Wednesday, February 28, 2007

All Aboard the Purpose Driven Bandwagon!

The devil driven apostasy of Rick Warren certainly has all the trappings of a cult of personality "bandwagon" movement, and I for one am convinced that those who yoke themselves to the man-centered theology of "Pastor Rick" as opposed to the Word of God will someday lift up their eyes from hell where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Witnessing the furtive, frantic spiritual adultery of the apostate professing church as it runs from wordly experience to experience sampling the pleasures and delicacies of the hell spawned man-centered false gospel that passes itself off as "Christianity" today makes me want to vomit. While playing the harlot she claims she's only trying to be "relevant to today's culture" and be rid of the stodgy old stereotypes of "traditional Christianity". God forbid that man should attempt to "reinvent" or "reimagine" the unchanging and unchangable Word of God! Such hubris! Such sinful pride! This is exactly the line of reasoning the enemy used in the garden when he appealed to man's autonomy inquiring "Yea, hath God said?" That old serpent, the devil, knows full well what makes sinful man tick; he knows the allure of worldly power, prestige and the praise of men is simply irresistable to the unregenerate, including - perhaps especially! - those wolves in sheep's clothing who pretend to be pastors, teachers and shepherds of God's flock.

The situation reminds me of "The Haywain", a painting by the 15th century Dutch master Hieronymus Bosch. The painting, in three panels, depicts a group of greedy people desperately trying to grasp a loaded hay wagon in the center panel.

In the panel on the right, just out of their sight, are demons pulling the wagon straight into hell. In their shortsighted avarice the people trying to grab the hay don't see the hellish future they're rolling into.

These blind leaders of the blind, (Rick Warren, Joel Osteen, Rob Bell, T.D. Jakes, Creflo Dollar, Kenneth Copeland, Joyce Meyer, - to name a few) are heretical apostates who are leading countless thousands (millions?) of souls to hell with their feel-good, self-help, prosperity-doctrine and their unbiblical Nerf theology.

These spiritual hucksters wouldn't dare risk offending any of the sensitive "seekers" to whom they gleefully prostitute themselves by preaching the whole counsel of God including sin, the need for repentance, and the eternal torments of hellfire. "Why", they say, "it might drive them away"! Well we wouldn't want that now, would we? Since the unregenerate followers of these cultic movements are going to hell anyway I'm not sure precisely where they're so afraid of driving them away to! Maybe they're afraid of losing their precious "tithes and offerings" to a different collection plate? If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it's a duck.

May those of us who, by God's grace, are able to see the sure and terrible end of those who follow after the vain traditions of men sound the alarm and warn these blind followers of the blind of the wrath to come! May we point to the certainty of the judgment and the horrors of hell that surely await them lest they humble themselves before the One True Living God, repent of their sinful ways, and be regenerated by the Spirit of God Almighty by trusting in the finished and all-sufficient work of the cross! May the Lamb of God who was slain before the foundations of the world be our one and only hope, and may his infallible, inerrant and inspired Word be a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path! Amen.

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

When You Stop Fighting You're No Longer Needed

But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.(James 4:6-8)

Where is the church militant? Where are the watchmen upon the gates who will sound the alarm as the heathen rage and the enemy within moves at will among the congregation of the faithful? Where are the kings and priests of the Most High who by the power of God are commanded to tear down every stronghold (2 Cor. 10:4) and earnestly contend for the faith that was once and for all delivered unto the saints? (Jude 1:3)

A.W.O.L.

M.I.A.

Deserters.

Turncoats.

Traitors.

And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. (Mark 4:18-19)

The Christian life is a life of obedience and sacrifice to the Risen Savior, Jesus Christ. It is the abandonment the old man and to putting on of the new. (Romans 6:6, Ephesians 4:22, Colossians 3:9) It is to wrestle against the powers and principalities, the spiritual wickedness in high places of this sin sick and dying world (Epehsians 6:12) and to proclaim the Gospel (Mark 16:15). The Christian life is militant as we see from the word of our King in Matthew 10:34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.

Furthermore the Christian life is marked by - through the grace of God alone - an absolute, radical and revolutionary change in worldview. Before salvation all our thoughts were processed through the sinful and corrupted ultimate authority of our own darkened and vain reasoning. After salvation we are delighted to subordinate all wisdom and knowledge to the revealed truth of Scripture, the TRUE, singular, and ultimate authority. Before salvation we were content to drift along through our lives using our natural depraved intellect as the highest court of appeals for all things. After salvation we bow our knees to our Infinite Creator and Judge and declare "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom"! (Psalm 111:10)

The true Christian is not contented to stand idly by as his Master is publicly shamed by the perverse imaginations of "fools who have said in their heart there is no God" (Psalm 14:1). Instead he is imbued with power from on high to "take captive every thought unto Christ" (2 Cor. 10:5) and to boldly press the unbeliever who is blithely and blindly secure in his false worldly wisdom - so called - by asking the rhetorical question "Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath God not made foolish the wisdom of this world?" (1 Cor. 1:20) The simple truth, of course, is that there is no wise, there is no disputer of this world because there is none who can effectively gainsay the manifold wisdom of God Almighty.

Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. (Matthew 5:13)

Matthew 5:13 is a clear picture of what our Lord Jesus thinks of the lukewarm professing Christian who believes he can have his "get out of hell free" card punched by saying a few words and possibly getting dunked beneath some tepid tap water. Sadly this type of false conversion is all to commonplace in today's meat market church environment wherein "decision cards", baptismal records, church attendance rosters, and dollars in the offering plate are the gold standards by which "minsitry effectiveness" is bench marked. Oh how far she's fallen! Oh how foolish is this harlot bride! Forgive us, oh Lord!

And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. (Matthew 7:23)

And again we see from the Matthew 7:23 the sad end state of Tammy Talebearer and Bob Benchwarmer who "having a form of godliness [denied] the power thereof". (2 Timothy 3:5) Do we care enough about these people to tell them the truth? Do we believe that hell is hot, dark, and forever? Can we appreciate what's at stake in this spiritual struggle between eternal life and eternal damnation? Yet may every man be a liar and God be true! (Romans 3:4) For God is faithful and sovereign and His will cannot be thwarted; therefore let us who are called by His name be faithful servants and be obedient to His command to preach the Gospel to every creature under heaven. (Mark 16:15).

Sadly the professing church has gone whoring after strange gods and has left its first love (Revelation 2:4). Nothing is surer than God's judgment against idolatry, and we know from the Holy Writ that judgment begins at the house of God. (1 Peter 4:17). We also know precisely what the Ancient of Days thinks of the vomitous, lukewarm, apostate last days church of Laodicea which obviously abounds before our very eyes today; "So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth." (Revelation 3:16)

When the body of Christ stops fighting for the truth, when it stops contesting the enemy for the souls of men, when it sacrifices the whole counsel of God for the sake of utilitarian political expediency or a false temporal peace then it has ceased to be of any use whatsoever and has become as "whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness." (Matthew 23:27). Like a moth-eaten article of clothing or a shattered vessel it is fit for nothing except destruction.

But with God all things are possible! For within the visible modern day churches of deceit and spiritual adultery is the church invisible which clings to the Lord and holds fast to His teaching! These are they to whom to our Lord would say "I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name."

Oh Lord, strengthen your remnant! Teach us to walk in your ways! Write your Word upon the tables of our hearts that we might be "always ready with an answer for the hope that lies within us"! (1 Peter 3:15) Amen.

Monday, February 26, 2007

The "Plague" of Apostasy

In reviewing God's commandments in Leviticus for dealing with plague in the house I was reminded of the "plague" of apostasy currently growing rampantly within the "house" of God.

May we who are called by His name pray that our Great and High Priest, Jesus Christ would restore those who have corrupted themselves with the love of this world and who have esteemed the praise of men higher than the praise of God!

And if they refuse to repent of their evil ways may our Great and High Priest scrape their plague from the houses and remove those living stones who are incorrigible and corrupted, and if necessary may He break down the houses altogether and carry them away to an unclean place in order that His house would be known to the nations as a house of prayer and not a den of thieves!

With a mighty hand and an outstretched arm may the Lord Almighty sovereignly and altogether remove the fretting leprosy of the apostate heretics; these ravenous wolves in sheep's clothing who seek only to rend the flock! May He alone who is Worthy and True remove this vile plague from within His house! Amen.

