This sermon from Planet Shakers 2007 was later dramatized using images from the highly acclaimed international movie MOST (The Bridge). A father and a son desperately try to avert impending doom, but ultimately the father must make a choice between saving the lives of many or the life of his beloved son.
Even though this is not necessarily a theological perfect effort, it highlights a tiny glimpse of the Father when He chose to crush His Son.
Inspiring and emotionally charged to the max…
According to The Christian Post these are the top 10 Christian messages on Twitter in 2012.
10. Max Lucado – “On this Good Friday, envision the Savior on the cross, bloodied and cast in shadows. Listen as heaven whispers: For you, my child. For you.”
9. Colton Dixon (American Idol finalist) -“Someone loved you so much that he died for you. His name is Jesus.”
8. Joel Osteen -“God has you exactly where He wants you. Learn to be happy where you are, and God will take you where you want to be.”
7. Robert Griffen III (rookie quarteback for the Redskins) – “Couldn’t have written the beginning any better To God Be The Glory.”
6. Joyce Meyer – “God’s timing is perfect; He is never late. Even when things seem out of control God is still working and has a plan for your life.”
5. Gabrielle Douglas (olympic gold medalist in gymnastics) – “Thank you guys for everything! I am SO grateful God has truly blessed me! Remember to ALWAYS give him the glory for he is GREAT!”
4. Lecrae – “I’m not a Christian because I’m strong and have it all together. I’m a Christian because I’m weak and admit I need a Savior.”
3. Bubba Watson (golfer) – “To God Be the Glory!!! #Masters”
2. Rev. Run (some former rapper… who is this guy?) – “1 cross + 3 nails =4 given #ThankYouJesus!”
1. Tim Tebow – “Happy moments, praise God. Difficult moments, seek God. Quiet moments, worship God. Painful moments, trust God. Every moment, THANK GOD.”
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Which tweets are your favorites?
Which tweets are biblical? Heretical?
I await your analysis and comments…
photo by CindyDuCheney @whispersngiggles.com
The systematic killing of unborn baby girls via sex selective abortion is reaching unprecedented levels in China, India, and other Asian and Eastern European countries. The ungodly practice of aborting a baby for the simple fact that she is a girl is one of the most abhorring things this planet has seen, and I wonder how long before God’s patience runs out and His wrath will be served for this evil.
The implementation of the One Child Policy in China in 1978, and the availability of ultrasound technology in the recent past in rural areas of Asia have led to the realization of a staggering statistic: 163 million unborn baby girls were aborted simply because it was inconvenient that they were female (1).
In countries such as China and India the male to female ratio is as least 120 men for every 100 women (2). Just to compare, the normal and healthy gender ratio at birth is approximately 106 boys to 100 girls (3). That WAS the ratio in China in 1979. By 2020, the Chinese government estimates that there will be at least 30 million men of marriageable age that may be unable to find a spouse (4).
There are many reasons that sociologists and anthropologists will give for this wicked phenomenon, but frankly these are very secondary when you consider the murderous act itself. How are we to consider cultural, religious and economic factors when the blood of these innocent lives is crying out to their Creator for justice?
You make think this is shocking and that it could never happen in the US?
The PRENDA Act introduced in Congress in 2012 would have made it a crime for anyone attempting to coerce or solicit a woman to abort based on the race or sex of her unborn child. The people introducing the bill thought it would be a no-brain-er to pass and the vote was taken under a fast-track procedure called “suspension” which requires 2/3 of the House vote. Guess what?! It failed! Here in the US where half the people claim to be evangelicals! Look up here to see how your congress representative voted.
Not only do women have many things set against them in this world as adults, but now the fight for their life begins in the womb. A $12 ultrasound readily available in Asia makes this all possible. It is in fact human evil and wickedness that makes this happen, and it is directly related to idolatry.
