5 Ways to Face Tests and Trials Biblically

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James 1:1-4 says, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” James of course was inspired by the Holy Spirit to remind believers not to grieve or be sorrowful, but to be glad and full of joy when we “meet trials of various kinds.” So God’s people are supposed to suck it up…even be glad and joyful when we’re being put through the ringer? Seriously? Easier said than done for most of us.

Michelle Lesley, who writes Bible studies, says “You can do this!” Lesley suggests 5 ways believers should handle the tests and trials of life. And as always, she goes right to the Source: Continue reading →

Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

19 But at night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, 20 “Go, stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life.” Acts 5:19-20 (NKJV) 6 So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5:6-8 (NKJV) 

Learning, knowing, and then responding according to God’s will to His truth is NEVER done subjectively. No, we are told that those who are truly in Christ walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:6). To do this we must know God’s truth and respond by faith and this is not done through mysticism or feelings. … Continue reading →

Moody Bible Institute—Trying to Hold on to a Biblical Heritage While Riding the Wave of the Emerging Church

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(Lighthouse Trails) Several years ago, Rick Warren said something that still haunts us—leaders of the new purpose-driven, emergent “Christianity” will have to wait until resisters either leave or die before the plan can be fully implemented.1  In other words, they are going to eventually accomplish what they are trying to do—revamp Christianity into a “new” spirituality that will be all-inclusive, ecumenical, mystical, and with a new gospel message. But before that can happen, those who are resisting and opposing this new “Christianity” will have to be out of the way (either through getting old and dying or somehow being coerced into leaving the churches). Continue reading →

8 Reasons Why The Next Missionary You Support Should Be A Cessationist – Part 1

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(Justin Bullington – Things Above) As my coworker and I walked down the muddy trail, working intently on the very difficult Kuman language, a young man approached us. “Wagai We!” he yelled. In case you need it later, this means “hello” in the Chimbu Province of Papua New Guinea. We exchanged pleasantries and immediately got down to business.

“Why are you here?” he asked.

“Well…”

I’ll spare you the painfully long exchange, but we went on to describe that we were there to learn their language and culture so we could teach them God’s Talk and translate it into their mother tongue. “i wagai. na ama Papa God ka kaungo yomba mocha,” he responded. What he meant, of course, was, “I am a pastor too.” … Continue reading →

Polygamy, Robot Sex Are Consequences of the Sexual Revolution

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(Bruce Ashford – The Daily Signal) Not for nothing, but the latest fruits of the sexual revolution are even more bizarre than most of us imagined.

We knew things would get a little freaky, but maybe we didn’t know it would involve an upswing in polygamy, amorous activities with plastic women, or cuddling sessions with electric candelabra.

But that is the state of affairs as we approach Valentine’s Day this year.

We shouldn’t be surprised. When a society deifies sexual expression, it deifies a jealous god who will not be satisfied until every biological, social, and moral norm is overturned. Continue reading →

View’s Behar, Hostin Mock Pence as ‘Dangerous’ Christian With ‘Mental Illness’

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(NewsBusters) Tuesday on The View, the liberal hosts displayed a sudden respect for fired White House staffer Omarosa Manigault, after the controversial figure took her fame to reality television to spread malicious gossip about the Trump White House. With the exception of Meghan McCain, the hosts touted Omarosa’s supposed “leaks” about Vice President Mike Pence’s “scary” Christianity on CBS’s Celebrity Big Brother this week, as gospel-truth.

Mid-discussion, hosts Meghan McCain and Sunny Hostin got into a fight over what “value voters” meant and Hostin incredulously denied being a liberal, when McCain addressed her as such, seemingly just to make McCain look foolish. View article →

Liberty University Professor Promotes Illegal Immigration

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(Pulpit & Pen News) Karen Swallow Prior is a radical animal rights activist who believes animals go to Heaven because naming them gives them personhood, says she’s more upset over animal abuse than abortion, says abortion isn’t murder and calling it such is unchristlike, promoted erotic gay literature, and has attended gay fundraisers and uses gay-affirming language. She calls herself a feminist and attacks complementarianism as unbiblical.

Karen Swallow Prior is also a professor at Liberty University and a research fellow for the leftist Southern Baptist organization, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC). … Continue reading →

New Jersey ELCA ‘Church’ Holds ‘Renaming’ Ceremony for Female Leader Who Wants to Be Called Peter

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(Christian News Network) An assembly that is a part of the apostate Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) held a “renaming” ceremony on Sunday for their female pastor, who wishes to present herself as a man and now go by the name Peter—after one of Jesus’ disciples.

