Monthly Archives: April 2008

"More Love, More Power"

Posted by Dan C. on

A popular contemporary worship song has these lyrics:

More Love, More Power,
More of You in my life.
More Love, More Power,
More of You in my life.
I will worship You
with all of my heart.
I will worship You
with all of my mind.
I will worship You
with all of my strength.
For You are my Lord.

More Love, More Power,
More of You in my life.

In some churches it might not be considered contemporary, or even used, since it was written in the late ’80s, but that’s beside the point. It was played on a local Christian radio station yesterday and certain questions came to mind as I listened to it during my 17 mile drive home from work. I remember singing it often when it first was published, and without the questions that recently came to mind. I loved this song!

The questions:

If we receive more love and power are we better worshipers?

Do I worship because He is my Lord, just because he is God, or both?

Do I really worship God with all of my heart, mind and strength? Isn’t that a pretty bold statement?

Why do we ask God for MORE love and power in our lives? Follow my thought process. . .

  • I don’t ask for MORE of anything unless I think I NEED more. I sense a lack of something.
  • As a believer, the third person of the Trinity is already living in me.  Is that just a little of the Holy Spirit living in me – or what?
  • Does the Holy Spirit doesn’t need MORE of himself?

If I really don’t need more of Him in my life because he already lives in me, what is really going on here? Is it really about needing more of Him in my life, or is it a matter of me getting out of His way?

I can think of several things that hinder the work He wants to do in my life: sin, other distractions, the cares of this world, etc., but the biggest one is ME.

One last thought. . .with the number of personal pronouns and adjectives in this song (I/my), who is really at the center of the lyrics, me or God?

The Path to Atheism. . .

Posted by Dan C. on

How does any person come to the place of professing to be an atheist? I hesitate to say that anyone actually becomes an atheist, if we define ‘atheism’ as  believing that there is no God. What I see in the quotes below from John Bunyan and the Apostle Paul is a progression from what is known in the heart of every person ever born to a state of denial of that which is planted in every heart – the knowledge of God.

“When wicked and unprincipled persons have gone on in a course of sin to the degree that they can scarcely hope for a pardon and find that they have reason to fear the just judgment of God for their sins, they begin at first to wish that there were no God to punish them, which they think would be in their best interests. And so, by degrees, they come to persuade themselves that three is no God. Then they determine to find arguments to back their opinion in order to prove what they are willing to believe.” John Bunyan – Visions of Heaven and Hell

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth by their unrighteousness, because what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, because they are understood through what has been made. So people are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts and their senseless hearts were darkened. 

Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity, to dishonor their bodies among themselves. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creation rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions.

And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what should not be done.” The Apostle Paul-Romans, Chapter 1

Furthermore, I do not think for a second that the knowledge of God really disappears, but rather, it is intentionally buried under successive layers of sin and en ever increasing hatred of God. Why else would those who profess to be atheists become so vitriolic and spiteful towards those who do believe in the one true God? In discussing the existence of God with professing atheists I have encountered the same thing over and over again. After their ‘scientific’ reasoning has fallen flat, when faced with facts of science pointing to an intelligent designer far more compelling than those used to ‘prove’ the non-existence of God, they are left with little more than name-calling, slandering and attempting to destroy the lives of those who refuse to deny their God.

P.S. In case you are wondering, I did just see the documentary Expelled and I would call it a ‘must see’. This is not however, strictly an advertisement for the film. Seeing this film only reinforced what I already believed to be true.

It’s ALL About the Love?

Posted by Dan C. on

Lyrics in a popular contemporary Christian song offer this explanation of why Jesus went to the Cross:

“It was all about the love
That was bigger than a life . . .
‘Cause you would rather die
than to ever live without me”

I am in no way implying that Christ’s love for those God would give Him (See John 6)) was not one of the reasons He died for us. There’s a tremendous love element in Christ’s death for our sins! In fact there is NO GREATER LOVE!  But is it ALL about love? The song would have us believe that it is by telling us that Jesus would rather die than live without us, as if he’s some sort of love-sick teenager!

To the above lyrics and the ALL ABOUT LOVE theme that is so pervasive in contemporary music (and today’s evangelism), I have a something to say – There’s more!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OBEDIENCE held Christ to the Cross. Over and over again throughout the Gospels we find the theme of Christ’s obedience to His Father. The awesome perfection of that obedience was expresseed in the Garden of Gethsemane hours before His final suffering and crucifixion.

“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” Luke 22:42

OUR SIN held Jesus to the Cross. Christ bore our sins to satisfy the law of God.  God accepted His death as payment for our sins.

“But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed”.

