Archive for the ‘Miscellaneous Posts’ Category
Things Are Not Always the Way They Appear
(Author Unknown)
Things are not always the way they may appear. For example, a woman’s dog got out of the yard and later returned with a rabbit in its mouth. She realized it was the neighbors’ pet rabbit, and knew she would never be able to tell them what happened. Since they were out of town, she hit upon a plan. She took the rabbit into the bathroom, washed it off, and blew its fur dry. Then she took the rabbit to the neighbors’ backyard and put the rabbit back in its cage. She thought the neighbors would discover the rabbit dead and think it died in the cage, and would never suspect what really happened.
The moral of this little story: trust God even when we don’t understand some of our experiences, — because things aren’t always the way they appear.
Chief rabbi challenges Atheist Stephen Hawking in row over origins of the universe
Chief rabbi challenges Atheist Stephen Hawking in row over origins of the universe
Lord Sacks accuses astrophysicist of logical fallacy in book excluding possibility of supernatural creation
* Riazat Butt, religious affairs correspondent
* guardian.co.UK, Thursday 2 September 2010 19.48 BST
Chief rabbi Jonathan Sacks Lord Sacks warns that the hostility between religion and science is equally damaging to both.
The chief rabbi, Lord Sacks, hit back at Stephen Hawking after the Astrophysicist said a god did not create the universe.
In his new book, The Grand Design, published next week, Hawking concludes that science excludes the possibility of a deity and that it is unnecessary to “invoke a god to light the blue touch paper and set the universe going”.
But his finding were described by Sacks as an “elementary fallacy” of logic.
Writing in the Times, the chief rabbi said: “There is a difference between science and religion. Science is about explanation. Religion is about interpretation. The Bible simply isn’t interested in how the universe came into being.”
Sacks also said the mutual hostility between religion and science was one of “the curses of our age” and warned it would be equally damaging to both.
“But there is more to wisdom than science. It cannot tell us why we are here or how we should live. Science masquerading as religion is as unseemly as religion masquerading as science.”
Atheist Claim: “A God did not create The universe”
Atheist Stephen Hawking: “A God did not create the universe”
From World News Net
Stephen Hawking The Universe can create itself from nothing, says Prof. Hawking
There is no place for a God in theories on the creation of the Universe, Professor Stephen Hawking has said.
He had previously argued belief in a creator was not incompatible with science but in a new book, he concludes the Big Bang was an inevitable consequence of the laws of physics.
The Grand Design, part serialised in the Times, says there is no need to invoke a God to set the Universe going.
“Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something,” he concluded.
‘Planetary conditions’
In his new book, an extract of which appears in the Times, Britain’s most famous physicist sets out to contest Sir Isaac Newton’s belief that the universe must have been designed by God as it could not have sprung out of chaos.
Citing the 1992 discovery of a planet orbiting a star other than our sun, he said: “That makes the coincidences of our planetary conditions – the single Sun, the lucky combination of Earth-Sun distance and solar mass – far less remarkable, and far less compelling as evidence that the Earth was carefully designed just to please us human beings.”
He adds: “Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing.
“Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist.
“It is not necessary to invoke a God to light the blue touch paper and set the universe going.”
The book was co-written by US physicist Leonard Mlodinow and is published on 9 September.
In his 1988 bestseller, A Brief History of Time, Prof Hawking appeared to accept the role of God in the creation of the Universe.
“If we discover a complete theory, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason” he said.
CONFRONTING THE SUPERSTITIOUS CHURCH OF THE 21st CENTURY
Perilous Times and The Great Falling Away
CONFRONTING THE SUPERSTITIOUS CHURCH OF THE 21st CENTURY
By G. Richard Fisher
(World News Net)
“Thus says the Lord of hosts: Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They make you worthless; They speak a vision of their own heart, not from the mouth of the Lord” (Jeremiah 23:16).
As we move into the twenty-first century, even the comments of comedian and award-winning filmmaker Woody Allen seem to make sense. Allen remarked: “History repeats itself. It has to — nobody listens the first time around.”
We have been fighting and will continue to fight battles which we thought were won or put to rest in the first three centuries of the Church’s history. What used to be commonplace in the world of the occult and in the world of hyper-liberalism is now common in the world of both
Charismatic and Evangelical Christianity.
