Pen of Iron

the author and finisher of our faith

2008-12-04T04:07:00.005-04:00

This is the actual sermon that will be aired on Sunday, 07-12-2008, ON WCHP radio, 760 AM.

the author and finisher of our faith

2008-12-02T03:16:00.004-04:00

Hebrews 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

The word “faith” here stands for 3 things in the Bible.

1) Jesus is the author and finisher of the scriptures.

2) Jesus is the author and finisher of the hope.

3) Jesus is the author and finisher of the Christian race.

1. Jesus is the author and finisher of the scriptures

As a born-again Bible-believer, there is nothing for you to believe outside what the Lord Jesus Christ delivered in the scriptures. Christians have a common faith because they have common scriptures which were

1) authored,
2) finished,
3) delivered,
4) revealed,
5) taught,
6) preserved,
7) and magnified

by the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Bible is Jesus’ articles of faith.
Our common faith is the Bible itself; not the catechism, not Vatican 1 or 2 or 3, or the council of Trent, or the canons of Dort or the Synod of Emden, or the Westminister confession of faith or any other defiled product of the human spirit.

I once offered a gospel tract to an older gentleman. He refused by saying "No thank you, I'm a Catholic".
I said "Sir, those are just Bible verses".
He then gave me as honest a confession as I've ever heard:
"It's ok, we a have a little more than that".

He not only authored the scriptures, he finished them. When Christians deny the fact that the Lord preserves his word down through the years and translations, they deny the fact that he is the finisher of our faith.
How could he be the finisher of our faith if he didn’t preserve it?

The Lord Jesus Christ spoke and some 40 Hebrew secretaries wrote. Sometimes he wrote himself.
Once he etched two tables of stone with his finger in the backside of a desert.
Another time he scribbled on the plaister of the wall of a king’s palace.
If you’re born-again, it’s because he’s written upon the table of your heart.

The Lord Jesus Christ wrote the prologue and the epilogue of the Bible and everything in between.
He’s there in the first verse of the Book:

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

He’s there in the last verse of the Book:

Revelation 22:21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

He’s there in the middle verse of the Book:

Psalm 103:1 Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

Beware of getting carried away with the Red Letter editions of the Bible. All the words of the Bible are inspired by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, not just the red stuff.

The Lord Jesus Christ wrote the Law, the Prophets, the Psalms, the Gospels and the Epistles.

He is the only author to have written anything before his birth and after his death.

He is the best-selling, best-loved authored of all time.
He is the most-read, most-translated, most-quoted, most-plagiarized, most-immitated, most-criticized, most-praised author of all time.

In the Pentateuch, he’s a greater anthropolgist than Levi-strauss.
In Joshua, he’s a greater military strategist than Thucydides and Clausewitz.
In Judges he’s a greater tragedist than Sophocles, Euripides, and Aeschylus.
In Ruth he’s a greater short-story writer than Hemingway.
In 1 Samuel to Esther, he’s a greater historian than Herodotus.
In Job he’s a greater dramatist than Shakespear.
In the Psalms he’s a greater song-writer than Homer.
In Proverbs he’s a greater writer of wisdom than Confucius.
In Ecclesiastes he’s a greater philosopher than Plato.
In Song of songs he’s a greater poet than Wordsworth and Neruda.
In Isaiah to Malachi he’s a greater prophet than Nostradamus.
In the gospels he’s a greater autobiographist than Augustine.
In the epistles he’s a greater letter-writer than Horace.
In Hebrews he’s a greater theologian than Ruckman and Larkin and Scofield.
In Revelation he’s a greater horror-writer than Alfred Hitchcock and Stephen King.

Did you know that Stephen King is mentioned in the Bible?

Job 18:14 His confidence shall be rooted out of his tabernacle, and it shall bring him to the king of terrors.

That’s in the middle of a context dealing with the antichrist, who is to be brought to the king of terrors. Stephen King is dealing with a very dangerous spirit.

You look unto Jesus in prayer and also in reading the scriptures “looking unto Jesus the author”. How in the world can you do that unless you’re looking at what he authored?

The Holy Ghost in the verse writes “looking” and in the same breath mentions “faith”.

2Corinthians 5:7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)

The Lord Jesus Christ is the Word of God.
How can you know the Word of God if you don’t read the word of God?
How can you consider yourself a Christian if you’ve never read the whole Bible? If you’ve never finished the scriptures, how can you know the one who finished them? How are you as a spiritual Christian, looking unto Jesus, if you’re not constantly in the book?

At the end of the day, you either believe the author of this book, or another author. You either have the faith of Jesus Christ, or the faith of another man.
At the end of the day it’s “thus saith the Lord” versus “Thus saith so and so”.
It’s author against author; book against book.

2. Jesus is the author and finisher of the hope.

More than once the Bible will speak about “the faith of the Son of God” or “the faith of Christ”. The faith you have is the faith of God. That doesn’t mean that the Lord has faith; it means he gives faith: the faith that is of God, that comes of God.

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Ephesians 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

The antecedent of “it” is faith. The faith that you have in Jesus Christ was not produced by you. It was given to you of God. How was the ability to believe in Jesus Christ given you? By the preaching of the word of God.

Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

According to the last half of the verse, you hadn’t heard anything until you heard the word of God. Hearing comes by the word of God. So until the word of God had come to you, you had been spiritually deaf. You hadn’t heard a spiritual sound in your life until you heard a verse being quoted. There are physical sounds detected by your flesh and there are spiritual sounds detected by your spirit. Your spirit had never heard anything until it heard the words of God because they are spirit (John 6:63) and spiritual sounds are spiritually discerned (1 Corinthians 2:14)
When you heard the word of God, at the moment God also gave you the ability to believe it. But you can stop your ears. You can shut down the sound. And then like the Pharisees, you will not understand the speech of the Lord Jesus Christ because you cannot hear it. Just like a radio station, when you don’t receive something you can’t hear it. If the word of God doesn’t speak to you it’s because you’ve hit the “mute” button.

I stand here today to preach the Lord Jesus Christ. I love and worship him. I have never seen him. I have never heard him. I have never touched him.

1Peter 1:8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:

Not only do born-again Christians believe in Jesus Christ. They love him. Many people believe in Muhammad. Nobody loves him. Many people believe in Buddha. Nobody loves him. Christians are not a special breed of people who are able to produce dillusional faith. We exercise no effort in believing in the face of reality. Our God gave us the faith. We simply have it and we obtained that wonderful gift by receiving his words when we heard them. We simply didn’t turn off the radio station. Obtaining faith is as easy as hearing.
Saving faith is a gift. Do you want to become a believer? Then just listen. The Lord Jesus Christ will make a believer out of you. It is his gift.
It had to be that way because Hebrews 11:6 says “without faith it is impossible to please him”
Well faith is a fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22, not of man.
There are no great believers; just great hearers.
If you want to grow in faith, then simply do what you first did to obtain faith: hear the word of God. Spend time in the Bible and God will increase your faith.

Hebrews 12:2 has more to say.

This is a generation of quitters. They quit school, then they quit work. They quit the wife then they quit the children. They quit the ministry, then they quit the church.

Jesus Christ never quit a thing in his life.

He didn’t quit carpentry, he didn’t quit his ministry, he didn’t quit his own.
Though all quit on you, he won’t.

Philippians 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

Do you know why charity is greater than hope and faith in 1 Corinthians 13? It is because whereas “charity never faileth”, hope and faith do. Heaven is a hopeless, faithless place. Exactly what every atheist dreams of, and he can only get there by faith. Evidenly our God also has a taste for irony.

Jesus Christ walked up Golgotha, got on the cross and did not come down till he had cried “it is finished”. (John 19:30)
He is the author and finisher of our faith and when his blessed hand scribbles “the end” with its own blood, woe to that man that would presume to add a P.S.
If your faith does begin as well as end with Jesus, then your faith is not in Jesus. It’s not Jesus, Mary and Joseph. It’s Jesus, Jesus and Jesus.

3) Jesus is the author and finisher of the Christian race.

When Paul says in 2Timothy 4:7 “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:”
“ the faith” as Paul speaks of it, includes worshipping Jesus Christ as God, believing the scriptures, the resurrection, the rapture, separated living, the renewing of the mind, the two natures of the believer, a heavenly conversation, a right attitude, an honest testimony, a bold witness, an assurance of eternal life and the will of God.
The author and finisher of all these things is Jesus.

The reason we look unto Jesus is precisely because he is the author and finisher of our faith. The Spirit of Jesus Christ never bore witness unto Mary, or the Pope, or any “saint”.
All Christians recognize that. But sometimes, though Christians realize that their faith was authored by Jesus, they think it is finished by Ruckman, or Billy Sunday or the pastor or the deacon or some missionary. That’s why they get offended and quit. They weren’t looking unto Jesus. You didn’t leave because Jesus offended you. You left because someone else offended you. That proves you weren’t looking unto or coming for Jesus and no amount of arguing will ever change that.

In v.1 he said I’m compassed about with a great cloud of witnesses.
Have you read the list of witnesses in chapter 11. Those are men I would live and die to emulate; good men, just men, men who had the respect of God himself.
And though I am compassed about with so great a cloud, yet am I commanded to look unto Jesus. If you’re running the race looking unto the witnesses you’re liable to run into a cloud.
You can run in the right direction while looking at the people around you and you can run in the right direction while looking at yourself.

In swimming, you're taught a stop-jump. There's a technique whereby when you jump into the water you can avoid sinking your head below the water level so you can maintain visual contact with victim. Otherwise when your head comes back out of the water, you might lose the drowing victim in the horizon or the crowd.

That's how a Christian should run the race, never for a moment losing sight of Jesus.
Of course, he is the saviour but if he wouldn't lose sight of you, you shouldn't lose sight of him.

Jesus creates Adam, then he comes as the last Adam.
He writes the scriptures, then he says “it is written”.
He births you by water and he births you by the Spirit.
You’re crucified with Jesus you’re risen with Jesus.
You sleep in Jesus, you’re brought back with Jesus.
To live is Christ, to die is gain.
You’re present in the body you’re absent from the Lord, you’re absent from the body you’re present with the Lord.
Jesus goes outside the camp and Jesus bids you come along with him.
Jesus reconciles your alienated mind and gives you the mind of Christ.
He is your Saviour and he is your Judge.
The church began with his first coming, the church ends with his second coming.
We are his rib, he is our Head.

He is the cornerstone and the headstone.
He is the foundation and he is the crown.
He is Alpha and Omega.
He is the beginning and the ending.
He is the first and he is the last.
He is the root of David and the offspring of David.
He is the Son of God and he is the Son of Man.

He is the author and finisher of your faith.

Do you know why we do anything? It’s so we can give more pleasure to Jesus. We obey him so we can love him. We worship him so we can please him. We witness, not merely for the sake of saving a sinner’s soul from hell, but that Jesus might have one more person to love and worship him. You pray and read the Bible and listen to preaching so you can grow; not merely so you can get more blessings but that Jesus might get more glory out of you. We seek wisdom so we can serve him better.
We seek knowledge so we can know him better. The be all end all of anything a Christian strives for, is precisely so he can get into a position where he can better worship Jesus Christ.
That’s why prayer is so central to our faith. When you are praying, you are at the height of the Christian faith: the worship God in intimacy, which is greater than worshipping God in service. You’re up there spiritually beholding the face of the Father.

You look unto Jesus in prayer and you look unto him in reading the Bible. How else can you look at the author of your faith in this age?
When you’re reading and praying, you are at the height of the Christian faith. (Forsight insight) That’s why you can boil down 50% of all sermons preached to “read your Bible and pray everyday”.

Now how will he finish our faith?

2Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

This is how he authors your faith.

1Corinthians 13:12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

This is how he finishes your faith: sight.
We were the joy that was set before him.
He is the joy that is set before us.

Our church's website

2008-11-19T01:47:00.002-04:00

Finally, our website is up. This is where Revelation.2.17, Consecrated, and Redeemed meet with the church to worship our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Enjoy the tour, and if you're ever up around Montreal or Laval, please come by.

http://montrealbbc.com/

Ravenhill on Revival, 1989

2008-11-07T02:14:00.003-04:00

Leonard Ravenhill was a true man of God. Although he twice ducks out of answering the question concerning the Biblical truth that the church age must end in apostasy, not revival, he nevertheless has more fervor for the Lord Jesus Christ in his pinky than 75% percent of modern preachers have in their whole body.

Listen, consider, and pray.

Correction

2008-10-03T17:03:00.002-04:00

The radio program will be airing on Sunday at 12:30 PM instead of 10 AM as previously thought.

We've faced spiritual opposition at every stage of getting the program going, but thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The WCHP administration was also very helpul and courteous. Thank you.

The weakness of God

2008-10-01T01:14:00.005-04:00

Lord willing this first Sunday of October, the 5th of the month, Bible Baptist Church in Laval, Quebec, Canada, will be preaching the word of God on the Radio.
The program will be airing on Sunday mornings at 10 on Radio station WCHP 760 AM which airs out of Vermont.
Most of us involved are relatively new to the scene, but we are honoured and thankful for this opportunity to glorify our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. This is a sermon that might be airing soon. It is entitled "the weakness of God"

Gap theory? Gap fact.

2008-09-16T23:03:00.029-04:00

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Genesis 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Genesis 1:2 is not a part of the creation process. The six days of creation following Genesis 1:2 are actually six days of recreation. During those days God restores the original creation of v.1 which had been destroyed in v.2.
So what you have is the following:

A) God creates the original heaven and earth in v.1. Everything is complete and we are not told how he did it or how long it took him.
The anointed Cherub is Lucipher who’s God’s right-hand over the universe.
According to 2 Peter 3:5 that earth was standing in the water and out of the water. So it was like a ball floating in the waters of space with probably half of it sticking out of the water like a dome.
I realize this looks like left-field to most readers but if you will read on you might find out that the whole thing is a lot more scriptural that you thought.

B) At some point, Lucipher rebels as described in Isaiah 14 and decides to overthrow God. The whole thing ends in a debacle, God floods the universe and turns off the lights.
Genesis 1:2 is a snapshot of that.

C) In Genesis 1:3 God turns back on the lights.

D) In Genesis 1:7 God restores the water-damage, revealing the universe.

E) In Genesis 1:9 God restores the water-damage, revealing the earth.

F) In Genesis 1:27 God replaces Lucipher with Adam, only smaller, because
the last free-willed son of God ruined the universe.

Amongst believers who deny the gap between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2, I personally have met very, very few who have actually taken the time to sit down and sketch out the creative process of Genesis 1 while satisfying all verses. That includes preachers and teachers. The careful reader will soon find himself in a Gordian knot that only the gap can untie. I attempted enumerating a few strings of that knot but found it so bewildering that I just thought it best to leave it to you, gentle reader, to make sense of the account without the gap.

I am thoroughly aware of all objections. I will not here concentrate on meeting them, but on proving positively that Genesis 1 is so written as to present an account of the recreation of the universe. Whatever objections you have left, or new ones that might arise, I will be willing to meet specifically.
Above all arguments, towers the inspired system of studying the word of God, which is comparing scripture with scripture as outlined in Isaiah 28:9-10 and 1 Corinthians 2:13. So if I want to know if “without form, and void” is a positive or negative expression, I search out those words as they appear in the rest of the Bible in order to understand the connotation.
And those are things which “cannot be spoken against.” (Acts 19:36)

Let it lastly be said that I do not believe in the gap because I’m looking for a way to reconcile what “science falsely so-called” presents as a ridiculously old earth. I believe it because that what the scriptures present.
After all, I do contend that there’s a gargantuan body of water North of deep space that separates the universe from the third heaven. I further believe that the earth is recreated before the sun. So with positions like these, I hope it will be obvious to the honest reader that I am not pandering to the scientific world.

Scripture With Scripture

Isaiah 55:11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void,

If God’s word does not return unto him void, how could the earth have been created void by his word?

Jeremiah 4:23 I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.

Three elements match Genesis 1:2; lack of form, void, and darkness.The words without form, and void; are used in the context of destruction, not creation.

Nahum 2:10 She is empty, and void, and waste:

The word void is used in the context of destruction. It is associated with waste, i.e. the destruction caused the void.

Isaiah 53:2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

It's not that Jesus Christ didn't have a shape, for in Isaiah 52:14 he is said to have a form.
But he had ¨¨no form¨¨ in the sense that he had no comeliness, no beauty.
Similarly, it's not that the earth had no shape at all, but it was without form in the sense that it was a jumbled up, beat up, unrecognizable mess; just like Jesus' face and body were after the beating he went through. (See Isaiah 52:14!). Yet again the context is judgment and the idea negative.

This is nobody's private interpretation but the Holy Spirit's own comments on the words.

The World That Then Was

2Peter 3:5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
2Peter 3:6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
2Peter 3:7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

That he isn’t speaking of Noah’s flood is apparent from the following:

1. In the overflow Peter is referring to, the heavens also perished, implying that the heavens of today (v.7) are not the heavens that were there then, hence he calls them “old”.
The problem is that:

A) The heavens did not perish in Noah's flood, only the earth did.

B) The heavens is always a term that includes space. The atmosphere is called “heaven”, but never “heavens”.
Peter is saying that all of deep space perished in that particular overflow. That certainly did not happen in Noah’s flood.

2. Nor did the earth perish in Noah’s flood. We still have the same earth as Noah, as evidenced by the residual oceans. For earth to perish would mean for it to disintegrate. According to Peter in the same chapter, there will come a day when the heavens and the earth shall be so destroyed that God will have to make what is termed as new heavens and a new earth because the former will have perished.
That destruction is so complete that the earth is said to be dissolved (vss.10-11). It is in comparison to that kind of destruction that the next earth is termed ``new``. No such destruction befell Noah’s earth. It just got washed of its filth.
So today’s earth is a not a new earth compared to Noah’s in that sense, nor is it ever called "new".
Today's earth is the same earth that Noah walked on and cannot be termed "new" in comparison. But it can be termed new in comparison to the earth of Genesis 1:2 which was "without form, and void".

3. Peter is then drawing symmetry between the destruction of Genesis 1:2 and the destruction of 2 Peter 3:7,12.

You also have another symmetry within that one, which is the destruction of the earth in Noah’s flood and its destruction at the second advent of the Lord.

In those two events, earth’s topography is changed, but the earth doesn’t perish. It is symmetrically renovated in those two events; it is symmetrically destroyed at Satan’s first rebellion (Genesis 1:2) and Satan’s last rebellion after the 1000 year reign of Christ on earth (Revelation 20:9).

The symmetry is A B B A.

The earth is destroyed at man's first rebellion, and again at his last rebellion. The first time it is destroyed by water (Genesis 6:17) and the last time when the times of the Gentiles come to an end, it is destroyed by fire (2Thessalonians 1:8).

The earth is destroyed at Satan's first rebellion and again at his last rebellion. The first time it was destroyed with water (Genesis 1:2), the last time it is destroyed by fire (Revelation 20:9).

4. In v.5 Peter says that that earth was standing in the water and out of the water. Today’s earth isn’t standing in the water and out of the water but hangs on nothing in space (Job 26:7). To say that today’s earth fits that description in that the land mass stands out of the oceans ignores the fact that Peter is pointing out that description as a specific characteristic of the earth that than was. He’s saying: unlike today’s earth, the old earth was standing in and out of the water. He’s highlighting a distinctive feature of the old earth in contradistinction to today’s earth. Otherwise what would be the point of mentioning that characteristic?
It would be like saying that the earth that then was which had a blue sky, perished. Well so what? So does this one.
No, for the specification to make any sense one would have to consider that the world that then was, in context, is not Noah’s world. And it must’ve stood in the water and out of the water in a way that is different than today’s world.

Moreover, nobody anywhere is willingly ignorant of the fact that earth’s land mass juts out of the oceans! They can see that with their eyes.
So if Peter is referring to that fact when he says `standing in the water and out of the water` he’s wrong. Common sense tells you he’s talking about something else.

Peter is talking about people who are willingly ignorant of the Old Testament scriptures concerning the `original` earth. Check the context: `the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets` v.2. How would anyone know that the heavens and the earth were created by the word of God (v.5) except by reading the word of God?!

So what verses were those scoffers ignoring in relation to the earth `standing in the water and out of the water`?

Psalm 24:1 The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
Psalm 24:2 For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.

Today’s earth isn’t founded or established upon any waters but hangs on nothing! (Job 26:7).

Again:

Psalm 136:6 To him that stretched out the earth above the waters: for his mercy endureth for ever.

Picture Of Judgment

Bear in mind that Noah’s flood was a judgment. Below are parallel imageries between Noah’s flood and the overflow of Genesis 1:2.

· In Genesis 8:8-9 a dove flies upon the face of the waters.
A dove is type of the Holy Spirit (Luke 3:22) which "moves upon the face of the waters."

· In Genesis 8:1 a wind passes over the waters.
Wind is a type of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:16) which moves upon the face of the waters.

· In Genesis 7:18 the ark goes upon “the face of the waters” just like the Spirit of God moved “upon the face of the waters”.

In all those cases the imagery is that of judgment.

Satan's Rebellion

If Genesis 1:2 doesn’t picture the destruction of a pre-Adamic earth, then the initial rebellion of the Devil and his angels must be placed somewhere between the 8th day and Genesis 3:1, the angelic beings having been created at some point during the six days of creation. However unlikely that they rebelled within such a short time span without an exterior influence as in the case of Eve, it still may have happened.

