh, author.

Your Marriage and your biggest problem.

For those I have talked to in recent months about this book I cant tell you enough how enjoyable it has been to go through this book. I am only part way into it as of this week but it is so rich in theology and its practical implications in your marriage. The issue of marriage and how you handle conflict within it is an area most of us must admit we need work in (to say the least - in regards to myself). What we must understand is that marriage is not primarily about us but first and foremost it is for God. The imagery that the Bible uses time and time again to show us that men have the position of Christ and the wife as the church is so rich. Both parties have the responsibility to one another of sacrificially giving ones all to each other and it works in beautiful harmony together. How often do I allow my own desires and wants to supersede those of my wife's.

Here is one of the lines in the book.....

"What we believe about God determines the quality of our marriage".

This once again comes to theology. For all those who think all theology does is divide well so be it. Theology is important in its outwork in our Christian life, marriage, parenting, and most of all our devotion to God. The more we understand God the more firm our foundation. Now our desire is not for division and strife but our desire is for the Glory of God and we glorify Him as we learn about Him within the word.

Here is a quote from R.C. Sproul

"No Christian can avoid theology. Every Christian is a theologian. Perhaps not a theologian in the technical or professional sense, but a theologian nevertheless. The issue for Christians is not whether we are going to be theologians but whether we are going to be good theologians or bad ones".

That is the heart of the issue. Your understanding of who we are, who God is and what the solution is.

God is Holy and Perfect, we are low and sinful in the full sense of the word, the Cross is the remedy. Our sinful condition shadows all our decisions, all our marriage problems and our bad choices. Understand that the biggest problem with marriage is our sinful conditions. Regardless of anyone else you have an obligation and should have the desire to war against pride, self righteous, anger, outburst, anything that glorifys your wants instead of Gods and honor your spouse. Pray for help and read your bible. God is faithful.

Are you kidding me??

Rudolph is to "Christian". Come on.

The New Testament Project

We are wrapping up for the NT project set to launch in as little as 2 weeks. We are working on a few things to promote the project to your friends and family. Get as many people involved as possible. This will be a blessing for us all. So what we need at this point is for you to leave a comment after this blog. IF you have emailed me and/or verbally committed that is ok but if you still could leave your name and email address in the comments that would be great. For new comers please do the same. These will be used on the blog just as a name role call so we can send you needed correspondence as well as accountability.

God Bless,

Dad, wake up, times almost over!

Quoting William Gurnall

You also fail yourselves by leaving your children in a state of ignorance, for you heap upon yourselves the consequences of their sins as well as your own. When a child breaks one of God's commandments, it is his sin; but it is also the father's if he never taught the child what the commandment of God was. Wicked children become heavy crosses to their parents. When a father or mother must trace the source of wickedness to his or her neglect in training the child, cross is laid upon cross and the load becomes unbearable. Can there be a greater heartache in this life than to see your own child running full speed towards hell, and know that you were the one who outfitted him for the race? Oh, do your best while they are young and in your constant care, to win them to God and set them on the road to heaven.

Most important, you fail God when you rear an ignorant child. Scripture tells of those who hold the truth in unrighteousness. Among others, this includes parents who lock up the knowledge of salvation from their children. Where is the parent who will rob his own son's house? Yet this is what you do if you neglect his spiritual education. For you keep in your own pocket the gold talent that God intended for you to give your child. If you leave no godly inheritance, what will happen when you die, and the truth of the gospel is buried along side rotting bones?

If you are God's child, then your children stand in closer relationship to the heavenly Father than the children of the unbelievers. God depends on you to nurture them as you have been nurtured, and to protect them at all costs from the devil's education. Training your children up in the ways of the Lord is no casual suggestion. Your refusal to obey, whether the product of deliberation or neglect, will pay you bitter wages when you stand before the King of kings in the judgment"

The Christian in Complete Armour, (year 1665)

Now I am not a perfect parent and trust me I do not have a bunch of little saints running around my house. If you spend time over here you will see very quickly that we have a lot of work to do in our home. But one thing is prevalent when you speak to my wife our myself. We want to do more, we want to be better and we desire that God is exalted in our life's first for them to see. It is amazing how much time we spend entertaining ourselves. We have such work to do and it must be done day in and day out. Most of the time obedience is not glamorous although there are times God sends us fruit but for the most part it is pretty tough. If you walked in to our family devotion or our morning devotion you would not see fireworks going off or kids falling on the Ground in repentance. Most of the time it is stressful and frustrating especially with a newborn, a 2 year old and an almost 4 year old. It is tough and I walk away someday wondering what was I thinking. But the more I read the word the more I am convinced that it is the constant watering of the word that will give our children the lasting benefits of the gospel. But it is hard and we have to do hard things. Let us continue in our own devotion to God-day in and day out spent in the word and in prayer. For those that are parents....Just do it. Get a devotion set up, do what you have to do in order to stop them from going to hell.

In Christ,

Christmas and the glory of God

Dont waste this Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our fallen default position in this life is to be selfish. We tend to plan so much around the Holidays and especially Christmas toward our family and what we are going to do and where are we going to go. We think that is enough. Laughing and spending time is all that Christmas is about, right?

Well I think we have to search more deeper than that. We have to look to the cross and to the suffering of our Savior. What was the point of it all. To save sinners. To bring glory to Himself. Christmas is a chance for us to fight the temptation to be self centered. To think we are at peace when we are at war. People are going to Hell and we tend to only worry about what presents to buy. You have the words of life. Reach out.

Here is what the prince of Preaches said about soul winning...

"If sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. And if they will perish, let them perish with our arms around their knees, imploring them to stay.. let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for"

I like this quote for John Piper in "Dont Waste your life".

We are at war, whether the stocks are falling or climbing, weather the terrorists are hitting or hiding, whether we are healthy or sick. I need to hear this message again and again, because I drift into a peacetime mindset as certainly as rain falls down and flames go up. I am wired by nature to love the same toys that the world loves. I start to fit in, I start to to love what others love. I start to call earth "home".

Before you know it I am calling luxuries "needs" and using my money just the way unbelievers do. I begin to forget the war. I dont think much about people perishing. Missions and unreached peoples drop out of my mind. I stop dreaming about the triumph of grace. I sink into a secular mindset that looks first to what man can do, not what God can do. It is a terrible sickness.


