He is Risen!

Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave. And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you." And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me." (Matthew 28:1-10 NASB)

It's Hard To Type Through The Tears

And when I think that God his son not sparing,

Sent him to die - I scarce can take it in,

That on the cross my burden gladly bearing,

He bled and died to take away my sin:

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee,

How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee,

How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

Maundy Thursday

²² While they were eating, He took some bread, and after a blessing He broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is My body.” ²³ And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. ²⁴ And He said to them, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. ²⁵ Truly I say to you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” (Mark 14:22-25) 

I Was There

I Was There

by David E. Ridenhour

Yes, I was there. I was there throughout the whole ordeal. But I was with him all along, right from the very beginning  I was with him in the wilderness. It was I who said, "If you be the Son of God, command that these stones be turned into bread." I was trying to convince Him even then that He was a fool for believing He was the Promised One, that He could have any effect on mankind and its destiny. But He was too strong for me then. He pushed me aside and began His work. But I am not to be dismissed that easily.

OT Tuesday: The Promise of Jesus

Ignore Rick Warren, he teaches his minions that they should not read bible prophecy, it's kind of like telling someone to read 'Lord of the Rings' but ignore the bits with hobbits and elves and dwarves. If you read the bible from the start, you're barely three chapters in before God gives us his first prophecy that pretty much gives away the ending of the book. In a passage directed toward Satan He says;

¹⁵ And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise (or crush) you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.” (Genesis 3:15)

What He told Satan is that Satan will be able to injure a certain descendant of Eve but that descendant will destroy Satan. And, of course, God was right. Satan was able to convince his followers to kill Jesus, who ruined Satan's plans by returning from the dead, the rest of the smackdown is yet to come prophesied throughout the bible. That's just the start of prophesy after prophesy fulfilled perfectly with many more yet to be fulfilled perfectly, terribly, and gloriously. 

Emergent Monday: Repent in Hell

Rob Bell, who as I've mentioned wants you to roast in hell, thinks you have plenty of time to repent after you get settled in to hell. I'm guessing that he figures that once you get your in-processing done you'll be able to change your mind and beg forgiveness for what you've done. Go on - live your life. Kill, maim, cheat, steal, enjoy! Because God is love and he couldn't possibly be mean to you no matter how evil you are! So, according to Rob Bell (but not God) hell is a place where you can ponder your inequities, say the sinners prayer and you're forgiven. Unfortunately for his followers, Rob Bell is not God and he doesn't make up the rules, and hell is not a low security prison. Once you're there, you've shut the door on God:

“Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently but they will not find me, Because they hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of the Lord. (Proverbs 1:28-29)

As I pointed out in my last blog that semi-educated nutcases like Steven J. Steward who's hobby is berating Godly men like Ray Comfort and John MacArthur due to Stewards own heretical misunderstanding of simple doctrine, don't like repentance. He loves the "Sin your way to salvation" doctrine because repentance to him means to try to live a sinless life which in his mind is a work which is a sin that he doesn't like, but he's ok with sin because we're sinners, just not that sin. (I'm guessing he doesn't like it because it's not as fulfilling a sin as compared to oh... say... child molestation)

Steward's view on repentance is both different from the Emergent Church's and the same. Steward wants to avoid repentance because of his skewed view of doctrine, the Emergent Church completely ignores the concept of repentance because reminding people of their failures is unpopular and people may not show up to their megachurch. Dropping attendance means empty collection baskets. So if you got Rick Warren and Bill Hybels and Eugene Peterson and Steven J. Steward convinced there is no need to repent then what does the bible REALLY say about it? 

Evangelical Fail

Recently a well meaning acquaintance sent my bride a link to a website that explained the beliefs of the webmaster who rails against Ray Comfort, and John MacArthur.  He calls them both damnable heretics for the sin of telling people to avoid sin.

I've tried to go to the website of this man because the name of the website looks pretty uplifting, but the firewall at my work prevents you from accessing the website labeling it "Racism and Hate" which angered me at first. The author of this article and webmaster, David J. Stewart,  a Texan now living on Guam, rips into Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron with frenzied hysteria damning them for daring to make heretical statements such as

“Merely being sorry for your sins, or confessing them to God won't help you. You must turn from sin (repent).”