Leviticus 14:35-45
35And he that owneth the house shall come and tell the priest, saying, It seemeth to me there is as it were a plague in the house:

36Then the priest shall command that they empty the house, before the priest go into it to see the plague, that all that is in the house be not made unclean: and afterward the priest shall go in to see the house:

37And he shall look on the plague, and, behold, if the plague be in the walls of the house with hollow strakes, greenish or reddish, which in sight are lower than the wall;

38Then the priest shall go out of the house to the door of the house, and shut up the house seven days:

39And the priest shall come again the seventh day, and shall look: and, behold, if the plague be spread in the walls of the house;

40Then the priest shall command that they take away the stones in which the plague is, and they shall cast them into an unclean place without the city:

41And he shall cause the house to be scraped within round about, and they shall pour out the dust that they scrape off without the city into an unclean place:

42And they shall take other stones, and put them in the place of those stones; and he shall take other morter, and shall plaister the house.

43And if the plague come again, and break out in the house, after that he hath taken away the stones, and after he hath scraped the house, and after it is plaistered;

44Then the priest shall come and look, and, behold, if the plague be spread in the house, it is a fretting leprosy in the house; it is unclean.

45And he shall break down the house, the stones of it, and the timber thereof, and all the morter of the house; and he shall carry them forth out of the city into an unclean place.

The Devil Made Me Do It!

How often have we heard this well worn and often flippant remark? How often has it been used as a humorous retort when the question “Why did you eat the last cookie?!?” was leveled against a guilty chocolate chip purloiner, and how often has it been used in deadly seriousness by sociopathic mass murderers under the scrutiny of our justice system?

Interestingly the same defense (i.e. someone else is responsible) was employed by both Adam and Eve in the garden when they stood guilty of disobedience before God in Genesis 3:11-13; And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

As we see clearly revealed in the Holy Writ, mankind is quick to blame someone else for his shortcomings. Adam stood before God and, not unlike a typical child, declared that ”the woman” (it was HER Lord, not ME!) “whom thou gavest to be with me” (YOU put her here Lord, it isn’t MY fault that YOU put her here!) was to blame. No doubt Eve’s mind was racing at the speed of light for a scapegoat as she stood before God with her “loving husband” wagging his accusing finger in her face (as well as God’s) and so Eve does what comes naturally, she blames someone else! “The serpent beguiled me” - i.e. the devil made me do it!

In the eons of time since that fateful day mankind has selfishly and predictably clung to his perverse notion that someone else is responsible for his own acts of irresponsibility. Man flees from responsibility for if he were to face up to his error, his sin, his responsibility before his Creator and Judge then he would no longer have the spiritual fig leaf of his own making behind which he perpetually hides.

Certainly today’s fig leaf is different than the literal aprons of fig leaves fashioned by Adam and Eve to hide their nakedness before God, yet the spiritual significance of this act remains the same. The modern fig leaf apron is fashioned of science, intellectualism, secular humanism, new age mysticism, Gnosticism, atheism, agnosticism, Neo-Darwinian evolution, and any number of other “reasons” – so called – for sinful man to suppress the knowledge of God in unrighteousness.

But as we see in the Biblical account of God’s rejection of man’s fig leaf apron, God still rejects sinful man’s feeble attempts to hide his spiritual nakedness; Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them. (Genesis 3:21). The fig leaf aprons represented man’s attempt to cover himself with his own works, which God – as always – utterly rejected. Instead God gave Adam and Eve animal skins with which to cover their nakedness. This is important because the animal skins represent the shedding of blood for sin which is a foreshadowing of the shed blood of Jesus Christ upon the cross of Calvary. Yet we know that as in the garden, the enemy will appeal to man's sinful pride in an effort to convince him that he can save himself, that he doesn't need God, that his "good works" - so called - are sufficient.

Man’s works are and always have been unacceptable to God and are as filthy rags before Him (Isaiah 64:6). The shedding of blood is what cleanses sins and the works of man are not an acceptable substitute.

If you’re trusting in your good works, your church membership, your charitable donations, your volunteerism, in short if you’re trusting in anything other than the all sufficient work of the cross for your salvation then you’ve believed a lie and are alienated from the Kingdom of Heaven. There is only One True Living God, the Creator and Judge of the universe, the Triune God of Christianity known as The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit. He is absolutely holy and just and may only be approached by faith believing in the risen Savior, Jesus Christ the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.(Ephesians 2:7-9)

In all the enemy's efforts to entice man to blame someone else for his shortcomings it's interesting to note that the natural man will never look to someone else to save him. He's quick to blame another for any problem or sin, but he will not and cannot look to the Risen Savior to save his soul. This is a great paradox but is indicative of the utterly depraved and wicked condition of the human heart. Only by the drawing of the Holy Spirit might man approach unto the salvation of the cross of Christ. Only by the power of God is sinful man able to lift up his eyes and cry out "Lord, help me!"

Nonetheless God is faithful is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9) Have you built your hope upon your own works (man is saved by himself) or have you built your hope upon the sure foundation and solid Rock that is Christ Jesus (man is saved by God)? In the final analysis salvation is either of man or it is of God; and we know that man CANNOT be saved by himself. To which will you entrust the fate of your eternal soul, the filthy rags of your good works or the grace of the Almighty?

Sunday, February 25, 2007

Lord's Day Grace

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:8-10)

The grace of God is simply amazing. The Bible teaches us in 2 Corinthians 5:21; "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him". God Almighty made Jesus Christ - the perfect Lamb of God without spot or blemish - to be sin for us! Imagine this for a moment, of all the miracles described within the Holy Writ consider the importance of this singular example of God's tender mercy toward unregenerate mankind. For while we were yet His enemies, Christ died for us! (Romans 5:10)

Now there are those who would teach that man must add something to the work of the cross, that man must somehow add to or help complete the faithful work of Jesus Christ. They would veil this legalistic deception beneath layers of scripture which they claim shows man must work in order to earn some merit or good will from the Lord God Almighty. Oh the hubris! Oh the shame! How shallow is this lie! How vain! For you see it is the pinnacle and expression of man's sinful pride that says he has something worthwhile to offer the Creator and Judge of the universe! God Almighty is completely self-contained, self-sufficient and self-sustaining within Himself. He needs nothing whatsoever, otherwise he would not be qualified to be God.

It's certainly true that men who have been born-again of the Spirit of God through the free offer of salvation made available through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ will perform good works, yet as we clearly see from Epehesians 2:10 above, even these works are ordained of God.

Let us lay aside all pretense that there's anything good or worthwhile in and of ourselves. God Almighty in His good pleasure for His own glory has chosen that men might be saved and produce good fruit according to the outworking of His holy will. Anything good, anything worthwhile, any good fruit produced by man is possible only by the grace of God.

May we who are called by His name lift the Lord God Almighty up and esteem Him as the Most High in every area of our lives, our thought life, our prayer life, and our very worldview. May He be the sure foundation upon which we build our very lives for there is none like Him!

Saturday, February 24, 2007

Dialogue with Mormon Missionaries

I found this excellent apologetic piece over at CARM. Read it and be blessed!

One of the problems with speaking to Mormons about the gospel is that the words they use don’t mean the same thing to the average Christian. When Mormons use words like Trinity, God, Jesus, salvation, etc., they are not thinking the same thing as the typical Christian. This is a problem. The Mormons think they are speaking with true Christian understanding as does the average Christian. Only, they may use the same words, they don’t mean the same thing.

Let me illustrate this with a hypothetical dialogue that represents actual conversations I've had in the company of Mormon missionaries who were speaking to potential converts. I've been involved with many such conversations over 20 years and I offer this as a typical example.

I am aware that I can construct the argument to my advantage and that many Mormons will protest this as unfair. I do not intend this to be unfair, but an illustration of the difference between Mormon and Christian definitions of words.

There will be three characters, Mark a Mormon missionary, Peter the potential convert, and Matt -- that's me. The conversation is taking place on a street corner where I have stopped to talk to two missionaries speaking to someone (I've really done this many times.)

One last note: I’ve actually included real statements from Mormons I’ve dialogued with on my discussion boards, in emails, and in chat rooms.

The scene is a street corner in a local city. I see the missionaries speaking to someone and I join in.

