Have You Died To Self?

“Suppose you have been neglected or unforgiven. You sting with the hurt of the insult from such an oversight, but your heart is happy because you have been counted worthy to suffer for Christ. That is what dying to self is all about. When your wishes are crossed, your advice disregarded, and your opinions ridiculed, and yet you refuse to let anger rise in your heart to try to defend yourself, you are practicing dying to self. When you lovingly and patiently stand face to face with folly and spiritual insensitivity, and endure it as Jesus did, you have died to self. When you are content with any food, money, clothing, climate, society, solitude, or interruption by the will of God, you have died to self. When you never care to refer to yourself in conversation, record your own good works, or desire commendation from others, you are dying to self. When you can honestly rejoice with a brother who has prospered and had his needs met and never feel any envy though your needs are greater and still unmet, you have practicing dying to self. When you can receive correction and reproof from one of less stature than yourself, and humbly admit he’s right with no resentment or rebellion in your heart, you have died to self. Are you dead yet?” 

~Anonymous

Romanizing Your Children

‎"If we continue to send our children to Caesar for their education, we need to stop being surprised when they come home as Romans." 

~ Voddie Baucham Jr

Christian, Are You Miserable and Lacking Joy?

You have no right to be miserable; you have no right to be lacking in joy. If you do not have the joy of salvation – I am speaking to Christians – there is only one reason. It is because you are deliberately listening to the devil rather than the word of God. You need to look again at the oneon the cross, and you must ask questions. What is he doing there? Was it an accident or was it deliberate, why was he there? What was the object? Listen to what he says: “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Mark 2:17).

~Martyn Lloyd-Jones (“Looking unto Jesus”)

Which Is Your Church?

A sermon that exalts the "Pastor" and his hearers is a message that strives against God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has no part in the popular motivational speaking of our age. He has no part in the verses taken out of context in order to elevate the self-esteem of man. The Holy Spirit points men to Christ and crushes all who vainly appoint themselves to His seat. The Biblical Christ is undisputed Head of His church. A church that fails to preach the full counsel of God and the expository truth of Christ in Scripture ceases to be a church. It becomes a meeting where rebels gather to exalt themselves and strive against the Lord they claim to serve.

~ Doron Gladden

Jesus, the Christian's Deliverer

My deliverer!
(James Smith, "The Love of Christ! The Fullness, Freeness, and Immutability of the Savior's Grace Displayed!")

"I am poor and needy; come quickly to me, O God. You are my help and my deliverer; O Lord, do not delay!" Psalm 70:5

How frequently are we poor Christians involved in dangers and difficulties, from which we cannot extricate ourselves! Surrounded as we are by enemies and evils--this can be no wonder. But how are we to be delivered? To whom are we to look for relief and rescue? To Jesus alone, who is emphatically "The Deliverer!" 

He has power--and will exert it!
He has wisdom--and will employ it!
He has merit--and will apply it,
for the deliverance of all who call upon Him to do it.

He delivers . . .
from sin,
from Satan,
from dangers,
from damnation!

He delivers . . .
freely,
frequently,
and effectually.

He has delivered . . .

Joseph from the evil designs of his brethren,
David from the hand of Saul,
Daniel from the lions, and
multitudes in every age, from eternal Hell.

He delivers from all evils--and from the most determined foes!

David celebrated his delivering mercy when he sang, "For you, O Lord, have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling--that I may walk before the Lord in the land of the living!" Psalm 116:8-9

How sweetly encouraging is this--to view Jesus as our present deliverer in every season of trouble, and in all circumstances of danger--to know that He is ready to arise for our rescue, and appear for our deliverance.

What need we to fear? Why should we indulge our gloomy apprehensions? He has already conquered every foe, and whenever He appears--all flee before His face. There is . . .

such majesty in His countenance,
such terror in His frown, and
such love in His heart toward His people--
that whenever He appears on their behalf--all their enemies melt away like snow, and depart as a midnight dream!

