Sin and DNA

"Straights must be taught that it is as natural for some persons to be homosexual as it is for others to be heterosexual." - Voddie  Baucham quoting author Russell Kirk (sp?).

This is exactly what Christians are saying only they say it's a mere "struggle" with "same sex attraction" and that "it's like any other sin we struggle with." Do you see how the world has infested it's thinking on "Christians"? Do you see the subtlety there? Sodomy is NOT normal. It is perverted and UNNATURAL and is the judgment of God upon a hardened heart that refuses to acknowledge Him as Creator (Romans 1).

By the way it also accepts the psychological and evolution's notion that certain behaviors are encoded into our DNA. Realize what that is saying there. They are saying that there is a predisposition to certain particular sins for people. 

Christians have also bought into the world's philosophy of "alcoholism" being an eternal "struggle" with which one never overcomes --and that thinking is applied equally to sodomy--a "struggle" they will just live for the rest of their lives, contrary to God's Word that says, once saved, you STOP with the sodomy (which btw, begins in the heart), you STOP being a drunk, you STOP stealing, you STOP committing adultery.

They are also inferring that  morals come via DNA. Violence, drunkenness, sodomy, pedophilia, adultery are someone in our DNA? That is not biblical either. DNA has no bearing on sin. Sin is not encoded on our DNA. Sin is what our NATURE IS.  And sodomy is the result of God removing His hand off of hardened hearts that hate God so much they have unnatural, deviant lusts, and so He lets them get their fill as well as their DUE PENALTY.

Voddie Baucham on Genesis, Creation, Sodomy, and Education

Finally a pastor says the same thing I've been saying: the sin of sodomy is UNIQUE. It is the ONLY sin that God destroyed entire cities for.  It is called an abomination, unlike "all" sins.Time mark: 12:18 on the video.

This is very true and very biblical. Sadly many professing Christians are now saying that it is NOT unique and they equalize the heinous sin of sodomy by humanity. That is to say, they equalize the UNIQUE SIN by claiming humanity's imperfection. That is not a biblical view whatsoever. It is an anti-biblical, anti-God view and should be rejected

Al Mohler Has Friendly Open "Dialogue" With False Teacher and Sodomite, Matthew Vines In An SBC Meeting

Wall Street Journal reports:

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—A gathering of Southern Baptists here opened this week with Albert Mohler, stalwart head of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, apologizing for “denying the reality of sexual orientation,” but saying orientation “can change.”

Mr. Mohler, head of the theological seminary, said he hoped the conference would make Christians “motivated to be unafraid to engage with LGBT persons.”....

It closed with a pastor saying “no one goes to hell for being homosexual,” but he added Christians must remind gay friends and family members that “the day of judgment is coming.”...

Mr. Mohler this week met with Matthew Vines, an openly gay Christian author who argues the Bible doesn’t prohibit lifelong same-sex marriage. Mr. Mohler wrote a response to Mr. Vines’ book, “God and the Gay Christian.”

“It was a gracious, honest conversation. I think all evangelical Christians are having to learn anew how to discuss these issues,” Mr. Mohler said.

The pair agreed to keep in touch over email, and alert each other if one ever felt wrongly portrayed by the other.

~End excerpts

This is behavior of Mohler's is the fruit of his bad and sinful thinking on sodomy which he declared back in 2011. He has bought into psychology and evolution and seeks to please men rather than faithfully stand by God and His Word.

1Co 5:11  But now I am writing to  you NOT TO ASSOCIATE  with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler--not even to eat with such a one. 

1Jo 2:4  Whoever says "I know him" but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 

Eph 5:6  Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.

Eph 5:7  Therefore do not be partakers with them;

Eph 5:8  for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light

Eph 5:9  (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth),

Eph 5:10  trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.

Eph 5:11  Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them;

Eph 5:12  for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. 

Calvinist Tim Keller said the exact same thing about how being a "homosexual" doesn't send a person to hell. God, however, says indeed it DOES.

What Mohler did actually emboldened the sodomites in their sin and has softened the biblically hard stand that we should be taking against sodomy and sodomites. There's nothing to dialogue about. Preach the truth and tell these people they are not saved, they are still in darkness, they are earning Hell--with urgency. Mohler seems to think it's just an exercise in good will tolerance of the most heinous of sins.

This is exactly why I say that the issue of sodomy is The Dividing Issue. The idol of "graciousness" over the urgency of such a heinous and perverted sin has become lord of most of today's celebrity "Christians".

