Unbelief and Its Consequences

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

9 What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; 10 as it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one; 11 There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; 12 All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.”  Romans 3:9-18 (NASB) (Read verses 13-18 on the site)

In yesterday’s post, For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “ But the righteous man shall live by faith”, we looked at Romans 1:15-17, which gives us Paul’s theme for this Epistle. which is The Gospel of the Righteousness of God. My intent for this post is to cover a lot of ground, Romans 1:18-3:20. Why? Remember my brethren, Paul didn’t write Romans with chapters and verses. In any case, that section of Romans is what Paul uses to build his case against all mankind in that they are born dead in trespasses and sin without exception. …  View article →

You Can No Longer Be A Decent Person And A Democrat

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , , ,

“In just over a decade and a half, Democrats have gone from “safe, legal, and rare abortions” to “kill ’em all and don’t stop when they’re born.” Many of us warned that the first slogan would lead eventually to the second. We take no pleasure in our vindication.”

(Matt Walsh – Daily Wire)  Last night, Senate Democrats blocked a bill called the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Act. The media tells us that this was an “anti-abortion” bill. The blood-drenched scumbags of NARAL call it an “extremist” and “anti-choice” bill. Elizabeth Warren calls it an attack on women. It was none of those things. Continue reading →

Dems block ‘born alive’ bill to provide medical care to infants who survive failed abortions

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“The bill, which exempted the mother involved in the birth from prosecution, also would have required practitioners to “ensure that the child born alive is immediately transported and admitted to a hospital.” It prescribed a possible term of imprisonment of up to five years for violations, not including penalties for first-degree murder that could have applied.”

(Fox News)  Senate Democrats on Monday blocked a Republican bill that would have threatened prison time for doctors who don’t try saving the life of infants born alive during failed abortions, leading conservatives to wonder openly whether Democrats were embracing “infanticide” to appeal to left-wing voters. Continue reading →

Pushing back against ‘queering of the Church’

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“… Having come out of homosexuality and been in ministry for over 30 years and helping people overcome [that lifestyle], I personally felt like it was a disservice, really, to the gospel and to a message of clarity and hope.” 

(Steve Jordahl – OneNewsNow)  A group of Christian leaders gathered in Edmond, Oklahoma, over the weekend to push back against an effort to mainstream homosexuality in the Church. Continue reading →

Australian Cardinal Pell convicted of molesting 2 choirboys

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“The revelations came in the same month that the Vatican announced Francis approved the expulsion from the priesthood of a former high-ranking American cardinal, Theodore McCarrick, for sexual abuse of minors and adults.”

(Rod McGuirk – Associated Press)  The most senior Catholic cleric ever charged with child sex abuse has been convicted of molesting two choirboys moments after celebrating Mass, dealing a new blow to the Catholic hierarchy’s credibility after a year of global revelations of abuse and cover-up. Continue reading →

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘But the righteous man shall live by faith.’

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

1 I will stand on my guard post And station myself on the rampart; And I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me, And how I may reply when I am reproved. 2 Then the Lord answered me and said, “Record the vision And inscribe it on tablets, That the one who reads it may run.  Habakkuk 2:1-4 (NASB)  (Read verse 3 & 4 on the site)

Just a few days ago I had a conversation with a young man who was interested in talking to me about my camera gear and how I approached all that went into setting it up and what I used in certain situations, et cetera. We were at a gym where I was taking pictures of children as they celebrated a birthday party. I had one camera on a tripod that I was using to shoot video and the other one I held with a flash that I was using to take facial shots. In any case, I asked him which kids were his and he pointed them out to me and I recognized one of them and so we talked about all sorts of things and eventually I asked him where he went to church…. View article →

Jussie Smollett, Fake Hate Crimes, and a Biblical Perspective

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , , ,

“It pays to be a victim. Sympathy is the currency of narcissists. It makes people feel good to receive sympathy and turns victims into instantaneous heroes for no reason other than that they were victimized (which feeds the narcissism). Likewise, showering sympathy upon the allegedly oppressed signals virtue which, again, makes narcissists feel good about themselves.”