O gracious Deliverer of Your people, deliver my soul from . . .

the power of sin,
the influence of the world,
the force of temptation,
the deceitfulness of my own heart,
and the designs of all my foes!
Keep me by Your mighty power, through faith, unto salvation!

"The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold!" Psalm 18:2

"He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge--who subdues peoples under me!" Psalm 144:2

Do You Worry About Tomorrow?

I love this.


Little single days

(J.R. Miller, "Daily Bible Readings in the Life of Christ" 1890)

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own!" Matthew 6:34

One reason which our Lord gives against anxiety for the future, is that we have nothing to do with the future. God gives us life by days--little single days. Each day has . . .
its own duties,
its own needs,
its own trials and temptations,
its own griefs and sorrows.

God always gives us strength enough for the day. But if we insist on dragging in tomorrow's cares and piling them on top of today's cares--our strength will not be enough for the load. God will not give additional strength--just to humor our whims of worry and distrust.

So the lesson is, that we should keep each day distinct--and attend strictly to what it brings to us. Charles Kingsley says: "Do today's duty, fight today's temptation--and do not weaken and distract yourself by looking ahead to things which you cannot see, and could not understand if you saw them." We really have nothing at all to do with the future--except to prepare for it, by doing the duties of today with fidelity.

No one was ever crushed by the burdens of one day. We can always get along with our heaviest load--until the sun goes down. Well, that is all we ever have to do. Tomorrow? Oh, you may have no tomorrow; you may be in Heaven. If you are here--God will be here too, and you will receive new strength sufficient for the new day.

"As your days--so shall your strength be!" Deuteronomy 33:25

****************************


Php 4:4  Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!
Php 4:5  Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near.
Php 4:6  Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 
Php 4:7  And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Php 4:8  Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. 

How Bad Is it?

Perry Noble and those who greet him. Worse, those whom he "pastors". See the list.

They violate this Scripture passage:

2Jn 1:9  Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. 10  If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; 

Pragmatism: the Trojan Horse Within Evangelicalism

              
                  (photo source)

Excerpts from John MacArthur's article:

What is pragmatism? Basically it is a philosophy that says that results determine meaning, truth, and value -- what will work becomes a more important question than what is true. As Christians, we are called to trust what the Lord says, preach that message to others, and leave the results to Him. But many have set that aside. Seeking relevancy and success, they have welcomed the pragmatic approach and have received the proverbial Trojan horse.

Let me take a few minutes to explain a little of the history leading up to the current entrenchment of the pragmatic approach in the evangelical church and to show you why it isn't as innocent as it looks....

Church leaders reacted to the world's indifference, not by a return to strong biblical preaching that emphasized sin and repentance, but by a pragmatic approach to "doing" church -- an approach driven more by marketing, methodology, and perceived results than by biblical doctrine. The new model of ministry revolved around making sinners feel comfortable and at ease in the church, then selling them on the benefits of becoming a Christian. Earlier silence has given way to cultural appeasement and conformity....

Even the church's ministry to its own has changed. Entertainment has hijacked many pulpits across the country; contemporary approaches cater to the ever-changing whims of professing believers; and many local churches have become little more than social clubs and community centers where the focus is on the individual's felt needs. Even on Christian radio, phone-in talk shows, music, and live psychotherapy are starting to replace Bible teaching as the staple. "Whatever works," the mantra of pragmatism, has become the new banner of evangelicalism.

Many of today's church leaders have bought into the subtlety of pragmatism without recognizing the dangers it poses. Instead of attacking orthodoxy head on, evangelical pragmatism gives lip service to the truth while quietly undermining the foundations of doctrine. Instead of exalting God, it effectively denigrates the things that are precious to Him....

Go here for the entire article with specifics of the dangers of pragmatism and what we should do about it.

Silence From the Homosexual Activists On Homosexual Pedophilia

Where are the homosexual activists when it comes to pedophilia, as in the Sandusky case?  Where's the care for the children and their innocence being violated in the most heinous way possible? The silence is deafening.

