Speak the Truth in Love
Welcome to a site devoted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It's my desire that the Lord would use these pages to proclaim His Gospel, to invite people to put their trust in Him, to build His Ekklesia, and to warn of false gospels, false messiahs, and counterfeit religious systems.
Our Calling
Our calling, as followers of Jesus, is to proclaim the Truth to whoever will listen and leave the results in God's hands. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is an invitation, not a debate. If we love people we will warn them about that which draws them away from a pure devotion to Jesus Christ.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6:23
Is this Emergent Church - Contemplative Spirituality?
This is Rosicrucian!
Are the similarities just superficial?
Outcasts & Rejects
from Churchianity
Are you one?
Three types of experiences:
- No opportunity to minister in your church
- Your church has coercive, oppressive leaders
- Your church is going down apostate paths
What a blessing when one is a part of an assembly of believers who love one another and are devoted to the Lord Jesus and His word; and there is freedom to participate; and the elders lead by example from among their brethren.
In some churches things are set in concrete as far as the programs and the rituals and the systems, so that individuals feel there is no place for them to minister or to serve or to teach the Bible in the way they are called of God. There is an elitist attitude among the leaders that only the anointed are allowed to participate and those not in the in-crowd feel shut out. I receive email from brothers from time to time who have this experience and a desire to participate and serve and teach.
I recommend persevering in love with your assembly, by the grace of God. Trust the Lord for opportunities to speak to the elders. Seek to set an example for others.
And while you are persevering in love with your fellowship, perhaps there are other opportunities for you to minister! Consider meeting with friends in homes and read and discuss the Bible together and pray together and sing songs to the Lord together. Visit a rest home and see if you might be an encouragement to elderly people. Maybe there would be an opportunity at the rest home for you to teach the Bible. Visit someone in the county jail. But, most importantly, you and I need to devote ourselves to Jesus and being His disciple and learning of Him and learning Genesis to Revelation. We can trust Jesus that as we devote ourselves to preparation, He will use us in His timing… in spite of anything and anyone else.
More to come...
5/13/08 updated 5/15/08
Pantheon
5/4/08 updated 5/14/08
The lineup of gods a group of people worship.
Also, a temple in Rome devoted to all the gods.
See the Answers.com article: Pantheon - scroll down and note the photos
"Other gods" - 1 Kings 9:6-9
gods of the land - household gods - demons
luck - fate - karma - sorcery - priests - clergy - ritual - mystical
techniques
Worshipping created things rather than the Creator (see Romans 1:25}
Why should we know something about these things? Because God's people are still being drawn away from Jesus by these very things in various disguises!
Greek Pantheon
Apollo · Artemis · Athena · Ares · Aphrodite · Demeter · Dionysus · Hera · Hestia · Hermes · Hephaestus · Poseidon · Zeus
Roman Pantheon
Jupiter · Mars · Quirinus · Saturn · Janus · Vesta · Lares · Pales · Ceres · Pomona · Consus
Norse Pantheon
Óðinn · Baldr · Vör · Bragi · Dagr · Freyja · Hel · Jörð · Njörðr · Rynkar · Skuld · Thor · Urd · Váli
Roman Catholic Pantheon
Saints: Mary · Francis · Christopher · Stanislaw · Elmos · Theresa · Thomas Aquinas · Many Many Others
The people are taught to show devotion to these entities and to pray to them and to believe they will receive blessing and miracles from them.
American Pantheon
Founding Fathers: Washington · Jefferson · Franklin · Hancock · Revere · Adams · Henry · Paine · other Canonized: Lincoln
Consider the monuments, temples really, built to some of these men. Consider the styles of these structures and compare them to the monuments to the above pantheons.
New Discussion Board
When Churchianity Takes Over
Should it not grieve us when sincere fellowship among the brethren is co-opted, taken over, usurped by churchianity?
Is it not reasonable for us to be concerned when the flesh rules in the assembly instead of the Spirit of God? When the personality of men dominate instead of letting Jesus have preeminence?
Yes, we should overlook personal offenses and not insist on our own way.