But the problem is that we don’t we read of God creating the angelic beings anywhere during the six days of Genesis 1. Genesis 2:1 is a reference to the sun, the moon, and the stars. I can place that host in Genesis 1:16. But where are the angels, the Seraphims and the Cherubims? Why are the sun, moon and stars mentioned in heaven; the beasts, cattle and even creeping things mentioned in earth, while the creation of the angelic beings, certainly the most glorious of all created life, never even discussed?

The only possible answer is that they were already there. This is confirmed in Job 38:4-7.

Job 38:4 Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.
Job 38:5 Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?
Job 38:6 Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;
Job 38:7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

According to God the morning stars and the sons of God were there singing and shouting while he was laying the corner stone of the earth. (Probably even before the creation of the earth of Genesis 1:1)
Yet back in Genesis 1 the earth is there before the sun, moon and stars.
You’ve got quite a problem if you don’t understand that Genesis 1 relates six days of recreation.

Notable Omission

After describing each day of creation, the Holy Spirit mentions that God saw that it was good except for the second day wherein God creates the heaven.
Why? A bible-believer whose senses are exercised by reason of reading the word will here detect an inspired omission of the Holy Spirit.
It is no chance that such an omission is made for that particular day as will soon be proved.

By denying that Genesis 1:2 is a judgment of a pre-Adamite earth one has no explanation why God does not see the heaven as “good” in Genesis 1:7.

Some might object by referring to the last verse of Genesis 1 which says "And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good." But that is simply a general statement in relation to the overall creation and does not apply to every day specifically. That this is so is clear for two reasons, the first being common sense. There might be some undesirable element in a part of a work, such as a painting, but the outstanding element does not rob that particular work of art from being called "very good". The second reason that v.31 cannot apply to every creative day specifically is because God saw that each day was "good", not "very good" else the Bible would've said so. Afterall, the Holy Spirit did choose to add the word "very" in v.31.

So why did God not see that the heaven was good? This is not an isolated incident of negative connotation. The rest of the scriptures also present the heavens with a specifically negative connotation.

Job 15:15 Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight.

God's point of view is again negative. In Genesis 1:7 he did not see that the heaven was good, and according to Job they are not clean in his sight.
How could something that God created be found unclean?
The answer is because of what took abode in that heaven.

Job a gets a little more specific:

Job 25:5 Behold even to the moon, and it shineth not; yea, the stars are not pure in his sight.

Again with God's sight. God created the stars, how then can they be impure?
The answer is what those stars are associated with: angels.

Remember that in Job 38:7 God speaks of angelic beings as "stars". Many times the scriptures will speak of angels as stars.

The reason that God never says that the heaven was good in Genesis 1:7 is because Satan and his fallen angels infested that heaven after they were judged in the overflow of Genesis 1:2.

That's why Genesis 6:11 says

The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.

It says "also" because the heaven had already been corrupted by fallen angels back in Genesis 1:7 as they repopulated the heaven which God had flooded in Genesis 1:2.
But when God recreated the earth in Genesis 1:9-12 he sees that it is good because he had cleansed it of its rebellious host and it wasn't corrupt anymore, albeit for a short period of time.

That those evil beings inhabit the heavens is clear from scripture:

Isaiah 24:21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.

1Corinthians 8:5 For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,)

Ephesians 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Haven't you noticed that space is dark? That is because it is filled with the powers of darkness.

Those then were the gods that Satan was referring to when he seduced Eve.

Genesis 3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, (not "God") knowing good and evil.

The abode of the gods of Genesis 3:5 and 1 Corinthians 8:5 is not with flesh.

Daniel 2:11 And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.

Their dwelling today is in the heavens. They once inhabited the pre-Adamite earth in (probably) physical bodies, just like the gods that would later inhabit Noah's earth in physical bodies (Genesis 6:4). It is very clear in scripture that angels can take on physical bodies and interact with men. The references are too numerous to list.

Psalm 82:6 I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.
Psalm 82:7 But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.

The problem of fallen angels is that once they become men, they can also die as such. Even Hollywood understood that truth in movies like "city of angels". That shows you that the writers are either Bible students or they're inspired by devils.

Men are not gods and men die physically. God is talking to fallen angels and telling them that since they have taken physical form, he will kill them physically, like he kills mere men. He did it twice before; once in Genesis 1:2 and once in Genesis 7, and will do it yet again at the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ who himself warned us (Luke 17:26) that what happened in the days of Noah (see Genesis 6) will happen again.

(If you can't believe all this and remain skeptical how water can destroy spiritual beings, simply recall that the Bible clearly teaches that Satan and his angels are judged by fire. If they can be judged by fire, they can be judged by water.)

Finally, all this explains why God is interested in destroying the heavens, not just the earth alone.
The reason is that the universe is infested with wicked spiritual beings

Isaiah 34:4 And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree.

2Peter 3:7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

2Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

2Peter 3:12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?

Satan in Eden

Ezekiel 28:13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.

In Ezekiel 28:13, Satan is present in Eden the garden of God in his pre-fall glory, certainly not as a serpent. You could not account for that without considering a pre-Adamic earth, for the first time Satan appears in the Bible he’s in the garden of Eden as a fallen being.

That Ezekiel 28:13 is a description of Lucipher’s glory before his fall is all the more clear from the parallel description of Aaron the high priest in Exodus 28:17-20. Aaron is there covered by all the stones mentioned in Ezekiel 28:13 and is certainly not standing as a picture of a fallen Cherub.

Preach, pray, or die

2008-08-26T01:19:00.010-04:00

This is what we call "preach, pray, or die". You have a Bible verse assigned to you by lot. You have 5 minutes to pray for, and come up with a message and then 5 minutes to preach it.

We were fellowshipping at a brother's house a couple of months ago one Saturday night.

We do not take God's word or the preaching thereof irreverently.

We love our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and the things of God and the fellowship of his saints.

We realize this kind of fun may strike you as crazy, but it sure beats getting drunk with fake friends, acting like a fool and waking up with a hangover to stare at the vanity of your life.

May this encourage some weary soul.

"He is able to deliver thee"

"Will your anchor hold?"

Clincher reply on value of hearing sermons

2008-08-19T14:17:00.000-04:00

Someone sent this to me a few years back..I don't know who wrote it but thought it was great.

A letter to the editor complained:

I've gone to church for 30yrs now. I've heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them. So, I think that I am wasting my time, the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all.

This started a controversy that went on for weeks, to the delight of the Editor, until someone wrote this clincher.

I've been married for 30yrs now. In that time, my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals.I do know this..They nourished me, and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me those meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourrishment, I would be spiritually dead today!

ERRORS IN THE SCOFIELD NOTES

2008-08-19T13:46:00.008-04:00

C.I. Scofield's notes remain some of the best notes on the Bible ever published. It is remarkable that a man could have so little and relatively minor errors in such a large work. Scofield was an honest and courageous dispensationalist who never flinched on the doctrine of the 1000 years reign of the Lord Jesus Christ on this earth and never confused Israel with the church of God. The Lord gave him special insight into many other areas of scripture. This list is a work-in-progress seeking simply to alert people to some mistakes in his notes.Given the popularity of the Scofield Bible, and the fact that no list of errors exists on the internet that I could find (only the ramblings of poor students of the word who seek to destroy the man and his work) I thought it useful to write it.

2 Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Genesis 6:4

A) « Sons of God » is only used of angels in the Old Testament.

B) They are not spoken of in a sexless way; they are spoken of as males.
(See Scofield’s own note in Hebrews 1 :4)

C) They may not marry but they can still take on physical form and fornicate with human women.
Moreover Matthew 22 :30 refers specifically to angels « in heaven ».

D) Whether « the uniform Hebrew and Christian interpretation has been that verse 2 marks the breaking down of the separation between the godly line of Seth and the godless line of Cain » is for one thing questionable and for another, irrelevant in light of scripture.

· Exodus 29:33, Leviticus 16:6

The word « atonement » is the correct translation.

· Leviticus 11:2

The dietary regulations are primarily for the sake of teaching the people of God about the
holiness of God.

· Leviticus 11:6

The arnebeth and the hare are identical. To this day “Arneb” in Arabic means hare. The error is due to Scofield’s assumption that they’re different.

· Numbers 22:22

In v.12 God forbids Balaam to go with the messengers of Balak. In v.19 Balaam tries once more to get an O.K . In v.20 God tells him that if the men come to call him again, then he could go. The men never do and Balaam never waits for them to do so. He automatically packs up and leaves with them. That was not what God had told him to do, hence God’s anger.

· 2 Samuel 18:18

The second view is the correct one. Absalom is a type of the antichrist who
loses all his children.

· 1 Chronicles 11:5

The word Sion in Hebrews 12:22 is most certainly not used symbolically but quite literally, as in all other passages of the Bible.

· Job 32:2

Job 38:2 is not God’s judgment of Elihu’s words but of Job’s.

· Job 38:1

God answered Job, not « for Job ». The paraphrase is wrong and confusing.

· Psalm 2:12

(3) The titles of the Psalms are exactly where the Holy Spirit wants them.

· Psalm 8

(1) Again, the title is in its right place.

· Psalm 19:9

The « fear of the Lord » means the FEAR of the Lord, not « reverential trust, with hatred of evil ».

· Psalm 22:27

It wasn’t partial but complete nudity.

· Song of Solomon 2:14

Yet again, the A.V. text is correct. The way to God is not a process and hence the translation cannot be « the secret of the stairs ».

· Isaiah 2:2

A mountain, in Scripture symbolism, means a mountain.

· Isaiah 26:19

Eliminate Scofield’s correction to the A.V. text.

· Isaiah 63:16

No Old Testament believer was ever « born anew » in the scriptures.

· Ezekiel 8:3

It’s not « as if he were transported back to Jerusalem ». He was transported back to Jerusalem from the river Chebar, just like John was transported into heaven from the island of Patmos.

· Ezekiel 28:12

It’s the king of Tyre that’s being addressed indirectly, not Satan.

· Ezekiel 37:1

The resurrection of the dry bones is a literal resurrection, not merely a symbolic one.

· Daniel 7:2

The sea, in scripture imagery, stands for a sea.

· Daniel 7:17, 8 :1, Revelation 13:2

The vision of Nebuchadnezzar does not cover the same historic order as the vision of Daniel. Daniel identifies the head of gold as Nebuchadnezzar and therefore as the Babylonian kingdom. But concerning Daniel’s own vision of the beasts, he is told by the angel that these are four beasts « which shall arise ». The Babylonian kingdom was already there at the time of Daniel’s vision. It was present, not future. The four beasts are four kingdoms that come after Babylon. That makes the last beast, which is divers from the first ones, the kindgom of the antichrist, not the Roman kingdom, although the former derives from the latter.

· Daniel 7:26, 8:9-10

(2) The little horn of Daniel 7 is the little horn of Daniel 8, which is the antichrist. Antiochus Epiphanes was nothing more than a historical type, just like Hitler was a historical type of the antichrist and not the antichrist himself.
Daniel 8:10 is Revelation 12.

· Daniel 8 :13

The fulfillment of ``the transgression of desolation`` is only that of the beast’s. All others were mere historical types.

· Daniel 9 :24

V. 25 is a reference to Messiah`s crucifixion, not birth, for the 69 weeks terminate the very day Jesus Christ is crucified.
V.26 is fulfilled by the destruction of the city by the antichrist, not by Titus in 70 A.D. That was, yet again, a historical type.

· Daniel 9 :27

In Daniel 11 :31 the reference is the the act of the antichrist and is yet future. Once more, the act of Antiochus Epiphanes was a mere adumbration of the real thing.

· Daniel 11 :2

Just forget about Antiochus. The personage who here occupies the vision is the antichrist himself.

· Daniel 11 :35

It had always been the little horn, way before v.36.
The expression ``God of his fathers`` does point to a Jew and this does not conflict with Daniel 9 :26 because the antichrist will be a Roman Catholic Jew.

· Joel 2 :11

The army of his v.11 is the same army of verses 1 to 10.

· Micah 4 :1

In scripture, a mountain is the symbol for a mountain. See Isaiah 2:2.

· Micah 5 :1

Revelation 12 :2,5 is not a reference to Christ. See reference for note.

· Habakkuk 2 :5

Scripture reveals hell as a place of sorrow and fire.

· Zechariah 1 :20

They’re four carpenters and they’re literal ones too.

· Zechariah 8 :14

God doesn’t just seem to change his mind. He really does. That doesn’t contradict
James 1 :17. Where God binds himself to a position, he never changes his mind.
Where he doesn’t bind himself, he repents himself based on man’s free will which he gave him.

· Zechariah 10 :4

The past tense is correct. The scriptures wherein the past tense is used for a future event are too numerous to list.

· Zechariah 11 :11

The church, corporately, is in Old Testament prophecy. It just isn’t revealed until the New Testament. Like Bullinger, Scofield is confusing revelation with origin.

· Zechariah 12 :1

The ``latter rain`` is a literal expression. There’s a supernatural rainstorm associated with the second advent of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Under (d), where he says ``absolute equity will be enforced``, beware not to read
``equality``.

The majority of earth’s inhabitants will be lost, not saved. Revelation 20 :8.

· Zechariah 14 :4

The earthquake is caused by the foot of the Lord Jesus Christ coming into contact with the soil.

· Malachi 3 :6

Note (6) is utter rubbish. That which exists ``in the infinite being of God and answers to these things- eyes, a hand, feet``; happens to be actual eyes, and hands and and feet.

· Matthew 3 :2

Note (b) The fulfilment of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven takes place at the end of the tribulation and not at the end of the present church age.

· Matthew 4 :21

Not two but three persons are called James in the New Testament. James the Lord’s brother, was just that; the Lord’s brother by Mary, not his cousin. And he isn’t the author of the epistle of James. James Zebedee, brother of John, martyred in Acts 12 :2, is the author of the epistle of James.

· Matthew 5 :22

Hell and the lake of fire are not identical. Hell is the temporary holding cell before unforgiven sinners are locked up eternally in the lack of fire. You can never be saved from the second death once you’re in hell. You just go out of the fire and into the frying pan.

· Matthew 7 :22

The Bible doesn’t use the word ``demons`` but ``devils``, which reveals the fact that they are spawned by the devil. These are different than fallen angels. Some are human, like Judas Iscariot, while some are mere spirits which may have been disembodied. The locusts of Revelation 9 are not devils.

· Matthew 10 :2

Note (4) The keys to the kingdom of heaven are not just given to Peter but to all twelve disciples in Matthew 18 :18, including Judas.

· Matthew 13 :11

If Scofield wanted to name all things spoken of as a mystery in the Bible, he would have had to add a few more such as ``the mystery of the faith``(1 Timothy 3 :9) ; ``the mystery of his will``(Ephesians 1 :9) ; etc...

But the Bible presents 7 mysteries per se. As Scofield lists them these are :

(2) The mystery of Israel’s blindness (Romans 11 :25)
(3) The mystery of the translation of living and dead (not just living) saints of the church age ( 1 Corinthians 15 : 51-52, 1 Thessalonians 4 :13-18)
(4) and (5) are one and the same. That one body composed of Jew and Gentile is the body of Christ.
(6) The mystery of the inliving Christ (Colossians 1 :26-27)
(8) The mystery of Godliness ( 1 Timothy 3 :16)
(9) The mystery of iniquity ( 2 Thessalonians 2 :7)
(11) The mystery of Babylon (Revelation 17 :5,7)

· Matthew 13 :17

In wasn’t only ``what manner of time`` that the prophets searched to understand but also ``what`` the Spirit meant. 1 Peter 1 :11

· Matthew 17 :2

(2) The explanation of the types is good but should be applied to the tribulation saints who get raptured, living and dead; and not to the church, whose type is Enoch.

· Marc 16 :9

The Sinaiticus and Vaticanus are the two most corrupt manuscripts ever found. One of them was found in a garbage bin. The contain uncountable emmendations, internal and external contradictions. The case has often been made, even through books, for the last 12 verses of Marc.

· Marc 16 :14

It is rather ironic that one should deny the literal reading of a verse whose very authenticity one has just doubted. The Holy Ghost said eleven because he meant eleven. He is referring to the twelve disciples minus Judas, which makes eleven.

· Luke 11 :13

Many forget that Martha also, not just Peter, confessed Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God. John 11 :27.

· Luke 16 :23

Hades always was a reference to the burning sector where the dead go and not an overall term designating both the abodes of the saved and lost.
``Hell`` is the Holy Ghost’s translation of ``Hades``and in every case refers to that part of the underworld where the lost go and are in torment in flames of fire.
Christ never adopted a single Talmudic designation a day in his earthly life.

· Luke 17 :21

The « within » is wrongly contested because it is assumed that saying that the kingdom of God is within a group of people is equivalent to saying that they’re saved and therefore how could a bunch of unregenerate Pharisees be saved?
For one thing, salvation is when someone enters the kingdom of God, not when the kingdom of God enters them.
The « within » of the A.V. 1611 is shown to be accurate if one simply remembers the english meaning of the word « kingdom ». A kingdom designates a particular area or sphere of dominion.
All that the Lord is saying here is that the sphere of the kingdom of God is on the inside and not on the outside as is the case with the kingdom of heaven. This is clear for Paul defines the kingdom of God as follows in Romans 14:17 “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.”
Those are all things whose sphere is “within”, not among. The Holy Ghost comes into believers, not among them or in their midst.

The Lord is taking the Pharisees for a ride, because they did not divide between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven, just like most of modern Christian scholarship. They specifically asked “when the kingdom of GOD should come” not the kingdom of heaven. So the Lord takes the opportunity to teach them a lesson in rightly dividing the word of truth by pointing out, in his own unique way, that that kingdom is spiritual and hence its targeted area is within them: their spirit and soul. That’s why it can only be entered by a spiritual, inner birth, as the Lord taught Nicodemus.

· Luke 21 :20

Verses 20 to 24 in Luke are just as much a reference to the final tribulation siege of Jerusalem as Matthew’s are.

· John 1 :18

Not quite. Some men had seen the Son whom in the trinity, stands for the body, as the Holy Spirit stands for the spirit, and the Father for the soul. God’s soul no man has ever seen at any time.

· Acts 9 :20

Scofield is a way off here. For one thing, though the truth that Christ was God was plainly taught by Isaiah, it wasn’t believed, just like many other teachings of the prophets. Scofield’s note also creates the impression that everyone naturally believed that the Christ would be God the Son and that the only problem was identifying who’s the Christ.
Such an assumption is inexplicable given the gospel narrative. Contradicting the sense of the Authorized Version is a fundamentally spiritual problem rather than intellectual one. See Hebrews 5 :6 note.

· Acts 19 :2

The A.V. words are correct. The second part of the note is accurate.

· 1 Corinthians 1 :8

See also 2 Thessalonians 2 : 2 note.
The day of Christ does not relate exclusively ``to the reward and blessing of saints at His coming``. The expression covers the rapture of the church before the tribulation as well as the second advent of the Lord Jesus Christ at the end of the tribulation.

· 1 Corinthians 2 :13, Revelation 22 :19 (3 superscript)

Here Scofield ignores the scriptures’ own testimony concerning the matter and buckles under scholarly pressure. See Hebrews 5 :6 note.
Watch how the credit due the Holy Ghost is transferred unto men and observe the inherent contradictions :
``The writers of Scripture invariably affirm, where the subject is mentioned by them at all, that the words (emphasis in original) of their writings are divinely taught. This of necessity, refers to the original documents, not to translations and versions; but the labours of competent scholars (emphasis mine) have brought our English version to a degree of perfection so remarkable that we may confidently rest upon them as authoritative.``

A) Why it is of necessity is not explained, only assumed by natural reasoning, not taught by divine revelation.

B) In more than one instance the scriptures bear testimony that a translation and a copy can be as inspired as the original authographs. If that were not the case, than the inspiration of the original document would be futile. Why would God inspire something he wouldn’t preserve?!

C) What may be rested upon as authoritative according to Scofield are ``translations and versions``.
Yet ``the writers of Scripture affirm`` that their WORDS, not only the document as whole, are inspired, not simply ``authoritative``. There’s a huge difference between words and versions, and between inspired and authoritative. There’s a giant chasm between inspired words and authoritative versions, which chasm God would never allow to separate us from his words given his insistent emphasis that we need every word that proceeds out of his mouth to live!

D) Why God would go through the trouble of inspiring the writings of ``holy men of old`` that people may read his pure words but leave scholars to fend for themselves in extracting those very words, without guiding them by his Holy Ghost in the process, is a mystery no scholar dares discuss. Maybe because those scholars weren’t ``holy men``...
Christians believe that they can’t get to heaven despite their best efforts, that they can’t live the Christian life outside the grace of God, that they can’t survive without the sustenance of God, and that without Jesus Christ they can do nothing; and yet, marvel of marvels, when it comes to God’s words, the subject dearest to his heart, they believe that God gets the ball rolling, then forever abandons men to rely on their own intellects and education, and efforts in order to retrieve his words which he allowed to fall by the way side some hundreds of years. That is nothing short of spiritual madness.

