Apprising Ministries brings you more detail on what may signal the SBC moving in a more Seeker Driven and ecumenical direction.
Truth-telling and homosexuality
“If ever there was a subject which is almost universally surrounded in falsehoods, deception and misinformation,” says apologist and ethicist Bill Muehlenberg, “it is the topic of homosexuality.”
According to Muehlenberg. the liberal media will not challenge the dangerous homosexual lifestyle for fear of reprisals from the powerful and well-financed homosexual lobby. But there’s hope! Muehlenberg believes that the truth will eventually come out due largely to a few “brave voices being raised” who refuse to cave in to gay activist’s threats and intimidation. We learn the names of four of them in this piece.
Pastor Carl Lentz baptizes Justin Bieber in a bathtub?
Whose sins are forgiven and why?
εἶπεν δὲ αὐτῇ· ἀφέωνταί σου αἱ ἁμαρτίαι. καὶ ἤρξαντο οἱ συνανακείμενοι λέγειν ἐν ἑαυτοῖς· τίς οὗτός ἐστιν ὃς καὶ ἁμαρτίας ἀφίησιν; Luke 7:48–49, NA28
And he said to her, “Your sins have been forgiven.” And the ones reclining with him began saying among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” Luke 7:48–49, translated from the NA28 Greek text
In Luke 7:36–50, there are three main characters. There is our Lord Jesus Christ, Simon the Pharisee, and an unnamed woman who is referred to in v. 37 and v. 39 simply as ἁμαρτωλός (hamartōlos), “sinful, sinner.” The events in this passage take place at a meal in Simon’s home and there are others reclining at the table with them. The unnamed woman is uninvited.
These events take place in Galilee immediately after John the Baptist’s disciples have come to our Lord on his bequest to confirm whether Jesus is indeed the Messiah. He then shows the Pharisee’s hypocrisy in vv. 31–35 for rejecting John the Baptist even though he lived in rigid abstinence even though they demanded that of our Lord while the message preached by both was the same. Then in v. 36 one of these Pharisees, Simon, invites Jesus to eat with him.
Joel Osteen meets Pope Francis with a prominent Mormon
Apprising Ministries shows you that for charismaniacs like Osteen, the delusion for unity they receive may well stretch past apostate Rome even to non-Christian cults like Mormonism.
The Bible is what God uses to communicate to His people
Since Possessing the Treasure has existed I would say that a very large percentage of the “debate” we have dealt with here has been whether the Bible is God’s Word or simply another book. Of course, related to that, would be the doctrine of Sola Scriptura. The genuine Christian does accept the Bible as Sacred Scripture and a huge part of God’s revelation of Himself to them.
Those professing Christians who decry this, however, insist that knowledge of God must be derived from non-communicative ‘encounters’ with Him, that is, through experiences of one kind or another. The problem with this should be obvious. If we hold to the truth that God’s revelation of Himself to us is primarily through the Bible as His verbal self-testimony then we are dependent upon it as unchanging and complete truth.
However, if we hold that God communicates to us primarily via experience then there is no foundation. Truth becomes arbitrary and subjective.
Word Faith pastrix Christine Caine fills in for Beth Moore
God’s sovereignty and His perfect knowledge of man
O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. Psalms 139:1–4, ESV
Our God is beyond our understanding. Thankfully, He has revealed Himself to us, to a degree, in His Word. Those who claim to serve Him, but treat His Word as if it was not important, or refuse to submit to the truths therein are fools. That has always puzzled me about those who take a sliver of God’s Word, misinterpret it, and then build massive man-cenetered doctrines around their misinformation. Have they no fear of God?
God is Omniscient, Omnipresent, and Omnipotent. He knows all, is everywhere at once, and is all-powerful. He is Sovereign! Those who play games with Christianity must have no understanding of this for if they did, they would not dare trifle with God Almighty!