Matt: Hi. How's it going? Are you talking to this guy about Mormonism?
Mark: Yes, we are. We've given him some literature to read and were about to explain what we believe to him. Are you a Mormon?
Matt: No. But do you mind if I listen to the conversation?
Mark: Not at all.
Mark: As I was saying Peter, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that there is only one God, that there is a Trinity, and that we are saved by grace.
Peter: That's great. I was wondering if you guys were Christian or not. I've heard different things about you and my preacher last year said that your church wasn't Christian.
Mark: Oh yes, we are definitely Christian. We believe in the same Jesus and God as you do. We believe the Bible is God's word just like you. Usually the people who don't think we're Christian don't know what we believe and have only listened to anti-Mormon stuff. But, we are Christian. We believe in the Jesus of the Bible, in His Father, and in salvation by grace.
Peter: That’s great. You guys sure sound Christian to me.
Matt: Excuse me, can I interject something here?
Mark: Of course, go ahead.
Matt: Peter, so you think they are Christian because they say they believe in one God, in the Trinity, and salvation by grace?
Peter: Yep. They are Christians.
Matt: Could I run something by you real quick?
Peter: Sure.
Matt: I'd like you to tell me if you think this is Christian. What if I said that I believed that god used to be a man on another world and he became a god by following the laws and ordinances of that god on that world. And, that when he became a god, he raised his wife to goddess hood. So, god then has a goddess wife. They both have physical form. And what if I added that they both came to this world and produce spirit children in heaven. These spirit children then inhabit babies during birth and that each of them has the potential to be like god and become gods of their own worlds? What would you think of that if I said it that way?
Peter: Well, I don’t know. It doesn’t sound like anything I’ve heard in the Bible. I guess I’d have to disagree with you.
Matt: Okay, and what if I said that I believed that god and his wife produced Jesus and the Holy Ghost in heaven and that the three of them are three gods and that together they form the one Godhead known as the Trinity? What would you think of that?
Peter: Well, I know that isn't what the Bible teaches so I would disagree with you again.
Matt: Well, Peter, that is what Mormonism teaches.
Peter: No way… come on. It does not.
Matt: Okay Mark, is what I said true?
Mark: Well, not exactly. You've worded it in such a way to make it sound bad.
Matt: Okay then, why don't you tell him what you believe in your own words?
Mark: We believe in God the Father, and in his Son Jesus Christ who is our savior. We believe we have the potential to be like Heavenly Father and return to him one day.
Matt: Peter, did what he just said jive what I said Mormonism teaches?
Peter: No. They are different.
Matt: Which is true, Mark?
Mark: Well, there are some things that are difficult to understand and you don't just go telling them to people until they've learned all the basics. You’re taking things out of context.
Matt: I don't see why you just don't tell them the whole thing up front? Tell them you believe you can become a god and that there is a goddess mother in heaven?
Mark: Matt, I think you’re being very rude and contentious. I don’t feel the spirit of God here.
Matt: I don’t mean to be contentious. But I do intend to simply tell Peter what Mormonism teaches. Is that okay?
Mark: You don’t understand Mormonism. You are taking everything out of context.
Peter: Matt, you aren't serious are you? Where'd you get this information?
Matt: I got it from Mormon writers. Mark, you said you believed in one God, right?
Mark: Yes, we believe in only one God.
Matt: Let me ask you. Is Jesus a member of the Trinity?
Mark: Yes.
Matt: Is Jesus a god?
Mark: Yes.
Matt: Then that means there are two gods, right?
Mark: There is only one God. We believe in only one of them.
Matt: You just said that Jesus is a god. He with the father makes two gods. And also, isn't the Holy Ghost a god, too?
Mark: Yes.
Matt: Then that is three gods. And, there is the wife of Heavenly Father, right? That makes four. So, isn’t it true that what you are saying is that you believe that many gods exist but you serve and worship only one of them.
Mark: I do not appreciate the manner in which you are discussing this. I feel the spirit of contention here. I think we should leave.
Matt: My apologies Mark. I mean no offense, but I believe you are trained to respond in such a way that is misleading. I'd appreciate it if you would correct me and show me where I am wrong when I say something.
Peter: I'm interest in knowing what the truth is here. Can we continue?
Mark: I'd like to, but I don't like the manner that he is presenting this. It is degrading and insulting. Why don't you leave?
Peter: I'd like him to stay.
Matt: I apologies for being blunt, but I don't know any other way to get the point accross. We are talking about the fundamental nature of God. He can't be described in generic, vague terms. We need to know what you mean by the term "God" as compared to what we mean as Christians. I propose to you that they are not the same. You use the same words, but not the same definitions.
Mark: I disagree. We believe in the same God you do.
Matt: Well, I don't think so. The Bible says that God has always been God (Psalm 90:2) and that God doesn't even know of any other gods (Isaiah 44:6,8). In Mormonism, god is an exalted man from another world, right?
Mark: Well, technically that is correct, but there is more to it than that.
Matt: Like what?
Mark: For one, we believe in eternal progression and the right of God’s children to become like him. After all, the Bible says we are children of God and that we are to become perfect as heavenly father is perfect.
Matt: See, you are making my case for me. We don’t mean the same thing by the words used here. In Christianity, being God’s children doesn’t mean there is a mother goddess who’s married to God the Father and they produce spirit children. Instead, it is speaking of adoption (Romans 8). Also, being perfect (Matt. 5:48) does not mean becoming a god, but loving all people as God does. It is clear when you read the context of Matt. 5:43-48. Also, when Christians speak of God, they mean a single being called God, not one of three gods in the godhead. They don’t mean a god who used to be a man on another world and has a goddess wife. The beliefs are radically different.
Mark: Look. I think you’re rude and wording things to make us look bad.
Matt: How? Were you going to tell Peter here these things? Or were you going to tell him about loving God, believing in salvation by grace, and let him think you mean something different than you do? That isn’t right.
Peter: Is this true Mark? Do you guys really believe there is a goddess mother in heaven?
Mark: Well, it isn’t taught as official doctrine by the church.
Matt: But do you believe it?
Mark: .....Yes.
Matt: If it isn’t taught as official church doctrine, then why do you believe it?
Mark: It isn’t officially taught, but it only makes sense that if we have a Father, that we’d also have a mother.
Matt: Perhaps it makes sense on the human level. But spiritual truth is determined by the Bible, not by human feelings or logic. The Bible states that there are no other gods beside God. In fact, God says that he doesn’t even know of any other gods (Isaiah 44:6,8). Now, if he has a goddess wife, wouldn’t he know about her?
Mark: There you go twisting things again?
Matt: How am I twisting this? I am applying biblical statements to our conversation.
Mark: I think you’re rude and I don’t want to talk about this anymore.
Peter: No, please don’t go. This is very interesting. Matt, perhaps you could be gentler in your approach.
Matt: Mark, I apologize for any rudeness. I am not trying to be mean. Can we continue?
Mark: Since Peter asked, sure.
Matt: Well then, why don’t you state what you believe to Peter.
Mark: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The LDS Church states that Jesus is the Son of God, the Creator of the universe, and the savior and redeemer of the world. How much more Christian can you get than that? I know, and I will know for the rest of my life, that the LDS Church is a Christian Church.
Peter: That sounds pretty good. But is it true that you believe God came from another planet?
Mark: He didn’t originate on another world. He’s eternal. We believe in eternal intelligences. God simply resided on another world before coming here.
Matt: But doesn’t Mormonism teach that God used to dwell on another world, as a man, and that he became a God through exaltation and is now the God of this earth?
Mark: Yes.
Peter: What?
Mark: We believe in eternal progression. We believe we are capable of being like Heavenly Father. We teach that as man is, God once was. As God is, man may become.
Peter: So you’re saying you believe you can become a god?
Mark: Yes, we believe we all have that potential?
Peter: But it doesn’t teach that in the Bible.
Mark: Actually, it does. The Bible says that we are to be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect.
Peter: Really? I didn’t know that.
Matt: Hold on a second. I already mentioned that that verse, which is Matt. 5:48, is not about becoming a god. It is about love. Mark, may I use your Bible and can we read the context?
Mark: Sure [reluctantly].
Matt: Here it is in the King James version. "Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 44But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. 46For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? 47And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? 48Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
So you see? It is dealing with loving all people equally. Not becoming a god.
Mark: But Jesus said, "Ye are gods."
Matt: That was John 10:34 which is a quote from Psalm 82:6. In John 10:30, Jesus had claimed to be one with God and the Pharisees got upset with Him and wanted to kill Him. He defended His position by quoting Psalm 82:6. In that Psalm, God is mocking the religious leaders of the day who had the power of life and death over their subjects. God says in the very next verse, "Nevertheless, you will die like men." In addition to that, Mark, your own apostle, James Talmage says in his book, Jesus the Christ, on the bottom of page 501, that that verse is not about becoming gods, but about the improper use of power by the religious leaders... just like I said. Check it out for yourselves.
Mark: I suppose you’ve got an answer for everything.
Matt: Hardly, there is much I don’t know. But I do know that the Bible teaches that God said there is only one God, not more than one. Would you like to see the verses...
Mark: No, that’s okay. I think it’s time for us to leave. The contention here is too strong.
Matt: Well, before you go, I’d like to say one last thing. You stated that you believe in God, the same God that I believe in. Yet, you believe he came from another world and has a goddess wife. I don’t believe that and from what I see, the Bible doesn’t teach it. So, they aren’t the same then are they.
Mark: I suppose not.
Matt: Then, why would you use the same words we use to speak to some like Peter here? Isn’t that misleading him.
Mark: Time to go.
Matt: Okay, I’ll see you later I hope.

