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Steve Jobs REAL cause of death [Official].

2011-10-05T21:32:00.000-07:00

Steve Jobs Cause of Death Revealed.

Steve Jobs, one of the most visionary Americans of his industry and the co-founder of Apple computers, died Wednesday. He was 56 years old. Apple released a statement Wednesday night saying they had "lost a visionary and creative genius" and "his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple."

Steve was fond of saying that he lived every day like it was his last. In 2005, following a bout with cancer, Jobs delivered Stanford University's commencement speech.

He said, "Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life," he said. "Because almost everything -- all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure -- these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important."

That is a powerful statement. ... "these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important". The question is "What was 'truly important' to Steve Jobs and more importantly, what is 'truly important' to you?"

Success and money were truly important to Steve Jobs. Forbes magazine estimated Steve Jobs net wealth at $8.3 billion in 2010, making him the 42nd wealthiest American.

Family was truly important to Steve Jobs. He has left behind a wife, a son, and three daughters (one from a previous relationship). His family said, "He was a great family man".

Religion was truly important to Steve Jobs. He was a professing Buddhist and married by a Zen Buddhist.

However, in the face of death, truth did not seem truly important to Steve Jobs (although we don't know what happened in his final moments).

Is the Truth truly important to you? When you stare death in the face will the Truth be what's truly important to you? You see, the Truth will set you free. Jesus Christ said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me." Most professing Buddhists do not believe Jesus is God's son, nor do they believe there is any God at all.

The real cause of death for Steve Jobs was not cancer, but sin. The wages of sin is death. The truth is that Steve Jobs was a sinner in need of a Savior. The truth is that death has come into the world because of sin. Steve Jobs was born a sinner in need of a Savior. The truth is that you were born a sinner and are in need of that same Savior. His name is not Buddha, but Jesus Christ.

In the face of death, Steve Jobs should have been worried about what is truly important. Steve should have been worried about his eternal soul that will never die, but rather live in one of two places of eternity forever. Steve Jobs should have been worried about heaven and hell? In fact, right now you should consider what's truly important, because you don't know when the moment will be when you will face your own death. You have an eternal soul and it is appointed for you to die once and then face the judgment of Almighty God. You will not be judged according to Buddha's standard, your standard or Steve Jobs' standard, but according to God's Holy standard.

God's standard of judgment is His Ten Commandments. You are probably familiar with them. If you were to die today would you be innocent or guilty of breaking God's commands?

How many lies have you told in your life time? The 9th Commandment says "Do not lie". The bible says all liars will have their part in the lake of fire (hell).

Have you ever taken something that didn't belong to you? The 8th commandment says "Do not steal". The bible says that no thief will enter into the kingdom of heaven.

God is Holy, Righteous and Just. He cannot and will not overlook your sins on the Day of Judgment. In fact, God's judgment of you will be so thorough that He will see the thoughts and the intentions of your heart.

Jesus said, "You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." That means every time you have looked with lust, even at the sinful pictures on the computer or iPhone screen that Steve Jobs created, you have broken the 7th Commandment that says "Do not commit adultery".

Jesus went on to say, "If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell."

Do you understand how serious and thorough the judgment of God will be concerning your sin ?

Steve Jobs said, "Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life,"

The most important choice Steve Jobs could have ever made in life would have been to turn from his sins and to follow Jesus Christ as Lord of his life (again we don't know what happened in his final moments). The most important choice you will ever face in life is to turn from your sins and to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "he who believes in Me will live even if he dies."

2000 years ago, God perfectly showed His justice and mercy to all the world. Jesus Christ lived a perfectly holy life. He never sinned. He never broke God's Laws like us. In fact, God came in the flesh that He might declare Law breakers like me, you and Steve Jobs, NOT GUILTY on the Day we all stand before Him. Jesus died, was buried, and on the third day rose from the dead. Jesus Christ defeated sin, death and the grave.

The real cause of Steve Jobs death will be the real cause of your death too. You are a sinner in need of a Savior.

Ignorance will be no excuse on the Day of Judgment. Buddha cannot save your soul. You don't want God's thorough justice and you do not want to spend eternity in hell. You need the mercy of God that is only possible through faith in Jesus Christ. Please turn from your sins and follow Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Cry out for mercy to the Only One who can satisfy God's justice on your behalf. Jesus Christ The Righteous One. He will forgive your sins, remove your guilt, give you peace and joy like you have never known and present you faultless on judgment day by grace through faith in Him. He will never leave you nor forsake you.

Please turn to Christ today, He will save your soul and give you eternal life in heaven with Him forever.

Steve Jobs is dead. You still have time to turn to Christ right now. Don't wait until it's too late.

Born Again by "C-Section" ?

2011-07-17T16:25:00.000-07:00

A Caesarean section, is a surgical procedure in which one or more incisions are made through a mother's abdomen and uterus to deliver a baby. The term Caesarean has also been explained as deriving from the Greek verb caedo, 'to cut', with children delivered this way referred to as caesones or 'cut ones'.

Health experts in the United States say that the Caesarean section births are at an all time high. These experts fear what once was (and still is) a solution to a life threatening natural birth situation has now become a simple matter of convenience. Convenience has become a fixture in American society. As life grows more fast-paced, people look for more corners to cut (no pun intended) and ways to save time. But should the desire for convenience extend to one of the most fundamental natural functions -- the act of childbirth?

I won't attempt to answer that question here, but I would like to draw your attention to a parallel idea that should garner our full attention. Natural birth into this world has resulted in a life threatening situation. God has not prescribed a C-Section as the cure, but has told us in His word that we "must be born again".

Should the desire for convenience extend to one of the most fundamental spiritual truths of the Christian faith -- the act of Christian conversion?

In John chapter 3 verse 3 Jesus told a religious leader named Nicodemus, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus replied, "How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born can he?"

Jesus went on to explain to this religious leader that salvation or spiritual re-birth is the act of God whereby the soul of a sinner is cleansed from all sin and impurity and brought to new life by the powerful and mysterious operation of the Holy Spirit. Notice, Jesus did not tell Nicodemus to be baptized, attend confession, raise his hand and pray a sinner's prayer, fill out a status card or to perform any other religious right or action. Even more importantly, Jesus did not tell Nicodemus to gird up his loins and make a decision for Christ. Jesus did not attempt to short cut the new birth by giving Nicodemus a spiritual C - Section.

I am afraid that most professing Christians today have been born into the professing Church as a result of a Spiritual C-Section of sorts. Instead of being born again by the Spirit of God, they have been cut away from the Spirit in the name of "convenience". Surrounded by a results oriented, fast paced culture, religion has sought to short cut God's work of grace and it it's place has put a C-Section religious mentality. I would call it a Convenience Section, rather than a Caesarean Section.

Convenience has no place is God's plan of redemption. In fact, I would argue plainly from the Scriptures that if a salvation experience is not inconvenient, it is not of God. I will base my conclusion on three points drawn straight from the text surrounding John 3:3.

