“There was a rich man who would dress in purple and fine linen, feasting lavishlyevery day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table.” Luke 16:19-21
However some professors may seem to differ from the world–they are not easily distinguished upon many other points; particularly at their meals. The people of the world can scarcely exceed them in the cost, care, profusion, and variety with which their tables are covered.
Perhaps there is no one circumstance in the history of our Savior so little laid to heart, so generally overlooked, by those who acknowledge him as their Master and their Lord–as that state of poverty to which He submitted, while upon earth. He had no home. He did not even have money to pay His tax. He was hungry when He went to the fig-tree. He wrought no miracle solely for His own relief; but He felt for the necessitous, and miraculously fed them by thousands; not with dainties, which would have been equally easy to Him–but, finding a few loaves and fish among them, He satisfied their needs with plain food. Yes, after His resurrection, when He had taken possession of all power and authority both in heaven and in earth–He condescended to dine with His disciples upon broiled fish and bread, which He likewise provided for them.
Alas! the rich followers of this poor Savior have more reason to be ashamed of . . .
their gorgeous apparel,
their fine houses,
their elegant furniture, and
their sumptuous feastings
–than to value themselves upon such trifles!
They are unavoidable appendages to people in some situations; but, I believe, those who have drank deeply into our Lord’s spirit, account them rather burdens than benefits!
We must be watchful of that sinful, shameful conformity to the world, which spreads like a gangrene, which is the reproach of the gospel, and threatens the utter extinction of vital religion in multitudes who profess it.
“In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him–Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire!” Luke 16:23-24
If you value the health of your soul, cease hearing and quit reading–all that is lifeless, unctionless, and powerless. Life is too short to waste valuable time on that which does not profit. Ninety-nine out of every hundred of the religious books, booklets, and magazines now being published–are not worth the paper on which they are printed!
“Those who live according to the flesh–have their minds set on what the flesh desires,” (Romans 8:5). They are charmed with . . .
oratorical eloquence,
catchy sayings,
witty allusions, and amusing illustrations.
On just such husks, do the religious swine feed! (more…)
Below is an article I found on Sermon Index regarding a topic I have been struggling with lately, and have had discussions with people regarding the gift of tongues. I think this article adequately outlines the conclusions I have come to on the subject (not that agreeing with me makes it right).
Please take some time to read it and let me know your thoughts on the writings of Zac Poonen…
The Truth About Speaking In Tongues – Zac Poonen
“Every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation (change)” (James. 1:17).
God never makes a mistake, He never changes and He gives only perfect gifts. Therefore when He gave the gift of “speaking in unknown languages” (“tongues”) to the church on the day of Pentecost, He knew exactly what He was doing. The gift of “tongues” was a perfect gift. God has not changed His mind about the gift, for He never changes.
God knew the controversies that would surround this gift in the 20th century. Yet He felt the church needed this gift to fulfill its ministry.
Even major truths such as the Trinity, the Deity of Christ, the Humanity of Christ and the Person of the Holy Spirit have been opposed and have faced controversy in the history of Christendom. So it should not surprise us if the gift of “tongues” has been controversial too.
It is always best to stick exactly to what Scripture says on all doctrinal matters. Let us look then, with an unprejudiced mind, at every single verse in the Bible on the subject of “speaking in tongues”:
It is now 2008 “The year of new beginnings”. I figured I should change the template of the web site and after a prolonged period without writing any articles, being writing again.
Let me know what you think about the theme, and also let me know some topics we should discuss. Here are a few things that I have been pondering:
Once saved always saved
Prosperity with a purpose 2007
Divorce and remarriage (Judah just did a 2 part sermon on this)
Witnessing to people who attend The City Church. I have met several people who attend GC while doing street witnessing.
Let me know your thoughts…on what discussions we should start and what you think about the web site change.
I am not surprised by what Joel Osteen said in an interview with Chris Wallance on Fox News. Here is an article by Steve Camp about the interview. The Steve Camp article has video of the interview and a complete transcript. Below is a small portion of the transcript.
WALLACE: And what about Mitt Romney? And I’ve got to ask you the question, because it is a question whether it should be or not in this campaign, is a Mormon a true Christian?
OSTEEN:Well, in my mind they are. Mitt Romney has said that he believes in Christ as his savior, and that’s what I believe, so, you know, I’m not the one to judge the little details of it. So I believe they are. (emphasis mine).
And so, you know, Mitt Romney seems like a man of character and integrity to me, and I don’t think he would — anything would stop me from voting for him if that’s what I felt like.
WALLACE: So, for instance, when people start talking about Joseph Smith, the founder of the church, and the golden tablets in upstate New York, and God assumes the shape of a man, do you not get hung up in those theological issues?
OSTEEN: I probably don’t get hung up in them because I haven’t really studied them or thought about them. And you know, I just try to let God be the judge of that. I mean, I don’t know.
