Christ's own Youth

Modesty Survey !

2007-12-21T05:20:00.001-08:00

Dear Friends,TheRebelution.com has launched the results of their massive Modesty Survey! Over 1,600 Christian guys have answered questions on everything from glitter lotion and lip gloss to swimsuits and skirt slits! It's everything girls have ever wanted to ask guys about modesty, but were afraid to ask! For guys, it's really interesting to see what other Christian guys think!Most importantly, the survey is presented as a resource to help Christian girls (and guys), not a list of legalistic rules, and it is accompanied by the Modesty Survey Petition (which tons of guys have signed) which encourage young women to focus on the heart, not the hemline, to honor their parents, etc.The results were released on St. Valentine's Day as a gift from 1,600 Christian guys to all Christian girls -- and I can't think of a better one!

Now the survey is being endorsed by people like Shaunti Feldhahn ("For Women Only") Nancy Leigh DeMoss (Revive Our Hearts), CJ Mahaney (Sovereign Grace Ministries) and Shannon Ethridge ("Every Woman's Battle")!Go check it out: www.therebelution.com/modestysurvey

But also make sure you spread the word to all your friends. We want as many Christian girls (and guys) as possible to see this, so forward this email on!

New and interesting sites

2007-08-22T04:13:00.000-07:00

We here at Christ's own youth are dividing our assetts and starting a couple of new blogs covering a variety of different issues, this blog will continue in its current format with possibly a few minor changes, whilst other blogs will gradually be erected linked to from here for your reading pleasure.

Starting with these....

www.lovenotfeminism.blogspot.com

www.modernmales.blogspot.com

What do you spend your money on ?

2007-08-10T15:32:00.000-07:00

Here's a question, what exactly do you spend your money on that is so important that it comes before spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ ?

The marketplace

2007-08-10T15:27:00.000-07:00

Do you give ?

Do you Worship ?

2007-08-10T15:19:00.000-07:00

This one blew me away, literally. Ever wanted to be closer to God ? Ever wondered if you might be doing something wrong ? Watch this video and follow by example !

The new world Order ? Really ?

2007-08-10T15:12:00.000-07:00

Many have heard of it, but is the 'new world order' what we imagine it to be like, or is it more subtle ?

The good samaritan song

2007-08-10T15:03:00.000-07:00

Hilarious, but with a moral story, what could be better ?

Yet another challenging video.

2007-08-10T14:58:00.000-07:00

I hope this challenges you.....

Thought Provoking

2007-08-10T14:41:00.000-07:00

This video spurned some serious thought in me, watch it yourselves and see if you agree.....

Another Challenging Video

2007-08-10T14:40:00.000-07:00

This time its about witnessing.....

What has happened to the Church ?

2007-08-10T14:30:00.000-07:00

The most thought provoking video I've watched

2007-08-10T14:01:00.000-07:00

Found this on Godtube and I must say its probably the most thought provoking video I've seen, ever. Do not watch this if you like to feel good about yourself or pride yourself on being 'good' at anything.

Todays 'advanced' culture

2007-06-29T13:57:00.001-07:00

Ever wondered why our churches are so utterley useless ? Have you ever asked yourself what really is the state of our society at the moment ? Are we really so 'advanced' and intelligent ? Is our spirituality so great!

Well one answer may come from the immediate browsing of amazon.com.

Indeed as I first clicked on books, then further hyperclicked to 'Religion and Spirituality' bestsellers.

I, even I, was shocked to find the following list as the list of the top twenty bestselling spirituality books.
So, without further ado, the top twenty........
Remember these are supposed to be books based on "Religion" and/or "Spirituality".

(Just to note: I have not linked to these books in order to make anyone stumble, simply to prove that they exist as I myself couldn't believe my eyes when I saw them.)

20.) Filip Muller - Eyewitness Auschwitz: Three Years in the Gas Chamber
19.) Esther Hicks - The Law of Attraction
18.) Daniel C. Dennet - Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon
17.) George S. Clason - The Richest Man in Babylon
16.) Jeffrey E. Young - Reinventing Your Life: How to Break Free from Negative Life Patterns
15.) Pam Spurr - Sensational Sex: The Revolutionary Guide To Sexual Pleasure & Fulfilment
14.) Sam Harris - Letter to a Christian Nation
13.) Stephen Richards - Cosmic Ordering Guide: Where Dreams Can Become Reality
12.) Sam Harris - The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason
11.) James Redfield - The Celestine Prophecy
10.) Esther Hicks - Ask and It Is Given: Learning to Manifest Your Desires
9.) Louise L. Hay - You Can Heal Your Life
8.) Pope Benedict XVI - Jesus of Nazareth
7.) Rhonda Byrne - The Secret
6.) John Gray - Black Mass: Apocalyptic Religion and the Death of Utopia
5.) Alister McGrath - The Dawkins Delusion?: Atheist Fundamentalism and the Denial of the Divine
4.) Paulo Coelho - The Alchemist: A Fable About Following Your Dream
3.) Eckhart Tolle - The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment

and of course for the top 2.....

2.) Christopher Hitchens - God Is Not Great: The Case Against Religion
(Sounds very spiritual doesn't it?)

and the number one bestselling religious book on amazon is something I wouldn't even classify as religious!?

1.) Richard Dawkins - The God Delusion
(Let's get all spiritual about.....erm......nothing)

"But of course"....., I hear the 21st century church reply "We're absolutely fine, theres nothing wrong at all, in fact we are better now than we've ever been!"

Lets take a quick glance at scripture after reading the above list of books.

2 Timothy 3

"1But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.
6They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, 7always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth. 8Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth—men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. 9But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone."

As we can clearly see once again the infalliable Word of GOD proves true for yet another time. But what shall we do to combat this form of unGodliness in our culture, sit back and do nothing? Convince people these books aren't worth reading? Convince them that there is a God? What then shall we do........

I'd bet it would have something to do with the following...........

3.) Prayer - (Praying Successfully by Charles Haddon Spurgeon)
2.) Truth - ( Words to Winners of Souls by Horatius Bonar)
1.) God - ( The Pursuit of God (Authentic Classics) by A.W. Tozer)

I wonder if everyone who has called themselves a Christian were to make the above their list of reading, along with the bible of course, I do seriously wonder would our culture be the same THEN !

My immediate answer would be if people actually read the bible at all, then we'd have somewhere to start.

Quotes on Prayer

2007-06-26T04:39:00.000-07:00

Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud, and He shall hear me." Psalm 55:17

"Jesus answered. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it, and it will be yours." Mark 11:22, 24

"Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer." John Bunyan

"Prayer is the acid test of devotion." Samuel Chadwick

"Men give advice; God gives guidance." — Leonard Ravenhill

The spirit of prayer is more precious than treasures of gold and silver." John Bunyan

"...a man who kneels before God will stand before men." Leonard Ravenhill

"True prayer is a lonely business." Samuel Chadwick

"Never say you will pray about a thing; pray about it." Oswald Chambers

"In all your prayers forget not to thank the Lord for his mercies." John Bunyan

"The only power that God will yield to is that of prayer." Leonard Ravenhill

"Seven days without prayer makes one weak." Allen E Vartlett

"he that is never on his knees on earth, shall never stand upon his feet in heaven." C. H. Spurgeon

"If weak in prayer, we are weak everywhere." — Leonard Ravenhill

"Prayer does not fit us for the greater work, prayer is the greater work." Oswald Chambers

"In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart." John Bunyan

"The greatest and best talent that God gives to any man or woman in this world is the talent of prayer." Alexander Whyte

"A sinning man stops praying, a praying man stops sinning." Leonard Ravenhill

"He who runs from God in the morning will scarcely find Him the rest of the day." John Bunyan

"If your faith does not make you pray, have nothing to do with it: get rid of it, and God help thee to begin again." C. H. Spurgeon

Rebuking false preachers

2007-06-22T08:36:00.000-07:00

Do these things move you? by Leonard Ravenhill

2007-06-22T05:43:00.001-07:00

To Love the Word of God: Part 1 by Paul Washer

2007-06-22T05:42:00.001-07:00

Christ bought you !

2007-06-22T04:58:00.000-07:00

Abortion

2007-06-22T04:36:00.000-07:00

Abortion is a topic widely discussed today in reference to the moral implications of the act of killing a baby.

I've heard Christians come and say they would have an abortion, some even say they would have an abortion if they thought the child would affect their relationship with God ! Yes, sounds ludicrous, but so is most of what comes out of modern day churches.