“Also, since homosexual activists push so hard for Gay Straight Alliances in schools, many of which have clearly introduced younger gay boys to older gay men, it is difficult for gay activists to take the high moral ground when it comes to exposing and condemning Sandusky,” the conservative pundit contends.

“There have been problems at Penn State for a long time, and this report finally reveals it for the world to see,” Gramley commented. “Under the leadership of Graham Spanier and the free rein the board of trustees gave him, Penn State has been traveling down the wrong road and needs to get back on course. The culture that was allowed to exist created the scandal, ignored the cries of innocent boys and hoped to keep it under wraps to protect the school’s reputation. Additionally, what cannot be ignored is the homosexual connection – all Sandusky’s victims were young boys.”

“One reason would be that there could be the appeal to horseplay or roughing it up or the like. And within the context of his charitable organization, it was expected for him to be around boys, showing a real interest in them,” Brown posited before giving the main reason that is consistently avoided by the media. “The other reason is that to report a homosexual pedophile means to risk giving homosexuality a bad name, and one does not do that and emerge unscathed.”

He said history already shows that influence.

End quote. 

Bullying really does work. This is the politically correct (but morally and spiritually corrupt) mentality today. That's just wrong. 

Examine Yourself To See If you Are In The Faith

If you didn’t come to Jesus with the contrite attitude of giving Him everything that you are or ever will be…You never truly came to Him.
If you aren’t ready to humbly confess & forsake your sin… You are not ready to come to Him at all.
If you don’t trust Him in faith to run your entire life through His Word… You do not have saving faith.
If you are ashamed of Jesus… He will be ashamed of you before the Father.
If your faith doesn’t habitually produce godly fruit… You have dead faith that cannot save. 

If you want salvation your own way with your own stipulations… You do not have biblical salvation; you have religion. 

When you come to the point of faith that trusts Jesus and denies self…When you are ready to take up your cross daily and follow Jesus… When you are willing to sell all to purchase that pearl of great price (Jesus)… When you hate your sin and want to worship God…Then you are ready to be His and He is ready to be yours.

~Susan Brackley

For more info go here.

Legalism: what is it and what it is not

I came across an excellent article on legalism. I'd like to share it.

In part it says:

In essence the Pharisees and those like them, created a “god” who was fashioned after their own likeness.

The Pharisees did not outright deny the Mosaic Law. They pretended to live by the law and defend it. What they in fact did was add and delete several provisions of God’s Holy law.

They had the appearance as righteous, religious moralists who were rigid in morality but flexible in theology.

Jesus rebuked them for honoring the traditions of men above the Word of God. (Mark 7:8)

Just as the Pharisees, true legalists pretend to be spokesmen of God, but their heart’s allegiance is to the world:

Today, the modern Pharisee, unable to recognize Christ, His servants, nor His message,  often calls true Christians legalists, who preach true holiness (without which no man shall see the Lord) and those who rebuke their love of sin.

They do church for the so-called unchurched and, just like their Pharisee predecessors, adjust the commands of God to suit their sin and the sins of those in their congregations. This enables them to continue bankrolling their “ministries”

~ Doron Gladden. See the entire article for the context and a plethora of Scriptures and more examples, go here.   

I Support Chick-Fil-A

1Co 6:9  Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10  nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. 

Jud 1:7  just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.

God's condemnation of homosexuality is abundantly clear--He opposes it in every age.

- In the patriarchs (Genesis 19:1-28)

- In the Law of Moses (Leviticus 18:22; 20:13)

- In the Prophets (Ezekiel 16:46-50)

- In the New Testament (Romans 1:18-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Jude 7-8)

Why does God condemn homosexuality? Because it overturns God's fundamental design for human relationships--a design that pictures the complementary relationship between a man and a woman (Genesis 2:18-25; Matthew 19:4-6; Ephesians 5:22-33).

~John MacArthur