Religious beliefs often bolster the preference for male offspring. Some Asian communities persist in the deep-seated belief that ancestors are worshiped in the afterlife through the male line (1). Add to that the high importance of the family name, and the fact that boys become the family retirement account… and the idolatrous picture begins to take shape. Everything in these mostly Hindu and Buddhist regions is geared toward self-improvement and self-worship, and it so happens that a baby girl will get in the way of it!
Experts on this phenomenon are currently predicting and in India sex selective abortion will get MUCH worse. We are only seeing the beginning stages.
How much worse than that 163 million girls already murdered? How much more shedding of the innocent blood of unborn children?
The words of the wise man in Proverbs 6:17-18 reminds us that among the seven things that God finds abominable are
“…hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that make haste to run to evil…”
How long, God, before human wickedness reaches its full measure?
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1. Christianity Today. Genocide in Shades of Pink. 28 December 2012
2. The Economist. The War on Baby Girls: Gendercide. 4 March 2010
3. United Nations Population Fund
4. http://www.allgirlsallowed.org/category/topics/gendercide
There is just something about the start of a new year that gives us the feeling of a fresh start and a new beginning. In reality, there is no difference between December 31 and January 1. Nothing mystical occurs at midnight on December 31. The Bible does not speak for or against the concept of New Year’s resolutions. However, if a Christian determines to make a New Year’s resolution, what kind of resolution should he or she make?
If God is the center of your New Year’s resolution, it has a chance for ‘success’, depending on your commitment to it. If it is God’s will for something to be fulfilled, He will enable you to fulfill it. If a resolution is not God honoring and/or is not in agreement in God’s Word, we will not receive God’s help in fulfilling the resolution.
We need nourishment from God’s word to grow.**
We need to hear from God daily.
We need the Word which is our best defense against sin.
We need to be corrected when we sin.
We need encouragement and comfort.
“Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.” ( Psalm 37:5-6)
“The Word of God well understood and religiously obeyed is the shortest route to spiritual perfection. And we must not select a few favorite passages to the exclusion of others. Nothing less than a whole Bible can make a whole Christian.” ~ A.W.Tozer
*This post is authored by Delight in Truth follower and commentator Manuela, with inspiration** from an excellent blog, Agnus Dei
Watch this short documentary and be shocked at how this false gospel is taking advantage of poor Christians in Africa. Material gain is the central message and it resonates well with the poverty-stricken people there. The Church needs to be aware of this false teaching which has replaced the message of Christ with the message of prosperity.
Universalism is the belief in the doctrine of universal reconciliation, the view that all human beings and all fallen creatures will ultimately be restored to right relationship with God in heaven. Is is unbiblical, and it directly contradicts Jesus’s statement in John 16:4 “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Many of the churches which subscribe to Universalism do not advertise it outward. It’s almost like they know that this is wrong and they are trying to sneak it in. This false doctrine is hidden deep in their theology. Such was the case with Rob Bell and Shane Hipps at their exposure at Mars Hill Bible Church in Michigan.
What is a bit surprising is that the church in the picture above is advertising it in bold letters in front of the church!
Their motto is a verse taken out of context:
“Glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism.” (Romans 2:10-11)
Their statement of faith says:
“We really believe that God is all-loving, and He loves us no matter what religion we belong to. He cares more about our life than our religion. He cares that we love one another and what we intend toward each other… And that is how even non-Christians can be saved, as they love each other and God as they know Him to be, they will in actuality be obeying God’s teachings and laws and therefore will be rewarded according to their heart. That’s what an all-loving God is concerned about, our heart, not our religion.”
This inclusive view comes from the father of lies, he has blinded them by distorting the truth presented in the Bible. Love and acceptance have become the supreme motto of the post-modern church. Concepts like the wrath of God, the justice of God, sin, holiness, Scriptural inerrancy, and most of all Jesus’s message have become completely foreign to them.
This is a warning for the authentic Church. As you visit other churches and hear people preaching religiosity and “god,” analyze for winds of false doctrine.
