“Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.” (Matthew 25:32-33, ESV)

One issue which has made its appearance of late in Calvinistic circles, is one raised by a friend of mine in a discussion a while back. The basic assertion (as he expressed it) was “I was ALWAYS a sheep, and never a GOAT.”

So I’d like to take some time to unpack that idea, and see what exegetical evidence (if any) there might be for either making or denying such a claim.

Lemme warn ya – its a little long.

Read on.

(more…)

“And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, for she said to herself, “If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.” Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well.” (Matthew 9:20-22, ESV)

” And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, “Have mercy on us, Son of David.” When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.” Then he touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith be it done to you.” And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, “See that no one knows about it.” But they went away and spread his fame through all that district.” (Matthew 9:27-31, ESV)

Faith, is NOT a work. When this truth is lost, the preaching of a full and free offer of the Gospel, and the calling of men to faith and repentance gets lost with it. Fortunately, passages like these two give us tremendous help in untangling a knotty problem indeed.

(more…)

Proverbs 29:19 (ESV) By mere words a servant is not disciplined, for though he understands, he will not respond.

Are you merely a servant of God, or are you also a child of God? The issue is an important one. How you think of yourself in these categories will impact how you respond to Him.

(more…)

Be back around Sept. 9th.

I “may” post once or twice while away.

Don’t count on it.

Hopefully I’ll get back rested up and ready to jump back in.

“Doing Church” is a big buzz-word topic these days. But to tell you the truth, it all seems like a buch of hub-bub to me. The nature of the Church as Christ’s Kingdom, founded, being built and approaching fulfillment – it seems to me captures the essence of “doing Church”. And if you’ll jump to the rest of this very short entry – I think you might agree that we need not complicate things so much. Instead, we need to be about the business Christ has given us to do. That way – we won’t have to “do” Church, Church will get done.

(more…)

Sadly, a once forceful voice for Christianity – Harold Camping, Founder of Family Life Radio – has continued his downward spiral into deeper and deeper heresy. My prayer is, we can chalk it up to age and infirmity. Nevertheless, his specious claims on the dates of Christ’s return, errors on the Trinity, and abandonment of the Church makes responding to him necessary. In this 2 part debate with Dr. James White at Alpha & Omega Ministries, you’ll hear all you need to see Mr. Camping’s teachings for what they are. CLICK HERE, or on either of the images displayed.

THANK YOU Dr. White.

“But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.” (James 3:17, ESV)

It is true in general, that there can be little true progress in putting away sin without sound doctrine. So it is also true that we can never substitute the finding out of sound doctrine for the putting away of sin. And thirdly, the true putting away of sin is never located merely in the amendment of actions – but must be accompanied with a true change of the heart.

All of this is essential in our counseling. And it applies as much to the counselor, as to the counselee.

(more…)