Wretched Wednesday - the NAR is Nothing New

It was exactly one year ago when I first wrote about Montanism, back then the word started popping up in the WatchBlogosphere® and never having heard it before I did a bit of research on it. In the last paragraph or two of my post I touched upon a connection that should have hit me over the head, rang alarm bells, and set off signal flares, but I missed it. 

In the responses to that post Glenn Chatfield pointed out the connection I should have made, but neither of us took it any further than that. Suddenly one year later here is Todd Friel, Mr. Wretched himself, making the connection that Glenn and I should have made and expanded upon a year ago. 

Destiny Destiny No Escaping That's For Me

First of all, kudos to everyone that caught the Mel Brooks references in the title of this post and accompanying meme.

You can't read an article or listen to a homily from the Charismatic fringe without hearing the word "Destiny" being being beaten into your head. Not just false prophesy but falsely prophetic merchandise like Destiny Pants and Destiny Cards are being sold to the theologically gullible. This got me to thinking; where is all this Destiny nonsense coming from?

Destiny is not just a vacuous concept, it's a tired and overworked  Buzzword that the charismatics have been flinging at their followers like #4 birdshot at a flock of mallards. Destiny is defined as "the events that will necessarily happen to a particular person or thing in the future" AND "the hidden power believed to control what will happen in the future"

If you are a human being your destiny is the same as all other humans, when you die you will stand before the throne of judgement. If you are a Christian and truly believe that Jesus died for your sins and rose from the dead, He will stand as your advocate at your judgement. As for "the hidden power believed to control what will happen in the future" I'll get to that in a few moments, let''s look at the use of the word destiny first. 

The cool thing about a search engine is that you can search for something particular in one site if you want, so if I were to search my own blog for all the articles where I've used the word "UFO" I would enter this in the search engine:

site:https://wideawakechristian.blogspot.com UFO

Random Bits

"I walk through this sinful world as a 

pilgrim in a foreign country" - CH Spurgeon

2018 Prophetic Roundup

You may not have asked for it but the folks at Fighting For the Faith compared the prophesies that self appointed prophets, many of whom are self appointed apostles too, spewed shared with for this year. Here's a quick synopsis, but to get the flavor of the whole thing you should listen to the audio. Then ask yourself, has any of them considered 2 Thessalonians 2:11?

The above audio provided by Fighting For The Faith, clearly the best pirates I've ever seen

Cindy Jacobs - 2018 is going to be GREAT, you're going to possess the "gates of your future"

Jim Bakker - 2018 is the beginning of the end, the time of sorrows has begun, famine and pestilence, and a terror attack at the Winter Olympics

Rick Joyner - 2018 is going to be One Awesome Year! To Infinity And Beyond!!! I can't believe he actually said that

Kent Christmas - 2018 starts negative and ends positive. It is the year of God's Judgement on False Prophets. If you're lukewarm 2018 is going to suck 

Dephne Madyara - 2018 is a year of receiving a blessing. There is going to have rising up podiums, quickly rising up, with people on them. With glue. Yeah, she really said it

Heather Curnew - 2018 is a year of... well,  January is a month of Favor and Discovery and God is going to supernaturally bless you 

Jennifer LeClaire - 2018 is Metamorphosis  

What happens when a Blue Moon, a Blood Moon, a Super Moon, and a Lunar eclipse all occur on the SAME DAY?!? Does the Super Blue Blood Moon mean triple prophetic judgement??? - probably not, John Haggee isn't pushing books on it.

The Satanic Temple is taking Missouri's abortion law to court. They claim that there's too many loopholes to jump through to slaughter a baby

Random Bits

"I walk through this sinful world as a 

pilgrim in a foreign country" - CH Spurgeon

Let's start out with some good news: Are you a News Junkie? Does your day start by pouring over the Drudge Report, or Breitbart, or Bad Blue, or PJ Media, or... or... or is that just me? I like reading the news over a cup of coffee, but the vast majority of the news sites are aimed toward a small segment of society; the ultraliberal. I like my news both right and correct. 