There has been an incredible paradigm shift in the world of Christianity. This shift has been so radical that the Church of Jesus Christ is beginning to resemble the culture of Athens found in Acts 17.
Luke speaks out in verse 21 and describes the confusion in this way: “For all the Athenians and foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or hear some new thing.” Luke then concludes in verse 22 by quoting the Apostle Paul as saying, “in all things you are very religious.” Indeed, the god of novelty was reigning in Athens.
The word “religious” in Acts 17:22 (translated in some versions as superstitious) is the Greek word deisidaimon.1 It has to do with fear of the supernatural. It was a practice that was all-embracing and non-discerning with a reverence for all kinds of deities, religious notions, religious fads and religious claims. It lacked discretionary thought and would try anything with the word “religion” tacked to it. It was mindless reverence and mindless religion with a love for newness and novelty.
The parallels to our own age are stark and frightening. Just pick up a copy of Charisma magazine and glance at its advertisements and its promotional items. It is Athens all over again — with a vengeance. How can the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth be leading in so many
contradictory paths? The confusion (and the nonbiblical mysticism) is palpable. Many of these new quirks are touted as the end time revival and people jump on the new bandwagon until they tire of it or a more exciting wagon rolls in.
We must come to grips not only with the reality of superstition in the Church but have a plan to resist that superstition. Let’s look first at:
THE REALITY OF SUPERSTITION IN THE CHURCH
Dr. Peter Jones, professor of New Testament at Westminster Seminary in Southern California, captures the large view as he surveys how our churches have moved toward experience-driven religion and eastern mysticism:
”Belief that the human is divine, and thus essentially good, helps explain the burgeoning quest for personal spiritual discovery, to the detriment of doctrine and truth. Mysticism has replaced true spirituality. Companies in the West, seeing commercial value in such optimism, are using these ideas to produce better sales personnel. Madison Avenue and the gurus could be an unstoppable, unholy alliance feeding the machine of political correctness. As an expression of Divinity, each self is a source of truth.”2
If anyone doubts that this is an age of religious fadism, confusion and superstition, just visit a Christian bookstore. There you will find:
. Hannah Hurnard — New Age occultist and aura reader.
. Madame Guyon — a mystic heretic.
. Madeleine L’Engle — who says the God of the Old Testament is “a male
chauvinistic pig.”
. Many of the latest psychobabble theories.
. Dream interpretation and prophetic words for the 1990s by Vineyard Prophets.
. Alternative medicine and Bible Codes.
. So-called revival stories with people acting like crass fools or animals.
. Instructions on how to get rid of ancestral demons and curses and do spiritual mapping.
. And on and on, ad nauseam, ad infinitum.
Truly it is like Athens and like the second-century age of heresy described by Philip Schaff when he said of that era, “strange medleys of Christian and unchristian elements in chaotic ferment.”3
Modern reformer Michael Horton has written to show that there are many religious trends in the world today alerting us to the reemerging heresy of Gnosticism. He lays it out clearly:
”So far, we have seen an emerging shape to this elusive heresy of the ancient church, distinct from orthodoxy in the following preferences:
. The subjective over the objective
. The secret and private over the public
. Mystical experience over critical understanding
. The feminine over the masculine
. Spirit over matter
. Eternity over time
. Direct encounters with God over events mediated by matter and history
. Spiritual techniques for gaining access to and control over the
secrets of the universe
. salvation from the body, time, institutions, and escape into a
realm of pure spirit.”4
Faith-healer Benny Hinn can boast to his Hawaiian audience that he has received visions of the dead Kathryn Kuhlman and from these revelations has received direction for his ministry from her.5 Sadly, his admission of necromancy and spiritism does not raise even a whimper or cry of shock and outrage anywhere from inside his camp. Necromancy is now being
advocated in the Church of Jesus Christ and it was the very thing that brought the demise of King Saul (1 Chronicles 10:13).