Pay close attention to statements of faith. Look for key words like “acceptance,” and an overly heavy accent on love. If Christ is not at the center of any church, they are preaching a false gospel.
Jesus is the only way! “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12
Never forget the warning given by apostle Paul in Galatians 1:
6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!
The people of Israel have just entered Canaan and have celebrated their first Passover there. The manna from heaven has just ceased to come down. God has just decreed to Joshua that “Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you” and “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life” Joshua 1:3,5.
Joshua is about to undergo the first military conflict in the promised land (now this is where our modern atheist and agnostic moral relativists interject to accuse God of sanctioning war crimes and atrocities against the ancient Canaanites… more on this later).
As Joshua is getting ready to besiege Jericho, the crown jewel of Canaan, a mysterious yet awesome Person appears to Joshua:
Joshua 5:13 “When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?”
This marks the beginning of a great mystery. Joshua does not know who he is. He is clearly a warrior of great stature as Joshua looks up to see him with his sword drawn. Previously commanded by God to “be strong and courageous” Joshua now inquires if he is one of “us” or one of “our adversaries.”
Surprisingly the mysterious Person answers “No” to the two possibilities presented by Joshua (one of us or one of them):
14a And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the LORD. Now I have come.”
Many commentaries (but not all) ascribe the title of “commander of the army of the LORD” to Christ in this passage. Lets look at the textual evidence pointing towards this Person being the Christ.
14b “And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?”” People are strictly prohibited from worshiping other idols, humans (Acts 10:25,26 Cornelius is prevented from worshiping Peter), or even angels (Rev 22:8 John is prevented from worshiping an angel).
15 “And the commander of the LORD’s army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.”
In light of Revelation 19 where Jesus, “The Word of God” commands the heavenly armies we interpret that the divine Person appearing to Joshua is none other than the pre-incarnate Christ.
It is a crucial moment where Joshua receives not only approval from God, but the impetus to boldly engage in a war against Canaanites which is to include genocide and infanticide upon their tribes.
Why would God command Joshua to commit such atrocities against women and children in ancient Canaan?
to be continued…
I wrote about the vicious and deadly assaults against Christians in Nigeria here and how westerners cannot fully understand what these martyrs are going through.
This video published by the Voice of the Martyrs USA profiles Suleiman Abdulai, a Nigerian Christian who converted from Islam. His Muslim family urged him to deny Jesus’ name and even tried to kill him before finally disowning him. Although faith in Christ cost Suleiman his family, worldly possessions and reputation, he gained everything by taking up Christ’s cross.
It is eye-opening to see how he describes the mentality of the those practicing Islam in Nigeria.
The video opens with this statement and lays the foundation for the whole interview:
“When you persecute or kill a Christian, there is a place for you in heaven with Allah, so this makes every Muslim want to fulfill their desire to do what the Koran says… it is part of the worship of Islam.”
A Presbyterian theologian has the following conversation with his colleague:
“You believe in the absolute sovereignty of God, correct?”
“Of course”
“And you believe everything exists and happens for His glory, correct?”
“Yes, I’m a 5-point Calvinist.”
“Then would you be willing to be dammed to reprobation for His glory?”
“…hmm, no”
This absurd and funny conversation embodies some difficulties presented by the doctrine of double predestination. In perhaps the best description of Calvinistic essence, John Calvin defined double predestination in the following statement:
“God preordained, for his own glory and the display of His attributes of mercy and justice, a part of the human race, without any merit of their own, to eternal salvation, and another part, in just punishment of their sin, to eternal damnation.”
What this doctrine basically says is that before the foundations of the world were constructed, before time was created, in His eternal council, God decided that certain humans will be ordained for damnation due to sin while others will be ordained for salvation through grace despite their sin, and nothing will change this.
Everyone wants to know if this is really true. I honestly do not know. Theologians are split on whether God actually and actively predestines humans and angels for hell and each camp provides Scripture to support their position. Famous theologian JI Packer calls such difficult issues a “divine mystery” which may not be meant for us to figure out.