Pastor Carl Lentz using bait and switch with homosexuality
All in Christ should be longing for their eternal body
I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. 2 Peter 1:13–14, ESV
Unlike Peter, the Lord has not made it clear to me the putting off of my body will be soon (see the passage above). However, I do not deny that my desire for the ending of this tabernacling in this earthly tent grows deeper with each skirmish or battle in the Truth War.
However, over the last few years as I have witnessed the growing darkness in American culture and the corresponding apostasy in the “visible church” my focus has been more and more on the eternal. This, of course, leads to much joy because my life is lived more and more from a heavenly perspective even when experiencing much resistance from those who hate God’s truth.
Chris Fabry Live—casting out demons and breaking generational curses
Jesus Christ is the express image of God
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. John 1:1–2, ESV
I heard a sermon a long time ago in which the preacher defined a cult as any religious group that called itself Christian but denied the orthodox doctrine of our Triune God. That means that those who deny the Doctrine of the Trinity, according to that definition, are not Christians, but heretics.
The man-centered part of each of us, that is the flesh, rebels from such a strict “legalistic” view, but as our faith becomes more and more God Centered in all its aspects, that view becomes entirely justified in our hearts because as we come to know God as He reveals Himself to His children, we will not doubt His Word nor will we attempt to overlay His truth with “altered” truth nor will we add to it nor subtract from it nor take it out of context in order to make it more man centered.
If we compromised and did those things we would do so in order to become more acceptable to the majority and not be excluded and hated by the world and those who call themselves Christians, but who are really just part of the fallen world system.
NYC Hillsong hipster Pastor Carl Lentz hedging on homosexuality
Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment
“Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.” John 7:24, ESV
What is the definition of the English word “fact?” The following is from the Merriam Webster Online Dictionary:
fact noun \ˈfakt\
Full Definition of FACT
1: a thing done: as a obsolete : feat b : crime <accessory after the fact> c archaic : action
2 archaic : performance, doing
3 : the quality of being actual : actuality <a question of fact hinges on evidence>
4 a : something that has actual existence <space exploration is now a fact> b : an actual occurrence <prove the fact of damage>
5 : a piece of information presented as having objective reality — in fact: in truth
Origin of FACT
Latin factum, from neuter of factus, past participle of facere
First Known Use: 15th century
The part that says, “a piece of information presented as having objective reality” is where I would like to concentrate in this post. I am a firm believer that there is something called absolute truth. Also, there exist truths that are objective. These are facts.
On the other hand, there is information that is subjective in nature that is presented as if it has objective reality when actually this is not so because there is nothing objective behind the “proof.” For instance, there are times when I use a form of the word “purpose” in what I write to convey a truth of God “purposing” to do something or that as Christians we should purpose in our hearts to obey the Lord, et cetera because these are found in Sacred Scripture.
However, there are some who would attempt to make the case that this is “Purpose Driven” language and this “proves” that I have become compromised and am now a disciple of Rick Warren. I contend that this type of thinking is what our Lord was referring to in John 7:24 about judging by appearances.
The wisdom of Rick Warren: Purpose Driven Catholics
For years now Warren has been actively working to assist Roman Catholic parishes in luring people away from the historic orthodox Christian faith and into apostate Roman Catholicism.
Apprising Ministries documents for you some of this ongoing apostasy of a man whom the Southern Baptist Convention has just rewarded with a prime position from which to teach its pastors at the upcoming SBC pastors convention.
Glenn Beck goes off on “religious people”
Marsha West, correspondent for the Christian Research Network, informs us of controversial conservative Glenn Beck’s convocation speech at evangelical Liberty University (LU) where he took to the podium and gave a sermon laced with Mormon theology.
When Beck learned that a large number of Christians, including some LU donors, came out in protest, he became outraged and used his position as a popular TV/radio host and his news outlet, The Blaze, as a bully pulpit to go after his critics.
I have not come to bring peace, but a sword
“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” Matthew 10:34, ESV
The character and the mission of our Lord Jesus Christ is not well understood by the majority of people on planet Earth. In fact, many professing “Christians” have an image of Him in their understanding that is based upon fleshly reasoning.
