It will not do...

Hudson Taylor 1832 – 1905 - - "It
will not do to say that you have no special call to go to China.
With these facts before you and with the command of the Lord
Jesus to go and preach the gospel to every creature, you need rather
to ascertain whether you have a special call to stay at home"

 

 

Paul Washer Quote and My comment

The only thing that’s going to save the Church in America–there’s only two possibilities:
One is total reformation in our preaching, in our study of the word of God.
Or the other is fierce horrifying persecution.
That’s the only thing that’s going to save the Church in America.

Paul Washer

My comment:
The Church or Christianity in America is an exact replica of "Luke Warm"...
And what happened in the Luke Warm church...
They were confident and content with their "salvation".
They went about their life's business.
Their fire and passion was NOT for the things of Christ, but on earthly things.

Jesus says he will vomit them out of His mouth, because they are neither Hot not Cold.
In other words, they are comfortable.

Christians, people truly following Christ, are passionate about Him.
To say that you are a follower of Jesus Christ, but not Passionate about Jesus Christ, is just not seen in the Scriptures, and the opposite is actually proclaimed, that if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, it is because the Holy Spirit dwells within you. And to say that the Holy Spirit dwells within you, but you do not have a Passion for Jesus, is a deceiving lie to ones self.

On Election...

I know very many decent people who seem to have resolved never to come to Christ until they can understand how the doctrine of election is consistent with the free invitation of the Gospel. I might just as well determine never to eat a morsel of bread until it has been explained to me how it is that God keeps me alive, and yet I must eat to live.

- Charles Spurgeon

1834 – 1892

Dwell on this...

"It is partly because sin does not provoke our own wrath that we do not believe that sin provokes the wrath of God."
-R.W. Dale

Sharing a Quote

“To say that God the Father has purposed the salvation of all mankind, that God the Son died with the express intention of saving the whole human race, and that God the Holy Spirit is now seeking to win the world to Christ; when, as a matter of common observation, it is apparent that the great majority of our fellowmen are dying in sin, and passing into a hopeless eternity; is to say that God the Father is disappointed, that God the Son is dissatisfied, and that God the Holy Spirit is defeated.” AW Pink

Mark Cahill anti-Calvinist and on the attack!

Brothers, I share this with you not with the intent of slander or malice. But I share this with the request for your prayers for Mark Cahill, not that he come to our side, or an understanding of it, but that God will capture his heart, and open his eyes to the Doctrines of Grace.

In the last 2 weeks I have been exchanging emails with Mark. It started with my sending him an email requesting any information that he may have on a possible DVD he was to create concerning the Catholic Church.

He had responded that “The man who has the footage of the talk still has not given it to me.  it is a crazy situation.”

And he closed his email to me with, “I saw the ‘reformed’ in your email.  You aren’t into the false teachings of calvinism are you Michael?”

My email signature is as follows:
=====================================================================================
Michael Adams...
                      Remember... the Gospel is ours to Proclaim, not to edit!"

The chief reason I am a Reformed Christian...
   is not a heartfelt devotion to the Magisterial Reformers like Martin Luther or John Calvin.
   Although God used these men mightily, they are not the reason!
The main reason is...  
   That the Reformed message, thunders out from the pages of Scripture...
   when the principles of hermeneutics (the science of biblical interpretation) are applied.
  When the text is left to speak for itself, within its own context, the truth is clearly seen.
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

“But His Word was in my heart like a
BURNING FIRE  shut up in my bones...”
“Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!”
(Jeremiah 20:9 - 1 Corinthians 9:16)

May the Grace, peace and Love of Christ be upon you...
======================================================================================

So I responded that I hoped that he would get the footage he needed for the DVD he wold like to put together. And then I responded that I was NOT surprised by his question about Calvinism.

I have clearly see an Arminian flare in his talks and writings, but as stated from another Brother...in another post.

“That, in itself, does not have to be an issue as far as we are concerned, although we do steadfastly believe in these doctrines. We have never regarded adherence to these doctrines as a test of fellowship if:

1) we can focus on the gospel when we are on the streets and

2) those who differ from us have not slipped into some outright heresy (denial of original sin, openness of God theology, etc.), in which case we would have to break fellowship.”

