Repent and Believe!

Heaven - by Randy Alcorn

noreply@blogger.com (tfoley) — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 12:48:00 +0000

I started reading a book simply called Heaven, by Randy Alcorn. I have only just begun reading it, but I'm very excited already. There is so much in just the introduction about the glories that await the Christian in eternity. If we're going to spend eternity somewhere, shouldn't we take a close look to learn all that Scripture says about it in order to learn everything that we can about what God has revealed to us about our eternal home?

Please do not confuse this book with other books on alleged experiences such as Don Piper's 90 Minutes in Heaven or Bill Wiese's 23 Minutes in Hell. Randy Alcorn simply uses sola Scriptura to describe the eternal home in which Christ is preparing for His bride, the Church. (John 14:2)

With my Grandpa's recent "promotion to Glory", this topic has never been more on my mind and knowing where he is, with Christ, I know I've not lost him... rather, I've simply lost contact with him for a time.

I'll try to keep posting comments as I read through this book... as I feel led to do so. I'm doing my best to not start reading new books until I finish the ones I've started, but I'm really challenged in this area as my friends well know. ;)

Below is a preview of the book Heaven... check it out.

“O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am! Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah (Psalm 39:4-5 ESV)

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In His grip,

Travis

The Preaching of the Gospel

noreply@blogger.com (tfoley) — Sat, 29 May 2010 19:17:00 +0000

"In order that people may be brought to faith, God mercifully sends proclaimers of this very joyful message to the people he wishes and at the time he wishes. By this ministry people are called to repentance and faith in Christ crucified. For how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without someone preaching? And how shall they preach unless they have been sent? (see Rom. 10:14-15)" - from The Canons of Dordt, Article III

The cleverness of man is not the means by which God has chosen to save, it is by the PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL!

Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. (1 Corinthians 1:20-12 ESV)

When it comes to the matters of spiritual life and conduct and ministry, is the Bible sufficient or do we need psychology and human wisdom?

Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God (2 Corinthians 3:5 ESV)

And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. (1 Corinthians 2:13 ESV)

The Bible is clear that we are reborn by the Word of God, not by man.

since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God (1 Peter 1:23 ESV)

When you resort to schemes in order to draw people to God, that reveals that you do not trust in the power of God's Word to convert the soul (Psalm 19:7) and that you think God needs your help.

Sola Scriptura... Soli Deo Gloria...

My Memories of Grandpa Jackson (Message From His Funeral)

noreply@blogger.com (tfoley) — Sun, 16 May 2010 11:54:00 +0000

My Grandpa – Jimmy Dean Jackson (1932-2010)

At the young age of 39 years old, Jim Jackson became a Grandpa when I was born in September 1972… his very first Grandkid. As a child you only know what you see in the small world around you. For me, family was all I knew. I was blessed with 2 sets of Grandparents and many aunts, uncles and cousins. We were all very close, sharing most every birthday and holiday together. My Grandpa was always there. I have so many memories of him, it’s unbelievable. I can still hear his voice saying my name, “Hi Travvy” or “Trav! Get over here and give your Grandpa a hug.” If I dared try and shake his hand, he’d say, “attt… attt… you know better than that. You’re never too big to hug your Grandpa.”, he’d say. He’d always greet you with a hug as soon as you walked in the door. If he knew you were coming, you’d be getting that hug in the front yard as you walked up to the house. He loved his family so much, he would have and “did” do anything and everything he could in their time of want and need.

He was a Godly man. My Grandpa loved the LORD and he served Him until his last breath. When I was born my Grandpa Jackson was a deacon and my Grandpa Foley was the pastor of Oak Grove Baptist church in Salem, MO where my Mom and Dad attended. Just a few years ago I attended a recognition service for my Grandpa at Oak Grove where he was given a plaque for 38 years of service as a deacon and yet still continued serving the LORD. Though I grew up in church and hearing the Gospel, it wasn’t until 2005 before I was saved. God drew me and opened my eyes to the sin in my life which sent me to the Cross in repentance and faith in Christ. I too, as did my Grandpa, serve the LORD. My Grandpa did not take recognition well for his service. He would always point up giving glory to God, which is most certainly appropriate. He told me a story just a few short months ago that he said he had never told anyone and didn’t want me to say anything. I suppose it’s OK to tell it now. This is just an example of the kind of man my Grandpa was. There is a half-way house off of West 5th Street in Salem, MO called “Agape House”. My Grandpa went by there one evening on the way home from work and visited with a couple of the men sitting on the front porch. He said he noticed they didn’t have much of anything to cover their feet. Grandpa kneeled down and unlaced his brand new leather work boots and kicked them off. He gave them to the man who’s feet they fit. One man put them on and said they fit. Grandpa said, lace ‘em up and walk around. The man was speechless. Grandpa asked him how they felt, he replied, “they feel great”. Grandpa said, “they’re yours”. My Grandpa turned and walked back to his car barefoot and drove off. That was my Grandpa. He didn’t want praise for what he did, he only wanted to minister to someone. He has shared the Gospel with me time and time again… with words and by his very life. He was just one of the means by which the LORD used to draw me to Himself.

A Workin’ Man
Where do I even begin? My Grandpa was a farmer, a worker, a man of men. There are few like him.

My Grandpa loved to farm. I was blessed the early years of my life to spend time on their farm. There were few things that us Grandkids looked more forward to than going to the farm to see Grandma and Grandpa. He would let us drive the tractor, we’d ride with him on it across the pasture, we’d get to ride in the truck with him when he’d go out to feed, and we got to help him bail hay. There are so many memories; it’s hard to get them all out. He used to have this cow one time when I was probably 8 or 9 years old. This cow had horns that curved downward. I thought it was the oddest looking cow. Well, my Grandpa would help me up on that cow and let me ride on her back as he walked her around. I thought that was the greatest thing in the world! He knew how to handle her, she was so gentle. One thing that I’ll bet you don’t know about my Grandpa, unless you are one of his kids or Grandkids, is that my Grandpa Jackson was actually half Cowboy and half Indian. I later grew to realize that he may very well have been the only one in the world with this rare set of characteristics! He surely was a Grandpa like no other.

My Grandpa was a worker. Not only was he a farmer, but my Grandpa was an iron worker. There were times he would get up early in the morning, feed the cattle, drive all the way to St. Louis, put in a full day of iron work, drive home, tend to the farm, go to bed and do it all over again. Grandpa Jackson worked hard right up until the end of his life. He took pride in his work whether it was running an 800 acre farm with hundreds of head of cattle or it was shining the floors at the college. He took pride in his work because he knew he belonged to Christ and everything in his life was a reflection of that devotion.

One of the most talked about memories of all of us Grandkids was the “blood and sweat jelly”! There were several blackberry bushes on Grandma and Grandpa’s farm and all of us Grandkids would get out there with Grandma and Grandpa and our parents, a 5 gallon bucket in each hand, and start picking blackberries! We would pick bucket after bucket of these things in the dead heat of the summer. Bleeding from the stickers in the bushes and stinging when the sweat would wash over the cuts… but oh our sights were on what was to come. Grandma’s homemade blackberry jelly! It’s not hard to tell why Grandpa called this special jelly, “blood and sweat jelly”. We all enjoyed the fruit of our labor. That, as well as Grandma’s touch, made each and every jar something to cherish for years to come.

Our Last Talk
I just talked to him a few days ago right before he was to get surgery done on his heel. I called to tell him the good news, that I had been elected as one of the deacons at my church. I was just telling him at Easter that I had been nominated and this was the call to let him know I had been voted in by the congregation. He was so proud of me. He was so encouraging. When I asked him how he was feeling, he said, “oh, I’m feelin’ alright I guess Trav.” He said he was getting ready to go in and have a bone spur removed from his heel here in a couple of days. He was telling me that he was going to have to be on crutches for a couple of weeks and he wasn’t going to be able to work. He said, “well, if they have another graduation up at the school, I’ll have to tell them they’ll have to find someone else to get things ready, I just can’t do it Trav.” He always called me Trav or Travvy. He went on to say, “all my life I have been scared to death of ending up an old man just sitting in a rocking chair on my front porch, staring off in to space. I never wanted to be like that.” I said, “Grandpa, you have never and will never be like that. A man like that is a man who has lost his purpose in life, just sitting around waiting for his number to be pulled. You are not that man. You need to just do what the doctor tells you and just rest for once in your life.” I went on to ask him about his banjo. I remember as a kid he had gotten himself a banjo, but I never remembered him playing. I was recently given a banjo by my Father-in-Law and I’m just learning to play, so I thought I would ask him about it. He said that he was taking lessons for a little while, then he ended up smashing his fingers building a sandbox for the kids. (That would be me and my cousins – I never knew this) He said after that he missed some lessons, fell out of practice and figured he’d just sell it. He said he still loves to listen to the banjo though and was telling me about a channel that he watches all the time that is nothing but banjo playing. I told him that I’m going to learn how to play that thing really good and come down and play for him. He said he knows I’ll learn it well and will look forward to it. That day will never happen, but I promise I am going to learn to play that banjo like no one else in honor of my promise to my Grandpa Jackson.

There are volumes and volumes of experiences, memories, words of encouragement and lessons grounded in Godly wisdom that are missing from this glimpse back on Grandpa’s life. I could never fully and truly capture the essence of the man I called “Grandpa Jackson”.

