The Separation of the Cross

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After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also. John 14:19, NASB

When our Lord spoke of the “world” in John 14:19, he was talking about those in this temporal existence who are not believers. They are not true Christians even though some in that group may profess to be so. In this context he was also referring to the Jewish religious leaders of his own day who so opposed him and his ministry and who would continue to oppose the early church as is seen all through the books of Acts for example. What is it that separates those alive in is this world who truly see Jesus for who he really is, believe and are saved from those who refuse to do so, reject the gospel, and remain in their sins, even if they may develop a form of Christianity that suits them that is absent of the real Jesus? View article →

Women Pastors, Priscilla Shirer, And The Southern Baptist Convention

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion

Apprising Ministries continues to point out growing syncretism with the mainstream evangelical community in unparalleled ways.

The mainstreaming of Word Faith prosperity preachers, e,g, T.D. Jakes, opens the door for the next push, which will be for women pastors.

In this new well-documented article see just how close this is getting even to the ostensibly conservative SBC. View article →

Was Rabbi Ralph Messer Called in to Re-Establish a Struggling Eddie Long?

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The Christian Post reports:

Nearly a month after a video showing Rabbi Ralph Messer, who leads the Simchat Torah Beit Midrash congregation in the Denver metropolitan area, “crowning” Atlanta megachurch leader Bishop Eddie Long went viral and earned both men a storm of criticism, Messer’s ministry is still evoking questions.

Most recently, a local Messianic Jewish community has officially renounced Messer, who has given the impression that he is a Messianic Jew. View article →

Is it Deceit or the Product of Being Unequally Yoked?

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion

Μὴ γίνεσθε ἑτεροζυγοῦντες ἀπίστοις· τίς γὰρ μετοχὴ δικαιοσύνῃ καὶ ἀνομίᾳ, ἢ τίς κοινωνία φωτὶ πρὸς σκότος; 2 Corinthians 6:14, NA27

Do not become unequally yoked with unbelievers for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness or what fellowship has light with darkness? 2 Corinthians 6:14, Possessing the Treasure New Testament V1

As many of you have know, there has been much news and rumor about the “Historic Interfaith Document” between Saddleback Valley Baptist Church in Orange County, California and the many Muslim communities there. As usual, the absolute worst place to get the truth about something like this is in the opinion polls of “Twitter,” which are like popularity contests with only your best friends. What should our position be about this? We should always come down on the side of sharing the gospel with those outside of Christ, but not if is some sort of “social engineered gospel” meant to offend no one nor be robbed of the right view of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. It must also be clearly defined in terms of the Orthodox position of the fall of man and his need of redeemer as the only means of redemption, hence, the need of a perfect, sinless, propititiation, that is, God himself, who is the second person of the Holy Trinity, God the Son. Yes, the gospel we give to these Muslims must at least start there. View article →

Rick Warren, Islam, And Jim Hinch

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Apprising Ministries sums up some of the CRN coverage of this still developing story and brings you the latest in this post.

I also share what I learned as a result of my phone conversation with reporter Jim Hinch who broke the story. View article →

Misrepresented by Leading Pastor – Ken Ham Responds to Tim Keller

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Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis writes:

Tim Keller is pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, New York. He attended Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, PA.

He is known as a good Bible teacher and has a heart for evangelizing New York City. Redeemer Presbyterian’s Hope for New York outreach program seeks to satisfy the spiritual and material needs of those in the community. Hope for New York does sets a high standard for Christian participation in the larger community. But …

In a new article posted this past week, he has grossly misrepresented what I believe and teach. But first of all, let me give you some background.

View article →

Why Aren't More Christians Provoked?

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

A tragic result of the man-centered missions approach of the ill-fated Church Growth Movement, too many in church visible are seeking the approval of the world.

Apprising Ministries offers that apostasy is spreading as a result. In this piece we wonder why this and its idolatry is so easily tolerated today. View article →

Largest Protestant Denomination in America Considering a New Name

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙

The Southern Baptist Convention is going through a time of transition it appears with the proposal of a name addition, it being Great Commission Baptists. What are we to do with this idea of name changes?

Just changing a name doesn’t fix an image. This can apply across the board to many names that have a stigma attached to them. Take for example, the Walt Disney name. When Walt was alive, there was a family oriented sense to it and the theme parks were geared around that concept. Now Disney is synonymous with putting out films – even cartoon ones – with questionable material at best. The Little Mermaid, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules – all contain examples of risqué dress and promoting mythological figures for our children to look towards. If Walt Disney saw that his theme parks were turned into a money marketing plethora of these types of characters, we dare say he would not agree. They now support gay pride day at the parks in which his original innocent characters such as Chip and Dale are now paired up in a jaw dropping event. View article →

Bigoted and Un-American? Mitt Romney, Richard Land & Evangelical Politics

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , , ,

Are Southern Baptists bigoted and un-American? On more than one occasion Richard Land, President of the Ethics & Religious Liberties Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention has stated that raising questions about a presidential candidate’s religion is both bigoted and un-American. Yet, most of the Southern Baptists whom I know are very concerned about this matter. It seems ungrateful at best for Land to take the contributions.