Darwin's Dangerous Idea

"The idea that one species of organism is, unlike all the others, oriented not just toward its own increated prosperity but toward Truth, is as un-Darwinian as the idea that every human being has a built-in moral compass--a conscience that swings free of both social history and individual luck." (Richard Rorty, "Untruth and Consequences," The New Republic, July 31, 1995, pp. 32-36.)

Rorty's pronouncements do not always inspire maximum confidence, but here he seems to be on to something (although like [Daniel Dennett, author of Darwin's Dangerous Idea he fails to see the real danger here). He says that two ideas are unDarwinian: that we have a mind oriented towards the Truth and a conscience that puts us in touch with right and wrong. Now Dennett does try to deal with the second from the Darwinian perspective (although what he really tries to explain is not how there could actually be such a thing as right and wrong, good and bad, from that perspective, but how it is that we think there is such a thing.)

But the other part of Rorty's suggestion is where the real intellectual danger in Darwin's dangerous idea lies (at any rate if Rorty's "Truth" is just ordinary everyday truth). Why so? Here I can only hint at the argument. Darwin's dangerous idea is really two ideas put together: philosophical naturalism together with the claim that our cognitive faculties have originated by way of natural selection working on some form of genetic variation. According to this idea, then, the purpose or function of those faculties (if they have one) is to enable or promote survival, or survival and reproduction, more exactly, the maximization of fitness (the probability of survival and reproduction). Furthermore, the probability that our cognitive faculties are reliable (i.e., furnish us with a preponderance of true beliefs) on Darwin's dangerous idea is either low or inscrutable (i.e., impossible to estimate). But either gives the devotee of evolutionary naturalism a defeater for the proposition that his cognitive faculties are reliable, a reason for doubting, giving up, rejecting that natural belief. If so, then it also gives him a reason for doubting any beliefs produced by those faculties. This includes, of course, the beliefs involved in science itself. Evolutionary naturalism, therefore, provides one who accepts it with a defeater for scientific beliefs, a reason for doubting that science does in fact get us to the truth, or close to the truth. Darwin himself may perhaps have glimpsed this sinister presence coiled like a worm in the very heart of evolutionary naturalism: "With me," says Darwin, "the horrid doubt always arises whether the convictions of man's mind, which has been developed from the mind of the lower animals, are of any value or at all trustworthy. Would any one trust in the convictions of a monkey's mind, if there are any convictions in such a mind?"

Modern science was conceived, and born, and flourished in the matrix of Christian theism. Only liberal doses of self-deception and double-think, I believe, will permit it to flourish in the context of Darwinian naturalism.

HAT TIP: CARM

Too Close For Comfort?

Pastor a simulated church and create your own Christian empire… Attract fickle unchurched people with Bingo, revival meetings or fasting–it is all up to you… Choose a denomination (Lutheran, Catholic, Baptist, Pentecostal plus many more obscure factions). Or load a brand new emergent plug-in… With network play enabled, you can steal members from other churches and earn points just like you saved them yourself. (emphasis theirs)

This is satire but oh how close it to home it hits, especially within today's professing ecumenical churches of deceit!

HAT TIP: Christian Research Net

Friday, February 23, 2007

Exposing Error: Tommy Tenney

"Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar" (Proverbs 30:5–6)

I found this detailed and focused indictment of the heresy of Tommy Tenney over at Personal Freedom Outreach.

According to Personal Freedom Outreach's bio, Tommy Tenney is one of the darlings of TBN (The Blasphemy Network), is a charismatic speaker and is the author of several books, including The God Chasers, The God Catchers, God's Dream Team, God's Favorite House and others. Appearances at the Brownsville Revival and on the cover of Charisma magazine have added to his exposure and he has become a very marketable commodity. Because of his success, Tenney has hired 15 people to assist him and receives up to 500 invitations a month to speak.

Sadly there is overwhelming evidence that Mr. Tenney's false theology hails from the desolate, barren spiritual wasteland of modern American evangelicalism wherein men are blown about by every wind of doctrine. He is the corrupted spiritual peer of apostate word-faith heretics such as Joel Osteen, Benny Hinn, T.D. Jakes and their ilk.

May the Lord of Hosts open the eyes of the deceived masses who follow after these blind leaders of the blind! May our Shepherd call His sheep out from among the goats who are being led astray and led to the slaughter by these wolves in sheep's clothing! Amen.

The Measure of a Man

Isaiah 40:31
But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

What is the measure of man? In order to understand this question which is perhaps as old as humanity itself we must look to the source of all wisdom, the revealed Word of God. In His manifold wisdom the Lord saw fit to create man in His own image and to give man responsibility in the earth. From this brief passage in Genesis 1:26 we can easily infer that man's responsibility before God is in fact ordained by God; Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, [a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground".

Now it comes as no real surprise to a man to find himself desirous of something to do. That something may be as fruitful and productive as being a messenger of the Gospel of grace or as perverse and wicked as opposing the Creator of the Universe in defiance of His holy will, but in the final analysis we find nothing in between, for man either serves the One True Living God or he serves something else, usually himself.

Clearly not all men serve the Lord, nonetheless all men at all times are commanded to place their faith squarely in Him and none other. This is perhaps the crux of the oft debated Calvinist argument in favor of election of the saints. Clearly election is taught in Scripture and I have nothing to say against this doctrine, except to say that free will is also taught in Scripture thus both concepts are simultaneously equally true and valid. How God in His unsearchable wisdom balances these seemingly irreconcilable teachings is, at least to me, a mystery. Yet are we Christians not, by definition, supernaturalists? Indeed, we are. And since this is our case may we who claim to believe in the availability of eternal salvation for the sinner, the mystery of the invisible church, the virgin birth, the resurrection of the dead, and the Triune eternal Godhead also believe the simple teaching of Holy Writ that declares our Sovereign God has both a perfect will (not willing that any should perish, but all should come to repentance) and a permissive will (equally clear from Scripture is that all will not repent and many will perish).

The working out of God's Sovereign plan of salvation of His elect is a mystery, even to those of us who see through a glass darkly, yet by faith we proclaim together in one voice; "Praise Him forevermore!", and preach His everlasting Gospel to every creature under heaven (Revelation 14:6).

I want to take a moment to point out the extreme importance of recognizing that the Gospel is described as an everlasting Gospel in Revelation 14:6. This same concept is echoed by the inspired Apostle Paul in Galations 3:8 when he explains And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, "In thee shall all nations be blessed." We see the essential gospel (the promise of a future hope in God) was preached by God Himself unto faithful Abraham! As Christians we often tend to think of the Gospel message as dating from the time of Christ's incarnation, yet within the revealed Word of God we find instead that the true Gospel dates from time immemorial, for before there was a universe or any created thing there was the "I AM" who in and of Himself, utterly self-contained and without need or want, entered into covenant with Himself thereby engendering the Gospel of and by Himself: Jesus said unto them, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am". (John 8:58)


We see the evidence of the eternal nature and existence of the Gospel evidenced throughout the Holy Writ. For example in Galatians 1:11 Paul unequivocally states the gospel is not after man: "But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man." If it is "not after (the fashion of) man" then that leaves only God as the source of the Gospel since He is the Creator of all things; of course this would seem obvious but I think this point is often overlooked, and if it weren't it seems unlikely that the Apostle Paul would have made this point with such care and precision. Furthermore in Romans 16:25-26 we read "Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:". The evidence is conclusive, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is an everlasting gospel whose beginning is tied directly and inextricably to the eternal Godhead Who instituted covenant with Himself prior to any act of creation in order that men would be saved through grace by faith in Him alone.