And I did respond “But I am surprised that someone who quotes CH Spurgeon as much as you have, would think that the Doctrines of Grace are false.” I then quoted “"The old truth that Calvin preached, that Augustine preached, that Paul preached, is the truth that I must preach today, or else be false to my conscience and my God. I cannot shape the truth; I know of no such thing as paring off the rough edges of a doctrine. John Knox's gospel is my gospel. That which thundered through Scotland must thunder through England again." —C.H. Spurgeon

I explained in my response to Mark, that I never set out to be referred to as a Calvinist, but “after reading the Bible, and then learning from men who put what I read and learned into words so much better than myself, like Spurgeon, Luther, Bunyan, Edwards, Calvin, MacArthur, Comfort, Whitefield etc... I grew from milk to meat, is the only way I can explain it.”

And I ended writing “Calvinism vs Arminianism can be compared to Monergism vs Synergism or Regeneration vs Decision-ism. May I ask (in Love) what part of Monergism it is that you feel is false, or what merits Synergism has over Monergism, or Decision-ism has over Regeneration? (Question not meant to be loaded, but direct) “ And I attached a PDF of Spurgeon's Defense of Calvinism.

His reply to my response startled me...
He stated “I put Spurgeon in my books not knowing he made false statements like “calvinism is the gospel.’  That is not even close to being Biblically correct.  The good news is that spurgeon is no longer a Calvinist.  That all changed when he died.”
And he also stated in his letter...

“And remember since people are dead in their sins, and they example used by Calvinists is a dead person, your preaching is in vain.  They desire nothing of the God that you talk about.  funny though how I find people all the time, an atheist named Kyle the other day, very interested in the topic of God and eternity.  I guess he wasn’t a dead person was he Michael?   Calvinism is wrong on so many fronts.

 If you choose to believe that, that is your choice.  Just please don’t lead anyone else into that false doctrine.”

After my shock and prayer, I wrote back that I was responding not to debate, but to converse with him as a much respected teacher. Then I wrote in detail some of the things that did thunder in the Scriptures proving the Doctrines of Grace (Calvinism).

His response was disappointing, not that I was seeking approval, but simply gave a “Shot-Gun” answer.

“Interesting email Michael.  It looks like the deception is complete in you.  Sorry to hear that.”

“Anyone out there tonight can repent of their sins and believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ.  Period.  The Bible teaches that and Calvinists do not believe that.  Get away from this false doctrine as soon as you can Michael.”

I had at this point decided to let it go for the time, but was saddened.

Then about 5 days later he sent me some John Calvin quotes, so I read through them, and responded, “Brother Mark, I am so glad you took the time and thought to write...”

“I have seen some of these before. But I must caution you on something you may already know. John Calvin did not write Calvinism or the 5 points. And being a man who Loved God and His Holy Word as you and I do, he was still human, and like all of us, had flaws in his understandings as do you and I, as also do CH Spurgeon, Martin Luther, Whitefield, Newton, Bunyan, etc...

You may know that the 5 points were not just drafted up, but they were a result of establishing what was already doctrine, from the attack of new doctrines being introduced (again), into the Church. They were in response to the 5 points of Arminianism, which was not a result of Jacobus Arminius either. But rather his followers pushing forth upon his work.”

I then went on to explain to him that I did not find the Doctrines of Grace through Calvin's writings directly, but rather through 1st Reading the Bible from cover to cover, then by the teachings of men such as Luther, MacArthur, Bunyan, AW Pink, Paul Washer, Thomas Watson, Mark Kielar, John Newton, and even from the teachings of Ray Comfort, although I never heard him take a position, but I can see through his teachings he is on the same page.

I also exclaimed also that I have heard from “Arminian preachers. Some include Rick Warren (before I was Regenerated I had taken his purpose driven class 3 times, I was really misled by much of what he teaches) Charles Stanley ( I really got lost in his teachings that the "outer darkness and gnashing of teeth" is NOT Hell, but rather an outer part of Heaven), Dave Hunt (he has many mis-quotes, and I am not talking about mis speaks we all can have, but rather a pattern of them, he follows a close second to Stanley in re-defining terms as in no flames in Hell), Joel Osteen (Your best life now, I did not read much of it as I seen right away this was not Scriptural) And a few others...”