First and foremost the new birth is inconvenient to man, because of "what is in man". Directly before the conversation with Nicodemus (John 2:23-25) many people were observing the signs that Jesus was doing and believing in His name. "But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew 'what was in man'."

Salvation is not convenient because it is absolutely contrary to the fallen nature of all mankind. By nature men do not seek for God or understand God (Romans 3:11). It is absolutely inconvenient for anyone to take time out of their schedule to pursue something or someone one they have no desire to pursue. Salvation is not only inconvenient to the human experience, but it is inconceivable - "ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS;" (Romans 3:12). All men by nature and choice are 'children of wrath' (Ephesians 2) and not the least bit interested in anything to do with God or salvation.

However, when the grace of God arrests a man's soul and the wind of God's Spirit 'blows where it wishes' it no longer becomes a matter of convenience. Convenience is the last thing on a man's mind when God calls him to Himself. Salvation is inconvenient and it is planned that way. Jesus said, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me." That just doesn't sound very convenient does it? You must be born again.

Secondly, convenience has no place in God's plan of redemption because there is a judgment to come followed by a perishing (John 3:16-19). Urgency is never convenient, likewise an emergency doesn't lend itself well to convenience. Modern evangelicalism has removed the urgent call to repentance and replaced it with a convenient call to "come experience Jesus". The truth is, men aren't the least bit interested in experiencing Jesus because of what's in them. Men loved the darkness rather than the Light, because their deeds are evil. Unbelievers are in no way looking to conveniently or inconveniently experience anything other than the "pleasure of sin for a season".

Salvation cannot be made a matter of convenience because there is an urgent, biblical call that goes out to all men everywhere to repent. The call to repent goes out urgently because no man knows the time or the hour of Christ's return to judge the living and the dead. Since no man knows the time or the hour, if we make salvation an issue of convenience we can be guaranteed that the thief will come at an hour of the night that we are not expecting him to come.

The judgment to come and the perishing that follows are terribly inconvenient truth's to the mind of the unbeliever. Convenience would never cause a man, or command a man to flee from the wrath to come. There is wrath to come, make no mistake about it. It is certainly not convenient, in fact it is catastrophic according to the truth of Scripture. True salvation is inconvenient because it is an urgent rescue mission carried out by the Sovereign Spirit of God. You must be born again.

Finally, being born again is not a matter of convenience because God will not share His glory with another. The chief end of man is to glorify God. Man's highest and greatest purpose is to glorify the God who created Him by loving Him and doing what He commands. God will not share His glory with another. Jesus said, "For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God" (John 3:20-21).

True salvation manifests itself in the purposeful manner of inconvenience towards mans desires. The one who is born of God will move mountains to obey the commands of His Savior. The Christian life is never one of convenience, but a life set apart for the glory of God. True Christians let their light so shine before men that they will see their good deeds and glorify their Father in heaven.

It was not convenient for Jesus Christ to leave heaven and come to earth in the likeness of sinful flesh. It was not convenient for Jesus to be tempted in all ways, but yet to be found without sin. It was not convenient for Jesus Christ to be accused, arrested, beaten, whipped, punched in the face, spit upon or mocked. It was not convenient for Jesus to humble himself to the point of death, even death on a cross. It was not convenient for Jesus to be separated from the Father's love and to become the object of the fierce, holy wrath of Almighty God. It was not convenient for Jesus Christ to come into the world to save sinners. It was not convenient for Christ to save a multitude of rebels from every tribe, tongue and nation, but He did it all for the glory of God.

Jesus did not succumb to the desire for convenience while carrying out God's plan of redemption. Neither should we, the Church, succumb to the desire of convenience in leading soul's to salvation. Let us not Spiritually C-Section the lost souls of this dying world, but instead let them be born again by the Spirit of God's amazing grace. We must tell all mankind "what's in them". We must tell them of the "judgment to come and the perishing to follow". We must tell them "that God will not share His glory with another" and that He has purposed to glorify Himself by saving souls through the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." You must be born again.

Casey Anthony Verdict - Outrageous Ignorance !

2011-07-06T09:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday's not guilty verdict for Casey Anthony has caused quite a stir in the media and in the hearts of all those who have been glued to there T.V.s for the duration of the trial. Despite the strong public opinion that she killed her 2 year old daughter, the Florida jury cleared Anthony of the murder charge she faced in the 2008 death of her daughter Caylee. The majority of onlookers and media commentators had expected Anthony to be found guilty of murder, even though most of the evidence relied upon was circumstantial. So, why the outrage? Why the uproar and surprise?

The outrage and uproar come as a result of ignorance. I don't say that in a condemning tone, but I myself am ignorant of the U.S. Justice System's standard of "guilt beyond a reasonable doubt". The vast majority of T.V. fans are ignorant of what it means to be "guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt". I believe this is so because most T.V. fans are ignorant of the judicial moorings of the United States of America.

This country was founded on and remains functioning under a legal system that is primarily Judeo-Christian. In other words, our laws and governing principles come from the Bible.

It didn't take long after the Casey Anthony verdict for the cries of "Justice Must Be Served" to be heard in the media, on the internet and in social forums of every kind. Justice is the cry, but I would submit to you the reader that the cry of justice comes as a result of ignorance. Popular opinion came to the conclusion that Casey Anthony was guilty, but the jurors must hold to a higher standard than the average T.V. watching citizen.

Most T.V. fans cried out for justice because they are ignorant. Not only are we ignorant in America of our own legal system, but we are even more ignorant of Almighty God's justice system. We are ignorant of God's justice because we are ignorant of His Word. Statistically speaking the greater majority of Americans would claim to be Christian. Surprisingly enough though, most would be found ignorant of what the Bible actually says about God. Although most Americans would claim to "worship" God they are actually ignorant of the subject matter. Just as the jurors for the Anthony trial were held to a higher standard, most people, including professing Christians are ignorant of God's standard of righteousness.

In Acts 17 the Apostle Paul preached to one of the most religious cultures of his day. This is what he said, "Therefore what you worship in ignorance , this I proclaim to you." Most people in our country would claim to be Christian and yet the vast majority are ignorant of the justice of God.

Stand in the shoes of Casey Anthony for a moment. You are going to die one day and stand before Almighty God, the God who created you. You will stand before God and give an account of your life on that final day. Judgment Day. The Apostle Paul went on to preach in that same message, "... He (God) has fixed a day in which He will judge this world in righteousness ...". Dear reader, let me ask you a question. Do you want justice, perfect justice on that Day when you stand before God?

Look at your life for a moment according to how God views it. Casey Anthony was accused of murder and found not guilty. Put on her shoes for a moment. Our ignorance blinds us to the truth of God's Word.

Have you ever been angry with someone or have you ever called someone a name. Have you ever been so mad as to think bad thoughts about a person. Maybe you have wished harm to come to someone because you were mad at them.

Listen to the words of Jesus, "You have heard that the ancients were told, "YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER" and "Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court." 'But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, You good-for-nothing, shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, "you fool," shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.'