What Now?
My Grandpa Jackson was a man of God. Unwavering, he stood firm in his faith. I’m not talking about a man who was wishy washy in his style of life and I’m not talking about a man who was morally perfect either. I’m talking about a man who knew he was a sinner, who knew he deserved hell, but knew that by the grace of a sovereign and loving God, through faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ alone that he was cleansed of his crimes against God and stood justified before the God of heaven and earth! He lived a life of faith in Christ. Over the course of my life I watched this man of God, most of the time through the eyes of a lost man… not a Christian, and I saw a man who honestly believed what he said he believed and his life was a testimony to that. After God saved me, I had some of the greatest conversations about the Bible with my Grandpa. For instance, the past couple of years or so we talked at great length about the Judgment House that Oak Grove Baptist Church held around Halloween time and how the Gospel was being preached to hundreds and hundreds of people. He and Grandma were so excited, as was I. He was a man that would stand fierce for what he believed and that came out in his service as deacon just as much as it did anywhere else in his life. If he knew something was brewing in the church that was unbiblical or contradicted Scripture in any way he was there to make sure it was stopped. He was not a man pleaser, he sought to please the God loved and served. He was a servant of the LORD. He has ministered to the lives of so many outside of our family over the course of his 77 years, I can’t even begin to imagine. He was a missionary in his own hometown.

Missionary, Nate Saint wrote this, “People who do not know the LORD ask why in the world we waste our lives as missionaries? They forget, they too are expending their lives… and when the bubble has burst, they will have nothing of eternal significance to show for the years they have wasted.”

Everybody’s bubble is going to burst. Everyone of us, at the end of our lives… pshhhh… it’s all gone. Then what? What do we spend our lives for? What do we pour ourselves out for? What do we give ourselves to?

Come to a man who is lying on his death-bed, or a prisoner that is to die tomorrow and try talking to him about wealth, or accomplishments and recognition, or temptations to lust, drunkenness or excess; and he will think you have lost your mind. Oh how serious we are when we’re staring death in the face, to turn from our former ways and desperately ask, “what must I do to be saved?” To a man in this position every verse of Scripture has life and power. Thoughts are directed wholly on, “what is to happen when I pass into eternity very shortly? Time is now precious and if you ask this man if his last hours would be better spent getting drunk, gambling, going shopping or any other needless recreation or would it be better spent in prayer and reading God’s Word? This man is more inclined at this point in time to choose the latter; prayer and the reading of God’s Word. Why? Because he has an expectation of the speedy approach of the soul into the presence of the eternal God and entering into an unchangeable, endless life of joy… or torment. This has so much of an impact to wake this man up to reality so that if ever he will be serious about his right standing before God, it will be now. It is for this reason it is a great mercy of God, that this life, which is so short, should be as uncertain as it is, and that frequent dangers and sicknesses call to us to look at ourselves and be ready for our change into eternity, this is why the sick or anyone facing death take these matters more seriously. Those in your youth and health to consider your frailty and the shortness and uncertainty of your lives and always live as those that wait for the coming of Christ.

The Bible says in Hebrews 9:27-28, “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.” My Grandfather’s appointed day has come and as he stands before God to be judged, he will stand “in Christ” a righteous man and hear the words I know he longed to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.” (Matt 25:23). Grandpa has been poured out as a drink offering, and the time of his departure has come. He has fought the good fight, he has finished the race, he has kept the faith and there is laid up for him the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to him on that Day, and not only to him but also to all who have loved the appearing of Christ. (2 Tim 4:6-9)

One of Grandpa’s favorite verses was Hebrews 11:1 which says, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” He’d quote that verse, look at me, point to the Bible and say, “Trav, people sometimes ask me questions about the Bible… why such and such this and such and such that. I don’t know everything there is to know about the Bible, but what I don’t understand I take it by faith! I don’t have to understand it all, but I believe by faith that this is the Word of God.” I would just smile and say, “Amen Grandpa, amen.”

While I will miss those talks with my Grandpa, I have the blessed hope of seeing him again one day in heaven. Grandpa isn’t just “in a better place”, as he was not just my Grandpa; he was my brother in Christ. Today he is at the feet of the One Who died for him, the risen Christ, worshiping, rejoicing and shouting praises with all the brothers and sisters in Christ who have gone before him.

A Grandpa of Grandpas… called home, by the King of Kings and LORD of LORDs.

To God alone be the glory,

Travis Foley
“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” (Psalm 147:3 ESV)

“I love you Grandpa.”

A Tribute to Grandpa Jackson

noreply@blogger.com (tfoley) — Fri, 14 May 2010 12:45:00 +0000

I wanted to put together something to honor the memory of my Grandpa Jackson whom I loved and miss deeply. He was promoted to Glory on May 11, 2010.

T4G 2010 - The "Unadjustable" Gospel

noreply@blogger.com (tfoley) — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 20:52:00 +0000

This past week I had the privilege to join some friends on a trip to Louisville, KY to attend the Together for the Gospel conference, which is held every 2 years, this being only the second conference held.

The theme of the conference this year was one of absolute importance and extremely relevant to our day and age... The "Unadjustable" Gospel. While there is far from a shortage of churches in our country, it seems the majority of churches are no longer centered on God, rather they are centered on man. Anytime you take the focus of a church or a ministry off of God and place it on man and his "felt" needs, you are most certainly "adjusting" the Gospel to accomplish the end you seek. A church is to be centered on Christ, preaching the full counsel of God, proclaiming the uncompromisable, "unadjusted" Gospel of Jesus Christ! This is the means by which God has chosen to save all whom He gave His Son.

"For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe." (1 Cor 1:21 ESV)

When we attempt to "adjust" God's Gospel by trying to make it more "appealing" or "enticing" to sinful men and women, we in effect have a form of godliness, yet deny the power of God by changing the message.

"...having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth." (2 Tim 3:5-7 ESV)

We cannot change the message.

Please examine yourself in light of Scripture concerning how you proclaim the Gospel to the lost. Are you "adjusting' the Gospel? Would you present the same Gospel message to your successful neighbor who has "everything going for him" that you would to someone having only 3 minutes live?

If you said "No, I would would present a different message to my successful neighbor", then you're guilty of "adjusting" the Gospel. The Gospel message should NEVER change to accomodate man's circumstances. It's not our Gospel to change, it's God's Gospel and it's only His Gospel that saves fallen man from the justice and wrath of a holy God. It's only God's Gospel where mercy and forgiveness are found by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone.

Below are some great resources from the conference for your growth and edification.

T4G 2010 -- Session 1 -- Mark Dever
The Church is the Gospel Made Visibl

T4G 2010 -- Session 1 -- Mark Dever from Together for the Gospel (T4G) on Vimeo.

T4G 2010 -- Session 2 -- R.C. Sproul
The Defense and Confirmation of the Gospel — What I Have Learned in 50 years

T4G 2010 -- Session 2 -- R.C. Sproul from Together for the Gospel (T4G) on Vimeo.

T4G 2010 -- Session 3 -- Al Mohler
How Does it Happen? Trajectories Toward an Adjusted Gospel

T4G 2010 -- Session 3 -- Al Mohler from Together for the Gospel (T4G) on Vimeo.

T4G 2010 -- Session 4 -- Thabiti Anyabwile
'Fine-Sounding Arguments' — How Wrongly ‘Engaging the Culture’ Adjusts the Gospel

T4G 2010 -- Session 4 -- Thabiti Anyabwile from Together for the Gospel (T4G) on Vimeo.

T4G 2010 -- Session 5 -- John MacArthur
The Theology of Sleep! (Mark 4)

T4G 2010 -- Session 5 -- John MacArthur from Together for the Gospel (T4G) on Vimeo.

T4G 2010 -- Session 6 -- John Piper
Did Jesus Preach Paul’s Gospel?

T4G 2010 -- Session 6 -- John Piper from Together for the Gospel (T4G) on Vimeo.

T4G 2010 -- Special Session -- Matt Chandler
Faith

T4G 2010 -- Special Session -- Matt Chandler from Together for the Gospel (T4G) on Vimeo.

T4G 2010 -- Session 7 -- Ligon Duncan
Did the Fathers Know the Gospel?

T4G 2010 -- Session 7 -- Ligon Duncan from Together for the Gospel (T4G) on Vimeo.

In His grip,

Travis
2 Tim 4:5

The Free Will of Man: What does the Book say?

noreply@blogger.com (tfoley) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 18:53:00 +0000

I wanted to take some time to address the issue of the “free will” of man. Does man have a
free will? If not, are we just robots? As my Pastor always says, “who cares what you think,
who cares what I think, what does “the Book” say?

Questions

Is salvation a work of God and man, a cooperative effort?
Is it something that God “sets up” like a cosmic “multi-level marketing program” where we “work the numbers” and gain eternal life as the final prize?
Is it a grand and beautiful design that simply awaits man’s “turning of the key” so to speak, in order for it to work?
Is salvation of the LORD, of men, or a mixture of both?

What does the Book say?

“But I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD” (Jonah 2:9)

“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)

“Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. (John 6:28-29)

The ONLY reason we believe is BECAUSE of the work of God in us!

“Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul.” (Acts 16:14)

“No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:44)

There is stubbornness within us all to resist and reject Jesus Christ and the surrender of our lives to Him. This is because we are wicked God-haters in our natural state. It's a nature problem. If it's a nature problem, then it's going to take something outside of ourselves, outside of our own nature to change us... and who can do that? God! “NO MAN can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him”, says Christ in John 6.

Question

Does this simply mean that the plan comes from His hand, so that without Him, there would be
no salvation? Is that all this means?

What does the Book say?

The Apostle Paul did not view it that way:

"For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord."' (1Co 1:26-31)

No man can boast before God. God has chosen the weak things, the base things, the foolish
things, so that He might destroy the wisdom of the wise. It is by “His doing” that any person is
in Christ.

It is not by His doing AND our doing, making it a "cooperative" effort, but by His doing alone!

Objection

How can you say by His alone? God only “starts it”, man still has to make the decision to
“accept” it!

What does the Book say?

Scripture explains that it is of God alone. Christ has become to us everything we need…
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption. None of this comes from ourselves.
None of this is dependent upon us. The result, Paul says, is that if anyone is to boast, he can
boast solely in the LORD.