Please understand that you are in a war. Not only against the cold dark world but against yourself. Please understand Earth is not your home. Now that you are saved, if you are saved, than be prepared to die. Put nothing above your true love, Christ. Preach the gospel to yourself and remind yourself how wretched you were before Christ saved you. Listen to people, just sit back and watch and see they need the message you carry. Please dont water down the message Christ was crucified for, Paul stoned and beheaded and martyr after martyr died for. It was not, "Oh God loves you just so much and if you come to Him then He will make your life better". That is a lie, Preach about sin and repentance and trusting in Christ to save them from the judgment to come. Warn them about this life and that when you do become a Christian things do get harder. People will not love your message but some will. Praise God for that. YOU ARE NOT YOUR OWN. Get that...

YOU ARE NOT YOUR OWN FOR YOU WERE BOUGHT WITH A PRICE.

Get your family involved and DONT WASTE YOUR LIFE. You will have plenty of time to laugh, fellowship, sing, etc in Heaven. You are called to reach people with the saving Gospel. That is the only reason you are still here on earth and will be the only thing you will never do again in heaven. DONT WASTE IT. PLEASE, Run hard and finish the race strong. Dont get in the peacetime mind set. ITS NOT PEACE TIME, IF YOU ARE NOT BEING PERSECUTED OR TALKED ABOUT FOR YOUR FAITH IN CHRIST THAN PLEASE DO SOMETHING.

Here are some great ideas from Livingwaters. Our family printed out the Christmas Carols and are going to go to my Grandfathers neighborhood and sing, preach a small message and go to the next house. Please be in prayer.

Here are some ideas by livingwaters.

6 Reasons to Blog (by Abraham Piper)

I know this is an old post but I thought it should be reviewed due to its wonderful content.



6 Reasons Pastors Should Blog
March 31, 2008 | By: Abraham Piper
Category: Commentary

In this article I want to convince as many pastors as possible to sit down and start a blog today. If I can’t convince them, then I want to convince churchgoers to hound their pastor until he does.

OK, all that’s overstatement, perhaps. You can still be a good pastor and not blog.

However, here’s why I think it would be good for you and your congregation if you did.

Pastors should blog…
1. …to write.
If you’re a pastor, you probably already know the value writing has for thinking. Through writing, you delve into new ideas and new insights. If you strive to write well, you will at the same time be striving to think well.

Then when you share new ideas and new insights, readers can come along with you wherever your good writing and good thinking bring you.

There is no better way to simply and quickly share your writing than by maintaining a blog. And if you’re serious about your blog, it will help you not only in your thinking, but in your discipline as well, as people begin to regularly expect quality insight from you.

2. …to teach.
Most pastors I’ve run into love to talk. Many of them laugh at themselves about how long-winded they’re sometimes tempted to be.

Enter Blog.

Here is where a pastor has an outlet for whatever he didn’t get to say on Sunday. Your blog is where you can pass on that perfect analogy you only just thought of; that hilarious yet meaningful story you couldn’t connect to your text no matter how hard you tried; that last point you skipped over even though you needed it to complete your 8-point acrostic sermon that almost spelled HUMILITY.

And more than just a catch-all for sermon spill-over, a blog is a perfect place for those 30-second nuggets of truth that come in your devotions or while you’re reading the newspaper. You may never write a full-fledged article about these brief insights or preach a whole sermon, but via your blog, your people can still learn from them just like you did.

3. …to recommend.
With every counseling session or after-service conversation, a pastor is recommending something. Sometimes it’s a book or a charity. Maybe it’s a bed-and-breakfast for that couple he can tell really needs to get away. And sometimes it’s simply Jesus.

With a blog, you can recommend something to hundreds of people instead of just a few. Some recommendations may be specific to certain people, but that seems like it would be rare. It’s more likely to be the case that if one man asks you whether you know of any good help for a pornography addiction, then dozens of other men out there also need to know, but aren’t asking.

Blog it.

Recommendation, however, is more than pointing people to helpful things. It’s a tone of voice, an overall aura that good blogs cultivate.

Blogs are not generally good places to be didactic. Rather, they’re ideal for suggesting and commending. I’ve learned, after I write, to go back and cut those lines that sound like commands or even overbearing suggestions, no matter how right they may be. Because if it’s true for my audience, it’s true for me, so why not word it in such a way that I’m the weak one, rather than them?

People want to know that their pastor knows he is an ordinary, imperfect human being. They want to know that you’re recommending things that have helped you in your own weakness. If you say, “When I struggled with weight-loss, I did such-and-such,” it will come across very differently than if you say, “Do such-and-such if you’re over-weight…”

If you use your blog to encourage people through suggesting and commending everything from local restaurants to Jesus Christ, it will complement the biblical authority that you rightly assume when you stand behind the pulpit.

4. …to interact.
There are a lot of ways for a pastor to keep his finger on the pulse of his people. A blog is by no means necessary in this regard. However, it does add a helpful new way to stay abreast of people’s opinions and questions.

Who knows what sermon series might arise after a pastor hears some surprising feedback about one of his 30-second-nuggets-of-truth?

5. …to develop an eye for what is meaningful.
For good or ill, most committed bloggers live with the constant question in their mind: Is this bloggable? This could become a neurosis, but I’ll put a positive spin on it: It nurtures a habit of looking for insight and wisdom and value in every situation, no matter how mundane.

If you live life looking for what is worthwhile in every little thing, you will see more of what God has to teach you. And the more he teaches you, the more you can teach others. As you begin to be inspired and to collect ideas, you will find that the new things you’ve seen and learned enrich far more of your life than just your blog.

6. …to be known.
This is where I see the greatest advantage for blogging pastors.

Your people hear you teach a lot; it’s probably the main way that most of them know you. You preach on Sundays, teach on Wednesdays, give messages at weddings, funerals, youth events, retreats, etc.

This is good—it’s your job. But it’s not all you are. Not that you need to be told this, but you are far more than your ideas. Ideas are a crucial part of your identity, but still just a part.