The problem is that extremely difficult questions rise connected to predestination when studying the Word of God in-depth. For example:
“If salvation is absolutely exclusive through faith in Jesus via hearing the Gospel, and it is, then is it possible for a person who lives and dies without access to the Gospel to be saved?”
“If no, and that appears to be the case, then was such a person destined for such an outcome?”
I will provide two passages from the book of Isaiah, the first makes Isaiah look like a double predestinarian, while the second appears to contradict this controversial doctrine. Both are in the context of Israel’s turning away from God:
63:17 “O LORD, why do you make us wander from your ways and harden our heart, so that we fear you not?
And God answers placing responsibility on Israel, highlighting His effort to save Israel, and lamenting over Israel:
65:1 “I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me;
I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me.
I said, “Here am I, here am I,”
to a nation that was not called by my name.
2 I spread out my hands all the day
to a rebellious people,
who walk in a way that is not good,
following their own devices;
3 a people who provoke me
to my face continually,
sacrificing in gardens
and making offerings on bricks;”
On the other hand, in Romans 9 Paul alludes to the real possibility that certain people are created for damnation (keep in mind that he prefaces with a “what if”):
22 “What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— 24 even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?”
However, in perhaps the most powerful passage appearing to contradict predestination to damnation, Jesus laments over those perishing in Jerusalem due to unbelief.
Why would He lament over the outcome of His eternal council if He predestined them to damnation?
37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!”
To attempt to understand this dichotomy would mean that we must understand the mind of God, and that is not possible. It is perfectly acceptable not to form a strong opinion or any opinion on the issue of double predestination.
Wherever one stands on this doctrine one must clearly understand that human responsibility is found on every page of the Bible regardless of predestination. Even if God predestines, man is 100% responsible.
I do not understand this antinomy so I resign to leave it in the realm of divine mystery.
We live in a country where we can still freely worship God without having to worry about losing our physical life, unlike the early Christians and many Christians across the Globe.
In Nigeria, having the courage and fortitude to proclaim the Christian faith means one may ultimately pay with his or her life for such proclamation, especially during major Christian holidays. Such was the case for two Christmas seasons now. Last year 44 Christians were killed while attending church service (report), and two days ago 12 Christians were massacred in two separate church attacks (report). Muslim extremists have made it their life mission and service to their god to accomplish such carnage as directed by their scripture:
9:123 “Believers, fight the unbelievers who are near you. Let them find firmness in you.”
2:193-“Fight against them (unbelievers) until there is no dissension, and the religion is for Allah. Fight until no other religion exists but Islam.”
These facts stand uncontested and we cannot understand their gravity until we put ourselves in the position of these Christian martyrs and their families. Can you imagine singing “Silent Night” during the Christmas Eve service, and all of a sudden having full automatic fire ravaging the audience of worshipers? Or a car bomb blowing up the church? These are daily fears for Nigerian Christians. When they confess Christ as God Incarnate, and His death and resurrection as the only way to salvation, they understand they signed up for possible martyrdom.
They read, understand, and take God’s Word at face value in John 16:2 “a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.” They understand this verse as none of us can because their neighbors are killing them as a service to Allah.
They understand martyrdom just like Peter understood his upcoming martyrdom. The Lord hinted at this in John 21 when He told Peter:
18 Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” 19 (This he said to show by what kind of death he [Peter] was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”
Just like Peter glorified God with his death by upside down crucifixion, so these Nigerian martyrs glorify God with their last breath. And so year after year, Christmas after Christmas, Easter after Easter, they continue to go to church and worship the God of their salvation despite the threats and possibility of death.
These stories will not make the front page on CNN or Fox News sites. This become the norm in many African and South East Asian countries… it is not extraordinary enough to be worthy of prime time coverage and discussion.
But we know about them. We pray for them and the families left behind. We know they are now with the Lord “and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (Rev 7:17)
In our season of joy, we must pray for these Christian martyrs and their families.
Delight in Truth 