It sounds like Mohler took a page from heretic Brian McClaren who said in 2006 as reported in "Christianity" Today magazine:

"Perhaps we need a five-year moratorium on making pronouncements. In the meantime, we'll practice prayerful Christian dialogue, listening respectfully, disagreeing agreeably. When decisions need to be made, they'll be admittedly provisional. We'll keep our ears attuned to scholars in biblical studies, theology, ethics, psychology, genetics, sociology, and related fields. Then in five years, if we have clarity, we'll speak; if not, we'll set another five years for ongoing reflection. After all, many important issues in church history took centuries to figure out. Maybe this moratorium would help us resist the "winds of doctrine" blowing furiously from the left and right, so we can patiently wait for the wind of the Spirit to set our course."

Jud 1:23  save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.

Voddie Baucham deals with these issues here:

Steve Tompkins of Mars Hill Shoreline Begins Repentance for His Sin Toward the Church

***UPDATE***

Relevant Magazine reports all Mars Hill churches are shutting down for good.

********

Here is an open letter of repentance and accountability from Steve Tompkins, pastor at Mars Hill, Shoreline:

There were two things that caught my attention. Here's the first one:

Quote:

Eight or nine months ago as I was reflecting on Revelation 2-3 (the letters to the seven churches), I began to feel that Jesus was placing Mars Hill under discipline and calling us to repent. Over the course of these past months this text of scripture, especially the first and last letters (those to Ephesus and Laodicea), have consistently formed the paradigm through which I have come to view events, attitudes, and decisions at Mars Hill. In these letters we see Jesus walking among his churches. He knows what is happening. He speaks his words of commendation as well as rebuke. He calls the churches to have ears to hear. .....

First of all it means that what has been happening at Mars Hill is the work of Jesus in our midst. It means that the root of the problem is not satanic opposition or attack, nor is it social media or vocal online critics, nor is it the members or attenders of the church (past or present). Nor is it elders, deacons, staff and leaders who have called for change from within. In fact the root of the problem has been the leadership of the church who have been blindly committed to maintaining the status quo as if we simply need to push through what has so frequently been referred to as a “difficult season.” ....

Some may wonder why I have stayed at Mars Hill if indeed these are my convictions. The answer is quite simple and brings me back to Revelation 2-3 where Jesus calls—not just individuals—but entire churches to repentance. And if Jesus is calling Mars Hill to repent, then it is incumbent upon the elders to lead the way as those who must give an account. Therefore, I must repent as an elder in the office of elder taking responsibility for my sin as an elder. I must also seek to lead repentance and call others—especially among the elders—to join me every chance I get. This is what I am doing within Mars Hill as Jesus graciously continues opening my eyes. In addition, I have felt conviction before Jesus that I need to apologize and repent personally, face to face when possible, to former members, leaders and staff. I have therefore been revisiting situations that are years old as well as recent. I have been seeing them with new eyes and coming face to face with my own sin. 

End quote.

I believe that Mars Hill was not built by Christ Jesus, because it was built out of a rebellious heart through the Emergent Church Movement. It was built on arrogance, youth, rebellion, on unbelief in Scripture, on pragmaticism, on seeker-friendly nonsense.  What I think this pastor is missing is that God is destroying that which was never HIS to begin with (thus the downfall of Mark Driscoll). God doesn't reform a false church. Maybe he'll eventually see the root problem.I don't know....

That said, I am glad he's taking personal responsibility for his own sin and going to as many people as possible to reconcile and repent regardless of the time of those particular events.

But this was good, I have witnessed this personally:

Quote:

What I have seen on multiple occasions is that when a leader raises an issue with Mars Hill or Mars Hill leadership, they themselves soon become the issue rather than the issue they raised. What they said, for example, is invalidated by how they said it, or because they did not follow proper procedure or protocol. Then, almost inevitably it is not long before they are gone from their position, their job, or the church itself. Often, their integrity was then slandered and their character maligned. Resorting to ad hominem narrative as a response to conflict is horrible and devastating in the extreme. Ad hominem narrative is essentially to defensive one’s own righteousness rather than to trust the righteousness of Another. It never confesses or takes responsibility for sin. It is inconsistent with humility. It resists repentance at any cost. It is therefore antithetical to the gospel.

End quote.

False unity within church leadership is not only sin and hypocrisy, it's transparent by those gifted with biblical discernment and who love God and biblical Truth. And as usual, when such people challenge the status quo which is perpetrating sinful doctrine and practices among their church, they are shut down,  minimized, disregarded, and even unbiblically disciplined for superficial issues like "tone" (always a trump card by those who compromise the truth for the sake of tradition or unholy relationships).