You’re a husband and a father. You’re some people’s friend and other people’s enemy. Maybe you love the Nittany Lions. Maybe you hate fruity salad. Maybe you struggle to pray. Maybe listening to the kids’ choir last weekend was—to your surprise—the most moving worship experience you’ve ever had.

These are the things that make you the man that leads your church. They’re the windows into your personality that perhaps stay shuttered when you’re teaching the Bible. Sometimes your people need to look in—not all the way in, and not into every room—but your people need some access to you as a person. A blog is one way to help them.

You can’t be everybody’s friend, and keeping a blog is not a way of pretending that you can. It’s simply a way for your people to know you as a human being, even if you can’t know them back. This is valuable, not because you’re so extraordinary, but because leadership is more than the words you say. If you practice the kind of holiness that your people expect of you, then your life itself opened before them is good leadership—even when you fail.

Conclusion
For most of you, anything you post online will only be a small piece in the grand scheme of your pastoral leadership. But if you can maintain a blog that is both compelling and personal, it can be an important small piece.

It will give you access to your people’s minds and hearts in a unique way by giving them a chance to know you as a well-rounded person. You will no longer be only a preacher and a teacher, but also a guy who had a hard time putting together a swing-set for his kids last weekend. People will open up for you as you open up like this for them. Letting people catch an honest glimpse of your life will add authenticity to your teaching and depth to your ministry,

Wretched Radio

So if anyone has been following Way Of The Master Radio for any amount of time then...um....well....your hooked. You are just addicted and you are fully aware that they are now Wretched Radio. If not...well....you are just weird and we will be praying for you. For the rest of us. Check it out and support the minsitry. If you want to grow in your walk and in the dicerning catagory then get plugged in.

Wretchedradio.com

Launching the New Testament Project

For those looking to get a deeper understanding of God's word and feel they need personal accountability then join us as we undergo a wonderful new project starting January 1st of 2009. This is how it works...

We will be starting in the Gospel of Matthew and systematically move through the whole New Testament. We will be following the MacArthur Study Bible's reading plan. We will read one book at a time repetitiously for a month. This will help us retain what is in the New Testament and help us need our concordance less and use our mind more.

With longer books like Matthew we will divide it into short sections and read daily for 30 days. For example, the gospel of John contains 21 chapters. We will divide it into 3 sections of 7 chapters. Section one will be read each day for 30 days. Section two will be read each day for 30 days and so on. At the end of 90 days, we will finish the Gospel of John. At the end of time, you will know what is in the book. We will blog, email each other and for personal use we can write down on an index card the major theme of each chapter. By referring to our card and blog post for our daily reading we will begin to remember the content of each chapter. A bonus will be that we will develop a visual perception of the book in our mind.

In two and half years we will have finished the entire New Testament and will really know it!!!

If you feel the need to know more. If you know that you do better when held accountable. If you know you have not been retaining what you read in the New Testament. Then step up and join arms with us by adding your name, email or blog to this post under comments and I will send you any necessary material to promote the project with your friends and family. Some of you prefer to email so go ahead and email me at garyandtina@comcast.net

Judgement on America? Dont worry not yet! :-)

You know, a lot of "Christians" go around and tell me that God is "judging" America. That we have to worry because He is already mad at us and is giving us up. Well don't believe it. I found Bible verses that talk about what happens when God "gives up" a nation and trust me, we have nothing to worry about it. Look for yourself.

Romans 1 tells us what the result is after God has judged a nation and the result of God's hand being removed from stopping people from being as evil as they could have been and just letting them go with there dirty little hearts as far away from God's law as possible and become God haters. Don't worry just read....

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

God reveals to that nation or people his wrath when they practice and support ungodliness and unrighteousness. Like when adults take His laws out of school and refuse to teach them to there children and those children grow up and no nothing about Christmas or the Bible or heaven. When teachers rather support worldviews that explain life's start came from something other then God. Those people would be really bad and even go as far as saying that we came from nothing. Yes I said they would think we come from NOTHING and they would make silly ways to make it sound smart and use big words and take over all the education system with that lie. DON'T WORRY

19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.

These people would just have to look around and see the obvious. Things made have makers...DUHHHHHH. Christians would not just sit around and let that happen. They would speak up, right?

20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature,have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

Obviously these people with there false religion and there really difficult attempts to deny God are not going to have any "real" excuses when they see Him.

21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

If this really happened people would act like this...



or this..



Or this.....



People like that would say that we have to doubt things. That is how we know things...by doubting stuff. Do they ever doubt that? But don't worry this is only for nations that are abandoned by God.

22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools,



Wow so deep? So Wise!!!!

23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.




24Therefore(I) God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to(J) the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25because they exchanged the truth about God for(K) a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator,(L) who is blessed forever! Amen.

26For this reason(M) God gave them up to(N) dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another,(O) men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.



28And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God,(P) God gave them up to(Q) a debased mind to do(R) what ought not to be done. 29They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32Though they know(S) God’s decree that those who practice such things(T) deserve to die, they not only do them but(U) give approval to those who practice them.


Dont worry, that is for other nations...

Or is it?

Real Love????

Launching into a subject today on what love is by the worlds standard and contrasting that with the Love in which God has shown us in Christ. The difference is a HUGE stumbling block to Jews and Gentiles. The difference is eternal and the one way a person will give glory to there pride and well the other takes your pride and DEMANDS it to bow down and depart. Lets take a look.

Dr. Phil
1 "When you love yourself first, you're ready for a committed, romantic relationship. When you love smart by loving yourself first, others will love you for who you really are."

In other words as you work at loving yourself and meriting love by another they will become more attracted to you because you recognize your self worth. Come on!!! First off if you end up loving yourself why do you need anyone else? Second, that is the most selfish thing you can do is start a relationship by loving yourself.

There is freedom in the cross for this which is sin. Looking for your self worth apart from God is ignoring your creator and turning the love due to Him onto you. He loves without merit of yourself and He gives more love than you have ever given even yourself.