Casey Anthony was found "not guilty" because there was "a shadow of doubt" concerning the evidence. There is no shadow of doubt that we have all been angry with someone in our lives. In fact our conscience bears witness to the fact that it is true. Maybe you are even angry at Casey Anthony for what you think she did. We don't need a jury to determine our guilt before God. He has written His Holy Law on each one of our hearts and given us a conscience to testify that this is true.

Casey Anthony was found guilty of lying to the Police. Have you ever lied? The 9th commandment says "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor". How many times have you lied in your lifetime? How many times have you withheld the truth from a situation? If Casey Anthony was found guilty of lying to man, how much more severe the penalty of being found guilty lying to God?

Those are just two of the Ten Commandments God has given us to obey. How are you doing? Do you still want perfect justice on Judgment Day? You have sinned against God and you deserve His justice. God's justice is so thorough, He will see your thought life. The justice of God says that the penalty for sin is death and that God will give you Hell. I mean that literally.

If we truly understood the justice of God we wouldn't cry out for justice to come to Casey Anthony or any other human being for that matter. We would cry out to God for mercy on her behalf. We don't want justice, we need mercy. You don't want the justice of God, you need the mercy of God.

Jesus Christ died for sinners. Christ died for lawbreakers. Only the sick need a physician, likewise only the guilty need a Savior. If you think it was outrageous that Casey Anthony was declared "not guilty", how much more outrageous will it be for you to think that God's perfect justice will overlook your sin on the Day of Judgment? You need mercy my friend. We all need mercy.

2000 years ago God perfectly showed His justice and mercy to all the world. Jesus Christ lived a perfectly holy life. He never sinned. God came in the flesh that He might declare Law breakers like me, you and Casey Anthony, NOT GUILTY on the Day we all stand before Him. Jesus died, was buried, and on the third day rose from the dead. Jesus Christ defeated sin, death and the grave.

Ignorance will be no excuse on the Day of Judgment. You don't want justice. You need the mercy of God that is only possible through faith in Jesus Christ. Please turn from your sins and follow Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Cry out for mercy to the Only One who can satisfy God's justice on your behalf. Jesus Christ The Righteous One.

True Church Conference Session 2011 2 Message 2

2011-02-19T18:15:00.000-08:00

Session 2 of the True Church Conference started with the preaching of Dr. Bruce Ware from Southern Seminary. Dr. Ware preached topically on “Gospel 101”, stating that most today do not believe in Amazing Grace (although we sing the song), but rather we believe in entitled grace. He went on to say that “for grace to be amazing the gospel must be amazing and for the gospel to be amazing we need to see the gospel.” According to Dr. Ware there are three elements of the gospel. These three elements are individually recognized, but only together are they jointly sufficient for the declaration of the gospel. In other words the three legs of the gospel stool are indispensable or necessary for a true gospel to be proclaimed.

The first leg of the stool is Human Sinfulness. He noted first that human sinfulness is “universal”, citing Romans 3:9 and 3:23. All men fail to ascribe God the glory that He rightly deserves. Dr. Ware described from Scripture the “penalty and power” of human sinfulness. All men are guilty, have incurred and deserve eternal condemnation which is the penalty for sin. Citing Gen. 2:17, Rom. 6:23, Rom. 5:16 & 18, Rom. 8:1, Eph. 2:3 The power of sin was described as abject slavery. Sinners are held captive or enslaved to sin and ultimately this captivity leads to death. Citing Rom. 8:6-8, Col. 1:13, 2 Tim. 2:26. Dr. Ware next pointed out that our human nature is totally depraved and totally unable to rescue ourselves. Looking at Romans 3:20 and Galatians 2:16 we saw that we have no good works according to the Law of God. Righteousness cannot be obtained by human effort. We are totally helpless. Dr. Ware pointed out that if we could save ourselves than Christ has died in vain.

The second leg of the gospel stool is God’s Holiness. Dr. Ware noted first that God’s own being is “separated” unto all that is pure, right and good. Holiness is a display of separation to purity. Exodus 15:11 showed us that “there is no one like Him”. God’s separation to purity is shown in His righteousness and His Justice. God is pure in action; this is His righteousness. He is right in everything. In word, in thought, in attitude and in action. Psalm 119:137-38 According to His justice He is Lawgiver and Judge. As lawgiver He has given a standard to His creation that is commensurate with His nature. Rom. 7:12. As Judge He holds His creatures accountable to His standards. Rom. 2 (punishment or rewards based on obedience).

Having looked at the sinfulness of humanity and the Holiness of God Dr. Ware paused for a moment to point out a critical truth concerning the nature of the gospel. Dr. Ware noted that the sinfulness of man and the Holiness of God could have been the end to the story. In other words God would be perfectly just in satisfying His wrath against sinful humanity by destroying all of humanity. Dr. ware pointed out that God did not save the angels who sinned against Him. In fact he said, “ God is not obligated to save anyone.” We deserve judgment, not eternal life. However, in God’s infinite wisdom He has provided for mercy and grace to be shown to humanity, which is the third leg of the stool Dr. Ware constructed from Scripture.

The third leg of the stool mercy and grace, (which I understood as unconditional election) was first conveyed to us as God’s kindness to needy, destitute, helpless and ruined sinners. Eph. 2. Grace was described as the kindness of God show to those who are fully undeserving. Dr. Ware noted that more often than not grace is connected to the word gift in the New Testament, citing Eph. 2:8-9 as one example. Next Dr. Ware spoke briefly regarding the relationship of God’s mercy to our sinfulness. He pointed out that mercy and grace is freely given and God is not obligated to do so. Rom. 9:15. However in God’s sovereignty He has chosen to do so. Rom. 9:13

In closing Dr. Ware continued along the thought line of the relationship of God’s character attributes. His thinking was not in relation to human sinfulness, but in God’s character attributes in relation to each other. Dr. Ware stated that while mercy and holiness are necessary components of the gospel, they are necessary in different senses. Holiness is absolutely necessary while mercy cannot be shown without maintaining holiness. God will not compromise His character. While God is not obligated to show mercy, you will never see the holiness of God disregarded. Mercy is necessary says Ware, but not absolutely necessary. Mercy is contingent in that mercy must function according to holiness. When viewing God’s holiness it is important to understand that mercy seeks to bring about holiness in us through imputed righteousness and subjective righteousness. At the cross God’s holiness and mercy were perfectly accomplished. His justice was vindicated and His mercy satisfied. It is truly Amazing Grace.