But the beauty and fulfillment of sincere fellowship causes us to hope for something better when churchianity creeps into the assembly.
News from
Temitope Peters Adewole
in Nigeria
Community Bible Fellowship
Our assembly for which we are grateful.
Pastor/Teacher?
"For the most part I believe that most Calvary Chapel clergymen preach the real Jesus and the true Gospel, for which I rejoice. But their leadership structure with a one-man "Pastor/Teacher" who exerts a Moses-like authoritarian control over each congregation is not a Biblical, healthy example to set for the rest of the Body of Christ. I have personally heard Dave Hunt advocate the leadership of an assembly by multiple elders. Calvary Chapels do not have true elders. They are ruled by one man who has an advisory board who are called, "elders". Part of the reason that Evangelicalism is so deceived is BECAUSE of people who follow their leaders as gurus because their leaders are allowed to have unbiblical authority over their brethren!"
Who Should Lead in the Body of Christ? - Commentary
Questions About Churchianity vs. The Church
Counterfeit Christs: Is your pastor a one-man show?
Four Ways Christians Are Deceived
Beloved sister-in-the-Lord, Ellen Craswell, was taken home by her Lord April 5th, 2008.
Our Sister, Phoebe
"I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea: That ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you: for she hath been a succourer [helper] of many, and of myself also."
Romans 16:1-2
Corrupt "Pastors Conference"
From Lighthouse Trails 3/31/08
"The Transforming Center is advertising this year's pastors retreat as is Zondervan Publishing which hosts both the retreat and the annual National Pastor's Convention. This year's retreat is titled Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership Retreat, and the featured speaker is Ruth Haley Barton, co-founder and president of the Transforming Center. The retreat will take place in early April at a retreat center in Pennsylvania. There will be a second retreat later in the fall."
Read the rest of the article
More Adventures in Freetown...
Brother William negotiates a price of gara fabric for Jim Scott
Video by Jim Scott
Update from Sierra Leone
"Dear
Brethren,
"Suffering
afflicts the soul of every
mortal man here below. What we providentially may be spared
outwardly will nevertheless need to be endured inwardly. Sorrow’s
draught must trickle into all trembling lips without exception,
Christ Jesus included.
"That startling
passage, Hebrews 5:8, confirms this: “Although He was a Son, yet He
learned obedience by the things which He suffered.” Jesus! Tempted
in all ways, yet without sin. Son of God! Ever doing what delighted
His Father on high.
"Yet He learned
obedience; not due to fault in order to correct, not as enlightening
a dull perception, but to taste sustaining support while sufferings
threatened their cascading billows.
West African Mission Update - March 2008
Jesus' Resurrection or Easter?
March 2008 updated 5/14/08
To promote worldly holidays as if they were Biblical is as much a corruption as saying that Christians should celebrate the feasts of the Old Testament.
"Holiday" means Holy Day. The New Testament does not command the observation of any Holy Day.
Yes, there are legalistic types who attack religious holidays in a non-edifying way. But, there are also liberal-leaning demagogues people who try to get political mileage out of attacking anyone with convictions. These people are under pressure to appear liberal and magnanimous and end up acting in a demagogic way.
It is one thing to have the freedom to take part in the cultural aspects of their society's holidays. It is another thing to imply it is required to take part in the world's religious holidays to be a Christian. Now, that is legalism!
Some believers might want to make the most of any cultural season to point people to Jesus' death and resurrection.
But living Jesus' resurrected life EACH day has nothing to do with anyone's opinion about the world's once a year Holy Days.
TBC Today
March 18, 2008 Posted on this site 3/19/08
Today's Update:
"Showtime for the Sheep? Again, and Again, and Again..."
"When the Lord put it upon my heart to write a book about my concerns regarding Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, little did I know I would face a new kind of opposition. I was compelled to address the subject because of my background as a devout Roman Catholic, a former Hollywood screenwriter, and my experience in Christian apologetics. The "passionate" reaction I received was very different from other controversial issues I had written about in nearly three decades of ministry; in this case some who were very much opposed to the book were those whom I greatly respect.
