Confession Devoid Of Obedience Is A Marker Of Disingenuous Faith

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21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 7:21 ESV)

There are many false teachings in our time within the visible Church. What we must never forget is that there is nothing new under the Sun. The heresies we encounter now are actually very old. Some have been around a long time in their current form while others are recycled versions of an older heresy that was dealt with hundreds of years ago. Why should our enemy and his seed come up with new attacks when the old ones wreak havoc, deepen spiritual blindness, and keep people mired in man-made religiosity instead of becoming spirit-filled, obedient Christians? View article →

Investigators: Oregon Bakery Discriminated Against Lesbian for Declining to Make ‘Wedding’ Cake

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Christian News Network reports:

State investigators in Oregon have concluded that a bakery run by a Christian couple unlawfully discriminated against a lesbian last year when it declined to make a ‘wedding’ cake for her same-sex ceremony.

As previously reported, Aaron and Melissa Klein operate Sweet Cakes by Melissa in Gresham, which is now operated from the couple’s home after the Kleins’ shut their doors due to harassment. In January 2013, Aaron was approached by a mother and her daughter as the two were interested in a cake for the daughter’s upcoming wedding—to her lesbian partner.

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12 Unborn Animals in The Womb You Have to See to Believe

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Life News has several pictures of pre-born creatures on their site.

These images were created for a National Geographic special called In The Womb: Animals by Producer Peter Chinn. He used a combination of ultrasound technology, tiny cameras, and computer design to create these incredible images that replicate what fetal animals look like. This is an incredible window into the womb (or egg as the case may be), laying bare the mysteries of the beginning of life,” the group adds.

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Do Conversion And Regeneration Represent The Same Thing?

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At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads. ’ And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord? ’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles— to whom I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’ Acts 26:13–18, ESV

A hypocrite is someone who implies he or she stands for one set of values, but actually lives out their life doing the opposite. Since few would disagree that the post-modern church is mired in hypocrisy, one might assume that Christianity was the problem. If Christianity really was the one and only true religion and Jesus’ disciples truly are changed by their new birth in Christ, the hypocrite label should not stick. Why? True Biblical Christianity professes that all in Christ not only have their sins forgiven them, but they are also new creations who are no longer under the power of their former sins. Something isn’t right. View article →

Gov. Cuomo: Pro-life people not welcome in New York

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Fox News reports:

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo believes that pro-life activists along with anti-gay activists, and supporters of the Second Amendment, are not welcome in his state.

During a radio interview on Friday, Cuomo pointed out that Republicans were in the midst of a schism, where conservatives worked against moderate Republicans.

“Their problem is not me and the Democrats; their problem is themselves,” he said. “Who are they? Are they these extreme conservatives who are right-to-life, pro-assault-weapon, anti-gay? Is that who they are? Because if that’s who they are and they’re the extreme conservatives, they have no place in the state of New York, because that’s not who New Yorkers are.”

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For By Grace You Have Been Saved Through Faith

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For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8–9, ESV

What is it that causes God to justify believers? What is justification? I heard a definition a long time ago where the preacher said something like this, “Justification is what happens when we are born again, it is ‘Just as if I had never sinned’” Of course, those of us who are Reformed in our Theology believe that our regeneration, our quickening, our New Birth takes place prior to belief because that is what enables ungodly, spiritually dead people to repent and believe. Justification follows that. Let’s look at an example. View article →

The Temporal Result Of The Testing of Our Faith

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Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:3–7, ESV

Despite what some false “so-called Christian leaders” in our time say, there is no guarantee that the Genuine Christian will be immune from suffering. In fact, suffering is the method God uses to prune the branches that abide in the Vine, our Lord Jesus Christ. (John 15) I have found that the form this suffering takes is nearly always a surprise. When atheists or pagans ridicule, the resulting sorrow from that is relatively minor and easily borne compared to that delivered by professing Christians. In any case, we must not be discouraged, even though that is what our enemy seeks to do to us through it. God is allowing him to do this to us, therefore, what should our reaction be? View article →

Five Really Dumb Things the Activists Say

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Apologist and ethicist Bill Muehlenberg writes:

One could easily write an entire book on all the really moronic and senseless things the homosexual activists say when they “argue” with us. Of course one has to use the word “argue” quite loosely here, since what the militants engage in can hardly be described as arguments – more like sophomoric rants in fact.

So as you discuss or debate with these activists, bear in mind they will almost invariably throw some real doozies your way. These remarks will have very little to do with logic and rationality. They will not be actual arguments or well-reasoned claims.

They will just be foolish attacks lacking in any merit. But this is just how the other side operates – time and time again. This is their standard modus operandi. Here then are five of these dopey claims you will likely hear over and over again in such discussions.

