Author Archives: Dan C.

Beginning with the Bad News: Man’s Chief Problem is Sin Against God

Posted by Dan C. on

SLIMJIM's avatarThe Domain for Truth

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In order to understand Christ as our Savior we must first understand the biblical teachings concerning the lostness of man.  Man’s chief problem is offending a good God.  The Bible teaches us all of humanity have sinned against God (Romans 3:23) with sin being behavior and thoughts that goes against God’s Law or lawlessness (1 John 3:4).  Any attempt by man’s own effort towards “righteous deeds are like a filthy garment” (Isaiah 64:6).  Proverbs 13:15 and 13:21 teaches us that sins have terrible consequences even on this side of eternity but we must not forget the biggest problem is that fallen humanity is guilty in their sin against God and one day Jesus will call sinners to give an account of their lives since God the Father has “given all judgment to the Son” (John 5:22 cf. John 5:27).

The consequences of man’s lostness after death in their sins is…

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Sinner, Save Thyself!

Posted by Dan C. on

Say what?????

We all (Calvinists and Arminians) vehemently DENY that anyone saves himself/herself! And that is as it should be. At the same time, aren’t we asking sinners to save ‘themselves’ when at an altar call, accompanied by emotional music, we say things like:

· Only YOU can open the door to YOUR heart.

· God has done his part, now you need to do YOURS.

· Will YOU accept Jesus as your Savior?

· Won’t YOU give YOUR heart to Jesus right now, tonight, before it’s too late?

· Why don’t YOU to surrender YOUR heart and life to Jesus?

While we would loudly deny that anyone saves themselves, we ask, or tell, sinners in the seats, or with whom we are sharing the gospel) to ‘do’ something that will usher in eternal life. Think about it from the perspective of the one to whom the message of the gospel has been presented, wither in a group or individual setting.

I’m a sinner who knows little of the things of God and I have just been told that Jesus came to save me and give me eternal life. Then I receive one or more of the above statements and/or questions respond positively to it/them. I am welcomed into the Kingdom of God.

With very little logic involved, I conclude that by my action, I just saved myself! After all, I performed the final action in a sequence of actions leading to my salvation, didn’t I?

I have to say that a friend of ours came to that very conclusion in a conversation with my wife one evening in our home. And at the same time, I have to confess that the above statements and questions could lead anyone on the receiving end to come to the same conclusion unless persuaded otherwise.

The question I now ask is “Why do we ask and/or say things that might bring unnecessary confusion to our hearers?” There are several possible answers to that question, and I’ll leave those to your imagination.

Rather, I suggest that none of the above questions and statements is actually Biblical. You might think they express Biblical concepts, but you won’t see any of them in any evangelistic encounter in the New Testament. Instead you hear about repentance and belief; repentance from sin and belief in Christ as the substitute for sinners. And you hear it first from the lips of Jesus when, at the beginning of his ministry he said:

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15V)

If it is God who opens hearts to hear the gospel and also who does all the ‘saving’, we need only be faithful to the message that Christ died for our sins and be able to explain what that means. Trust me, God WILL save his people from their sins!

Code Orange Revival ‘Expectations’

Posted by Dan C. on

Chris Rosebrough over at Fighting for the Faith calls the annual Code Orange Revival at Steven (COR) Furtick’s Elevation Church the “Heresy Olympics”. Not only does he review ‘sermons’ delivered at the auspicious event, he provides audio clips of advertisements and ‘man on the street’ interviews concerning the assumed expectations of the event promoters at Elevation Church and some of the attendees.

  • During the ‘pre-game’ show for night one, ‘Code Orange’ was defined as an eruption similar to volcanic activity – an ‘eruption’ of faith – 10 days and nights of celebrating and believing God for ‘breakthroughs’ for Elevation Church and for individuals.
  • In a short interview with someone who had travelled from London, when asked what she was expecting God to do in her life, a lady said she expected to get a new passion to go into her patients’ lives (she is a paramedic in London), so God could shine through her in her work as a paramedic.
  • Holly Furtick said she was looking forward to God speaking to her personally and she loved to watch God speaking personally to those around her. She also loved hearing stories from those who travelled to attend COR. She again emphasized ‘breakthroughs’.
  • The last point shared by Chris Rosebrough from the ‘pre-game’ show (2 minutes before ‘show’ time) again reinforced the ‘breakthrough’ theme, coming into God’s presence, and God doing something specific in every life. The announcer said “we’re going to have a lot of fun; we’re going to have a lot of guests here”.

Chris Rosebrough described the above ‘breakthrough’ rhetoric as the theology of’ triumphalism’, or ‘self glory’, and I for one agree with him.

Also part of the ‘pre-game festivities’ attendees/listeners are informed of all the ways they can participate with their giving, since it is important that we trust God in all areas of our lives, including our finances. Giving is ‘worship’ and folks can give online, on an App, and via texting, all of which will result in God’s blessings for the one giving.

Following the account of the ‘pregame’ festivities, there was a recap of Steven Furtick’s (contestant #1 in the 2016 Heresy Olympics) sermon, allegedly received by direct revelation from the Holy Spirit. Needless to say, during the sermon, Mr. Furtick correctly described Code Orange as ‘our’ revival, since it certainly isn’t God’s.

You can find Chris Rosebrough’s comments and critique of the Code Orange Revival here. You can find an interesting ‘Code Orange Bible Challenge’ here, as well as a recap of COR night one in the ‘Rhythm of Heresy’ podcast here. Stay tuned to Fighting for the Faith for other COR recaps and commentary.

Review and Free: No Compromise by Charles H. Spurgeon

Posted by Dan C. on

Charles H. Spurgeon. No Compromise.  Pensacola, FL: Chapel Library, September 5th, 2014. 24 pp. This is a sermon by Charles Spurgeon that he preached based upon Genesis 24:5-8.  Spurgeon preached t…

Source: Review and Free: No Compromise by Charles H. Spurgeon

Andy Stanley: You’re Not Smart Enough If You’re Not In “One of Our Churches” (Doubling Down on Unnecessary Scripture) – Pulpit & Pen

Posted by Dan C. on

http://pulpitandpen.org/2016/09/05/andy-stanley-youre-not-smart-enough-if-youre-not-in-one-of-our-churches-doubling-down-on-unnecessary-scripture/

My Sister Dorothy

Posted by Dan C. on

Dear Friends,

Am in San Antonio with family. I have another sister and brother here (I’m the kid who left town). My older sister Dorothy took her final breath on this earth last night in a hospice facility, where she was taken earlier this week after suffering a heart attack. She had a lot of health issues these last few years. About an hour before she finished her race I read much of John 14 to her. A hospice nurse came in and was going to check her her heart when  Dorothy took her final breath. We were all with her except my other sister who was actually just arriving at the hospice facility. Our prayer was that Dorothy’s final moments would be quiet ones, but was hard watching her go through the process of her body slowly shutting down. 

Dorothy had a tough life. I’ll leave it at that and choose to think that playing great hymns of the faith to her she had to remember from her youth and sharing sweet words of Our Savior found a God prepared heart even as she was unresponsive.