I thought I'd clear the issue up once and for all, and not by my own words, but by the WORD of God and a couple of vids I found whilst browsing the net.

Firstly let me just give my opinion.

ABORTION IS 100% WRONG AND SHOULD NOT EVER HAVE BEEN USED NOR EVER BE USED UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE, EVER.

Did not he who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same one form us both within our mothers? (Job 31:15).

Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you even at my mother's breast. From birth I was cast upon you; from my mother's womb you have been my God (Psalm 22:9-10).

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be (Psalm 139:13-16).

This is what the LORD says---he who made you, who formed you in the womb, and who will help you...(Isaiah 44:2).

Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all you who remain of the house of Israel, you whom I have upheld since you were conceived, and have carried since your birth. Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you (Isaiah 46:3-4).

And now the LORD says---he who formed me in the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel to himself, for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD and my God has been my strength (Isaiah 49:5).

The word of the LORD came to me, saying, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations" (Jeremiah 1:4-5).

When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy" (Luke 1:41-42, 44).

You shall not murder (Exodus 20:13).

Is Abortion Wrong?

Yes, abortion is wrong. The Lord has said, "You shall not murder," (Exodus 20:13). The life that is growing within the mother is a child, a baby. The Bible looks at the life in the womb as a child.: Exodus 21:22 says, "And if men struggle with each other and strike a woman with child so that she has a miscarriage, yet there is no further injury, he shall surely be fined as the woman's husband may demand of him; and he shall pay as the judges decide,"(1) (NASB).
The main concern of the "Pro-Choicers" is not the guarded protection of the life in the womb. Instead, the main concern is the "rights" of the mother over and against the rights of the child growing in her. The child, who cannot exercise its own will, is killed. And, in order to make the killing more palatable, the baby is called a "fetus", or "non-viable", or "not yet human", etc. This eases the conscience. But, for those who say the baby isn't 'viable', have you ever seen a sonogram of an abortion? You can see the 'non-viable fetus' retracting from the instruments of death and seeking self preservation. It wants to live. Some would respond by saying that even a rodent wants to live. But what is in the womb of the mother is human.
The Bible says for people to protect the weak and down trodden. But with abortionists, the rights of the baby are sacrificed to the rights of the mother -- and the father doesn't even have any rights. The mother cries out that the life in here is part of her body and that she has the right to do with her body as she wills.
True love does not seeks its own, but is other centered. It gives. "For God so loved the world he GAVE his only begotten son..." (John 3:16). Abortion is the ultimate in selfishness. It puts the mother's convenience and desires above the life of her own baby. To kill the baby in the womb means to consider oneself more important than anyone else.
Even in nature, as far as I understand, animals don't kill what is in their own wombs. People are the only ones who kill their young while still unborn. In this society of "self esteem," "personal accomplishments," and "empowerment," true love is losing out and death is winning.

Let us make sure we as Christians stand United against abortion, especially in the church.

Amen?

Paul Washer

2007-06-22T04:15:00.000-07:00

Another clip from Paul Washer's sermon to the youth.....

Psalm 12 - Deceipt

2007-06-22T03:53:00.000-07:00

Psalm 12 (NIV)
For the director of music. According to sheminith . A psalm of David. [a]

1 Help, LORD, for the godly are no more;
the faithful have vanished from among men.
2 Everyone lies to his neighbor;
their flattering lips speak with deception.

3 May the LORD cut off all flattering lips
and every boastful tongue

4 that says, "We will triumph with our tongues;
we own our lips [b] —who is our master?"

5 "Because of the oppression of the weak
and the groaning of the needy,
I will now arise," says the LORD.
"I will protect them from those who malign them."

6 And the words of the LORD are flawless,
like silver refined in a furnace of clay,
purified seven times.

7 O LORD, you will keep us safe
and protect us from such people forever.

8 The wicked freely strut about
when what is vile is honored among men

----------------

Interesting psalm isn't it ? I think it may have some implications for our modern day prosperity preachers, especially this verse, " May the LORD cut off all flattering lips and every boastful tongue that says, "We will triumph with our tongues; we own our lips [b] —who is our master?" ".

We must all discern between what is false preaching and what is true biblical doctrine, and sometimes this can be very hard, especially in our day and age where pretty much everything is relative and nothing is absolute. Yet I can tell you with absolute sincerity that EVERY word of scripture is God-breathed, and NEVER wrong in any way shape or form.

One of the most common forms of treachery today is the following which I hear from unbeliever and believer alike. "That scripture doesn't apply to our times" or "that scripture wouldn't fit in with todays culture" or even "We've been blessed by God in the modern age and don't need to follow every rule anymore" !!! Utter garbage, EVERY scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, or so the Holy spirit inspired hand of paul wrote. If God says raise children this way, why do you say it won't work? If God says his plan for marriage works like this, why do you follow the world's ways instead of God's? I tell you now, there is coming a time when we will answer for every time we chose to follow the world and not Jesus Christ, and it's not gonna be all singing and dancing as many think it will be!

Want to know why your church may not be being blessed by revival?

Do you have homosexuals preaching?
Women teaching and having authority over men?
Does your pastor have more than one wife?
Is your pastor preaching the FULL gospel and not just small parts of it that please his congregation?
Does the congregation go to church more to listen to your pastor and worship than it does to meet with God?
Are people in your church biblically rebuked and corrected when sin has been commited?
Does your church actually WANT REAL REVIVAL?

All these factors in my opinion hinder our churches today, and whilst you may disagree with one or two of the above statements, it is impossible to deny the lack of power in our so called churches today. One of the best things I ever heard Leonard Ravenhill say went something like this,

"How is it that 120 men in an upper room could shake a nation, yet today we have conferences of thousands of preachers and no-one even knows they are there!"

So true, so true.

I'm gonna try and get a couple of ravenhills sermons on here soon, but for now, stay in the Word aand learn with all submission to God, and most of all desire revival in our broken homes and chuches today.

Simple yet effective preaching

2007-06-22T03:34:00.000-07:00

Heard this video a while back but thought I'd post it on here.

The video talks about a gentleman who won many many souls to our LORD, and most amazingly, he did it using the simplest of styles of preaching.

If you died tonight, would you go to heaven ?

Seeking His Face

2007-06-22T03:32:00.000-07:00

A compilation of great preachers talking on seeking the LORD. Do you REALLY want to be holy for Christ ?

Do we have an awesome GOD

2007-06-21T10:19:00.000-07:00

Today I sat at work, trying to imagine the Glory of God, I came up with many clever parables and analogies which I'd like to share with the world. These are not scripturally based, nor necessarily true, though in my mind they reflect just about the limit of my own perception of glory, greatness and sheer Godness !

1.) How many olympic swimming pools would it take to hold all the earths water ? Because the LORD couldn't even gargle such a small amount in his mouth.

2.) Every nuclear reactor, wind farm, solar power plant, power station on earth put together, does not have the energy to power the average star for a moment, Jesus has sustained all of them for thousands of years.

3.) How long would it take you to count every grain of sand on all the beaches of the earth? Scientists tell us there are more stars in the sky than there are grains of sand on the earth. Our Lord knows every star by its name.

4.) The sun is so hot it would melt and destroy the earth if we got too close. No metal we know of could last even minutes when placed inside our sun. Yet in the bible in 2 peter 3:12 we are told of a time when "That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat." Tell me, what could be so hot that even the sun will melt in its heat ?

5.) (I sure hope there are some scientists around to help me ponder this one). Before Noah's day and the flood, is it possible that water may not have been see-through? I say this because God first made a rainbow after the flood, and we know that a rainbow is caused by light passing through water. I wonder what that water would have been like?

6.) How many candles would it take to melt a mountain? We know they melt just like wax before the LORD! (Micah 1:4)

7.) We are told when the Holy spirit came upon the apostles, every one around them heard them speaking in their own native tongues. We often think it amazing that God can speak every language, but never do we think of God as speaking in one language that encompasses ALL other languages put together. Impossible you say ! Well re-read the story of the tower of Babel, and then Acts 2:6-22.

8.) Imagine seeing the tallest trees in the world all join forces and start rushing at you down a great hill, would be frightening no? Well now imagine the Almighty creator of all them trees and endless numbers of his angels speeding towards you in anger!

9.) Imagine standing before a huge dam holding millions of tons of water in it, bigger than any dam you had ever seen. Now imagine that in a split secoond the dam was taken away and it was just you and the water, what would become of you? Well our LORD could blow air gently out of his mouth and keep all the water exactly in its place!

