A Personal Reminder from God to Me

What Is Your Faith?

"If what you call your 'faith' in Christ

does not involve taking the slightest notice

of what He says, then it is not Faith at all

---nor faith or trust in Him,

but only intellectual acceptance

of some theory about Him." ---

C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Bob Kauflin's Perspective on Worship

A Description of Our World

2 Timothy 3

"Difficult Times Will Come"

¹ But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.

² For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,

³ unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,

⁴ treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,

⁵ holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.

⁶ For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses,

⁷ always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

⁸ Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, rejected in regard to the faith.

⁹ But they will not make further progress; for their folly will be obvious to all, just as Jannes's and Jambres's folly was also.

¹⁰ Now you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance,

¹¹ persecutions, and sufferings, such as happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium and at Lystra; what persecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord rescued me!

¹² Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

¹³ But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

¹⁴ You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them,

¹⁵ and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

¹⁶ All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;

¹⁷ so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 3:1-17

NASB

The True Meaning of Psalm 46:10

In recent years, there is such a buzz in the evangelical world on meditation and "being still before God." Yet in their quest, they are being misled and misguided.

Please take the time to read, Meditation and Psalm 46:10 by Marcia Montenegro. Click here to read the article.

Thoughts on the "Be Still DVD"

A personal note, both Rob and myself own the DVD, "Be Still." We have watched it at least twice. Personally I found it disturbing in that folks we had admired were aligning themselves with New Age and Eastern forms of mediation. I immediately did some preliminary research on the subject. The more I read about it, my spirit was deeply disturbed. My purpose in sharing this article by Marcia Montenegro is to help us become more discerning in what we read and participate in.

THE BE STILL DVD: AN ODE TO SILENCE
By Marcia Montenegro
[First published in the Midwest Christian Journal, Spring/Summer 2006; modified for website March, 2008]

Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving.
Col. 4:2 NASB

NOTE: This is an evaluation of the DVD "Be Still," and not an attack on the participants who appear to be genuinely sincere in their assertions. However, as instructed in God's word, we are to test all teachings carefully. DVD participants include Richard Foster, Dallas Willard, Max Lucado, Beth Moore, Henry Cloud, Peter Kreeft, and others.

Before salvation in Christ, the writer of this article was involved for many years in New Age and Eastern forms of mediation, including Tibetan Buddhist and Zen Buddhist meditation.

To read the rest of the article, please click here.

God's Approval or Man's Applause?

One of the headlines in today's OneNewsNow reads, "Warren's 'backsliding' on marriage damages church." What a true statement that is. I particularly like what Bishop Harry Jackson, Jr. had to say about Warren's recent comments to Larry King.

Here is some of the article:

Bishop Harry Jackson, Jr., with the High Impact Leadership Coalition says he was very disappointed with Warren's statements on CNN.

"This man who's been called the next Billy Graham, who I really respect with all my heart and love what he's doing in Africa, is falling into a trap that is emblematic of the problem that the entire church is facing in this generation," Jackson states. "And that  is that we love the applause of men more than we love the work of God and the  gospel. Jesus...told us that we are to honor God first, and that we are not to fear men but we're to fear God."

Jackson argues that Warren was "aiding and abetting a deception around what kind of stance the Bible calls Christians to take" by telling Larry King that opposing the recent Iowa Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage was "not his agenda."

"He is the author of The Purpose Driven Life book," Jackson notes, "and therefore people are going to think, 'Well, this is not on my mission -- it's not on my purpose. I don't have to stand for truth.'

Click here to read the complete article.

As believers, we are set apart and are called to be different from the world. Whenever we accept the applause of men, that is our reward in the here and now. Please tell me what part(s) of the Scripture are we to adhere to and what parts can we simply dismiss?

Our standard is God's Word, not our preconceived ideology and agenda. In 2 Timothy 3:14-17 (ESV), we read: But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

In conclusion, Galatians 1:9-11, in the Amplified summarizes our role in the world: As we said before, so I now say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel different from or contrary to that which you received [from us], let him be accursed (anathema, devoted to destruction, doomed to eternal punishment)! Now am I trying to win the favor of men, or of God? Do I seek to please men? If I were still seeking popularity with men, I should not be a bond servant of Christ (the Messiah). For I want you to know, brethren, that the Gospel which was proclaimed and made known by me is not man's gospel [a human invention, according to or patterned after any human standard].

A Poignant Reminder from our Lord!

We interrupt this church service . . . for Doctrine!

I've heard well-meaning preachers say, "doctrine isn't important." Or "it's too much for the person in the pew to understand." Now the emphasis is on 'new theology,' that downplays the value of scripture and makes emotional and experiential Christianity paramount.

Perhaps, the passage in Jude 3, "Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints," is considered optional by some. 

Interesting enough, as I'm writing this entry, Rob and I are watching the DVD, Luther. Luther said, "My conscience is captive to the Word of God, here I stand, I can do no other, God help me."

Then, I clicked on to Steve Camp's blog, CAMPONTHIS, and read his posting for Tuesday, January 6. It's entitled, "Doctrine Isn't A Four Letter Word . . ." Please click here to read the brief posting, but profound entry.