Category Archives: Truth

The Rise of Extreme Tolerance

Posted by Dan C. on

The following is an excerpt (the opening paragraph) from an article found here.

“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.”

Here is the summary of the article:

“What’s needed today is a generation of men and women who will take a stand on biblical truth. People like that fear the Lord, not men, and will find power and courage from the Lord to uphold His truth in an age of extreme tolerance.”

There’s more worth reading in the middle. . .

The article was adapted from The Truth War, © 2007 by John MacArthur, also worth reading.

Daddy, are we there yet?

Posted by Dan C. on

The above question is not a reference to the question of a small child sitting in the back seat of the family car on a family outing. Back when I was that small child that could have been a ’55 Chevy and I would have been in the back with my older sister and baby brother (if he wasn’t sitting in his Mom’s lap in the front seat with dad. Today the question might never come up because the kids in the back seat are too involved with either on-board or personal entertainment devices. How times have changed! Now that I have dated myself, on to the reader’s challenge. . .

The question is drawn from a portion of one of the statements contained in the following paragraph. The challenge is not to identify the source or date of the quote (that will be provided further down), but to identify the portion of the paragraph to which the question refers, and after a positive I.D., to consider the question. . . “A are we there yet?”

“Some things are true and some things are false. I regard that as an axiom; but there are many persons who evidently do not believe it. The current principle of the present age seems to be, “Some things are either true or false, according to the point of view from which you look at them. Black is white, and white is black according to circumstances; and it does not particularly matter which you call it. Truth of course is true, but it would be rude to say that the opposite is a lie; we must not be bigoted, but remember the motto, ‘So many men, so many minds.'”  The school of modern thought laughs at the ridiculous positiveness of Reformers and Puritans; it is advancing in glorious liberality, and before long will publish a grand alliance between heaven and hell, or, rather, an amalgamation of the two establishments upon terms of mutual concession, allowing falsehood and truth to lie side by side, like the lion with the lamb. Still, for all that, my firm old-fashioned belief is that some doctrines are true, and that statements which are diametrically opposite to them are not true,—that when “No” is the fact, “Yes” is out of court, and that when “Yes” can be justified, “No” must be abandoned.”

About the quotation. . .I found it as a result of connecting to a link provided at another blog that had used a different section of the same source for a blog post. That blog post is here. The quotation was taken from an address to college students by C.H. Spurgeon and published in the March 1874 edition of Sword and Trowel. The entire address is here.

Something worth fighting for. . .

Posted by Dan C. on

Excerpted from John MacArthur’s book, The Truth War:

“Much of the visible church nowadays seems to think Christians are to be at play rather than at war. The idea of actually fighting for truth is the furthest thing from most churchgoers’ thoughts. Contemporary Christians are determined to get the world to like them – and of course in the process they also want to have as much fun as possible. They are so obsessed with making the church seem “cool” to unbelievers that they can’t be bothered with questions about whether another person’s doctrine is sound or not. In a climate like that, the thought of even identifying someone else’s teaching as false (much less “contending earnestly” for the faith) is a distasteful and dangerously countercultural suggestion. Christians have bought into the notion that nothing is more “uncool” in the world’s eyes that when someone shows a sincere concern about the danger of heresy. After all, the world simply doesn’t take spiritual truth that seriously, so they cannot fathom why anyone would.

But Christians of all people, ought to be most willing to live and die for the truth. Remember, we know the truth, and the truth has set us free (John 8:32). We should not be ashamed to say so boldly (Psalm 107:2). And if called upon to sacrifice forthe truth’s sake, we need to be willing to be willing and prepared to give our lives.”

“I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.” – The Apostle Paul (Romans 1:16)

How many Christians do you know who don’t talk about God much, in the workplace, at school or college, in a recreational setting, etc.? I know quite a few, not just in a ‘mixed’ public setting, but even amongst themselves in any of those settings!  I know a lot who come to church on Sunday morning and talk about everything BUT God, in the sanctuary, when spiritual music is softly playing, even when there is a big slide up front inviting them to pray!

Having made that observation, it comes as a pleasant surprise when I meet other believers who like to discuss their faith, what God is doing in their lives, how a scripture verse jumped off the page at them, and of course when there’s some ‘earnest contending’ for the faith going on. 

It’s sad though, when the contending, which might just be sharing scripture, or asking if what someone ‘says scripture says’ is seen as intolerance and bigotry. It seems that some of the time, sharing one’s personal thoughts and opinions (no matter how crude or vitriolic) is inversely proportional to the desire for biblical truth.

But that’s to be expected – biblically speaking. . . 🙂

Truth – Timeless or Relative?