Now you know how AWESOME the LORD is ! What about this my fellow christians.

10.) Imagine a fireman who pulls 20 children out of a burning building where hundreds have already died. Now imagine that same firemans face, when the 20 children tell him they want to go inside the burning building to get their favourite C.d ! This situation happens everytime a beleiver sins against his saviour !

Meeting Together

2007-06-20T03:04:00.000-07:00

I'm going to quickly run over this as its been on my mind alot lately, but I feel strongly that Christians are NOT meeting together as often as they should, nor are they praying with each other often, nor singing the praises of God together often enough.

As Leonard Ravenhill put it "In The end times there will be prayer meeting 24hrs a day".

Yet for some utterley bizarre reason, modern christianity seems to think fellowship is the least important part of service to God in our day. Not in my eyes. I can tell you that meeting together for encouragement, discipleship and even rebuke, is a long forgotten memory for most Christians. There are even so called Christians who simply go to church on a sunday morning and think that is all the fellowship they need, then they go out three nights in the week with secular friends and wonder why they're not growing in their faith !

We are now going to take a look at some scriptures regarding fellowship and meeting together and try and discover as much about how often, where, when and why, the early believers met together.

Acts 4:31
After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

Here we can see that the believers met together to pray, and it seems amazing things happened when they did !

Matthew 18:20
For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them

If this doesn't make you want to get two or three together as often as possible then what will ?! Jesus, our Lord, is telling us that when we are gathered together in HIS name, then he will be there among us. When we gather together and study the scriptures or pray wouldn't it be comforting to know that God himself was there among us helping us to understand the scriptures we read together and bringing joy to each person as they share comforts and storys with one-another.

Proverbs 27:17
As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another

Again, do you want to be sharpened ? Then meet together with other believers !

Acts 20:7-8
On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight. 8There were many lamps in the upstairs room where we were meeting.

They came together to break bread, on the first day of the week, but have you ever been to a church service which continued on till midnight because the pastor was so enthuisiastic about his work ! They met in an upstairs room aswell which, to me, adds an aura of secrecy to it, which makes it all the better !

Acts 11:27--29
During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.) 29The disciples, each according to his ability, decided to provide help for the brothers living in Judea.

Where do I start with this one ! Without meeting together the believers would not have met Agabus and been warned of the impending famine, but more so it says they then decided to each provide help for one-another according to each persons ability (wealth, gifts, knowledge, homes). Do we see that kind of working together in our churches today ?

Acts 21:10-11
After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11Coming over to us, he took Paul's belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, "The Holy Spirit says, 'In this way the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.

Ever had a prophet walk into your meeting and prophesy over one of you ? Does this kind of thing not happen anymore ? It most certainly should be, but in my opinion we are lacking two most important things for this to happen, firstly, we lack prophets, indeed we are sorely lacking in qualified elijah's today it seems, and secondly, christian meetings, because, even if there were prophets they'd have hard time finding any christians regurlarly meeting together anyway !

Psalm 30:4
Sing to the LORD, you saints of his; praise his holy name

Now notice it doesn't add only on sunday mornings. We should be singing praises to God both alone and in the company of his saints as often as possible. Don't believe me, check the next scripture......

Psalm 52:9
I will praise you forever for what you have done; in your name I will hope, for your name is good. I will praise you in the presence of your saints

How often do you get together with other believers simply to praise God for him being so Good ?

Acts 9:32
[ Aeneas and Dorcas ] As Peter traveled about the country, he went to visit the saints in Lydda.

Have you ever gone on holiday just to go and see how some of your brothers and sisters in Christ are doing ? Ever visited other saints all over your country ?

Romans 16:2
I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant[a] of the church in Cenchrea. 2I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been a great help to many people, including me. 3Greet Priscilla[b] and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus.

There's alot to take in here, but lets start with the part i've bolded. I'll ask you a question, how should we receive someone any different than a normal person receives another person ? Here Paul sends a sister in Christ to another church and commands them to receive her and to give her any help she may need. In todays churches we'd be too busy arguing over what denomination phoebe is than helping her with her work.

Before I wrap up, I'm gonna give you an analogy which I think sould help you decide to meet together more often.

Imagine you wake up one morning to discover that you are a martian, and that the world didn't really like martians. You would struggle to fit in anywhere you went, and life as a martian was generally very different from the lives you saw most humans leading. Then imagine one day you discover you have many martian brothers and sisters whom you didn't know you had, and that they regurlaly met together to discuss their own politics and their own way of life, and encouraged each other before the day that their spaceships were rebuilt and they would be taken home to mars. Sounds very similar to this scripture wouldn't you say..... Hebrews 10:25 "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Wouldn't you, as that martian be overjoyed in seeing your brothers and sisters as often as possible.

That's My King !

2007-06-15T03:08:00.001-07:00

MAN-CENTRED GOSPEL

2007-06-15T03:06:00.000-07:00

MAN-CENTRED GOSPEL

During the 20th Century a man-centred gospel began to emerge in evangelistic presentations of the Gospel. The gospel message is sometimes altered in a way that gives man prominence in the gospel message given to people. For example, it often begins with: “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life” (note than man gets two mentions here, while God only gets one and Jesus is not even mentioned at all!). Neither Peter nor Paul ever preached such a message, nor does any book of the Bible - since it is not the Gospel. While it is true that God draws the sinner out of love for His creation, and that Christ died to make it possible for him to be saved, it is not true that God has a wonderful plan for every lost sinner. His plan for lost sinnners who reject Jesus Christ is that they will be cast into Hell. That is not very wonderful!

Some concentrate on a way of preaching that sets out to address the "felt needs" of the people. This, again, puts man in front as the major player. According to John the Baptist, Jesus and the Apostles Peter and Paul, it is God's - not man's - priority that constitutes the true Gospel: "God commands all people everywhere to repent". (Acts 17 verse 30)

Martin Luther once said: "God does not love us because we are valuable; we are valuable because God loves us."John Piper in his online book God Is The Gospel says: "The acid test of biblical God-centeredness—and faithfulness to the gospel — is this: Do you feel more loved because God makes much of you, or because, at the cost of his Son, he enables you to enjoy making much of him forever? Does your happiness hang on seeing the cross of Christ as a witness to your worth, or as a way to enjoy God’s worth forever?" He later adds: "The sad thing is that a radically man-centered view of love permeates our culture and our churches." He concludes: "We are willing to be God-centered, it seems, as long as God is man-centered."

A man-centred Gospel always elevates man by making light of his "sin nature" and of the law which convicts him of sin. The true Gospel always lifts up God and his righteousness, and points to the law which reveals to a man his own sinfulness before a holy God.

The Gospel that appeals to man offers the prospect of making his present life better and easier, with the added improvement of more successful relationships and a happier lifestyle overall. Thus the requirements of a holy God are not seen as paramount, unlike scripture.

Appealing to man's view of himself and his needs as a Gospel basis suggests that the preacher is embarrassed by both Jesus' and the Biblical Gospel's "insufficiency" and so needs the preacher's help to get people into the Kingdom! Paul's words are appropriate here: "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing." and "Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?" Preaching according to man's "foolish" wisdom will only reap "man's results". Will these stand at the Judgment?

(Excerpt taken from "What is the Gospel")

How great is our God

2007-06-15T02:02:00.000-07:00

Spurgeon on Prayer (Long Post...)

2007-06-15T01:57:00.000-07:00

Elijah’s Plea

Delivered By C. H. Spurgeon,At The Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington.On November 9th, 1884

“Let it be known that I have done all these things at thy word.”1 Kings 17:36

THE acts of Elijah were very singular. It had not been known from the foundations of the earth that a man should shut up the doors of the rain for the space of three years. Yet Elijah suddenly leaped upon the scene, announced the judgment of the Lord, and then disappeared for a time. When he reappears, at the bidding of God, he orders Ahab to gather the priests of Baal; and to put to the test the question as to whether Baal or Jehovah was indeed God. Bullocks shall be slain and laid upon the wood without fire; and the God who shall answer by fire shall be determined to be the one living and true God, the God of Israel. We might question within ourselves what right the prophet had to restrain the clouds, or to put God’s honor under test. Suppose the Lord had not willed to answer him by fire; had he any right to make the glory of God hang upon such terms as he proposed? The answer is that he had done all these things according to God’s word. It was no whim of his to chastise the nation with a drought. It was no scheme of his, concocted in his own brain, that he should put the Godhead of Jehovah or of Baal to the test by a sacrifice to be consumed by miraculous fire. Oh, no! If you read the life of Elijah through, you will see that whenever he takes a step it is preceded by, the word of the Lord came unto Elijah the Tishbite.” He never acts of himself; God is at his back. He moves according to the divine will, and he speaks according to the divine teaching; and he pleads this with the Most High, — “I have done all these things at thy word; now let it be known that it is so.” It makes the character of Elijah stand out, not as an example of reckless daring, but as the example of a man of sound mind. Faith in God is true wisdom: childlike confidence in the word of God is the highest form of common-sense. To believe him that cannot lie and trust in him that cannot fail, is a kind of wisdom that none but fools will laugh at. The wisest of men must concur in the opinion that it is always best to place your reliance where it will certainly be justified, and always best to believe that which cannot possibly be false.