The number one problem that discerning and truth-loving Christians are seeing among the churches is that of having disqualified shepherds try to lead the churches. Wrong doctrine (what they REALLY believe, not what they SAY they believe--and there's a huge difference) leads to wrong practice. Unqualified men in the shepherd's position end up misusing and abusing their role, not even understanding what an elder is,much less how to perform such a duty. Unbiblical authority becomes their hallmark.

If anything, let this be clear:  man does NOT ordain men to the office of elder (or deacon). Either one is qualified or he is not. Being called by a church does not make one called by God, nor does going to a seminary qualify a man to be an elder. The one God ordains is already demonstrating the qualifications and is serving--thus his God-ordained qualifications are observable, not created nor redefined to make him suddenly qualified.

I believe that, although his repentance appears to be genuine, Tompkins is disqualified for the eldership, because he has violated quite a number of requirements. If he's truly humbled, he should step down from the elder board while continuing to repent and reconcile. There's no other biblical solution.  A role doesn't cause change from within: true humble repentance and actions that meet with it, can, by God's Word and Spirit. 

Compromise With Error

"Complicity with error will take from the best of men the power to enter any successful protest against it." 
~Spurgeon

John 4:24  God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." 

We must reject error in all it's forms.

Scripture Above All Things

                                                                                                                                              photo source


Ps. 138:2b   You have exalted above all things Your name and Your word.

Forever, O LORD, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens. Psalm 119:89

Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. (Matthew 5:17-18, KJV)

Find Jesus where you may, He is the antagonist of those who would lessen the authority of Holy Scripture. “It is written” is His weapon against Satan, His argument against wicked men. The learned of this hour scoff at the Book and accuse of Bibliolatry those of us who reverence the Divine Word; but in this they derive no assistance from the teaching or example of Jesus.   —Spurgeon

Not a word derogatory of Scripture ever fell from the lips of Jesus Christ; but evermore He manifested the most reverent regard for every jot and tittle of the inspired Volume. Since our Savior, not only before His death, but after it, took care to commend the Scriptures to us, let us avoid with all our hearts all teaching in which Holy Scripture is put into the background.    --Spurgeon

Encouragement

“DOCTOR” OR “BROTHER"?

  

                                                                        photo source                                                               photo source

"What strange methods God sometimes employs in teaching His Children much needed lessons! This has recently been the writer's experience. I have been approached by a "university" to accept from them a degree of "D. D." Asking for time to be given so that I might prayerfully seek from God, through His written word, a knowledge of His will, fuller light came than was expected. I had very serious doubts as to the permissibility of one of God's servants accepting a title of fleshly honour. I now perceive that it is wrong for me to receive it even complimentary.

Various friends, as a mark of respect, have addressed me as "Dr. Pink." I now ask them to please CEASE from doing so. Let it not be understood that I hereby condemn other men for what they allow. No, to their own Master they stand or fall. The principal passages which have helped me I now mention, praying that it may please God to also bless them to others.

FIRST, to the false comforters of Job, Elihu (God's representative) said. "Let me not, I pray you, accept any man's person, neither let me give FLATTERING TITLES unto men" (Job 32:31).

SECOND, "Be NOT ye called Rabbi" or teacher" (Matthew 23:8), which is what "Doctor" signifies.

THIRD, John 5:44 reproves those who "receive honor one of another" and bids us seek "the honor that cometh from God ONLY."

FOURTH, none of the Lord's servants in the New Testament ever employed a title. "Paul, an apostle, "but never "the apostle Paul."

FIFTH, the Son of God "made Himself of no reputation" (Phil. 2:7); is it then fitting that His servants should now follow an opposite course?

SIXTH, Christ bids us learn of Him who was "meek and lowly" (Matthew 11:29).

SEVENTH, one of the marks of the apostasy as "having men's persons in admiration because of advantage" (Jude 17).

EIGHTH, we are bidden to go forth unto Christ outside the camp "bearing His reproach" (Heb. 13:13).

For these reasons it does not seem to me to be fitting that one who is here as a representative and witness for a "despised and rejected" Christ should be honoured and flattered of men.

Please address me as "BROTHER PINK"

~A.W. Pink

This has become my conviction too. I detest the use of "Dr." among the children of God, which makes a man-made distinction between us. There is a local church here, who has changed their church sign that once included in small print the pastor's name as well as the days and times of services, to now ONLY the name of the pastor, a "Dr." which is singularly displayed in proud prominence and huge font on that sign for passers-by to see, and I suppose, admire and be impressed with. But it tells me  they are more interested in the flesh and carnal things than that which is of Christ. Trust in degrees and education has become the most important qualification for a pastor today than what his fellowship,  love, and true wisdom is of God and His Word. Biblical requirements are tossed aside for that which the world and the fleshly "Christian" will be impressed with--that which they presume gives them more credibility. Humility is no more a qualification for church leaders. But this is not according to Scripture.