St. Matthew Trinity Lutheran Church in Hoboken, New Jersey, whose motto is “Where tradition and inclusivity meet,” held the ceremony during the Sunday morning service on a day that is known to Lutherans as Transfiguration Sunday. View article →

The Great Light

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching ∙

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulders, and he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

What a remarkable picture! It hardly needs any exposition. Suddenly, after a great time of trouble, the nation will realize that this glorious King, their Messiah, once came as a little child: to us a child is born. He who was for eternity the Son of God was given to them as a little Baby in Bethlehem. They recognize at last, after centuries of rejection, that this One rightly deserves divine titles. This is Immanuel, God with us.… Continue reading on Ray Stedman Daily Devotions

Should Christians Avoid Yoga?

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(Faithwire) A new debate hit the internet today and it put yoga squarely in the crosshairs.

It all started with this tweet observation from writer Matt Walsh:

It’s kind of amazing to see all of the Christians who think nothing of going to a yoga class. There are many excellent ways to get in shape that do not involve participating in Hindu worship. 

And with that, the yoga Twitter war began. Walsh took issue by linking yoga to Hindu worship, which appears to be a fair assertion. The debate, however, is hardly anything new. The issue was raised by the BBC a few years ago, interestingly by a Muslim woman, not by a Christian. They also included concerns about practicing it from a number of other religions: View article →

See Berean Research’s White Paper on Yoga

Enneagram: The Road Back to You, Or to Somewhere Else?

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In a piece I wrote over 10 years ago, Christians are mixed up in… mysticism, I dealt with the Enneagram. In a moment you’ll find out what this personality tool is all about from Kevin DeYoung. In a nutshell, the Enneagram is a form of modern psychology that categorizes people into nine basic personality types. Here’s an excerpt from my piece:

“The concept is rooted in several teachings such as the Seven Deadly Sins and the Kabbalah.  Supposedly the Enneagram symbol, the enneagon, dates back to Pythagoras or even earlier, and is based on Sufi mysticism.  This alone should be a red flag for Christians!”

Continue reading →

False Teacher Rob Bell Claims in New Documentary ‘The Heretic’: ‘Jesus Would Be Mortified Someone Started a Religion in His Name’

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(Heather Clark – Christian News Network) A new documentary called “The Heretic,” which centers on false teacher Rob Bell, is set to be released on March 1, and features a number of statements that are already raising concern, such as, “The Bible has caused so much damage” and “Jesus would be absolutely mortified that someone started a religion in His name.”

Bell explained in a Facebook post on Feb. 1 that he had been approached by filmmaker Andrew Morgan about creating a film surrounding his work and controversial views, which many decry as being apostate and heretical. Continue reading →

Self-Described Smarty Jimmy Kimmel Presents Stupid, Bigoted Anti-Christian Skit

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(NewsBusters} Saturday afternoon, Christian Toto at NewsBusters chronicled how Jimmy Kimmel has gone from being an “aw, shucks” comedian to “a hard-left comic” who believes (Kimmel’s words) that “every talk show is a liberal … because it requires a level of intelligence.”

That said, ignorant transformation was on display Friday night, as Kimmel attempted and failed to make a genuine point in a restaurant skit which attempted to ridicule a Bakersfield, California bakery which refuses to bake wedding cakes for same-sex couples.

Wednesday, Tastries Bakery has thus far prevailed in court: View article →

How I pray…even when it’s hard

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Prayer is hard. For me, consistent prayer has always been a battle, a fight. One of the most difficult things for fallen people to do is to come to God on bent knees with empty hands; as one put it, “I am loath to come to prayer, and when I’m there I am loath to stay.”

Yet some things cannot be put off. I cannot pray today’s prayers tomorrow. Tomorrow has its own demands. Disciples follow disciplines—tasks they wrestle with each day, every day. Making peace with that fact was a step toward my own consistency.

Here is how I pray. Continue reading →

O Death, where is thy sting?

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Mike Ratliff on the death of his mother.

1 For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, 3 if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. 4 For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. 6 So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5:1-8 (NKJV)  Continue reading →

The Proof That I Was Pardoned

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

The really pardoned man also desires to be rid of all sin. I know some who can never hope to obtain forgiveness, for they continue in their iniquity. Can a woman expect to find peace with God while she goes on taking her sly drop and becoming intoxicated in private? Can a man find joy in God who still clings to the drunkard’s vice? Will God receive into his favor those who continue to practice dishonesty in trade? Shall sin be fondled and yet pardoned? No one dares to expect it, and yet deceitful hearts attempt to think so. They will condemn other people’s pet sins, and yet excuse their own. They pretend to much sorrow for sin in. general, and yet hold to one favourite sin in particular. Their delicate Agag must live. Kill all the rest, but surely as to this one the bitterness of death has passed! Continue reading →

Christalignment ‘legally’ threaten discerning Christians – caught profiting from plagiarism.