So I gave a rather detailed outline of the Path God has placed before me. And I included a PDF from the “Calvin 500” explaining that perhaps he has been thinking Hyper Calvinists were all Calvinists, and explained that the PDF gave a good clear teaching on Calvinism.

And I thanked him again.

I did not hear from him for several days and came across a Fox News Article “ Survey: Many Americans Know Little About Religion”, This had nothing to do with our previous discussions, but as he preached in the streets so often, I though he may enjoy it.

But his response was directly to my signature, and the links were ignored, “Reformed theology does not thunder out from the pages of Scripture, Michael.  You are taking your preconceived notions to the text. 

 Man has the right and responsibility to choose.  Yes, choose.  That thunders from the garden of eden all the way to Revelation.”

I replied one last time:

“Brother, I only meant to share with you the news article that reflects much of what you probably already find on the street.

Although it may appear (from mans perspective) that he has a choice to make, and a some passages may seem to reflect that.

Back in the 1500's Martin Luther had the same debate with Roman Catholic Apologetic Desiderius Erasmus.

Luther referenced over 300 Scriptures, when in context, prove that Salvation is of the Lord, and is of the Lords doing, and is of the Lords will, and reflect to a "T" what God said and recorded through John: "But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, He gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

(John 1:12-13 ESV)

That is thunder, and it is everywhere in Scripture.

If I send you something in the future, since I know that doctrine offends you, I will leave off my signature so as not to offend.

Or if you request, I will just not email you if you are offended.

It is not my intention to offend you. I have a high regard for you, and share your books with others.

But will respect it if you request that I not contact you.

Thank you for your time. “

And his last reply to me was:

“Thanks Michael.  I am on enough forwards.

 “But as many as received him…”  It is man’s responsibility to receive.  It is not irresistible grace that never is mentioned or shows up in the bible.”

I was saddened greatly by a complete lack of hermeneutics and a ripping out of context by ignoring the entire sentence, let alone passage. The I came across that the same thing has happened to others by MarkCahill.
http://lostcauseministries.com/?p=665

*** The entire email is here http://5-pointer.blogspot.com/2010/10/entire-email.html

Obama a true Arminian...

Obama a true Arminian, sums up pretty good what “Easy Believable” and “Arminianism” teach...

http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/09/28/obama-christian-choice?test=latestnews

With statements like “...the kind of life I would want to lead ” and that we should “... see God in other people and do our best to help them find their own grace. ”

Notice the power, and to whom it belongs to. "The kind of life I would want to lead. And this comes from a man who prides himself on his writing and speeches, one who prides himself on his ability to craft words to express what he wants. So it is in all fairness to dissect his crafted speech.

He followed a life that "he" would "want"... Lets stop there a second... This is a life that he wants, that he desires, and notice what follows... not him, he does not want to follow Jesus, he wants to lead... you could say that that is a figure of speech, but his actions prove otherwise on many levels, he does not want to follow, but to lead, and what allows him to lead???

Not the Jesus of the Bible who commands that all men repent, and do the will of the Father... But the Jesus of the Arminian who starts off with an equal relationship of God and man, not Father and child as seen in Scriptures, but as Buddies, Homies, Pals...

There is a major difference in proclaiming that you God is your friend and your God is your Home-Boy. And although Arminianism does not directly teach this, this is the path that it puts its foot on, and that it leads to when followed through.

He also states like may do... “... express my Christian faith “ In typical American Christian (Arminianism*) beliefs, that it is his faith as opposed to "The Christian" faith.

Although this may seem like nit-picking, I can attest through many witnessing opportunities, that one thing Americans are into and that is Universalism, both inside the church and outside the church. So in our speech, we should need to be careful to be sure that people understand that we are not sharing “our” faith, but rather “the Biblical” faith. There is a difference!!!

As clearly seen in Obama's faith, it could be said that it is Obama's Christianity, and his Christianity allows for murder of the un-born, and his Christianity allows for striking out all references to sodomy and homosexuality.

Clearly the popular "personal relationship" mentality has run a-muck, but because he chose God, then he dictates other things. Think about it, the relationship that has just "supposedly" started between Jesus and the Arminian, has them on equal terms, one could not do anything with out the other.

Poor little Jesus probably had to make a deal so that he would get chosen.


* Arminianism not all, but it is from Arminianism that place the next step in this direction.

Heart of the Gospel - What does the Bible make clear?