Elijah had so believed, and acted on his belief, and now he naturally expects to be justified in what he has done. An ambassador never dreams that his authorized acts will be repudiated by his king. If a man acts as your agent and does your bidding, the responsibility of his acts lies with you, and you must back him up. It were, indeed, an atrocious thing to send a servant on an errand, and, when he faithfully performed it to the letter, to repudiate your sending him. It is not so with God. If we will only so trust him as to do as he bids us, he will never fail us; but he will see us through, though earth and hell should stand in the way. It may not be to-day, nor to-morrow, but as surely as the Lord liveth, the time shall come when he that trusted him shall have joy of his confidence.

It seems to me that Elijah’s plea is to obedient saints a firm ground for prayer, and to those who cannot say that they have acted according to God’s word, it is a solemn matter for question.

I. To begin with, this is A FIRM GROUND FOR PRAYER. You are a minister of God, or a worker in the cause of Christ, and you go forth and preach the gospel with many tears and prayers, and you continue to use all means, such as Christ has ordained: do you say to yourself, “May I expect to have fruit of all this?” Of course you may. You are not sent on a frivolous errand: you are not bidden to sow dead seed that will never spring up. But when that anxiety weighs heavily upon your heart, go you to the mercy-seat with this as one of your arguments, “Lord, I have done according to thy word. Now let it be seen that it is even so. I have preached thy word, and thou hast said, ‘It shall not return unto me void.’ I have prayed for these people, and thou hast said, ‘The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much’; let it be seen that this is according to thy word.” Or, if you are a teacher, you can say, “I brought my children in supplication before thee, and I have gone forth, after studying thy Word, to teach them, to the best of my ability, the way of salvation. Now, Lord, I claim it of thy truth that thou shouldest justify my teaching, and my expectation, by giving me to see the souls of my children saved by thee, through Jesus Christ, thy Son.” Do you not see that you have a good argument, if the Lord has set you to do this work? He has, as it were, bound himself by that very fact to support you in the doing of it; and if you, with holy diligence and carefulness, do all these things according to his word, then you may come with certainty to the throne of grace, and say unto him, “Do as thou hast said. Hast thou not said, ‘He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him’? Lord I have done that. Give me my sheaves. Thou has said, ‘Cast thy bread upon the waters, for thou shalt find it after many days.’ Lord, I have done that; and therefore I entreat thee fulfill thy promise to me.” You may plead in this fashion with the same boldness which made Elias say in the presence of all the people, “Let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I have done all these things at thy word.”

Next, I would apply this teaching to a whole church. I am afraid many churches of Christ are not prospering. The congregations are thin, the church is diminishing, the prayer-meeting scantily attended, spiritual life low. If I can conceive of a church in such a condition which, nevertheless, can say to God, “We have done all these things at thy word,” I should expect to see that church soon revived in answer to prayer. The reason why some churches do not prosper is, because they have not done according to God’s word. They have not even cared to know what God’s Word says. Another book is their standard. A man is their leader and legislator, instead of the inspired Word of God. Some churches are doing little or nothing for the conversion of sinners. But any man, in any church, who can go before God, and say, “Lord, we have had among us the preaching of the gospel; and we have earnestly prayed for the blessing; we have gathered about thy minister, and we have held him up in the arms of prayer and faith; we have, as individual Christians, sought out each one his particular service, we have gone forth each one to bring in souls to thee, and we have lived in godliness of life by the help of thy grace, now, therefore prosper thy cause,” shall find it a good plea Real prosperity must come to any church that walks according to Christ’s rules, obeys Christ’s teaching, and is filled with Christ’s Spirit. I would exhort all members of churches that are in a poor way just now, to see to it that all things are done at God’s word, and then hopefully wait in holy confidence. The fire from heaven must come: the blessing cannot be withheld.

The same principle may be applied also to any individual believers who are in trouble through having done right. It happens often that a man feels, “I could make money, but I must not; for the course proposed would be wrong. Such a situation is open, but it involves what my conscience does not approve. I will rather suffer than I will make gain by doing anything that is questionable.” It may be that you are in great trouble distinctly through obedience to God. Then, you are the man above all others who may lay this case before the Most High: “Lord, I have done all these things at thy word, and thou hast said, ‘I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.’ I beseech thee interpose for me.” Somehow or other God will provide for you. If he means you to be further tried, he will give you strength to bear it; but the probabilities are that now he has tested you, he will bring you forth from the fire as gold.
“Do good and know no fear,For so thou in the land shalt dwell,And God thy food prepare,”
Once again. I would like to apply this principle to this seeking sinner. You are anxious to be saved. You are attentive to the word, and your heart says, “Let me know what this salvation is, and how to come at it, for I will have it whatever stands in the way.” You have heard Jesus say, “Strive to enter in at the strait gate.” You have heard his bidding, “Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that which endureth to life eternal.” You long to enter the strait gate, and eat of the meat which endureth; you would give worlds for such a boon. Thou hast well spoken, my friend. Now, listen: — thou canst not have heaven through thy doings, as a matter of merit. There is no merit possible to thee, for thou hast sinned, and art already condemned. But God has laid down certain lines upon which he has promised to meet thee, and to bless thee. East thou followed those lines? For if thou hast, he will not be false to thee. It is written, — “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved” — can you come before God, and say, “I have believed and have been baptized”? then you are on firm pleading ground. It is written again, — “Whoso confesseth and forsaketh his sins shall have mercy.” When you have confessed them and forsaken them, you have a just claim upon the promise of God, and you can say to him, “Lord, fulfill this word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope. There is no merit in my faith, or my baptism, or my repentance, or my forsaking of sin; yet as thou hast put thy promise side by side with these things, and I have been obedient to thee therein, I now come to thee, and say, ‘Prove thine own truth, for I have done all these things at thy word.’” No sinner will come before God at last, and say, “I trusted as thou didst bid me trust, and yet I am lost.” It is impossible. Thy blood, if thou art lost, will be on thine own head; but thou shalt never be able to lay thy soul’s damnation at the door of God. He is not false: it is thou that art false.

You see, then, how the principle can be applied in prayer: “I have done these things at thy word; therefore, O Lord, do as thou hast said.”

II. We shall go a little over the same ground while I ask you to put yourselves through your paces by way of SELF-EXAMINATION as to whether or not you have done all these things at God’s word. First, let every worker here who has not been successful answer this question — Have you done all these things at God’s word? Come. Have you preached the gospel? Was it the gospel? Was it Christ you preached, or merely something about Christ? Come. Did you give the people bread, or did you give them plates to put the bread on, and knives to cut the bread with? Did you give them drink, or did you give them the cup that had been near the water? Some preaching is not gospel; it is a knife that smells of the cheese, but it is not cheese. See to that matter.

If you preached the gospel, did you preach it rightly? That is to say, did you state it affectionately, earnestly, clearly, plainly? If you preach the gospel in Latinized language, the common people will not know what it means — and if you use great big academy words and dictionary words, the market people will be lost while they are trying to find out what you are at. You cannot expect God to bless you unless the gospel is preached in a very simple way. Have you preached the truth lovingly, with all your heart, throwing your very self into it, as if beyond everything you desired the conversion of those you taught? Has prayer been mixed with it? Have you gone into the pulpit without prayer? Have you come out of it without prayer? Have you been to the Sabbath-school without prayer? Have you come away from it without prayer? If so, since you failed to ask for the blessing, you must not wonder if you do not get it.
And another question — Has there been an example to back your teaching? Brethren, have we lived as we have preached? Sisters, have you lived as you have taught in your classes? These are questions we ought to answer, because perhaps God can reply to us, “No, you have not done according to my word. It was not my gospel you preached: you were a thinker, and you thought out your own thoughts, and I never promised to bless your thoughts, but only my revealed truth. You spoke without affection; you tried to glorify yourself by your oratory; you did not care whether souls were saved or not.” Or suppose that God can point to you, and say, “Your example was contrary to your teaching. You looked one way, but you pulled another way.” Then there is no plea in prayer: is there? Come, let us alter. Let us try to rise to the highest pitch of obedience by the help of God’s Spirit: not that we can merit success, but that we can command it if we do but act according to God’s bidding. Paul planteth, and Apollos watereth, and God giveth the increase.