In a recent Christianity Today article, “The Future of Evangelical Theology,” Thomas Oden laments:
”The Babylonian captivity to novelty is the temptation of all modern reflection. It is invading evangelical leadership at an alarming rate in ways disturbing to evangelicals in the mainline who have suffered from its bewitchments for two centuries.”6
Dr. Virginia Mollenkott, professor of English at New Jersey’s William Patterson College and who is promoted in some evangelical churches, though an admitted lesbian, is now proposing the shocking and bewildering claim that Jesus Christ was really a woman. At a news conference for the National Council of Churches she cited a Journal of American Scientific Affiliation article which argued:
”Jesus was born in parthenogenesis; that parthenogenetic births are always female; that in some cases, therefore, he would be willing to refer to Jesus as ’she’ — up until the last minute of sex reversal, in which case Jesus remains chromosomally female throughout life, but functions as a normal male and looks like a normal male.”7
Kathryn Riss, the wife of twentieth-century revival historian Richard M. Riss, claims to have gotten the following song directly from the Lord. In part its lyrics are:
”I just laugh like an idiot and bark like a dog,
If I don’t sober up, I’ll likely hop like a frog!
I’ll crow like a rooster at the break of day,
’Cause the Holy Ghost is moving, and I can’t stay away!
I’ll roar like a lioness who’s on the prowl,
I’ll laugh and shake, maybe hoot like an owl!
Since God’s holy river started bubbling in me,
It spills outside, and now it’s setting me free!
So, I’ll crunch and I’ll dip and I’ll dance round and round,
The pew was fine, but it’s more fun on the ground!
So I’ll jump like a pogo stick, then fall to the floor,
’Cause the Holy Ghost is moving, and I just want MORE!”8
Authors James R. Coggins and Paul G. Hiebert express their view as to why there is such a low level of discernment and doctrinal understanding in today’s Church:
”There is a dangerous tendency in our age to seek infallible gurus, faultless leaders, and follow them blindly. Professional athletes who have been Christians for two years become our role models. Evangelists are asked to advise us on theology. Professional Christian singers become our Bible teachers.”9
The Church at large is in deep trouble because its leaders and people no longer believe in the absolute sufficiency of the Scriptures for life and godliness, as both Peter and Paul proposed (2 Timothy 3:14-17, 2 Peter 1:2-4). And doubly sad is the fact that if these things are pointed out, the one crying out for discernment and reformation is bashed as a Pharisee and heretic hunter.
People are running everywhere looking for esoteric solutions to conditions caused by lack of attention to God’s Word. People like Mark Bubeck are combining smatterings of clinical psychology with bizarre and subjective practices and advising people to pray that God would search their sexual organ, blood, bones, muscles, glands, hair, skin and cells for demon activity.10
These are repulsive things to have to write about but such activities are being promoted by so-called bondage breakers and demon busters. Such things cannot be even remotely found anywhere in the Bible. They are figments of wild and convoluted imaginations. It is Athens all over again. Bubeck continues to be a lucrative and brisk seller for Moody Press and it offers no apologies. It is difficult to question a best-selling author.
The Church today is adrift on a sea of neo-gnosticism and subjectivism. It is spending its time in just hearing and telling new things. Sadly, the smorgasbord for Athens is many of the Christian magazines because of the large amounts of income generated through advertising and sales. Truth has been sacrificed for Athens. Hocus-pocus is now groovy and the
Bible is a drag. “Does it feel good?” and “Will it sell?” is all that is being asked. Again we would state that the massive move away from the sufficiency of Scripture is creating incredible problems that all the false solutions and fad panaceas will never repair or heal.
Added to this deplorable state will be the Millennial madness centered around our move into the year 2000. The best kept secret is that, because of a calendar discrepancy, we had actually crossed into the year 2000 a few years ago. Remember King Herod, by all the historical accounts, died between 4 and 6 B.C. We have been through the year 2000
without a whimper and no one even noticed. What does that do to all the prophetic scenarios? In Athens no one really cares. It is the thought and the novelty that count.
Radio talk show host and author Bob Larson offers “A Live Exorcism Captured on Video!” featuring “A 20-hour exorcism condensed into two incredible hours. Scenes of the supernatural in action!” And all this for only $100.11 This is the same Bob Larson who claimed on the Trinity Broadcasting Network to have raised a comatose body by simply waving a Bible over it. The devil “told” Larson he was going to “kill” the person and caused his body temperature to plummet. Larson asserted that the Word is a lamp and God showed him it was a “heat lamp.”12 And the people who flock to Athens instead of being outraged, send their money and beg for more.