The Christian heart is glad to confess, “Salvation is of the LORD.” All of it, from start to finish. In completeness. In perfection. Salvation is a divine act, a divine work. It is centered upon God, not upon man. It’s God’s glory, not man’s, that is at stake. The God-centerdness of the gospel is what makes the Biblical teaching so fundamentally different than all of the religions of men.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Pet 1:3-5)

“So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.” (Rom 9:16)

“All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” (John 6:37)

“ No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:44)

“And he said, ‘This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.’” (John 6:65)

“All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that He will take what is mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:15)

“In Him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of His will…” (Eph 1:11)

“Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel…” (2 Tim 1:8-10)

John 6 and 10 show that God will bring all of His sheep into the fold and see also Romans 9:10-24 for more on the work of a Sovereign God.

Before we continue, let’s take a moment to define the term ad hominem argument:

Ad hominem argument - An ad hominem argument, also known as argumentum ad hominem (Latin: "argument to the man", "argument against the man") consists of replying to an argument or factual claim by attacking or appealing to a characteristic or belief of the person making the argument or claim, rather than by addressing the substance of the argument or producing evidence against the claim.

I’m a Biblicist!

Some have taken a stance against the view of God being completely sovereign while claiming to be a “Biblicist”. Sounds pretty spiritual doesn’t it? Nevertheless, the term Biblicist seems to have only limited usefulness in this debate. Which of us does not try to start with Scripture and to draw conclusions by studying the text? Which of us wishes to set aside any of the Bible in favor of a human system? No, we are all Biblicists here.

Now that we're all speaking as Biblicists, here are the questions that need to be answered.

Human Depravity

Question

Is the natural "human will" totally unable to respond rightly to God, or is it only partially unable?

What does the Book say?

It is TOTALLY unable to respond rightly to God. God liberates the wills only of the elect, passing over others. This liberation is an aspect of saving grace, and it is completely effective. The will, once freed, always turns toward God in saving faith. In terms of their moral freedom, the non-elect still cannot come because they will not come, because they remain dead in their trespasses and sin. Scripture says "dead" meaning "dead", not merely stranded at sea searching for someone to throw them a life saver.

“But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Cor 2:14)

“And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph 2:1)

“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)” (Eph 2:4)

Free Will

Question

What about man’s free will? Man does have a free will doesn’t he?

What does the Book say?

Yes, he does and man exercises that free will every moment of his life. Man will always “choose freely” according to his own nature. Eph 2:3 tells us that by “nature” we are “children of wrath” walking in accordance to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience… conducting ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind! In all of these things we are exercising the same “free will” from which so many claim comes the ability to make a "decision" to have a "love for God" and "saving faith in Christ". This not only contradicts plain common sense, but far worse, it contradicts Scripture.

Here’s an illustration

Take for instance a hungry fish. If you place in front of this hungry fish a worm and a fresh baked slice of pepperoni pizza, which of these will the fish eat? The answer is obvioius, the worm. Why is that? Because the fish will chose in accordance to his nature and his nature will draw him to the worm.

The point

Man’s freedom is limited to his nature. The “free will” of the natural man will never choose to bow down to a holy, just and righteous God. The natural man is an enemy of God in his mind through wicked works. (Col 1:21-22) Such a choice is diametrically opposed to his very nature. Without the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, raising that spiritually dead man from the grave (Eph 2:1), man’s free will can only choose sin.

That makes us robots!

Does it? Man has a free will and man is a free agent. The free agency of man is illustrated in man’s physical ability to do something. I could ask you to pick up a hammer and kill an innocent baby kitten. You have the physical ability to do this. You have the strength in your arms, the coordination to swing at an object and hit it with force, but one thing is missing. You do not have the “will” to do so. Let’s now look at someone who is lost and does not know Christ. This person is nice to their friends, they don’t outwardly appear to hate God, but have no desire whatsoever for the things of God and really would rather keep Him out of their thoughts. They could perhaps be a member of a church because they do enjoy being around other "nice" people. Tell this person to fall on their knees and worship the risen Christ! Tell them to surrender their life to Him, because He is worthy of love and praise! This person is in fine physical shape. They can walk, sit, stand, they can scream, they even have the coordination to talk and tie their shoes at the same time, but there is one thing lacking. They do not have the "will" to do so. They “will not” because they do not “want” to.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Cor 5:17)

When God saves a man, He changes that man and gives Him (by His grace) a new nature… one that desires Him. It is the will of this new nature to surrender to Christ, to love the things of God, to love fellowship with other Christians, to love our enemies, to proclaim the Gospel, to study His Word, to bow our heads in prayer, to repent of our sin, to surrender it all to Christ, to seek Him earnestly all the days of our lives! Why? Because it is the unquenchable desire of the new nature to know Him and to draw closer to Him every day.

You see, “no one” comes to Christ kicking and screaming under the control of some devious god. While we all deserve hell for our rebellion against a holy God, it is this same God, the God of all creation, our Creator, who by His love, grace and mercy, according to His own will and good pleasure (Eph 1:5-7), chose to save a people (the elect; Ie. anyone who turns from their sin and puts their faith in Jesus Christ) from His wrath and give them to His Son. It is they whom Christ prayed for in His High Priestly prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane (John 17:9) and it is they whom He purchased by His shed blood as He bore the cup of God’s wrath on the cross. Christ is risen, He is glorified and He sits at the right hand of the Father making intercession for all who will repent of their sin and put their faith in Jesus Christ alone!

"how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." (Acts 20:20-21)

“But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:4-7)

Glory to God alone.

The Shack and Scripture

noreply@blogger.com (tfoley) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 05:34:00 +0000

Due to the seemingly continued popularity of this book, I wanted to put yet another post out there exposing it for what it is... a blasphemous work of heresy! Should a Christian want to read a book like this? Should a Christian know so little about the Bible that books like "The Shack" seem completely harmless? Is it harmless? Let's take a look.

Why is the book so popular?
When god is created in “man's” image, he is more likable and easier to be accepted by carnal men. Why? Because he's just like them. The writer has created a false god who can be controlled and manipulated by his creation.

Why is this book so dangerous?
Because it's a work of heresy! We need to fill our minds with the Truth of Scripture, not with make believe books that falsely portray the Just and Holy God of Scripture. Anyone indwelt by the Spirit of God should find themselves outraged not only that the Godhead has been reduced to human form, but at the message this make-believe trinity has for the Reader in light of Holy Scripture.

· Papa to Mack: “We [the Trinity] have limited ourselves out of respect for you.”

Hey... isn’t this Open Theism – God choosing to limit Himself?

· Open Theism - makes the case for a personal God who is open to influence through the prayers, decisions, and actions of people. Although many specific outcomes of the future are unknowable, God's foreknowledge of the future includes that which is determined as time progresses often in light of free decisions that have been made and what has been sociologically determined. So God knows everything that has been determined as well as what has not yet been determined but remains open. As such, he is able to anticipate the future, yet remains fluid to respond and react to prayer and decisions made either contrary or advantageous to His plan or presuppositions.

· Jesus: “God, who is the ground of all being, dwells in, around, and through all things . . .”

Hey, isn’t this Pantheism – God in all things?

· Pantheism - the doctrine that God is the transcendent reality of which the material universe and human beings are only manifestations: it involves a denial of God's personality and expresses a tendency to identify God and nature.

"For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths." (2 Tim 4:3-4 ESV)

"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." (Jude 1:3 ESV)

Discernment, not an attack
“Discernment is not simply a matter of telling the difference between what is right and wrong; rather it is the difference between right and almost right.” -Charles Spurgeon

As Christians, we are required to read books like The Shack with discernment. We are to contend for our faith, which was once for all delivered to the saints! (Jude 1:3)

Work of fiction, relax
Wrong. It may be a work of fiction, but it is marketed as a spiritually transforming book and is taken that way by many. Since William Young has characters in his book that claim to be God, you cannot dismiss it as merely a “light hearted read”. You cannot turn a blind eye to the Writer's low view of God, his heretical portrayal of the Godhead and his gross manipulation of Scripture.

eg. “I am the best way any human can relate to Papa or Sarayu.”

This is a false Jesus! The Jesus Christ of Holy Scripture never claims to be “the best” way, He says He is the ONLY way!

"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'" (John 14:6 ESV)

As Believers we should exercise discretion when approaching this type of a book and should be careful not to dismiss it as a harmless work of fiction, because it is not. This book is dangerous and will deceive many. It is nothing more than another sign of the times that 2 Timothy 4 is in full effect. People will not endure sound doctrine, but they have itching ears and will gather to themselves teachers who will suit their own passions and they will turn away from listening to the truth.

I'll close this out with the words of Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit.

"I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ." (Gal 1:6-7)

Solus Christus

Turning away from listening to the TRUTH…

noreply@blogger.com (tfoley) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 13:41:00 +0000

This passage of Scripture describes the great majority of today’s so-called “Christianity” in that our “Christian” bookstore shelves are packed full of “do it yourself” books on being a better person, having your “best life now”, pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps to the “abundant life” that Jesus promised in John 10:10. All of this is complete non-sense, a total misuse of Scripture and is leading millions down the broad way toward destruction! Complete neglect of the preaching of the law, the preaching of sin, our transgressions and crimes against a holy God Who’s standard is absolute perfection in thought, word and deed! A God Who must, and will, punish sin where ever it is found!!! God has commanded all men everywhere to repent… why? Because he has appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness!

"The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel." (Mark 1:15)

Soli deo Gloria

Testimony

noreply@blogger.com (tfoley) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 22:45:00 +0000

I grew up in a Baptist church and at the age of 7, after answering "yes" to a series of questions that I didn't understand, the Pastor "pope-ishly" declared me "saved" and shortly thereafter was baptized. In my late 20's I would be baptized again under very similar circumstances. It was an emotionally charged service, I went forward, repeated a prayer and asked Jesus to "come into my heart". One week later I was baptized... again. I thought I was doing everything right, but looking back, there was no evidence of God's changing presence in my life. None. Despite my "profession of faith" I continued to live in rebellion toward God, but believing (in my deceived mind) that I was going to heaven when I died. Throughout the years of drunkeness and riotous living, it was only the grace of God that kept me alive. Had I died, my soul would have been cast into hell for all of eternity. I would have received exactly what I deserved.