And now let me turn to a church, and put questions to that church. A certain church does not prosper. I wish that every church would let this question go through all its membership: do we as a church acknowledge the headship of Christ? Do we acknowledge the Statute-Book of Christ — the one Book which alone and by itself is the religion of a Christian man? Do we as a church seek the glory of God? Is that our main and only object? Are we travailing in birth for the souls of the people that live near us? Are we using every scriptural means to enlighten them with the gospel? Are we a holy people? Is our example such as our neighbors may follow? Do we endeavor, even in meat and drink, to do all to the glory of God? Are we prayerful? Oh, the many churches that give up their prayer-meetings, because prayer is not in them! How can they expect a blessing?

Are we united? Oh, brothers, it is a horrible thing when church members talk against one another, and even slander one another, as though they were enemies rather than friends. Can God bless such a church as that? Let us search through and through the camp, lest there be an Achan, whose stolen wedge and Babylonian garment, hidden in his tent, shall bind the hands of the Almighty so that he cannot fight for his people. Let every church see to itself in this.
Next I speak to Christian people who have fallen into trouble through serving God. I put it to them, but I want to ask them a few questions. Are you quite sure that you did serve God in it? You know there are men who indulge crotchets, and whims, and fancies. God has not promised to support you in your whims. Certain people are obstinate and will not submit to what everybody must bear who has to earn his bread in a world like this. If you are a mere mule, and get the stick, I must leave you to your reward; but I speak to men of understanding. Be as stern as a Puritan against everything that is wrong, but be supple and yieldable to everything that involves self-denial on your part. God will bear us through if the quarrel be his quarrel, but if it is our own quarrel, why then we may help ourselves. There is a deal of difference between being pig-headed and being steadfast. To be steadfast, as a matter of principle in truth which is taught by God’s Word is one thing; but to get a queer idea into your heads is quite another.

Besides, some men are conscientious about certain things, but they have not an all-round conscience. Some are conscientious about not taking less, but they are not conscientious about giving less. Certain folks are conscientious about resting on the Sabbath; but the other half of the command is, “Six days shalt thou labor,” and they do not remember that portion of the law. I like a conscience which works fairly and impartially: but if your conscience gives way for the sake of your own gain or pleasure, the world will think that it is a sham, and they will not be far from the mark. But if, through conscientiousness, you should be a sufferer, God will bear you through. Only examine and see that your conscience is enlightened by the Spirit of God.

And now to conclude. I want to address the seeking sinner. Some are longing to find peace, but they cannot reach it; and I want them to see whether they have not been negligent in some points so that they would not be able to say with Elijah, “I have done all these things at thy word.” Do I need to say that you cannot be saved by your works? Do I need to repeat it over and over again that nothing you do can deserve mercy? Salvation must be the free gift of God. But this is the point. God will give pardon to a sinner, and peace to a troubled heart, on certain lines. Are you on those lines wholly? If so, you will have peace; and if you have not that peace, something or other has been omitted. To begin with, the first thing is faith. Dost thou believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God? Dost thou believe that he has risen from the dead? Dost thou trust thyself wholly, simply, heartily, once for all, with him? Then it is written, — “He that believeth in him hath everlasting life.” Go and plead that. “I have no peace,” says one. Hast thou unfeignedly repented of sin? Is thy mind totally changed about sin, so that what thou didst once love thou dost now hate, and that which thou did at once hate thou dost now love? Is there a hearty loathing, and giving up, and forsaking of sin? Do not deceive yourself. You cannot be saved in your sins; you are to be saved from your sins. You and your sins must part, or else Christ and you will never be joined. See to this. Labour to give up every sin, and turn from every false way, else your faith is but a dead faith, and will never save you. It may be that you have wronged a person, and have never made restitution. Mr. Moody did great good when he preached restitution. If we have wronged another we ought to make it up to him. We ought to return what we have stolen, if that be our sin. A man cannot expect peace of conscience till, as far as in him lies, he has made amends for any wrong he has done to his fellow-men. See to that, or else perhaps this stone may lie at your door, and because it is not rolled away you may never enter into peace.

It may be, my friend, that you have neglected prayer. Now, prayer is one of those things without which no man can find the Lord. This is how we seek him, and if we do not seek him how shall we find him? If you have been neglectful in this matter of prayer, you cannot say, “I have done all these things at thy word.” May the Lord stir you up to pray mightily, and not to let him go except he bless you! In waiting upon the Lord he will cause you to find rest to your soul.

Possibly, however, you may be a believer in Christ, and you may have no peace because you are associated with ungodly people, and go with them to their follies, and mix with them in their amusements. You see you cannot serve God and Mammon. Thus saith the Lord, “Come out from among them: be ye separate: touch not the unclean thing, and I will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” I know a man who sits in this place: he is probably here to-night: and concerning him I am persuaded that the only thing that keeps him from Christ is the company with which he mingles. I will not say that his company is bad in itself, but it is bad to him; and if there be anything that is right in itself, yet if to me it becomes ruinous, I must give it up. We are not commanded to cut off warts and excrescences, but Jesus bids us cut off right arms, and pluck out right eyes — good things in themselves, — if they are stumbling-blocks in our way so that we cannot get at Christ. What is there in the world that is worth the keeping if it involves me in the loss of my soul? Away with it. Hence many things which are lawful to another man, perhaps, to you may not be expedient because they are injurious. Many things cause no harm to the bulk of men, and yet to some one man they would be the most perilous things, and therefore he should avoid them. Be a law to yourselves, and keep clear of everything that keeps you away from the Savior.
Perhaps, however, you say, “Well, as far as I know, I do keep out of all ill associations, and I am trying to follow the Lord.” Let me press you with a home-question, — will you be obedient to Jesus in everything?
“For know — nor of the terms complain —Where Jesus comes he comes to reign.”

If you would have Christ for a Savior, you must also take him for a King. Therefore it is that he puts it to you “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.” Will the baptism save me? Assuredly not, for you have no right to be baptized until you are saved by faith in Jesus Christ, but remember, if Christ gives you the command — if you accept him as a King — you are bound to obey him. If instead of saying “Be baptized” he had simply said, “Put a feather in your cap,” you might have asked, “Will putting a Feather in my cap save me?” No, but you are bound to do it because he bids you. If he had said, “Put a stone in your pocket, and carry it with you”; if that were Christ’s command, it would be needful that you take the stone, and carry it with you. The less there seems to be of importance about a command, often the more hinges upon it. I have seen a rebellious boy, to whom his Father has said, “Sir, pick up that stick. Pick up that stick.” There is no very great importance about the command, and so the youth sullenly refuses to obey. “Do you hear, sir? Pick up that stick.” No: he will not. Now, if it had been a great thing that he had been bidden to do, which was somewhat beyond his power, it would not have been so clear an evidence of his rebellion when he refused to do it, as it is when it is but a little and trifling thing, and yet he refuses to obey. Therefore, I lay great stress upon this — that you who do believe in Jesus Christ should do according to his word. Say, “Lord what wouldest thou have me to do? Be it what it may, I will do it, for I am thy servant.” I want you, if you would be Christ’s, to be just like the brave men that rode at Balaclava.

“Yours not to reason why;Yours but to do and die” —
if it need be, if Jesus calls you thereto. Be this your song —
“Through floods and flames if Jesus lead,I’ll follow where he goes.”