Then there is the angel craze and angel stories.13 They are almost
mandatory in the writing of any book in recent years. Even Joni
Eareckson Tada has an angel story and says she saw one as “a brilliant
golden shape that glowed whisked by the large bay window I was facing
— it didn’t move from left to right, but from bottom to top.”14
Three-time heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield writes about
the angel who used to appear in his kitchen when he was a child. He
would actually have us believe it was a black, bald headed angel!15
Benny Hinn has been spinning angel stories for years but like most of
Hinn’s material, no one else ever sees these things and they are
unverifiable.16 They also go a long way in boosting one’s superstar status.
The pursuit of angels should be off-limits for a Bible-believing
Christian for a number of reasons. Paramount is a warning in Colossians
2:18 regarding intruding into the unseen realm of angels. The pursuit of
angelic beings is a subtle diversion from the only Mediator who is
superior by comparison and from the study of Scripture.
The historic creeds from the fourth century forbid even the naming of
angels.17 Satan can pose as an angel of light we are told in 2
Corinthians 11:14 and that should make any Christian extremely cautious.
The Scriptures are clear that all of our guidance is to be sought in the
Word through the Spirit.
So the reality of Athens and superstition is in our face. How do we go
about resisting the superstition, the fads, the nonsense and mysticism
that has overtaken the Church at large?
Let’s move on to our second point:
RESISTING THE SUPERSTITION IN THE CHURCH
If we are going to successfully keep our balance and confront Athens,
there must be the following posture:
1) A Total Commitment To The Doctrines Of Scripture.
The early Church is shown to have been committed to doctrine. In Acts
2:42 Luke reports that “they continued in the Apostles’ doctrine and
fellowship and in the breaking of bread and prayers.”
William Evans saw the need to know doctrine as one of the greatest needs
of the Church, writing that, “There is probably no greater need in the
Christian Church today than that its membership should be made
acquainted with the fundamental facts and doctrines of the Christian
faith.”18
John Calvin, long ago, addressed the dangers of denigrating doctrine:
”It is an illusory belief of the enthusiasts that those who keep
reading Scripture or hearing the Word are children, as if no one were
spiritual unless he scorned doctrine. In their pride, therefore, they
despise the ministry of men and even Scripture itself, in order to
attain the Spirit. They then proudly try to peddle all the delusions
that Satan suggests to them as secret revelations of the Spirit.”19
What we need is a revival of study and memorization of Scripture. That,
followed by practical obedience to its commands, would eliminate the
need to fabricate revival with ear-splitting music, bizarre
manifestations, altered states of consciousness, and emotional frenzies.
Brownsville Assembly of God in Pensacola is now issuing revival reports
which include the practice of “sweeping.” People run around frantically
“sweeping” the demons out of the building and off the property.20
Consider the commitment of the Apostle Paul to the importance of sound
doctrine and hear him command our allegiance:
”That you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine” (1
Timothy 1:3).
”Knowing that the law is not made for a righteous person but for
the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners. … and
if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine” (1
Timothy 1:9-10).
”Now the Spirit speaks expressly that in the latter times some will
depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of
demons” (1 Timothy 4:1).
”If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good
minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of good
doctrine which you have carefully followed” (1 Timothy 4:6).
”Till I come give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to
doctrine” (1 Timothy 4:13).
”Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for
in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you” (1
Timothy 4:16).
”Let as many bondservants as are under the yoke count their own
masters worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and His doctrine
may not be blasphemed” (1 Timothy 6:1).
”If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome
words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine
which accords with godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing, but is
obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy,
strife, reviling, evil suspicions” (1 Timothy 6:3-4).
”You have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose,
faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance” (2 Timothy 3:10).
In 2 Timothy we are told to:
Hold to sound doctrine (1:13).
Teach sound doctrine (2:2).
Abide in sound doctrine (3:14).
Preach sound doctrine (4:1-2).
From these verses we see that doctrine is not only vital but crucial
and indispensable.
Doctrine denotes teaching and what is taught. The clear message of the
Bible is that we are to give urgent and undivided attention to the
Apostles’ teachings now made permanent because they are inscripturated
within the pages of the Bible. The Greek words for doctrine, didache and
didaskalia, as used by Paul, stress not only the act of his delivering
God’s message to them but also the absolute authority of that
teaching.21 Paul forcefully reminds the Corinthians: “If anyone thinks
himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the
things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord” (1
Corinthians 14:37).