· 1 Corinthians 10 :8

While there may be discrepancies in some Hebrew manuscripts, there aren’t any in the A.V. 1611. If there wasn’t a flawless Bible on earth today, the scripture would be broken (Psalm 12 :6-7, Matthew 24 :35, Mark 13 :31, Luke 21 :33)

· 1 Corinthians 15 :52

To understand Scofield’s note one must remember that the ``first resurrection`` of Revelation of 20 :5 is compared to a harvest which has three phases : one resurrection of the first fruits, which took place after Jesus’ resurrection (Matthew 27 :52-53). That was a resurrection of SOME of the O.T. saints. Then there’s the main harvest which is the resurrection of the church ONLY. Finally there are the gleanings, which is the resurrection of the tribulation saints plus the rest of the O.T. saints who weren’t resurrected in Matthew 27 :52-53.
So Scofield is wrong in saying that the O.T. saints are raised up with the church. See also 1 Thessalonians 4 :17 note

· Ephesians 1 :3

The note is completely arbitrary. Heaven is a literal, physical, geographical dimension, not an experience or a state. The born-again Christian is somehow literally represented in the third heaven, geographically (see Ephesians 2 :6) even while he lives bodily on the earth; similarly to Jesus Christ during his earthly life. See John 3 :13. The ``places`` is especially leading.

· Philippians 1 :1

Strictly speaking, it is not the local church that is the temple of God but the bodies of the believers.

· 1 Thessalonians 4 :17

Only church saints have a part in this resurrection. The first resurrection is not limited to the church’s resurrection. See 1 Corinthians 15 :52 note.

· 2 Thessalonians 2 :3

(3) The classic interpretation has been that v.7 refers to the Holy Spirit who’s refraining the manifestation of the antichrist until he is taken out of the way.
But there’s no reference to the Holy Spirit in the context. According to Ruckman, there’s a cog in the wheel that’s keeping the man of sin from showing up as the son of perdition.
(2) The apostasy is not that of the professing church, which is inconsequential and senseless, but of the true church, hence Laodicea. See 1 Timothy 3 :15 note; 2 Timothy 3 :1 note.

· 1 Timothy 3 :15

Apostasy is never restricted to nominal Christianity in the Bible. To restrict apostasy to unbelievers is unscriptural, smacks of the fear of man, and underestimates the deceitfulness of the old nature in true believers. In fact, apostasy is exclusively used of saved believers who knowingly reject revealed scriptural truth. See 2 Timothy 3 :1 note; 2 Thessalonians 2 :3 note.

· 2 Timothy 3 :1

In ``professed Christians``, cross out ``professed``. There’s no apostasy in the passage because Paul is talking about lost men. Scofield inserts his note on apostasy here because he limits apostasy to lost professing Christians, which is exactly the opposite view of the Bible. How apostates can ``depart from the faith``, which faith they never had to begin with, is not explained. Scofield simply has in mind lost people who once spoke as Christians and quit doing so. But revealing one’s true colours and apostasy are two widely different things.

The greatest apostasy within English-speaking Christianity today is the forsaking of the King James Bible and of the promises of God that he would preserve all his words through time and translations. See 1 Timothy 3 :15 note; 2 Thessalonians 2 :3 note.

· Titus 1 :5

(2) The bishop is the pastor. The elders are deacons. That one man was head is clear from the sheer fact that Paul charges one man, even Titus, to ordain the elders and does not leave their ordination to the elders themsevles. Moreover, Philippians 1 :1 mentions bishops and deacons. That the persons and their respective office is not meant but in fact two different offices, is obvious,. There are to be sure ``differences of administrations`` (1 Corinthians 12 :5) but Scofield’s Brethren affiliation is a little too evident.

· Hebrews 1 :4

Scofield is correct in drawing attention to the varied uses of the word ``angel`` in scripture. Another usage is that of appearance or representation.

· Hebrews 5 :6

Here we have a stupendous example of how the fleshly intellect of even a Christian of Scofield’s eminent stature can cause a man to disbelieve and over-rule the words of the living God. Scofield gives the interpretation of Melchizedek as being ``My king is righteous``. Yet the Holy Ghost himself defines it as first ``king of righteousness``, then ``king of peace`` in Hebrews 7 :2. The reason why Scofield gives ``my king is righteous`` is because he trusts secular etymology more than the revelation of the Holy Ghost. There can be no other explanation.
Arabic is this writer’s native tongue. In Arabic, a Shemitic language, as Hebrew, Melchizedek, as it stands, could mean ``my king is righteous`` but more so it could mean ``my reign is righteous``.
But Scofield might not have had access to that. The point is etymology which is not inspired is never completely authoritative because it is always controversial and shifting, so it is irrelevant when faced with the Bible’s own God-given definition.
The reference he gives, Isaiah 11 :5 is actually closer to Hebrews 7 :2 for the word there is ``righteousness``, not ``righteous``. But why Scofield gives Isaiah 11 :5 as a cross-reference instead of Hebrews 7 :2 is utterly bewildering. Truly, the problem is a spiritual and not an intellectual one.

· Hebrews 6 :4

Scofield fails here where most of Christianity does because of a lack of division.
Hebrews 6 :4-8 and Hebrews 10 :26-39 do indeed teach loss of salvation but not for the church age dispensation. Those passages deal with Jews who believe during the tribulation after the church has been raptured. The tribulation is a period wherein loss of salvation is possible because the law comes back just as it was in the Old Testament.
Failing to rightly divide the word of truth, Scofield had to explain away the passage since it clearly conflicted with the Pauline epistles and John’s gospel, which make it abundantly clear that a man cannot lose his salvation. But Paul is writing there to a church age believer, not a tribulation Jew as in Hebrews.

· Hebrews 10 :5

The note is essentially correct. The last sentence however is wrong. The variant form is simply adapted to the dispensation in question.
For instance : Isaiah 28 :16 says
``Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. ``
Paul quotes that in Romans 9:33 as
``As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.``

There Paul, by inspiration of the Holy Ghost, applies Isaiah 28:16 to the salvation of Gentiles from hell by obtaining the free righteousness of God by faith.
However that is not ``the deeper meaning``of Isaiah 28:16. Isaiah is referring to the fact that Jews who believe the testimony of Jesus Christ during the tribulation won’t have to literally run away from ``the overflowing scourge`` of v.16 whereas those who covenanted with hell will.

· Introduction to James

James is not an epistle to Christians by any stretch. It was written before the Pauline epistles to ``the twelve tribes`` (James 1:1) of Israel. The context is Jewish and is doctrinally addressed to Jewish believers during the tribulation.
The author is James Zebedee, brother of John, who is martyred in Acts 12:2, not James the Lord’s brother.

· 1 Peter 1:2, 1 Peter 1:20

``But scripture nowhere declares what it is in the divine foreknowledge which determines the divine election and predestination.`` is another whopper. Scofield missed it because it was too simple. The criterion determined by God for election is faith in Jesus Christ. God decided before the foundation of the world that his criterion for choosing who gets saved would be faith in his Son. So those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ get forgiven and get predestinated to escape hell, get adopted as sons, end up in New Jerusalem in a mansion with a new body with Jesus Christ. ( John 1 :12, Romans 10 :13, Ephesians 1 :13 etc...)
So Scofield unwittingly answers himself when he says that ``this election is certain to every believer by the mere fact that he believes``.

· 2 Peter 1 :19

It is not more sure because it is fulfilled in part. That interpretation doesn’t make sense of the passage. Peter is comparing words. He’s saying that the written word in your Bible is more sure than the word he heard with his ears on the mount of transfiguration.

· Jude 11

(Balaam) Scofield says that Balaam figured he could curse Israel because ``he was blind to the higher morality of the Cross.`` You can blame Balaam for a lot of things but that isn’t one of them. The cross wasn’t till 1500 years after Balaam. Scofield uncharacteristically here adopts that peculiar mindset of non-dispensational Christianity which makes salvation uniform throughout all the Bible. Nobody was ever saved by looking forward to the cross in the Old Testament. The disciples were missing the cross almost till they saw it, all the while being foretold by Christ.
If anyone was in effect so saved in the O.T. that would mean they differentiated between the first and second advent of Christ, which would contradict 1 Peter 1 :10-11 which states that they didn’t.
As far as God is concerned, when it comes to Israel’s enemies, Israel is sinless. Period. Yes all sins could only bee taken away by the blood of Christ 1500 years later, but many in Israel perished in that episode with Moab, and died lost because of their own sins. Knowing that would happen, God still refused to uphold Balaam’s curse against them.
Balaam was blind to the higher morality of God’s unconditional covenant with Abraham.

· Revelation 13 :2

Rome is the leopard. The three beasts preceed the kingdom of Antichrist which is Daniel’s 4th and divers beast and stems out of the Roman empire. See Daniel 7 :17 note.

· Revelation 13 :16

Scofield’s note is a bit confusing. The spirit of antichrist according to John denies that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh and denies the Father and the Son.

· Revelation 14 :6

(2) The gospel of the grace of God is defined in 1 Corinthians 15 :1-4. The reference is surprisingly missing from such a long paragraph.
III. In Colosse the human merit which is mingled is not fanaticism but asceticism.

· Revelation 18 :2

The note is questionable. Larkin also differentiates between political and ecclesiastical Babylon but Ruckman doesn’t. One thing is sure, Babylon is a literal principality in the heavens and has a literal counterpart on earth. Revelation 17 clearly teaches that Babylon is Rome.

. Revelation 19 :8

True, but here the verse is clearly referring to ``the righteousness of saints`` which is not saving righteousness but good works wrought by believers AFTER salvation. God’s righteousness clothes the inside, the righteousness of saints clothes the outside. (Psalm 45 :13-14)

. Revelation 19 :17

Armageddon is actually where the battle ends, not begins. The Lord lands first at Sinai and goes up fighting to Armageddon, which is the last and final clash before the millennial kingdom of Jesus Christ is established.

. Revelation 19 :19

``The day of the Lord`` has more than one application in the Bible depending on the context. It can refer to the great tribulation, the second advent, the end of the millennium, and sometimes even encompasses the rapture of the church before the tribulation.

. Revelation 20 :11

This is another such case as ``the day of the Lord``. ``The day of judgment`` can refer to the great tribulation, the second advent, or the great white throne judgment at the end of the millennium depending on the context. ``The day of destruction`` shows up once in Job 21 :30 and is a reference to the second advent.

. Revelation 22 :19 (4 superscript)

(3) The recipient is not a ``new creation`` but a ``new creature``. He isn’t recreated he’s reborn.

The weakness of God is stronger than men

2008-08-08T20:17:00.004-04:00

1Corinthians 1:25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

2Corinthians 13:4 For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you.

The weakness of God is stronger than men; one of the first and last things Paul ever tells the Corinthians.

Colossians 2:14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
:15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

I`m preaching the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ.
When I say “the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ” I’m not referring to the fact that he was crucified by men. I’m referring to the fact that the whole operation belonged to him and was under his control. It was HIS crucifixion.

Verses 14 and 15 of Colossians 2 burst with the glorious power of the crucified Son of God. There’s so much going in these few words it hurts to think about it. I do not claim to fully understand everything that’s going on here but I’d like to give you a sketch of the spiritual context before showing you a couple things that the Lord showed me in those verses.

Colossians chapter 2 attacks with the intent to destroy 2 things : philosophy and religion. Paul presents philosophy as primarily the sphere of men and religion as primarily the sphere of angelic beings. If you understood the implications of that it would send a shiver or two up your spine. The central part of Colossians 2 hinges on the crucifixion of the Lord of glory. Philosophy and Religion are both destroyed in the cross.

But tonight I want to preach on neither; both those things have gotten undeserved recognition. Look again at verses 14-15 and go back with me 2000 years in time. Or as far as God is concerned, 2 days ago.
I want to show you a couple of reasons why the Lamb is worthy of your worship.

Let me ask you a question.

Colossians 2:14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

According to Paul, who’s doing the nailing?

He is. He was giving the Roman soldiers the breath to live and the strength to pound the nails. “…in him we live and move and have our being” right? He was controlling their blood pressure, their breathing, their articulations… He was a carpenter. He had pounded nails all his life. “Friend, that nail is loose. Make it fast; more deft in the motion. Don’t forget my feet now, men sin with their feet too…”
Now if you think four rusty Roman nails could keep the Lord of glory stuck on a piece of wood you’re gravely mistaken. You say ‘nobody believes that’. Well every crucifix testifies to that belief in people. It occurred to me that some people may be so bent on having a cross with Jesus on it because they wish he never got off.
You don’t know who Jesus Christ is if you think Roman nails could pin down the one who pinned up the earth in the void of space.
He was doing the nailing. And he was nailing the coffin on our sin. Those nails were meant to keep our sin up against the cross, under the sun, then covered by darkness, lest it should crawl off the tree for shame. He bare our sins in his own body then he drove the nails of judgment through his own flesh. That’s the reason why you can have the promise of the redemption of your body, and not only of your soul: body for body, soul for soul.

The Lord Jesus Christ is to be praised because the weakness of God is stronger than men.

He made it his own cross.
He didn’t nail the handwriting of ordinances to a cross, he nailed it to his cross. He made that piece of wood his own. He took ownership of it. And why shouldn’t he? He had given that tree life. It wasn’t a cross that the Romans imposed upon him and it wasn’t a cross that the Jews imposed upon him. It was a cross that he nourished, it was a cross that he chose and it was a cross that he carried up Calvary’s mountain.
Going up Golgotha was not any more imposed upon Jesus Christ than going up in the way to Bethel was imposed upon Elisha by the little children when they mocked him, saying : Go up, thou bald head.
Have you ever encountered such people? You’re on your way out of the door and they say `go out the door` and feel proud that they commanded and you obeyed. That’s how it was with Jesus Christ. He was doing the will of his Father, having his face set like a flint. All the counsels and all the devices of all the hosts of heaven and earth, whether principalities or powers or thrones or dominions, or kings or princes or nobles or rulers or priests, were as immaterial to the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ as the commandment of the little children was to Elisha’s going up the way that he had set his face to go up.
If the Roman soldiers had refused to lift up that cross that morning, the Lord of glory would have lifted himself up by his bootstraps and planted that piece of wood into the cursed ground.
It was his operation, his crucifixion, his arena. By virtue of the word of his power the soil was his, the tree was his, Jerusalem was his, the soldiers were his, the priests were his, the hammer and nails were his, the spear was his, the crown of thorns was his and the atonement was ours! He set up the whole thing.

He was completely, totally and utterly in control of the situation. That’s why he could afford so calmly to tell the daughters of Jerusalem to weep over themselves instead of him. Movies like “the Passion of the Christ” have the wrong emphasis. I’m waiting for the crucifixion movie that emphasizes the wretched sinfulness of man and the power of God to redeem.

The Lord Jesus Christ won the heart of the battle a few hours before the cross. It was over the moment he got up off his knees in the garden of Gethsemane.
It’s because he got on his knees that he could bare his feet crucified. It’s because his elbows bore into the sod that he could bare his hands crucified. It’s because he bowed his head that he could bear it crowned with thorns. It’s because he sweat great drops of blood that he could bare having it all shed from his side.
The moment the Lord Jesus Christ got off those powerful knees of his in the garden, it was game over for Satan. Sports analysts always look for the turning point of a game. The Lord walks over to the disciples and says « Rise, let us be going ». There’s your turning point.

Now when he said « I’m going to the cross » it wasn’t with any more trepidation than when he said « I’m going to my Father ».

The Lord Jesus Christ is to be praised because the weakness of God is stronger than men.

And one day, the Lord will tell us the same thing with the same voice of assurance « Rise, let us be going ». Meanwhile, as you’re waiting for him like the disciples did, you just find life so unbearable because you don’t bare serious prayer.

Colossians 2:15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

Those principalities and powers are very much interested in keeping men under the bondage of religion. The Son of God delivered us from the fear of death and from the devil who had the power of death. Now Colossians 2:15 is a snapshot of a brutal spiritual battle that I don’t quite understand. It is a broad verse.

Boxers will sometimes offer to fight their opponent with one hand tied behind their back. The Son of God tied both his hands and feet and still made a publick spectacle of Satan’s heroes.

Everything I am about to list is attested by a verse of scripture:

They accused him of breaking the sabbath, he perfected atonement in the end of an high sabbath.
They conspired to cut off his name, he prayed to blot out theirs.
They said “this people who knoweth not the law are cursed”, he redeemed us from the curse of the law.
They judged him in the morning, he will judge them in the kingdom morning.
They asked “art thou the Son of the Blessed,” he said “he is my Father”.
They asked “what is truth?”, he said “I am the truth”.
They asked “art thou the king of the Jews?”, he said I am the King of Kings.
One asked “who is the LORD?”, he answered “what is man?”
They took him from prison, he preached delivrance to the captives.
They cried “Away with him”, he took out of the way the handwriting of ordinances.
They said his blood be upon us, he’ll rain blood upon them.
They gave him vinegar to drink, he’ll give them wormwood to drink.
They stripped him publickly, he made a shew of them openly.
They clothed him with a scarlet robe, he’ll clothe them with shame and dip his vesture in blood.
They crowned him with a crown of thorns, that same crown will flourish.
They handed him a reed, his rod will bud.
They beat him with the reed, he’ll break them in pieces with a rod of iron.
They bound him, he bound the strong man.
They led him away captive, he led captivity captive.
They made him bare the cross, he bore our sorrows and carried our griefs on top of it.
They hung him between two thieves, he will sit between Moses and Elijah.
They lift him up from the earth, he was taken up to heaven.
They tempted him to come down from the cross, he’s going to come down from heaven.
They nailed him, he nailed our sins.
They tore his flesh, he rent the veil.
They said we see, he covered the land with darkness.
They destroyed his temple, he rebuilt it in 3 days.
They spoiled him, he spoiled principalities and powers.
They gnashed upon him with their teeth and cast scorning in his, he’ll break the teeth of the ungodly and make his own white with milk.
They sealed his tomb, he sealed his saints.
They buried him, he resurrected.
They inclosed him in hell, he walked out with the keys.

Because the weakness of God is stronger than men.

Whose bow is it after all?

2008-06-11T11:41:00.010-04:00

Right after the flood, when Noah came forth out of the ark, he builded an altar unto the Lord; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

And the Lord smelled a sweet saviour [BBQ lamb chops] and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake;
for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth.

And God blessed Noah and spake to him saying behold I establish my covenant with you and your seed after you. This is the token of the covenant. I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.

And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: And I will remember my covenant. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.

The above are words compiled from the account of the Flood in Genesis Chapter 9. To me, it is quite clear that God put HIS bow in the cloud. He looks upon it and remembers a covenant He made towards ALL flesh (you and me included).

God spoke of an "everlasting covenant". Today, the rainbow (or what God called "my bow") is used to tell a very different story.

Can someone explain to me, please, how did we get from there to here. Or may be the Lord just knew what would happen, when close to five thousand years ago, he said the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth.

13 in the Bible

2008-06-06T21:49:00.008-04:00

The consistency of numerical patterns in the Bible is one of many infallible proofs of its inspiration. Remember the Bible is made up of 66 books written by 38 authors across 1800 years in 3 languages on 3 continents, by people of all walks of life writing against their own people and government. With this said, observe:

1. The 5 kings rebel against Chedorlaomer king of Elam in the 13th year. (Genesis 14:4)

2. 13 is Ishmael’s age when he was circumcised. Ishmael was “born after the flesh” (Galatians 4:29)

3. Haman’s commandment “to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, […]and to take the spoil of them for a prey.” was written on the 13th day of the 1st month. The day for carrying out the commandment was to be year later to the day, on the 13th of the 1st month, according to (Esther 3 verse 13).

4. Nimrod, a type of the antichrist, is the 13th from Adam (1 Chronicles 1:10)

5. Manasseh, the most evil king of Judah, is the 13th king from the division of the kingdom.

6. It took Solomon 7 years to finish the house of God (1 Kings 6:38). He spends 13 years on his own house. ( 1 Kings 7:1)

7. Jeremiah begins prophesying in the 13th year of Josiah. The Jews never hearken to him (Jeremiah 1:2, 25:3)

8. Jesus lists 13 evil things that proceed out of a man’s heart in Mark 7:21-22

9· Rome shows up as the 13th region in Acts 2:10.

10. The beast shows up in Revelation 13.

11. “Dragon” appears 13 times in Revelation.

12· Dagon (god of the philistines and one letter removed from dragon) appears 13 times in
the Bible.

You need a drink

2008-05-23T13:10:00.006-04:00

Open
John 4:10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

The Lord Jesus Christ is no pusher. He doesn’t push eternal life on anybody.
Jesus Christ is a puller.

John 12:32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.

Hosea 11:3 I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms; but they knew not that I healed them.
:4 I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: and I was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I laid meat unto them.

If you only knew who is that God that has kept you alive by his grace so far. If only your eyes were opened to know him. I want your eyes to be opened by God.

Romans 2:4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

He hasn’t kept you alive that you might go on sinning. He told the woman taken in adultery “go and sin no more”.
He hasn’t healed you that you might sin the better, he told the old man by the pool “sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee. “

He hasn’t kept you alive because you’re such an intelligent swell guy. He’s kept you alive hoping that finally you’d wake up and realize who he is and what you are; that you might look upon thy maker, thy redeemer, and give him your heart; that he may obtain the reward of his suffering, even your soul, your love, your loyalty, your obedience, your praise.

A man may ask ``well about the hard times I’ve suffered``, where was God’s goodness there? Assuming you weren’t reaping what you sowed I’ll tell you this: you’ve all heard the expression

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.

In days gone by, our forefathers knew that if a horse had been sick and is weak and in danger of going down, you could put a little salt in his oats and that salt would draw it to the watering trough and make it drink.

That’s how the Lord God deals with many people because they’re too drugged up to feel their thirst and that they`re are about to die of dehydration! So he’ll do anything he can to draw you to the water of life without denying the free will he gave you.