The verses Pink gives are sufficient. Here's another quote that echoes the same thought:

He [Jesus]  is prohibiting the use of self-exalting and honorific titles of distinction among those who have chosen to follow Christ. While conferring honorific titles upon prominent religious authorities may be the way of the world, it is not the path that Christ has called us to pursue.

Yet, in spite of the clarity of Jesus’ command, Christians have historically ignored His words. We continue, for example, to address our church shepherds as "Reverend," "Doctor," or "Minister" and, unfortunately, far too many of them are glad to receive such flattery and even love to have it so!

The New Testament simply provides no warrant for giving congregational leaders priestly or honorific titles. Thus, any man who seeks or permits such titles to be given to him violates the express commands of Christ (Matthew 23:8-10) as well as apostolic practice.

~   Darryl M. Erkel

Sin Then and Now

photo source

Biblical Christianity Is Obligated to the Laws of King Jesus

It is an unlawful use of the law – and abuse both of law and gospel – to pretend that its accomplishment by Christ releases believers from any obligation to it as a rule. Such an assertion is not only wicked, but absurd and impossible in the highest degree: for the law is founded in the relation between the Creator and the creature, and must unavoidably remain in force so long as that relation subsists. No true believer can deliberately admit a thought or a wish of being released from his obligation of obedience to God, in whole or in part; this thought is an abhorrence to him. 

~John Newton

Biblical Christianity is not anarchy. The King of kings has commands we, as His slaves, MUST obey IF we are His and love Him.

Luk 6:46  "Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do what I tell you?

Joh 14:15  "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. 

Encouragement for the Christian's Soul: weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning

Dear Madam,

It is with much pleasure that I read your last, and I was engage to give thanks and praise to the God of all grace for His making my poor letters of any use to your dear soul. Yes, Madam, your benighted soul shall be favored with the light of God's countenance, only wait for it in faith and patience. Your sins are forgiven you; wait awhile, and the Lord will tell you so. He who now in wise love hides His face, will shortly, to your unspeakable joy, break out upon you afresh with superior rays of His infinite and eternal kindness. "Weeping may endure for a night—but joy will comes in the morning. His anger endures for a moment—but in His favor is light." An immensity—an eternity of light remains for you in God's infinite favor—that all-comprehending source of all the various flows of your felicity for time's and eternity's forever! And give your Father leave to choose what channels He please to convey to your beloved soul His inexhaustible, immutable, and eternal kindness—for if for a while His love runs under-ground, out of your sight, it is but in order to its breaking up again, to your more joyful surprise, in a richer exuberance. And beware of thinking, when you do not see love in its flows; that love is not upon the flow towards you; for when love is most hid from your view, that hiding is one of love's flows. That is one of the appointed channels in which love swiftly and gloriously moves; indeed, it is ‘veiled love’—but love in a veil is the same love still. And "what you know not now—you shall know hereafter." When the veil is taken off from love's face, you shall see as great a glory in ‘hiding love’ as in its most smiling countenance—and that both alternately were ordered most wisely for God's highest glory and your greatest felicity.

Oh, could you now believe this and say thus, "Well, the Lord hides His face, but this, even this, is in boundless, endless love to me," how full would be your joy, how abundant your praise, if faith was thus in exercise! Whereas sense, when love veils, loses sight of love in all; it sees no love in the veil, and inclines the heart to fear that love's past shinings were not real, and thereby shuts the mouth of praise awfully, and sinks the soul into grief exceedingly. And were not faith upheld by an omnipotent arm to look and wait for God the Savior, when as such He hides His face from the house of Jacob, through depressions from sense it would fail quite. But, glory to omnipotent grace! faith is and shall be maintained in its principles, and in some degree of exercise, amid ten thousand contraries.