Peter says of the Apostles’ doctrine:
”That you be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the
holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord
and Savior” (2 Peter 3:2).
Baker’s Dictionary of Theology tells us on page 171 that, “Doctrine is
the teaching of Scripture on theological themes.”
Abraham Friesen, professor of history at the University of California in
Santa Barbara, gets to the heart of the problem of people trying to live
by phenomenon rather than solid doctrine. He says the issue is:
”… the problem of the relationship of the written Word to the
Holy Spirit. This is not a new problem. In the sixteenth century Martin
Luther struggled against Thomas Muentzer, who sought to subordinate the
Word to his mystical experience of the Spirit. In opposition, Luther
repeatedly asserted the unity of the Word and Spirit. The Word was not
merely a ‘testimony’ or ‘witness’ to the experience of the Spirit. Any
experience, even one of the Spirit, could not be self-authenticating; it
need always to be tested by the revealed Word of God. Not the experience
but the Word was the final arbiter of God’s truth.”22
We need to get back to reading, memorizing and living out the Scripture.
Not only do we need a total commitment to the doctrines of the Scripture
but we need as well:
2) A Total Commitment To The Local Church.
Christians need to be in a balanced, healthy, Bible-teaching church.
Christians as well need to plead with their pastors to preach doctrine
and then pray consistently for them. Worship, fellowship and Bible
teaching keep us in balance and protects us from the deceptions that not
only fill our world but fill our churches. Every pastor should have in
his library Jay Adams’ three volumes on Studies in Preaching or Andrew
Blackwood’s Doctrinal Preaching for Today.
People use all kinds of excuses for not being in a good church. How
silly it would be to apply the same shallow rationale to sports events:
“I won’t go to that ballgame because there are too many hypocrites
there.” “I won’t go to that game because my parents made me go as a
child.” “I won’t go to that stadium because all they want is money.” “I
won’t go to that event because it lasts too long.” Frankly, we go to
what interests us. If there is no heart for God or His house, it tells
so much about us and our spiritual state. Hebrews 10:25 commands us to
consistently attend church. How can we love and serve the brethren as
commanded in so many of the Epistles if we are never around them?
3) Total Commitment To and Reliance On The Christ Of The Scriptures.
Hymn writer Joseph Scriven was a man who knew great personal loss and
was thrown into tragedy and grief after the drowning of his fiancé.
Later he met another and intended to marry when she died suddenly. Yet
he was able to write:
”What a friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer!”
Surely he knew Christ and found his stability in knowing what Christ had
done and was doing for Him. What kept him going was not a chill up his
spine but a sure knowledge of a Savior who cared for and carried him.
Life’s challenges do not have to break us. They can bend us toward Christ.
When emotions run out and the feelings are gone we need to fall back on
our Lord and on promises like Romans 8:38-39, knowing by faith that
nothing can separate us from His love.
Erich Sauer pointedly reminds us:
”… the one who has been called to the kingdom has not only to
decide at his conversion which master he will serve but has thereupon to
make the same decision every day and in each practical detail of his
life of sanctification.”23
If we are going to resist and overcome Athens in our day, we must at all
costs be sold out to the doctrines of the Bible, to the work of the
Church and to a daily living fellowship with Jesus Christ.
Endnotes:
1. See further, Gerhardt Kittel, Theological Dictionary of the New
Testament. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1964,
Vol. 2, pg. 20.
2. Peter Jones, Spirit Wars, Mukilteo, Wash.: WinePress Publishing,
1997, pg. 27.
3. Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church. Grand Rapids, Mich.:
Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1910, Vol., 2, pg. 429.
4. Michael Horton, In the Face of God, The Dangers and Delights of
Spiritual Intimacy. Dallas: Word Publishing, 1996, pg. 46.
5. G. Richard Fisher and M. Kurt Goedelman, The Confusing World of Benny
Hinn. Saint Louis: Personal Freedom Outreach, 1997, pp. 195-196.
6. Christianity Today, Feb. 9, 1998, pg. 46.
7. See further, The Christian News, July 21, 1997, “Jesus Christ Was
Really a Woman,” pg. 9.
8. Hank Hanegraaff, Counterfeit Revival. Dallas: Word Publishing, 1997,
pp. 245-246.
9. James R. Coggins and Paul G. Hiebert, Wonders And The Word. Winnipeg,
Manitoba: Kindred Press, 1989, pp. 10-11.