Deuteronomy 7:7
The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples, but becaseu the Lord loves you,

Now that verse was indeed to a nation that was undeserving. A nation who continually placed there own desires above that of the Lords. Grumbled after every blessing and had no problem focusing on themselves and not the Lord. Yet God showed them true love apart from there selfishness. Does this principle fall into the NT to us? YES

Titus 3:4-5
But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we had done, but according to His mercy He saved us


Dr. Phil on how to lead in your marriage...

2 Create what you want in your family instead of whining about your family situation. Marriage is not a 50/50 partnership. It's a 100/100 partnership. That means you give 100 percent. And remember, you get what you give.

Stephen the Martyr after preaching the truth of Christ and his fulfillment of the messianic prophecy to those he loved reacted this way...

Acts 7:54
When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth.

Acts 7:57-58
Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; and cast him out of the city and stoned him.

Hmmm I just don't see the science of reciprocation working here.

How about Paul the great apostle who gave his life to preach the cross to thousands of lost people?

Acts 16:22-24
Then the multitude rose up together against them; and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods. And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.


Hmmmmm so tell me again how this works. Paul preached the best news the world has ever heard. Not only better than any have half heart compliment a husband can give to his wife to "get back what he gave" but Paul gave his life to the Glory of God and the salvation of men and he did not get back from them what he had given. Should we expect more them him?

What about Jesus?

Before giving His life for humanity on a bloody cross this is some of the things he was "getting" from those whom were the closes.

Matthew 26:40
Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "What! Could you not watch with Me one hour?

Matthew 26:43
And He came and found them asleep again

Matthew 26:45-46
Then He came to His disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is at hand."

Matthew 27:74-75
Peters Denial..
Then he began to curse and swear, saying, "I do not know the Man!" Immediately a rooster crowed. And Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, "Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times." So he went out and wept bitterly.

After that his own people do this...
Matthew 27:1-2
When morning came, all the chief priest and elders of the people plotted against Jesus to put Him to death. And when they had bound Him, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate the governor.

And the worst and final act they did..

Matthew 27:35
Then they crucified Him.

Whoever is President Tomorrow I know who is King

Today as you wake up the Gospel call is the same. To Preach the Gospel to all nations......

As You do....

Matthew 10:22 And you will be hated by all for My name's sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.

10:30-32
But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My father who is in heaven.

28:18
And Jesus came and spoke to them saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth."

Psalm 2
Why do the heathen rage,
And the people plot a vain thing?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
And the rulers take counsel together,
Against the Lord and against His Anointed,

He who sits in the heavens shall LAUGH:
The Lord shall hold them in derision.

List to the interview of John Macarthur and Phil Johnson on America by clicking here.

Titus 3:1
Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men. For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.
BUT when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward men appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us.

Vote

Never has there been a greater need. The Blind are leading the blind. Christian, help them see.






I love you Honey,
I love you Victoria
I love you Grace
I love you Jordan
I love you Kaylie
I love you Isabella
I love you Joshua


Stand for the family. Stand for those who have no name tonight but will be in the presence of God by tomorrow. Stand for the babies who's cry's reach the height of heaven. Stand for them!!!

John Macarthur Sermons Unleashed...well soon!

For those who have not heard. It looks like GTY (Grace To You) the MacArthur Ministry has decided to open up the vault of sermons. There official statement....




What an opportunity for you to store of a wealth of information for Biblical Growth and discipleship. It is going to be such a blessing. Pass the word on. To go direct to GTY click here.


Also for those who have emailed and prayed for Jeff and I as we hit downtown Pontiac last night. I want to thank you for your prayers. The harvest is huge and the time is at hand. Although we did not get a chance to open air the reason was due to the fact we had so many one to ones the crowd was gone by time we were done. Be in prayer for those people that heard the Gospel and pray that we will continue the work and grow in boldness. To God be the Glory.

God Bless,

Ligonier Ministries Esv Bible

In honor of Reformation day (October 31st) Ligonier Ministries is giving there Reformation Study Bible away for a donation of any amount. What an awesome deal with a much anticipated version. If you remember anything about there deal on this Bible last year then you know it will go quick. Take advantage of this wonderful gift for your library. You can find out more here.

Two Years of Marriage and I got holes in my shoes.

I know, strange title and weird picture. Let me explain....

I got them on our wedding night as we traveled up to beautiful Traverse City on a weekend honeymoon. Well that did not go so great but was the best weekend of my life. We traveled about 5 hours to get there and arrived in town at about 9 p.m. and we were very tired and could not wait to get out of the van. Well I guess everyone else in the world on the first week of October decided to get rooms and the whole city was sold out!!!! AHHHHHHHHHH We are in the middle of nowhere and this is the only city anywhere around for hours. So we had to race other couples (who had the same problem) to a resort about 1.5 hours north. We arrived at about 1 a.m. and very tired and cranky and I think we took some snowmobile tracks or something to get there and in a conversion van (dont ask). Needless to say I remember waking up thinking.....I wonder where we ended up so I pulled the curtains away from the huge window and 4th floor patio I was taken back by the most amazing view I have yet to see. It was Northern Michigan, Torch Lake, and Fall colors as far as the eye can see. What made it more amazing was I was a married man. Not only a married man but I was married to the most beautiful women in the world. As that thought pounded on my heart and the sweet thoughts of our Gracious God who has shown me mercy time and time again it hit me....Where are the roads? All the sudden I realized it was trees as far as my eyes can see but not one road. "Where are we" in a panicked mind set. "How did we get here if there are no roads?" Well we went out of the building and to the parking lot and I was ok. We then when on a little tour and then headed back to Traverse City to stay the night there but all in all it was the most wonderful time of my life.

Two years later I have holes in my shoes, baby spit up on my shirts, day after day of running the kids to something, homework, two little ones crying for my wife at the same time and neither one wants me and I could not be more thankful for any of it. Holes in shoes to some means garbage. Holes in shoes to me means a marriage that is walking strong. Praise be to God.


Below are two pictures of the lake we woke up to after driving lost for almost two hours and in the pitch black of night......