This is the  question that was running through my head when I recently attended a  forum at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, entitled, ‘The  Grindstone: Sharp, Theological Discussions On Topics That Matter’. The  topic for the evening was ‘The Christian and Politics’ and it featured  special guest panelist Richard Land.  View article →

Evangostrich

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Satire

Once again, with syncretism spreading we really do need new words in order to communicate in today’s church visible. Apprising Ministries continues to broaden your vocabulary in this piece.  View article →

Casino Culture and the Collapse of Character, By Albert Mohler

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion

The casino stands as the great and most visible monument to the massive scale of the Gambling Industrial Complex in America. Just look across much of the American landscape, and you will see the glaring and garish lights of the casinos that serve to attract gamblers. It was not always so.

Indeed, for all but the last decade of the twentieth century, casinos were basically non-existent, except for those found in the state of Nevada. All that changed when states began to license and draw revenue from casino gambling. As Earl L. Grinols of the University of Illinois has commented: “Most areas of America had no legal casino gambling before 1990.”  View article →

Battle Is Your Calling

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Apprising Ministries with a short but compelling exhortation in this piece to get into the fight for Truth.

We particularly need soldiers who will wield the most powerful weapon God’s given us—the prayer of faithful saints. Soli Deo gloria! View article →

Campus Crusade group in university asked to cease activity because they have "offended other faiths"

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News

In the island of Singapore that promotes the idea of religious harmony, religious intolerance and hostility towards the Christian faith has increased. Recently, a by-stander was offended by posters put up by the National Univeristy of Singapore (NUS) Campus Crusade for Christ which is aimed at promoting short term missions to various countries of the world including Thailand and Turkey. The offence came about because the posters insist that people of other religions need Christ. As a result of this complaint and the subsequent publicity, the university (NUS) has ordered Campus Crusade to cease all its activities.

In light of this act of religious intolerance against Christianity, you are invited to contact the Singapore embassy and the university and voice your opposition to this deplorable action.

You can contact the Singapore embassy at singemb_was@sgmfa.gov.sg, and you can contact NUS at askiro@nus.edu.sg.

Are we all Catholics now, as Glenn Beck wishes us to believe?

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In his piece “Why we are all Catholics now” Glenn Beck is making yet another attempt to mainstream the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints aka Mormonism.  Mormonism is not Christian, as Beck would have us believe. Rather the LDS Church is a theological cult.  Right off the bat Beck affirms,

I am a proud member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but today, I call myself a Catholic. Why? Because the state is telling the Catholic Church to violate its principles and teachings. So if you are a person of faith, you must call yourself a Catholic. View article →

Wisdom From the Spirit

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Σοφίαν δὲ λαλοῦμεν ἐν τοῖς τελείοις, σοφίαν δὲ οὐ τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου οὐδὲ τῶν ἀρχόντων τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου τῶν καταργουμένων·

1 Corinthians 2:6, NA27

But wisdom we speak among the mature, yet it is a wisdom not of this age or of the rulers of this age, the ones being brought to nothing;

1 Corinthians 2:6, Possessing the Treasure New Testament V1)

I was listening to Dr. James White’s The Dividing Line a few weeks ago and I heard him say something he has said several times, that is, every generation of genuine Christians must fight the battles for the truth and correct doctrine. Some of these “Truth Wars” as John MacArthur calls them, have been worse and longer than others, but the one we are in now has been especially ugly with outright defections from within what most would consider the bulwark of Christian leaders who have shown their true liberal colors. However, what has been most enlightening to this Christian has been the absolute faithfulness of our Lord in the building of his church in the midst of rampant apostasy, pop-culture so-called chrisitianity, the decimation of local churches on a huge scale with the proliferation of mega-churches that are seeker-sensitive and politically correct non-gospel man-centered fake churches. There are also the huge churches based on the personality of the pastor as if he is some sort of rock-star. I have contacts from all over the world who testify how hard it is for them to find a solid, Biblically based church in their area. Even through all of this carnage, our Lord is faithful and continues to build his church. View article →

Sex-changing treatment for kids: It's on the rise

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The Associated Press reports this deeply disturbing story:

A small but growing number of teens and even younger children who think they were born the wrong sex are getting support from parents and from doctors who give them sex-changing treatments, according to reports in the medical journal Pediatrics.

It’s an issue that raises ethical questions, and some experts urge caution in treating children with puberty-blocking drugs and hormones. View article →