True Church Conference 2011 Session 1

2011-02-18T07:07:00.000-08:00

True Church Conference 2011 Session One - David Miller - Isaiah 53 Part 1

This year’s conference opened up Thursday night with praise and worship of our Lord led by brother Tom Clay. Having our hearts prepared by the Holy Spirit to receive the preaching of the word, David Miller presented Isaiah 53 (the whole chapter) from memory, followed by his commentary of the chapter from memory, followed by his sermon outline from memory. God has truly gifted this man with the ability to teach as well as a memory retention few men have. Brother David outlined a 6 point sermon to be preached over two sessions. The title: Atonement - Substitution & Satisfaction. His first three points were as follows:

1. The Indefensible Wickedness of Mankind - Isaiah 53:3

2.The Indescribable Wrath of the Sovereign - Isaiah 53:10

3. The Infinite Wisdom of the Son - Isaiah 53:11

1. The Indefensible Wickedness of Mankind was shown to us through verse 3 of Isaiah 53 - “He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Brother David explained that there is “no greater expression of the wickedness of mankind than for men to ‘despise and reject’ Jesus Christ”. The depravity of man is so thorough and total that we hate the Son of God so much as to call for His execution. Brother David reminded us that we were “hewn from the same rock” and had we been present at Jesus’ crucifixion we would have done the very same thing. All men are lude, vulgar and profane; just wicked. This ought to humble us or as brother David said it, “it puts us in the dust”.

2. The Indescribable Wrath of the Sovereign was shown to us through verse 10 of Isaiah 53 - “But the LORD was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.” The first, and very necessary point concerning the wrath of God is the how the word is used in the original language. God’s wrath is not an “out of control” display of anger, but rather a “controlled, swelling, burning, indignation.” Like a river that swells up against the dam, today there is a dam in place staying the hand of God’s wrath. This dam is the forbearance of God, the patience of God as sinners store up wrath for themselves awaiting the great Day of Wrath. Verse 10 of Isaiah 53 tells us that when Christ died, Holy Justice poured out its wrath. In answering why this is important to understand David Millers said, “Only he who has apprehended the magnitude of God’s wrath has understood the overwhelming reality of His mercy.”

3. The Infinite Wisdom of the Son was shown to us through verse 11 of Isaiah 53. “As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will se it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, as He will bear their iniquities.” As a sort of side-bar David Miller made several points with regard to men being justified. He said, “In order to be justified you must exercise faith. In order to exercise faith you must exercise that faith toward the proper object of faith. To exercise faith in the proper object information must be given to you to act upon or to “wrap your faith around”.” He emphatically declared that evangelism today gives too little information and needs to give much more, but that this is NOT the wisdom that verse 11 of Isaiah 53 is referencing. He continued to explain that the wisdom that Jesus possessed was able to resolve a seeming dilemma in heaven (there are no dilemmas in heaven, but he was speaking as a man, an anthropomorphism). The first side to the dilemma seems to be that God is Holy and has stored up wrath against guilty sinners. Man is guilty. The second side to the dilemma seems to be that God is Love. God is gracious and merciful. So these two sides seem as incongruent in our finite human minds. Holy Justice demands punishment for sins. Truth demands justice be carried out. God cannot save sinners with love, grace and mercy yet violate His Holy Justice. Man cannot devise a plan to save man because when they make an attempt to do so they either leave justice undone or leave men in their sin without a true savior. BUT JESUS David Miller declares! In eternity past Wisdom talked with Love. They made an everlasting covenant. Wisdom said to Love, “Would You be willing for God’s Only Son to take the blame for guilty sinners such as these? Would You be willing for Holy Justice to be poured out on God’s Only Son?” Love replied to Wisdom, “If that is what it takes to satisfy and justify then YES.” Love is willing! Then Wisdom talked with Justice. Wisdom told Justice that “Love is willing to give the Son as a substitute. Would You be willing to pour out awful wrath (the wrath do the people) on the Son?” Justice replied, “Considering the infinite value of the Son, I will be willing to pour out wrath to the very last dreg.”

Brother David concluded by quoting the Apostle Paul from Romans 11:33-36 “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR? OR WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.

God has truly given David Miller to the Church for the equipping of the Saints. It was a blessing to sit under the teaching of this long time laborer for the Gospel. Session two of the True Church Conference begins this morning with Dr. Bruce Ware from Southern Seminary. Lord willing I will have more updates as time permits.

Are YOU Pro Life?

2011-01-21T14:42:00.000-08:00

The 38th anniversary of Roe v. Wade is being observed around the country with many gatherings, protests and prayers. Baton Rouge participants have planned an “inter-faith” / “multi-denominational” march to the Louisiana State Capital building to mourn this particular day. Faith, civic, and community leaders are expected to address the crowd and lead them in prayer. Among these leaders will be U.S. Senator David Vitter who is a professed Catholic, Catholic Bishop Robert W. Muench of Baton Rouge, Fr. Shenan Boquet who is a Catholic priest of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux and Dr. Richard Land who is president of The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, of the Southern Baptist Convention.

The stated mission of the march is to “Unite the pro-life people of Louisiana, across all denominational lines, to take a stand for life in our State's Capital, and mobilize them with resources to go make a difference in their community“.

At first glance this may seem to be a very noble if not a godly and righteous cause to be a part of. However, as a professing evangelical Christian I cannot support this uniting and mobilization in the context of biblical truth. As Christians, our rule of faith and practice is the bible. The bible is sufficient for all of life and godliness. It is our guide and directs our every action, especially with regard to opposing sin and confronting error in this fallen world. 2 Timothy 3:16 reminds us that “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work”.

When the question is raised, “Should Christians mobilize or unite with non-believers or false religions to politically, civically or otherwise protest or publicly demonstrate against the evils or injustices of this world?”, the only source of the answer is God’s Holy Word. We would do well to heed the words of our Lord and follow in His foot steps “walking in a manner worthy of our calling” so that we might “be diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:1-6)”

God’s people are called to mobilize and unite with God’s people for the cause of the gospel. (Matthew 28:19, Mark 16:15) Christians are not called to any mobilizing or uniting effort with non-Christians or cults. In fact the bible is abundantly clear that the Christian Church is to be Holy, separate from this present world. 1 Peter 1:16 “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”

The Greek word for Church is ecclesia. This word literally means “called out ones”. The Church is to be separate from the world in all it’s actions and endeavors. Further substantiating this truth the Apostle Paul wrote to the church of Corinth in 1 Cor. 6:14-18 “Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness; Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God has said, “I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. THEREFORE, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE,” says the Lord. “AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I will welcome you. And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” Says the Lord Almighty.

The question I am raising with regard to the Pro Life March is NOT “Should Christians stand together against abortion and all other evils in this world”, but rather “Should Christians participate in gatherings, protests or any other community or political actions that intentionally or unintentionally blur the distinction between true Christianity and false religions or the secular world?” I find the answer to this question in Scripture to be a clear and resounding “God forbid”!

The Christian cause and the answer to all causes is the gospel of Jesus Christ. As Christians we cannot ignore or deny this truth with regard to the Pro Life March and Christian participation in it.

What good becomes of saving thousands of babies natural lives when we compromise or ignore the gospel in our efforts, or even by our participation validate a false message that will consequently damn those souls to hell?