"Blessed (says our Lord) are those who have believed—and have not seen." Thomas saw, and believed; but believing without sight upon the promise-word of the faithful God has an eminency, a transcendency of blessedness in it. "His arm is not shortened, that it cannot save, nor His ear heavy that it cannot hear." "My soul, hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him, for the light of His countenance," according to His promised grace. This exercise of ‘faith in the dark’ has a blessedness in it of transcendency. Little do you think how much glory this gives to God. Little do you think how much pleasure He takes when He thus hears your voice. And can you think, dear Madam, that this your faith is God shall be in vain? No! the Lord will say shortly, "You have ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse, with one of your eyes, with one chain of your neck." "O woman, great is your faith; be it unto you even as you will." And then you shall praise Him with joy. Meantime, though in sorrow, praise the God of promise by trusting in Him who will be the God of performance, and you will give Him double glory, which will be to your eternal joy.

I am glad, dear Madam, that the Lord made the burning bush a fit emblem of your case, and that you desire greenness and fruitfulness. Your desire after greenness and fruitfulness is from your having these, and it is a greater measure that you desire. And be not dismayed at your apparent lack of greenness and growth in grace. It is one thing to be green and fruitful—and another to discern that we are so. God, and other of His children, may see our greenness and fruitfulness, when for wise and gracious ends these may be hidden much from ourselves. Only let this be your chief care, to "glorify God in the fires," and fear not greenness and fruitfulness—to His praise and your bliss, amid fiery trials.

I am grieved, dear Madam, that your outward affairs are so much declined and perplexed—but if it was not best, it would not be thus. May you be enabled most humbly and earnestly to make a fresh solemn surrender of yourself, and all that you have, unto God, and say, "Lord, here I am—I give myself up to You—to be Yours entirely—I give up everything that You have given me into Your all-wise, all-gracious, and almighty hands. O Lord, the difficulties I am encompassed with are too great for my wisdom and strength to rid myself of—but You know no difficulty. I cast them all upon You. I am oppressed, O Lord, undertake for me. And, were everything else gone, give me grace to glorify You, and to count myself happy—fully, ineffably happy—in Your great Self as my earthly-portion and eternal all. I call nothing my own but You, my great God—do with me, and all things that concern me, just as You desire."

After this manner, dear Madam, resign all unto God, and there leave all, without anxious care for anything. Let a ‘prudent care’ for everything, as your duty in the use of all means, be your concern. But take no ‘anxious care’ for any events—for most surely, in this respect, "every man disquiets himself in vain." And if you thus resign all unto God, and put and leave everything in His hands, I do assure you that God will undertake for you. I, did I say? A poor assurance this. He, Himself therefore excites you to duty, and gives you His own assurance thus—"Call upon Me in the day of trouble—I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me."

As you had that promise, Madam, when you entered into that change of life, "My presence shall go with you—and I will give you rest," and yet you had not those measures of His comforting presence which your soul wished—learn hence to distinguish between God's gracious, supporting, and sanctifying presence—and His soul-filling, heart-rejoicing presence. The former you had, have, and shall have always; and the latter, when He sees it best. And remember, rest is in the promise—all that earthly-rest which your God of love sees best—and eternal rest, unto full and endless delight! And let this bear up your spirit while your troubles last—"Unto you who are troubled, rest with us." When the Lord Jesus shall make His glorious appearance, then we shall all rest together and forever!

I bear you on my heart before the God of all grace in your every case. To His love, power, and care—I commit you.

~Anne Dutton

The Inconvenient Truth

Exhortation For Christians In Voting

Speak the Truth about Evil

                                                                photo source

There is some danger of falling into a soft and effeminate Christianity, under the plea of a lofty and ethereal theology. Christianity was born for endurance…It walks with firm step and erect frame. It is kindly, but firm; it is gentle, but honest; it is calm, but not facile; obliging, but not imbecile; decided, but not churlish. It does not fear to speak the stern word of condemnation against error, nor to raise its voice against surrounding evils, under the pretext that it is not of this world.

It does not shrink from giving honest reproof lest it come under the charge of displaying an unchristian spirit. It calls sin “sin,” on whomsoever it is found and would rather risk the accusation of being actuated by a bad spirit than not discharge an explicit duty. Let us not misjudge strong words used in honest controversy. Out of the heat, a viper may come forth; but we shake it off and feel no harm.

The religion of both Old and New Testaments is marked by fervent outspoken testimonies against evil. To speak smooth things in such a case may be sentimentalism, but it is not Christianity. It is a betrayal of the cause of truth and righteousness. If anyone should be frank, manly, honest, cheerful (I do not say blunt or rude, for a Christian must be courteous and polite), it is he who has tasted that the Lord is gracious and is looking for and hasting unto the coming of the Day of God.

I know that charity covereth a multitude of sins; but it does not call evil good because a good man has done it.