What happens when we die? Contrary to the teaching of Roman Catholicism, purgatory does not exist. The bible teaches there's a heaven and there's a hell. We all like to talk about heaven and think of its glorious splendor, but what about hell? Christ preached far more about hell than He did about heaven and there's not a person in this world who hasn't heard of it. Christ Himself warned us about it, He warned us!

In Matthew 13 Christ described hell as a fiery furnace.

Matt 13:41-42 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

In Matthew 18 hell is described by Christ as a place of fire. A place where there will be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth!

Matt 18:7-9 "Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! (8) And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. (9) And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.

Even still, you're no different than I was! Regardless all of the people God has placed in your path who have told you about sin, who have shared the Gospel of Jesus Christ with you... although you know what the Bible says about it, you remain unmoved, unchanged and unclean before a holy God.

Just like I had, you have bought into the false gospel of TOTAL love and TOTAL grace, completely lacking repentance and total submission to Christ. If you think you are good enough to be accepted by a God so holy sinful men die in His very presence, you are deceived... just like I was.

When God reached down and saved me, He opened my eyes to the sin in my life and I began to hate the very sin I used to love. A great many of you today cling closely to your sin. Christ warned us in Luke 13:3 that unless we repent, turn from our sin and turn to Him, that we will perish; YET you cannot bear the thought turning from the sin in your life and are therefore relying on your own self-righteousness to enter heaven. If that describes you, you must know there is no forgiveness of sins for you. Why? Because according to Romans 5:6, God only justifies the ungoldly. Until you see your need to repent and be forgiven by God, you will NEVER cry out to Him for mercy and forgiveness, never.

I would like to help you see that need.

The bible defines sin for us in 1 John 3:4 as "transgression of the law". Sin is breaking God's law, the 10 Commandments. Have YOU broken them? God's standard is absolute perfection in thought, word and deed. The Bible teaches that breaking just one of God's laws is enough to condemn a person to hell for eternity.

Gal 3:10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, "Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them."

You have broken God's law if you have ever lied, stolen, used God's name in vain, desired something that didn't belong to you, or disobeyed your parents... just to name a few. If you've done any of these things even once in your entire life, the Bible says in Galatians 3:10 you are "cursed"! You've missed your chance at perfection and there are no second changes because there is no forgiveness of sins without the shedding of blood. On Judgment Day you will stand guilty of crimes against Almighty God and be found as an "unclean thing" (Isa 64:6) and cast into the lake of fire.

Isa 64:6 We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like filthy rags. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

But, you say that impossible, no one can live up to that standard! You're wrong, one man did.

The Gospel

2000 years ago, Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, was born of a virgin, unstained by sin, lived the perfect life that YOU can't. He fulfilled the law that YOU continue to break and though He was hated by men, He laid down His life for His people.

Joh 10:18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.

He was nailed to a tree, sacrificed to pay YOUR sin debt, God's wrath that kindled against YOU was poured out on HIM. He died on that cross, was buried and rose again 3 days later defeating death.

Listen closely. Today the message is "come to me". Christ says in Mat 11:28, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest". One day the message will be "depart from me, I never knew you". Christ says in Mat 7:22 that many will say to Him on that day, LORD, LORD... have we not done many good works in Your name... and He will say to them, "depart from me, you worker of lawlessness, I never knew you". Then from that great white throne the last words they will hear are these, "bind him and foot and cast him into outer darkeness! In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Mat 22:13)

If today you have seen your need for God's forgiveness like never before, I plead with you to cry out to Him for mercy. Today is the day of salvation. There is forgiveness of sins, but that forgiveness is found only in repentance and faith in Jesus Christ alone.

John 3:16 says, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Repent of your sins and beg Him for forgiveness. The Bible says that God does not take pleasure in the death of the wicked, but wants all men everywhere to repent for He has appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness. I plead with you today, repent, turn from your sin and put your faith in Jesus Christ. Put your trust in Him alone with your eternity. Get a Bible if you don't have one, read it daily, and obey it.

God is Love

noreply@blogger.com (tfoley) — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 18:26:00 +0000

God is love! This attribute of God is probably preached more today than any other. When you ask someone if their pastor preaches on the wrath of God or the holiness of God, their response may be "no, it's too offensive" or "yeah, but he doesn't harp on it". In other words, he may mention it once every couple of years. A friend of mine, Josh, was witnessing to a couple in the park one day and found out they were Christians, so they started talking about their church and one of their church's ministries they were getting ready to help with. This was an "automotive" type ministry where they serviced cars for single mothers, low income families needing a hand, and so on. The ministry is operated right there in their own church parking lot! Great ministry right? Not if the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not preached.

Acts 6:2 - And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, "It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables.

Apparently the church's pastor would not allow anyone to share the Gospel because he didn't want to "run anyone off". The Gospel is offensive to wicked, God-hating men and women, but we must not be ashamed! We must preach the Truth because the Gospel is "the power of God for salvation"!

Romans 1:16 - For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

From amongst all of the preaching about God's love arises the inevitable questions that we've all heard time and time again.

How could a God of love let bad things happen?
How could a God of love let a cataclysmic event, like 911, happen?
How could a God of love allow babies to be born with deformities?
How could a God of love allow children to starve to death in Ethiopia?

The list of these types of questions could go on and on. The reason any of this happens is because of sin. The God of the Bible proclaimed the death sentence on mankind because of the sin of one man, Adam. This is what is referred to as "original sin". Because of original sin, we are born sinners, enemies of God, children of wrath. This doesn't mean we're paying for Adam's sin, but it does mean we are living under the repercussions or the effects of Adam's sin.

What is lacking in a staggering number of pulpits today is the recognition of other attributes of God. Attributes such as His holiness, wrath, justice, grace, mercy and so on. The darkened mind of fallen man lacks the ability to see God's holiness, His goodness and therefore does not understand His hatred and wrath toward sin. To believe solely in a god of love who would never punish sin, is to violate the 2nd of the Ten Commandments and create an idol; a god in your mind who does not exist. The truth is, the God of the Bible is holy and righteous and He hates sin. If He didn't hate He couldn't love for love could not exist without hate. If you love children then you hate child abuse and the greater your love for children, the greater your hatred and outrage toward child abuse.

God is love, therefore He is also wrath, holiness and righteousness. He is a God who hates sin so much He kills because of it. In the Old Testament, Genesis 38, God killed a man because the man was wicked in His sight and then killed his brother because He didn't like what he did sexually. In the New Testament book of Acts, He killed a man and his wife for lying. Wrath is a holy, white-hot hatred of evil, of sin, of all that is unholy... it's God's violent passion for justice and by His very nature must punish sin where ever it's found.

So, having a clearer understanding of the nature of God revealed to us in Scripture, the question, "How could a God of love let bad things happen?" becomes the wrong question to ask. The question you should be asking is, "How can a perfectly just, holy and righteous God, a God who is omnipresent, omniscient, one who commands utter perfection in thought, word and deed. How could a God like that know the words that came out of my mouth, the thoughts that raced across my mind and the things that I did yesterday... and not kill me in my sleep last night?"

In comes another gracious attribute of God, His patience. God is long suffering and does not will for anyone to perish, but commands all men everywhere to repent, for He has appointed a day in which He'll judge the world in righteousness!

Acts 17:30-31 - The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.

Hebrews 9:27 - And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment

The greatest display of love in all of time and eternity was the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ for the justification of the elect of God. God sent His Son to suffer and die so that those who hated Him and rebelled against Him, could be reconciled to Himself and be set free from the wages of sin; the eternal wrath of God in the lake of fire.

God truly is Love... and to Him alone be the Glory.

Soli Deo Gloria

My Times are in Thy Hand

noreply@blogger.com (tfoley) — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 11:51:00 +0000

Sovereign Ruler of the skies,
Ever gracious, ever wise,
All my times are in thy hand,
All of events at thy command.

His decree who formed the earth
Fixed my first and second birth;
Parents, native place, and time
All appointed were by him.

He that formed me in the womb,
He shall guide me to the tomb;
All my times shall ever be
Ordered by his wise decree.

Times of sickness, times of health,
Times of penury and wealth;
Times of trial and times of grief,
Times of triumph and relief;

Times the tempter's power to prove,
Times to test the Saviour's love;
All must come, and last, and end
As shall please my heavenly friend.

Plagues and death around me fly;
Till he bids, I cannot die.
Nor a single shaft can hit,
Till the love of God sees fit.

~John Ryland, 1777

The Absence of Sin in the Life of a True Christian

noreply@blogger.com (tfoley) — Tue, 13 May 2008 18:40:00 +0000

Have you ever met a "professing" Christian who maintains the position they no longer sin? That since their conversion, they have not transgressed God's perfect law, that they have been absolutely perfect in thought, word and deed? Well, as foolish as it may sound, there are those who maintain this view point. Let's take a look at one of the passages of Scripture that has been twisted to support this false teaching.

1 John 3:9 says, "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for His seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God."

If you "transliterate" the "translation", you basically get the idea that once you become a Christian you will no longer sin. Not only will you not sin, but you can't sin. If that were true, then not only would the Apostle Paul be a false convert (1 Timothy 1:15), but so would every other professing Christian who had ever walked the face of this earth. The Bible is very clear in Romans 3:10-11 that no one is without sin, not even one; that no one seeks after God.

So, to say that a Christian cannot sin is an incorrect interpretation of the text. As Christ said, "the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Matthew 26:41). Although we are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), having been reborn spiritually (John 3:3), having received from God, by His sovereign decree, His Spirit (Ezekiel 36:27). Although a true Christian has a redeeemed Spirit, that Spirit is still housed in a body of unredeemed flesh. It is only through that rotten, stinking flesh that sin can manifest itself in the life of the Believer.