Looking at this quote quickly you will probably see nothing insidious, but look a little deeper as a saved Christian and you will see.... nothing insidious. But David J. Stewart does. In his own sad little world David J. Stewart believes something completely different. 

Calvinist Cartoons Rocks

Me, The Wretched Son Of Perdition

Besides John, is there anyone that knew Christ Jesus as well as the apostle Paul? While John was the loved disciple and shared an intimate older brother-younger brother relationship with Jesus, Paul shared a truly amazing spiritual relationship with Him that started on the road to Damascus. 

When I read Paul I see someone who has a lot of sin in his past, in 1 Tim. 1:15 he called himself the chief of sinners and in Ephesians 3:8 he called himself "less than the least of all saints". He persecuted and murdered his fellow Jew for the crime of following Jesus, he was there when Steven was stoned to death for the crime of spreading the good news of the risen Messiah. Was he there when Christ Himself was crucified? I'll wager that he was, and I'm also betting that he was there for Christ's trial, and torture, then after He died I'll bet Paul went off to his Passover celebration proud of a job well done. 

Then Jesus forgave him.

Paul knows sin, and Paul knows sinners. So when this scriptural genius (and he was, he was the smartest man in the New Testament) talks about sinners, he knows what he's talking about: 

OT Tuesday: Fun With Science

Warning: Contains Science. Read with care.

It's not a far stretch to say that there's better science being taught in Sunday School than there is in Public School. For one thing, Sunday School doesn't have to worry about political correctness, and for another the bible has a much longer track record of accuracy and consistency than the standard 6th grade text book. Looking back on what I was taught in middle school, just about everything has changed in one form or another while the Bible remains constant.

Of course the Bible has it's detractors who tend to be vocal in their dismissal of God's word. Anytime the truth conflicts with what is convenient or fun people will go out of their way to try to tear down the truth and replace it with what feels good. I recently saw an "educated" criticism of the scientific content of the bible summed up by stating in effect "How can you take the science in the Bible seriously when it was written by people who thought that all animals were within walking distance from Noah's ark?" This was written by someone whose ancestors at that time believed that the world was flat and rested on the back of a giant turtle. 

Of course when discussing science in the Bible eventually the myth of evolution will rear it's ugly head. Yes, I said myth. Unlike actual science, evolution cannot be observed, tested, or repeated, nor is there proof that it actually exists such as transitory examples in the fossil record (fish with feet, dogs with wings, etc). Evolution is based upon faith alone, and unlike biblical faith, the myth of evolution has no historical basis to add emphasis to that faith.  What history the myth of evolution does have is peppered with fraud, disinformation, and undisguised racism. One of the original tenants of evolution was to prove that blacks weren't human. (source)

But science, real science, is there in the Bible to be pondered and marveled, and why not? God invented science. 

Emergent Monday: Rob Bell Wants You to Roast in Hell

When a supposed Christian purposely preaches to you a false Gospel and you as a Christian ignore the word of God to embrace the word of the false teacher, where do you expect to end up?

I'll give you two hints: you're going to end up with that false teacher, and you're not going to end up in the presence of God. 

Don't blame the false teacher if you find yourself embracing heresy or blasphemy, the bible gives plenty of warning that these antichrists will abound to fool and deceive us. In fact the bible shows what to do when you hear someone claiming to preach God's word. Acts 17:11 gives us a perfect example of how to listen to a man of God: get into the scripture, double check his message, take nothing for granted. Be a Berean - isn't your eternal soul worth the effort of double checking the preachers word? in 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 we're ordered to test everything and to hold on to what is good. 2 Corinthians 13:5 also tells you to test yourself, and if you're testing yourself you have none to blame but yourself if you allow the heresy of an antichrist to become your Gospel.

I tell you that to tell you this: Rob Bell is back and he's not empty handed, he's brought his new book.

Word Faith Movement - Mormon Lite?