Deeper Conference

I just wanted to pass along two snippets of great messages by some of our greatest preachers on American Soil. The first you can listen to it here. This is Ray Comfort talking on why we need to evangelize and how to vote your conscience. GREAT STUFF and very convicting if you are unsure of what moral decisions you should MAINLY consider when voting. We know politics wont change this nation and one man will not come in and change it all although the old political marketing schemes still work on unsuspecting Americans....We need change.... government bad..... neither candidate who promises this (which they both do) in of themselves can change this nation and make it brand new. We have a much bigger problem. People need Salvation and the hearts of men to go from God haters to God lovers. Our hope is not in the presidential race (although we need to vote how God would want us to) but our hope is in Jesus Christ and the preaching of the Cross.

In the words of John Macarthur...

We can't protect or expand the cause of Christ by human political and social activism, no matter how great or sincere the efforts. Ours is a spiritual battle waged against worldly ideologies and dogmas arrayed against God, and we achieve victory over them only with the weapon of Scripture. The apostle Paul writes: "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ" (2 Cor. 10:3-5).

God is not calling us to wage a culture war that would seek to transform our countries into "Christian nations."
God has above all else called the church to bring sinful people to salvation through Jesus Christ. Even as the apostle Paul described his mission to unbelievers, so it is the primary task of all Christians to reach out to the lost "to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me [Christ]" (Acts 26:18; cf. Ex. 19:6; 1 Pet. 2:5, 9). If we do not evangelize the lost and make disciples of new converts, nothing else we do for people--no matter how beneficial it seems--is of any eternal consequence. Whether a person is an atheist or a theist, a criminal or a model citizen, sexually promiscuous and perverse or strictly moral and virtuous, a greedy materialist or a gracious philanthropist--if he does not have a saving relationship to Christ, he is going to hell. It makes no difference if an unsaved person is for or against abortion, a political liberal or a conservative, a prostitute or a police officer, he will spend eternity apart from God unless he repents and believes the gospel.

The second message is by Paul Washer and it just slaps people around with major conviction. Me first. Listen by clicking here.

In Christ,

Ringing the Bell on Rob Bell

For those that don't know Rob Bell is an emergent pastor from Michigan and some have called him the next Billy Graham. He is respected widely among evangelicals as coming with a "new" twist on an old religion. He is making it "relevant" and "exciting" for a younger hip generation. Anyone who has been on the scene of Christianity for any amount of time has either came across his Nooma videos or his book "Velvet Elvis". The purpose of this blog is to do what so many others have done already. Explain to a younger more impressible group of evangelicals just what the gospel is and identifying bad teaching. I do this with a humble heart knowing I am talking to Pastors, youth pastors, lay leaders, elders and many others. I want to take journey into the teaching of Rob Bell and why it must be rejected by those "Commanded" to protect the sheep.

For a clear gospel link click here.

For the purpose of this blog and detecting heresy we have to start with what the gospel is NOT....

I just want to tackle the BIG baby food, obvious foundations for Christianity. Like Hell, The Bible, Salvation and touch on a few doctrines like the substitutionary atonement of Christ and universalism. These are the issues that those who are in the faith should be able to detect and call out those who deny them.

Lets take a look...

Rob Bell on the need for salvation.

Rob Bell:
“You can’t get enough points to get in with the Big Guy. You can’t do enough good deeds and then God will like you. One of the things the Spirit does is remind us that we belong. Period. Just exactly as we are. You are loved by God.”

Really Rob, how is that the Bible says things like God is angry with the wicked everyday? God will judge the world in righteousness? No murderer or liar or fornicator will enter the kingdom of Heaven. A man MUST be Born again to enter into Heaven. How Rob? If we are all loved by God just the way we are then why send Jesus? This is a flat out heresy line.


Rob Bell on the Bible's accuracy.

Rob Bell:
“The Bible is a collection of stories that teach us about what it looks like when God is at work through actual people. The Bible has the authority it does only because it contains stories about people interacting with the God who has all authority”
-Velvet Elvis, p.65

“…it wasn’t until the 300s that what we know as the sixty-six books of the Bible were actually agreed upon as the ‘Bible’. This is part of the problem with continually insisting that one of the absolutes of the Christian faith must be a belief that “Scripture alone” is our guide. It sounds nice, but it is not true. In reaction to abuses by the church, a group of believers during a time called the Reformation claimed that we only need the authority of the Bible. But the problem is that we got the Bible from the church voting on what the Bible even is. So when I affirm the Bible as God’s word, in the same breath I have to affirm that when those people voted, God was somehow present, guiding them to do what they did. When people say that all we need is the Bible, it is simply not true. In affirming the Bible as inspired, I also have to affirm the Spirit who I believe was inspiring those people to choose those books.”
-Velvet Elvis, p.68

[The Bible is a] “human product…rather than the product of divine fiat”

Wow, now the textual criticism and the historic agreement of the Bible is so elementary to any Bible believing seminary. For such a popular speaker to not only be able to actually explain how we Got the Bible we have today and how we can trust it but also to wash it away as just a book...just a human product. Rob, why believe any of it?

Rob Bell on Hell.
Come on this is an easy one.

”When people use the word hell, what do they mean? They mean a place, an event, a situation absent of how God desires things to be. Famine, debt, oppression, loneliness, despair, death, slaughter–they are all hell on earth. Jesus’ desire for his followers is that they live in such a way that they bring heaven to earth. What’s disturbing is when people talk more about hell after this life than they do about Hell here and now. As a Christian, I want to do what I can to resist hell coming to earth.”
- Velvet Elvis, p.148

“Heaven is full of forgiven people. Hell is full of forgiven people. Heaven is full of people God loves, whom Jesus died for. Hell is full of forgiven people God loves, whom Jesus died for. The difference is how we choose to live, which story we choose to live in, which version of reality we trust. Ours or God’s.”
- Velvet Elvis, p.146

On the Fall:

“I can’t find one place in the teachings of Jesus, or the Bible for that matter, where we are to identify ourselves first and foremost as sinners. Now this doesn’t mean we don’t sin; that’s obvious. In the book of James it’s written like this: ‘We all stumble in many ways.’ Once again, the greatest truth of the story of Adam and Eve isn’t that it happened, but that it happens.”
- Velvet Elvis, p. 139

On “Ultimate Reality”:

“I don’t follow Jesus because I think Christianity is the best religion. I follow Jesus because he leads me into ultimate reality. He teaches me to live in tune with how reality is. When Jesus said, ‘No one comes to the Father except through me’, he was saying that his way, his words, his life is our connection to how things truly are at the deepest levels of existence. For Jesus then, the point of religion is to help us connect with ultimate reality, God.”
- Velvet Elvis p. 83

On the Nature of the Atonement:

“So this reality, this forgiveness, this reconciliation, is true for everybody. Paul insisted that when Jesus died on the cross he was reconciling ‘all things, in heaven and on earth, to God. This reality then isn’t something we make true about ourselves by doing something. It is already true. Our choice is to live in this new reality or cling to a reality of our own making.”
- Velvet Elvis p. 146

On the Virgin Birth:

“What if tomorrow someone digs up definitive proof that Jesus had a real, earthly, biological father named Larry, and archeologists find Larry’s tomb and do DNA samples and prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the virgin birth was really just a bit of mythologizing the Gospel writers threw in to appeal to the followers of the Mithra and Dionysian religious cults that were hugely popular at the time of Jesus, whose gods had virgin births?

But what if, as you study the origin of the word “virgin” you discover that the word “virgin” in the gospel of Matthew actually comes from the book of Isaiah, and then you find out that in the Hebrew language at that time, the word “virgin” could mean several things. And what if you discover that in the first century being “born of a virgin” also referred to a child whose mother became pregnant the first time she had intercourse?”
-Velvet Elvis, p. 26

On Faith:

“Who does Peter lose faith in? Not Jesus; he is doing fine. Peter loses faith in himself. Peter loses faith that he can do what his rabbi is doing. If the rabbi calls you to be his disciple, then he believes that you can actually be like him. As we read the stories of Jesus’ life with his talmidim, his disciples, what do we find frustrates him to no end? When his disciples lose faith in themselves….. Notice how many places in the accounts of Jesus’ life he gets frustrated with his disciples. Because they are incapable? No, because of how capable they are. He sees what they could be and could do, and when they fall short it provokes him to no end. It isn’t their failure that’s the problem, it’s their greatness. They don’t realize what they are capable of….God has an amazingly high view of people. God believes that people are capable of amazing things. I’ve been told I need to believe in Jesus. Which is a good thing. But what I’m learning is that Jesus believes in me….God has faith in me.”
-Velvet Elvis, pp. 133-134


Let me end with a couple videos that show how heretical Nooma videos are. If you have played them to your church STOP. You are not examining the teaching with the BIBLE.



The Biblical Response


The Gospel...Unkind?




You be the Judge!!!!

John Macarthur

Great experience this past week at Woodside Bible Church in Troy. What made it so great is the preaching of the word by Bible Teacher and numero uno of living preachers/theologians was none other than John Macathur. He preached on the prodigal son and I promise it was like no sermon you have heard on the text. He managed to condense five messages worth of material into one sermon and it just blew my mind. It got me even more excited for hermeneutics and the exposition of the word. I am just so thankful to had heard it. I also had the honor of asking Dr Macathur a question during the service. And in the way that only Piper and Macarthur can do he took it back to the word, applied it, chewed it up and threw it back at me to were I think I got reprimanded or excommunicated or something. But seriously the question was on the impact of evangelism in ministry and his answer went right to it. Saying that everything "in" the church we will do better in heaven. The church is meant to strengthen believers and make there lives a living testimony for the gospel and to proclaim it in a lost a dying world. It was great.

Are we looking up to a broken system?

Yes! Ok so we all know that politics and Christianity can get way to played out about this time every 4 years or so. By this time and getting closer to November we are so tired of hearing the word politics that we can pull our ears off. So I do not want to go into this post with a political agenda. I want to tackle this issue of politics and the Christians proper view from a new angle that I don't think is touched on nearly enough.

Political anything in any country is a falling and failing system. Yes God appointed it and yes we are to be good responsible citizens of those offices. At the same time are Christians standing below the political "umbrella" looking up as if that is all we have or should we be above the system looking down?

Our hope is not in the outcome of this election (although we have hope for it) and our foundation is not in the Constitution of the United States (although we support it) but in the Word of God. Our hope is not in this world. We are to look down on a sinful fallen process and interject as much biblical input as we are asked but no more. That system does not belong to us and it never will. It belongs to the prince of the power of the air and as long as we are in this world it is yet another fallen system. We get so wrapped up with many secular humanist that we forget they are fighting for there life and hope. What are we saying when we get so vocal and so out of whack? That this is our only hope and its not. We have only a certain amount of time left. Use it and reach someone you don't know with the Gospel of Jesus Christ today.


Remind [the people] to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.

Worship Music

Worshiping God through Praise is an amazing thing and something to take with complete reverence. It is a fascinating subject and one that deserves our full attention. As I continue my wonderful study in Justification you can look for updates soon. I want to step back from that for a bit and talk about Worship Music. It just so happens to be the latest sermon series our Pastor is going through right now. You can listen to that message here...

http://www.mtmorriscommunitychurch.org/home/2259/2259/audio/Music%20in%20the%20Church.mp3

We are going through the book of Colossians verse by verse and this is such a fantastic subject. So many of todays "POP" Culture church services seem to be more bent on pleasing man in hopes that it please God by the effort rather than starting with what pleases God first and well ONLY. Once we see what it is that please God we should not wavier from that. Take the Biblical instruction and praise God in a way that He gets the glory.

Our churches get so up roared in what can be sung and what instruments can or cannot be used and we dont pay attention to the heart and the theology in the words. Contemporary churches seem to not want old wonderfully full hymnals and classic hymnal lovers dont want any contemporary biblical songs brought in. It is for God and both sides need to put there focus on Him with much prayer.

Here is an example of a very Biblical song that I think would not be brought into a church context and I agree it should not be. But for casual theological listening, this song is very edifying. Now it is a rap song and I will be the first to tell you that I am not into hip hop or rap or rock or metal Christian Music. I do think some of it is great but most of it falls very short. Please tell me what you think .

