Compromise

Saturday Sampler: October 28 — November 3

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Symetry Sampler 03

Did you celebrate Reformation Day on Wednesday? Sadly, many evangelicals (if they even know what Reformation Day is) don’t see the Reformation as having any bearing on their lives. Thankfully, The Cripplegate features Clint Archer’s 3 Ways October 31, 1517 Affects You Life Today as a means of showing us that history really does impact our daily lives.

I usually wince a little when I read Growing 4 Life because Leslie A applies truth like an antiseptic. Of course, antiseptics are necessary in halting dangerous infections. The Expedient Lie forces us to examine how we answer awkward questions. Her observations sting only until they bring the sweet healing of repentance.

Reformation21 features The Statement on SJ&G Explained: Article 9, Heresy by Justin Peters. Demonstrating the deterioration of mainline denominations due to egalitarian beliefs and practices, Justin warns that a seemingly minor relaxation of Biblical principles now can have devastating consequences in the future.

Who wouldn’t want Free A’s And No Homework? SharaC writes about the harmful consequences of such policies on Into the Foolishness of God.

You’ll find that Michelle Lesley has more than one interesting perspective in Throwback Thursday ~ Band-Aids vs. Chemotherapy: Why Suffering Women are Drawn to False Doctrine and 7 Things We Can do to Help. I love her practical application of Scriptural principles.

Jason K. Allen’s 3 Questions for Christians on Social Media appears in For The Church as a welcome challenge to think carefully before we click or tap that “Send” button. Oh boy, do we need to implement his advice!

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The Allure Of Wounded Healers

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WoundedAs a Charismatic, I attended my share of seminars on physical and emotional healing. I quite vividly remember a friend of mine, who had struggled with eating disorders and a divorce (among other traumas) expressing joy and relief when someone at a seminar prophesied that she was a “wounded healer.”

Even then, I wondered where the Bible supported that concept.

Sadly, now many non-Charismatic churches embrace similar ideas. And why not?

There’s something comforting in hearing someone confess their flaws and Continue reading →

Saturday Sampler: October 14 — October 20

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Autumn Leaves Sampler

Clint Archer of The Cripplegate answers the question,  How is God the Savior of all people? (in 500 words). This article helps those of us who are challenged for embracing Reformed Theology.

I haven’t fully vetted the Spirit Of Error website, but Holly Pivec’s ‘Eat the meat and spit out the bones’: A proper response to NAR teaching? makes some excellent points. I especially like her closing milkshake analogy.

In Isaac’s Dilemma, Michael Coughlan of Things Above Us writes about a young man he encountered while doing open air evangelism. What Michael shares warrants our attention for a variety of reasons.

On his Delivered By Grace blog (which I don’t read often enough), Josh Buice examines The Rise in Women Preachers and What You Should Know. As Bible-believing Christians,  we should be aware of this trend. And we should be troubled.

Adapting a commentary by the late R.C. Sproul, the Ligonier blog examines the question, Where Does Ultimate Authority Lie? I particularly appreciate the brief explanation of hermeneutics and proper Bible interpretation.

You might want to read Unaware of Our Slavery, which Laura Lundgrin posts on the Servants of Grace blog to help us realize the danger of entertaining temptation. She lets us see why even the most gentle princess shouldn’t presume that she can tame a baby dragon.

If you’ve been following the Social Justice Movement among evangelicals, you may want to go over to Pyromaniacs and read What Did Jesus Say about “Social Justice?” by Colin Eakin. He demonstrates that Scripture is remarkably clear on the topic.

An incident with one of her employees led Leslie A of Growing 4 Life to write Are You Mowing the Wrong Lawn? In this short, entertaining post, she shows us the best means of determining whether or not we’ve been exposed to false teaching.

Want some excitement in your personal Bible study? Peter Krol’s article, What to Do When the New Testament Quotes the Old Testament in Knowable Word, certainly delivers a thrilling concept for better understanding how God’s Word works as a whole. I’m definitely looking forward to putting his principles into practice!

Australia has followed the United States in legalizing same sex marriage, and it’s experiencing the same terrible consequences. In Let’s Rip The Band-Aid Off Quickly, Stephen McAlpine alerts us to the disastrous fallout caused by the normalization of homosexuality.

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If You Want To Be A Discerning Woman

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Lady's BibleIs discernment ministry essentially baptized celebrity gossip? When the Bible commands us to be discerning, does it mean we should actively hunt down problems with the intention of making public pronouncements against them, thereby showing people how accomplished we are at distinguishing truth from error?

I have a feeling that some who put out the Discernment Ministry shingle do so from an attitude of pride. I did. Somehow I doubt that I’m the only one guilty of this sin. Having knowledge that So-and-so is a false teacher and such-and-such is an unbiblical practice can give a girl a huge shot of self-esteem!

But Biblical discernment (or wisdom) shouldn’t Continue reading →

Flashback Friday: Our Teacher: Grace

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3D CrossThis article first appeared in The Outspoken TULIP on September 5, 2016. I sure needed to read it today. Maybe you do too.

The doctrine of grace indeed teaches that Christians neither earn nor maintain salvation by our own efforts. Hebrews 12:2 identifies Jesus as “the founder and perfecter” of our faith, Who promised that those to whom He has given eternal life cannot be snatched from His hand (John 10:28). Therefore, a believer who lapses into sin, even for extended periods, has not lost his salvation because salvation depends solely on Jesus’ work on the cross. Our works of obedience contribute absolutely nothing to the transaction!

Some people, however, misunderstand the doctrine of grace to mean that we can give in to various temptations because God forgives us. That misunderstanding needs to be addressed. Not only does it deceive false converts into supposing that God tolerates their sin, but it ignores His holy nature.