I realize that this is a bold and some what offensive statement, but consider for a moment the truth that it upholds. The message of the gospel is one of redemption. The gospel is an exclusive message that God in Christ has reconciled His people to Himself by grace through faith. If Christians even in an attempt to save lives, align themselves with non-believers or worse, false religions or cults like Catholicism, they compromise the truth of the gospel that is “the power of God unto salvation“ (Romans 1:16).

The Pro Life title can only make sense within the biblical context. As a result of the fall of man in the garden of Eden, physical life without Christ results in death. “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned (Romans 5:12)”. “The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die (Genesis 2:16-17).” Jesus didn’t simply come into the world to preserve physical life, He came to give life. Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly (John 10:7-10).”

Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me (John 14:6).”

Jesus explained true life to Martha in her confusion about her brother Lazarus’ death and resurrection saying this: “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this? (John 11:25-26)”

At this point one might ask the question, “Isn’t it a generally “good” thing to save a life?”. Yes, it is morally right and good to save lives, but to do so at the expense or compromise of the gospel is pointless within the context of Scripture. A life saved with no hope of Christ is a life lost. In fact, “without faith God is not pleased” and the life saving act itself is nothing but a “filthy rag” in the sight of a Holy God (Hebrews 11:6) (Isaiah 64:6).

Jesus condemned religious leaders for similar seemingly good actions that were done with motives void of the truth. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves (Matthew 23:15).”

It is only by the grace of God that one life could even be spared in this wretched, fallen and forsaken world. It is Pharisee like hypocrisy to save a life and in the process compromise or forsake the very gospel of grace that has granted the mercy for that life to be saved.

How does this apply to the Pro Life March taking place this Saturday at the Louisiana State Capital?

Several points of practical application can be garnered from this discussion. The mission of the march is to “Unite the pro-life people of Louisiana, across all denominational lines…“

So first, Catholicism has never in Scripture or history been deemed as “Christian” by true evangelicals. To partner, participate, passively validate, pray with or otherwise attempt to “fellowship” with false religions is inexcusable, sinful and expressly forbidden in Scripture. Catholicism is heretical and teaches a false gospel. The majority leadership of this movement are heretics by biblical definition.

Secondly, it is hypocritical to mobilize Christians for a good cause when that mobilization, because of it’s passive gospel position, outnumbers mobilization in the Church for true missions and the carrying of gospel to the nations.

Thirdly, if Christians would harness the drive, passion and numbers of people for the sake of the gospel and prayer we would see revival in our land. Not only would God be pleased to honor His word as He says He will, but we would surely see men, woman and children come to know true life in Jesus Christ.

Not only are thousands of babies aborted in this country each and every day, but over 6700 people die each day in our country from various causes. 150,000 people die each day around the world.

Could it be that God allows the slaughter of thousands of unborn children in this country because His people by and large have left their first love and forsaken His gospel? He flooded the entirety of the world in Noah’s day, killing all the babies, children, women and men with the exception of Noah and his family. Could it be that what we call a tragedy is actually the sovereign, merciful hand of God upon these souls delivering them from certain doom without the gospel?

What is the cure for the mortality rate of both unborn deaths and the thousands of others that die each day? The gospel, pure and simple. God’s people must return to the truth of God’s Word and direct their heart’s cry to the building up of the Body of Christ in love through the Church.

Back to the original question. Are YOU Pro Life and if so are you making it known God’s way? There is no life without Christ. The answer to the problem of abortion is not moral reform, but spiritual re-birth. The gospel and its’ purity must be our priority if God is going to be glorified in His Church.

True Church Conference 2011 - February 17-20

2010-10-27T08:24:00.000-07:00

I want to invite you personally to come to the True Church Conference 2011. The following invitation is taken directly from the conference website which you can view at http://www.truechurchconference.com/ True Church Conference 2011 - The Gospel Centered Church

Striving to avoid extra-biblical excess in the local church.

In each generation, man-made influences creep into the church and leave us far off the path of being the bride we’ve been called to be.

This year’s conference is an urgent call back to the foundational message of the church— The Gospel! It’s a simple 2,000 year old message, and if it is faithfully preached, it is “the” method for God glorifying and Christ honoring church growth.

In a day with the extremes of a culturally sanitized savior on one hand and unbiblical “sanctification” and “holiness” on the other, this year’s True Church Conference stands in the middle, crying out for a return to the message of the Cross.

Join us for a time of “holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that (we) will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.” -Titus 1:9

Jeff Noblit - Senior Pastor / Teacher Grace Life Church of the Shoals.

True Church Conference 2010 session 2 evening

2010-02-20T10:53:00.001-08:00

Friday night we had the pleasure of sitting under the preaching of Conrad Mbewe.

Conrad preaced on "loving sinners" from Luke 19:41-44. Conrad beautifully showed us through the scriptures how the doctrines of grace rightly preached DO NOT negate the responsibility of intelligent creatures to respond in repentance and faith. Moreover, a true understanding of the heart and the love of God ought to fuel our evangelism efforts. Jesus wept over Jerusalem because they were ignorant of the Christ. In their ignorance they would crucify the Lord of Glory ... And He knew this. Yet our Lord still wept with compassion for these souls that were perishing. Conrad posed the question "is Hell real?"; "Do you believe the bible?", he asked. Having shown us the great compassion of our savior, brother Conrad then asked us to briefly turn over to Romans 9 & 10 to see the heart of Christ displayed in the Apostle Paul's love for his kinsmen. Even entering into arguably two of the deepest theological chapters in all of scripture, the Apostle displays an anguish for the souls of men, longing for them to come to the knowledge of the truth. True Christians understand the deep theological truths of the word and allow their theology to dictate their methodology. A right understanding fosters prayer and evagelistic action that endeavors to preach the gospel to all men. Hyper-Calvinism drains men of their evangelistic zeal by promoting a false view of the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of intelligent creatures. Preach to all men knowing that God will save some!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

True Church Conference Session 2

2010-02-19T16:40:00.000-08:00

Saturday at the True Church Conference started with the warning to not focus on the errors in the church that we hate and wish to come out of; but rather to return the focus of the church back to the truth of the word.

Church history has shown "overcompensation" when dealing with error in the church. Luther expressed the reality of the danger by saying "church history is like a drunk on a horse".
Dr. Michael Haykin gave us a look at church history concerning the origin of "hyper-Calvinism" with a specific focus on John Gill and his contributions both positive and negative.
Jonathan Sims (Jono) preached second on "urging all to repent & believe" from Acts 17:30. He drove home the points that we urge all to repent & believe because:
1. All men are ignorant.
2. God Himself commands all men to repent.
3. All men will one day face the judgment of God.
4. Some will repent and believe.
5. This IS our calling!

At the third session Pastor Jeff Noblit covered the "use of altar calls". Brother Jeff distinguished "old time religion" from a "new fad", then covered the consequences of altar calls, and finally showed us "what sayeth the scriptures" concerning altar calls. We found out they just aren't in there!
More to come tonight and tomorrow ... God bless.