Well before I get more into the issue of Justification I want to update you on what has since happened with my Catholic Friend. He showed up to talk to me yesterday. He said that a leader of the church came up to him after mass and told him that what he brought up last week was very interesting and commented on the remarks I made about the necessity of the law and the inability to add work to justification. He asked him to tell it to him again and he again explained our conversation and told the guy that it is kind of strange because I take the Bible literally. The other man said he had been struggling with the point of the law and this helps clear things up for him. The other man told my friend that he would like to have more group talks about this subject. He was than told that I made the offer to come to the church and explain myself if desired. The leader (I don’t know the position) said that would be great but they both agreed that they needed to get the Priest Ok.

When he told me all this I was so blessed because I did not even imagine fruit like this would come to be. Then these two verses came to mind today.

Psalm 37:4†
Delight yourself in the LORD;
And He will give you the desires of your heart.

Matthew 6:33
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

What an amazing promise. When you look at your life and in your prayer time you count all your blessing. You are content with all that you have and could not ask for more. The only thing you want is more of God and He blesses you with fruit and obedience and you begin to walk in His ways. You act according the riches you have in Christ and speak. For all I know that man in that Catholic Church might be getting saved. I don’t know. I just thank God that he gives more than we could ever ask and blesses us so much. How can we not tell people?

Infused or Imputed??

I have been witnessing over the past year with a man whom I love dearly. He is a devote catholic and he and I have shared opposing views with much interjection from his current Priest. I feel as if I know this priest and I can almost foresee every swing back he will have toward me as he looks for spiritual truth. Over the years we have discussed the Law and its proper use, mercy, Holiness, and works. I knew our time together was coming to an end due to his soon retirement. I wanted to make sure he understood our differences and was clear on what the result would be according to scripture if he held his current views. I am sure I could have lead him to 100 "sinner prayers" but thank God that never happened. I knew if anything would save him it would be the word of God and the power there of. So I have been just knuckles down on the issues of Justification and if it is infused or imputed. I knew already what Scripture taught but I did not understand how Catholicism can come to some misunderstanding of infused righteousness.

Currently I am reading a book by Jonathan Edwards on Justification by Faith alone and it has been such a blessing to me. After going through several Catholic blogs I am shocked at the constant contradictions within the blogs. They say that works is necessary for salvation but there verses are ripped out of context and then seeing quotes for justification apart from the law is by faith. I just dont get it.

When we parted ways, I asked him if he would be willing to read Romans Chapter 4 and he declined. I asked why? He said he trust what the priest and myself tell him. I told him that we both could be leading him to hell and unless he checks for himself he will never get saved. He said he will be fine and I said no you wont not based on your goodness and he drove away and said "bye Gary". Be in prayer for him this week if you could. In the mean time I want to start tomorrow with a overview of Romans 4 and its clear unmistakable explanation of Justification by FAITH ALONE.

God Bless

On vacation

Will be back Sunday afternoon. Thought I would drop this promo....

Is your Family Worship like that of old?

How is your family worship? Do you and your wife with children in lap, worship the one and true God? How much time do you invest, husband-father, in the affairs of this life and forget all together to instruct the ones in whom God has placed the most trust to you over? Do you have no conviction that you neither care nor toil over the soul of your wife and children? You say to me, but they go to church and worship with me there? Has God made your Pastor or elders husbands over your wife's and children? Will they stand before God on your behalf? Sir, the arrows of the evil one are aimed from birth at the ones you tend to. Even your wife from birth was a target. God has now intending to shield her from the darts of the evil one by the washing of the word and yet you stand aside and say she is fine on her own. Well that may be but she will be stronger because of you or she will be FORCED to be stronger without you. STAND FAST!!!!

Lets dive into this as we look into the old paths (This is for us to grow together and may God bless us in this study) .....

2 Timothy 3:14-15
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

I want you to notice a few things in those verses. First lets of course consider context, context, context. Chapter 3 begins with Paul warning Timothy that the last days are coming and in those last days men will not only become lovers of themselves but also with resist the truth and they will lead many with them. Paul than switches back to Timothy after a descriptive prediction of the false teachers and says...

vs 14: But as for you, Continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from who you learned it

Who are the "those from who you have learned it" referring too? Is it Paul and the other Christian leaders? No! I qualify that with vs 15 which says...

and how from infancy you have learned the Holy Scriptures

FROM INFANCY. So who are these that taught Timothy the scriptures from Infancy?

Well for that we have to go back to 2 Timothy chapter one and a very familar verse to most...

I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also

So it was passed down from Timothy's faithful Mother and Grandmother and what was a great motivation???

Back to our home verse for this study....

2 Timothy 3:14-15
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

which are able to make you wise for salvation!
which are able to make you wise for salvation!
which are able to make you wise for salvation!


Folks, the Bible is what saves. It is by the preaching of the word that men get saved. Not by gimmicks, The gospel saves, the cross convicts. Teach these to your kids and bind them on your door post. Teach the scripture to your children so they are ready to receive when the word is preached to them.

Jonathan Edwards said,

Family education and order are some of the chief means of grace. If these fail, all other means are likely to prove ineffectual.



Christian Homelife Exemplified, 300 Years Ago


During the era of the 18th century Great Awakening, George Whitefield had the opportunity to stay in the Edwards home. Afterwards, Whitefield wrote: "Felt wonderful satisfaction in being at the house of Mr. Edwards. He is a Son himself, and hath also a Daughter of Abraham for his wife. A sweeter couple I have not yet seen. Their children were dressed not in silks and satins, but plain, as becomes the children of those who, in all things ought to be examples of Christian simplicity. She is a woman adorned with a meek and quiet spirit, talked feelingly and solidly of the Things of God, and seemed to be such a help mate for her husband, that she caused me to renew those prayers, which, for many months, I have put up to God, that he would be pleased to send me a daughter of Abraham to be my wife." The next year Whitefield married a widow whom John Wesley described as a "woman of candour and humanity."





A great book I suggest is Noel Piper's, Treasuring God in Our Traditions. You can read it for free at the Desiring God web site or you can just click on this link...
http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/OnlineBooks/ByTitle/2438_Treasuring_God_in_Our_Traditions/

Randy Alcorn has a book we read over the summer called "Heaven" The children version, which went rather well. We also go verse by verse in the Bible and we are almost finished with Mark which has taken well over 2 months. We have some praise and worship and really try to limit all this to about 20 minutes although many nights have gone over. It is hard and we fail often and making it more constant but each failure I am hoping brings us closer to better structure and preparation.