"To a man, their response to my long list of substantial criticisms (multiple distortions of and additions to Scripture, the use of the film medium to manipulate emotions, the false Catholic gospel of physical sufferings to expiate sins, story content taken from a mystical nun, Gibson's goal of reproducing the Stations of the Cross ritual and exalting Mary, etc., etc.) was: "Yes, but God can still use this."
"At the time it was seen by many evangelicals as an exciting opportunity to witness worldwide to those unbelievers whose curiosity the popular movie piqued. Although predictions abounded that the film would bring about great revival, no such thing -- even on a local scale -- materialized.
"I was told by sincere friends that the value of a book explaining the problems with The Passion of the Christ would very likely be short-lived because movies come and go and are soon forgotten. Generally speaking, yes; but not in this case. The evangelical church, credited for making The Passion an overwhelming box-office success, has lionized this movie. Churches not only purchased tickets for their congregations -- they bought The Passion DVDs for their libraries, Sunday schools, adult and young-adult groups, Bible studies, outreach programs, and so forth.
"Four years since the release of the film, its showing has become an annual Easter event for thousands of evangelical churches. This week Hank Hanegraaff's Bible Answer Man program is having actor and conservative Catholic James Caviezel discuss his experience of playing Christ in "the making of the epic film." Moody Bible Church has encouraged its congregation to register for Saturday's free showing of "this powerful depiction of the last days of Jesus' life on earth." Other examples abound.
"The most grievous aspect of all this is that this very Catholic production (Gibson calls it his "very Marian movie"), with all of its anti-biblical characteristics (see Showtime for the Sheep?), has become a permanent teaching tool within evangelical churches. This is certainly a major addition to the rapidly developing apostasy.
"T.A. McMahon
"P.S.- Let me know what The Passion of the Christ events are taking place in your area. "
One of the most disappointing things about being a part of a church that is more institutional than New Testament, is realizing that you're not dealing with friends, but a bureaucracy.
Coercive Clergyman
Political Clergyman
Biblical Elder
Like a Pack of Dogs
Church leadership is often like a pack of dogs. There's an alpha dog who has to demonstrate his dominance from time to time by biting the necks of the other dogs.
Earthquake Relief in Morocco
http://www.friendsoftherif.org/
Friends of the Rif
Michael White's forum on Dispensationalism, Pre-Millenialism, & Pre-Trib Rapture
On the procinwarn.com discussion board
Discuss with this brother issues relating to these topics - Agree or Disagree... in love!
See the summary below of many of the points Michael has made so far.
1. Hebrews 1:1-2
| Quote: |
| God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds... |
2. A "Dispensation" refers to the administration during a time period, more than the time period itself.
3. "God's plan of salvation has never changed just as his character does not." In different times, God uses "different methods to reveal the need in man for a savior".
4. Salvation has, “always been by faith on man’s part and election on God’s part”. See Romans 9:7-11
5. When the Fullness of Time Had Come, Galatians 4:1-5
| Quote: |
| Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. |
6. Most Christians recognize a difference between law and grace. John 1:17
| Quote: |
| For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. |
7. There was a dispensation before the law was given at Sinai (Exodus 19). Romans 5:14
| Quote: |
| Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. |
8. There is a time coming after the present age.
| Quote: |
| Hebrews 6:5 …And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come… |
| Quote: |
| Ephesians 1:10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him... |
9. When there is a change of administration (dispensation) the change occurs over a transition period.
10. See Romans 13:8-12, including Romans 13:10-11
| Quote: |
| Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. |
Michael White's forum
Denominational Organizations: A power for good or for evil?
What is happening in Colorado Springs between the Christian & Missionary Alliance (CMA) and a Chinese church fellowship?
Procinwarn.com Blog
View other overview pages and indexes
- Gospel for West Africa
- Vida En Cristo ministries.com
- Gospel from the Heart of Africa .com
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- Old index page
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Shall we be disciples of Jesus together? Or would you rather just
participate in a Religious System?
Contend for the Faith - Professing Evangelical Christians are effectively becoming Unitarian-Universalists.
"Community" - Salvation of the World? - No... a "Tower of Babel" counterfeit.
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