(JD Hall – Pulpit & Pen)  Jussie Smollett will forever be known as the celebrity who put a noose around his own neck, paid his friends to lightly beat him up, and falsely claimed that MAGA hat-wearing Cretans gave him a racist and homophobic working-over. Fewer will remember the name of ‘Charlie’ Rogers, a lesbian from Lincoln, Nebraska, who carved a cross on her chest and falsely claimed that she was beaten for being a sodomite. Fewer still will know the names of hundreds – if not thousands – of fraudsters who wrongly claim to be the victims of so-called “hate crimes.” Continue reading →

Witchcraft, Lies and Football

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Gisele wrote in a recent Instagram post, “Words have power. If love and kindness lie behind these words, they become charged with positivity and can have a magical effect. But if thoughts and words arise from anger or jealousy, they can do a lot of damage….”

(Linda Harvey – Mission: America)  So Tom Brady says his wife is a witch and her rituals helped the Patriots win the Super Bowl.

But she’s a “good witch, “ Brady laughingly told the media. There’s actually no such thing and Brady’s reckless ignorance will now help promote witchcraft and sorcery to an American public that’s already confused enough. Continue reading →

New poll finds “dramatic shift” on abortion attitudes

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“This has been a measure that has been so stable over time. To see that kind of change was surprising. And the increased discussion [of late-term abortion] in the public forum in the past month appears to have made the biggest difference in how people identify on the issue.”

(Alayna Treene – Axios)  The recent debate over “late-term abortion,” fueled by state measures in New York and Virginia that loosened, or sought to loosen, abortion restrictions toward the end of a woman’s pregnancy, has caused “a dramatic shift” in public attitudes towards abortion policy, according to Barbara Carvalho who directed a new Marist poll, commissioned by the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic organization. Continue reading →

Christians’ sin problem and its mortification part 3

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. 5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. 6 For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, Colossians 3:1-6 (NASB) 

I find it appalling that our version of the church in the early 21st Century has so neglected Discipleship that Christians across the board are clueless about the deadly issue of resident sin within them. They not only do not know it is there, but they are given no training on how to deal with it. After salvation they are told that they are new creations in Christ, the old has passed away, behold the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:17) Well, that is true, at salvation believer’s hearts are quickened. What was dead is now alive. …  View article →

Christians’ sin problem and its mortification part 2

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

11 You, O Lord, will not withhold Your compassion from me; Your lovingkindness and Your truth will continually preserve me. 12 For evils beyond number have surrounded me; My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see; They are more numerous than the hairs of my head, And my heart has failed me. 13 Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me; Make haste, O Lord, to help me. Psalms 40:11-13 (NASB) 

As we saw in Part 1, the first step in mortifying our sin is to attack it habitually. That means that as we take each step through each part of each day we habitually take each thought capture to the Holiness of God. We compare what our hearts are attempting to pursue for gratification with God’s standards, the Law and the commands of our Saviour. This is the first step in our declared war on the root of sin in our hearts. There are two ways to attack our sin nature. … Continue reading →

To Protect Our Culture We Must Protect Our Children

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“The rights and wellbeing of children should be at the top of the list here, but sadly this is not the case. The whims, lusts and desires of adults are trumping the needs of children, and they are paying a big price as a result. And as a consequence, society is paying a big price as well.”

(Bill Muehlenberg – Cultural Watch)  Some 2000 years ago the Roman scholar Pliny the Elder very wisely said this: “What we do to our children, they will do to society.” In a very similar vein Karl Menninger much more recently put it this way: “What’s done to children, they will do to society.” Continue reading →

Trump’s HHS Department Bars Abortion Facilities From Federal Family Planning Funding

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“Not only will Planned Parenthood entities that currently receive Title X funding not be allowed to provide family planning services in the same building in which abortions are performed, those locations that do not perform abortions are additionally barred from referring any woman for a termination—or even promoting abortion as a method of family planning.”

(Heather Clark – Christian News Network)  The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced the finalization of its rule changes to the federal Title X family planning services funding program, which will disqualify abortion facilities, such as those run by Planned Parenthood, from receiving federal funds, as well as any locations that promote, support or refer for abortions. Continue reading →

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is an economic illiterate — And that’s bad news for America

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , , ,

“Ocasio-Cortez does not seem to understand that by helping to drive Amazon away, she did not save New York $3 billion; she cost New York $27 billion. There is a difference between having bad ideas and not grasping basic facts. Reasonable people can disagree about whether New York should have offered Amazon $3 billion in tax incentives — or anything at all — to build its headquarters in the city. But that is different from not understanding that New York is not writing a $3 billion check to Amazon.”