Those who do maintain they have not sinned since becoming a "Christian" are deceived and guilty of the sin of pride. Scripture says, "Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD; Though they join forces, none will go unpunished." (Proverbs 16:5) All Christians go through a process of being "cleansed from all their filthiness and all their idols". (Ezekiel 36:25) This is sanctification. This is the "process" through which the Holy Spirit begins to separate the Child of God from the sin in their life and drawing them closer to Himself. The Holy Spirit will bring about convictions that may have never been there in the past and intensifying convictions that may have been present in the past, but were ignored. The joy and pleasure that used to be found in the of sin in your life has been stripped from you. Those same deeds will bring about great discomfort, restlessness, grief and sorrow. As you think about your past, your gross indulgence in sin, binging on the lusts of the flesh, you are sickened by your blatant rebellion toward God, your utter disregard for Him, your hatred toward Him revealed in your thought life and all throughout your entire lifestyle.

Philippians 1:5-6 is describing this work of sanctification and the confidence we have that His work will continue until the LORD Jesus Christ returns!

Philippians 1:5-6 - "5 for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;"

Now, let's take a look at the proper interpretation of 1 John 3:9.

If we look at the grammatical construction of the text used in the Greek New Testament, we will find that the word "sin" (and he cannot sin, because he is born of God) is a present tense infinitive verb, which refers to continuous or repeated action. Therefore, to properly interpret this verse is to say that "a true Christian cannot maintain a continuous pattern of sin in their life because the Holy Spirit dwells within them".

So, can a true Christian sin?
Most certainly.

Can a true Christian maintain a lifestyle of sin?
Absolutely not.

I fear for anyone who professes to be a child of God, yet maintains a lifestyle of sin. A lifestyle that is contrary to that which God has revealed to us in Scripture. One that contradicts God's nature and His will. Examples would be those with a foul mouth, drunks, homosexuals, members of cults (idol worshipers), use of porn in any capacity, drug abusers, liars, thieves, and on and on. Those who profess to be Christians, yet live daily with any of those attributes, with a clear conscience, are being deceived. (Romans 1:21-25)

When a Christian sins, they stumble into it, they don't make provision for it, they don't make plans to sin. Furthermore, when they do stumble they're broken over it by the conviction of the Holy Spirit. They repent and ask forgiveness from God because they realize their sin is vertical (not horizontal) in that they've sinned against a holy God, not man, that they have offended the God of Heaven and Earth and have grieved the Holy Spirit who dwells within them.

To have heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ and yet sin repeatedly with utter disregard of God's law and the sacrifice of His Son, is to trample the blood of Christ underfoot. It's to say, "hey, thanks for taking my punishment for me... thanks for being beaten and humiliated in my place.... thanks for having Your flesh pulled apart as You were scourged for me, thanks for giving up Your life and dying a horrific death for me, but you won't mind if I went ahead and <insert your own sin here> again, would You?" Blatant disregard for the price that was paid for the forgiveness of sin.

2 Peter 2:20 - 20 For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning.

Hebrews 10:28-30 - 28 Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know Him who said, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,"says the Lord. And again, "The LORD will judge His people."

The Bottom Line
If there is any doubt whatsoever as to your eternal salvation, if you are not 100% sure that if you died today you would go to heaven, or if your assurance is coming from anywhere other than the Holy Spirit (no pastor, friend, or relative can assure you of your salvation) then you need to cry out for God to save you! Cry out for God to draw you, to reveal Himself to you. Ask Him to show you your need for His forgiveness, to change your heart, open your eyes so that you see Christ in all His glory, flee the wrath of God and fly to Christ! The Bible says to repent and put your trust in Jesus Christ, trust Him alone with your eternity, the Bible says to repent and believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that we are saved by repentance toward God and faith in our LORD Jesus Christ! There is nothing in and of ourselves that we can do, for salvation is of the LORD! (Jonah 2:9, Mark 1:15, Luke 13:3, John 3:16, Acts 4:12, Acts 20:21, 2 Thess 1:7-9)

Therefore, repent and believe the Gospel!

Do you consider yourself to be a good person?

noreply@blogger.com (tfoley) — Sat, 10 May 2008 05:22:00 +0000

Almost everyone thinks they are a good person (Proverbs 20:6)... but the question you should be asking is...

"Am I good enough to go to Heaven?"

How would you know?

You can know by taking a quick test. Just open the book to begin!

Infinite Punishment in Hell: A WAKE UP Call to those in Rebellion Toward God

noreply@blogger.com (tfoley) — Sat, 10 May 2008 04:38:00 +0000

I want to warn everyone reading this that is not a follower of Jesus Christ, that there is a JUST and HOLY God who's wrath abides upon you. You anger God with your sin, He is angry with you everyday (Psalm 7:11).

"The bow of God's wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string, and justice bends the arrow at your heart, and strains the bow, and it is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, and that of an angry God, without any promise or obligation at all, that keeps the arrow one moment from being made drunk with your blood. Thus all you that never passed under a great change of heart, by the mighty power of the Spirit of God upon your souls; all you that were never born again, and made new creatures, and raised from being dead in sin, to a state of new, and before altogether unexperienced light and life, are in the hands of an angry God."

You must be warned that if you die in your sins, never having came to that place of repentance (turning from your sins) and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, then you will face God on Judgment Day and have to bear the penalty for those sins. That penalty is eternity in the lake of fire... HELL!

You may think I'm trying to scare you... I say to you, YOU BETTER BELIEVE I'M TRYING TO SCARE YOU!!! Hell is a REAL place! Jesus Christ spoke much more of the horrors of Hell in the Bible than He did of the joys of Heaven... and without Jesus Christ, you are destined for Hell! Jesus Christ paid our sins FOR us so we wouldn't have too... it was the ultimate gift, the ultimate sacrifice and all we have to do to step up and receive that gift! You do that by confessing your sins in prayer to Jesus Christ, not a priest, or a statue... to Jesus Christ Himself! The Bible says in Acts 4:12 - "There is none other name, under Heaven, given among men, whereby you must be saved!" Confess your sins. If you're not sure what sin actually is, the Bible says, "Sin is transgression of the law". Just look at God's Law... if you've broken even one of the 10 Commandments, then the pushment is eternity in the lake of fire. If you've ever lied, stolen, looked with lust... any of these, ever in your life, then God's wrath abides upon you. Now that you have a better picture of how exceedingly sinful we are as human beings, you should confess your sins through prayer to Jesus Christ, confess your need for a Savior, repent of our sins (turn from them) and put your trust in Jesus! Once you do that you will be born again! That means you will be given a new nature, with new desires because the Holy Spirit will dwell within you! If this seems foolish to you, here's what the Bible says about it in 1 Corinthians 1:18 - "the preaching of the cross is to them that perish, foolishness!" If this does seem foolish, then you need to pray that God will soften and open your heart, because no one can come to Christ unless the Father first draws him! (John 6:44)

People... regardless how good of a person you think you are, how religous you think you are, how generous you think you are.... without the righteousness of Christ, you'll perish on the Day of Wrath.

God's Wrath
It is everlasting wrath. It would be dreadful to suffer this fierceness and wrath of Almighty God one moment; but you must suffer it to all eternity. There will be no end to this exquisite horrible misery. When you look forward, you shall see a long for ever, a boundless duration before you, which will swallow up your thoughts, and amaze your soul; and you will absolutely despair of ever having any deliverance, any end, any mitigation, any rest at all. You will know certainly that you must wear out long ages, millions of millions of ages, in wrestling and conflicting with this almighty merciless vengeance; and then when you have so done, when so many ages have actually been spent by you in this manner, you will know that all is but a point to what remains. So that your punishment will indeed be infinite. Oh, who can express what the state of a soul in such circumstances is! All that we can possibly say about it, gives but a very feeble, faint representation of it; it is inexpressible and inconceivable: For "who knows the power of God's anger?"

Italics are from Jonathan Edwards' Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. LISTEN | READ

Total Depravity of Man

noreply@blogger.com (tfoley) — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 03:48:00 +0000

The doctrine of total depravity (or total inability) understands the Bible to teach that all men, as a consequence of the Fall, are born morally corrupt, enslaved to sin, and unable of themselves to please God or even to turn to Christ for salvation.

Is man basically good or basically evil?

Ecclesiastes 7:29

"Behold, I have found only this, that God made men upright, but they have sought out many devices."

Mark 10:18/Luke 18:19

And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone."

Romans 5:12,19

through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned... through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners

c.f. Ecclesiastes 9:3

All men? Are there any exceptions?

Romans 3:23

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Isaiah 53:6

All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way;

2 Chronicles 6:36

there is no man who does not sin

Romans 3:9-12

What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; as it is written, "There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one.

1 John 1:8,10

If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we say we have not sinned, we make [God] a liar and His word is not in us.

c.f. 1 Kings 8:46; Psalm 53:1-3, 116:11, 130:3, 143:2; Proverbs 20:9; Ecclesiastes 7:20; Jeremiah 2:29; Micah 7:2-4, Mark 10:18; Luke 18:19; James 3:2; etc., etc.

Are people good deep down?

Mark 7:21-23

"For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man."

Psalm 5:9

There is nothing reliable in what they say; their inward part is destruction itself. Their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue.

Are men totally depraved? Is any faculty of the person yet uncorrupted?

Heart/Thoughts (Deceitful)

Jeremiah 17:9

"The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?"

Ecclesiastes 9:3

the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil and insanity is in their hearts throughout their lives. Afterwards they go to the dead.

Genesis 6:5 & 8:21

Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually... from youth.

Psalm 36:1-2

Transgression speaks to the ungodly within his heart; there is no fear of God before his eyes. For it flatters him in his own eyes concerning the discovery of his iniquity and the hatred of it.

Proverbs 28:26

He who trusts in his own heart is a fool

c.f. Ecclesiastes 8:11; Psalm 94:11; Mark 7:21-23

Mind/Understanding (Depraved)

Romans 1:28-31

And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being... without understanding

Titus 1:15-16

to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled

Ephesians 4:17-18

So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart;

Jeremiah 10:7-8,14

For among all the wise men of the nations and in all their kingdoms, there is none like You. But they are altogether stupid and foolish. Every man is stupid, devoid of knowledge

Will/Choosing (Enslaved)

John 8:34

"Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin."