Friend, this is a hard teaching but if it doesn't lend you comfort, nothing this side of heaven ever will. For you see, in His omniscience and perfect love the absolutely Sovereign God Almighty knew that you would inherit a problem from your earthly father, Adam. That problem is called "sin" and it entered the world through man's rebellion and unrepentant heart. The Creator of the Universe who made you and I in His very image knew full well that we would be hopeless sinners without excuse and without escape from hell's flames, except that He intervene directly. He, the omiscient, omnipotent and eternal God has always known this.

Sin didn't surprise God. He wasn't caught off guard by man's predeliction for wickedness and his evil mistreating of his fellow man. But God, the Perfect One, Just and Righteous and ABSOLUTELY HOLY entered into eternal covenant with Himself that God the Father would forgive the sins of men who placed their faith in God the Son who would set aside the glory of heaven, and humble Himself to enter our sin sick world in order to endure the shame and agony of the Cross for the joy that was set before Him, and that God the Holy Spirit would bear witness to this faithful and true teaching, worthy of all acceptance, and draw men unto salvation that you and I through grace by faith alone in the one and only unique Savior, Jesus Christ, might be reconciled to the One True Living God through His atoning sacrifice. Jesus paid our price. God's Holy Justice against the sins of those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ was satisfied on the cross. His grace is sufficient to not only cover, but absolutely obliterate our sin.

Friend, as you read this does the Holy Spirit not bear witness to the truth herein? Does your heart not burn within you as the Spirit of God convicts you with the absolute and undeniable truth of His Word? You have a friend in Jesus Christ, our great Lord who is not unfamiliar with our weaknesses and infirmities, being tested in every way as we are, yet without sin. That's a claim we cannot make, you and I, for we are guilty sinners before God. We have not and cannot live a life good enough, worthy enough, or righteous enough to be freed from our sin through our good works, therefore we're guilty before God and condemned to eternal punishment except for the pardon of the cross!

Oh friend, if I could ask you now, will you not heed the call of the Spirit unto the Lord Jesus Christ? Will you not abandon your false and prideful sense of autonomy and humble yourself before Him? Will you not bow your knee and submit to Him as your Lord and Savior? For in the Bible in 1 Timothy 1:15 we read "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners;". Praise be to God that you and I qualify for the pardon He freely offers! Won't you trust Him today? Won't you call upon His name? We read in Romans 10:13; "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Are you a "whosoever"? Are you a sinner? Yes, as indeed are all men, and as such you qualify to call upon His precious name and be saved.


What is the measure of a man? Man is measured against the absolute perfection and holiness of God Almighty, the Creator and Judge of the universe. By this measure we are without hope, but through the blood of the Lamb of God, Christ Jesus we find our true measure. For through the blood we are measured as co-heirs with Christ and as adopted children of the One True Living God. This is the measure of a man; his submission to Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. Friend, how do you measure up today?

Thursday, February 22, 2007

How Great Is Our God!

1 Chronicles 16:25
For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised: he also is to be feared above all gods.

Psalm 48:1
Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness.

Psalm 145:3
Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.

2 Chronicles 2:5
And the house which I build is great: for great is our God above all gods.

Psalm 147:5
Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.

Lamentations 3:23
They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

Zechariah 9:17
For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty

Isaiah 12:6
Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.

Isaiah 9:2
The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.

Isaiah 19:20
And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry unto the LORD because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a saviour, and a great one, and he shall deliver them.

Jeremiah 32:17
Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:

Jeremiah 32:18
Thou shewest lovingkindness unto thousands, and recompensest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them: the Great, the Mighty God, the LORD of hosts, is his name,

Jeremiah 32:19
Great in counsel, and mighty in work: for thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings:

Ezekiel 25:17
And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them.

Ezekiel 36:23
And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.

Daniel 2:45
Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.

Daniel 9:4
And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments;

Nahum 1:3
The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.

Zephaniah 1:14
The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.


Zechariah 1:14
So the angel that communed with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.

Malachi 1:14
But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the LORD a corrupt thing: for I am a great King, saith the LORD of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen.


Matthew 4:16
The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.


Matthew 5:35
Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.

Matthew 24:30
And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

Luke 1:32
He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

Luke 8:39
Return to thine own house, and shew how great things God hath done unto thee. And he went his way, and published throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done unto him.

Luke 22:44
And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

Acts 22:6
And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me.


Titus 2:13
Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;


Hebrews 4:14
Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.


Hebrews 13:20
Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,


2 Peter 1:4
Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

Revelation 6:17
For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

Revelation 11:17
Saying, We give thee thanks, O LORD God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.

Revelation 15:3
And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.

Revelation 19:1
And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God:


Revelation 19:5
And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great.

Revelation 19:17
And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;

Revelation 21:3
And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.


Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Countercult Corner: Refuting the LDS Part 2

I found this excellent resource from pastor-teacher Ken Silva over at Apprising Ministries. In his missive Pastor Silva utterly decimates the LDS heresy regarding the "unreliability" of the Word of God as contained in the Holy Bible.

The LDS cult - as is the case in some form or fashion of each before it - denies the inerrant, infallible, inspired, and plenary Word of God. Amazingly the LDS cultist's rejection of the authority of the self-attesting Word of God comes as the result of his acceptance of the self-attesting witness of a wicked sinful man, Joseph Smith Jr.!

The upside down logic of the LDS's absurd and untenable position is clear for any born-again believer in Jesus Christ to see; yet we must remember these sons of hell are depraved sinners in Satan's service, and since they are unenlightened by the Holy Spirit they are lost in their sins and in desperate need of the REAL Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

May we who by His grace alone have been made partakers of the Lord's sacrifice and Spirit have a ready answer for the hope that is within us when we encounter the Satanic missionaries of the LDS.

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Looking For a Church Home

I found the following article by Dr. Donald S. Whitney to be a useful tool for those who are seeking a Christ-centered, Biblically based church home.

Of course each individual Christian is responsible to "rightly divide the Word of Truth", therefore the believer ought not only measure the answers to these questions against the revealed Word of God, but also ought to examine his own assumptions as to "acceptable answers" in the light of Holy Scripture as well.

As always, diligent prayer and seeking the Lord's purpose is the key to finding yourself in the center of His good and perfect will; which includes your church family.


Looking For A Church Home?
If you are looking for a church home, the answers you receive to questions like these may help you determine whether a particular church is the one where God wants you.

Tips for using these questions:

Ask wisely. Talk to the pastor, if at all possible. If not, then ask another staff member of the church.

Ask personally. Visit or call him. Do not mail or fax these and ask for a written reply.

Ask courteously. Do not "grill" the pastor or ask aggressively.

Ask selectively. Do not ask all these questions at one time. The more serious you become about membership, the more appropriate it becomes to ask additional questions later.

These questions are not necessarily listed in the order of significance. Some of them may not be important to you. You may want to add others.

Realize that you may not be able to find a church near you which can answer all your questions satisfactorily. However, the Lord does want you to find a church home where you can be involved.

1. How is a person made right with God?
2. What is your position on the inerrancy of Scripture?
3. Do you believe Genesis 1-11 is factual or symbolic?
4. Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the only way to Heaven?
5. What is your position on the Lordship Salvation issue, i.e., can a person take Jesus as Savior without taking him as Lord?
6. Do you believe that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin?
7. Do you believe in the bodily return of Jesus Christ?
8. Do you believe in a literal Hell?
9. What is your position on the ordination of women for positions of church leadership?
10. How do you deal with a young child who says he or she wants to be saved?
11. How do you combat easy-believism?
12. What are your views regarding divorce and remarriage?
13. What is your position on the charismatic movement?
14. How would you/the church handle a case of scandal or immorality by a church member?
15. What is your position on church debt and is the church in debt?
16. Have there been any splits in the church and have any pastors been asked to leave?
17. What have been the high points (or the "best thing") in this church in the last five years? In the last six months?
18. What are the greatest strengths of this church? Weaknesses?
19. How do you foster the spiritual growth of individuals in your church?
20. What are your goals for the church?
21. Would you mind telling me about your devotional life?
22. Who are your favorite authors?
23. What is the doctrinal statement of the church, and may I have a copy? (Note: Be cautious if the church has no doctrinal statement or cannot find a copy.)
24. Does the church follow it's constitution and by-laws, and may I have a copy?
25. Does a large percentage of the church differ with your position on any of these issues?