:13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:

The more you drink alcohol the more you thirst. It’s a cruel master. The more you serve it the less it feeds you.
The more you smoke the less you breathe.
The more you consume the less you’re filled.

Whosoever drinketh of this water SHALL thirst again.

That’s not some psychologist’s opinion. That’s a statement of fact uttered by the Creator of heaven and earth.

He’s saying, buddy if you ain’t got me, you’ll go back to it, every time, just as sure as a man goes for water when he’s thirsty.

Whosoever drinketh of this water SHALL thirst again.

Don’t get fooled now, it won’t be “just this once”, it won’t be “one last time”, it won’t be “one more binge then I’ll quit”.

Why? Because: Whosoever drinketh of this water SHALL thirst again.

:14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

That’s literal. Spiritual doesn’t mean not-literal.

Open

John 7:37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
:38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
:39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

Here you have the Lord God of heaven and earth standing in the midst of a monstrous religious ceremony and as he looks around he perceives that his creation is dying of spiritual thirst! Smack dab in the middle of a national religious festival.
Everything in him wants to bring this madness to a screeching halt. STOP THAT STOP IT, ENOUGH.
Aghast at the madness of men, he rushes up, stands in a visible place and shouts with all the strength in his lungs:

IF ANY MAN THIRST, LET HIM COME UNTO ME, AND DRINK. HE THAT BELIEVETH ON ME, AS THE SCRIPTURE HATH SAID, OUT OF HIS BELLY SHALL FLOW RIVERS OF LIVING WATER.

The Lord Jesus Christ has been glorified. He has been received up into glory after his resurrection and is right now seated on the right hand of the Father in the third heaven.

And the offer is more valid today, it is more urgent today than ever it was. And that offer is not eternal.

Isaiah 58:11 And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.

Isaiah 55:1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
:2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.
:3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.

For you it is free, but for the Lord it wasn’t. Your salvation from hell cost him his blood. He payed for your soul with his own lifeblood.
Christians sing an hymn which says “great price of my pardon his own precious Son”. I love that line.
Now you can simply walk up and buy those waters. The currency is the blood of the Lamb of God. It buys full and eternal forgiveness of sins. It never gets depreciated, just underappreciated.

That’s some expensive water, and unlike Evian, it’s worth it. You’ll never thirst again.

Jeremiah 2:12 Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD.
:13 For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

God doesn’t invoke the witness of the earth. The world, as usual, doesn’t care.

John 1 [10] He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

That woman had the glory of everlasting life staring her in the eyeballs through the eyes of a man, never suspecting that salvation could be as easy as meeting a man, who happened to be God.

[11] He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

Some knew who he was and rejected him. Do you know why men don’t like the idea of God becoming man. Because it brings God so near that his holiness is too close for comfort. It reveals God as a personal God, interested in your thoughts and actions. That’s too close for comfort for those who love darkness. So they reject the light of the world. They love filthiness, so they reject the water of life.

The Lord set up things so that all life depends on water that comes from above. If your land is thirsty then you’re scanning the heaven for clouds of hope. He made it that way to teach mankind a spiritual lesson: life depends on heaven for water. (Just like it does for light)

Remember the verse

John 12:32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.

He was lifted up from the earth by a tree: the cross.

John 19 :34 But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.

The water which came from his side came from above.

The word of God calls Jesus Christ "the dayspring from on high" Luke 1:78

You know where some of you are stuck? You’re stuck at the well, like that woman. You’re looking down to quench your thirst, just like that woman.
Pick up that cigarette butt out of the garbage, pick up that coin on the street, pick up that needle on the ground…You shall thirst again.

You can’t make a horse drink and you can’t make a pig look up. Did you know that? Their skeletal structure is designed to look down and move sideways. They can only lift their heads to see 70 degrees from the ground.

What about you?

Jeremiah 2:13 they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters,

He was offering the living waters for free, yet they chose rather to work for them, breaking their backs to hew cisterns that could hold no water.

He said ``two evils``: ingratitude and folly.

Empty cisterns were used as prisons. So Joseph was cast into a "pit" (Genesis 37:22); Jeremiah into one miry at the bottom, and so deep that he was let down by cords (Jeremiah 38:6)

Cisterns yield only a limited supply of water, not an overflowing spring. The stonework of tanks often becomes broken, and the water leaks into the earth; and, at best, the water is not fresh long.
The cistern would hold you captive but let the water escape.
Joseph and Jeremiah cried their hearts out to be delivered.

What moldy, stagnant water are you drinking: Alcohol, drugs, sex, gambling?

What cistern are you building around you? Often the wells are more outwardly beautiful on the outside than drugs and alcohol but just as filthy on the inside. What’s your golden sewer?
Religion? Philosophy? Education? Science? Politics? Morality?
Congratulations, you’re choosing and building your own private prison.

The Lord’s heart is breaking. Crucified, his side poured out blood then water.

You don’t get to taste the water of life until you’ve been washed in the blood of its author.
Yet the Lord Jesus Christ is ignored, rejected, lightly esteemed, by men who are dying of thirst; men who would rather toil and drink their own sweat than confess their wretchedness.
What’s wrong with a man admitting the truth? “Lord, I’ve tried it all, and it’s a cruel mess that I’ve made of my life. I’m thirstier today then ever I was. I’m tired of trying to find satisfaction my way. Here am I, a sinful, rebellious fool. That book says you can satisfy my deep thirst and forgive all my sins. Lord Jesus, please give me of that water of yours, save me from the flames of hell and from my own wretchedness!”

What’s wrong with that?

But there are many who would rather drink sewage water than pray such a prayer from the heart to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Well to you I say; don’t be surprised if the Lord treats you as a sewage rat on the day of the judgment.
Remember the rich man in hell, who begged to have Lazarus dip his finger in water and cross over to touch his tongue. If your tongue won’t ask for the living water that the Lord Jesus Christ offers you so freely today, rest assured that you will spend eternity panting for water.

You know what that woman ended up doing after meeting Jesus Christ in person? Look at verse

[28] The woman then left her waterpot,

She left her water pot. Some of you just can’t let go of that "pot". She just didn’t need it anymore; she wasn’t dependent on it anymore. She had drunk of the fountain of living waters.
Some of you here just can’t seem to let go of your sin, of your addiction.
You’re never going to lose your addiction; you’re going to have to leave it.

But you know what your problem is? You’ve never met Jesus Christ in person yet. You’ve never had a head-on collision with him. You still think he’s a great Jewish man who showed up 2000 years ago in dusty Israel. You still don’t get who he is and you still don’t know the gift of God.

So many folks say they ask for salvation everynight. Have you ever called on the Lord Jesus Christ to save you?

"Oh sure, everynight I do".

Buddy, YOU SHALL THIRST AGAIN.

Salvation is one-time deal. It is a single drink. Jesus Christ said that you "shall never thirst".
If you ask to be forgiven and saved from hell every night it's because you're still drinking the wrong water. You're still stuck at the well, having to go back and forth to draw out dead water.
Only once did water come out of the Lord's side. Only once do you need to drink. I had that drink back in the Spring of 1989. Praise God I'm still satisfied.
Your problem is that you're still depending on your self, on your ability to go out to the well and return, day in day out. You had better bring the fountain of living waters to you and get it in you because one day your body will give out and collapse. Receive Jesus Christ by faith into your heart; you'll never have to go to that well again.

Now to the believers here I’d like to say that Jesus Christ only ever asked for 2 things in his life. Both times it was for a drink of water. He never got either.
He never got it from that woman, and he never got it on the cross when he said "I thirst". Too many of you are concerned with what Jesus Christ can do for you and you never think of what you could do for him.

To the rest I’d like to say this:

John 4:10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

Salvation is as easy as drinking a glass of water. Some of you philosophical types die of thirst while debating whether the glass is half-empty or half-full. The water won’t do you any good in the glass. You could even bathe in a fountain and still die of thirst. The water’s got to get in you.

(Drink)

You can stick 60 000 things in your mouth but you can’t drink a cup of the water of life?!

Romans10: 8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Some of you can smell a good deal a mile off. But the natural man is so spiritually deficient he can’t spot eternal life and satisfaction for free when it’s staring him in the eyeballs.

One hell-bound sinner, after having licked-up the barrel’s bottom, sat down in his misery and wrote:
“I can’t get no satisfaction”. And just to prove it to you he repeats the chorus a dozen times. Of course the devil does everything with style. He gives the guy a nice tune to go with the words and watches as millions of miserable pitiful wretches sing themselves to death.

What a loser. I got my satisfaction; my Lord Jesus.

Born-again Christians sing a hymn called "Satisfied".

Wrap up

2008-05-23T00:55:00.005-04:00

So you've seen how God used Jeremiah 22:30 to set-up such a predicament as necessitated a supernatural birth to be solved. Interestingly, that is precisely the issue wherein the Jews dishonoured Jesus Christ when things got heated between them; his birth. Observe:

John 8:41 Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; (i.e. like you are) we have one Father, even God.

And

John 8:48 Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?

Now God in his mercy had made it easier for Israel to believe the fulfilment of Isaiah 7:14, as we've seen before, through the very bind in which he put them. By taking away the kingdom, and rejecting the seed royal, he put them in such a bind wherein their only hope out was to believe the supernatural birth of Jesus as the Christ, the King of the Jews.

Now here's where it gets even more interesting for today's dispensation.

What God did to Israel with the kingship, he's done today with the priesthood.

Hosea 3:4 For the children of Israel shall abide many days (try 2000 years on for size) without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim:

No king = no kingdom.
No sacrifice, no ephod = no priesthood!

Today the Jews have no temple-service, no priests, no sacrifices, no levites. They've got Rabbis galore, but no priests.

Now watch this

Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.

Compare that rejection with Coniah's

Jeremiah 22:24 As I live, saith the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence;

Hosea 4:6 is to the priesthood what Jeremiah 22:30 is to the kingdom!

Allright so when did Hosea 3:4 and 4:6 get fulfiled? Not in Hosea's time. Israel continued to have temple-service and a priesthood well after Hosea. So when did those verses come into play?

Follow the thread carefully.

Matthew 24:1 And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.
:2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down

John 2:18 Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?
:19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.
:20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?
:21 But he spake of the temple of his body.

The false witness that precipitates Jesus' condemnation had to do with John 2:19 IN RELATION TO THE TEMPLE.
See Matthew 26:59-66

Soon thereafter Jesus Christ was led out and crucified. That was 33 A.D. Not 40 years after, in 70 A.D. , Titus came up against Jerusalem and destroyed the temple, fulfiling Matthew 24:2.

Enter Hosea 3:4 and 4:6.

They rejected Jesus as King so they lost the kindgom and the land.
They rejected Jesus as Priest so they lost the priesthood and the temple.

Now think about this my Jewish friend, and ponder well. If Jesus was born of fornication, as many Jews still believe today, then the Lord God sure went out of his way to make a bastard look like the Christ by making him fit all the SCRIPTURAL prerequisites for the kingship and priesthood!

God today has placed you in a predicament where the only place you could find a high priest is by receiving Jesus Christ as High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, not Aaron, as prophecied in

Psalm 110:4 The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.

Compare that with "thou shalt be no priest to me" Hosea 4:6

Already the change of priesthood was foreshadowed so that when it came you'd recognize it, just like he did for the seed royal!

He's forcing you to look to heaven. That's God's mercy again at work. Do you know what your problem is, my Jewish friend? It's that you're a Catholic at heart. Just like Catholics read and believe the Catechism instead of the Bible, you read and believe the Talmud instead of the Bible. You don't know the writings of your own prophets.

Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge,

I'll close with Coniah.

Instead of calling him "Jeconiah" like he does in 1 Chronicles 3:16 and 2 Chronicles 36:8 the Lord simply calls him "Coniah" in Jeremiah 22:24,28. He takes the "JE" out of his name, as in "JEhovah". The next time "JE" shows up in the royal line is in "JEsus"! Meaning "JAH saves".

Food for thought.

So here's the conclusion of the matter, dear Jewish friend:

instead of the seed of Coniah, God gave you the seed of the Holy Ghost, and instead of the order of Aaron, God gave you the order of Melchizedek.

THIS IS JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS

Contradiction solved

2008-05-03T00:18:00.009-04:00

The problem is solved in Matthew 1:16 though the hint to the solution was given about 700 years prior.

Isaiah 7:13 And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?
:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

That's the kind of verse that's loaded with 7000 tons of TNT, made in heaven.

This was written by the prophet Isaiah some years before Jeremiah ever wrote what he wrote concerning Coniah. And that's part of the beauty of the word of God: it sometimes gives you the solution to a problem that hasn't come up yet. Here's what you want to notice:

1) The attention of the house (family) of David is specifically requested. Not of the whole world, not of Israel, not of the priests and Levites, but that of the "house of David". So the house of David is especially concerned. You are to understand that it wasn't written just for the house of David that was then, but to all those who are of the house of David that should come in the future.

2) It's a sign. That means the hebrew scholars who told you that the hebrew word correctly translated as "virgin" can and should be translated as "maiden", aren't too bright.
Last I checked, it wasn't a SIGN that a young woman should get pregnant. It is however when a virgin conceives while remaining a virgin.

3) It's a sign given by "the Lord himself". Moses and a bunch of prophets gave signs, but this one is special. It's directly from God, no intermediary.

So do let us imagine for a moment that you're a Jew (as abominable as the thought may be to you) living in...oh, 15 B.C. You sit down and begin to read the prophet Isaiah. And you hit this passage there. What's a believing Jew expected to get out of it? Well, you're supposed to be looking for a virgin who's in the lineage of David, and therefore of the tribe of Judah, who gets pregnant without knowing any man. She's supposed to bear a man-child whose name means God is with us (Matthew 1:23). Get it? GOD, G-O-D, GOD, is with us.

Now here comes your gentile friend on his dromedary. "First off, that a virgin should conceive is crazy. If she did, I'd worship her and call her queen of heaven, full of grace, co-redemptrix, queen of angels, mother of God, er... I mean mother of believers, all-holy, all-blessed, save me at the hour of my death amen.
Besides, I know where you're going with this, but many men in the Bible had the name of God as part of their name, yet none of them was God himself, otherwise you'd have 1000 gods".

"True", says you, "but that's because they had human fathers who gave them their human nature. This 'Immanuel' here doesn't. Who's his father?"

"Don't you know that in 2100 years we'll have the know-how to allow a woman to conceive a child on her own, without the help of any man?!"

"So you believe that WE could get a virgin to conceive, yet God couldn't? Am I understanding you correctly?"

"Ehem..."

"Besides, that know-how only allows women to bear women. This virgin conceived a man-child"

"Listen, friend, the sun is a burning and my dromedary is chewing his tongue for thirst, catch you later"

So you get the picture...no dad, yet he's "God" with us. Where did he get his divine nature from?
Mary! Cry the cardinals. Nice try. She wasn't divine and a woman has no seed. Biology 101.

You go on to read the entire book of Isaiah over the week, and the following week you get into Jeremiah, writing some decades later.

And you hit Jeremiah 22:29-30.

O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.
Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.

The dead end of the messianic line. The dreadful, forbidden verse of every Bible disbelieving, Catechism-reading Pharisaical Jew on earth. And this time, it ain't only the house of David that should listen up but the entire EARTH EARTH EARTH.
Shem, Ham, Japheth. Now you begin to scratch your head. Why is it of such concern to the entire planet that the messianic line of the kings of Judah has reached a dead-end?

It's not like the messiah was supposed to be God himself...

Capich?

A shimmer of light has pierced through the darkness of your soul.
Quickly spiritual darkness attempts to reflood the path that was blazed.

But how could the messiah be God if he is the seed of man?

He isn't. A) He is "OF the seed of David" - 2Timothy 2:8
B) He is "MADE OF the seed of David according to the flesh" - Romans 1:3
C) He "COMETH OF the seed of David" - John 7:42

Physically, Christ got his body from David through Mary. The end.
Spiritually, he got his nature from God, being God's seed.

Your mind goes back to Isaiah 7:14 under a new light. He said it's a sign. That a virgin should conceive is a miracle, granted. But then what? You're missing the point (thrust, sign) of it if you only stop there. What is that virgin birth pointing to? I don't pretend to know the full answer. In fact I'm pretty sure I'm missing something. But here's what you have: if messiah is born of a virgin, then he is no man's seed. Remember Isaiah said "the Lord himself shall give you a sign".
Isaiah 9:6 says
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Who gave that "son", Isaiah? "the Lord himself".

How shall this be, asked Mary, seeing I know not a man? Luke 1:34

Luke 1:35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

Luke 8:11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Revelation 19:13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.

Luke 8:11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.

So here's the import of the sign of Isaiah 7:14:

The messiah was God's seed, not man's seed. So it didn't matter if Coniah's seed got cursed.

YOU WOULD HAVE HAD HALF A PROBLEM HAD YOU INITIALLY BELIEVED IN THE DEITY OF THE MESSIAH.

The house of David would've recognized its import when they hit Jeremiah 22:30, if they had believed Isaiah 7:14 to be begin with. The sign was given to them. It's not just that some Jewish virgin somewhere got pregnant on her own; it's that that pregnancy is the answer to the establishment of the Davidic covenant, so don't worry about Coniah, God will come through.

(The Roman Catholic gentile mind-set is simply dazzled by the miracle itself. If you fail to see the fulfilment of God's words therein, and the establishment of his plans, you're missing the boat. And when the antichrist shows up with his miracles, you'll just be dazzled by the phenomena and enquire more of them than of the words of God. And you'll damn your soul to hell by believing antichrist's SHOWbusiness.)

After Jeremiah 22:30 all of Israel, let alone the house of David, should've been busy praying, fasting and searching for a pregnant virgin having understood its relevancy to the kingdom of Israel. If you think I'm stretching things I've got 2 names for you: Simeon and Anna (Luke 2:25,36)

Now for the other half: to be the Christ (messiah) Jesus still has to be in Coniah's line. So how does Jesus, being Christ, lay claim to the throne of David? Simple: adoption. He lays claim to the throne through Joseph, who is the son of Coniah in Matthew 1.

God put in place 2 safe-guards to make sure no other human being could ever rightfully lay claim to David's throne except Jesus Christ.

1) He killed one branch of the royal seed (Zedekiah and sons) and cursed the other (Coniah and sons). So one way to be disqualified was to actually be qualified. That's God's wisdom. And it works.

2) And just in case anybody else got the idea of getting adopted to escape the curse on Coniah's seed, God said that the Messiah had to be the seed of God himself. (Isaiah 7:14, 9:6, Psalm 2:7, 110:1)

Now I could add 3) here just for overkill.

Technically the true King of Israel is God himself.

Isaiah 44:6 Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.

So simply by virtue of being God's Son (see Psalm 110:1) Jesus Christ could have superseded any claimant from any angle.

But God always honours his word, the Bible, and so as he prophecied, so he fulfiled.
The Lord God ALWAYS honours his word, his words, and his Word.

One last installement coming.

My favourite contradiction in the bible

2008-04-29T00:57:00.013-04:00

Jeremiah 22:28 Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol? is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not?
:29 O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.
:30 Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.

The man here called Coniah is Jehoiachin, also called Jeconiah; he was of the seed of David, was one of the last kings of Judah, did evil, and was carried into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar.

According to the covenant God made with David, only the seed of David could rightfully rule on the throne of David, the throne of Israel, for ever. 2 Samuel 7:11-29.

The line of kings which rightfully ruled on that throne is referred to as "the seed royal". (2 Kings 11:1, 25:25; 2 Chronicles 22:10; Jeremiah 41:1).

The messiah was to be of the seed of David (Psalm 132:11; Isaiah 11:1; Jeremiah 23:5, 33:15; John 7:42; Romans 1:3; 2 Timothy 2:8). He was to be king of Israel according to numerous references like Isaiah 9:7 and Jeremiah 23:5. So he had to come from the line of the seed royal, not just from any seed of David, in order to have claim to the throne.

Now watch how the Lord worked to create an air-tight Biblical "problem text". You read right. He designed it.

He has Jeremiah "curse" king Coniah's seed from ruling over David's throne. So from whence will the messiah come? Not to worry. Coniah wasn't the last king of Judah, his father's brother, Zedekiah was. (2 kings 24:15-17). And he had sons! Praise the Lord! One of Zedekiah's sons will reign and the messiah's line will not be jeopardized by Jeremiah 22:30. Glory.

2Kings 25:6 So they took the king (Zedekiah), and brought him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah; and they gave judgment upon him.
2Ki 25:7 And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with fetters of brass, and carried him to Babylon.

Ouch. The last official king with any sons remaining is now Coniah, who had 7 of them (1 Chronicles 3:17-18). Yet with Jeremiah 22:30 the Lord God barred all of them from ruling in Judah on the throne of David.
He deliberately set-up the extermination of all of Zedekiah's sons and the abdication of all of Coniah's sons in order to seal the paradox!
That 7 stands for a perfect dead end.
No way out of that one. Wonderful.

Now this plot is even more intricate for the Lord uses the devil’s wrath to get his set-up (Psalm 76:10). The devil had had the prophecy of Genesis 3:15 in mind ever since it was said to the serpent.
“And I will put enmity between thee (the serpent) and the woman, and between thy seed (the serpent’s) and her seed (the messiah); it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”

As you read the book of Genesis you discover a relentless war on the part of the devil against the line God had chosen to bring forth Christ as to the flesh. You find him either attempting to mingle his own seed into the line, or closing wombs, or defiling a man’s seed in various ways, or downright killing him.