Tune in again as we get into the subject a bit more and than touch on other subjects I have noted in previous post. May God Bless you as you grow in holiness and obedience to the word of God. Special thanks to oldtruth.com, Family Education Wordpress blog, Godtube and others.

In Christ,

Rounding the Corner

Continuing our seires from Challies dot com and info obtained from his wonderful blog as well as info obtained from GTY.org. This is part five of our series studying the differences between Calvinism and Arminianism. Please note that this is only a brief overview of a vast topic. A thorough discussion of this topic can (and often has) filled many books. At the conclusion of the series I will provide a list of helpful resources should you wish to pursue this study further.

The terms Arminianism and Calvinism are, of course, absent from the Bible. For that reason I tend to avoid defining myself as either one. I would rather be defined as a follower of Christ than a follower of the teachings of Calvin or Arminius. However, having said that, I do believe that one of their teachings is correct and the other is not.

It should come as no surprise that I adhere to Calvinist theology. I believe that Calvinism is little more than a correct interpretation of the Bible. It is not a radical theology; it is correct, Biblical theology! From what the Bible teaches and from what I have seen of human nature, I simply cannot believe that man can play any part in his salvation. A former pastor of mine used to say it like this: “Imagine you are in a river, the water is flowing quickly and you are sinking. You struggle, fight and thrash about but are unable to save yourself. As you are going down for the last time, you manage to extend your hand just a bit. As you extend your hand, someone grabs it and pulls you from the torent. That is Arminian theology. Calvinism says that you are a corpse - a dead, rotting corpse unable to even extend your pinky finger. But God brings that corpse to life.” The Irvins recently posted about light and asked how much light is enough to make a blind man see. The point is the same – a blind man can see no light just as a dead man cannot extend his hand. Until God brings us to life we are dead. Soli Deo Gloria.

My final word on the topic is this. To be a Christian I need only believe that Christ paid the penalty for my sins and to ask Him for forgiveness. Both Calvinists and Arminians agree on this. Therefore, whether I am Calvinist or Arminian in theology, I can and must have fellowship with those who adhere to the other viewpoint. Christian fellowship must extend to the whole body of true believers, regardless of theology

If you are interested in studying this topic further, I would suggest the following resources:

John Piper, John MacArthur, James Boice and R.C. Sproul are all prolific authors who have written books about Calvinism or from a Calvinist perspective. Calvin’s Institutes are widely available in print or online.

The 5 part video series below is a very compressive study of Romans 9. I think it will prove to open up Romans in a way that forces the exegetical study and exposition of the text.

God Bless,

Explain yourself Mr.

Thanks everyone for your feed back as we continue in this study and clarification of Biblical Theology and the heated debate between Arminianism and Calvinism in this new age of Church History. I found a great break down of the differences at challies.com. So below is the basic break down....

I present this as a “quick and dirty” summary of the opposing views. Remember that not all Calvinists hold to all of the points I have listed below. Similarly, not all Arminians believe all of the points below.

Free Will (Arminians)

• The fall has seriously affected humans but has not left them completely spiritually helpless.
• Man is not enslaved to his nature
• Man has the ability to choose for or against God. Man can choose either good or evil as his will dictates.
• The Spirit assists man as he develops faith.
• Faith is man’s act and a gift to God

Total Depravity (Calvin)

• The fall has left man completely unable to respond to God in any way. Man is spiritually dead.
• Man is enslaved to his nature
• Man has free will within the bounds of his nature. Since man is in a fallen state, he can never choose for God unless the Spirit has first regenerated him.
• The Spirit regenerates man and then gives him the faith Christ secured.
• Faith is God’s act and a gift to man

Conditional Election (Arminians)

• God chose certain people before the foundation of the world based on seeing that in the future they would respond to His call.
• Election is conditional on God seeing who would choose Him.
• The final cause of salvation is man choosing God.

Unconditional Election (Calvin)

• God chose certain people before the foundation of the world for His own reasons and not based on seeing who would respond to His call.
• Election is unconditional. God simply chose some and not others.
• The final cause of salvation is God choosing man.

Unlimited Atonement (Arminians)

• Christ’s death achieved the potential for man to be saved.
• Christ died for every person who ever lived, but only saves those who believe.
• Christ’s death secured the potential for salvation and did not secure faith (which is man’s work)

Limited Atonement (Calvin)

• Christ’s death effectually saved the elect.
• Christ’s death was only for the elect and not for the entire human race.
• Christ’s death secured salvation and faith

Obstructable Grace (Arminians)

• God never forces salvation upon anyone.
• The Spirit woos people but they are free to accept or reject Him.
• Faith allows the Spirit to do His work in man

Irresistible Grace (Calvin)

• God gives the gift of salvation to His elect and they have no choice but to respond.
• The Spirit regenerates people who are then given faith and must repent.
• The Spirit does His work based on who God has predestined to eternal life

Falling From Grace (Arminians)

• Because salvation is ultimately dependent on man, he can reject his salvation.

Perseverance of the Saints (Calvin)

• Because salvation is ultimately dependent on God, man can never lose salvation

As you see, the process of a person becoming saved is vastly different in each of the views. I have created a chart for each of the views to try to simplify the differences between them.

Please tune in next week as I turn the corner in this debate and open up my email box or this blog for any of your questions, statements or disagreements. Three has been great responses and I just thank you all for taking the time to hammer this out as you seek your own understanding of who God is.

Starting Tuesday of next week we will be moving into the subject of the necessity of family worship. Where did it get its beginning and how much has western culture loss it's roots on such a necessary component of family spiritual growth. In the weeks to follow we will be looking at the seeker sensitive movement and why it is so anti biblical (Purpose Drivenisim, Willowcreek, Joel Osteen, etc). We will also be discussing the issues of Biblical Evagelsim and posting some video of myself and other fellow labor's Open air preaching, doing one to one witinessing, and how to break the ice. We will see how to confront JW, Mormons, Postmodernism and others. If you would like to join us for Open Air preaching we are scheduling some events in the next week or two.


May God Richly bless you,