You may also want to know if there is any antagonism by the pastor or the church toward any ministries that are important to you.

Other issues you might want to formulate questions about, if applicable to your situation, are: abortion, home-schooling, the Masons, the New Age Movement, etc.

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Types of Prophecy and Prophecy in Type

One of the most thrilling and comforting aspects of Scripture is its use of prophecy. Estimates vary but roughly 25% of the Holy Bible is of a prophetic nature, either fulfilled literally in the past, or yet to be fulfilled literally in the future.

God's sovereign unfolding of history should come as great comfort to those of us who have been called by His Name according to His riches in mercy. Upon closer inspection we find that practically everything in the OT points toward Jesus Christ as revealed in the NT. He is the Truth of the Ages upon which history itself turns.

From Lamb & Lion Ministries:

Consider the Ark of the Covenant. Everything about it was symbolic of the Messiah. It was made of wood, indicating the Messiah would be human. It was overlaid with gold, signifying the Messiah would be divine. It contained three objects - the tablets of stone, a pot of manna, and Aaron's rod that budded. The tablets signified that the Messiah would have the law of God in His heart. The manna meant the Messiah would be the Bread of Life. The rod with blooms was a prophecy that the Messiah would arise from the dead.

The lid of the Ark was called the Mercy Seat. It had a golden angel at each end. The angels faced each other and their wings hovered over the lid. Once a year the High Priest sprinkled blood on the Mercy Seat and communed with the Shekinah glory of God which hovered above the angels.

The Mercy Seat pointed to the fact that through the work of the Messiah the mercy of God would cover the Law. The blood foreshadowed the fact that the Messiah would have to shed His own blood to atone for our sins.

Jesus fulfilled every prophetic type of the Ark. He was God in the flesh (John 10:30). He had the Law in His heart (Matthew 5:17). He declared Himself to be the "Bread of Life" (John 6). He shed His blood on the Cross and was resurrected in power, atoning for our sins and covering the Law with Grace (Romans 3:21-26).

Mary saw the fulfillment of the Ark when she went to the tomb and discovered the body of Jesus missing. In John 20:11-12 its says she looked into the tomb and "beheld two angels in white sitting, one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying." Do you understand what she saw? She saw the "mercy seat" where the blood had been spilled, with an angel at each end exactly like the Mercy Seat that covered the Ark!

As you can see, prophetic types bring the Old Testament alive and give us deep insights into New Testament events.


Read "Types of Prophecy and Prophecy in Type" in its entirety here.

Countercult Corner: Refuting the LDS

The "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" truly fails to live up to its name. It may be more accurately described as "The Temple of Satan", or perhaps "The Cult of Joseph Smith Jr. of Deceived Apostates".

Mormonism In A Nutshell
Mormonism teaches that God used to be a man on another world and that he became a god by following the laws and ordinances of his god on his home world. He brought his wife to this world, a woman he had married on the other world. She is, essentially a goddess.

In his present god-state, he rules our world. He has a body of flesh and bones. Since god and his wife are both exalted persons, they each possess physical bodies. In their exalted states as deities, they produce spirit children that grow and mature in the spiritual realm. The first spirit born was Jesus. Afterwards Lucifer was born along with the rest of us. So, Mormonism teaches that we all pre-existed in the spirit realm having been produced from the union of god and his goddess wife. Therefore, we all existed in spirit form before coming down down and entering the bodies of human babies that are being born on earth. During this ‘compression' into the infant state, the memories of their pre-existence is 'veiled.'

God the father, who is called Elohim, was concerned for the future salvation of the people on earth. In the heavenly realm, the Father had a plan for the salvation of the world. Jesus endorsed the Father's plan. Lucifer did not. Lucifer became jealous and rebelled. In his rebellion he convinced a large portion of the spirits existing in heaven to side with him and oppose god. God being more powerful then they, cursed these rebellious spirits to become demons. They can never be born in human bodies.

The remaining spirits sided with God. Since they chose the better way, when it comes time for them to live on earth, they have the privilege of being born in races and locations that are relative to their condition and choice made in the spirit realm.

In the Mormon plan of salvation there needed to be a savior: Jesus. But Jesus was a spirit in heaven. For him to be born on earth, Brigham Young the second prophet of the Mormon church said that instead of letting any other man do it, God the Father did it with Mary. He said that the birth of our savior was as natural as the birth of our parents. Essentially, what this means is that Brigham Young taught that god the father came down and had relations with Mary, his spirit daughter, to produce the body of Jesus. Though many Mormons will not entertain such incestuous thoughts about God and Mary, this is what Brigham Young taught and as far as we know, this has not been denied by the Mormon church.

Nevertheless, Jesus was born, got married, and had children. He died on the cross and paid for sins -- but not on the cross only. According to Mormonism, the atonement of Christ was not only on the cross. It began in the Garden of Gethsemane before he went to the cross.

In Mormonism, men and women have the potential of becoming gods. President Lorenzo Snow said, "As god once was, man is. As God is, man may become." In order to reach this exalted state of godhood, a person must first become a good Mormon, pay a full ten percent tithe to the Mormon church, follow various laws and ordinances of the church, and be found worthy. At this point, they receive a temple recommend whereupon, the Mormon is allowed to enter their sacred temples in order to go through set of secret rituals: baptism for the dead, celestial marriage, and various oaths of secrecy and commitment. Additionally, four secret handshakes are taught so the believing Mormon, upon entering the third level of Mormon heaven, can shake hands with god in a certain pattern. This celestial ritual is for the purpose of permitting entrance into the highest level of heaven. For those who achieve this highest of heavens, exaltation to godhood awaits them. Then, he or she, will be permitted to have his or her own planet and be the god of his own world and the Mormon system will be expanded to other planets.



A Logical Proof That Mormonism Is False
Mormonism teaches that God used to be a man on another world and that he became a god (this is called exaltation) and came to this world with his goddess wife. He was able to become a god because he followed the laws and ordinances of the god he served on another world. That god in turn was exalted by his god, who was exalted by his god, ad infinitum. In other words, there is a progression of gods being formed as far back as you look in time.

Truth does not contradict itself. If I gave two statements about a subject and the two statements contradicted each other, then you would know something was wrong. The law of non contradiction states that something cannot be both true and false in the same sense at the same time. In other words, truth does not contradict itself. This is basic logic. That which is true is internally consistent and contains no logical impossibilities. If something does contain a logical impossibility, then it cannot be true.

Mormonism teaches an infinite regression of causes. This means that it teaches that each god was made a god by a previous god. This means that as far back as you look in time, this process has always been occurring. This means that from an infinity of time in the past, the Mormon plan of exaltation (become gods) has been in effect. The only problem is that this is logically impossible. Since it is logically impossible, this means that Mormonism is false. Let's look closer.

There cannot be an infinite regression of causes. It is logically impossible. Why? Because you can not cross an infinity. In other words, in order for us to get to the present state of this god on this planet, there would have had to be an infinite number of exaltations in the past. But, this cannot be because in order to get to the present, you would have to transverse an infinity of exaltations and that is impossible since you cannot transverse an infinity -- if you could cross (transverse) an infinity of time, then it isn't infinite. Therefore, the Mormon system of infinite regressions of exaltations to godhood is impossible and Mormonism is proven false. Simple.

However, Mormons will not give in to a logical proof since their testimonies are not based on facts, but on what they claim is a testimony of the Holy Spirit. Of course, all cult groups have testimonies that their church is true (proving that testimonies are contradictory and untrustworthy as a means to determining truth). Nevertheless, they are taught to "feel" theological truth, not think it through.

How then do they respond to this logical proof that Mormonism is false? Normally they say that it is a mystery. Mysteries are fine, but they cannot suffice as an explanation if they contradict logic. In other words, if a principle is blatantly illogically, it cannot be true. Did you get that? It cannot be true. Saying it is a mystery means nothing if the proclamation of that mystery violates the laws of logic. Mormonism is proven false.