Why? Because he knew God had in mind to bring forth a man-child from a certain line which would one day crush Satan’s head under his heel and he didn’t appreciate the prospect. You see the devil is no idiot when it comes to the Bible. He believes it. He just wants YOU not to believe it. So when Nebuchadnezzar kills the sons of Zedekiah, you could look in the deep left corner, and there in the shadow descry the shifting figure of the old serpent. His hand was in it. Nebuchadnezzar is presented in the Bible as a type of the antichrist: the devil incarnate. Just like the devil is a dragon, Nebuchadnezzar is spoken of as a dragon. (Jeremiah 51:34). I’m pretty sure that the day Zedekiah’s sons were killed, the old serpent held a party, for he knew about Jeremiah 22:30 and the disqualification of Coniah’s sons. At last, all branches had been severed and seared.

So why did the Lord allow that to happen? Well, he executes vengeance against the evil house of Zedekiah and his sons using the devil as executioner (all too happy to carry out the business for his own reason), and by the same token set-up a contradiction that he alone can solve in order to

a) Solve it and be glorified

b) Put the Jews in such a predicament so as to make it easier for them to receive Jesus as the prophecied messiah. (We’ll see how later)

c) Give Bible-critics an excuse to scorn the word of God

So now imagine you're an Old Testament Jew. You've got a monumental paradox on your hands. And I mean MONUMENTAL. According to one prophecy, the messiah had to come from the royal line. That means he had to come from Coniah. But according to another prophecy he couldn't come from Coniah.

Now how's that for a Biblical contradiction you Bible-haters?!
Boy wouldn't you have looooooved to get a hold of that one back in 50 B.C. And I'm sure your spiritual ancestors did too; assuming they read enough to find it. Give us a real challenge for once you intellectual anemics.

It took about 700 years for the predicament to be marvelously solved by the the Holy Ghost. Literally!
And the hint to the solution was written before Jeremiah 22:30.

Come back soon.

Halt, you're at the point of death

2008-04-25T02:28:00.037-04:00

Mark 5: 23 And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live.

John 4 :47 When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judaea into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son: for he was at the point of death.

“The point of death” is a literal expression. According to the Holy Spirit of God, the difference between life and death is a point; a single point.

In many sports an overtime game is played in “sudden death”. The difference between a win or a loss in “sudden death” is a single point. Whoever scores it first wins.

Some of you are playing in overtime with your life. But that’s just the problem: you’re under the threat of sudden death and you’re playing, playing around.
The Lord has extended your time beyond regulation, hoping that you will trust your soul to the shed blood of Jesus Christ in order to escape the damnation of hell, yet you’re still just playing around. The eternal destiny of your soul is no game.

Aircraft pilots talk about the “point of no return” because they perceive that the difference between the reversible and the irreversible is as small as a point.

The expression “the point of no return” comes from aviation.
It refers to the point on a flight at which, due to fuel consumption, a plane is no longer capable of returning to its airfield of origin. After passing the point of no return, the plane has no option but to continue to some other destination. The phrase implies an irrevocable commitment

Some of you may feel like you’ve passed that point already; not of fuel consumption but of drugs, alcohol, gambling, sexual perversions and down the list of sins. You feel that you’ve sinned too much to be forgiven, you’ve hated too much to be relieved, you’ve gotten too bitter to be healed.

I’m here to tell you that though your fuel may be spent already, and though you cannot go back, and though you feel like you’ve no other option but to abide in sin, yet the Lord has promised to bear you up on eagles’ wings, if you’ll only stop flapping!

On the 23rd of July 1983, Air Canada flight 143, a boeing 767, ran out of fuel at 12 500 meters of altitude. It was halfway through its flight from Montreal to Edmonton. While flying over Red Lake, Ontario, the cockpit's warning system sounded, indicating a fuel pressure problem on the plane's left side. Soon after, due to human error, all engines failed.

The crew was miraculously able to glide the aircraft safely, over a distance of 100 kilometers, to an emergency landing at Gimli Industrial Park Airpot, a former airbase at Gimli, Manitoba. Everybody survived.

A landing under similar conditions was later attempted on a flight simulator. The pilots crashed the plane. Everytime.

Deuteronomy 32:11 As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings:
:12 So the LORD alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him.

So today I’m your warning system. You’re flying over a red lake which
Revelation 20:10 calls “the lake of fire and brimstone”. Some of you know that already. But I’m saying:

your fuel is out. All systems down... and you ain’t gliding.

You wanted to smoke and fly. Now you’ve just opened your eyes and realized you’re 13 kilometers up in the air and falling like a bowling ball. Your "come down" is going to hit the ground at terminal velocity, cut through the earth and bust into the belly of hell.

Do you realize that there’s an actual moment, a single point in time, any time, before which you are alive, and after which you are dead? There is no such thing as a slow death. The process leading up to it may be slow and drawn-out, but actual death is as instantaneous and sudden as a flash of lightning.

I’ve got another message for you, look in the mirror, you can read it there.
God speaks of the bible as a looking glass, a mirror.
Here’s what the mirror says

“Deaths in the mirror are closer than they appear.”

Some of you have been falling for a long time...

T minus 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

You could die at 2, not 0, or at 6, or 9...

Your life, most literally, hinges upon a point, any point.

Ezekiel 21:15 I have set the point of the sword against all their gates, that their heart may faint, and their ruins be multiplied: ah! it is made bright, it is wrapped up for the slaughter.

Sometimes the Lord writes down the period to a man’s life with the sword.

"And Georges Antonios lived so many years and he died. "

The origin of the word “point” is “thrust”. When you point out someone, you’re thrusting in their direction. Some men have the point of the sword of God pointed over their heads, ready to thrust through their being and divide the spirit from the flesh. The Lord can pop a man like a balloon. And the more puffed up with hot air you are, the louder the pop. Yet you delay receiving the Lord Jesus Christ and trifle with sin like as it were a venial matter.

For some of you the point of the sword is so close it’s pressing against your skin. Your skin is sinking beneath the constant pressure and is about to cave in, stretched to the absolute limit, film-thin. You're about to bust and the only thing holding the blade from pushing a point deeper is the formidably precise and deliberate hand of God.

You say “You’re lying; God wouldn’t direct the point of a sword against me”. What if I proved to you that you’ve done it to yourself? You’ve often pierced yourself with a sword. You just figured that a sword had to be of a certain size. Let me tell you something: the only difference between a sword and a dagger is measurement, and the only difference between a dagger and a needle is measurement.

Yes sir, you’ve pierced your own body with the point of a needle and injected death into the blood God gave you for to live. Nobody is judging you; you have judged yourself worthy of death. Don’t you know that “death by injection” is a method of execution? Don’t you know that “all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.” Matthew 26:52? For those of you who like those modern bibles allow me to paraphrase “all those who take up the needle shall die by the needle.”
Here’s what the book of Job says about Satan:

Job 41:30 Sharp stones are under him: he spreadeth sharp pointed things upon the mire.

You’ve heard the expression “live like the devil”. Well if you find yourself in the street with sharp stones under you and sharp pointed things like needles spread around you, congratulations, you’re living like the devil.
So now why, pray tell, do you figure it such a strange thing if God Almighty should set the point of a sword against you when you have done it first, and repeatedly? You mean you have more dominion over that body than he does? Did you draw the veins in your arms, or set your heart in the midst of your bosom? Did you irrigate your body with blood or assemble the bones of your hands?

Jeremiah 17:1 The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars;

The real danger is not the ravages that the points of needles have inflicted upon your flesh nor is it the tattoos which have died your skin, but the sin which has graven grooves in your heart. When you die the flesh you kill the flesh. But when you sin against God’s holy law you kill your heart.
Some of you reassure yourselves. You figure, Ok so I’ve done this sin here but at least I haven’t done that one there. I’ve never shot myself (notice how all those terms refer to death) I’ve only smoked. Guess what: “death by gassing” is a method of execution also.

James 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

Why?

Because

James 2:11 For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.

Sin is a personal offense against a personal God. You’re offending a person : the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now you might think, well allright, I can’t untattoo my skin, I can’t unprick my veins, and I can’t unengrave my heart. You’re perfectly right; you can’t. You messed up your life, you ruined your birth and you are even now, whatsoever age you are, at the point to die.

Remember how that the point of no return was the point past which a plane couldn’t return to its airfield of origin? Well your origin is innocency. And you can never regain it.
Remember also that the plane had to continue to some other destination?
Well you left innocency and you’ve been on the way to hell ever since.
You must change destination and be carried heaven-ward. You can’t fly there, you don’t have enough fuel. You must be carried there by the wings of the Almighty God.

I’m still your warning system. I’m displaying an update. Not only is your current destination hell, but the fire has already begun in the plane. And while you’re busy consuming, the engine, your heart, is being consumed.

Many tell me “this is hell”. I correct them. This is a foretaste. Some of you can already feel the flames of hellfire licking at your soul.
You’re sick with a burning fever. Whether you believe me or not is irrelevant. Whether you feel it or not is irrelevant. Do you realize that when you get the cold shivers, it’s because you’re burning with fever?!
Your flesh is a liar. You can’t trust it.
I remember a movie called “Jacob’s ladder”. At one point Jacob is doing above 40 degrees Celsius and he’s shivering cold. Two of his friends carry him into a bathtub filled with cold water and ice-cubes while he’s screaming and twirling. They save his life.
You’re feverish, at the degree of death.

There’s a solution, but it often fails, because ‘tis seldom tried. Why? Well it’s too simple… It’s so simple it’s despised. And so it is seldom tried. But all those who have tried it got healed completely with full remission (of sins). No exception, ever, in 2000 years of medical practice.

Genesis 25:32 And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me?

Some rights have cost some people a lot. God bought you a birthright : the right to be born again. The cost of that right was all the blood of his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Just like you were born of the flesh once, you can be born of the Spirit, once. That birth is sinless, perfect, and immortal. It is acquired freely, by choice this time, simply by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ as your saviour from condemnation and hell. Forgiveness, my friends, is a free gift to whosoever will receive it through faith in Jesus Christ.
Esau was at the point to die, yet he despised his birthright.
The Bible says

Hebrews 12:16 Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.

There are here men who will reject the right to be born again for the sake of one shot, one puff, one sniff, one drink, one meal…If you despise the blood of Jesus Christ which bought you your birthright, God will despise you when you die.
The solution to the point of death is the turning point. The Lord is halting you for a moment in your mad dash to death and hell. He’s offerring a time to repent. He pleads: Repent, here and now. I mean here and now. I mean right here and right now. Call on the Lord Jesus Christ and ask him to forgive you your sins against him. Here, now, in your heart. Turn at this point, before you reach the point of no return. Let that heart of yours turn within your chest. Is there a wise man here today? I’m looking for a wise man; a man who will halt and hear.

I know there’s a defiant man. You’ve walked up against God’s stretched-out sword on your own. Take heed, God’s pen of iron lies against your fool neck about to write down a final period to your life’s sentence.

Halt, you’re at the point of death.

The Light in the land of the living

2008-03-27T11:20:00.005-04:00

Jesus is the light in the land of the living

One of the verses that kept me going during the most difficult times of my life was the following: Psalm 27:13 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. That phrase "land of the living" kept me going for it gave me hope that even in this life God is good to us.

Then this morning I rejoiced as I read the following verse which came as a vivid reminder.
Psalm 56:13 For thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?

Jesus is the Light of the living, in the land of the living.

Using the red letter style, watch what Jesus said about himself in John 12:46
I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.

Are you walking in the Light of the living, in the land of the living, today?

For suffering fellow believers, I say:
Take courage my friend, for Jesus is the hope in the land of the living, today and every day.

the archaic New International Version

2008-03-21T00:29:00.003-04:00

If you've ever believed for a moment that the new Bible versions are easier to understand than the King James Bible, dare to check this comparison out between the NIV and the KJV.
Come on now, be objective and check it out.

My assistant pastor often says that the Bible versions issue is the only one where a man is called an idiot by being told he couldn't understand the KJV and he simply replies "oh ok, I guess you're right". And that's proof that there's something spiritually wrong there.

Revival Hymn (edited)

2008-02-23T02:26:00.006-04:00

This is a compilation created by "fire on the altar". I've edited the video where it dragged, or had a contemporary "Christian" song which went completely against the vein of the video. It's not perfect in cadence or doctrine, but if you want an idea on what revival feels like, and what it takes, you're in for something here.

The preachers are: Ian Paisley, Leonard Ravenhill, A.W. Tozer, Duncan Campbell, Paris Reidhead, A.T. Sparks.

How far, dreadfuly far away we are as a church, from what our Lord would have us be.

Shame on us. Epaphras, zealous for them that are in Laodicea, where art thou?

Watch it, then go pray, pray, pray.

For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

Isaiah 57:15

Blessed are we in Jesus

2008-02-01T16:58:00.000-04:00

Psalm. 33:12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD;
and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance

Looking back over the past seven months, I stand in awe of my Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.

When I think that in the span of six months I could have lost both a mother and a sister, but that the Lord granted them back to us alive, I can only rejoice as I think of our blessedness in Jesus Christ. Indeed, Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.

For, lo, the wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart. If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?

The Lord is in his holy temple.
The Lord's throne is in heaven.
His eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.

O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord: Thou art my Lord: my goodness extendeth not to thee: But to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight.

Some hymns, good old hymns

2007-12-26T01:29:00.001-04:00

So many people worship in the flesh nowadays. They figure that because the ear of the flesh is pleased, and their body is driven to motion, then it must be from the Holy Spirit...HOLY Spirit. I guess hymns are too spiritual for the flesh. Well I'm here to let you now that Bible-believing youths like myself (I'm 25) still love the good ol' hymns and we sing our lungs out, rejoicing in Christ Jesus.

"He Leadeth Me", A Capella, the Drummond Family

Bible Baptist Church congregational music (Dr.Ruckman)

"Arise My soul, Arise"

"And Can It Be" (If ever there was a runner-up to "Amazing Grace" being the Christian national anthem, "And Can It Be" is the one.

"Psalm 23" Judy Theophanopoulos ( my Pastor's wife. You should hear her sing Psalm 3 though I don't have it now"

"I'd Rather Have Jesus", Dallas Holm

And to end, again congregational music from the Baptist Bible Church in Pensecola:
"I've A Home Beyond The River", is number 499 in the hymnal "Great Hymns of the Faith".

My church here in Laval sings its lungs out when it comes to this hymn

We worship the Lord Jesus Christ in the spirit, not in the flesh, but with joy my friends, with joy.

My aunt was wounded in a terrorist attack

2007-12-25T01:00:00.000-04:00

On December 11th, some deceived, bitter, blinded by hatred wackos blew a couple of vans up and I suppose themselves along as they brought down the UN building in Algeria.

My aunt is a UN chief who had been newly assigned to Algeria. Most unusually, her visa kept getting delayed, and when it finally came through, it was just in time for my aunt to arrive for the explosion. She had been there less than 24 hours. The building collapsed over her. My aunt trusted her soul to the Lord Jesus Christ years ago. God allowed her to be present for the explosion. She is not dead. The Lord preserves his saints. After a maddening day for my mother, as pieces of information were being forwarded to her, seeing she is an immediate relative and also a UN employee, we finally found out that she had head wounds and was in the hospital.

Both my aunt and mother were flown to Switzerland, where my aunt is still recovering in a hospital. She was fortunate. There were over 70 killed and about 200 wounded. One woman lost both her legs.
The first thing my aunt told me on the phone was

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."
Romans 8:28

Compare that one to the Muslim god. Listen I don't care about the UN, nor do I buy the beast created for public consumption by the media that is "Al-Quaeda".
But don't come telling me that those people are fanatics who misunderstand Islam and misinterpret the Qur'an. I've read some parts of that book, in Arabic. Let me tell you this: Those "fanatics" are more honest than the moderate Muslim, they aren't misinterpreting anything. They don't care about public opinion like the moderates do, so they read that book a lil more honestly. It is a petty book of a petty god whose spirit is drenched in vicious hatred and devilish zeal.

On the morning of the 12th I received a call from Copenhagen. A soft-spoken, sympathetic lady was contacting immediate family of the wounded. She addressed me with the usual humanistic clichés for consolation. I answered that I didn’t like seeing my aunt get hurt, but that she had trusted the Lord Jesus Christ years ago, so that we weren’t worried; had she died, we would know where she had gone. I could hear her swallow her spittle when she heard that. She didn’t have the pre-programmed mundane answer to that one. No psychological training had seen that one coming. With stunned difficulty she mumbled “it’s nice to have something to hang to”…

I could’ve told her I was trusting the tooth-fairy to keep her alive and she would have answered me the same thing. I can’t stand that “good for you” attitude. Yeah buddy, and it’s good for you too! I’m not trusting some mystical higher power, I’m not trusting the force, I’m not trusting a rabbit-leg or a horse-shoe, I know whom I have believed, and his name is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the living of God. I know what he did for me, I know his character, his personality, his like and dislikes, I know his love, his justice, his zeal, his jealousy, his holiness.
We talk to each other everyday.

You have to die for your god. My God died for me...and for you too.

Brother Donovan on Catholic confession

2007-11-22T10:52:00.001-04:00

This is a man who was born-again and is a Bible believer.
Catholicism is anti-Biblical.

1967 Oxford Union Debate, Ian Paisley

2007-11-10T20:40:00.001-04:00

The audio quality is not the greatest but you can hear how the crowd jeers and mocks Ian Paisley as he preaches the true gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and denounces the blasphemy that is the mass.
Unphased by the jeerings, Ian Paisley preaches on.

Shame on all preachers who cowar and shake the hand of Rome.

Mr. and Mrs. university graduate

2007-10-01T04:01:00.000-04:00

The madness of it would be humorous, were it not so tragic.

Here you've got a bunch of middle class to rich youth who were educated above their intelligence. They're so educated that they exhibit the classical symptom of intellectual impotence: the complete and utter inability to process common sense.

The sight is pathetic. They're convinced that because they succumbed to the intellectual oppression of evolutionary *gag* science, they are become ascendant masters of humanity. Somehow they believe they've achieved an evolutionary leap of consciousness from their donkey-riding grandfathers of the Lebanese villages and look upon their roots with the same kind of triumphant nostalgia with which a chick would behold the egg-shell wherefrom it crawled.

Mr. and Mrs. academia boast a dizzying arsenal of scholarly terms as they proceed to drown you in terminology. They mock the average man as brainwashed by the same media which they spend hours watching yet somehow, swear they, remain immune to its nefarious influence.
And yet, to one's surprise, they have wholly assimilated its world-view and terminology:

1) evolution is a fact
2) Born-again Christians are bigoted fanatics
3) belief in a difference between the sexes and the races is evil
4) there is no absolute truth
5) Israel is wrong to defend itself

Number 4 is laughable. You might recognize yourself. Above all things you fear ridicule from your peers. You want to prove that you're an educated, open-minded intellectual.
You believe in a castrated god, that floats out there in space, impersonal enough that your conscience can never be ruffled by his laws and judgments. In the image of your own dishonest cowardice, you believe in a god that presents humanity with 60 000 equally valid ways to
74 000 aspects of some monistic truth.
You dare not openly offend the faith of the religious (though you utterly despise them in your heart) unless they're of the Bible-believing variety. The latter are fair-game. After all, you must prove your credentials as an enlightened member of the world-community.
You don't hesitate to classify the Bible in the category of "myths" yet you brazen-faced hypocrite haven't read enough literature in your life to be able to tell the difference between Homer and the New England Journal of Medicine.

You are your own god and your own final authority. You believe in the finality of your own moral code, customized to soothe your conscience and justify your actions. The word "sin" is alien to your repertoire.
All this from a most imperfect creature, who commits mistakes, flops on tests, crashes cars, hurts friends, ends up with unwanted pregnancies, criminal records, cheats, trips, aches, revels in laziness and sleep, stinks, vomits, denies responsibility, wastes money, forgets, dabbles in sexual perversion, gossips, is ungrateful, unforgiving, rebellious, etc

Yet YOU have YOUR own moral standard...ha! Excuse me while I puke in disgust.Get some spine and do something truly "intellectual" you bigoted ignoramus; pick up a King James Bible and read it from cover to cover, and study some history while you're at it, then we can have the semblance of an intelligent conversation where you can in pity show me the light.

Till then, I'll still be fighting sporadic urges to vomit in disgust at your philosophical system.

the 42s of the Bible

2007-09-25T05:03:00.001-04:00

It's been a while since the last study on Bible doctrines. I hope it'll increase your faith.

42 years, 42 stations, 42 months, 42 chapters

Only by Pride

2007-09-20T12:24:00.000-04:00

Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom (Proverbs 13:10)

If you stop to think about this verse you will notice it has two segments.

First segment. Only by pride cometh contention. My son made a very sobering thought on the subject. When you judge others, it is only because you think you are better than they are, he said. What you are really saying is that you are better than they are, that you do things better than they do and that you are a better person. That is what self-righteousness is all about, he added.

The second segment is: "but with the well advised is wisdom".
A contentious character is contrasted by the well advised.

Sometimes, if not many times, yeah if not always, we do not have all the details that surround a certain circumstance, or the many factors involved. Our thoughts and opinions of others could change drastically if we are well advised of all the various issues at play.

That is why the Bible says: BUT with the well advised is wisdom.

Reading an old post

2007-08-28T14:00:00.000-04:00

It is good to scroll back from time and time and read your own posts. You'd be surprised to see your own words speak back to you. They could be a consolation as you go through the fiery trials.