At one time I actually thought that the Word-Faith movement was a simple money making scam, nothing more: con a few simpletons out of a tithe that should be going to a biblically centered church, convince them that the bible says they'll get their money back with interest, and hint that Jesus wants them in a new Mercedes (available at low low prices from Pastor Cashbox's brother-in-law at Midtown Mercedes Isuzu just off the Gehenna exit of I266) you know, that kind of scam. I heard TBN was a Word-Faith based broadcaster and I thought "Well duh! They're TV!" (making a living on the periphery of the entertainment business doesn't leave one with a generous attitude about said entertainment business) I figured not too many people can get fooled by this cash generating ponzi scheme, and there's not a lot one can do about it because, in the words of Cpt. Tom Pickett from the movie Last Man Standing:

"...because that is the nature of things a certain amount of corruption is inevitable."

A little research shows that the leadership of the Word-Faith movement goes well beyond scamming a lot of sheep out of their hard earned tithe, they're damning those sheep to hell and enjoying every bit of the ride.

How To Handle A Brood of Vipers

Continuing my Lenten series on hypocrisy - 

It's no surprise that Jesus wasn't happy with the Pharisees, their practice of Judaism was little more than legal wrangling. Their legalism and hypocrisy did more than turn religion into an ancient form of Roberts Rules of Order, it took the love completely out of what is primarily meant to be a loving practice of giving thanks and praise to our creator. Rather than bringing the average man closer to God, the Pharasees were replacing God with rules and regulations. Worse yet, they turned the most holy place on the planet, the Temple, into a sideshow fun house that was mandatory to ride. The once pious sacrifices were now an assembly line meat market.

Jesus had enough, He really laid into those that turned His Father's house into a 'salvation factory' (my favorite insulting term for a megachurch)  based on man-made rules and traditions rather than God's own word. Jesus lashed out and publicly berated them, rebuking the Pharasees for nearly everything they stood for.

“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in." (Matthew 23:13)

OT Tuesday: Bathing Beauty

What could a girl do? Raised near the center of power in Jerusalem, Bathsheba was the daughter of Eliam, one of the king's "Thirty", his mightiest warriors. In fact she had married one of the Thirty, Uriah. Bathsheba was raised with power, she understood power, and in ancient times power was something of which  women did not have very much. But they did have some...

The fact that Bathsheba's husband Uriah was one of David's prize mighty men probably meant that they were fairly well off, as evidenced by the fact that they lived right next to King David's palace. Close enough in fact that when she took a bath, the mighty king was able to get an eyeful. History doesn't record if Bathsheba knew that the King had eyes for her (especially around bath time) but there is no evidence that Bathsheba was stupid. She was raised among military men with high political power and was probably a guest in the palace on more than one occasion, so when David's servants came to Bathsheba and invited her up to the King's chambers for "a chat", and considering the fact that the King had sent his troops to war, including her husband, Bathsheba probably knew what the topic of conversation was going to be. 

The Mess of The Message: Gibberish Passing as Prose

As I've mentioned before, I'm not a fan of The Message Bible perVersion, nor am I a fan of it's author Eugene Peterson. I like the real Bible, and I love the real Bible's author, God. But to me it appears that the Bible, the real Bible, isn't interesting enough for Mr. Peterson, so he had to make up his own. 

Unfortunately for the  whole world this abomination was published and distributed exactly like it is a real version of the Bible, rather than what it truly is: one man's satirical rewording of God's inspired word. 

From what little I've read of Peterson's revision of the Book of Revelations he didn't even leave that book alone, maybe it's because he no longer has enough faith left to take heed to the warning in  Revelation 22:18-19, every word inspired by the Holy Spirit is fair game for his creative (read: heretical) pen.

Take 1 Timothy 2:11-12 for example

¹¹ A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. ¹² But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet.

Why Did Jesus Come To Us?

Unannounced hiatus is over (My bride and I purchased a house with the Good Lord's help and have been dedicating our time to moving and setting it up) I'm still not fully back so I'm bringing you something awesome from Matt Slick at carm.org

To reveal the Father (Matt. 11:27)
"All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."

To be a ransom for many (Matt. 20:28)
"just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."