“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way: and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53 :5,6

“Behold, all souls are Mine; The soul of the father As well as the soul of the son is Mine; The soul who sins shall die.” Ezekiel 18:4

“The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.”  Ezekiel 18:20

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23

To say ‘Cause you (Jesus) would rather die than to ever live without me” is not even close!!!!!!! That’s right up there with the sentiment expressed in “God sent his own Son to die because He (God) could not imagine His heaven without us!”

I cannot find that Jesus, or that God in scripture! Can anyone help me out here? What Jesus and what God are they talking about?

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO ACCEPT CHRIST?

Posted by Dan C. on

“Now if you were to ask the average man, the average preacher or the average person – the average Christian anywhere – “How do I come into saving relation to Jesus Christ?” the answer would be one of three. People would either tell you “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved” — that’s Acts 16:31 or, they would say “Receive Christ as your Savior” — that’s John 1:12, or else they would give you this other answer. (And of course, those first two answers are true; they’re true!) Or else they would give you this third answer, “Accept Christ as your personal Savior.”

Now the word ‘accept Christ’ to the astonishment of a good many people does not occur in the Bible – it’s not there. What is it to ‘accept Christ’?”

The above is taken from an A.W. Tozer sermon. There are two parts to that sermon that can be found and read here. Just scroll down and you will see links to Parts 1 and 2. It is well worth the read!

What is ‘New Age’ Religion, and Why Can’t Christians Get on Board?

Posted by Dan C. on

What is ‘New Age’ Religion, and Why Can’t Christians Get on Board?

Barbara Curtis

Crosswalk.com Contributing Writer

If you haven’t run into it before, it would be hard to avoid it now. Oprah’s rolling out the red carpet for the New Age: a weekly online class with New York Times bestselling guru Eckhart Tolle and a daily broadcast with Marianne Williamson, whose Course in Miracles was beckoning seekers thirty years ago when I was tripping through the wonderland of discovering my own divinity and wielding the powers of the universe to create my own reality.

Ah, but I didn’t know Jesus back then – that is, I didn’t know him as the Son of God. I knew him only through my guru, who taught that Jesus was a great spiritual master and who blended quotes from the New Testament with quotes from the Bhagavad-Gita to produce a spiritual foundation for people like me – too hip, too cool, too sophisticated to tie themselves to the narrow-minded thinking of Christianity.

As someone plucked out miraculously from the New Age, I can only hope that Christians who love and trust Oprah will not blur the lines of their faith. Oprah has stated that though she was raised as a Baptist, she no longer believes that Jesus is the only way to reach God. It sounds so much more rational and compassionate, doesn’t it?

Why can’t we all just get along?

There are questions we don’t have the answers to. And there are questions that are not seeking an answer, but rather opening a door leading to “a wider path” – questions like the one posed long ago: “Hasn’t God said that you could eat of every tree of the garden?”

The New Age is based on concepts that sound almost irresistible. Like Eve, some hear the spiels of modern gurus like Tolle and Willamson and begin to think the faith of their fathers is too rigid, too narrow – that God would never impose an “irrational” boundary between us and “full knowledge of the spiritual realm.”

Sometimes the lie creeps in subtly as Christians begin to research natural or holistic medicine – alternatives which can be very God-honoring but for years were shunned by Christians, thus becoming New Age territory by default. Or a doctor may recommend yoga or meditation to reduce stress. No matter how uplifting and innocent some New Age practices appear, Christians need discernment in these areas, just as at the seashore they need to know where the undertow begins.

The more we understand the distinctions between New Age religion and Christianity, the less vulnerable we are ourselves and the better able to address the confusion of people who may be – as I once was – earnestly seeking the truth.

What exactly is the New Age? Impossible to narrow down, the New Age is actually a vast smorgasbord of beliefs and practices. Each New Ager fills his tray with whatever assortment fits his appetite. All is liberally seasoned with self-centeredness. It’s really a Have-It-Your-Way religion – thus its modern appeal.

Although there are many branches of New Age thought – ranging from meditation to firewalking – they stem from an ancient stock. The roots of the New Age tree spread around the globe to India. One might think that the desperate, degraded human condition of a land dominated by Hinduism would speak louder than words about the truth of the religion. But New Agers seem blind to the contradiction.

Instead the typical New Ager believes: 

  • God is in everything (pantheism)
  • All things are one (monism)
  • Man is God
  • Mind creates reality
  • One’s own experience validates the truth

New Agers do not believe in evil. Therefore, they do not accept man’s problem as separation by sin from God. Instead, they believe that each of us has forgotten his or her own divinity. Therefore, the New Age solution is to seek “higher consciousness” through meditation, breathing exercises, yoga, diet, crystals, channeling. spirit guides, and more. Each of these diverse practices has the same purpose: to awaken the god in man.

While these practices may seem too far out to pose much of a threat to those abiding in the truth, Christians need to be on guard. In the past twenty years, New Age influence has been steadily creeping into our culture in schools, corporations, and doctors’ offices. Since Star Wars, movies have become dominated by New Age spirituality. Reincarnation, karma, the cosmic consciousness – all these once obscure ideas have become commonplace.