10. See further, Mark Bubeck, Spiritual Warfare Basics. Sioux City,
Iowa: International Center for Biblical Counseling, no date, pg. 23.
11. “Bob Larson Resources 1998,” ministry resource catalog.
12. Audio clip of Bob Larson on the Trinity Broadcasting Network
(4/16/96) featured by Hank Hanegraaff on various editions of The Bible
Answer Man radio broadcast, (tape on file).
13. See further The Quarterly Journal, July-September 1994, “Angels We
Have Heard on High? — What Are We Really Hearing in the New Obsession
with Angels?”, pp. 4, 10-12.
14. Joni Eareckson Tada, Heaven Your Real Home. Grand Rapids, Mich.:
Zondervan Publishing Co., 1995, pg. 84.
15. Evander Holyfield and Bernard Holyfield, Holyfield The Humble
Warrior. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1996, pp. 7-12.
16. See further, The Confusing World of Benny Hinn, op. cit., pp. 1, 45, 52.
17. See further, Philip Schaff, Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers of the
Christian Church. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.,
Vol. 14, pg. 150. 18. William Evans, The Great Doctrines of the Bible.
Chicago: Moody Press, 1974, pg. 5.
19. Cited in In the Face of God, op. cit., pg. 134.
20. For more information on the “Pensacola Outpouring” and the
Brownsville Revival, see The Quarterly Journal, April-June 1997 and
January-March 1998.
21. W.E. Vine, The Expanded Vine’s: Expository Dictionary of New
Testament Words. Minneapolis: Bethany House Publishers, 1984, pp. 323-324.
22. Wonders And The Word, op. cit., pg. 36.
23. Erich Sauer, In The Arena Of Faith. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. B.
Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1956, pg. 70.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beloved…Please note that the physical state of the Word has no spiritual value except to bind the pages of the Bible and provide protection for it. It is the contents of the Bible, vis-a-vis being read audibly that does God’s work on earth by appealing to the Spiritual aspect of us humans, contrary to popular contention(s) by the best of “scholars”.. We are to follow Jesus’ example!
I was preaching a Pastors’ Conference as keynote speaker as well as conducting a 5-day evangelistic campaign in the Philippines in 1990 on the Island province of Negros at Kabankalan, Negros Oriental. A lady ran down the aisle , interrupting my message, shouting obsceneties in the vernacular or dialect of Ilongo, the local mode of communication which I do not understand (but I had an interpreter who translated everythng and then she laid on the floor of the church we were in, the Shepherd Church of Kabankalan. .. I began reading the Word to her audibly and praying commanding spirits not the Holy Spirit to loosen from her, binding them, and commanding them to leave her. I cannot remember the text I was reading from the Bible.
I called for some pastors to come to the front to help me pray to deliver this lady from the demons which were controlling her, reminding them\ that we as Christian believers have the authority in Jesus Christ to bind ans command the demonic beings present . I also quoted what Jesus said… “Whatever is bound on Earth will be bound in heaven and whatever is loosed on earth is loosed in heaven!”.
So several pastors canme and corporately put their Bibles on the lady as though there were any redeeming value of the physical Bible and nothing was happening. The Bible is not a “Holy relic with magical powers.” The lady just kept yelling out in the dialect. Immediately I told these pastors to “read the Word instead” to her because that is where the value/power is. A missionary present in the congregation shouted out her support for what I was telling these pastors. So they complied and began audibly to read the Word to our subject and each taking their turn to pray. All of a sudden, after a few minutes of this latter application, the cursing stopped and a glow appeared on her face and a smile! Praise the Lord for hte results of “binding and commanding to leave these enemies of the cross!!!
By the way…The lady was delivered of several demonic entities including demons of lust and sex. By the way, after she was delivefred, she was gloriously saved! The demonic beings had to be taken out of her before her spirit could be appealed to to receive Jesus as her Savior! Well…glory!!!
I said all that to refute Bob Larson’s practice of putting his Bible on people and “delivering” them. Based on what I already told you, you can judge for yourself the truth or untruth of what he claimed in recovering a person from a comatosed state. I just do not nor will I accept his practice as valid.
You’ve Got the Power!
You’ve Got the Power!
Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” Mark 9:23
When you are feeling low, downcast, discouraged—where do you begin to fight these feelings? Begin with your own inner strength, placed there by God himself. What is this strength? The ability to believe. Believe God loves you and is present in every aspect of your life. Think positively; visualize success. All things are possible.
The Beggar’s Rags
Let’s Bring Back the “Oh”
Let’s Bring Back the “Oh”
(By Chris Long)
I was just listening to a message last night on my mp3 player by Alan Redpath, a pastor who went to be with the Lord over 20 years ago. I was listening, as we all can be apt to do, in kind of the “ho hum” state – where we’re listening but not as engaged as we should be, when all of a sudden he said something that literally was like bricks falling on me! This is what he said [yes, I actually got out a pencil and paper and wrote it down - I felt so low-tech... 
]
David cried, “Oh God…”
Isaiah cried, “Oh that thou would rend the Heavens and come down…”
Hannah…in bitterness of soul because of the barrenness cried, “Oh Lord…”
The “Oh” doesn’t exist any more in our prayer meetings, and we play religious games while society goes to hell.
This last line just jumped out at me – and proceeded to bonk me on the head!
Where is our “Oh”?
Or, rather, “Where did our ‘Oh’, Go?”
As a Church, and specifically the Church in America, we’ve become quite content living in our little “Christian bubble” – hands over our ears; eyes tightly shut; screaming loudly “I can’t hear you!” in our best ignoring tone – to a world that has become progressively dark. By maintaining a stance of ignorance, or worse, complete apathy, we have not only tried to ignore what’s been going on around us, we actually invited it into the church. By not taking an appropriate stand, we flung the doors wide open and welcomed the world’s values inside.
We didn’t realize that while we were silently passive to the evil growing around us, what that actually meant was that we were being active in embracing it.
While the Biblical standards showcase a clear life difference that a believer in Jesus Christ is to have in comparison with an unbeliever, describing it in such graphic contrasting terms as “light” vs. “darkness” and “life” vs. “death”, the lines have gotten incredibly blurred in many of our churches. We go and sing our songs all spiritual-like, raise our hands, dedicate our hour a week (or two or THREE if we’re REALLY spiritual!) and then go home. We go to church and put on our “Christian face” and of course we’ve all learned to speak “Christianese” fluently (“Oh, Praise the Lord brother!” “Hallelujah, sister!” 
– you know what I mean…) We can sit there and listen to messages, but somehow not really take them in and apply them personally to our own lives, and then we leave church, and we proceed to live just like the world in most every regard. When the divorce rate WITHIN the church is worse than the divorce rate outside of the church, you KNOW there’s a problem…a systemic, underlying, structural problem.
This isn’t a bash on the Church, but a wake-up call for us all (myself included). Thankfully, there have been some very encouraging signs recently that us slumbering pew-folk are beginning to wake up. But, honestly, just trying to put a band-aid on decades of slumbering ignorance isn’t going to cut it. Just holding a once or twice-a-year hourly revival/prayer service isn’t enough. We’ve got to get into the fundamentals and start seriously re-examining just how it is – or, better yet, why, we do church. It’s time to examine where we have let mechanized programs and man’s wisdom in, and pushed the Holy Spirit out.
It involves being real with God, ourselves, and one another. The facade we’ve built up in many of our churches has got to go. We’ve played our religious games long enough, agreed?
It involves getting back to what God says in His Word, and not just what others “think” God says in His Word. It involves all of us spending that time with God in His Word, developing that personal relationship with Him. We’ve been living on the milk – and often not even milk we ourselves sought out personally – but that was handed to us after being drunk by others – for decades. It’s time to “get meaty.”
The gray is rapidly fading and the sides are becoming clear. God has definitely been “forcing the hand”. It’s time that we get back to simple basics and examine ourselves – and our beliefs – in the light of God’s Word. It’s time we repent where we need to repent and weep where we need to weep. And then it’s time to take our stand and cry out to our Lord like never before.
It’s time to bring back the “Oh”!
Depraved and Unaware
Denominations often divide Christians instead of uniting them
Denominations often divide Christians instead of uniting them
2010-08-26 / Church News
Question: “Why are there so many Christian denominations?”
Answer: To answer this question, we must first differentiate between denominations within the body of Christ and non-Christian cults and false religions.
Presbyterians and Lutherans are examples of Christian denominations. Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses are examples of cults — groups claiming to be Christian but denying one or more of the essentials of the Christian faith.