Moreover, God was merciful in allowing me to be at my church this weekend and listen to two Navajo preachers, Wilson Calvin and Terrence Calvin preached to us (along with Stan Scot and Charles Andrews) for their preaching catered to my needs in many ways.

Here are some edited selections from a post dated January 2007 entitled Salted by fire or burned with fire. Which one are you?

Tested and tried, perfected and purified. That should be the case for every Christian. If not, then burned with fire is the judgement that awaits those who deny our Lord Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 12:29 - For our God is a consuming fire.

We will all appear before the Judgement Seat of Christ 1 Corinthians 3:13 - Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.

In the meantime, our lives are salted and we are offered as a living sacrifice for the Godly fire is at work in our lives perfecting and purifying us. Mark 9:49 - For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.

Talk out trials. My mother's summer accident has been a severe trial in my life. Trying us:1 Peter 1:7 - That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Purifying us:1 Peter 1:22 - Seeing ye have purified.

We know that gold is purified in fire Revelation 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire.

Isn't that encouraging to read when you are going through fiery trials.
Thank you Lord Jesus for your living word. Like the rain on a dry ground, it shall always accomplish its purpose and refresh some thirsty soul.

Don't fear the Father's Reprisal by David Peacock

2007-08-15T17:38:00.001-04:00

These sermons have been directed to people who have been born again by the Spirit of God by trusting the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ as FULL payment for ALL their sins.
The doctrine concerns such people. If you are not saved from hell yet, see paragraph above.
So now, dear born-again believer, if you are out of the will of God, out of fellowship and miserable, don't be afraid to return to Him. He will gladly take you back.

When You Stop Listening To God

2007-08-14T00:02:00.001-04:00

David Peacock has a southern accent. It might be hard to understand... but you will understand. Listen to every word.

When bad things happen to good people

2007-08-10T16:34:00.000-04:00

Why do bad things happen to good people? This question has been asked over and over again, and I do not think the answer is easy to give. Needless to say that according to God’s word in Romans 10:12, there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

Over three weeks ago, my 81 year old mother who came to visit me from California fell down the stairs at my home. We woke up at 1:30 in the morning to the sound of a thump, only to find her lying on the middle landing of the stairs half conscious in a pool of blood. She was immediately transported by ambulance to a nearby hospital where I have spent the last two and half weeks of my life. She had suffered severe head trauma with five broken ribs.

My mother is a very godly woman. It broke my heart to see her lying in such pain and agony as she suffered hemorrage in the skull, fractured ribs with complications to follow including a strange hormone that the brain started producing, followed by a sharp drop in the blood sodium level as the white cells tripled coupled with urinary tract infection. She almost contracted pneumonia which would have threatened her already weak heart condition, not to mention the bruises and hematoma all over her body. She also lost her mobility, etc.

Why did all that happen? I don't know yet. We had just returned from a revival in Ohio, and were glorifying the Lord as another one was waiting for us at our local church. My mother and I were planning to go to yet another Arabic revival later in August. Then disaster struck.

I spent the first three days in the emergency ward by her bedside not knowing if she will or will not make it. Thankfully prayers were lifted up everywhere and the Lord saw us through. She is now recovering slowly but surely.

God never answered Job about all his troubles. I hope I will get an answer some day. In the meantime, I am thankful she is alive.

Daniel's 70 weeks

2007-08-02T17:54:00.001-04:00

Ever wondered about Daniel's 70 weeks?
Listen to Part 1 of a 6 part series on them by Dr.Estep.
You will see how a Bible-believer divides the word of truth, in subjection to the command found in 2 Timothy 2:15.

click
Bible Doctrines

Tortured for His Faith - Book Report

2007-07-17T09:59:00.000-04:00

Picked up from his home in the wee hours of the morning on 24 July 1947, Haralan Popov spent 13 years of his life in Bulgarian communist prisons where he was brutally beaten, physically and mentally tortured, all because he would not deny the Lord Jesus Christ.

In this small book you see communism in practice as to communism in theory. Communism demands complete uniformity and subservience. In the beginning I was greatly distressed to see how Mr. Popov was beaten to a pulp but when his trial came they asked his family to bring him his best clothes only to appear to the press and international reporters who were allowed to attend that there was nothing wrong behind communist jails. But as the book progressed I was appalled at the depravity of man. The horror scenes you read about would make you wonder if the men who tortured this brother are really human beings.

In the book you see how man has the capacity to rise to the greatest spiritual height, but he also has the capacity to sink to the lower most vile level. Only man has that range. In one instance, Mr. Popov recounts how his captors dug a pit, a punishment pit (reminded me of the bottom pit of Satan) in which 100 men were later shoved and the lid closed above their head leaving them gasping for a breath of air and left to starve to dealth. How this pastor ever survived is a miracle.

We, who have freedom of worship, need to read about and be sensitized to our fellow christians who are suffering for their faith.

If you can handle difficult reading, I would highly recommend this biography.

too blessed to update

2007-07-04T23:35:00.000-04:00

If we haven't posted in a while, it is because we have been so busy with church-related activities; revivals, here and in Ohio. We are so blessed we can barely keep up. There is nothing worth comparing to knowing and serving the Lord Jesus Christ.
In a way I'm glad we haven't been around Pen of Iron much. Constantly attending to a website betrays a weak Christian life. How much praying and reading can one be doing when he is continually updating a site?

Until next post, this is Revelation 2:17 reminding you that the Lord Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God, and that putting your trust in His shed blood for the forgiveness of your personal sins is the only way you will ever enter into heaven.
Rome remains the scarlet harlot church of Satan, sworn enemy of the Bible and every Bible-believing Christian; ain't nothin' new under the sun.

Even so, come Lord Jesus.

I bought a "condo"

2007-06-14T18:48:00.000-04:00

Before your mind goes wild thinking that in addition to the house I now own a condo, let me tell you what this condo is all about.

First of all, this condo is in the lot called "The good shepherd". It can house two people and my monthly installment does not exceed $61.- per month over a period of four years. Right now I only own the piece of land. If I want to buy a bronze plaque with my name on it, I could do that later on. Transportation fees and moving arrangments also are costly but then again I can buy a separate package later on. On the ownership deed, Claire, the seller, wanted to write "permanent condo". but I happily refused. Just call it a "condo" I said, if that is the terminology you use for a grave. For me, what you insist on calling a condo in order to hide the tragic reality of death is in fact NOT my permanent residence because I am getting out there on Resurrection Day.

Bewildered, Claire looked at me with tears in her eyes. I had been witnessing to her for about an hour now. She had come over so that I could formalize the transaction, and as I had promised her a couple of months ago, she would talk to me about the funeral plans but I would talk to her about my resurrection plans.

I would like to have what you have she said referring to the ease with which I handled the subject, and seeing the joyous look on my face. I kept on witnessing to her. Before the evening was over she was ready to pray with me. And she did. I cannot with all sincerity tell if she got saved or not, but I was amazed to see the tears sparkling in her eyes every now and then while I talked.

Next week, we are going to Ohio, I explained, but when I come back, will you give me permission to call you and invite to come to my church and hear some good bible teaching. She agreed. I left four gospel tracts with her which she promised she would read later that night. I encouraged her and she was going to start reading the gospel of John and searching the Bible for more truth which like most of us who come from Catholic background, knew very little about.

It not a common thing for people to talk with ease about a morbid subject (a grave, a condo or whatever you want to call it) but while Claire and I enjoyed the cake on the table, I thought of the verse in Nehemiah who said in 8:10 Go your way, eat the fat and drink the sweet, .. for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

One of the things I like about my recent acquisition is that it paved the way for me to also witness to the taxi driver who drove me as fast as he could (without any irregularities) in order to make it on time to my Claire appointment. The taxi driver turned out to be a Lebanese whose 21 year old son, Elie, was not what his father would like him to be. I promised Maurice that my son would get in touch with his son and may be the Lord will do something there as well.

.

Let the dead bury their dead

2007-06-11T15:04:00.001-04:00

"Who did you come for?" was the question that I heard over and over again this Sunday afternoon after I bolted out of Bible Baptist to attend a funeral memorial service at a Catholic church.

Whereas I thought I was going to my friend's husband service, it turned out that there were three dead people who were being prayed ... or being remembered. Have mercy on them, the priests chanted. Prayer for the DEAD.

Excuse me? Who did you come for?

Is it not for JESUS?

The service was held in memory of three dead men and people wanted to find out to which dead person did you belong.

And let me tell you. The church was packed and I mean packed. I could not find a single parking spot when I arrived at Sainte Suzanne (the name of the catholic church where the ceremony was being held). Hundreds of people were in attendance. I parked a good ten minutes away and made it on foot the rest of the way.

The service went on and the chants too. I tried to find some mention of Jesus in what I heard but everytime God was mentioned, he was outshined by Mary. What a contradiction. The service was all over the place. One word about Jesus, others about the saints or Mary or humanity. As the communion service progressed, the chants honoured Mary as being higher the Cherubims and the Seraphims etc. She was hailed as the mother of ..... blasphemy after blasphemy and I struggled as I tried not to listen but I listened attentively to see if there was any hope, any ray of light that might shine in that darkness.

Sadness came over me as I pondered that once I was just as ignorant and in the dark as most of these people who were now lining up to partake of the body of Christ.

I was praying and asking the Lord to illuminate the hearts of the droves of lost sheep, all struggling in the dark. An announcement was made about some sort of a conference. The word was in a language I did not understand. A separate offering was collected. People were putting in $20 bills, but that would not buy them eternal life or eternal security, I pondered. How sad..

As I left the service, the only verse I could think of was what Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. Luke 9:60.

Have you lost your paw?

2007-05-29T21:39:00.001-04:00

One of my favourite sermons. Lester Roloff after he had been wrongfully imprisoned.
Lots of singing, and some powerful preaching.
Today Jack Patterson continues Roloff's ministry to the downtrodden youths.

Prayer request

2007-05-21T14:58:00.001-04:00

Two weekends ago, we had a teenagers’ group from Digby, Nova Scotia, visit with our church. The Pastor of that church, Pastor Peter K., is a Missionary / Pastor out of our own church.

Revelation 2:17 helped by driving the group back to Nova Scotia and spent a few days there with the Pastor and his family.

Please pray for Revelation 2:17 as he is on his way back to Montreal. He is currently driving his way back – a 16 hour drive – all alone. I would simply ask of you to please keep him in prayer for traveling mercies. Thank you!!!

Update from Digby, Nova Scotia

2007-05-18T15:44:00.000-04:00

I'm in Nova Scotia, in the little town of Digby, on the northwestern horn. I drove back the youth group of Biblebelievers' Baptist Church from Montreal, 14 hours of driving time. Out of cash and gas.
Consecrated, Redeemed, I didn't get to pass by western union yet and might not be able today. Don't worry, I'll be taken care of. I might also be teaching Sunday school. Please pray for me. Been praying much with Pastor Peter, it's a real blessing.

It is now 5:50 P.M. over here. We're an hour ahead of Montreal.

Awake and sing ye that dwell in the dust - Resurrection Day

2007-05-01T21:24:00.000-04:00

Isa 26:19 ... together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.

Okay. So since I turned fifty years of age I keep getting notification from all sorts of health departments asking me to go for all kinds of tests. The latest episode was a letter I got from the funeral parlour asking me if I have made funeral arrangements. I realize this may shock some of you but interestingly enough, and being the organized person that I am, and since we do not have a family cemetery in Canada, I figured I should be ahead of the game and I signed the application form returning the questionnaire in the postage-paid envelope.

Last night a lady from the parlour called me and we went over my requirements. Did I want a regular burial or cremation. (I am a Christian I replied, I wanted the traditional Christian burieal). Where did I want to be buried and why. I had picked a location and explained the reason for that particular spot being that I knew several believers buried there. The lady, for some reason, wanted to know what did I mean by "believers". Of course that threw the subject wide open and I got to witness to Claire who was quite open to the gospel. You call it burial site, but it is resurrection ground (got that from my assistant pastor, Brian). I want to rise with fellow believers from the same spot. She wanted to hear more about the resurrection and life after death. I explained to her that in order to rise you must fulfil one condition: you must be born again. I believe in God and in good, she said. I repeated the condition. You must be born again. You talk like one of the men I buried she replied (lol). We speak the same langauge because we have the same spirit, I replied.

For over half an hour, Claire and I conversed and I got to witness to her very clearly about her need to trust the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, she did not understand what I meant by "trust". Again I explained that it is not by works of righteousness but by faith we are saved through grace, not by works lest any man should boast. Also that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, that on the cross he had paid the price for all our sins and when he cried "it is finished" he had completed the job.

In the end, the lady agreed to meet with me in June to complete the formalities on condition that she would tell me about the burial plan and I would tell her about my resurrection plans.

Talking about the formalities, I wish to say that the stone they lay on the grave will cost $2500 alone and it has to conform to certain norms if I want it made elsewhere. I have often wondered about the epitaph that I would want on my grave.

I think I would like the verse above especially the phrase: awake and sing ye that dwell in the dust: thy dew is as the dew of herbs..

why I am not a reformed baptist

2007-04-19T21:37:00.001-04:00

Here's a sermon by Jonathan Modene entitled "why I am not a reformed baptist".
Reformed theology is spreading like wildfire; afterall, we are in the Laodicean church age.
If you are a reformed baptist or something similar, you need to hear this, you WILL give account of your doctrine and its effects at the Judgment Seat of Christ.
If you're not saved, stop acting slick about the confusion Satan is causing amongst Christians. There's nothing surprising or novel about his tactic.

We're not saved from hell based on our own merits, we're saved from hell based on the righteousness of the Son of God alone, which became ours the day we trusted his finished atoning work for us which he wrought at the cross of calvary, resurrecting in power on the third day.
Instead of feeling self-righteous, repent and trust the Lord Jesus Christ. We never told anyone to trust us. We always pointed to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Back!

2007-04-19T17:10:00.000-04:00

We're back in a new house. The Lord God Jesus Christ is abundant in goodness and mercy.
Get ready for more gospel preaching and Bible teaching than ever.

we are moving

2007-04-04T07:06:00.000-04:00

Psa 127:1 Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

The date is finally upon us. Friday, 6 April is moving day. It has been five months since we started the renovations and now we are about ready. It is amazing to see how many church members have volunteered their services together with their family vans. I do not need a moving company anymore. A large crowd is coming out. How heartening to see the Christian love and bond in action.

Our ISP should be discontinuing the service at our present address on Friday and reconnecting us at the new house. So, just in case, we lose track of you (or you lose track of us) please pray for us that the move go safely and that we transition smoothly to our new abode while looking for the city whose builder and maker is God.

Heb 11:10 For he (Abraham) looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

April fool and the real Fool

2007-04-01T06:27:00.000-04:00

Today is the first of April aka April fool. The world system allows for a day where people can lie and do pranks on each other as though man is honest throughout the rest of the days of the year.

Here's what Scripture has to say about the Fool.
The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. ... (Psalm 14:1)

The only fool today is the one who does not worship the risen Saviour, our Lord Jesus Christ, son of God and son of man, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; (1 Timothy 1:15).

NO PRANKS HERE.
The Lord Jesus Christ rose from the grave. This was no prank. HE conquered death, ascended into heaven and with his blood made atonement for all our sins. This too was no prank. By his wisdom, through the cross of Calvary, God made a folly out of all the forces of evil.

BUT WAIT!
Did you know that God has room for foolishenss too? Yes, God can use a certain type of foolishness to bring him glory. It is discussed in 1 Corinthians 1:21. Here is what it says: For after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe....
.
THE TRUTH IS.
To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen. (Rom 16:27)

a Reminder that could save your soul

2007-03-27T22:47:00.000-04:00

You don't have to die and go to suffer hellfire for your wicked sins. The Lord Jesus Christ paid for them, trust His blood alone to atone for you. Receive Him in your heart, for He has loved you enough to die in your place.

Remember, neither Mary, nor Mohammed, nor Buddha, nor pope JP2, nor Ganesh, nor anybody else ever could, or would die on the cross for you. There was only 1 man on that cross. Mary didn't hang on it, neither did anyone else.
ONE man only hung on that cross of calvary. ONE MAN ONLY. No two people hanged there. ONE MAN ONLY. ONE body, ONCE broken.

Lift up a prayer to the Lord Jesus Christ, and tell Him that you surrender your self-righteousness in exchange for His. You can pray alone, now, simply step away from the screen, kneel and offer up a prayer from the heart. He will answer it and save you from yourself and hell. Get a King James Bible, start reading the book of John.

Fundamentals of Pen of Iron

2007-03-15T22:07:00.000-04:00

If you're new or old to Pen of Iron, here are some basic doctrines we stand for and defend, because the Bible teaches. You will find them peppered throughout our posts, and sometimes exposited in the Bible Doctrines page.

The King James Bible is perfect.

Dispensations. Salvation is not identical in all dispensations, and Israel and the Church are NOT the same.

Pre-millennial. Definitely pre-millennial. That's Bible 101 right there.

The church-age ends in apostasy, not in the gospel conquering the world.

Salvation is by grace alone, through faith in the Son of God, without any admixture of works. Sacraments are a work of the devil.

Eternal security of the believer; in the church-age. A Christian does not have to endure to the end to be saved. That applies to tribulation folks.

The free choice and responsibility of man to receive or reject the Lord Jesus Christ.

Hell and the lake of fire are literal and the latter is the final, eternal, and conscious destination of all who reject the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ .

The Lord Jesus Christ resurrected physically, bodily, from the grave. It was the same body that was crucified that resurrected, but glorified.

The church is raptured BEFORE the tribulation; and there is MORE THAN ONE rapture in the Bible.

The independence of the local church.

Ecumenism is a work of the devil. Yes, that too.

Two ordinances given to the church: baptism and communion.

Baptism follows salvation; obviously then it is not required for salvation. It must be a conscious choice, and it is done in obedience to a commadment from the Lord Jesus. Baptism is by immersion.

Rome (with its religious system) is the bloody Babylonian whore of Revelation 17. Rome does not change.

Back to the streets

2007-03-13T20:36:00.000-04:00

This past Sunday, after the church’s morning service, a group of people from the church headed to the streets of downtown Montreal with the purpose of spreading the gospel of our Lord. The men preached, and the women passed out tracts. The last time we had gone street preaching was in November and we had faced major opposition. The man in charge of our group got arrested. He was released within a few hours and had even managed to make it back to the evening service. The good news though, was that two souls got saved that day!

Not that anyone from our group got scared from going back to the streets again, but our Pastor wanted us to wait for a green light concerning any “legal” issues (there really aren’t any, street preaching is legal, and they had no right to arrest the man of God). By God’s grace, we made it back to the streets this past Sunday and this time, we didn’t face much opposition. Sure there are those who despise the word of God, but there those who thirst for it. A number of tracts were distributed, and the word of God was heard.

There is joy in serving the Lord. When we made it back for the evening service, the spirit of God got a hold of the entire church as we sung our lungs out to the Lord.

And I’ll tell you something else, there is power in the preaching of God’s Holy word.

1 Co 1:21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.

Technological thirst and threats of disaster

2007-03-09T10:17:00.000-04:00

Technology taken to extreme translates into human disaster.

I read the following:
Quote Robots are increasingly being used by ordinary people. Robot vacuum cleaners and lawn mowers are already in many homes, and robotic toys are increasingly popular with children.
As these robots become more intelligent, it will become harder to decide who is responsible if they injure someone. Is the designer to blame, or the user, or the robot itself?

Asimov's three laws for robots:
A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm
A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law
A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law

Humanoid heads with expressive features have become alarmingly lifelike.

The US military plans to have a fifth of its combat units fully automated by the year 2020. Asimov's laws don't apply to machines which are designed to harm people. When an army can strike at an enemy with no risk to lives on its own side, it may be less scrupulous in using force. Unquote

I wish to pose the question and I am dead serious. What guarantee have we got that humans will be safe in the long run? The day might come when people would not be able to distinguish between real human beings. Your next door neighbor might be one of humanoid monsters designed to exterminate the human kind.

WOE unto the world from the dangers of these technolgical advances which have done little good to restore the earth. Do I need to remind everyone of our environmental woes. Gas and carbon dioxide emissions. Depletion of the ozone layers. Global warming, water shortages, etc. The list goes on and on.

I can only think of one created being who would want to destroy God's work. And the picture is ugly no matter how much we try to sugar-coat it. The devil's latest trick is to design robotic toys to condition the mind of your children into acceptance.

If robots must obey orders, whose orders will humanoids and the like obey in the long run?
I wonder.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6432307.stm

It's not for me. Oh Really!?

2007-03-08T12:37:00.000-04:00

It is one of those answers. You witness to somebody about the Lord and the answer pops up.
I appreciate what you are doing, but it is not for me!

Pastor Rick Sowell from Hope Baptist Church in Toledo, Ohio will be holding revival meetings at our church during the last three days of April, and because this is such a special occasion, here am I all excited trying to rally the troops to come and hear the Word of God.

Patricia retired from work about a year ago. On her last day of employment I treated her to lunch at a nice Chinese diner. This made her very happy because no one had invited her to the place before. I thanked the Lord and hoped that she would see my Christian love as I witnessed to her about her need for salvation. She was a WASP (White Anglo Saxon Protestant) she explained but nothing more transpired that day. She gave me her home number and we agreed that I'd invite her to church next time we had a revival. Guess what. A month ago, Patricia was called in to replace a lady who is on maternity leave. Today, the Lord opened my mouth and I invited her to the revival. "I know you are trying to save me, she said, but this is not for me".