This “other” Jesus is not Biblical for the most part. They have given their Jesus a whole new set of values and traits that conflict sharply with the Jesus presented in the Gospels in His own words. In fact, many of their attributes of “their Jesus” come directly from how he is portrayed in pop culture.
There’s no third way
Dr. Albert Mohler, president of Baptist Theological Seminary, expresses his concern that, when it comes to the sin of homosexuality, more and more churches are bending to political correctness by declaring that the Church must accept practicing homosexuals.
Dr. Mohler reminds us that:
A church will either believe and teach that same-sex behaviors and relationships are sinful, or it will affirm them. Eventually, every congregation in America will make a public declaration of its position on this issue. It is just a matter of time (and for most churches, not much time) before every congregation in the nation faces this test.
Tullian Tchividjian on TBN’s Praise the Lord tonight
Pray with boldness not insolence
οὗ ἐγενήθην διάκονος κατὰ τὴν δωρεὰν τῆς χάριτος τοῦ θεοῦ τῆς δοθείσης μοι κατὰ τὴν ἐνέργειαν τῆς δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ. Ἐμοὶ τῷ ἐλαχιστοτέρῳ πάντων ἁγίων ἐδόθη ἡ χάρις αὕτη, τοῖς ἔθνεσιν εὐαγγελίσασθαι τὸ ἀνεξιχνίαστον πλοῦτος τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ φωτίσαι [πάντας] τίς ἡ οἰκονομία τοῦ μυστηρίου τοῦ ἀποκεκρυμμένου ἀπὸ τῶν αἰώνων ἐν τῷ θεῷ τῷ τὰ πάντα κτίσαντι, ἵνα γνωρισθῇ νῦν ταῖς ἀρχαῖς καὶ ταῖς ἐξουσίαις ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις διὰ τῆς ἐκκλησίας ἡ πολυποίκιλος σοφία τοῦ θεοῦ, κατὰ πρόθεσιν τῶν αἰώνων ἣν ἐποίησεν ἐν τῷ Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ κυρίῳ ἡμῶν, ἐν ᾧ ἔχομεν τὴν παρρησίαν καὶ προσαγωγὴν ἐν πεποιθήσει διὰ τῆς πίστεως αὐτοῦ. διὸ αἰτοῦμαι μὴ ἐγκακεῖν ἐν ταῖς θλίψεσίν μου ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν, ἥτις ἐστὶν δόξα ὑμῶν. Ephesians 3:7–13, NA28
Of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God having been given to me according to the working of his power. To me, the least of all the saints, this grace was given to the gentiles to preach the unsearchable wealth of Christ and to enlighten all men as to what is the stewardship of the mystery hidden from the ages in God, the one who created all things that it might be made known now to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenlies through the Church the many faceted wisdom of God according to the plan of the ages, which he made in Christ Jesus our Lord in whom we have boldness and access in confidence through faith in him. Therefore, I ask you not to despair concerning my afflictions for you, which is for your glory. Ephesians 3:7–13, translated from the NA28 Greek text
If we are honest, we must all agree that that there is a growing disrespect of God in today’s various teaching on prayer let alone worship. While boldness does mean that those who are truly in Christ need not have any inhibitions as they come before God, they must still never forget that God is God.
To treat God as if he is a “buddy,” to bring him down to our level in any way, is truly blasphemous. It is insolence in action to do any other than respect and worship God as he deserves. He is not our “buddy” or “pal,” but our heavenly Father and our God. What does it mean to come before him in boldness while not being insolent?
Having obtained access by faith into grace, we rejoice in hope
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Romans 5:1–2, ESV
What is the difference between faith and hope? Are they the same thing? They are not the same, but they are two sides of the same coin. If I want my old College to win in football against our biggest rival that is hope. On the other hand, if I believe it will happen then it is faith. With this faith, my hope is enhanced. It becomes active.
On the other hand, if I have little faith that it will happen then my hope becomes simply wishful thinking. What about our faith through which we are saved by grace? Is this faith simply working up enough belief so that our hope becomes strong, or is there more to it than that?