If you want your morning news without the blathering of Christianity Astray Today, or the unGodly nonsense of Chrisma news, or the mindnumbing  nonstop ads of many of the other Christian news sites, I have found something that is an answer to the Christian news junkie's prayers. Adam4d who gave us those great Christian web comics has created the Christian Daily Reporter.  I really like this site. Thank you Adam4d!

Here's an incredible Freebee - Are People Basically Good? (Crucial Questions) by RC Sproul is free on Kindle. Dr. Sproul discusses what it means to be made in the image of God yet being fallen in sin. It's also a free audio book if you're an Audible subscriber

I didn't find out until this morning, but January 16th was Religious Freedom Day

I was never a Trumper, but I was never a never Trumper. Like all presidents I allowed him time to earn my admiration or disdain, or both, but with actions like this I thank God for giving us the President we now have.

Who is Shawn Bolz? He's the guy who holds the keys to Heaven's economy. I honestly can't believe I just typed that

Spurgeon Thursday - Predestination and Freewill

What is right - Freewill or Predestination? Ardent followers of either philosophy will find a myriad of bible quotes to back up their cause, but as with many other disagreements I find that the truth lies somewhere other than the two extreme ends. In this query I turned to Charles Haddon Spurgeon for guidance fully looking forward to his preaching to fall in the Predestination camp. His answer? It isn't what I was expecting -

The system of truth is not one straight line, but two. No man will ever get a right view of the gospel until he knows how to look at the two lines at once.

I am taught in one book to believe that what I sow I shall reap: I am taught in another place, that “it is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.”

I see in one place, God presiding over all in providence; and yet I see, and I cannot help seeing, that man acts as he pleases, and that God has left his actions to his own will, in a great measure.

Now, if I were to declare that man was so free to act, that there was no presidence of God over his actions, I should be driven very near to Atheism; and if, on the other hand, I declare that God so overrules all things, as that man is not free enough to be responsible, I am driven at once into Antinomianism or fatalism.

That God predestines, and that man is responsible, are two things that few can see. They are believed to be inconsistent and contradictory; but they are not. It is just the fault of our weak judgment. Two truths cannot be contradictory to each other.

If, then, I find taught in one place that everything is fore-ordained, that is true; and if I find in another place that man is responsible for all his actions, that is true; and it is my folly that leads me to imagine that two truths can ever contradict each other.

These two truths, I do not believe, can ever be welded into one upon any human anvil, but one they shall be in eternity: they are two lines that are so nearly parallel, that the mind that shall pursue them farthest, will never discover that they converge; but they do converge, and they will meet somewhere in eternity, close to the throne of God, whence all truth doth spring.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 4: 1858

WWUTT Wednesday - God Is Not "Dude"

I'm currently on a business trip which explains the limited number of posts I've made so far this year (a total of none) but this popped up in my inbox and I had to post. I've written about Christianity and marijuana before and haven't really touched the subject since. When I hurt my back I actually tried medicinal marijuana three times, a topical ointment, and it did nothing for me or to me. 

I personally believe that it was God who did that for me, for if it had relieved some of the pain that I have been in I may still be using it. I know people who use it "for pain" and are stumbling through life now in a permanent stupor; smoking, consuming edibles, and wearing patches like those Nicorette patches. Had God allowed the Marijuana to ease my discomfort I may have ended up like one of those unfortunate souls (I come from a family of alcoholics so substance addiction is a family trait) instead of trusting God to find a medical specialist who actually could fix me (which He did marvelously).

I'm told over and over about the medical wonders of Marijuana, however I don't have epilepsy or terminal cancer so those wonders are lost on me, I'm just fine with my Tylenol PM thank you. And the argument that "It's natural" is a no brainer too - anthrax is natural, would you like me to find you a patch for that, or would you prefer a brownie?