What Is The Truth?
Okay, so if the Mormon principle of eternal regression of exaltations is logically impossible, then what is the truth?

The truth is that there is a single uncaused cause. Logic necessitates that there must be a single being who is without beginning and upon which time has no meaning or affect who is the single uncaused cause. The Bible says that God is unchanging (unlike the Mormon god) and that he has been God from eternity. This is exactly what logic necessitates as being true. The God of Christianity is not an exalted man from another planet with a goddess wife. The God of Christianity has always been God and has never been anything else.

Check out the following verses.

"For I, the LORD, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed," (Mal. 3:6).

"Before the mountains were born or You gave birth to the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God," (Psalm 90:2).

What is sad is that this simple logical proof, and it is a proof that Mormonism is false, will mean basically nothing to those whose spiritual eyes have been blinded by the god of this world.

"And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God," (2 Cor. 4:3-4).




HAT TIP: Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry - (CARM)

What The Abortionists DON'T Want You to Know

They don't want you to read this story or see the pictures of little Amillia.

How many millions of little "Amillia's" have been literally ripped limb from limb and suctioned out of their mother's wombs in America? The numbers vary but there's evidence that the number lies between 45~50 million. This doesn't even take into account the lives extinguished globally.

Abortion is indisputably the greatest stain upon the hands of reprobate sinful man and I tremble to think of the wrath to come for this most heinous and despicable offense.

How long oh Lord?!?

HAT TIP: Fox News

Monday, February 19, 2007

Exposing Error: John Hagee

I've been researching many prominent evangelicals with the express intent of exposing the error which they subtley introduce into the church. With this in mind I will begin a regular series of "Exposing Error" columns.

First up will be John Hagee, pastor of the San Antonio mega-church Cornerstone. While many of Hagee's teachings are generally well founded and orthodox we find in the light of Scripture many heretical and unbiblical teachings.

May the penetrating light of Holy Scripture expose spiritual wickedness and send it fleeing back to the darkness from whence it came. Nevertheless my prayer oh Lord is that You may restore such as these to a right relationship to their Creator and Judge through the blood of the Lamb, Christ Jesus. Amen.

Prosperity Doctrine

Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself. But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.(1 Timothy 6:5-11)

Let me make this perfectly clear, the so-called "Prosperity Doctrine" which is espoused and favored by Word-Faith heretics such as Kenneth Copeland, Benny Hinn, T.D. Jakes, Paul Crouch, Creflo A. Dollar, and Joel Osteen - to name but a few - is a lie straight from the pit of hell. When God’s people pursue money more than godliness they focus on the temporal instead of on the eternal.

The Lord Jesus Christ taught us that "where our treasure is, there will our heart be also". Friend, if you're trusting in the riches of this world then you've built your house on shifting sand. Trust in the Lord and seek after His righteousness and you'll never be disappointed in your eternal reward.

They Were Not Of Us

Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
(1 John 2:18-19)

I found this article to be yet another example of the bitter fruit being brought forth by today's professing church. The seminaries and denominational pipelines are so compromised that many (most?) of the pastors they spew forth upon the barren, desolate landscape of modern Christianity have absolutely no foundation in or relationship with the Lord.

These are "stony ground hearers" who "made a decision" based on an emotional experience and have never truly known the Lord God Almighty. Certainly our Sovereign Creator and Judge will ensure that His little flock is provided with pastor-teachers who He has called and who are filled with the Holy Ghost, but as we know, "a little leaven leaveneth the whole loaf".

Lord grant your children the discernment to be workmen who need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth. Amen.

HAT TIP: World Net Daily

Sunday, February 18, 2007

They Became Fools

"For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools" (Romans 1:20-22)

The Apostle Paul is not engaging in name calling when he contends under inspiration of the Holy Spirit that men who reject God are fools. Paul's contention is reinforced by the psalmist who states "The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God". And if we were still unconvinced that the unregenerate who reject the truth-claims of God Almighty are fools lacking in true wisdom then we need only be reminded that "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Psalm 111:10).

There can be no true wisdom apart from the Christian God! Certainly there can be what appears to men to be wisdom, but it is only a wisdom so-called, a worldly false wisdom based upon the conventions of the minds of men which is both defective and corrupt. This utterly corrupted pattern of thinking is attributable to the fall of man. The unregenerate are covenant-breakers who stand in opposition to their Creator and Judge and as such they are sinful and rebellious to the very core of their being. This condition has rightly been labeled as "depravity".

The concept of depravity is unpalatable and unpopular with today's "seeker-sensitive" church mentality and it is generally shunned in favor of world-friendly messages of self-esteem and an institutionalized and tawdry "easy-believism". America's apostate church-growth heretics have traded the whole counsel of God for the ear tickling man-centered deceptions of Satan. As such these spiritual brothels are leading countless myriads of deceived souls down "the broad way that leads to destruction". These "blind leaders of the blind" send their congregations home each week praising a God they've not known and singing of a heaven they'll never see.

Why is man depraved? Why is he without hope left to his own devices? Why don't sinners recognize their Sovereign Creator and Judge? The reason is quite simple, unregenerate man is his own god in his heart. The unredeemed believe that they, in and of themselves, are the final court of appeals and ultimate arbiter of all matters pertaining to life. For you see, by nature man unwaveringly believes that the true ultimate authority - the Supreme Court - by which all truth claims must be adjucated is his own autonomous (and sinful) reasoning powers.

This sad situation can be traced back to the fall of man. After man fell it was evermore his attempt to do without God in every respect. Man sought out his own ideals of truth, goodness and beauty somewhere other than God, either within himself, or in the created order about him. Prior to the fall God had interpreted the universe for man, or one might say man had interpreted the universe under the direction of God, but after the fall man sought to interpret the universe without reference to God; or at least without reference to the One True and Living God, the infinite Creator and Judge of the universe.

What then was the result as far as the question of knowledge is concerned on man's rebellion against God? The result was that man tried to interpret everything with which he came into contact without reference to God. The assumption of all his future interpretation was the self-sufficiency of his own autonomous (and sinful) reasoning ability.

Christians however have been compelled to take our notions with respect to the nature of reality from the Bible. It will be readily conceded that such a notion of reality could be received upon authority only. Such a notion of being - of the nature of reality - as taken by Christians is to be found nowhere except in the Bible. In fact the Bible is taken so seriously that we (Christians) have not any area of known reality by which the revelation that comes to us in the Bible may be compared, or to which it may be referred as a standard. In other words Christians have taken the final standard of truth to be the Bible itself.

Clearly this position will appear as intellectual suicide to most men who study philosophy. The complaint will be heard, “Is it not by the help of man's own reason that we are to think out the nature of reality and knowledge?” The critic will argue that to accept an interpretation of life upon authority is only permissible if we have looked into the foundations of the authority we accept. But if we must determine the foundations of the authority, we no longer accept the authority on authority! For you see, in the nature of the case God is the final authority. But if, as the critic charges, God's authority must be authorized or validated by the authority of human reasoning and assessment, then human reasoning and assessment is more authoritative than God Himself - in which case God would not have the final authority, and indeed would no longer be God! The autonomous man who insists that God can only be accepted if His word first gains the approval or agreement of man has determined in advance that God will never be acknowledged as God - the ultimate and final authority. So we see once again that unregenerate man's complaints about the supposed inadequacy of the arguments for God are not to be understood as anything like valid arguments against God, rather they are merely expressions of his pre-existing bias and unbelief.

The unregenerate philosopher is wont to close certain doors in order that he may hold his untenable positions. For example he may say it is the business of philosophy to ask ”How do we know?” while subtly ignoring the equally important question ”What do we know?” In other words according to our hypothetical philosopher the epistemological question can and must be asked without saying anything with respect to the ontological question.

Is this position tenable? Oh hypothetical, unregenerate philosopher; suppose it's true, for argument's sake, that such a being as we describe the Christian God to be does actually exist. Would such a God not have the right to speak to us with authority? Are we not, by saying that the question of knowledge is independent of the question of being, excluding one possible answer to the question of knowledge itself? If the Being of God is what, on the basis of Scripture testimony we have found it to be, it follows that our knowledge will be true knowledge only to the extent that it corresponds to His knowledge. To say that we don't need to ask about the nature of reality when we ask about the nature of knowledge is not to be neutral but is in effect to exclude the Christian answer to the question of knowledge.