When asked "What is the Gospel?"
I have heard people express what the Gospel is in many different ways.

Most people have a basic summation and that is that Jesus died on the cross to save us. And although that is true, it is only partly true, or to be more precise, it is only a percentage of what the Gospel is. The Gospel is the center of the Bible, and the beginning, and the end of the Bible.

If for example, the Gospel is more like a paragraph, than a sentence, then there is a danger in only including part of that paragraph or a single sentence. It leaves it as an incomplete sentence and leaves an open interpretation of... Saved “From” what, and Saved “to” what?

I have also heard a popular Christian Cliche`, of... “The Gospel in a Nutshell, is John 3:16". This is a terrible cliché. It shortchanges all of John 3, let alone the whole book of John, and yet let alone the entire Bible. It focuses on a narrow part of John 3, that centers on man.

For a quick example, (John 3:16 ESV) “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Arminians (many but not all) use this verse to try and show all people their worth...

Yet (John 3:18 ESV) “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” Arminians (many but not all) use the first part of John 3:18 to also tell people that they are not condemned in the eyes of the Lord.

But read in it's whole context, that is not what it is saying, and in addition, it is saying that those who do not believe, “are condemned already”, but “are condemned already” does not fit within their interpretation of all people having worth in Gods eyes.

Now someone may take that last sentence wrong, but when used to counter the way Arminian evangelizing uses John 3:16, it is correct. When people are hearing that God just loves them and that they have worth, they hear that God loves them just the way they are and that they are a good person. They hear this because man is prideful, and already considers himself a good person and now they are being promised that Jesus died for them, when in fact they may be one of those already condemned, and if that is the case they are giving them a false sense of security.

So with this little sidetrack, we can see just one aspect of just how wrong it is to preach only part of a message leaving both the beginning and the end open for self interpretation.

To be continued...

Confronting the times with water

Confronting the times

Today after much prayer, I started a “Free Water” outing.
There are special tracts made up explaining why we are giving away free water. The first reason is for an apology that so many are asking for money in the name of Christianity. As Christians we should be giving to the community not taking from it.

So the first corner I was going to try already had some people on it “selling” water. So I drove to another location and it was empty on all corners.

I parked and set up bringing the tracts and a cooler full of Ice Cold Spring Water. It was already about 90 degrees and high humidity with a feels like at 100 degrees at 11:00 AM.

I set up in the median and took out a bottle of water and a tract, and started. Most people were running their AC so their windows were up, and a great may of them were tinted. So I couldn't see inside. At first I concentrated on the cars with open windows., But later decided to be at least trying to offer to all I could.

The first person seemed grateful and as I explained that this was free they tried to offer a “donation”, and that presented me with the opportunity to explain a little that this was not about money, and that seemed to take many by surprise.

Most people seemed to have a glaze about them and I could sense a “Not another Christian asking for money” attitude as they waved me by. And there were many who were prepared for the heat and their drive, they simply raised their drinks they had with them.

Several responses were as follows:
“Free? Really? Why free?”
“I couldn't agree with this more”
“Thank you, here is a donation” (which I politely refused several-donations)
“My brother and I were just talking about this last night, why are so many Christians asking rather than giving to the community”
“I don't have any money on me”

I had a few times where people several cars back held out a dollar from their windows, in which they were surprised to get a cool drink and keep their money.

Then after about an hour, a mini-van stopped in the other lane and the driver screamed at me “Do you have a license for that”, taken back a bit I replied I do not need one. She sneered at me and threatened, “that is my spot, and I am coming to set up so you need to get out”.

Until this point I seemed to have no confrontation from Satan yet, but it would be strange not to have him show up to keep those he “thinks” are his.

As I continued I could see her and another gentleman toting a cooler behind them make their way to the median I was working. They made it to the median, and she then approached me, at which time I could see the guy set up a sign on the cooler. The sign is one of the same ones that helped me start giving water away from free. It was “Right Path Ministries”.

At this time she asked me again if I had a license, and I told her I did not need one as I was not selling anything, but was rather giving away free water and sharing the gospel. She was appalled at this and paused a second before yelling “this is my spot, and we sell here, this guy is homeless, and you are going to make him dive into a dumpster tonight.”