— Horatius Bonar

I think being blunt after several warnings to one who is hostile to the truth and walking away from the Truth as a supposed Christian, is fine--there comes a point, in other words, where things are so urgent, and consciences are so seared, that nothing but bluntness must be applied b/c it bears the weightiness upon calloused minds and hearts who stand in treason against the King of Kings, if you see what I mean. Other than that, I think it's a great quote!!

Brian Houston of Hillsong Is Unclear About Sodomy

***UPDATE***

http://hillsong.com/collected/blog/2015/08/do-i-love-gay-people/#.VihTofmrRsc


Quote:

Everyone is welcome at Hillsong church except for known predators, those who are disruptive, or those who have adversarial agendas.

So if you are gay, are you welcome at Hillsong Church? Of course! You are welcome to attend, worship with us, and participate as a congregation member with the assurance that you are personally included and accepted within our community. But (this is where it gets vexing), can you take an active leadership role? No.

End quote.

Does he let his Yes be yes, and his No be No?  Not exactly.

Following Hillsong Church Pastor Brian Houston’s comments about homosexuality here, he had to answer a firestorm of emails and bad press from everyone – from the homosexual groups to the secularists to the Christians. Houston has attempted to clarify Hillsong’s stance on homosexuality. The official statement reads as follows:

...I was asked a question on how the church can stay relevant in the context of gay marriage being legal in the two states of the USA where we have campuses. My answer was simply an admission of reality – no more and no less. I explained that this struggle for relevance was vexing as we did not want to become ostracized by a world that needs Christ.

~Stand Up For The Truth

Here's the  condemning quote:

"I made the point that public statements condemning people will place a barrier between the church and the world (and I note that Jesus came to save and not to condemn), which is why at Hillsong, we don’t want to reduce the real issues in people’s lives to a sound bite."

"I was asked a question on how the church can stay relevant in the context of gay marriage being legal in the two states of the USA where we have campuses. My answer was simply an admission of reality – no more and no less. I explained that this struggle for relevance was vexing as we did not want to become ostracized by a world that needs Christ."

The true Christians ARE ostracized from the world, and moreover, we are to be separate from it! That fact that Brian thinks the total opposite merely proves he's not in Christ Jesus.

The biblical Jesus, nor any of His Word, ever wavered on this issue. Jesus didn't play games, nor did the Father nor the Spirit. In all ages God condemns sodomy as well as worldliness. And Jesus already pronounced all men under God's wrath and condemnation for those outside of Him (John 6:36, Rom. 8:1).

- 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)

Joh 7:7  The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil.

Joh 15:18  "If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.

Joh 15:19  If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

Joh 15:20  Remember the word that I said to you: 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.

Jas 4:4  You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5  Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: "He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us"? 

Grammar Police---back then

Deniers of Biblical Truth Are Not Christians

Never perhaps has the whole position of the Christian faith been so uncertain, and so blatantly and openly attacked even in the church. This makes it doubly important to know what we believe and in whom we believe. It is believing in Him as the Son of God which makes us sons of God, and we alone are His children. These other people arrogate to themselves the name Christian are not Christians.They are liars and deniers of the truth and they are not Christian! We must not fall into this modern error of imaging that the Christian is a nice flabby person who agrees with everybody and everything, who never criticizes. According to the New Testament, these antiChrists are not only to be avoided they are to be denounced. As John says in his first epistle they are not of us for they went out from among us. And for myself I have no fellowship with men who deny the very elements of the Christian faith and who deny the plain teaching of the Word of God. 

~Martin Lloyd-Jones

"Jesus answered and said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you are born again you cannot see the kingdom of God."

"Unless you are born of water and the Spirit you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven." John 3:3,5

Lloyd-Jones said it so well. I too, will not have fellowship, indeed it is impossible to have fellowship with people who deny the very elements of the Christian faith and deny Scripture's plain teaching. 

Those who sit in the hearing of the Bible being read, and then turn around and voice unbelief in it and it's teaching, have openly declared war on the Word. I will not be part of that. And I will not be silent either. In such cases, like in a Bible study or Sunday School class where this takes place, you will hear my voice defend the Truth up and against the heinous rebellion folks so blatantly and unashamedly proclaim. 


Jas 1:19  Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 

Those who are truly born-again by God, will be quick to hear to the Word and be very slow to speak and to be angry with it, for they value the precious, authoritative, inspired, and infallible Word of God.

True Study of Scripture

"Verses of Scripture must not be wrenched from their setting, but weighed, interpreted, and applied in accord with their context; and that calls for prayerful consideration, careful meditation, and prolonged study; and it is failure at this point which accounts for these shoddy and worthless "messages" of this rush-ahead age."