Sin will reveal itself in the field of knowledge in the fact that man makes himself the ultimate court of appeal in the matter of all interpretation. He will refuse to recognize God's authority. Man has declared his autonomy over and against God. Thus we see in the scheme of things the mind of man must, for all practical purposes, take the place of God in the Christian scheme of things. The only substitute for the Christian scheme of things (that logic and reality meet first of all in the mind and being of God who created and rules the universe according to His plan) is to assert or assume that logic and reality meet originally in the mind of man. The final point of reference in all predication must ultimately rest in some mind, divine or human. It is either the self-contained God of Christianity or the would-be autonomous man that must be and is assumed as the final reference point in every sentence that man utters.

Of course the entire idea of inscripturated supernatural revelation is not merely foreign to but would be destructive of the idea of autonomy on which modern man builds his thought. If modern man is right in his assumption with respect to his own autonomy then he cannot even for a moment logically consider evidence for the fact of the supernatural in any form as appearing to man. The very idea of God as self contained is meaningless on his principles. The self-sufficiency of God refers to the fact that He needs nothing outside of Himself and is not subject to or determined by anything outside of Himself; that is God is 'self-contained'. As such, He is the Creator of all things and the determiner of all events and everything depends on Him. “In Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). It is therefore logically quite impossible for the natural man, holding as he does to the idea of autonomy, even to consider the “evidence” for the Scripture as the final and absolutely authoritative revelation of the God of Christianity.

Certainly their position allows for sacred books, and even for a superior book. But the one thing it does not allow for is an absolutely authoritative book, one whose authority is beyond challenge and has no qualifications or limits. Unbelievers may see the Bible as enshrining the advanced wisdom of many good men over the ages, and in that sense may see it as bearing some authority, but never an authority that in itself establishes what is true and right, no matter what. This is because such a book claims the existence and knowability of the self-contained God of Christianity. But such a God, and the revelation of such a God in the universe and to man are notions that, as has already been observed, the natural man must reject. So he will naturally reject that which is simply the logical implication of the idea of such a God and such a revelation.

When we deal with the unbelieving consciousness we must think of it as it is according to its corrupted autonomous reasoning. Hence the Christian cannot grant that the unbeliever has any right to judge in matters of theology, or anything else. The Scriptures nowhere appeal to the unregenerate reason as if it were a qualified judge. When Scripture says "Come, let us reason together," it speaks to the people of God and if it does speak to others it never regards them as equal with God or as competent to judge. The unregenerate man has knowledge of God, that is the revelation of God within him, the sense of deity which he continually seeks to suppress. Scripture does appeal to this sense of deity in man, but it does so and can do so only by denying that man, when acting upon his corrupted autonomous reasoning, has any ability or right to judge what is true or false, right or wrong.

The Shandong Miracle

I found this very interesting recording over at Choices for Living.

Read the "Shandong Miracle" story (be sure to read the translation of the lyrics) and give the recording a listen and decide for yourself in the light of Scripture.

As you'll see at the Choices for Living link above, there are other recordings as well, but I found the Chinese recording particularly beautiful and thrilling.

HAT TIP: World Net Daily

DISCLAIMER - I am not advocating for the validity of this "miracle" - so called - in linking to and sharing this material. Rather I found the story to be thought provoking, and the music (whatever its origin) to be uplifting. I pray that the music may encourage and inspire our persecuted brethern in China.

Lord's Day Grace

These verses have been rolling around in my mind for several days. In the rush of daily life with its myriad pressures and dizzying activities let us on this Lord's Day make time to sit at the feet of the Lord Jesus and gaze upon Him with loving adoration:

(Philippians 4:6-8)

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.


Lord help those who are called by your name to remain steadfast and earnest as we contend for the Gospel that was once and for all delivered unto the saints; as we endeavor to glorify You with whatever gifts You've seen fit to bestow upon us; as we edify our fellow believers and as we exhort the sinner who in his folly has said in his heart, "there is no God". Amen.

Saturday, February 17, 2007

The Blood of the Everlasting Covenant

I'm pleased to share this powerful and fundamental teaching on the covenant relationship between man and his Infinite Creator and Judge from The Spurgeon Archive:

"The blood of the everlasting covenant." (Hebrews 13:20)

ALL GOD'S dealings with men have had a covenant character. It hath so pleased Him to arrange it, that he will not deal with us except through a covenant, nor can we deal with Him except in the same manner. Adam in the garden was under a covenant with God and God was in covenant with Him. That covenant he speedily brake. There is a covenant still existing in all its terrible power—terrible I say, because it has been broken on man's part, and therefore God will most surely fulfill its solemn threatenings and sanctions. That is the covenant of works. By this he dealt with Moses, and in this doth he deal with the whole race of men as represented in the first Adam. Afterwards when God would deal with Noah, it was by a covenant; and when in succeeding ages he dealt with Abraham, he was still pleased to bind himself to him by a covenant. That covenant he preserved and kept, and it was renewed continually to many of his seed.

Continue reading "The Blood of the Everlasting Covenant" here.

DISCLAIMER - Spurgeon was adamantly Calvinist in his soteriology and while I agree with election - it is taught in scripture! - I also agree with free will - it is also taught in scripture! - therefore the burden is upon the reader to "rightly divide the word of truth" herein.

Billy Graham's Apostasy

It's saddens me to see the man who I once knew as "America's Preacher" turn his back on the The Lord of Glory. And while we can rest assured that men will always disappoint us, I'm nonetheless filled with righteous indignation that the dog has not only returned to his vomit, but through his influence he's caused countless others to commit grave error due to his example of rank apostasy.

Billy Graham has led an entire generation of pastor-teachers down the slippery slope of doctrinal error. His spiritual adultery with the likes of anti-Reformer Robert Schueller is well documented and irrefutable.

This article from WND is but one example of the clear and established pattern of compromise of Billy Graham. Graham's words in the linked article are eerily similar to the non-position taken by word-faith heretic Joel Osteen when he was quizzed about whether or not non-Christians can go to heaven on "Larry King Live":

KING: Because we've had ministers on who said, your record don't count. You either believe in Christ or you don't. If you believe in Christ, you are, you are going to heaven. And if you don't no matter what you've done in your life, you ain't.

OSTEEN: Yeah, I don't know. There's probably a balance between. I believe you have to know Christ. But I think that if you know Christ, if you're a believer in God, you're going to have some good works. I think it's a cop-out to say I'm a Christian but I don't ever do anything ...

KING: What if you're Jewish or Muslim, you don't accept Christ at all?

OSTEEN: You know, I'm very careful about saying who would and wouldn't go to heaven. I don't know ...

KING: If you believe you have to believe in Christ? They're wrong, aren't they?

OSTEEN: Well, I don't know if I believe they're wrong. I believe here's what the Bible teaches and from the Christian faith this is what I believe. But I just think that only God with judge a person's heart. I spent a lot of time in India with my father. I don't know all about their religion. But I know they love God. And I don't know. I've seen their sincerity. So I don't know. I know for me, and what the Bible teaches, I want to have a relationship with Jesus.


Unbelievable! A supposedly Christian pastor squirming in his seat and giving non-answers when quizzed about who is going to heaven! A child who's paid any attention whatsoever during Sunday School could answer this simple and direct question! Was this not an opportunity to share the Gospel message? Is Osteen not a messenger of the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Read the transcript again and decide for yourself.

The truth is Joel Osteen is an apostate heretic. We can see this clearly because in the singular moment that "Smilin' Joel" had in which to decide if he should risk the vaporization his fawning media coverage and the obliteration his "seeker friendly" status by proclaiming the exclusive and narrow way of Christ, he chose his father the devil and the praise of men instead of the Lord of Glory. Joel Osteen is a friend of the world, and we know from Scripture that whosoever is friends with the world is at enmity with God Almighty.

Based upon these same types of evidence we must also discern that Billy Graham is an enemy of God who has forsaken his first love. Unfortunately he is so iconic within the modern professing church that many would prefer to turn a blind eye to his error than expose it, and this is perhaps the gravest disservice of all. For we who are born-again believers in Jesus Christ are to exhort and correct our fellow believers, not enable them in the error of their ways. But since the body of Christ has become derelict in its duty and left the fool to his folly we find that Billy Graham's apostasy is older than you think.