2 Timothy 2:25-26

if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.

Titus 3:3

For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.

Romans 6:6

our old self was crucified with Him... so that we would no longer be slaves to sin. But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient... and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

Romans 6:20

For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.

Romans 7:14

For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin.

c.f. John 8:31-32,36; Galatians 4:9; 2 Peter 2:19

Affections/Desires (Perverted)

Romans 1:24-27

Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.

2 Timothy 3:2-4

For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God

Proverbs 21:10

The soul of the wicked desires evil

John 3:19

"This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil."

c.f. Genesis 3:16; Psalm 4:2, 140:8; Proverbs 10:23; 2 Peter 2:13

et al (Utter Ruin)

Titus 1:15-16

to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled

Romans 7:18

I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh

Isaiah 1:5-6

The whole head is sick and the whole heart is faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head there is nothing sound in it, only bruises, welts and raw wounds, not pressed out or bandaged, nor softened with oil.

Are they just misdirected? Do men "not know better?"

Romans 1:18

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.

Romans 1:21

For even though they knew God they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

Romans 1:32

and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.

c.f. Romans 2:14-15

Can men still do good when they want to?

Matthew 7:18

"A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit."

Romans 8:7

the mind set on the flesh... does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so

Jeremiah 13:23

Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then you also can do good who are accustomed to doing evil.

Genesis 6:5 & 8:21

Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually... from youth.

Titus 1:15-16

to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled. They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.

c.f. 1 Samuel 24:13; Job 14:4; Matthew 12:34; Romans 14:23

Are men at least born pure? What about the "tabula rasa?"

Psalm 51:5

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.

Psalm 58:3

The wicked are estranged from the womb; those who speak lies go astray from birth.

c.f. Proverbs 22:15; Isaiah 48:8

What is the natural disposition of man toward God?

John 3:20

"For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed."

Romans 8:7-8

the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Colossians 1:21

you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds

James 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.

c.f. Romans 1:28-30

What is man's relationship to God?

Psalm 58:3

The wicked are estranged from the womb; those who speak lies go astray from birth.

Ephesians 2:12-13

remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

Ephesians 2:3

Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

c.f. Isaiah 59:2

Can man then do anything to please God?

Proverbs 15:9

The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord

Proverbs 15:8/21:27

The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord

Proverbs 28:9

He who turns away his ear from listening to the law, even his prayer is an abomination.

Isaiah 64:6

For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment;

Romans 8:7-8

the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Hebrews 11:6

And without faith it is impossible to please [God]

c.f. Psalm 50:16; Proverbs 21:4; Isaiah 1:10-15; Amos 5:21-24

Are men at least seeking God?

John 3:20

"For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed."

Isaiah 65:1

"I permitted Myself to be sought by those who did not ask for Me; I permitted Myself to be found by those who did not seek Me."

Isaiah 64:7

There is no one who calls on Your name, who arouses himself to take hold of You; for You have hidden Your face from us and have delivered us into the power of our iniquities.

Romans 3:10-12

"there is none who seeks for God"

c.f. Romans 10:20

Can the natural man comprehend the gospel or come to saving knowledge of God on his own?

1 Corinthians 2:14

But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.

2 Corinthians 4:3-4

our gospel is veiled... to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

1 Corinthians 1:18,21-24

For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Crist crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness

Matthew 11:27

"no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.'

c.f. Psalm 119:18; Proverbs 4:19; Ephesians 4:17-19; 2 Corinthians 2:15-16; 2 Corinthians 4:3-4

Can men of themselves accept God's gift of salvation? Do men choose God or come to Him on their own?

John 3:27

John answered and said, "A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven."

John 14:16

"I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him

John 1:12-13

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

John 6:44 & 64

"No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him;" And He was saying, "For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father."

Romans 9:16

So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.

Romans 11:35-36

Or who has first given to [the Lord] that it might be paid back to him again? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.

1 Corinthians 1:30

But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus

Philippians 2:13

for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

c.f. Jonah 2:9; Zephaniah 3:9; John 15:16; 1 Corinthians 15:10; Philippians 1:6; James 1:18

Who supplies faith/belief/repentance?

Romans 12:3

God has allotted to each a measure of faith.

Acts 5:31

"He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.

Acts 11:18

When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, "Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life."

Philippians 1:29

For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake... to believe in Him

Ephesians 2:8-9

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

2 Timothy 2:25

The Lord's bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, [etc.]... if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth

1 Corinthians 12:3

no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit

2 Peter 1:3

His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence

John 3:6 & 6:63

"That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit... It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing;"

c.f. John 5:44; Ephesians 6:23; 1 Corinthians 4:7; 2 Peter 1:1

Can men do anything to help themselves?

Romans 5:6

For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

Ephesians 2:5

even when we were dead in our transgressions, [God] made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)

c.f. Psalm 49:7-9; Jeremiah 2:22

Who then can be saved?!

Matthew 19:26

Jesus said to them, "With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

c.f. Mark 10:27; Luke 18:27

The above content was pulled from Travis Carden's site. Check it out at http://www.traviscarden.com

No One Can Come to Jesus Christ, Unless…

noreply@blogger.com (tfoley) — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 03:24:00 +0000

Too controversial? Too arrogant? Too unbiblical? Or gospel truth?

Now then, here is the truth. God has spread the feast but the fact is that nobody is hungry. and nobody wants to come to the feast, and everybody makes an excuse to keep away from the feast. and when they are bidden to come they say, “No, we do not want to, or We are not ready yet.” Now God knew that from the beginning, and if God had done nothing more than spread the feast every seat at His table would have been vacant for all eternity! I have no hesitation in saying there is not one man or woman in this church tonight, but who made excuses time after time before you first came to Christ. You are just like the rest. You made excuses. so did I, and if God had done nothing more than just spread the feast every chair would have been vacant, therefore what do you read in that parable in Luke 14? Because the feast was not furnished with guests God sent forth His “servants”. Oh, put your glasses on. It does not say “servants”, it says God sent forth His “servant” and told Him to “compel” them to come in that His feast might be furnished with guests. And there is not a man or a woman In this church tonight or in any other church that would ever sit down at the marriage-supper of the Lamb unless you had been compelled to come in, and compelled by God.

Well, you say, what do you mean by “compelled?” I mean this, that God had to overcome the resistance of your will, God had to overcome the reluctance of your heart, God had to overcome your loving of pleasure more than loving of God, your love of the things of this world more than Christ. I mean that God had to put forth His power and draw you, and if any of you know anything of the Greek or have a Strong’s Concordance, look up that Greek verb for “draw” in John 6:44, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him” —It means “use violence”. It means to drag by force. There is not a Greek scholar on earth that can challenge that statement—I mean—and back it up with proof. It’s the same Greek word that is used in John 21 when they drew the net to the land full of fishes. They had to pull with all their might for it was full of fishes. They had to drag it, Yes, my friend, and that is how you were brought to Christ. You may not have been conscious of it. you may not have known inside yourself what was taking place, but every last one of us was a rebel against God, fighting against Christ, resisting His Holy Spirit, and God had to put forth almighty power and overcome that resistance and bring us to our knees, and if any of you object to that strong language, then I am here to tell you, you do not believe in the teaching of this Book on the absolute depravity of man.

Man is lost, and man is dead in trespasses and sins by nature. Listen, it is not simply that man is sick and needs a little medicine: it is not simply that man is ignorant and needs a little teaching: it is not simply that man is weak and needs a little hope: man is dead, dead in trespasses and sins, and only almighty power from heaven can ever resurrect him and bring him from death unto life. That is the gospel I believe in and I do not preach the gospel because I believe the sinner has power in himself to respond to it. Well, you say, then what is the use of preaching the gospel if men are dead? What is the use of preaching it? I will tell you. Listen! Here was a man with a withered hand, paralyzed, and Christ says. “Stretch forth thine hand”; It was the one thing that he could not do! Christ told him to do a thing that was impossible in himself. Well then you say why did Christ tell him to stretch forth his hand? Because Divine power went with the very word that commanded him to do it! Divine power enabled him to. The man could not do it of himself. If you think that he could you are ready for the lunatic asylum, I don’t not care who you are. Any man or woman here who thinks that that man was able to stretch forth his paralyzed arm by an effort of his own will is ready for the lunatic asylum! How can paralysis move? Well, I will give you something stronger than that. You need something strong today, you need something more than skim-milk, you need strong meat if ever you are going to be built up and grow and become strong in the Lord and the power of His might—Here is a man who is dead and buried and his body has already begun to corrupt so that it stank. There he was in the grave and someone came to that graveside and said, “Lazarus. come forth”, and if that someone had been anyone else than God Himself manifest in flesh. he might have stood there till now calling, “Come forth”. What on earth was the use of telling a dead man to come forth? None at all, unless the One Who spoke that word had the power to make that word good.

Now then my friends, I preach the gospel to sinners, not because I believe the sinner has any power at all in himself to respond to it: I do not believe that any sinner has any capacity in himself whatever. But Christ said, “the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life”, and by God’s grace I go forth preaching this Word because it is a word of power, a word of spirit, a word of life. The power is not in the sinner, it is in the Word when God the Holy Spirit is pleased to use it. And my friends, I say in all reverence; if God told me in this Book to go out and preach to the trees. I would go! Yes sir. God once told one of His servants to go and preach to bones and he went. I wonder if you should have gone! Yes, that has a local application as well as a future interpretation prophetically.

- A.W. Pink

Christianity vs. Mormonism (Part 10)

noreply@blogger.com (tfoley) — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 03:19:00 +0000

Witnessing

Joseph Smith was a liar
The said there were cities all over the Americas that held many, many people. Not one city has been found, not one crumb, not one remain. In the Bible multitudes of cities have been found.
He was a complete deceiver. He deceived people into believing he had a revelation from God, when he did not.
The Book of Abraham has been proven false and Joseph Smith along with it.
DNA evidence proved him to be a liar when he said the Lamanites and the Indians descended from the Jews. He lied about that.
He was a liar and a false prophet from the very beginning. Do you want to follow a man like that?