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Nullifying The Spirit of Fear

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12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” 13 Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness ‘sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 16 having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil. 1 Peter 3:12–17, ESV

As I write this I am 62 years old and have been part of American Christianity my whole life either as a small child being taken to Church by my parents or as a young boy in Sunday School and later as a teenager in the Youth Group at Church. When I became a young adult I left all that, but God had other plans. When I was in my early 30s I found myself with a wife and two small children going to a local Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma every Sunday and through that God caused the proclamation of the Gospel to finally work and He had mercy on me. Through all that I had gained much knowledge of how intertwined Evangelicalism is in the culture in Oklahoma. I knew this even when I was in rebellion and having nothing to do with “Church.” When God drew me to Himself in 1985–1986 and made me into a New Creation I still retained that “knowledge,” but now my focus was not on it, but on my Lord. From that point until early in this new Century I never thought I would see the throwing off of the moral covering in our society that comes from our culture being so intertwined with the knowledge of God and His truth. What amazes me the most though is how so many in so-called “Churches” are fully participating in this rebellion. View article →

Wielding The Sword Of The Lord Correctly

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For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two- edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Hebrews 4:12, ESV

In this day in which the truth is said to be unknowable, Christians must rely on the only source of pure truth we have. There is no truth that we can say is the complete truth unless we take it from God’s Word. The Bible is pure truth and it is the authority we rely on in order to have a firm foundation in this lost and dying world that is consuming itself in rebellion against God.

What can we learn from Hebrews 4:12 about this? View article →

Don’t Let Your Mind Go to Pot

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In this piece Pastor John Piper, founder and teacher of desiringGod.org, gives the reasons he believes Christians should avoid recreational marijuana use. He begins:

Marijuana is ordinarily used as a mood-altering, mind-altering drug. The aim is to create a kind of euphoria. The effects vary widely from person to person. All you have to do is Google, “What does Marijuana feel like?” People don’t smoke it to get unhappy. It produces a temporary state that is felt to be better than ordinary life. That’s why it’s called a “high” and not a low.

So the first comparison one might be inclined to make is with caffeine. Most people drink coffee because caffeine has a pleasant effect. But there is a difference. Marijuana temporarily impairs the reliable processing of surrounding reality. Caffeine ordinarily sharpens that processing.

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New Mexico Judge Rules That Doctors May Prescribe Lethal Drugs to Terminally Ill Patients

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Christian News Network reports:

A state judge in New Mexico has ruled that mentally-competent terminally ill patients have a constitutional right to obtain lethal drugs to end their life.

Second Judicial District Judge Nan Nash issued the ruling on Monday in a decision that some believe may open the doors to full-fledged physician-assisted suicide in the state.

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Planned Parenthood Did One Adoption Referral Per 149 Abortions

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According to CNS News:

In its latest annual report, released in December, Planned Parenthood says it did 327,166 abortion procedures in the course of one year and 2,197 adoption referrals. That works out to approximately 149 abortions for each adoption referral.

The data comes from an accounting of “patient care” Planned Parenthood says its “affiliate health centers” did in the year that ran from Oct. 1, 2011 to Sept. 30, 2012.

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Federal Judge Strikes Down Oklahoma Same-Sex ‘Marriage’ Ban

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Fox News reports:

Oklahoma’s gay marriage ban violates the U.S. Constitution, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge Terrence Kern handed down the ruling in a lawsuit filed by two same-sex couples. Kern immediately stayed his ruling pending appeals, meaning gay marriages won’t happen in Oklahoma right away.

The gay couples had sued for the right to marry and to have a marriage from another jurisdiction recognized in Oklahoma.

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AZ Legislator, Pastor Introduces Bill to Protect Churches That Oppose Same-Sex ‘Marriage’

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According to Christian News Network:

A legislator in Arizona has introduced a bill that would protect churches in the state from being forced to perform same-sex ‘weddings.’

Representative Steve Montenegro (R-Litchfield Park), Associate Pastor and Youth Pastor at Surprise Apostolic Assembly, recently announced the First Freedom Act to ensure that pastors retain their First Amendment rights when it comes to the institution of marriage. The Act would make it illegal to “require a minister to solemnize a marriage inconsistent with a minister’s sincerely held religious beliefs.”

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The Way of Wisdom and the Way of Folly A Biblical Contrast

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6 “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; 7 let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. 8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:6–9, ESV

As we live in a time of great deception, let us reflect on our Lord’s ways in contrast to the way of men. God’s ways are not man’s ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. No matter how high and lifted up we perceive that God is, He is higher. No matter how good we come to believe that we are, we are nothing compared to God. Without our Lord, we can do nothing. View article →