That kind of faith which at the very outset cries, “I shall not do that, it is not essential”; and then goes on to say, “I do not agree with that, and I do not agree with the other”; is no faith at all. In that case it is you that is master, and not Christ. In his own house you are beginning to alter his commands. “Oh,” says one, “but as to baptism: I was baptized, you know, a great many years ago, when I was an infant.” Say you so? You have heard of Mary when her mistress said, “Mary go into the drawing-room, and sweep it and dust it.” Her mistress went into the drawing-room, and found it dusty. She said, “Mary, did you not sweep the room, and dust it?” “Well, ma’am, yes I did: only I dusted it first, and then I swept it.” That was the wrong order, and spoiled the whole; and it will never do to put Christ’s commands the other way upwards, because then they mean just nothing. We ought to do what he bids us, as he bids us, when he bids us, in the order in which he bids us. It is ours simply to be obedient, and when we are so we may remember that to believe Christ and to obey Christ is the same thing, and often in Scripture the same word that might be read “believe,” might be read “obey.” He is the Author of eternal salvation to all them that obey him, and that is to all them that believe on him Trust him then right heartily, and obey him right gladly. You can then go to him in the dying hour, and say, “Lord, I have done all these things at thy word. I claim no merit, but I do claim that thou keep thy gracious promise to me, for thou canst not run back from one word which thou hast spoken.” God bless you, beloved, for Christ’s sake.

PORTION OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON
— 1 Kings 18:17-40.

TRUE REVIVAL ! WATCH THIS !

2007-06-12T05:36:00.000-07:00

If this doesn't change your views on a great many "modern" christian things then may God help you.

The Prosperity Gospel

2007-06-12T05:24:00.000-07:00

Passion of the Christ- In Christ Alone

2007-06-12T04:33:00.001-07:00

God's Wrath

2007-06-12T04:07:00.000-07:00

Rom 1:18 (Wey) For God's anger is being revealed from Heaven against all impiety and against the iniquity of men who through iniquity suppress the truth.

God is angry.

"Jesus Is Coming Back Soon, and Boy Is He Miffed!"

Or so goes the humorous T-shirt (the last word modified to protect the innocent). The "spirit of this world" revels in open wickedness and makes a joke of God's promised wrath. But the next time Jesus shows up on earth, the "party" will be over, and it's payment time...

Rom 1:32 (NEB) They know well enough the just decree of God, that those who behave like this deserve to die, and yet they do it; not only so, they actually applaud such practices.

Because God is holding back now, many think they are "getting away with sin". Because of God's patient mercy now, this is an easy error to fall into. But every sin ever committed will be accounted for. No one is "getting away with" anything.

C.S. Lewis: "God is the only comfort, He is also the supreme terror: the thing we most need and the thing we most want to hide from. He is our only possible ally, and we have made ourselves His enemies. Some talk as if meeting the gaze of absolute goodness would be fun. They need to think again. They are still only playing with religion. Goodness is either the great safety or the great danger--according the way you react to it. And we have reacted the wrong way."

Gal 6:7 (Phi) Don't be under any illusion: you can not make a fool of God! A man's harvest in life will depend entirely on what he sows.

Repent Or Perish

Eze 18:21,30 (NIV) "Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?... Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall.

Zeph 2:3 (NIV) "Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the Lord's anger."

Who Indeed, And How?

Luke 3:7 (NIV) John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?"

God's love has been revealed for all time and eternity. "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us" (1 Jn 3:16). While we may not yet have apprehended the depth of this revelation of God's love as we ought, it has been fully revealed in the Gospel and we will have eternity to plumb the depths of it. Before the first advent, there were strong hints and prophecies of God's love, but these were not complete or consummated until Messiah's death, burial, and resurrection. But God's wrath has yet to be revealed, although we have seen hints and prophecies concerning it.

Just before the time of Christ's first coming, a wave of teaching became popular among the Jews which expected the wrath of God to be poured out on the "Kittim", or Romans. God's justice would finally be shown, the Jews would be vindicated, and the wicked would perish. Interesting isn't it, that unbalanced "wrath" teaching broke out just before God was about to reveal his tender-hearted love to the Jews, and even the Gentiles! And now, just before His second coming, spurious "love" teaching is breaking out everywhere. The severity of God's love as revealed in the Gospel has been reduced to mere sentimentality, and His justice and righteous anger cast aside as our ears itch to hear another bromide or homily from the pulpit. "Why, God was just kidding about that wrath stuff, he would never hurt a fly." "I don't like that hell fire and brimstone preaching," and so on.

But if God's wrath is what is to be revealed next, we had better snap out of it. We need to "heed the word of the Lord" in preparation so that we can answer the question "who warned you" instead of giving a vapid stare. If we resist even the hints now, we are positioned to resonate with the blasphemies of the Beast--whom we are told will slander the Name of God when his wrath gears-up in successive stages in the days to come. Will we agree with the antichrist that God is unjust when his judgments begin to pour out on mankind? Or will we have "stood in the council of the Lord" so that we not fall away in the great apostasy to come?

Brewing In The Clouds

Zeph 1:14-15,18 (NIV) "The great day of the Lord is near--near and coming quickly. Listen! The cry on the day of the Lord will be bitter... That day will be a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish... In the fire of his jealousy the whole world will be consumed, for he will make a sudden end of all who live in the earth."

Rev 19:15 (Phi) Out of his mouth there comes a sharp sword with which to strike the nations... He will tread the winepress of the furious wrath of God the Almighty.

Isa 66:15-16 (NIV) "See, the Lord is coming with fire, and his chariots are like a whirlwind; he will bring down his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For with fire and with his sword the Lord will execute judgment upon all men, and many will be those slain by the Lord...

Heb 12:29 (Phi) For it is perfectly true that our God is a burning fire.

Luke 12:49 (RSV) [Jesus:] "I came to cast fire upon the earth; and would that it were already kindled!"

Ps 69:24 (NIV) Pour out your wrath on them, let your fierce anger overtake them.

Ps 76:10 (NIV) Surely your wrath against men brings you praise, and the survivors of your wrath are restrained.

The Purpose of God's Wrath Is Not Discipline

God's wrath, in this final sense, is not aimed to improve and make holy, but to destroy and eternally judge. God disciplines those He loves, for the good (1 Pet 4:17-19). True followers of Christ need have no fear of God's wrath. It is being "stored up", and is about to be directed toward those who reject God's revelation of Himself.

2 Thes 1:8-9 (NIV) He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction...

Nahum 1:2 (Amp) The Lord is a jealous God and avenging, the Lord avenges and He is full of wrath; the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries and reserves wrath for his enemies.

1 Thes 5:3 (NIV) While people are saying, 'Peace and safety,' destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you, brothers, are not living in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.

Christians need not fear the wrath of God. We have God's promise that we are His chosen. It is true that we should fear God, since He "bought us" and He has been known to put His servants through some pretty severe tests, but we have nothing to fear about God's wrath if we believe in and follow Christ. Wrath is not for the children of God. God may discipline, rebuke, or test us, but this is always constructive--for our good!

Object Of Wrath, Or Object Of Mercy And Glory?

John 3:36 (NIV) "Whoever puts his faith in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see that life, for God's wrath remains on him."

Rom 2:6-11 (Phi) He will "render to every man according to his works", and that means eternal life to those who, in patiently doing good, aim at the unseen glory and honor of the eternal world. It also means anger and wrath for those who rebel against God's plan of life, and refuse to obey his rules, and who, in so doing, make themselves the very servants of evil. Yes, it means bitter pain and agony for every human soul who works on the side of evil... But there is glory and honor and peace for every worker on the side of good...

Rom 9:22-24 (NIV) What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath--prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory--even us, whom he also called...

Rom 11:22 (NIV) Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.

1 Thes 5:9 (NIV) For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Paid In Full For The Chosen Few

Luke 13:23 (NIV) Someone asked him, "Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?"

Mat 7:14 (NIV) "Enter in through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."

Some people have a problem with this. It doesn't seem fair that most people are "objects of wrath", headed for eternal punishment just because they don't "love the truth" and follow Christ. How can God be fair and condemn the majority of humanity to hell?

Is God's Wrath Fair?

Jer 21:14 (NIV) "I will punish you as your deeds deserve, declares the Lord."

Rom 3:5 (NIV) But if our unrighteousness brings out God's righteousness more clearly, what shall we say? That God is unjust in bringing his wrath on us? (I am using a human argument.)

The only really unfair thing is that any of us should be saved at all! How does God "get away with" singling a few of us out, paying for our sins, giving us His Holy Spirit, rescuing us from our evil "bent"? Now that's a mystery worth pondering!

Lam 3:39 (NIV) Why should any living man complain when punished for his sins?