The Bible is free of error, it is the true Word of God. Don’t let me or anyone else convince you of that, you read the Bible and find out for yourself. Your eternal destiny is at stake.

This is not an argument about “my religion” or “yours”, rather this is a question of what the Truth is. It’s a question of what the evidence is. It’s a question of “did a man come along 1800 years into the history of Christianity and totally revise what Christianity and the Bible says? That’s what we believe Joseph Smith did. If you’re a Mormon or thinking about Mormonism, I would urge you to examine objectively the life of Joseph Smith and the reliability in the teaching of the Book of Mormon over against the Jesus of the New Testament and the reliability of the Bible and its Truthfulness.

The Mormon people are a precious people. We love them and they are worth the battle. I have a tremendous amount of respect for how hard they work for the burden they carry to live up to their impossible gospel demands. We’re fighting for the Mormon people, not against them, because we love them and because we want them to see Christ in his true Glory and to escape the bondage of this lie.

When backed up into a corner by Biblical fact, a Mormon most always says, “well I’ve experienced the testimony.” If you ask them what they mean by the testimony, is that the burning of the bossom? They’ll say, “Yes and you too can experience the burning of the bossom if you’ll pray and ask God if what Joseph Smith said is true.” It is amazing to stake your eternal life based on some kind of a feeling. Where would you find that in the Scriptures? Absolutely nowhere.

Jeremiah 17:9 - The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?

Proverbs 14:12 - There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.

Simple Question: Trust in Jesus Christ or Joseph Smith?

Joseph Smith

Fraud

Womanizer; many wives

False prophet

Book of Mormon; nothing to support it; no evidence

Jesus Christ

The Savior, who's God and became man

The Bible is supported by 100's even 1,000's of prophecies, proofs, evidence, history, archeology; we can prove it.

Where do you want to put your hope in eternity? Joseph Smith or Jesus Christ and His Word?

Christianity vs. Mormonism (Part 9)

noreply@blogger.com (tfoley) — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 03:16:00 +0000

Translation of the Book of Mormon

Supposedly the gold plates were hidden in a hill (told this by an angel) and held the record of the Book of Mormon and he was to translate them by the power of God. However, from his story and those around him, the method he used to translate the Book of Mormon was actually a magical stone that he already possessed before he got the plates and he used this magical practice to decipher supposedly the translation off the plate.

Paul said, in Galatians 1:6, if ANYONE preaches to you another Gospel, whether it be me, someone else, or even an angel from Heaven, let them be accursed! (accursed means set apart for destruction)

The very sub-title of the Book of Mormon is “ANOTHER Testament of Jesus Christ”.

This issue is, if what Joseph said conflicted with what the Bible says, then he wasn’t getting inspiration from God.

Kinderhook Plates

These were found on April 23^rd, 1843. Six bell shaped brass plates covered with decipherable engravings were “unearhed” near Kinderhook, IL – 70 miles south of Nauvoo. After their discovery, Joseph Smith was asked to translate them. He said, “I have translated a portion of them and find they contain the history of the person with whom they were found. He was a descendant of Ham, through the loins of Pharaoh, king of Egypt and that he received his kingdom from the Ruler of Heaven and earth.”

The plates were later tested by an LDS History Professor, Stanly B. Kimball, in 1980 and found to be fake. It was created to help lure Joseph Smith into making a translation of ancient-looking characters that had been etched into the plates.

In 1879, Wilber Fugate admitted to making the plates, along with Robert Wiley and Bridge Whitton. It was a hoax to test Joseph Smith. He obviously failed.

False Writing

Introduction Page

The introduction page in the Book of Mormon says after thousands of years all were destroyed except the Lamanites and they are the principle ancestors of the American Indian. The Lamanites are described by Joseph as ancestors to the Isrealites inhabiting al of North and South America from sea to sea.

Proverbs 30:5-6 says, “Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Do not add to His words, Lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar.

DNA testing has proven, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the American Indians were not descendants of he Lamanites and Joseph Smith has perpetrated a gigantic fraud in the very book HE claimed was inspired by God; the Book of Mormon. NO ONE outside of Mormonism is debating this, it’s a “non-issue”. No one in the scientific realm is debating whether or not the Native Americans came from the Isrealites because it has been proven false.

Bottom Line: In order to be a Mormon, one must “trust” in those stories of Joseph Smith. If these stories can be proven to be untrue or fabricated, then the very foundation of their faith is erroneous.

The Book of Abraham

For generations, scholars have shown irrefutable evidence that the Book of Mormon, Doctrine of Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price are fallible, faulty documents. The not only contradict each other, but contradict the Bible.

Joseph Smith claimed the Book of Abraham was translated from an Egyptian language on papyrus and it has been well documented to be completely false. There is not and has not been ONE non-LDS Egyptologist who supports his translation. If his translation were correct, he would have been translating it at a time before anyone could even translate Egyptian. However, they will tell you the Book of Abraham never said anything he said it did. The papyrus does not depict Abraham getting ready to be sacrificed by a priest on an altar, but is in reality a depiction of a common funeral many centuries after Abraham’s time. Egyptologists uniformly agree with this conclusion, destroying Joseph Smith’s translation of the Book of Abraham.

Conclusion: This book was an elaborate fraud by Joseph Smith.

Christianity vs. Mormonism (Part 8)

noreply@blogger.com (tfoley) — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 03:07:00 +0000

The Character of Joseph Smith

Age 14 he supposedly had a visit by God and Jesus Christ telling him not to join any local church. A visit like this should radically change a person’s life. BUT…
By age 21 he was arrested in Bainbridge, NY for deceiving Josiah Stowell, charged for glass looking and set before the court as a disorderly person.
Age 22 he falls for Emma Hale and stayed at her home while on his treasure digging works. They were married.
After a few short years, his close friends; David Whitmer, Oliver Cowdery, William Law and William McLellin; were all repulsed by his multiple adulteries and publicly called him an adulterer.

“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.” - 1 Corinthians 6:9-10

Joseph Smith, according to LDS records, was “sealed” to 27 wives.

Bible: The Bible teaches in Deuteronomy 17:17, that when you establish a king, make sure that your king does not gather to himself multiple wives.

Mormonism: “The only men who become Gods, even the sons of God, are those who enter into polygamy.” - Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses Vol. 11 pg. 269

Bible: One wife.

“’For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’;^[so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” - Mark 10:7-9

“A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach” - 1 Timothy 3:2

“Let deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.” - 1 Timoth 3:12

“if a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of dissipation or insubordination.” - Titus 1:6

Joseph Smith was known for his “story telling”. The whole Mormon religion is based on the validity of his story. He was 14 when it (1820) supposedly occurred and he has changed it many times. This, coupled with the fact there is not one shred of archeological evidence… why would anyone put their hope for eternity on that?

9 Variations of Joseph Smith’s Vision

1827

A "spirit" appears to Joseph telling him of a record
on gold plates at age 17.

1827

An "angel" appears to Joseph telling him he has been
chosen to be a prophet and bring forth a record on gold
plates at age 18.

1830

An "angel" tells Joseph where to find a secret treasure.
Joseph returns once a year every year before "obtaining
the plates".

1832

"Jesus Christ" appears to Joseph at age 15.

1834

An "angel"appears to Joseph in his bedroom at age 17.

1835

"Two personages" appear to Joseph in grove at age 14.

1835

Many "angels" appear to Joseph in grove at age 14.

1838

"God the Father and Jesus" appear to Joseph in grove at
age 14.

1844

Two "unidentified personages" appear to Joseph at age 14.

“The LORD did not come… but He did send His angel to this same obscure person, Joseph Smith… and in formed him that he should not join any of the religious sects of the day…” - Journal of Discourses Vol. 2 pg. 171, Brigham Young contradicting once again, the story of Joseph Smith’s vision.

The question is, did Joseph Smith really have a vision or did he build an entire religion on his known talent of “story telling”.

Joseph Smith carried on him at all times, until his death, a Jupiters Talisman. This is a magic object that one would use to empower one with finances, power over people… power over women. These are things his life was geared towards. He wanted power, money and women. The fact that he kept that on him until death shows his trust and hope was in that magic object.

Christianity vs. Mormonism (Part 7)

noreply@blogger.com (tfoley) — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 03:05:00 +0000

Prophecies and Revelations of Joseph Smith

1. Inhabitants of the moon – Joseph Smith told of the inhabitants of the moon as being about 6’ tall, dressed like Quakers and live to be about 1,000 years old. (Young Women’s Journal Vol. 3 pg. 263-264; Patriarchal Blessings Books 9:294-295) Since Neil Armstrong’s walk on the moon in 1969, we now know there are no Quaker looking people on the moon. Brigham Young expanded on this idea and said that the sun was inhabited. (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 13, p. 217)

2. New Jerusalem - Will be built in Independence, MO and dedicated by the hand of Joseph Smith. This was to happen in his generation. (Doctrine and Covenants 84:3,4). There is NO evidence of this happening. Jesus said the temple would be destroyed which happened after his death in 70 AD and the ruins are still there today.

3. David Patten Mission – Verily thus saith the Lord: It is wisdom in m servant David W. Patten, that he settle up all his business as soon as he possibly can and make a disposition of his merchandise, that he may perform a mission unto me next spring, in company with others, even twelve including himself, to testify of my name and bear glad tidings unto the world. (Doctrines and Covenants 114:1) David W. Patten actually died the fall of that year in the Battle of Crooked River, so he didn’t go on the mission trip the next spring. The Mormons make excuses for this and say he did it in the spirit world, but it doesn’t say that, that’s not what the passage states. Regardless of any excuse, Doctrines and Covenants 1:37,38 says this: “Search these commandments, for they are true and faithful, and the prophecies and promises which are in them shall all be fulfilled. What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and earth pass away, my word shall no pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice of by the voice of my servants, it is all the same.”