I certainly can’t say that I agree with everything that I’ve heard about it, but from what I’ve heard from Mitt, when he says that Christ is his savior, to me that’s a common bond.
A friend I met while at the City Church has a blog with a couple good posts.
The first is a series of youtube sermons from Donnie Swaggart (Jimmie Swaggart’s son) decrying the lies of the prosperity gospel. They are passionate pleas to repent from selling Jesus as a new gospel.
Mark Driscoll played a clip from a Joel Osteen broadcast and gave a commentary of the message. I thought it was perfect! Thank God for pastors like Mark Driscoll who will stand up for truth and discuss the false claims made by the “health and wealth” prosperity gospel.
I am amused by some of the comments by Osteen supporters like the following:
I heard this scripture today, and it really got me thinking…
Psalm 11:5
The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.
I have lately been pondering the sins I have become desensitized to. There are many. This scripture got me thinking about violence. God hates violence…not only that, his soul hates the wicked, and those who love violence. I found it revealing that there are the wicked, and those who love violence. God hates them both.
This scripture made me realize I use violence as a form of entertainment. I use violence as entertainment in movies, video games, fighting sports like boxing, and even cheering for fights in hockey. Our culture has elevated violence to the point when we see a murder on the movie screen (or in the news for that matter), it doesn’t make us think twice any more. We become complacent and uncaring when we hear of those who are victims of violence.
When I began meditating on this, I realized I do not think about violence the way God thinks of it.
The most troubling part of my view on violence is how it makes me view the cross. I don’t view how Jesus suffered on the cross with the same reaction I should. I view it through the lens of all the violence I have seen in movies, watching murders, fights, blood and guts. What Jesus endured on the cross almost seems commonplace to me. Lord forgive me.
I saw this article at reformedgeek.com, and found it to be exactly what I experienced at the mega-church I attended. It is a good read, and the video at the bottom is a must!
****************************** Article written by Todd Friel.
This might seem a little strange, but hang in there til the end because I think this has a powerful punch line.Proof-texting is one of the main reasons false teachers can find a home inside of evangelicalism. The false teacher can take a verse out of context and apply it to a teaching that the verse was never intended to support. Prosperity teachers love to do this with the Old Testament, especially the Proverbs. How do they get away with this? Most pew-warmers don’t understand what the Proverbs are.
Proverbs are written in a catchy way (the shorter they are, the less likely they are to contain a thorough theology on an issue) that help us remember GENERAL truths that if applied faithfully will TYPICALLY (but not always) make life better. There is a heavy emphasis on physical well being and wealth in the Proverbs and we have to be careful to not pull out these individual guiding PRINCIPLES and turn them into a GUARANTEE.
We must balance the promises of prosperity in the Proverbs with other Proverbs and with the rest of the Bible’s teachings on blessings. Let me give you an example and then I will show you how easily this can be done and why we must be good Bereans.
Proverbs 10:3 says, “The Lord will not let the Godly starve to death, but He refuses to satisfy the craving of the wicked. The smiling prosperity preacher will announce, If you are a Christian, you have God’s favor and He won’t let you starve to death.
Wrong.
That is not the PRINCIPLE of the verse. The principle is: God is on the side of His children and He stands opposed to the wicked. How do we know that?
1. The Proverbs are designed to be general principles that typically make life better.
2. Proverbs are not individual promises that guarantee you will always succeed.
3. From a practical standpoint, many Godly Christians have starved to death, or worse.
4. When I read this verse with the rest of the Bible in view, I know that this single verse cannot be a guarantee I will never starve and the wicked will go hungry.
Let’s just take a look at the life of Job. Didn’t he understand this Proverb? What about Psalm 73? Asaph laments that the wicked seem to prosper while he, a Godly man, seems to struggle. That appears to be in direct conflict with this verse IF you teach that the Proverbs are individual guarantees of success.
So what does this have to do with the price of corn in Oklahoma on a Tuesday? It means that we must always, always, always read every verse in the Bible in its immediate context and in context of the whole Bible. If you fail to keep the rest of Scripture in view, you can twist Scripture and the next thing you know, you will have a mega church.
Do you remember the movie The Shining? It was the creepiest, scariest horror movie of the 70’s (and yes, I saw it before God saved me). It was dark, bloody and downright evil. I would like you to watch the attached re-made movie trailer for The Shining. (There is nothing offensive about what you are going to watch and this is NOT an endorsement of the movie.)
What you are about to witness is movie proof-texting. A clever individual pulled out little snippets of this gruesome movie to make it look downright charming. As you view this, keep the context of the whole movie in view. And keep this in mind, if you do not keep the entire context of the Bible in mind when you read Scripture, you might not end up twisting Scripture yourself, but you may be duped by someone who does.
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