Is God's wrath fair? Yes: we, all of us, deserve it. Is salvation fair? No: none of us deserve it. It is God's free gift: unexplainable, unmerited, "unfair" if you like, that God should make any escape available to anyone.

A Temporary Stasis, An Incredible Opportunity To Repent

Rom 2:4-5 (Phi) Are you, perhaps, misinterpreting God's generosity and patient mercy towards you as weakness on his part? Don't you realize that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? Or are you by your obstinate refusal to repent simply storing up for yourself an experience of the wrath of God in the day of his anger when he shows his hand in righteous judgment?

Eph 2:1-5 (Phi) You were spiritually dead through your sins and failures, all the time you followed this world's ideas of living, and obeyed the evil ruler of the spiritual realm--who is indeed fully operative today in those who disobey God. We all lived like that in the past, and followed the desires and imaginings of our lower natures, being in fact under the wrath of God by nature, like everyone else. But even though we were dead in our sins God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love he had for us, gave us life together with Christ--it is, remember, by grace that you are saved.

Rom 5:9 (Jer) Having died to make us righteous, is it likely that he would now fail to save us from God's anger?

Rom 6:23 (KJV) For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

All of us have earned our "wages", but God has cleared the account for a few of us. It doesn't seem fair, but it is very "good news".

Rom 11:22 (Phi) You must try to appreciate both the kindness and the strict justice of God. Those who fell experienced the justice, while you are experiencing his kindness, and will continue to do so as long as you do not abuse that kindness...

That we will escape is cause for great joy... and also for sober reflection when those who sin against us "get what they deserve". We should forgive and pray for those who sin against us while we can, and they may yet repent and escape the coming wrath if they see us standing in the "unfair" position of grace through faith.

Undeserved Suffering

Undeserved blessing is always welcome. But undeserved suffering? Yet think about the situation we are in: since we are "in Christ", we are free from God's eternal and consuming wrath. We are just as deserving as those who will receive it, but we will be treated differently. So we can afford to suffer a bit now, and share in "the life of Christ", because we know what will happen later.

Rom 12:19 (NIV) Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath.

How does this knowledge make it easier to "turn the other cheek"? It is to realize that we do not have to get back at anybody. God's wrath is being "stored up", and His anger and fury are about to be revealed.

2 Thes 1:5-8 (Phi) See how justly the judgment of God works out! He intends to use your suffering to prove you worthy of his kingdom. For God's justice will repay trouble to those who have troubled you, and give relief to all of us who, like you, have suffered. This judgment will issue in the final appearance of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of his power. He will bring full justice in dazzling flame upon those who have refused to recognize God or to obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

Gen 6:3 (NAS) Then the Lord said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever."

Are You Ready For The Day Of God's Wrath?

2 Thes 1:9-11 (Phi) Their punishment will be eternal loss--exclusions from the radiance of the face of the Lord, and the glorious majesty of his power. But to those whom he has made holy, his coming will mean splendour unimaginable. It will be a breath-taking wonder to all who believe--including you, for you have believed the message that we have given you. In view of this, we pray for you constantly, that God will count you worthy of his calling, and by his power may fulfill all your good intentions and every effort of faith.

God can hardly be criticized for giving people what they deserve, especially after telling us in advance again and again and again what the finale of history will be. If God is "un-fair", it is to a small minority who are spared from what we deserve. This is all the more reason to join that select group by taking advantage of the opportunity to repent... today!

2 Cor 13:5 (NIV) Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves.

But I Said A Prayer!

James 2:14 (Phi) Now what use is it, my brothers, for a man to say he "has faith" if his actions do not correspond with it? Could that sort of faith save anyone's soul?

Eph 5:6 (Jer) Do not let anyone deceive you with empty arguments: it is for this loose living that God's wrath comes down on those who rebel against him. Make sure you are not included with them.

2 Thes 2:11-12 (Phi) God sends upon them, therefore, the full force of evil's delusion, so that they put their faith in an utter fraud and meet the inevitable judgment of all who have refused to believe the truth and who have made evil their pleasure.

Rev 22:12 (NAS) "Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with me, to render to every man according to what he has done."

2 Pet 1:10 (Phi) Set your minds, then, on endorsing by your conduct the fact that God has called and chosen you.

(Taken from Acts17:11.com)

Questions for evolutionists

2007-06-12T03:52:00.000-07:00

These questions are provided by Dr. Hovind and Creation Science Evangelism drdino.com

If you think evolutionists have all the answers, try a few of the following questions on 'em.

The test of any theory is whether or not it provides answers to basic questions? Some well-meaning but misguided people think evolution is a reasonable theory to explain man’s questions about the universe.
Evolution is not a good theory — it is just a pagan religion masquerading as science.

1. Where did the space for the universe come from?

2. Where did matter come from?

3. Where did the laws of the universe come from (gravity, inertia, etc.)?

4. How did matter get so perfectly organized?

5. Where did the energy come from to do all the organizing?

6. When, where, why, and how did life come from dead matter?

7. When, where, why, and how did life learn to reproduce itself?

8. With what did the first cell capable of sexual reproduction reproduce?

9. Why would any plant or animal want to reproduce more of its kind since this would only make more mouths to feed and decrease the chances of survival? (Does the individual have a drive to survive, or the species? How do you explain this?)

10. How can mutations (recombining of the genetic code) create any new, improved varieties? (Recombining English letters will never produce Chinese books.)

11. Is it possible that similarities in design between different animals prove a common Creator instead of a common ancestor?

12. Natural selection only works with the genetic information available and tends only to keep a species stable. How would you explain the increasing complexity in the genetic code that must have occurred if evolution were true?

13. When, where, why, and how did a. Single-celled plants become multi-celled? (Where are the two and three-celled intermediates?) b. Single-celled animals evolve? c. Fish change to amphibians? d. Amphibians change to reptiles? e. Reptiles change to birds? (The lungs, bones, eyes, reproductive organs, heart, method of locomotion, body covering, etc., are all very different!) f. How did the intermediate forms live?

14. When, where, why, how, and from what did: a. Whales evolve? b. Sea horses evolve? c. Bats evolve? d. Eyes evolve?e. Ears evolve?f. Hair, skin, feathers, scales, nails, claws, etc., evolve?

15. Which evolved first (how, and how long, did it work without the others)? a. The digestive system, the food to be digested, the appetite, the ability to find and eat the food, the digestive juices, or the body’s resistance to its own digestive juice (stomach, intestines, etc.)? b. The drive to reproduce or the ability to reproduce? c. The lungs, the mucus lining to protect them, the throat, or the perfect mixture of gases to be breathed into the lungs? d. DNA or RNA to carry the DNA message to cell parts? e. The termite or the flagella in its intestines that actually digest the cellulose? f. The plants or the insects that live on and pollinate the plants? g. The bones, ligaments, tendons, blood supply, or muscles to move the bones? h. The nervous system, repair system, or hormone system? i. The immune system or the need for it?

16. There are many thousands of examples of symbiosis that defy an evolutionary explanation. Why must we teach students that evolution is the only explanation for these relationships?

17. How would evolution explain mimicry? Did the plants and animals develop mimicry by chance, by their intelligent choice, or by design?

18. When, where, why, and how did man evolve feelings? Love, mercy, guilt, etc. would never evolve in the theory of evolution.

19. How did photosynthesis evolve?

20. How did thought evolve?

21. How did flowering plants evolve, and from what?

22. What kind of evolutionist are you? Why are you not one of the other eight or ten kinds?

23. What would you have said fifty years ago if I told you I had a living coelacanth in my aquarium?

24. Is there one clear prediction of macroevolution that has proved true?

25. What is so scientific about the idea of hydrogen gas becoming human?

26. Do you honestly believe that everything came from nothing?

After you have answered the preceding questions, please look carefully at your answers and thoughtfully consider the following questions.

1. Are you sure your answers are reasonable, right, and scientifically provable, or do you just believe that it may have happened the way you have answered? (Do these answers reflect your religion or your science?)

2. Do your answers show more or less faith than the person who says, "God must have designed it"?

3. Is it possible that an unseen Creator designed this universe? If God is excluded at the beginning of the discussion by your definition of science, how could it be shown that He did create the universe if He did?

4. Is it wise and fair to present the theory of evolution to students as fact?

5. What is the end result of a belief in evolution (lifestyle, society, attitude about others, eternal destiny, etc.)?

6. Do people accept evolution because of the following factors? a. It is all they have been taught. b. They like the freedom from God (no moral absolutes, etc.). c. They are bound to support the theory for fear of losing their job or status or grade point average. d. They are too proud to admit they are wrong. e. Evolution is the only philosophy that can be used to justify their political agenda.