~Arthur Pink, "Studies in the Scriptures-Signs of the Times"

So very true today. This is evident by the worldliness and shallowness of so many churches today. It also is borne out in the lives of the leaders of those churches.

Jude 24-25

photo source

Jude 1:7

photo source

Jude 1-2

Photo source

Private Revelations From God Are Dubious; The Word of God Is All True, Authoritative, and Complete

                                             photo source                                                                                          photo source

Fake healings and false tongues are bad enough, but when someone claims to have private revelation from God, the sufficiency and singularity of Scripture is instantly clouded, and the authority of Scripture is undermined. It is a terribly dangerous breach of a fundamental principle of evangelical Protestant and biblical conviction.

The Bible is authoritative revelation. It sets forth truth in words and propositions. The authors of Scripture wrote down those words exactly as God ordained—“not . . . words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit” (1 Corinthians 2:13). That’s why a prophet was judged by the accuracy of what he said. If he said, “Thus said the Lord,” and the Lord didn’t really say that, he was to be stoned.

When someone claims to have received an “impression” from God—a non-verbal revelation—the door is opened wide for all kinds of confusion. Personal impressions are inherently enigmatic, vague, and frankly dubious. Non-verbal sensations cannot articulate truth. But charismatics are taught to accept their impressions and hope that somehow this legitimate revelation of God doesn’t get messed up when we try to verbalize it. Frequently, when they verbalize or act on what they believe God has told them, it is absurd—sometimes even reckless in the extreme. But a strong impression is never to be doubted on those grounds, they insist, because God moves in mysterious ways. That is why charismatics are so prone to embrace rather than question all kinds of strange and innately irrational phenomena like drunken behavior and uncontrollable laughter.

When you believe God is trying to communicate through some non-verbal, intellectually vacant means, all meaning inevitably gets lost in translation. This is not how God reveals truth. Seeking messages from God in one’s own feelings and imagination is a practice rooted in pagan superstition, and it wreaks havoc in the lives of anyone who thinks that impression in his mind or feeling in his gut is a message from God. Scripture says, “He who trusts in his own heart is a fool” (Proverbs 28:26).

True believers in Jesus Christ must return to the basic truths of the sufficiency, authority, verbal inspiration, and inerrancy of God’s Word. Every word that proceeds from the mouth of God is true. That is the principle of biblical inerrancy. 

~John MacArthur

Photos, left to right: Beth Moore, John Piper, Matt Chandler, John Piper, and Mark Driscoll. All of them hold to extra-biblical revelations, dreams, visions, even when they "claim" "Sola Scriptura"!

Ebola: the best article I've read to date

The best article I've read so far on the Ebola issue. I do not promote panic, but I do promote serious concern, as the CDC, health officials, Obama's administration, senators, and hospitals have straight up lied to us about how serious this virus is and how prepared we are.

Excerpts from The Weekly Standard:

In just the first six months of tracking the virus, the team identified more than 100 mutated forms of it.

Yet what’s really scary is how robust the already-established transmission mechanisms are. Have you ever wondered why Ebola protocols call for washing down infected surfaces with chlorine? Because the virus can survive for up to three weeks on a dry surface.

In September the WHO estimated that by October 20, there would be 3,000 total cases in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. As of October 7, the count was 8,376.

General infection rates are terrifying, too. In epidemiology, you measure the “R0,” or “reproduction number” of a virus; that is, how many new infections each infected person causes. When R0 is greater than 1, the virus is spreading through a population. 

Because despite the fact that Duncan was a lone man under scrupulous, first-world care, with the eyes of the entire nation on him, his R0 was 2, just like that of your average Liberian Ebola victim. One carrier; two infections. He passed the virus to nurse Pham and to another hospital worker, Amber Joy Vinson, who flew from Cleveland to Dallas with a low-grade fever before being diagnosed.

...Wildfires, in fact, are often fought by using controlled burns and trench digging to establish perimeters. And it’s a straw-man argument to say that a flight ban wouldn’t keep Ebola fully contained. No one says it would. But by definition, it would help slow the spread of the virus. If there had been a travel ban in place, Thomas Duncan would have likely reached the same sad fate—but without infecting two Americans and setting the virus loose in North America. And it’s difficult to follow the logic by which banning travel from infected countries would create more infections in the United States, as Frieden insists. This is not a paradox; it’s magical thinking.

Frieden’s entire argument is so strange—and so at odds with what other epidemiologists prescribe—that it can only be explained by one of two causes: catastrophic incompetence or a prior ideological commitment. The latter, in this case, might well be the larger issue of immigration.