In the past few years, the wonderful resurgence of Calvinist teaching has regretfully spawned counterfeit teachers who distort Scripture. Grace, in their eyes, becomes a permission slip to sin, particularly in regard to sexual behavior (though it’s also used to excuse other forms of sin). And such theological laxity leads to an acceptance of professing Christians allowing for premarital sex, cohabitation and “committed” homosexual relationships.

Scripture never presents such a view of God’s grace! As a matter of fact, the very apostle Paul who taught that grace emancipates us from the demands of the Law (Galatians 3:1-14) also insisted that grace leads us to live in holiness.

11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. ~~Titus 2:11-14 (ESV)

As this passage demonstrates, the Lord doesn’t save us merely because of His mercy and compassion (although He certainly is merciful and compassionate). He wants His people to reflect His holiness, and consequently He gives us the grace that teaches us to reject our old patterns of sin (sexual and otherwise) in favor of living in holiness.

Grace changes us, so that obedience to the Lord becomes our objective. Not that obedience secures our salvation, but rather that it gives evidence that the Holy Spirit, Who lives in us, transforms our hearts so that we desire His holiness. We don’t dress sin up as something acceptable, expecting the Lord to smile indulgently down on our blatant rebellion against Him. Much to the contrary, we understand the magnitude of His grace, and therefore realize our indebtedness to Him. And, although we can never hope to repay our debt, gratitude swells in our hearts, filling us with a desire to honor Him.

The Lord paid completely for our salvation, and nothing on our part either brings it about or causes its revocation. But a cavalier attitude towards His grace betrays a lack of understanding that He is holy and has redeemed very unholy people. Therefore it undermines His very purpose in redeeming us! Praise Jesus that grace takes us out of sin and enables us to share in His holiness!

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How Discernment Gets Lost

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img_4045How often have you lamented the obvious lack of discernment among evangelicals?  Very often, I should hope! From so-called Holy Yoga to claims that God speaks to us apart from Scripture, evangelicals practically wallow in unbiblical teachings and practices! Plainly, 21st Century Christians need to cultivate discernment skills.

I thought about this problem as John and I read the Bible together this morning.

11 About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, 13 for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. 14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. ~~Hebrews 5:11-14 (ESV)

The Hebrews who originally received this letter had begun reverting to the Law of Moses, supposing that doing so would secure their salvation. They had forgotten the basic Gospel message of salvation because of Christ’s substitutionary work on the cross. As a result, they couldn’t handle deeper teaching, which would have provided the necessary discernment to avoid serious error.

Ladies, Biblical discernment doesn’t come from reading even the most responsible discernment blogs. Those blogs are undeniably helpful for identifying problems and problematic teachers, but genuine discernment comes only through learning right doctrine.

Oh, I know — studying Scripture and listening to expositional preaching isn’t nearly as fun as reading the latest dirt on Beth Moore or the Charismatic Movement. But without the underpinning of sound doctrine derived from reading and studying the Bible, you can’t really discern the Scriptural reasons for rejecting these things.

I’m all for reading Michelle Lesley, Elizabeth Prata and Leslie A. And the men at Pyromaniacs should by no means elude your radar! But the time is coming (perhaps sooner than we think) when the purveyors of the Internet will pull the plug on blogs that practice discernment. We won’t be a mouse click away to warn you of distractions from the Gospel.

You lose discernment by prizing exposes over Bible Studies. You lose discernment by considering doctrine boring and irrelevant. You lose discernment by expecting bloggers to spoonfeed you when Scripture gives you tools for discerning good from evil.

For that reason, reputable discernment bloggers will always encourage you to develop good Bible study habits and find churches that faithfully preach verse-by-verse exposition. You need the solid food of doctrine, not the junk food of surface level heresy hunters.

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Saturday Sampler: September 23 — September 29

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Birds Sampler

In her guest post for Biblical Counseling for Women, Svea Goertzen muses about a One Hit Wonder — The Impact of a Single Song to demonstrate how someone, even in the depths of suffering, can rejoice in the Gospel.

Visit Growing 4 Life to read Leslie A’s thoughts on “Wordless” Christianity. You’ll see why spending time in God’s Word is so vital to spiritual development.

I’m including Steven Kozar’s The Gigantic Problem Beneath the Really Big Problem a week late because I didn’t see it until this week. But I can’t emphasize strongly enough how crucial his point is in developing discernment through sound doctrine! Kozar’s blog, Messed Up Church, appears on the Pirate Christian Media website.

Unafraid  to write on a difficult topic, Elizabeth Prata of The End Time writes What about hell? I didn’t want to read it any more than you do, but willfully ignoring the reality of eternal damnation has eternal ramifications.

Elizabeth continues confronting us with unpopular truth with When Women Pastor. She stands against today’s cultural climate in favor of Biblical gender roles. She also draws an interesting connection between women as pastors and the rise of Pentecostal churches.

Since we get a double dose of Elizabeth Prata this week, why not also have a double dose of Leslie A? Her piece, What Determines Truth for You?, challenges us to continually examine our hearts.

Personally, I’m not a fan of tattoos. But neither am I a fan of misusing Scripture to support my distaste for them. Peter Krol’s post in Knowable Word, Context Matters: Your Body is a Temple of the Holy Spirit, provides excellent guidance on using 1 Corinthians 6:19 appropriately. So I’ll enjoy my cheesecake while those of you with tattoos enjoy them. Deal?

John Ellis, writing for adayinhiscourt (his personal blog), ruminates on #BelieveWomen Versus the Presumption of Innocence. His empathy for accusers and the accused alike encourages us to think Biblically instead of rushing to judgment.

What’s Behind the Social Justice Gospel-ers? Colin Eakin answers that question in his riveting essay for Pyromaniacs. His assessment couldn’t be more accurate! Ladies, I beg you to read this one.

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