Islam and Buddhism are entirely separate religions.
The rise of denominations within the Christian faith can be traced back to the Protestant Reformation, the movement to “reform” the Roman Catholic Church during the 16th century, out of which four major divisions or traditions of Protestantism would emerge: Lutheran, Reformed, Anabaptist, and Anglican.
From these four, other denominations grew over the centuries.
The Lutheran denomination was named after Martin Luther and was based on His teachings. The Methodists got their name because their founder, John Wesley, was famous for coming up with “methods” for spiritual growth.
Presbyterians are named for their view on church leadership. The Greek word for elder is presbyteros.
Baptists got their name because they have always emphasized the importance of baptism.
Each denomination has a slightly different doctrine or emphasis from the others, such as the method of baptism; the availability of the Lord’s Supper to all or just to those whose testimonies can be verified by church leaders; the sovereignty of God vs. Free will in the matter of salvation; the future of Israel and the church; pre-tribulation vs. Post-tribulation rapture; the existence of the “sign” gifts in the
Modern era, and so on.
The point of these divisions is never Christ as Lord and Savior, but rather honest differences of opinion by godly, albeit flawed, people seeking to honor God and retain doctrinal purity according to their consciences and their understanding of His word.
Denominations today are many and varied. The original “mainline” denominations mentioned above have spawned numerous offshoots such as Assemblies of God, Christian and Missionary Alliance, Nazarenes, Evangelical Free, independent Bible churches, and others.
Some denominations emphasize slight doctrinal differences, but more often they simply offer different styles of worship to fit the differing tastes and preferences of Christians.
But make no mistake: as believers, we must be of one mind on the essentials of the faith, but beyond that there is great deal of latitude in how Christians should worship in a corporate setting.
This latitude is what causes so many different “flavors” of Christianity.
A Presbyterian church in Uganda will have a style of worship much different from a Presbyterian church in Colorado, but their doctrinal stand will be, for the most part, the same.
Diversity is a good thing, but disunity is not. If two churches disagree doctrinally, debate and dialogue over the word may be called for.
This type of “iron sharpening iron” (Proverbs 27:17) is beneficial to all. If they disagree on style and form, however, it is fine for them to remain separate.
This separation, though, does not lift the responsibility Christians have to love one another (1 John 4:11- 12) and ultimately be united as one in Christ (John 17:21-22).
The Downside of Denominations
At least two major problems exist with denominationalism.
First, nowhere in scripture is a mandate for denominationalism; to the contrary, the mandate is for union and connectivity.
Thus, the second problem is that history tells us denominationalism is the result of, or caused by, confl ict and confrontation that leads to division and separation.
Jesus told us that a house divided against itself cannot stand. This general principle can and should be applied to the church.
We find an example of this in the Corinthian church, which was struggling with issues of division and separation.
Some thought they should follow Paul, and others believed they should follow the teaching of Apollos. 1 Corinthians 1:12: “What I am saying is this: each of you says, ‘I’m with Paul, or ‘I’m with Apollos,’ or ‘I’m with Cephas,’ or ‘I’m with Christ.’”
This alone should tell you what Paul thought of denominations or anything else that separates and divides the body.
But let’s look further. In verse 13, Paul asks very pointed questions: “Is Christ divided? Was it Paul who was crucified for you? Or were you baptized in Paul’s name?”
This makes clear how Paul feels. He is not the Christ, and he is not the One crucified. His message has never been one that divides the church or would lead someone to worship Paul instead of Christ.
Obviously, according to Paul, only one church exists, with one body of believers, and anything that is different weakens and destroys the Church (see verse 17).
He makes this point stronger in 3:4 by saying that anyone who says they are of Paul or of Apollos is carnal.
Some of the problems we are faced with today as we look at denominationalism and its history:
. Denominations are based on disagreements over the interpretation of scripture.
An example would be the meaning and purpose of baptism. Is baptism a requirement for salvation or is it symbolic of the salvation process?
Denominations are on both sides of this issue and have used it to separate and form denominations.
. Disagreements over the interpretation of scripture are taken personally and become points of contention.
This leads to arguments that can and have done much to destroy the witness of church.
Doctor’s Podcast- Abraham’s Obedience
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Dr.Johnson Cherian M.D.PhD.