True Church Conference 2010

2010-02-17T17:47:00.000-08:00

The True Church Conference 2010 is underway! The Quagmire of Hyper-Calvinism is this years theme. Brother Craig, Brother Chris and I arrived last night and are tremendously blessed to be here and look forward to what God will reveal to us through His Word.

The sanctuary is slowly but surely filling up as we prepare to worship with the Saints gathered from around the country and the globe. David Miller will be preaching this evening to start this years conference on "The wonder of unconditional love." Visit http://www.anchoredintruth.org to learn more about this conference, the speakers and more importantly the ever important truth of the sufficiency of God's Word.

Law & Gospel, AND more law? A Wal-Mart witnessing adventure.

2010-01-14T08:10:00.000-08:00

The other night while in Wal-Mart, I and another brother-in-the-Lord had a chance to witness to two young men who were apparently shopping. As we walked down one of the aisles I heard one of the young men singing, “ … has my heart and won’t let it go …”. He was in close proximity to me, so I asked him, “What has your heart?”. He replied, “That girl has my heart.”.

I responded to this by asking, “Shouldn’t God have your heart?” and proceeded to ask him his name and if he was saved. He said his name was D, and positively replied that he was “saved”. In fact, D stated that he was supposed to be in bible study at that very moment and it was interestingly crazy that we were sharing about Christ with him. D's friend was a bit "stand-off-ish" and kept some distance between us and him.

As our conversation progressed it turned out D had not heard about the truth of the Law & the Gospel. He had not heard that God is a righteous judge and will demand perfect holiness on the Day of Judgment. D had never heard that he would be “guilty as charged" and justly condemned on the Day of Judgment. D had never been told that there is Wrath to come from a Holy God who hates sin with all of His being.

As I proceeded through the Law with D, his friend became very nervous and antsy. This second young man (we never got his name) told D that he was going to get a CD player and that he would catch up with D shortly. We wouldn’t see this young man again until a little later in the evening.

With his friend now gone, D was intently listening to the grace of God shown in Jesus Christ. D had never heard that Jesus bore our sins in His own body, perfectly satisfying the wrath of God against sin. D had never heard that Christ’s death, burial and resurrection was proof that the Savior had defeated sin, death, the grave and the Devil. D had never heard that a man must be “born again” to see the kingdom of God. D had never heard that if Christ saves you all things become new.

D was another prime example of a gospel hardened culture who has been told that they are going to heaven because they “prayed that prayer”.

D had not heard that there will be many on that Day who will cry out to Jesus, “Lord, Lord …and He will say, ‘Depart from Me I never knew you, you who practiced lawlessness’.”

Having shared the Good News of the Gospel I urged D to repent towards God and place his faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. I then explained the high cost of following Christ and that as Christians we are to take up our cross daily and follow Him. I explained that as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ we must forsake our sin, the world and all that is in the world and follow hard after Christ the author and finisher of our faith.

D received the message of the Gospel with apparent joy and gladness and even asked about Church times, reporting that he would definitely be in our Church on Sunday morning.

We thanked D for his time and my brother and I proceeded to make our way out of the store to my truck. As we were leaving Wal-Mart we noticed D’s nervous, antsy friend walking very rapidly with a huge square bulge under the right side of his sweatshirt. D’s friend was apparently in the process of stealing the CD player that he went away to get earlier in our gospel conversation.

I few seconds later D appeared out of the opposite door to Wal-Mart headed to his car. Not knowing what would happen, my brother and I decided not to confront D and his friend but to get the license plate number of the car and give it to Wal-Mart management. That is exactly what we did. The manager assured me that D and his friend were about to have another encounter with the law that night.

Joel Osteen It's Your Time - It's Your Time Joel Osteen Lakewood Church

2009-12-30T22:46:00.000-08:00

Need a good bible study ?

2009-12-29T19:10:00.000-08:00

Consider these two FREE resources from HeartCry Missionary Society. If you are not familiar with HeartCry, I would urge you to take a look at their website: http://www.hcmissions.com/ .

If you are looking for a good bible study and a lengthy one consider one of the following:

1. One True God - A Biblical Study of the Doctrine of God. You can download it free at the HeartCry resource page here - http://www.heartcrymissionary.com/resources/online_books

Or if you prefer to purchase a hard copy you can do that here - http://grantedministries.org/press.html

2. Truth About Man - A Biblical Study of the Doctrine of Man. You can download it free at the HeartCry resource page here - http://www.heartcrymissionary.com/resources/online_books

Both studies are by Paul David Washer.

Open Air Preaching 16 December 2009 - Christmas Message

2009-12-17T19:01:00.000-08:00

Open Air Preaching December 16th 2009 Christmas Luke Chapter 2 from Return To The Truth on Vimeo.

Knowing, therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men...

2009-12-07T20:26:00.000-08:00

God from eternity, decrees or permits all things that come to pass, and perpetually upholds, directs and governs all creatures and all events; yet so as not to destroy the free will and responsibility of intelligent creatures.

One of the most misunderstood and heavily debated areas of Christendom is the relationship between the sovereignty of our Almighty God and the free will of His creation. The moment our theology takes any glory away from God and attempts to give it to man or any other form of creation, it has strayed from the truth of the Word and the authority of Scripture.

The modern, professing church has gone astray in this area and the results have been devastating. Man-centered theology has infiltrated the professing church and has taken on many forms, from the most ludicrous to the entirely subtle and everything in between.

The chief end of man is to glorify God. Why should we glorify God, because He loves us and takes care of us. When we attempt to rob God of His glory, we become useless and commit the greatest of sins, unbelief.

The modern professing church has chosen (in their free will) to make an idol for themselves to worship, instead of worshipping the One True God.

Not to us, O LORD, not to us,

But to Your name give glory

Because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your truth.

Why should the nations say,

"Where, now, is their God?"

But our God is in the heavens;

He does whatever He pleases.

Their idols are silver and gold,

The work of man's hands.

They have mouths, but they cannot speak;

They have eyes, but they cannot see;

They have ears, but they cannot hear;

They have noses, but they cannot smell;

They have hands, but they cannot feel;

They have feet, but they cannot walk;

They cannot make a sound with their throat.

Those who make them will become like them,

Everyone who trusts in them.

Salvation is of the Lord. This has always been, and will always be the truth. If men will be saved from the wrath of God, He must save them.

Christ centered, God glorifying theology is important in every area of our Christian life and it is especially important when considering our salvation or more specifically, the doctrine of justification. Christians are declared righteous in the sight of God by faith in Jesus Christ, because of the finished work at the cross.

…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;

The modern church has exchanged “calling on the Name of the Lord” for “the sinners prayer”. The modern church has exchanged “the call to Holiness” for “the call to a better life”. The modern church has exchanged “the One True God” for “a god made in the image of man”. The modern church has exchanged the truth of God for a lie.

The cross of Christ has always been an issue of righteousness, a demonstration of God’s righteousness … so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Attempting to minimize, trivialize or avoid the concept of propitiation is futile and results in a man-centered, diluted gospel that is truly no gospel at all.

