Spurgeon Thursday - The Importance of Baptism

Sinner, believe on Jesus Christ; hear the whole gospel preached to thee. It is written in God’s Word, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.” Hear me translate it: He that believeth and is immersed shall be saved. Believe thou, trust thyself on the Savior, make a profession of thy faith in baptism, and then thou mayest rejoice in Jesus, that he hath saved thee. But remember not to make a profession till thou hast believed; remember, baptism is nothing until thou hast faith. Remember, it is a farce and a falsehood until thou hast first believed; and afterward it is nothing but the profession of thy faith. Oh, believe that; cast thyself upon Christ, and thou art saved for ever! The Lord add his blessing, for the Saviour's sake. Amen.

More Moore Means Much More Less

On the same day I published my post on Beth Moore, Pulpit and Pen published their post on Beth Moore. Beth Moore is the living embodiment of Spurgeon's great definition of the word 'discernment';

“Discernment is not knowing the difference between right and wrong. It is knowing the difference between right and almost right.”

It's that almost part that can get you. That D-Con mouse and rat poison you may set out for unwelcomed rodents is 99.9975% harmless, and 0.0025% deadly, yet that 0.0025% does it's deadly job. I suppose one could draw a parallel between leaven in dough meant for unleaven bread that Paul uses when talking about sin in 1 Corinthians 5:6-8 and introducing exegetical errors and extra-biblical revelations into what is supposed to be biblical teaching. 

Here is a story of a pastors wife who sat down and reviewed what Beth Moore had to say and realized she had to part ways with God's Blond Bullhorn

A Pastor’s Wife Breaks Free of Beth Moore: 

A Testimony

BY SETH DUNN · PUBLISHED MAY 31, 2017 · UPDATED NOVEMBER 21, 2018

The following testimony was submitted to Pulpit & Pen for publication:

My name is Lauran.  I am a Southern Baptist from Tennessee.  I walked the aisle to accept Jesus at age 5 but I believe I was truly saved 12 years ago at the age of 21.  I am currently the women’s Bible study leader at our church as well as the pastor’s wife.  I have broken free of Beth Moore.

I grew up attending Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee.  It was and is one of the most vibrant churches in the convention; its former (Adrian Rogers) and current (Steve Gaines) pastors have been the President of the Southern Baptist Convention and both served on the Baptist Faith and Message Committee.  At this faithful church, the Bible was proclaimed as God’s inerrant word.  Growing up in a church like that, I was often involved in Bible study.  One of my favorite Bible study authors was Beth Moore.  I was heavily involved in her studies for years.  I have seen her speak live multiple times, done countless numbers of her studies and own tons of her books.  I’ll never forget the day five years ago when my husband informed me that Beth Moore may not be a sound teacher.

Random Bits

"I walk through this sinful world as a 

pilgrim in a foreign country" - CH Spurgeon

This world is not my home I'm just a'passing through
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue
The angels beckon me from heaven's open door
And I can't feel at home in this world anymore
Oh lord you know I have no friend like you
If heaven's not my home then lord what will I do
The angels beckon me from heaven's open door
And I can't feel at home in this world anymore

Years ago Snopes used to be a good site to run to if you really needed to know if that cat on Youtube is really playing the piano, or if Prince Charles really did hire a hit man to "kack" Princess Di. But in recent years Snopes has become a left wing apologist bent on erasing history and re-writing it to DNC standards. This is  how far they have sunk into the left-wing morass - now Snopes is fact-checking the Christian satire website the Babylon Bee. Let me repeat that: Snopes is fact-checking a Christian satire website. They're not just saying that "this is satire" (which is what a responsible, adult staffed agency would do) they're knowingly taking the hilarious satirical Babylon Bee stories and actually wasting time and energy to "fact-check" them like they were serious reporting. The previous sentence that you just read is not satire, the alt-left tunnel vision bound Snopes who couldn't find a left damning fact if Faux-cahontas (Fact check that fact Snopes) handed them one is brazenly attacking the Babylon Bee for their right (meaning both conservative AND correct) stance and Christian origins. In response to Snopes inept stammering, the Babylon Bee has lawyered up. Go Bee!

How Mary supplanted Jesus as the Roman Catholic savior. Ok, I know some folks are going to complain about this. Bring it.

Jesus' second advent occurred in Kenya this month.

Spurgeon Thursday - 4 Reasons Spurgeon Died Poor

4 Reasons Spurgeon Died Poor

From: spurgeon.org

Charles Spurgeon could have been one of the richest millionaires in London.