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(Churchwatch Central) Jordan Hall from Pulpit & Pen recently critiqued a video Bethel pastor Ben Fitzgerald uploaded to Facebook, where Fitzgerald accuses Christians of ‘micro-judging’. Not only did Fitzgerald condemn those for calling his mother a ‘witch’ (even though by biblical definition what she  practices is witchcraft), he also accuses someone of passing on information about his family’s occultic practices to discernment sites. As a result of this, his family are now threatening Christians with ‘legal action’.

The video that Jordan Hall reviewed can be seen in this article here: Continue reading →

What Is Truth?

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Aaron Brake offers three different views of Truth: The pragmatic theory; coherence theory; and  correspondence theory. In his piece over at Stand to Reason, Brake explains these views and then makes the case for what he believes is the only option for the Christian. He writes:

“What is truth?” Pontius Pilate wasn’t the first, or the last, to ask this.

The question, at first blush, may sound profound. In reality, I think we all know the answer to this age-old inquiry. I say that because we presuppose a certain definition of truth in our speech and actions every day of our lives. ….. Continue reading →

Writer Claims God is Sexual Assaulter in Adam and Eve Story, Shapiro Fires Back

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(The Western Journal) Don’t cross political commentator Ben Shapiro, especially when it comes to religion.

On Thursday, Tamar Kolton, a rabbi and contributor for The Forward, drafted a piece titled, “The First Story In The Bible Was The First Case Of #MeToo.”

In the piece, Kolton compares the hallmark story from Genesis to the infamous case of former Olympic gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar who sexually assaulted over 150 young women. View article →

The Origin and Nature of Sin

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How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of Dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven, I will raise my throne on high above the stars of God… But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit. (Isaiah 14:12, 13a, 14)

These verses describe a supernatural figure who, in the invisible world of the spirit, is behind the earthly kingdom of Babylon. We are here looking at what has been called the fall of Satan.Lucifer, the brightest and most beautiful of the angels of God, the nearest to his throne, became so entranced with his own beauty that he rebelled against the government of God and thus became the adversary, Satan. Here he is seen as brought, at last, to the bottomless pit. Continue reading on Ray Stedman Daily Devotions

Recalcitrants Versus the Rainbow Ruling Class

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(Bill Muehlenberg) In our brave new world of radical minority activist groups effectively taking over entire cultures, things are looking very bleak indeed for anyone who dares to resist the revolution. The militants have now become extremely powerful as the political world, the media, academia, and other institutions of power and influence readily run with their causes.

Those who refuse to bow the knee are being made to pay. They are being socially and culturally ostracised, hated on, and treated as outcasts. And there are very real ramifications of this: people are now being fired from their job, fined, or even jailed, for refusing to submit to the new agenda of the coercive utopians. Continue reading →

The philosophical contradictions of the transgender worldview

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(Ryan T. Anderson – Public Discourse) People say that we live in a postmodern age that has rejected metaphysics. That’s not quite true. We live in a postmodern age that promotes an alternative metaphysics. As I explain in When Harry Became Sally, at the heart of the transgender moment are radical ideas about the human person—in particular, that people are what they claim to be, regardless of contrary evidence. A transgender boy is a boy, not merely a girl who identifies as a boy. It’s understandable why activists make these claims. An argument about transgender identities will be much more persuasive if it concerns who someone is, not merely how someone identifies. And so the rhetoric of the transgender moment drips with ontological assertions: people are the gender they prefer to be. That’s the claim. Continue reading →

Bermuda Revokes Same-Sex-Marriage Rights, In A World First

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(Camila Domonoske – NPR) Less than a year after legalizing same-sex marriage, Bermuda is reversing course, implementing a law that says same-sex couples can enter domestic partnerships but not marry.

The British territory is believed to be the first jurisdiction in the world to reverse course on same-sex marriage after permitting it, The Guardian writes.

In May 2017, Bermuda’s Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage. Within months, the island’s legislature passed a bill overturning that court decision, which was signed into law on Wednesday, The Associated Press reports: View article →

Univ. cancels Ken Ham after LGBT group ‘put up a fuss’

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(Baptist Press) Christian apologist and creationist Ken Ham has been dropped from the speaking lineup of a public university after a campus LGBT group complained to event organizers, Ham said in a Feb. 6 press release.

Ham was to speak March 5 at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond on “Genesis and the State of the Culture,” in an event organized by the UCO Student Association (UCOSA). But UCOSA cancelled the event when a pro-LGBT group objected, said Ham, founder of the Answers in Genesis (AiG) apologetics ministry that built the Creation Museum and the Ark Encounter in Kentucky.  View article →

Are you easy prey for false prophets?

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Note from Holy Pivec of Spirit of Error:

The following post was first published on my blog on August 23, 2013. With the rise of men and women calling themselves prophets, many people need to hear its warning more than ever.

The Bible is clear: false prophets are wolves that devour unsuspecting sheep.

Jesus said:

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” (Matthew 7:15) Continue reading →