God in His sovereignty, decreed and permitted His Son to die at the hands of ungodly men. Those same ungodly men chose in their free will to kill Him.

God in His sovereignty has decreed and permitted that He would justify, sanctify and glorify a specific number of people that He would call His own; the elect, the bride of Christ. Those same people, the elect, have made and will make a real, conscience decision to repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

God in His sovereignty, has decreed and permitted that He would allow a specific number of people to die in their sins and suffer an eternity of punishment in hell forever. Those same people have made and will make a real, conscience decision to sin against God, not honor God, nor give thanks and ultimately, if given the chance, reject Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences.

Salvation is of the Lord. Praise His Holy Name.

Why should I gain from His reward?

2009-11-29T19:26:00.000-08:00

God is revealed to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit each with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence or being.

To think on the trinity is to dwell on one of the most intense of theological concepts. Wonder of wonders, one God in three persons.

As we move forward into Advent and the “Christmas Season” the trinity should grip us with a theological magnitude as it never has before.

At the very pinnacle of human history, the eternal God entered into time and chose to put on human flesh.

Many men have wanted to be God. Hitler wanted to be God, Stalin wanted to be God, Mussolini wanted to be God, but there has never been and never will be another god who chose to become a man.

… who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The trinity, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit agreed before the world began that He would redeem a people for Himself.

God the Father would send His Son, filled with the fullness of the Holy Spirit to walk in perfect harmony with the will of the Father who sent Him. A little baby in a manger whose little hands would one day be nailed to a tree. A little baby in a manger whose little feet one day would walk Him up the path of death to Golgotha. A little baby in a manger whose head would one day be fashioned with a crown of piercing thorns.

This little baby would grow to be despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.

The trinity formed and fashioned a redemption plan and carried it out with absolute pin-point precision that no human mind can comprehend or conceive. As my pastor says so eloquently, to soar to the heights of worship we must plunge the depths of doctrine.

Let the trinity this advent and Christmas season envelope you in worship. Let the wonder of wonders amaze you and propel you to worship Him in this time of year and every time of year. No better words can I speak than some that have already been written:

How deep the Father's love for us How vast beyond all measure

That He should give His only Son And make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss The Father turns His face away

As wounds which mar the Chosen One Bring many sons to glory

Behold the man upon the cross My sin upon His shoulders

Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that held Him there Until it was accomplished

His dying breath has brought me life I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything No gifts, no power, no wisdom

But I will boast in Jesus Christ His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward I cannot give an answer

But this I know with all my heart His wounds have paid my ransom

Why should I gain from His reward I cannot give an answer

But this I know with all my heart His wounds have paid my ransom

The God of the universe, the council of the trinity, one God in three persons, decided for His glory to put on human flesh and die on a cross. God chose to become man to make a wretch His treasure. Oh how great is our God, wonder of wonders, praise His Holy Name. Amen.

Is He an add on, or is He your All-in-All?

2009-11-15T14:37:00.000-08:00

There is but one God, the Maker, Preserver and Ruler of all things, having in and of Himself, all perfections, and being infinite in them all; and to Him all creatures owe the highest love, reverence and obedience.

God is in need of nothing, He is complete in and of Himself.

Man’s existence without God is futile. Look at philosophy, sociology or even the space program … all vain attempts at something leading to a conclusion of nothing. The end result being, “all we know now, is that we do not know“.

All men are looking, it’s just most of them are looking in the wrong place for the wrong thing. Men are created in the image of God, in fact since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.

God is the question and God is the answer. What is life all about? One simple, but powerful answer … God and His glory. We owe the highest love, reverence and obedience to the One True God, the Maker of all things.

God is not an “add on” to life, in fact apart from God, men have no life at all.

For the wages of sin is death …

Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me”.

We don’t come to the Father for our better life, we come to the Father because He is LIFE. We are dead and He makes us alive to Him … But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).

God is in need of nothing, He is complete in and of Himself.

When we have Christ we are in need of nothing. We are complete in Christ. He is our All-in-All or we are nothing at all.

Lunch with David Miller

2009-11-06T13:35:00.000-08:00

What a blessing it is to fellowship with brother David Miller. Brother David is an itinerant evangelist preacher who prefers the title "the Country Preacher at Large". His ministry is called Line upon line ministries. Brother David is a champion of the Christian faith and a warrior for recovering the gospel of Jesus Christ in the professing church of today.

Is it just lip service ?

2009-10-30T20:14:00.000-07:00

The Scriptures of the Old and New Testament were given by inspiration of God, and are the only sufficient, certain and authoritative rule of all saving knowledge, faith and obedience.

Most evangelicals today say that the Scriptures are not only inerrant, but that they are sufficient for everything that pertains to life and godliness. Do we really believe what we say? Do we really believe our denominational or congregational statements of faith? Or are we guilty of lip service?

The Scriptures describe the condition of man, apart from the saving grace of Jesus Christ as dead, deviant, disobedient, deranged and damned. Ephesians 2:1-3 - “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.”

This condition of man is so sinful, it is even hostile towards God. Romans 8:7 - “because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so …

Jesus said, “ MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.” Matt. 4-4

The Scriptures say:

That all human beings are born spiritually dead.

That all human beings are separated from God because of their iniquities.

That all human beings were counted guilty in Adam.

That all human beings are justly condemned to hell apart from God’s grace.

The Scriptures also say that a person must be “born again” to see the kingdom of God. The supernatural work of salvation results in a “new creation”. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. - 2 Corinthians 5:17.

Make no mistake about it the Scriptures testify of Him, Jesus Christ. He is mighty to save! When Jesus Christ saves a soul, He saves them to the uttermost. Not only does Christ save, but He sanctifies and glorifies. He calls us by name to come to Him, that He might show forth His glory in saving a people for Himself.

If the Scriptures say men are dead, why do we preach men are sick?

If the Scriptures say men are hostile, why do we preach men are hurting?

If the Scriptures say men are disobedient, why do we preach men are searching?

If the Scriptures say men are damned, why do we preach men are needy?

The Scriptures are the only sufficient, certain and authoritative rule of all saving knowledge, but most of the professing church in America preaches half truths or a gospel completely void of biblical regeneration, salvation and sanctification. So, the question now becomes: How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?

WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.

Lost sinners must call on the God of the bible, the Lord of the bible, the Jesus Christ of the bible to be saved. No substitute will do and no half truth will prevail at the judgment seat of Christ. Lost sinners must believe in the God of the bible.

For lost sinners to call on and believe in the God of the bible, they must first HEAR about the God of the bible. For lost sinners to hear about the God of the bible preachers must preach the God of the bible.

My constant prayer for the “professing church” in America and much of the world, is that we would return to the truth of God’s written word. The professing church in America is in desperate need of recovering the true gospel of Jesus Christ and returning as a whole to the biblical mandate to endure sound doctrine. Clever schemes of men are no substitute for the word of God. The sociologist, psychologist or anthropologist are no replacement for the biblical exegete.