Instead, he died poor.

Unlike his contemporary pastors in London, Spurgeon did not leave millions of pounds to his family after his death. Susannah told a Baptist newspaper her husband only left £2,000 (Nottingham Evening Post, March 31, 1892).

This number is staggering compared to how much money Spurgeon actually earned. In fact, one of the most overlooked aspects of Spurgeon’s ministry is his personal finances.

Let’s see where Spurgeon’s wallet takes us.

The numbers below have been converted from Great Britain Pound (GBP) in Spurgeon’s day to U.S. Dollar (USD) today. Inflation has been accounted for using a standardized consumer price index. As a general reference, one British pound (£) was worth the equivalent of $117.78 today.

25,000 sermons per week = $13,767,693.33

A small sampling of books sold up to 1885:

The Treasury of David = $5,225,472

Morning by Morning = $2,116,800

Evening by Evening = $1,481,760

Lectures to My Students, Vol. 1 = $453,600

Lectures to My Students, Vol. 2 = $226,800

Commenting on Commentaries = $151,200

John Ploughman’s Talk = $2,056,320

John Ploughman’s Pictures = $665,280

Total sales of books and sermons = $26,144,925.33

Remember, this is only a small slice of Spurgeon’s lifetime earnings. He wrote nearly 150 books, published a monthly magazine, and earned significant revenue from speaking engagements in the earlier, more mobile part of his ministry.

Have you ever wondered how much Spurgeon earned for his annual salary?

As a teenage pastor of Waterbeach Chapel, Spurgeon was paid meagerly, the equivalent of $5,443 per year, though $3,773 went to rent (69.3% of his salary):

“They gave me a salary of £45 a year, but as I had to pay 12 [shillings] a week for my two rooms which I occupied, my income was not sufficient to support me; but the people, though they had not money, had produce, and I do not think there was a pig being killed by any one of the congregation without my having some portion of it” (Autobiography 1:253).

After Spurgeon accepted the pastorate of New Park Street Chapel in 1854, his salary increased dramatically due to the money earned from seat rentals (a practice long since abandoned in evangelical churches).

Three months after moving to London, Spurgeon earned enough money to personally pay for his chapel’s maintenance and lighting (Autobiography 2:123). Shortly thereafter, he never again took a salary.

So where did all of Spurgeon’s money go? What were his attitudes towards finances?

WWUTT Wednesday: Beth Moore - Moore is Less

I'm really not crazy about Beth Moore, and it's not all that hair and all those teeth. She is a pretty woman, but her preaching is pretty too.  For example when preaching on Matthew 8:28–34 she spoke of the demon possessed men who were coming out of the tombs:

"before we proceed to the next point, consider a fact revealed in verse 27. The demonic didn't live in a house. He resided in the tombs. I wonder how many people today are living "in the tombs"? I know a woman who is still so oppressed by despair that decades after the loss of a loved one, she still lives "in the tombs."  (Jesus, the One and Only, by Beth Moore, B & H Publishing Group, Nashville, Tenn., 2002, p. 143-144)

These men were not depressed they were actually living in the graveyard, they were probably driven out of their town because of their demonic possession. Is Beth saying that if you're depressed then you are demonically possessed? The point of the text is not about emotional trauma, this is abuse of the text. Maybe Beth doesn't need to properly exegete the text because she believes that whispers in the heart are superior to the text?

"As we study we may see several examples of Him [Christ] posing a question that only He could answer. Christ certainly uses that teaching method with me. Sometimes He’ll cause me to dig through Scripture for a question He seemed to initiate. Other times the question may come as a personalized whisper in my heart: 'Beth, why are you acting that way?' Often my answer is 'I don’t know, Lord! Can you tell me why?' If I really search His heart, sooner or later He’ll give me insight into my reactions," (Jesus, the One and Only, by Beth Moore, B & H Publishing Group, Nashville, Tenn., 2002, p. 47)

For a true believer the law of the Lord is perfect:

7 The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
8 The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
9 The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether. (Psalm 19:7-9)

So if the Word of God is perfect what does it say for "personalized whispers in the heart"?

 The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9)

Now her teaching is (surprise surprise) moving in anti-biblical territory; gifts and other charismatic voodoo, ecumenism, and turning her back on scripture, especially 1 Timothy chapters 2 and 3 and any other related text that falls under the SJW commandments against perceived misogamy. If you want less Moore, read The SBC should say "No more" to Beth Moore