Ebola has the potential to reshuffle American attitudes to immigration. If you agree to seal the borders to mitigate the risks from Ebola, you’re implicitly rejecting the “open borders” mindset and admitting that there are cases in which government has a duty to protect citizens from outsiders. Some people on the left admit to seeing this as the thin end of the wedge. Writing in the New Yorker, Michael Specter lamented, “Several politicians, like Governor Bobby Jindal, of Louisiana, have turned the epidemic into fodder for their campaign to halt immigration.” And that sort of thing just can’t be allowed.

What would happen in the event of an Ebola outbreak in Latin America? Then America would have to worry about masses of uninfected immigrants surging across the border—not to mention carriers of the virus. And if we had decided it was okay to cut off flights from West Africa, would we decide it was okay to try to seal the Southern border too? You can see how the entire immigration project might start to come apart.

The Church of Americanism

The 'church' of Americanism is where she is, not only because she has wed herself to unfaithful men. That was her desire. But first she had to distance herself from God and His biblical preachers. She had to make compromise lucrative. She had to partition the truth and divide it up into the myth of primary/secondary concerns. She mocked her watchmen's discernment and called their admonitions and loving warnings 'legalism.' She chased her sin and called it 'liberty' and 'grace'. She called her protectors 'Pharisees'. She has despised biblical unity for ecumenical peace time. She has turned to modern Ba'al and cursed Yahweh. Let what happened to Ephraim serve as a reminder to her. (cf. Hosea 4:17).

~Doron Gladden, Biblical Christ Church; Biblical Christ Research Institute

Living this out. It's very true and grievous to my soul.

Mark Driscoll: Jesus The Comedian In A Bible Full of Comedy

                                          photo source

Tit 1:15  To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled. 16  They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work. 

The impurity toward Jesus Christ and Scripture isn't in Driscoll's past. Its apparent even in May 2013. I came across this today while looking for something else. 

Is it any wonder that God has started to judge this man?

Quotes:

Humor is a very serious thing. It’s a part of the Bible that is often overlooked, in large part because theologians are not the life of any party.

Comedy and related themes run throughout the Bible. The word “joy” and its derivatives appear roughly 200 times in our English Bible. The word “laugh” and its derivatives appear roughly 40 times.

However, the Bible includes humor of various kinds, from situational comedy to satire, sarcasm, and irony. Entire books of the Bible such as Amos are comedic satire.

But Jesus was funny. This fact is perhaps the most overlooked aspect of Jesus’ entire earthly ministry.

Our inability to see Jesus as funny is not rooted in the pages of Scripture, but rather in the way Jesus has been portrayed in many popular films.

In the end, Jesus was murdered. This was because he offended a lot of people. Many of them were most offended because they were the butt of his jokes. However, as Jesus says, “Blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” Since we are all goofy sinners whose self-righteousness is a joke, the only way to not be offended by Jesus and to laugh at ourselves is to live a life of continual repentance.

Jesus’ most stinging humor, however, was reserved for the religious types, especially the Pharisees. Jesus called them a bag of snakes, and said that their moms had shagged the devil, their father . While those who suffered under their judgmentalism likely had more than a few good laughs when Jesus lampooned them, they of course did not think it was funny because apart from repentance, sinners are no fun at all.

End quote.

~Mark Driscoll

Notice that he was teaching and notorious Emergent Catalyst conference---he started out as an Emergent Church Movement leader.

Notice also, his low regard for Scripture, treating God's VERY WORDS as humorous and trivial. 

Notice Driscoll's lack of fear of the Living God who is HOLY HOLY HOLY (Rom. 3).

Notice how Driscoll reduces sinners to merely "goofiness", not total corrupt offense toward the HOLY God of Israel.

Notice his immaturity at wanting the Bible to be about jokes.

God does not take His own Word lightly. Jesus wasn't going around telling jokes and getting a laugh at the expense of others. He was on a mission to preach the Gospel and then die on behalf of the elect. There wasn't time to be so frivolous as Driscoll claims. Preaching the Gospel and dying for the elect are weighty things, not light matters. It is unbelievable to me that anyone serious about Scripture would count Driscoll to be qualified as a Christian and as a teacher. He clearly has no fear of God in his impure, wicked eyes. The approval of this man by so many is actually far more revealing about them than it is about Driscoll.

2Ti 4:5  As for you, always be sober-minded

Tit 2:1  But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. 2  Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. 

Eph 5:3  But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. ^4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.

Col. 4: ^6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

Eph. 4: ^29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.