(Mark Thiessen – Fox News)  The left complains that conservatives are “obsessing” over Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Well, there is a reason for that: Ocasio-Cortez is driving the agenda of today’s Democratic Party— and her economic illiteracy is dangerous. Continue reading →

Embracing a New-Age Charismatic Worship on Sunday Mornings

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , ,

“When you walk into any modern Evangelical church, the airwaves are filled with the sounds of electric guitars, drums, and a multitude of instrumental riffs that tickle the ears of hundreds, even thousands of people who stand with their hands in the air swaying back and forth.”

(Jeff Maples – Reformation Charlotte)  There was something peculiar about the old hymns that churches would embrace and sing together on Sunday mornings. For the most part, they were rich in doctrine — they actually communicated something to the congregation. They were exegetical, they told us who God is and about what He has done. It was in response to this rich theology and the knowledge of God that the congregation responded in praise and worship. Continue reading →

From Trayvon to Jussie — Poll Shows Media Hoaxes Killed Race Relations

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“Although exonerated in a court of law, Zimmerman was tried and convicted by the media using lies, fabricated evidence, and outright racism; and to their forever disgrace, President Obama and the Democrats milked this hoax for all it was worth.”

(John Nolte – Breitbart)   Gallup began polling opinions of race relations back in 2001. At that point, 70 percent of black Americans graded race relations as “very good” or “somewhat good,” while 62 percent of white people agreed.

Think about that… Eighteen years ago, black people were more satisfied with race relations than white people. Continue reading →

From Mars Hill to Harvest: Hope for a Wounded Church

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“While Harvest and Willow Creek represent two recent, prominent examples in the Chicago area, abuses of power and church mismanagement happen across denominations and in churches of all sizes. Plenty in the pews have been left with the twisted grief of watching once-respected leaders leave their positions and facing the reality of a church in crisis.”

(Kate Shellnutt – Christianity Today) Last weekend was the first time Harvest Bible Chapel gathered for worship without James MacDonald as its senior pastor. Continue reading →

Christians’ sin problem and its mortification Part 1

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

Most believers I know become quite perturbed with me when I dwell on the topic of sin after salvation. I fear that many of our number consider this a taboo topic. In their estimation, they are saved and they don’t have to worry about sin anymore. Of course these same believers are never very interested in the topic of personal holiness either. When these believers do sin they come across with an attitude like, “I know I sinned, but God is going to forgive me so what is the big deal?” It is as if they are living as examples of certain admonitions from scripture.

1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? Romans 6:1 (NASB) 

What was the Apostle Paul’s response to that question?    View article →

Heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

12 So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— 13 for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. Romans 8:12-14 (NASB) 

If you are anything like me, looking closely at your walk before the Lord, the concept that sinful believers who vacillate between godliness and carnality with deliverance from those sins not in any way certain, then the concept that we are heirs with Christ is hard to grasp. …  Continue reading →

James MacDonald’s Sons Resign As Shakeup at Harvest Continues

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The MacDonald’s sons resignation letters as well as the letter to the elders are included in Julie Roys’ piece. Here’s her report:

The shakeup at Harvest Bible Chapel continued tonight as the sons of founder James MacDonald, who was fired last week, offered their resignations.

In his resignation letter, Lead Pastor Luke MacDonald said his “professional dream” had been “to one day grow to be the Senior Pastor of the church.” But he added that “conversations with elders and staff” had made it clear that he “should move forward to whatever God has next.” Continue reading →

God’s Book & God’s Voice

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Some people who claim they’ve been to heaven say they’ve actually met God and/or Jesus…a couple of the Twelve Apostles…a few prophets…family members…only to be sent back to Earth to tell of their experience. Clint Archer of The Cripplegate offers 3 reasons why you shouldn’t envy those who claim they’ve been to heaven. He writes:

Not many people see heaven and live to tell about it. In Scripture, those who may have (Lazarus, Paul, and the girl we call Tabitha), never recorded a word of what they saw. Only John’s Revelation was given for the church. But among certain Christian circles, extraordinary claims of a trip to heaven are accepted as true. Continue reading →