7. Should we continue to use outdated, disproved, questionable, or inconclusive evidences to support the theory of evolution because we don’t have a suitable substitute (Piltdown man, recapitulation, archaeopteryx, Lucy, Java man, Neanderthal man, horse evolution, vestigial organs, etc.)?

8. Should parents be allowed to require that evolution not be taught as fact in their school system unless equal time is given to other theories of origins (like divine creation)?

9. What are you risking if you are wrong? As one of my debate opponents said, "Either there is a God or there is not. Both possibilities are frightening."

10. Why are many evolutionists afraid of the idea of creationism being presented in public schools? If we are not supposed to teach religion in schools, then why not get evolution out of the textbooks? It is just a religious worldview.

11. Aren’t you tired of faith in a system that cannot be true? Wouldn’t it be great to know the God who made you, and to accept His love and forgiveness?

12. Would you be interested, if I showed you from the Bible, how to have your sins forgiven and how to know for sure that you are going to Heaven? If so, call me.

The source of this article was Contender Ministry's

Way of the Master (The Firefighter)

2007-06-11T08:38:00.001-07:00

A clip from Paul Washers sermons.

2007-06-11T08:17:00.000-07:00

Taken from one of pauls washer most shockingly truthful sermons to 5000 youth.

Poem

2007-06-11T08:11:00.000-07:00

Found an awesome little rhyme whilst surfing the web the other day.

Its called GOD CAN USE ANYONE. Don't believe me ? Well..........

Moses stuttered.
David's armour didn't fit.
John Mark was rejected by Paul.
Timothy had ulcers.
Amos' only training was in the school of fig-tree pruning.
Jacob was a liar.
David had an affair.
Solomon was too rich.
Abraham was too old.
David was too young.
Peter was afraid of death.
Lazarus was dead.
John was self-righteous.
Naomi was a widow.
Paul was a murderer.
So was Moses.
Jonah ran from God.
Miriam was a gossip.
Gideon and Thomas both doubted.
Jeremiah was a bullfrog; Just kidding -- he was depressed and suicidal.
Elijah was burned out.
Martha was a worry-wart.
Mary may have been lazy.
Samson had long hair.
Noah got drunk, and that's not all.
Did I mention that Moses had a short fuse?
But God doesn't require a job interview.
He doesn't hire and fire like most bosses, because He's more our Dad than our Boss.
He doesn't look at financial gain or loss.
He's not prejudiced or partial, not judging, grudging, sassy, or brassy, not deaf to our cry, not blind to our need.

Glory to God !

John piper quote

2007-06-11T08:07:00.000-07:00

Sin: The ultimate outrage of the universe.

What makes sin sin is not first that it hurts people, but that it blasphemes God. This is the ultimate evil and the ultimate outrage in the universe.

The glory of God is not honored.

The holiness of God is not reverenced.

The greatness of God is not admired.

The power of God is not praised.

The truth of God is not sought.

The wisdom of God is not esteemed.

The beauty of God is not treasured.

The goodness of God is not savored.

The faithfulness of God is not trusted.

The promises of God are not relied upon.

The commandments of God are not obeyed.

The justice of God is not respected.

The wrath of God is not feared.

The grace of God is not cherished.

The presence of God is not prized.

The person of God is not loved.

The infinite, all-glorious Creator of the universe, by whom and for whom all things exist (Rom. 11:36) – who holds every person’s life in being at every moment (Acts 17:25) – is disregarded, disbelieved, disobeyed, and dishonored by everybody in the world. That is the ultimate outrage of the universe.

Why is it that people can become emotionally and morally indignant over poverty and exploitation and prejudice and the injustice of man against man and yet feel little or no remorse or indignation that God is so belittled? It’s because of sin. That is what sin is. Sin is esteeming and valuing and honoring and enjoying man and his creations above God. So even our man-centered anger at the hurt of sin is part of sin. God is marginal in human life. That is our sin, our condition.

(Taken from Truth matters blog)

Tips from Spurgeon.

2007-06-11T07:59:00.000-07:00

CHARLES SPURGEON'S WORDS TO EVANGELISTS

QUALIFICATIONS FOR SOUL WINNING - TOWARDS GOD

1. Holiness of character. If you are not yourself holy, no souls will be saved.
2. You must have a spiritual life to a high degree.
3. A humble spirit.
4. A living faith.
5. You must believe that God has called you to preach the Gospel, and that you will do it with confidence and courage.
6. You must believe the message you deliver is God's word.
7. You must believe in the power of the message to save people.
8. You must preach earnestly and with life.
9. Simplicity of heart, doing it for God's glory and the winning of souls.
10. Complete surrender of yourself to God - you want God's thoughts and to preach God's words.

QUALIFICATIONS FOR SOUL WINNING - TOWARDS MAN

1. Evident sincerity.
2. Evident earnestness. You need to be red hot. Even if folk say you are too enthusiastic or too fanatical. We need to tell of an earnest Saviour, an earnest Heaven and an earnest Hell.
3. An evident love to your hearers.
4. Evident unselfishness.
5. Holiness of character.
6. Seriousness of manner.
7. Tenderness of heart.

Cultural Sensitivity (linked)

2007-06-11T07:48:00.000-07:00

(These words are taken from both Heart Cry missionary society and adapted by the author of a blog we regurlarly visit called "Truth Matters" )

I realize that the "rage" in contemporary evangelism is about "cultural sensitivity" and finding new ways to preach the "old Gospel". Many "experts" would have us believe that no one is able to understand the Gospel unless we first repackage it to fit their particular need.

Have we forgotten that the Bible itself testifies that no man can understand the Gospel apart from the supernatural working of the Holy Spirit?

I believe that evangelism and missions would be better off if we were more concerned with expository preaching and the Spirit's empowering, and less preoccupied with repackaging the Gospel to make it less or "non-offensive" or easier to understand.

I also believe that the kingdom would be better served if we were less concerned with cultural sensitivity and more concerned with sensitivity to the Scriptures.

The true evangelist has a passion for souls and he understands the depth of a man's need. He fears God and loves men too much to conceal even the most offensive Truths from them. He knows that if men are to be saved, he must show them the hard things that many will say are too difficult to endure. He preaches the Gospel with passion and tears, but he refuses to stoop to carnal manipulation. He begs men to be saved, but he will not lower the bar so that his Gospel might be accepted by the greater number. He knows he has the authority to tell men how to be saved, but only the Spirit of God has the authority to tell them they are saved! He admonishes those who have professed faith in Christ to bring forth fruit worthy of repentance, to examine themselves to see if they are in the faith, and thus to make their calling and election sure.

- Adapted from Heart Cry Missionary

Do you want your church to Grow ?

2007-06-11T07:41:00.000-07:00

Many people today want they're church to grow MORE than they want the people coming to they're church to come to know Jesus as both Lord and Saviour, this is wrong for oh so many reasons.

Please take a look at this video on Growth in the churc, the right way and the wrong way.

As you can clearly see, building big churches is more than likely AGAINST GOD than it is For God, why ? Because in doing so we become just like the rest of the world which seeks bigger and bigger things but is never satisfied. Let us pray that God would convict us again and again whenever we set our eyes on ministry ahead of his Love and his mercy. Amen ?

First things first !

2007-06-11T07:31:00.000-07:00

HOW DO YOU KNOW YOU ARE SAVED ?

Christ's own Youth

2007-06-11T07:19:00.000-07:00

Hi all ! Welcome to Christ's own youth blog, this blog was created as a base for information for anyone looking for truth and by that I mean REAL truth ! Not the watered down truths of todays humanistic society, nor for that matter the truths of todays watered down humanistic church !I hope that any information you find here will both convict you and bring Glory to Him who deserves it all, Our wonderful saviour, Jesus Christ.

I'm going to be drawing from various other locations on the web to post videos, audio mp3's and just general documents which I hope we can all learn from and come to understand the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Preacher's whom I am going to draw from include both Godly men from ages past and the few preachers left today who still courageously preach God's Word. These include everyone from the likes of Wesley to Spurgeon to Paul washer and others. These preachers, although even by they're own admission worth nothing, have stood in God's grace to bring the light of Christ into a Dying world. I pray that God will raise up more of us to be like Christ, more labourers such as these, who though take none of the Glory for themselves, Glorify God.