The Word of God is for everybody, I replied. This is not for me, she repeated. What do you mean it is not for you, I insisted. We are all created alike, body, soul and spirit. We all have a destiny and after death we either go into everlasting life, or eternal damnation, I explained.
Where are you going to spend your eternity?

I don't know, she said.

Jesus loves you and he wants to save you. You need not suffer for eternity. Jesus paid a hefty price to give you happiness. For once, give yourself a chance, I pleaded with her. Come and hear the Word. Let the Holy Spirit work in your heart to heal you from whatever scar or reason is causing you to answer me like this. This preacher does not come very often. Please plan to come and let the Word of God work in your heart, I pleaded again and again.

We will talk again, she replied. As she walked back to her desk, I did not know what to think.

I will try to talk to her again.
May the Lord open her eyes to see that the Word of God is for her and for everyone.

The most ridiculous thing I read

2007-03-07T10:39:00.000-04:00

The most ridiculous thing I read in the news this morning comes from an article on the BBC website and entitled: Robotic age poses ethical dilemma

This is what it said: Last year a UK government study predicted that in the next 50 years robots could demand the same rights as human beings.

The full article can be viewed at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6425927.stm

In a previous article entitled: Robots could demand legal rights, it was said: If granted, countries would be obliged to provide social benefits including housing and even "robo-healthcare"...

Hello!

Prayer Request

2007-03-06T16:14:00.000-04:00

Romans 8:28And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose

Something is happening at my office and a decision that might affect my work assignment is awaited. Would you please pray with me that God be in the outcome. I do believe that all things work together for good as we read above, however, I feel safer when I pray.

the wisdom of a peanut farmer

2007-03-05T23:10:00.001-04:00

Bob Jones Sr. was a down to earth peanut farmer. This is old time preaching, before "scholarism" catalyzed apostasy. The audio is about 15 minutes long.

If you want to know what is success for a Christian, listen. You won't get something like this in books or university libraries. This is for the real-world.

hum, like, is american idol, like, idolatrous?

2007-02-27T21:37:00.000-04:00

2Corinthians 6:15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
:16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
:18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

My brother in the Lord, Marc Onofre, defined it best while preaching in the preachers' course: "a star is a wicked person that looks good"
Or sings good I would add. The Bible is as up-to-date as ever, and idolatry is back in bold. We separated Christians most vocally decry the worldliness and compromise of others yet indulge ourselves with exceptions. The french have a term for it "peche mignon"; "sweet sin". Take "American Idol" for instance. You would think the word IDOL pretty much gives it away as an IDOLATROUS show but Christians who can crossreference the laodicean church character, the physionomy of the antichrist, and the geography of the millennium before you're done with the alphabet are strangely myiopic when it comes to reading the word IDOL in American, or Canadian IDOL for that matter.
Ironic twist, they use the same tired old justifications they've judged for so long in others.
I'm not concerned in this post with the nauseating Christianity displayed by some contestants on the show. How O how could Christian parents encourage their children to be part of it, or an entire church be the practicing ground for its American Idol hopeful, or a man sing "Amazing Grace" or even a Ground Infantry sing "His eye is on the sparrow" for such a worldly and sensual show is so far beyond me that I dare not tread the waters. No, those "Christians" sold out long ago. In fact they were never in the battle. Those guys would think you were kidding them if you ever read them James 4:4 and ask to see your Bible. Of course their "Ultra New ReReReRevised manifesto for the Post-Modern she-male version" cools down the verse 'bout 17 notches. No, forget those guys. We've wasted too much our nerves on people who fear not the Lord. My concern is for the troopers. The guys in the front-lines of our spiritual war.

So, to you who are still in the action
2Corinthians 6:15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial?
Men of Belial are men of vanity. Vanity is all that show is about.
:16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with IDOLS? for ye are the temple of the living God
I.E. what are you doing letting american idols into God's temple, which is your body, through the gates of the eyes. Be like Nehemiah and shut those gates to the heathen.
No wonder we have no time for Bible reading and no energy to bend the knees, we're wasting away at the local shrine: the T.V. set.
An insiduous effect of television is that one person turns it on, and others flock. Idolatry is contagious. God is aware of that in the Bible. How many times have we heard the first commandment preached as "whatever you put before God in your life is an idol". But just how much do we believe that?
I'm guilty also including of American Idol.
A while ago the booklet "the second coming" by Larkin, (written before T.V.) spurred me to drastically lessen my television viewing time (I'm talking t.v generally). The sermon "the thief in the living room" by Ruckman also had an impact. I still watch the box, but watch myself also. A good indicator of "backlsiding" is the fluctuation in the amount of time you spend watching T.V.

American Idol has it judges and its standard. The standard is clearcut: "Will the world accept you?" In fact the judges phrase it similarly.

The Bible is clearcut: God is the Judge of all the earth, and all will appear before Him to be judged. He has his one judge, that Just One, the Son of God, and he will set us up as judges over the world and angels. The standard? the Lord Jesus Christ. Will He accept you?

Five girls, Four weeks, Three mothers, Two souls, One salvation

2007-02-26T13:25:00.000-04:00

It has been four weeks since I was approached by three Syrian ladies (whose daughters come to our AWANA club) to teach them the Bible in Arabic. Of the three ladies, one has no clue about the Bible, the second knows about it but has hardly ever read it, the third wants scientific proof. Interesting combination.

It all started with one mother bringing her little girl to the AWANA Sparks club. Little Maria invited Renee who brought her sister Pearl and soon followed with two neighbors Nathalie and Patricia. The girls would go to their club meetings while the three mothers stayed behind in the sanctuary. As the Lord saw fit, different leaders would witness to the women while they waited. Meanwhile, Nathalie (daughter of the scientific one) got saved from day one and is growing in the Lord. For my turn, and because I speak Arabic I got the lion's share in the witnessing process. At one point, the lady who knows nothing asked me to teach them the Bible in Arabic. When she insisted, I knew she was serious and I checked with my pastor who gave me his blessings.

But who is worthy to loose the book and to open the seals thereof? I felt so inadequate and I took to prayer. I knew that the best place to start was with the WORD of God. I started by showing them from Genesis 1 and John 1 the literal parallels between the Word of God and Jesus himself. Then I compared Genesis 3 and John 3, and showed them God's sacrificial lamb and the need to be born again.

It is true I can teach children in Sunday school, recite the Bible fluently in Arabic and witness at the drop of a hat, but to teach the Bible to ladies made me feel very very unworthy. Where do I go on from there, I prayed again, and our AWANA Commander gave me a set of discipleship literature to guide me on the way. As we met again and again, the first lady (who does not even know who Abraham is) had never thought about eternity. It is true, she went to church, but she had thought we vanish into nothingness after death (why do we go to church then beats me). But now she was beginning to ask questions, and the questions kept coming. She wanted to know more and the more I answered, the more she asked. How come no one ever taught us the Bible, she questioned. She was horrified when she found out that one day, every individual shall stand before the judgement seat and be held accountable for the blood that was shed on Calvary for the sins of the whole world.

This Friday, she asked me what should she do to get saved. At this I explained to her and she wanted to get saved. As we held hands to pray, I asked her to pray in her own words and as best as she could ask the Lord to save her soul. She did.

As I continue to minister to these ladies, I hope and pray that the Lord would keep his hand upon me and continue to bless for I have a long way to go with them still.

II Corinthians 2:16 To the one we are the savour of death unto death;
and to the other the savour of life unto life.
And who is sufficient for these things?

We are making the aliens

2007-02-23T10:57:00.000-04:00

Please guys read this article for yourselves. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6389105.stm
The article is entitled:
Emotion robots learn from people

It goes on to say that making robots that interact with people emotionally is the goal of a European project led by British scientists.... The 2.3m euros scheme will last for three years.

It worries me when I read something like this: "We are most interested in programming and developing behavioural capabilities, particularly in social and emotional interactions with humans." Who in the world can tell what these people are doing. There may be a lot more than meets the eye.
I keep saying the real aliens are coming. What is worse is that WE are making those "aliens". Check the above article then read Revelation chapter 9.
Sophisticated software/hardware coupled with genetic engineering make for fearsome creatures...

Ian Paisley at the 1967 Oxford Union Debate

2007-02-17T21:03:00.000-04:00

My brother in the Lord, Bryan, wrote in his comment on the Ian Paisley audio post

"the following link is an audio file of Ian Paisley in a 1967 debate at Oxford. The crowd is laughing at him and mocking him, but he stands like a brick wall and keeps on preaching. I have alot of respect for a man like that."

Dear Roman Catholic I urge you to listen to this short audio file (23 minutes).
You have a decision to make like I had; either the words of God, or the words of Rome.
The quality is not great especially when the crowd is heard, but you will understand what he is saying.

God uses beggars

2007-02-16T12:35:00.000-04:00

Galatians 6:3 For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.

Whoever said that God cannot use a beggar to minister to a soul?

As I walked through the metro hallways last night I was in no mood to talk to anyone. There was a man playing a violin and I normally leave a few coins and a tract. In an eerie voice which softly filled the subterranean halls , this particular fellow sang and the words followed me. "Are we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care..." . I don't recall him singing the whole hymn but I knew the words that would follow: "take it to the Lord in prayer".

As I walked away the tune followed me. I was reminded of how much trouble I could save myself if I bring my concerns to the Lord. I felt a lot better.

Interestingly, the Lord practiced reverse psychology on me.
He had just used a hobo to minister to my soul.

Which Rapture in Bible Studies

2007-02-13T22:20:00.001-04:00

I've posted an audio sermon in the Bible Studies by James Modlish on the raptures; you read right, it's plural. In the near future I hope to continue the thread on the pre-tribulation rapture of the church, but for now this is a great interlude. Look for the Lord Jesus Christ's coming to take you away if you are saved. May this blessed doctrine run your life.

Which Rapture?

Ian Paisley preaching against the RCC

2007-02-12T21:36:00.000-04:00

the Lord Jesus Christ or the pope as head of the church. Dare to listen to truth.

One Spanish soul

2007-02-10T22:03:00.000-04:00

A few of us went tract passing at the metro station this afternoon. Soon the girls went shopping and I was left alone with my son who got embroiled in discussions with someone possibly from the Middle East.

As I continued to pass tracts, alone, I suddenly noticed a fellow standing across from me. It seemed like he was waiting for someone. I walked over and gave him the tract "Is Jesus Christ your Saviour". Quickly I regained my position and soon I forgot about him but when I looked up again there he was, slowly reading the tract. I walked over and asked him if he understood what he was reading (I always think of Philip's question to the Ethiopian eunuch). That was when I first noticed that the man was hispanic.

You are Spanish, I asked. Yes, he replied. I spoke to him a few words in Spanish after which he pointed to the word "sinned" in the English tract and asked for its meaning. Pecador is sin, I explained. His face lit up because now the words made sense to him. I have Spanish tracts, I said. I hurried to our ammunition and thankfully founds loads of them in the box.

Again, I returned to my place and left him to read the Spanish tract. Minutes later, I looked again and the man was still there. It seemed like the man was not leaving. I desperately waited for my son. I could hear his voice embroiled in a conversation but he was nowhere in my neighborhood. As for me, I kept getting this compelling feeling to talk to the man. I hesitated but finally walked over to him again and this time cut right to the chase. The man was ripe. It was not me speaking. I knew it was the Lord who gave me all the right words to say. As I explained man's helpless estate and sinful nature, I reminded him of what Paul said, that the things that I do not want to do, that I find myself doing, and the things that I want to do, that I do not do. etc. He wholeheartedly agreed. We have to be punished for our sins but in his love, the Lord laid his life for us so that we might be saved. His blood cleanseth us from all unrighteousness. When at some point I asked if he wanted to pray, the happily agreed. Quietly and peacefully, we bowed our heads. I prayed first, then in his own words, and as best as he could, he prayed in Spanish and confessed his sin, received Jesus as his personal saviour and went as far as to ask the Lord to change him (something I had not talked about) and to give him "la vida eterna". Interestingly, he thanked the Lord for the opporutnity to have come here today to hear his word.

Joseph is from Mexico and is only staying in Montreal for one more month. Before we parted I gave him two more tracts and pleaded with him to commit to feed his soul on the word of God and to get himself in a bible believing baptist church.

Praise the Lord. Spring is in the air. Trees are budding. Souls are getting saved.

.

Three Spanish tracts

2007-02-08T23:07:00.000-04:00

It has been a number of weeks since I started going to this clinic every Thursday night. For that I need to commute by metro, train and bus. Every week I pray and ask the Lord to use me seize the occasion and sow seeds all over the place. Tonight was no exception, except for one thing. At some point, I ran out of tracts. Now remember, I often joke about finding at least one tract in my purse when the need arises by telling the person who asks "a lion's den is never void of bones" (an arabic saying that goes something like this: beit el sabe3 ma beyikhla min ele3dam".

It was almost eight in the evening when I caught the train going back home to the West Island. I knew that I had no tract left in my purse and I relegated the matter to the Lord. Gone were all the English and French tracts. I mean not one single tract was left. I don't know why but for my train reading tonight I decided to practice my Spanish skills. Reason: I found a couple of Spanish tracts in my purse which I had picked up at Calgary Baptist Church in Manhattan, New York, last year.

Opposite me sat a man but I did not feel led to speak to him. No sooner than he left that a party of three young people sat in the remaining seats in my area. Guess what language they were speaking. That's right. Spanish. The funny thing is that of the three two were alike entitled Redeemed, and a different one was entitled "Where are you going to spend eternity". Two girls and one boy. How convenient. I chuckled to myself. After they chatted for a few minutes, I reached out to the young man to my side and gave him the single tract. The girls looked on and I gave them the remaining two similar tracts. Oh. It is in Spanish said one of them. Yes, I replied. Do yo speak Spanish they asked. Un poco, I replied. We chatted a little bit. It was a light conversation, but upon leaving the train I felt quite happy.

The three Spanish tracts in my purse since April 2006 had finally reached their destined audience.

Bible propechies about today's Jerusalem

2007-02-07T18:16:00.000-04:00

I was wowed today during my daily Bible-reading by a verse in Nehemiah the prophetical force of which is phenomenal. It is purely geo-political and describes today's Middle East. Ready? No really, you better be ready.

Nehemiah 2:17 Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we (the Jews) be no more a reproach.
:18 Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king's (Artaxerxes) words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work.
:19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king?
:20 Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build:

Arabs fighting Jews over Jerusalem...2500 years ago...and they taught you the Bible ain't relevant ey?

Now watch this

but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.

Now I'm going to show you some points from Peter Ruckman's commentary on the book of Ezra, where he compares Jewish associtations with Jerusalem with Muslim associations with Jerusalem.

Jewish associations:
1) the origin of tithing and a Gentile priest blessing Abraham in Genesis ch. 14
2) Joshua conquering it with troops from Judah and Simeon in Judges ch. 1
3) David re-conquering it with Joab as his general in 2 Samuel 5
4) God promising David that he would always have a son on the throne of Jerusalem as capital of Israel
I add
5) subject of innumerable prophecies of religious and political restoration throughout the prophetS, plural.

Muslim associations:
1) the thrill of believing that Mohammed was carried by a 600-700 winged angel to Jerusalem where a white mare called Buraq took him up to the seventh heaven.
I add
2) Mohammed originally commanding Muslims to pray toward Jerusalem then chaging his mind for Mecca when relations went sour with the Jews
3) The dome of the rock (built OVER the Jews' temple)

Ruckman, who's read the Qur'an many times over, insightfully notes that Mohammed plagiarized

a) his white horse from Revelation 19
b) its flying from the horses of fire in 2Kings 2
c) Elijah's ascent to heaven in the same incident
c) Paul's trip to the third heaven in 2 Corinthians 12

However, he could not reproduce Paul's revelations so he simply copy-paste-edited the whole thing. See when people tell you they've read the Bible, they're usually lying, and they barely know their own religion's book anyway. Always remember that the Bible is not a religious book; it is a history book; past, present and future history.

Notice that all Arab claims to Jerusalem came much, much, much later than Nehemiah. They didn't want it rebuilt back then.

Nehemiah 4:7 But it came to pass, that when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth,
:8 And conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it.

No wonder people hate this book, it messes with their geo-political aspirations. Catholicisim and Islam are simply JEW-JEALOUS RELIGIONS who stole Bible promises to Israel and reassigned them to themselves with convenient modifications. It's that simple folks.

The Lord Jesus Christ is coming back soon, and he will shut nations up and rule them with a rod of iron. Even so, come Lord Jesus.

My BMW ministry

2007-02-05T10:56:00.000-04:00

No I do not drive a BMW but I have a BMW ministry. If you use public transport in Quebec, then you own a BMW which comically stands for Bus, Metro, Walk. Despite the comfort of driving your own car to work I actually enjoy using the public transit system because if oftens opens the doors for me to witness to people whom otherwise I would not meet.

For example, last Thursday night I took a late train home. Upon grabbing a seat I picked La Presse (a french local paper) and skimmed through it for major headlines. Few minutes later, a man sat opposite me and asked if the paper on the seat was mine and whether he could read. The paper was not mine so he picked up some of the leaflets left on the seat by earlier passengers.

Minutes later I put my paper down (got bored) and picked up my New Testament. Soon he too put the paper down (guess he too found the news boring). Do you want to read something more interesting, I asked. Like what, he wondered. That was when I reached into my purse and passed him a French gospel tract. This opened the door for a short discussion after which he put the tract in his pocket and said he would read it when he has time (I hope he does).

Soon after I hopped on the bus to go home, and there I heard two young college students conversing in Arabic. How come you are taking the bus, the girl asked. I normally have someone pick me up but the weather is good tonight, he replied. So, how come you are on the bus he continued. I too have someone pick me up but tonight I decided to take the bus was her answer Sitting on the other aisle, I was thinking in my heart. I know why you two are on this bus tonight. The Lord has a message for you. I furled in my purse and prepared two gospel tracts. Just before I disembarked I looked at both of them, and said (in Arabic) I have something for you to read. "Absolutely Free" was the tract I picked up for them. He had been explaining to the girl about the ritualist religious trip he had completed in order to gain favours with God. I wanted him to see that Jesus gives us salvaltion free of charge.

Earlier that evening, the underground metro had offered me a few opporunities for service too by leaving several tracts on seats and on public telephone booths. The thought that goes through my mind often as I distribute these tracts is "a sower went out to sow the seeds". I often pray that some of this seed will fall on good and fertile ground that it may grow forth and bring fruit to our Lord Jesus Christ who alone is worthy of all praise.

Even so come Lord Jesus and take the throne of this earth for you alone are King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Addiction as a good thing

2007-02-04T00:45:00.000-04:00

In our modern day language addiction is viewed in a negative sense because it is associated with addiction to drugs or booz etc. Interestingly I found out that a few people were referred to in the Bible as having addicted themselves in a positive connotation.

Can you try and guess who and where is the reference without going to a Bible concordance.
Sarah, pls. do not answer since I have mentioned this to you already.

can you say SHIBBOLETH?

2007-02-03T18:58:00.000-04:00

Dear born-again Christian, you must watch this video. This is but a glimpse of the perverse apostasy going in scholarly circles. This is Bill Grady preaching and exposing apostasy on video with a sermon called "7 signs of pseudo-King James Onlyism". "Pseudo" means false/fake.

The 7 signs he mentions are

1) They trust in the Textus Receptus, not the English KJV
2) They love to appear intellectual
3) They prefer couth over truth
4) They have only shallow knowledge of Bible especially when it comes to cross-referencing the verses and dividing the Bible
5) They cling only to fundamentals Bible truths and pre-KJVO era terminology like"the verbal and plenary inspiration of the original autographs"
6) They hate controversy
7) They go bonkers when they hear the name "Ruckman"

If you don't believe the King James Bible is perfect, you have no Bible to stand on. You just have the contemporary competing renditions of various scholars. The link has 2 videos. The first one is entitled "PCC Video", it is brief and serves as a context-setter for Bill Grady's preaching before a whole class of young Bible students. The written preambules will explain more. Keep your eyes on the man to your right of the pulpit as he squirms while he slowly discovers what the preaching is about. Then draw a smile at the irony invlovled as Sexton goes into damage control mode after that Grady is done.

There is no original greek.You can't find it anywhere. If there is, present one in court or desist.

When we say we are Bible-believers, we mean there's a Bible we can hold in our hand and believe that every word in it from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21 is divinely preserved, needing no further improvement.

Are you a Bible-believer, or just a version preferer?

can you say SHIBBOLETH?

superficial changes

2007-01-26T00:23:00.000-04:00

The new face of blogger. Will try to rectify and enhance the look.

Remember, trust the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ to save you from hell and your sin; trust the Bible, not Rome.

Welcome back

2007-01-25T17:14:00.000-04:00

Just wanted to welcome our brother Bryan back on line. To access his blog "It is written" please click on the button to the right hand side, under Other Blogs.

Bryan: We are awaiting to hear of what the Lord has been doing in your life, as well as your long-missed sermons.

Salted, tried and refined by fire

2007-01-23T13:08:00.000-04:00

Salted by fire or burned with fire. Which one are you?

Tested and tried, perfected and purified. That should be the case for every Christian. If not, then burned with fire is the judgement that awaits those who deny our Lord Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 12:29 - For our God is a consuming fire.

We know that when we appear before the Judgement Seat of Christ 1 Corinthians 3:13 - Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.

In the meantime, the Godly fire is at work in our lives perfecting and purifying us.

Mark 9:49 - For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.

