False Christian teachings, trends….
This post contains a video reading of chapter 12 of Archibald Alexander’s book; it also contains a portion of the book which covers and introductory discussion of the deceitfulness of the heart and two DECEPTIONS OF THE IMAGINATION that occur in the deceitful heart. You will certainly recognize them both and might also gain some useful insight to help you undermine such operations via journaling, strategizing, prayer….
This post contains a biblical critique on the John Newton hymn, I Asked The Lord That I Might Grow. The critique was copied and pasted from, The Berean Test (Vince Wright), which I discovered today as I was looking for lyrics to this hymn, set to music. I’d been listening to the hymn a lot lately and pondering its significance in light of spiritual growth, and was pleased to find a biblical critique of the hymn. Also, in this post is a link to the many contemporary songs Vince Wright has critiqued.
This post contains a 5-minute Got Questions video explanation of what it means to Renew the Mind, from Romans 12:1-2. A list of bulleted HIGHLIGHT points follow the video, and an expanded explanation of one small phrase in Romans 12:2, “that by testing you may discern.”
Sowing and reaping is a thoroughly biblical concept which I have often liked to forget about. However, to forget about it is to put your soul in grave danger. Pastor Caldwell presents the idea of sowing and reaping in a clear and memorable way as he preaches through Hosea 10: 11-15. My last post was on Pastor Caldwell’s sermon on repentance; well, knowing the ideas in this post will likely motivate you to desire repentance, and help you move in that direction.
Well, as you are well aware if you have been with us throughout most of this study of Hosea, most of the message of Hosea is a message of judgment. It is a message of warning. It is the Lord through the prophet bringing his people face to face with their sins and the Lord calling upon them to recognize the gravity of their sins and the truly destructive nature of their sins. This is the main message of Hosea. And yet what we cannot miss in the book, what is unmistakable, what appears interspersed all throughout the book is also the certain knowledge of God’s love, God’s amazing patience, his grace, his mercy, because throughout the book you have the Lord calling these people to repent. Don’t just recognize that you have sinned. Don’t just recognize where it all leads, but recognize it so that you are rescued from it. Turn from it. Turn to the living God. Receive his forgiveness and submit your life to him. Obey him. That is the purpose of the book. That is the goal of the book. [opening lines of the sermon copied from PDF]
This post uses the commentary of Albert Barnes to consider Philippians 3:9 “and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.” This topic is foundational to the Christian life, Romans and Galatians are about it. From my own struggles, and writing about the false teachings that pervade the 21st century church, I am certain that most Christians do not understand this doctrine sufficiently well, such that they are certainly relying only on the imputed righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. If you cannot say with certainty that you do, then take a few moments and get some helpful insight.
This post contains 3 videos: a video short, a 17-minute excerpt of the full sermon from which the short came; and the full-length sermon. The Puritan Christopher Love addressed the matter of the Holy Spirit’s work in sanctifying the believer. He focused on two aspects: what the Spirit does to dissuade a believer from sinning; and what the Spirit does to sanctify the believer after he has sinned. Every Christian needs to understand this matter as well as possible such that he/she is receptive to the Spirit’s workings. Highlights are provided for the 17-minute excerpt; a link to some posts in this blog about Jonathan Edwards addressing these matters, but Edwards was not as thorough as Love.
This post contains a 14-minute excerpt of Pastor Hines sermon on the 10th commandment; the whole sermon was also posted for those who might want to hear it. The excerpt is accompanied by highlight points. Pastor Hines message was built around biblical contentment; he closed by relating that to commandment 10.
The purpose of this series is to show that Bible covenants cause the Old and New Testaments to have unity. The Old and New Testaments, are the revelation of One God to a people He is calling out of this world. One can easily see the truth of that statement if he/she looks at God’s plan of redemption via the covenants He entered into with mankind in order to restore him, to redeem him. Excerpts from John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion will be used to support my purpose statement.
This post contains one commentary explanation of poverty of spirit from Matthew 5:3; it also contains a brief excerpt from two other posts about Jonathan Edwards, the excerpts are extremely relevant to the Matthew 5:3. One of those posts gave glimpses into his struggle for obedience; the other into his analysis of what constituted a truly born again person as opposed to a false convert.