Posted by Dan C. on

“The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception….” 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12

“The prophets prophesy lies in My name. I have not sent them, commanded them, nor spoken to them; they prophesy to you a false vision, divination, a worthless thing, and the deceit of their heart.” Jeremiah 14:14

There is an excellent chart here that shows the progression from Biblical Belief to the New Spirituality currently sweeping across the religious landscape of America. The chart lists topics of Belief and shows the Transition from historic Biblical Christianity to this New Spirituality. The information presented is supported by quotes, citations and links to source material from which it was drawn.

Below is the entry for the topic of TRUTH – Timeless or Relative?

Biblical Christianity

God’s eternal, unchanging Word! Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6

Transition

Truth is de-emphasized to avoid division: “Humanity is recognizing the need for a more vital approach to God… men are tired of doctrinal and dogmatic differences….”

New Spirituality

“…a portion of truth… is found in every religious and philosophical system…. There is no room for absolute truth…. But there are relative truths.”

“When we can contact our own inner God, all truth will be revealed to us.”

Of course there is really ‘new’ about this New Spirituality.  It’s nothing more than  centuries old heresy dressed up in a new suit. The Emperor however, is still naked!  What troubles me with this regurgitation is not so much it’s apparently widespread appeal to the ‘postmodern’ intellect, but infiltration into the church, aided and abetted by some so-called ‘evangelical’ leaders!

There are some apologists that would tell you that it might well be developing into the one world religion spoken of in the Bible.

The question for believers is what to do about it. I really see only two options;  we can ‘cluck’ about it like barnyard hens, or we can present the TRUTH. . . with LOVE.

Rules of Engagement – The Truth of the Gospel

Posted by Dan C. on

Most professing Christians would agree that we are to share the good news of Christ (the gospel), using words, deeds or both. Most are also in agreement that the sharing of the gospel applies to individuals as well as the corporate church. Furthermore, ‘good deeds’ in the Name of Christ speak for themselves. When it comes to ‘words’ however, there is a lot of opinion out there regarding the correct approach and even the words we should/should not use approaching the subject with non-believers. We would all probably agree with the need to share the CORE of the gospel. Is it possible to define it?

We have heard it all. It’s about ‘having your best life now’, discovering God’s custom-made plan/purpose for your life, experiencing health/wealth & prosperity (abundant living), etc., and all because God loves us so much he can’t wait to make it all happen for us. These are things for which Christ died. One Sunday morning I heard that Christ died for my ‘dreams’. I have heard that God loves us so much He can’t even imagine His heaven without us. We package the presentation into neat little set of a few laws or canned verses designed to elicit certain responses followed by a self-evident decision. One set of study materials, with which I am very familiar, stated that the very core of Christianity, the reason Christ died on the cross was God’s passionate desire for a relationship with us. ‘Relationship’ with God through Christ is certainly inherent in God’s reconciling work – the very work that is passed to all believers, but is it the very center, the CORE of the gospel message?

This post isn’t about ‘pinging’ on all the promoters/proponents of all the ‘stuff’ we have heard, whether I mentioned it above or even if you have ‘filled in a blank’. I think it would do us well to define what the gospel IS, for two specific purposes: 1) to make sure we have the necessary ‘basic ingredients’ in our message and 2) so that we maintain the proper balance in our presentation of the gospel message. The higher goal is to be able to faithfully deliver His message to the praise of His glorious grace!

For a concise definition of the gospel we need look no further than the Apostle Paul and what he had to say on the matter. Although we could start with John 3:16, the odds on favorite, but I thought it wise to consult someone whose life work after meeting his Savior was exactly that – spreading the gospel and ‘growing’ the church. I chose Paul because although he possessed the equivalent of was several post-graduate degrees, he kept it simple. So let’s turn to Paul for a concise definition of the gospel:

“Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel that I preached to you, that you received and on which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message I preached to you – unless you believed in vain. For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received – that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 15:6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at one time…” – 1 Corinthians 15:1-5

This is not the first time Paul presented this message to the church at Corinth and before he re-delivers it he tells them that is ‘of first importance’, not second, third, or something to bring up a few months after a more ‘relevant’, ‘comfortable’, or non-threatening’ message to get folks through the church doors. What is of first importance are two last events that happened to Christ before His ascension to sit at the right hand of the Father.

  • Christ died for our sins (according to the Scriptures), and was buried (validation – they didn’t bury dead folks).
  • He was raised on the third day (according to the Scriptures) and was seen by 500+ people (validation – too many for a conspiracy).

Each event was according to previously declared scripture and validated after the event’s occurrence.

Please don’t misunderstand me. I am NOT saying we shouldn’t include God’s awesome love, the promise of abundant life,or His plan for our lives. We just need to keep central what IS central and discuss all the rest using God’s definition and according to His terms, not ours.

If we want examples of evangelistic encounters we can start with the book of Acts. There are about nineteen of them and guess what? ‘God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life’ isn’t one of them. Should that tell us something?