A true understanding of New Age practices makes one thing clear: Eastern practices cannot be blended into Christianity to produce something better. New Agers are Universalists, believing that all paths lead to God. They fault Christians for being intolerant and narrow-minded. But God’s word anticipates this: “Enter the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the path that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” (Matthew 7:13, NIV)

The good news is that, in a way, the New Ager’s broad acceptance holds the key to getting him back on the straight and narrow. Most New Agers hold Jesus in high regard, believing Him to be a great spiritual teacher, or guru. Many study the words He spoke, although they put a different spin on them.

How can we reach those under such subtle deception? The answer is Jesus Himself. Since Jesus is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life,” He Himself can be the common ground on which the New Ager and the Christian can meet, though one stands in darkness and one in light.

Here is a five-step approach to discussing Jesus with new Agers:

1. Whom do you believe Jesus is?

2. Whom did Jesus say He is?

3. What did Jesus say about other spiritual paths?

  • “No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

4. Jesus was either who he said He was or He was a fraud. Given His claims, we can’t logically believe he was only a great teacher, for He would have been teaching falsehood rather than truth (this is an argument by C. S. Lewis).

5. Jesus alone is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).

New Agers are in a lot of confusion. That’s because they haven’t found the Truth, but only what fits into the spiritual perspective they have constructed. As in the Garden of Eden, the lie has never changed.

But neither has the Truth. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t see immediate results from sharing with New Agers. In many cases – like my own – when they finally come to Christ, it’s because God had been planting seeds and watering for a long time. Just keep praying and loving and sharing the words of  Jesus (from experience, I’d say they really won’t hear much else).

And remember, God loves New Age seekers too!

Barbara Curtis, now a prolific Christian writer, was a New Age seeker for seven years before learning the truth about Jesus Christ in 1987. She lives with her husband Tripp in a rapidly-dwindling nest with 6 of their 12 children in Waterford, Virginia

The Religion of Environmentalism?

Posted by Dan C. on

Nancy Pelosi on Earth Day:  “The Bible tells us in the Old Testament, ‘To minister to the needs of God’s creation is an act of worship. To ignore those needs is to dishonor the God who made us.'”

Protestant and Catholic biblical scholars alike seem to be united that It’s not in the Bible. Read the entire article here. Apparently this is not the first time Ms. Pelosi has used this biblical ‘quote’, which she attributed to Isaiah.

I performed an Internet search for ‘the religion of environmentalism’ and got back 9000,000+ hits.  Environmental (along with socio-economic) themes have taken center stage in many evangelical churches, fueled by the global warming doomsday scenario for which a former vice-president received a Nobel prize (do they ever take those things back?). Such a scenario can serve to unite nations (and religions?) all over the globe (how does the U.N. fit in here?).

What about the connection between worship of the earth, etc. and pagan religions? Pagan religions are being accepted by those in the “Emergent” conversation that accept the ‘all roads lead to Rome’ system of religious pluralism, which is even gaining popularity by evangelical leaders who have said that they are no longer sure of the exclusive claims of Christ (John 14:6). 

I am not saying that being good stewards of God’s creation is not important:

“Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”Genesis 1:28

“Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.” Genesis 2:15

Finally, is there a connection between any/all of the above to the one-world religion spoken of as arising before the second coming of Christ?

Regardless of the answer to any of these questions, I am reminded once again of what Paul said is of FIRST importance in 1 Corinthians 15:1-6 – the death and resurrection of Christ. As believers called to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ, we need to keep first things first.

Is God’s "Unconditional Acceptance" a Biblical Concept?

Posted by Dan C. on

Some time ago I participated in a Bible study concerning the importance of knowing what we believe as Christians – a great subject! A major point of the study book and materials was the topic of “unconditional acceptance” – God’s unconditional acceptance of us and the need for our unconditional acceptance of others. We should accept others with all their sin and faults, because we know that God accepts us even with our sin. This has become the mantra of much of today’s evangelical church – the new gospel, if you will. But is it biblical?

Well, I can’t find in anywhere in the Bible, and believe me I did my homework. What I do find in the Bible is Christ’s death for our sin as the first point of the gospel message that Paul preached, among others. What the death of Christ in our place means is that God can only accept us through the shed blood of His own Son. Saving faith hinges on recognizing our sin, repentance and a wholehearted turning from it, not bringing it with us!

I found that “unconditional acceptance” became the centerpiece of humanistic psychology beginning in the mid ’50s.  It gradually invaded the church until the condition we have today that it is this ‘new gospel’ permits avoiding the sin issue in the proclamation of the good news, as well as the need for continuously confronting the sin in our lives and turning from it in the process of sanctification as we grow spiritually.