So I asked her, “Are you going to let him dive into a dumpster?”
And she prattled on and on, all the time yelling in a most hostile tone, there was no talking to her as I listened to her go on and on.

Now there were 4 medians, all of which had the same amount of traffic, and she only had 2 people with her, so she could have set up at 3 other locations, but was insistent on this spot.

Now as this was going on, the thoughts that were going through my head were many, but the most prominent were those of Paul where many times he had set up and was confronted, as he could have easily moved at the first rock that was thrown or threat of his life, he had set there to share the Gospel, and there it stayed, unpopular as it was, he dug his heels in to complete his task.

When I asked he which was more important, sharing the Gospel and peoples eternal salvation, or a few bucks, she again seemed stymied. This really seemed to be a foreign concept to her. I then addressed her sign, and told her that unlike what they were doing, selling, getting money in the name of the Church, we should be giving. She then said they are not a Church, the sign says ministry, not Church!

I countered and told her people take it all the same, a ministry is a part of a Church in most cases and people see them as Christians asking for money, when our command was to spread the Gospel and reach out to others.

But she screamed back and started calling me names and a hypocrite. I asked her why she was so hostile and rude? She yelled back that she was doing works and not talking about it.

I have had my fears about Right Path Ministry, as I have seen this ministry for a while from time to time, that they were a pragmatic, and works based religion with no theology but that of earning their way to salvation and are “Jesus Users”.

By “Jesus Users” I mean that they like the “AA” Alcohol Anonymous, they use “Jesus” as a genie. I have met people from AA, and although they talk about Jesus, they only seem to have 1 layer, and if you press, their Jesus is just 1 way to salvation, because the important thing is that you just believe in something. Jesus is simply a tool for these programs, a tool that makes it easy for them to earn their way to salvation.

Still a bit confused, as there are homeless being used as pawns if I am not careful. But at the same time and of the greatest value is that there needs to be a voice speaking out against the falseness being perpetrated in the name of Christianity.

Pray for me this week.

De Baptizing....

Fox news reports that Atheists are De Baptizing people.

This is possibly not the best, but perhaps one of the best examples of why baptizing children is wrong. But not for the reasons they state. But because it is NOT a true commitment but rather a "religious custom".

Prepping for a move in Winter.

I have been starting to prepare for moving out of State this early Winter, mainly for health reasons. Florida is just too hot and humid in the summer, and the pollen season is also too harsh for us.

So it is with both regret and excitement, that we prepare.
First on the list is to find a Church to attend once we get there.

More to come.

Duty, duty, duty...

Duty ! ?

A Christian has duties, obligations, works.
Not for Salvation, but because of the Salvation brought forth by Grace, these things flow from him in unstoppable waves.

In the last few weeks I have been modifying some of the tracts that I have written. I have been advised that they are too strong, and it is not a good thing to look like someone on the street corner protesting.

So in submission, I have been putting aside what is either my feelings or pride, so I presume. I have prayed for humility and guidance to let things work out, whet must be worked out.

But as I drive my car, I see the so-called Christian radio and TV station stickers on cars. I read about the decisions of so-called Christian leaders making news on the Internet. I talk to people and hear how some peoples idea of Church is watching Joel Osteen on TV or the second largest Church is a Church on the Internet and they are making it more and more available to people to "not attend or fellowship" but to watch their broadcast and be their member.

But as I read and study Jesus in Matthew, our Savior is continually pointing out false and dead religion. More than He does of Murder or adultery or most other sins.

Am I doing right by "not offending" people with this in a tract?
I was told that it is OK to mention this if it comes up while talking to people.
But not to put it on a tract.
I was told it does not look right on a tract, and there is no need to try and get attention to the tract with a unique design.

But the outward appearance of tracts that many use are pretty landscapes. The inside message is biblical and solid, but they look just like most other "Jesus Loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life" tracts.

And whole heartedly agree that I do not want a tract cover to shock for the sake of shock, but I want it as Spurgeon says, "a tract should be striking".

And in America, in our culture, which is so prideful and makes light of sin, even has one of its favorite destinations called "sin-city". In this land people need a wake up call, they need to read something and say, "is that really true"? Not read something and just go along with it whether it is true or not.

Do we NOT have a duty to express as truthfully and in as honest of a manner the truth of the false-dead religion in most of America masquerading as Christianity?