The Scriptures are sufficient for life and godliness. Please pray for men who will stand on the word of God and preach the truth until someone gets saved or they die trying.

May God never say of us: THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME.

True Church Conference 2010

2009-10-27T21:04:00.000-07:00

Dear fellow believer,

I want to invite you personally to come to the True Church Conference 2010. The following invitation is taken directly from the conference website which you can view at http://www.truechurchconference.org

Nothing kills a church faster than a lost passion for evangelism and missions. Losing our evangelistic fire removes the heat and life from the church. Nothing is more grievous and schizophrenic than using the Doctrines of Grace (the Gospel) as an excuse for a lack of evangelistic zeal! This is the unbalanced and extreme doctrine of “hyper-Calvinism.” Classic hyper-Calvinism is far different from true evangelistic Calvinism. To be honest, all of us need to be stirred to greater fervency in the evangelistic calling (Matthew 28:18-20).

At this time in church history, I’m convinced there is a genuine awakening to the Doctrines of Grace, but with it comes the ever-abiding temptation to go beyond a Scriptural balance. In pride, one can become tempted to love a man-made “system” of theology more than the God of that system and the souls of men. Thus begins the slide down the slippery slope of hyper-Calvinism. Our goal in this year’s conference is to cut off this serpent’s head before it is above the ground!

We’ve invited Jonathan Sims, David Miller, Barry King, and Conrad Mbewe to bring us rich expositional preaching. In addition, Dr. Michael Haykin will bring us some of the historical and practical implications of hyper-Calvinism. I will deliver a message addressing the use of altar calls and how we approach this issue at Grace Life Church of the Shoals.

This year’s conference will offer significantly more instruction and training. Because of many requests for training on practical matters, we are offering four optional break-out sessions covering ten areas of church life.

Cold, dead, fatalistic hyper-Calvinism should not even be named among us! While we will never give up the biblical and glorious God-centered Doctrines of Grace, we must fight all temptation to be slack in taking the Gospel to ALL men in ALL nations urging ALL to repent and believe.

If you share with us a passion for the glory of God in His church, we invite you to join us as we strive together to walk in truth and to build true churches for the glory of God. “To Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.” - Ephesians 3:21

For His glory in His church,
Jeff Noblit - Senior Pastor / Grace Life Church Of The Shoals

The Lordship debate ... who's side are you on?

2009-10-25T19:30:00.000-07:00

Is the Lordship vs. Free Grace debate important ? You bet it is.

Consider the following when you consider what “camp” you dearly hold to in this often misunderstood doctrinal debate: The reason the Lordship debate is one of great importance is simply because the two views are at such extreme, opposite, theological ends with no reconciliation to be found.

Comparing the Lordship position to the Free Grace position is like comparing:

Light and Dark
Jesus Christ and Satan
Wheat and Tares
Sheep and Goats.

By now you get the picture. Simply put, the “no Lordship” people are taking the doctrine of “justification by faith” and perverting it into something it is not. The essence of the perversion comes in defining “saving faith”.

The most interesting point in the entirety of the debate is that there was no debate prior to about 180 years ago. Just a cursory look back into evangelical history will show that spurious or non-saving faith wasn’t an argued point. It was not until the altar call was invented until the need arose for this debate. Prior to the altar call, it was a well understood fact that faith without works is dead. We know that dead faith is not saving faith. You would think this would end the debate, but let's go on.

In fact, in light of Matthew 7:21 a verbal profession of faith alone is worth absolutely nothing on the Day of Judgment. “Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.”

If you take a Savior Only position, or No Lordship position of Jesus Christ in the work of Salvation, you are saying that one can enter through the “narrow gate”, but somehow end up walking on the “broad path”. Even more ludicrous would be to say you could gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from among the thistles!

You might guess then, that we are able to know the true child of God by their fruit. Not to mention the IRON CLAD testimony of Scripture in 1 John 3:10, "By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother."

So what is the real issue … what is the sore spot of this debate? SIN is the issue. To give you a clear understanding of the complete picture let’s start at the beginning.

First and foremost let’s start with the infallibility and the sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures. The bible is the word of God and is absolutely and completely sufficient to handle this discussion on it’s own without opinions being interjected on either side.

The bible is the story of the redemption of man.

The free grace position holds to a faulty view of regeneration call “decisional regeneration”. Take a look at biblical regeneration. Regeneration is the act of a sovereign God creating a new creature. Regeneration is God, for His own good pleasure and purpose, supernaturally transplanting a man from his sinful, fallen, hell bound condition to a position of granting him repentance, faith and eternal life. It is called being born again.

In John 3 Jesus said, “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit”

Men in history have always been, and were obviously not satisfied with God’s church growth method. Somewhere about 150 to 200 years ago a preacher got the idea that he could coax, coerce and motivate people into making long, drawn out, emotional laden, public professions of faith. He was successful and birthed the “altar call” response system we see so prevalent in the professing church today. Pragmatism takes over from there and the rest is history, ugly history.

Although decisions for Christ were readily being made, the bulk of these decisions didn’t last. People were not being changed. I could bore you with polls, statistics and historical facts that demonstrate that the bulk of the professing, modern church look, act, think and generally live life just like the sinful world, but I won’t. I won’t bore you with stories, but just take a look around your own family and friends … ask your family and friends if they are Christians. Ask them if they died today where they think their eternal destiny will be. Go ahead and try it. Ask the drunkard, the thief, the liar, in fact go to the local jail and ask all the hardened criminals on death row. You will find the overwhelming majority of people really believe that they are going to heaven, and the demonstration of their life, or the sins they continue to commit have absolutely no bearing on a past decision of faith. They entered through the narrow gate one day at church, revival service or an evangelical crusade and yet never took one step onto the narrow path. They continue to run down the broad path to their own destruction with a smile on their face, because some silly preacher or worse yet a “numbers running” preacher told them they were saved because they prayed and asked Jesus to come into their heart.

The gospel call has always been and will always be to “repent and believe” (Mark 1:15). Pray a sinner's prayer if you want, walk down the aisle, stand up at the crusade and visit the prayer room, but whatever you do, don’t mistake God for an unjust idol. Don’t think the God that created you is somehow magically amazed because you “did” some ritual at the front, back or even outside the church.

God did not send His Son to die on a cross so that you could pray a prayer and remain in your sins. God sent His Son to save His people from their sins. God sent His Son to purchase a people for Himself that would glorify Him with good works.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

What does the born again Christian look like.

If you are genuinely born again, you will walk in the way of righteousness as a style of life; and if you step off the path, the narrow path, the Father will come for you and discipline you to bring you back on the narrow path. If you can walk in sin, live in sin, continue in sin and yet you profess Christ you ought to be terrified of the state of your soul and your eternal destination.

We don’t tell people they are saved; we tell them how to be saved. Tell them how to get saved and let God tell them they are saved.

Jesus is Lord and Savior or He is nothing at all. Prophet, Priest and King are offices we do not have the authority to usurp or divide. Christ is Lord.

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2009-10-19T16:28:00.001-07:00