SO, the prophecy of David W. Patten was a false prophecy. Even if a person does have a prophecy that “does” come to pass, God warns in Deuteronomy 13:1-3: “If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods’—which you have not known—‘and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the LORD your God is testing you to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.”

What is the Biblical standard for a prophet?

100% accuracy!

“And if you say in your heart, ‘How shall we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?’— when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.” - Deuteronomy 18:21,22

God is telling us there how to discern deception when someone is claiming to be a prophet. If even ONE prophecy does not come true, he is considered a false prophet. Joseph Smith even prophesied the coming of the LORD which Jesus Himself said was impossible to know.

“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven,[a] but My Father only.” - Matthew 24:36

“President Smith then stated that the meeting had been called, because God had commanded it; and it was made know to him by vision and by the Holy Spirit… it was the will of God that they should be ordained to the ministry and go forth to prune the vineyard for the last time, for the coming of the LORD, which was nigh – even fifty six years should wind up the scene.” - History of the Church Vol. 2, page 182

The 56th year passed in 1891… FALSE PROPHET!

There are over 300 prophecies in the Bible of the life, mission, death and resurrection of the Redeemer. Only the Bible lays out history and precisely details the life of Jesus Christ.

Christianity vs. Mormonism (Part 6)

noreply@blogger.com (tfoley) — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 18:51:00 +0000

Archeology

No Book of Mormon locations are known in reference to modern topography. Joseph Smith's writings are only 150 years old, we should be able to find the cities he references. Zerahemla and Bountiful are nowhere to be found! Nor are any other cities in his writings. The first order of business should be a concentration on geography! After 20 years of searching, we're still left empty-handed.

Mormonism: Mark E. Peterson, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1944 until his death in 1984 said this, "The Bible is so full of errors one can hardly believe a word in it."

The Bible: More than 25,000 evidences supporting the Bible.

Mormonism: Not ONE artifact from the Book of Mormon has ever been found. Not one city, not one empire, not one weapon of any kind, not even one coin which was common in Joseph's writings.

Joseph Smith claimed there were 38 huge cities in the Americas and not one single city has ever been dug up.

Mormonism: The "supposed" battle on Hill Camora in Palmyra, NY where Joseph once lived, between the Lamanites and the Nephites, supposedly took the lives of 10's of thousands of ment, but not ONE artifact was found from this mighty war. In fact, during the time period described in the Book of Mormon, the Americas did not have the ability to produce the metal weapons described. The evidence to support Joseph's writings does not exist.

Speaking of your eternity; you will spend it somewhere, either Heaven or hell. Would you want to base your eternity on something totally unknown or something of which there is ZERO evidence for? It's a total myth, completely made up.

Christianity vs. Mormonism (Part 5)

noreply@blogger.com (tfoley) — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 06:04:00 +0000

How Do We Obtain Eternal Life?

Mormonism: There are 3 degrees of Glory of all of mankind according to Doctrine & Covenants.

Telestial Kingdom (Third and lowest) - Doctrine & Covenants 76:103

i. The glory of the stars

ii. For liars, adulterers, whore mongers, sorcerers, etc.

Terrestrial Kingdom (Middle kingdom) - Doctrine & Covenants 76:72-75

i. Inhabited by those who died without the law.

ii. They accepted Jesus in the spirit world

iii. They are the honorable men of earth who were blinded by the craftiness of men.

Celestial Kingdom (highest kingdom) - Doctrine & Covenants 76:58

i. Where gods are equal in power, might and dominion, even the sons of god.

Mormons shove Christ's atonement for our sins aside and must adhere to the following works to attain salvation.

i. Keep all 10 of the 10 Commandments

ii. Keep all of the commandments throughout the 3 Mormon books

iii. They must be baptized into the Mormon church

iv. They must tithe

v. They must get married in the Mormon temple

vi. They must obey the word of wisdom

vii. They must be baptized for the dead

viii. They must magnify the church callings

ix. The list goes on and on and on…

The Bible: There is Heaven and there is hell.

Heaven

i. Those who are followers of the true Jesus Christ of the Bible… those who repent of their sins and put their trust in Him with their eternity, will be born again; given a new heart with new desires and will begin to be changed into His likeness. The person who is born again will inherit worship God in Heaven for all of eternity.

Hell

i. Those who die having lived their lives with their backs to Christ will bear the weight of their judgment and will be cast into hell for eternal destruction.

The Bible says that we are saved through repentance toward God and faith in our LORD Jesus Christ. (Acts 20:21). Our salvation is solely dependant upon the shed blood of Jesus Christ. As soon as we add one ounce of our own work to our salvation, we have perverted the Gospel of Jesus Christ and it becomes a false Gospel with no saving power.
"For it is by grace we are saved, through faith; it is the Gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast." - Ephesians 2:8-9
The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. - Romans 6:23

Mormonism: You must keep the 10 Commandments as well as the commandments through out the 3 Mormon books, be baptized into the Mormon church, tithe, get married in the Mormon temple, obey the word of wisdom, be baptized for the dead, magnify the church callings and the list goes on and on and on.

The Bible: Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast."

Mormonism: Joseph Smith claims to hold the keys to heaven. "Verily I say unto you, the keys of this kingdom shall never be taken from you, while thou art in the world, neither in the world to come." - Doctrine and Covenants 90:3

The Bible: Jesus said, "All authority has been given to Me in Heaven and on earth." - Matthew 28:18

For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus." - 1 Timothy 2:5

Mormonism: "…that no man or woman in this dispensation will ever enter into the celestial kingdom of God without the consent of Joseph Smith." - Journal of Discourses, vol. 7, pg. 289

The Bible: Only faith in Jesus Christ can save us. REPENT and BELIEVE! - Acts 20:21

Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." - Acts 4:12
"For it is by faith we are saved, not of works, it is a gift of God, not of ourselves lest any many should boast." - Ephesians 2:8-9

Christianity vs. Mormonism (Part 4)

noreply@blogger.com (tfoley) — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 17:01:00 +0000

Can God Lie?

Mormonism: In Joseph Smith's Pearl of Great Price, Abraham and wife Sarah are on their way to Egypt when the Lord tells Abraham the Egyptians will find beauty in his wife and tells him to lie and say she is his sister in order to save his life.

"Let her say unto the Egyptians, she is thy sister, and thy shall live." - Book of Abraham 2:24

The Bible: We find a very similar story in Genesis 20, only it is Abraham who lied about Sarah being his sister. Abraham told this lie on his own; this was not a command by God.

"You shall not bear false witness." - Exodus 20:16
"All liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone…" - Revelation 21:8
"in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began" - Titus 1:2
"that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we mighthave strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. - Hebrews 6:18

How do we know?

So how do we know the true answer? Is there one God or millions of gods? Why would God give us the Bible for instruction and life molding and later give us another testament of Jesus Christ only to contradict each other. Does God make mistakes? Why the Bible AND the Book of Mormon?

Christianity vs. Mormonism (Part 3)

noreply@blogger.com (tfoley) — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 23:59:00 +0000

Can God Lie?

Mormonism: In Joseph Smith's Pearl of Great Price , Abraham and wife Sarah are on their way to Egypt when the Lord tells Abraham the Egyptians will find beauty in his wife and tells him to lie and say she is his sister in order to save his life.

"Let her say unto the Egyptians, she is thy sister, and thy shall live." - Book of Abraham 2:24

The Bible: We find a very similar story in Genesis 20, only it is Abraham who lied about Sarah being his sister. Abraham told this lie on his own; this was not a command by God.

"You shall not bear false witness." - Exodus 20:16
"All liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone…" - Revelation 21:8
"in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began" - Titus 1:2
"that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we mighthave strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. - Hebrews 6:18

How do we know?

Christianity vs. Mormonism (Part 2)

noreply@blogger.com (tfoley) — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 04:46:00 +0000

Who is God?

When we consider the intricacies of all creation; the detail and marvel of the human eye, or the DNA code, or the orbit of the planets, it’s clear there was a designer, creator, a perfect God in control.

Do the Mormon’s believe that?

Mormonism: “The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as a man’s, the Son also…” - Doctrines and Convenants section 130:22
The Bible: i) “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” - John 4:24. ii) “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.” - Psalm 90:2 iii) For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. - Colossians 1:16 iv) “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; 10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. - Colossians 2:8-10

God has existed for all of eternity. He alone is the eternal, omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent Creator.

In The Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith pg. 345 we are told:

“I’m going to tell you how God came to be God. We have imagined and supposed hat God was God from all eternity, I will refute that idea and take away the veil so you may see… he was once a man like us; yea, that God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth, the same as Jesus Christ Himself did.”

Orson Pratt (Mormon Apostle) – “If we should take a million worlds like this and number their particles we should find that there are more gods than there are number of particles in those worlds.”

People think there are other gods out there somewhere, but the Bible is clear there is but ONE! The Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 8:4-5, “Therefore concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one. 5 For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords)”

There is only one God. Any others are only imagined.

Joseph Smith Redefines God – In Mormonism, God is simply an exalted man. He was born as a man and conceived in natural way and by an adherence to the system of Mormonism in a previous world, in a previous life, through his good works in accordance with that system, he became God.

Men have a tendency to want to bring God down to our level and become gods. This is what the serpent promised Eve in the Garden of Eden, that she would become a god. Brigham Young said, “The devil told the truth. We don’t fault Eve for eating the apple in the Garden of Eden, that’s how we become Gods!”

Therefore, Mormonism is based on saying the lie of the serpent is the truth.

“I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides me.” - Isaiah 44:6

“I am the LORD and there is no other; besides me there is no God.” – Isaiah 45:5

Mormonism says there are many gods and men can become gods.

“…Before me there were no gods formed, Neither shall there be after me.” - Isaiah 43:10

That means: All the Mormon teaching about many gods is FALSE.

That means: There was NEVER a god before this God.

That means: Mormon men will NEVER become gods.