Did I pose a rhetorical question? You bet, as far as I am concerned! The myth of God’s “unconditional acceptance” of sinners is the greatest lie the enemy has ever fed the human race (especially the church), except for the original lie in the Garden when he hinted that we can be like God and the first couple bit.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it, unless someone can offer solid scriptural proof that I am wrong.

Concerning Fear of God and the Wrath of God

Posted by Dan C. on

“Why is it that even among those who profess to be the Lord’s people there is so little real subjection to His Word, and that its precepts are so lightly esteemed and so readily set aside? Ah! what needs to be stressed to-day is that God is a God to be feared. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 1:7). Happy the soul that has been awed by a view of God’s majesty, that has had a vision of God’s awful greatness, His ineffable holiness, His perfect righteousness, His irresistible power, His sovereign grace. Does someone say, “But it is only the unsaved, those outside of Christ, who need to fear God”? Then the sufficient answer is that the saved, those who are in Christ, are admonished to work out their own salvation with “fear and trembling.” Time was, when it was the general custom to speak of a believer as a “God-fearing man”—that such an appellation has become nearly extinct only serves to show whither we have drifted. Nevertheless, it still stands written, “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him” (Psalms 103:13)! —A. W. Pink (1886–1952)

“If this generation were to take a crash course in the fear of God, our shallow view of sin would immediately deepen.”
-C.J. Mahaney

“While falling all over ourselves trying to conceal this ’embarrassing’ feature of God’s character, we’ve sent this signal to our culture: God is infinitely understanding, sympathetic, patient, and sentimental. God is nice! God is a kind of cosmic Mr. Rogers, always ready to greet you with a warm smile and a pleasant word.

Because we have difficulty reconciling wrath with our perception of a loving God, the Church and this culture have sought to create God in their own image. But Scripture makes no apologies concerning the wrath of God. In fact, A.W. Pink notes that there are more references to God’s wrath in the Bible than to his love. We probably don’t have any of these passages underlined, but perhaps we should. We need to give serious study to the wrath of God.”
-C.J. Mahaney

The above quotes were borrowed from the Reformed Voices blog. It’s a great place to visit!

Is anyone REALLY separated from God?

Posted by Dan C. on

I have not lost my marbles and been sucked into the great abyss of full-blown Emergentville that tells us that ‘all roads lead to Rome’ and we just need to connect with the ‘divine’ within our own hearts.

Modern evangelism many times presents the gospel as needing a ‘personal’ relationship with Jesus, as if we don’t know Jesus, we are separated from God. Is the idea that we have NO relationship with God if we have not trusted in Christ for our salvation really true? Or, is it a matter of being ‘in relationship’ with God’, but not in RIGHT relationship with Him. Ephesians 2 tells us that without Christ we are DEAD in sin and objects of God’s wrath. That sounds like relationship, and it’s personal. that would mean, of course, that even professed athiests are in relationship with God.

On the other hand, the who has believed in the Son of God and trusted Him for salvation has a relationship based on forgiveness – no longer objects of God’s wrath, but reconciled with, and in union with God.

There is a discussion here that speaks to the question I proposed called ‘The Gospel of Personal Relationship’.  I encourage you to listen and share your thoughts!

"The Rise of Extreme Tolerance"

Posted by Dan C. on

That’s the title of an article adapted from one of John McArthur’s latest books, a small portion of which is here:

“In the church today, there is a growing reluctance to take a definitive stand on any issue. Discernment is frankly not very welcome in a culture like ours. In fact, the postmodern perspective is more than merely hostile to discernment; it is practically the polar opposite. Think about it: pronouncing anything “true” and calling its antithesis “error” is a breach of postmodernism’s one last impregnable dogma. “Many evangelicals (once known for a very prudent and biblical approach to doctrine) are fast becoming as doctrinally clueless as the unchurched people they are so keen to please. At least three decades of deliberately downplaying doctrine and discernment in order to attract the unchurched has filled many once-sound churches with people who utterly lack any ability to differentiate the very worst fast doctrines from truth. I constantly encounter evangelical church members who are at a loss to answer the most profound errors they hear from cultists, unorthodox media preachers, or other sources of false doctrine.  . . .Certainty about anything is out of the question, and all who refuse to equivocate on any point of principle or doctrine are therefore automatically labeled too narrow. Zeal for the truth has become politically incorrect. There is actually zero tolerance for biblical discernment in a “tolerant” climate like that.” – Adapted from The Truth War, © 2007 by John MacArthur

Read the rest of this article at Grace to You. It’s an eye opener. In fact, I highly recommend you pick up the book. I found my copy about a month ago in a local Christian bookstore, in a small section that also contained a few classics by men like A.W. Tozer. that section seems to keep getting smaller and smaller while the quantity of totally self-centered spiritual junk food  keeps getting bigger.

Signs of the last times?