Trying us:

1 Peter 1:7 - That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

Purifying us:

1 Peter 1:22 - Seeing ye have purified

We know that gold is purified in fire Revelation 3:18 - I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire,

But those who deny God shall be burned with fire.
Revelation 18:8 - Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.

Salted with Fire or Burned with Fire.
Which one are you? Think about it.

doomsday clock

2007-01-18T21:35:00.000-04:00

Matthew 16:1 The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign from heaven.
:2 He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red.
:3 And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?
:4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.

Even the unsaved/unregenerate scientific world realizes we're nearing a catastrophic event.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6270871.stm

Bornagain believers, Preach!

The Bread of Life

2007-01-18T14:35:00.000-04:00

Matthew 4:4 - But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

The date: Monday 15 January 2007
Location: Entrance to my condomium
People involved: Nathaniel, me and my son
Time: 7:30 pm
Weather conditions: Snow storm with blizzard, icy roads, cold night.

I had just come back from my grocery shopping, and taking into consideration a number of factors I stopped my car in the middle of the road, just ahead of the entrance to my condo. The parking spot belonged to the apartment downstairs but it had been vacant for the longest time. Few minutes and I'll offload my shipment, I thought. But, no sooner did I get out of my and move a few bags into the hallway, that I saw a small truck pull in the road and honk at me. But by the time I ran to move my car, the truck driver had managed to pull into the empty parking space. A friendly voice says, this truck is like a small car, I can fit it anywhere. Are you the new neighbour, I asked. Indeed, Nathaniel was. He was twenty eight years old and his wife was still in Ottawa waiting to move in. I introduced myself and he flew upstairs with his grocery bags only to come back down two minutes later. He had forgotten to buy some bread for the next morning. But the Lord had other plans. In his goodness he had prepared bread for the man.

Oh, you don't need to go back out in this cold weather, I replied. Here, why don't you take one bag. I had bought an extra just in case. Happily he accepted and as a sign of appreciation he helped me carry the load to the third floor.

At the doors upstairs, I quickly called my son who wasted no time in witnessing to the fellow. [Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.] Being in their twenties they both had a spontaneous discussion. At the end of the conversation the young man was so moved that he had tears in his eyes. We agreed we'll talk more at a later occasion.

Pls. pray for Nates (as he likes to be called) that the Lord would work in his heart and that he might eat of the bread of life.

Visitation - A ministry I'd love

2007-01-11T15:49:00.000-04:00

My church does not have a visitation ministry, per se, but I would like to see myself involved in such a programme. I realize that the life style in North America does not lend itself to visits during the winter week days, however I believe that people including the sick folk would appreciate church visits from time to time.

Yesterday, I spoke to my brother and he had just returned from visiting two families. That got me thinking about the subject again. Although I am not a social butterfly but I love to be around my brethren in times of need. May be some day the Lord would use me in that direction.

Wake up World - The real aliens are coming

2007-01-05T17:43:00.000-04:00

Hybrid embryo work "under threat"?

I read on the web the following: UK scientists planning to mix human and animal cells to find disease cures fear authorities will ban their work.

Shcoking. Shocking news. Mixing human and animal cells, under the guise of Science and medical benefits? Are we living in perilous times or what? Is mankind creating its own type of Frinkestein?

I leave this passage with you from II Timothy 3:1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. 6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, 7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 8 Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. 9 But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as their's also was.

For those who don't know the Bible, Jannes and Jabmres tried to copy Moses by replicating the serpent.

Amen, Come Lord Jesus

What was manna like?

2007-01-05T15:11:00.000-04:00

Genesis 3:15 asked. I'll attempt to reply from scritpure.

Q: What is manna?
A: Psalms 78:25 - Man did eat angels' food:

Q: Who had it?
A: John 6:31 - Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.

Q: What was it like and the color thereof?
A: Exodus 16:31 a) - And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white;

Q: What what its taste like?
A: Exodus 16:31 b) and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.

Q: What was God's prepration method?
A: Exodus 16:23 To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.

Q: Were the people happy?
A: Numbers 11:6-7 But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes. And the manna was as coriander seed, and the colour thereof as the colour of bdellium (notice the murmuring and resulting change of color).

Q: Did the people follow God's instructions?
A: Numbers 11:8 a)And the people went about, and gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it:

Q: How did the taste change as a result?
A: Numbers 11:8 b)the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil. (Gone is the taste of honey).

Q: Is there a lesson to be learnt?
A: Several lessons and spiritual applications could be drawn from the manna account. For this post, I would say that God likes to prove his worshippers and that he has good thoughts towards us, only we should be ahsamed of our murmurings when things seem to go into a rut and we should not forget God's heavenly blessings.

Deuteronomy 8:16 - Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;

Cloned hamburger patties

2007-01-02T14:14:00.000-04:00

On the TV set, the other day, the news was that a neighbouring government might be looking into legitimizing the sale of meat from cloned animals in super markets. What is worse is that when that happens there would be no label indicating where the meat came from.

I find all this so disgusting. I do not want to eat cloned meat.

Five Stars for the talent show

2007-01-02T12:55:00.000-04:00

The Lord gave me this thought as I began the first day of work in 2007.

Last night I had read something about the five crowns that the Lord gives to overcomers I . The five crowns are:
1. Crown of Glory (1 Peter 5:4)
2. Crown of Life (James 1:12, Rev. 2:10)
3. Crown of Rejoicing (I Thessalonians 2:19)
4. Crown of Righteousness (2 Timothy 4:8) and
5. an Incorruptible crown (1 Corinthians 9:25).

My thoughts drifted to the Judgement Seat of Christ, and the passage in 2 Corinthians 5:11 - Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.

Should the Lord call his Bride today, we must first appear at his judgement seat to receive our rewards. Corinthians 3:14 - If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.

In Daniel 12: 3 we read - And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.

We speak of stars in terms of their magnitude. We know that the magnitude of stars ranges from 1 to 5. We say that this star is of the third magnitude and that is of the fifth magnitude, for example.

From a wordly point of view, I remembered that some time ago, there was this TV talent show where contestant were evaluated by stars. Five stars meant a full mark.

Back to the spiritual, we read in (1 Corinthians 15:41) that ... for one star differeth from another star in glory .

What a wondrous thought. So, if one earns three crowns, let's say, then his/her brillance would be as a star of the third magnitude. How gloriously do I want the Lord's appearance to shine?

Colossians 3:4 - When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
Amen. Come Lord Jesus.

Taking stock of God's goodness - Year End Inventory

2006-12-27T14:56:00.000-04:00

Psalms 65:11 - Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness.

At the end of each year, I like to sit down and take stock of the good and the bad that had transpired throughout the preceding months. To do that, I pull out a small and private notebook where I keep track both of requests which I put before the Lord at the beginning of each year, and then I tick each one off at the end of the year, whether they were granted or whether they were denied. In addition, I have an entry which I call "unexpected blessings in (year)". It is this particular section of my notebook that I enjoy most as I make entries of all the unexpected things that the Lord has blessed me with.

For 2006 I have plenty of items which I will enter under the title of "Unexpected blessings". Indeed Lord "thou crownest the year with thy goodness". In talking about God's goodness, there is a verse which unfailingly comes to my mind. Here it is:

Romans 2:4 - Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

Isn't it amazing that it is not God's anger, but his goodness, that leads to repentance?

I like to take stock of God's goodness. Hope you do too.

Who is like unto the Lord our God! (Ps 113:5)

2006-12-17T15:18:00.000-04:00

The story you are about to read is all about Him and Him alone for there is none like unto him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all what we ask or think ...(Eph 3:20)

The title verse I have quoted does not end with a question mark but with an exclamation mark, and no wonder for there is none like him who dwelleth on high. Lest you think me wrong, please remember that every jot and tittle counts in the Word of God. Matthew 5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

Now to my story. Praise the Lord my condo finally sold, but not before God made sure that I had a story to tell that would bring him glory and praise.As you all know my condo has been on the market since early May 2006. I was hoping that I would sell, buy a new place, move and settle down before my son arrived early in July. But the Lord had other plans for me. For seven long months my condo remained on the market. In the meantime I found exactly what I was looking for in terms of a new house, but still I could not sell my condo. Many potential buyers lost interest because of various restrictions (no dogs allowed, no satellite dishes, no elevators, no garage etc). At that time I figured surely the Lord knew the house needed renovations and that is why he stopped me from making a rash decision in appointing an early date for the handover.

However the problem persisted. Renovations were (are still) taking a lot more time than I ever expected and I tried to keep my spirits up but I finally succumbed to the pressure and last weekedn I accepted an offer at about $12500 less than my asking price. As I lay in bed that night I talked to the Lord and said Lord how can I praise you and give you glory. It is true to you allowed me to finally sell but I needed the money (finances were running really low for the renovations). Lord I had claimed the promise that would you do "exceeding abundantly more than we ask or think". Now my selling price is not "exceeding abundantly more than I asked or thought". etc.

The next morning I get a phone call from my realtor to inform me that the deal has been cancelled when the buyer found out "no visiting dogs" were allowed either. Despite the fact that I was not happy with the price, now I was really feeling let down. I cried unto the Lord again. My nerves were really shot. I was sick for a whole day.

Right the next day, Wednesday my realtor called again, she had somebody who wanted to see the apartment. The client is a lawyer at my daughter's workplace. Sarah had referred her to my realtor when she wanted something on the West Island. Once that was done, the lawyer wanted to bring her mother closer so again she contacted my realtor for that purpose. The mother had looked and looked and finally decided a condo would be within her budget. Guess whose condo she had seen on the internet. Mine. We arranged for a rush visit at noon. Less than twenty four hours later (Thursday at 11am) they made an offer for (are you ready for this) $10,000.- more. i quickly accepted the new offer and I am now rejoicing and glorifying the Lord my God, for only He can bring honey out of the carcass of a dead lion and of a truth there is none like unto him who dwelleth on high.

in conclusion

2006-12-04T23:01:00.000-04:00

Mary, John Paul 2, Mohammad, Ali, Buddha, Haile Selassie, Confucius, Einstein, Marx, and Hitler are still in the grave.
DEAD. THEY ARE DEAD. DO YOU HEAR THAT? THEY DIED AND THEY'RE STILL DEAD AND THEY CANNOT HELP YOUR POOR SOUL.

ONLY THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD RESURRECTED TO DIE NO MORE.

The end.

a prophecy still threatens the emipre.

2006-11-28T21:40:00.000-04:00

The Bloody Roman Whore (BRW) came out with a movie on the nativity, timed with Christmas (read that Christ MASS), that pagan holiday which born-again believers cannot let go because it has the word "Christ" in it.
The Cardinal (dressed as a BLOODY BIRD, birds representing evil spirits in the Bible) who presented the movie to a crowd of politico-religious pomp never once called Jesus "Lord". He would say "Jesus Christ" but not "Lord".

Now watch thousands of believers swallow that movie down hook, line and sinker. I can already write up their excuses. Satan must be glad that today's believers are so easy to dupe, even as the BRW spreads her skirts wider and wider to regain lost ground in the reformation and usher in the reign of antichrist. Antichrist, incidently, literally means "INSTEAD OF CHRIST".

The trailer to the movie has a spoken line which says "a prophecy that would threaten an empire". I'm sure the higher powers of the BRW enjoy the irony. They still ARE the Roman Empire. Do the words "Holy Roman Empire" mean anything to you?
There's another prophecy. The Lord Jesus Christ is coming back to destroy that same empire which crucified Him.
Amen Lord. Marana atha.

AT WAR

2006-11-21T10:20:00.000-04:00

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Ephesians 6:12)

Never did the above verse come to life in a stronger manner than this past Sunday when ten of us hit downtown Montreal for streeet preaching. The Pastor had just preached about Jonah and Ninevah's repentence as opposed to Sodom and Gomorrah's defiance. Five of us rode a military looking type of car, the latest Sahara Jeep and it felt like soldiers going to war. Little did we know that evil powers were lying in wait for us.

Every time we go street-preaching, we choose a verse for the day. This time it was

Amos 5:10 They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.

Soon after our men began street preaching, some wicked one, who playing the part of Judas, tried to dissuade our men from preaching by presenting himself as a friend warning them that the police would be coming in 30 minutes. He eventually was found out and like a schyzophrenic threw a tract in a preacher's face and enigmatically said "get the [expletive] off OUR streets. God won't be there to save you tonight"; called the police who came flying by, grabbed the arm of our preacher, threw the Bible down, pushed the preacher face down on the street (almost smashing his head) hand-cuffed him and took him to the police station. The by-standers who saw it and who had been indifferent to our preaching suddenly took interest. We all got fired up when the officer replied to my insistent request on what charges he was doing this violent act that we should let the people shop in peace. One of our men climbed up on the pile of barriers which they had brought down in pushing our preacher and gave an inspired sermon. Tracts were now flying as more people wanted to see what was all this about. Two people got saved in the process. One man saw how the cops attacked the preacher from the second floor of an overlooking restaurant. He came down and asked us what has caused this. When he learned it was Bible, he was indignant. He was witnessed to on the spot and one the men lead him to the Lord in prayer. We soon followed our fellow soldier to the police station, but first we all knelt down right there in the very spot where he got arrested and prayed and asked the God of heaven to release him to his family and church. We also asked for mercy over the city. Then some of us walked and the others followed by car to the police station. Two hours later our man emerged from behind bars with a ticket which we will definitely contest.

Pls. pray for us that our Lord would give us victory as a result of this to preach the gospel without further harrassment.

We live in perilous times indeed.

Home Renovations

2006-11-14T09:55:00.000-04:00

John 13:7 Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.

The verse above has been a source of comfort for me on many occasion when I did not understand what was going on. You may recollect that my condo has been on the market since 9 May but has not sold so far. I would not buy until I sold, however, as time went by I found myself buying a house at a good price only because it needed renovations and had an unfinished basement. So what? The brothers in the church volunteered to help rebuild so on with it. I bought and last Wednesday the work began. As you all know, hissab el souk is not like hissab el baidar (an arabic expressesion to denote that you calculate one thing and end up with another). One job leads to another, and now I see that the house will not be habitable as soon as I hoped for. There is a lot of work to be done. We demolished a wall in the kitcken in order to make it bigger. Building a bathroom in the basement has not begun yet since the plumber (the third one so far) keeps postponing. Renovating the powder room, we now discover there had been a leak which the building inspector had not noticed and was not declared by the previous owner, etc.

Yesterday, however, a propsective buyer came to see my condo. Of all the people who came, this lady fell in love with the apartment. and she might want it for 1 January 2007, a date which I would have refused a month or so ago. Looking back I can now understand why the Lord had delayed the sale. I would have been out on the street if I had accepted a selling date close to 15 November. What the Lord had in mind for me was a beautiful town house with a garden, garage, and a fire place. Three bedrooms and three bathrooms, etc. All of which is more than I could hope for. The timing would be perfect if the sale goes through with this last buyer.

As I said, I continue to trust the Lord that he does everything beautiful in his own good time and for his pleasure.

I love you Lord Jesus.

New House

2006-11-02T10:08:00.000-04:00

By the Lord's goodness and gracious blessings I took possession of my new dwelling place, yesterday, 1 November 2006. It is a small town house but has a little bit of everything. Three bedrooms upstairs, living room (with fireplace), dining room and kitchen plus powder/laundry room on first level and a basement. The house has a single garage with a small graden in the back. All in all it is a lot more than I had hoped for and for an excellent price.

The basement is not finished, however, and for you folks who live in California, you may not appreciate the value of basements. I'll give you some of the multiple uses and benefits of having a basement. 1) you can put your son, his books, his research material, reference documents, commentaries, equipment and everything else that belongs to him in a separate quarter - in the basement; 2) excercise equipment including hockey gear and skates in the basement. 3) when you receive too many young people and they get noisy whereas you want a quiet sleep, you move everybody down into the .... (that's right you got it) the basement. 4) when it gets very hot upstairs in summer and you don't have central air conditoning, the best alternative is to hit the ...... 5) If you need to stow away your suitcases, your winter coats (including fur which I don't have) the best storage room can be found in the (where else) the basement.

Now another hidden advantage of the basement is the following. The best way to keep your own personal bathroom clean and safe from all alien invasion is to put an extra bathroom with shower stand in the basement.

That's what I shall be doing this afternoon. I am meeting a plumber at 3:30. When I went downstairs I was pleasantly surprised to see that when this house was originally built in 1987 the contractor had made provision for pipes and drains for that purpose. I hope that today I can agree with the plumber on a price and date to complete the work.

Work can later begin on finishing the walls and floors etc to make a proper bedroom with bookcase and the rest of shebang. Will keep you posted.

Joe. This bit should last you a couple of days. Okay?

imprisoned in Kenya for tract-passing

2006-10-23T20:39:00.000-04:00

Wednesdays nights after the usual service our church runs a preachers' course. Since we were only starting for the year some men were giving their testimonies. While the last testimony of the night was being given, one of our men (hereafter referred to as "brother A"), who will soon be starting a Bible school at our church, received an ominous phone-call. He returned to the pew and waited. Once the speaker was done, brother A spoke up and requested our hearing ears. Two saved men (Brothers C and D), old friends of his, had just been imprisoned in Kenya, apparently that same day. The charge? Passing out gospel tracts to Muslims during a Muslim holy period (in a Christian school, as we were to find out). Brother A then said something that made the hearts of all of us there sink at the same time. "they might get the death penalty".

Don't you know our knees hit the ground and brother B got to praying.
The church has been praying for a few days, for delivrance, for encouragement to these 2 men of God and for their families. Yesterday we heard they might be let go with a warning, but as of yet they remain in prison, and one of them is an elderly man.

I write this here because you will never hear of 98% of such events because some country doesn't want to upset another. And for the believers out there to pray. Thank God for boldness and persecution for the sake of the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Our God doesn't fear a challenge like other gods. We'll compare any book to the Bible anytime you want. We'll compare any god to the Lord God Jesus Christ anytime you want. No holds barred. Why do the gods of the other religions always fear the Lord Jesus Christ and go into a panic about him?

I'll tell you these 2 men's predicament put some fire into us this Sunday as we did our monthly street-preaching in the middle of Downtown.
See the post below.

Not Ashamed of the testimony of Jesus

2006-10-23T15:45:00.000-04:00

Romans 1:16 - For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

It had been a while since I gave tracts on the train. Last Wednesday morning I sat on the train reading as usual when these two college students sat beside me chatting all the way. Suddenly that sweet old voice started whispering in my ear again. He may have whispered at other occasions too but today I heard him clearly. Now how do I break through the rut I had fallen into. We had not gone tract passing in a while and I had cold feet so to speak.

On the other hand the Lord had blessed me with my son's presence and with my daughter's support but I had been very busy worrying about real estate issues that I slacked down a bit. I struggled in the beginning but just before disembarking I managed to pull myself together and gave the girls the two tracts. Suddenly the ice was broken, and I was slowly going back to my old habit of passing out tracts on a one-on-one basis. Last Friday a group of us (eight in total) broke out singing praises to God at the top of our lungs in the midst of China town just before midnight. I honestly feel that it must have pleased the Lord.

For just this Saturday (as my daughter has posted on her blog) my son, daughter and I gathered up our energies and hit the metro. God blessed and there was an amazing outpour of the spirit. I described it as though we had neglected the fishes who were now starving for the Word. Schools of fishes swarmed the metro. We could not keep up with the people who came out of every nook and cranny. It was a dizzying exercise to pass all those tracts to everyone. What is more is that four souls prayed with us. There was a time when the four of us were witnessing one-on-one to four different people. The metro station had turned into a church counselling service. Had there been more workers, more souls would have prayed, I am sure. Luke 9:26 - For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels.

To top it off, fourteen people from my church went street preaching in the heart of downtown Montreal yesterday. The men preached the WORD as loud as they could. Titus 2:8 - Sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you. Some people called the cops on us who in turn gave us a warning but would not dare give us a ticket although one cop threatened to give each of the preaching men a fine $200.-. The cop had no answer when one of our men asked him to give tickets to those who were doping (the smell of it filled the air). Isn't it a shame that these people were not ashamed of the sinful environment (pictures etc) instead they were angry at godly men who were preaching the gospel of salvation unto a lost world. Romans 6:21 - What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.

As for me although I was afraid at some point that they would arrest the men, my son included, I had to remind myself and did find comfort in the following verse: Mark 8:38 - Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

Can you say that with all your heart

2006-10-06T14:08:00.000-04:00

Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness (?):
and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil (?),
which shall not break my head: ...(Psalm 141:5)

Think about the above verse and be honest with yourself.

Although the verse speaks about Jesus, I believe that if every Christian maintained that attitude with his fellow Christian, how happy we would all be.

Realtors

2006-09-28T12:25:00.000-04:00

I cannot believe this, but then I can for we do live in perilous times.

2 Timothy 3:1 - This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.² For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, ³ Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, ⁴ Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; ⁵ Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

As the Lord would have it, I have decided to move to a bigger home and for that reason I signed a contract on 12 May 06 with a very nice lady, a certain realtor whom I will call Mary (like the virgin Mary). At the time Mary explained to me that it does not serve a purpose to sign for three months only, so how about a six-months contract and her cut would be 7%. And of course I can cancel anytime. No strings attached. The contract is NOT irrevocable.

I agreed and signed the contract ending 30 December 2006. Anyone noticed anything?

Three months into the process I had not received a single offer to buy.
Reason: condo overpriced. We bring the price down, down and down one more time and her commission came down by 1 percent.

Four months into the process, I am getting restless and feeling that Mary was not giving me good service so I e-mailed her a request to cancel my contract. We meet, she gives me a long speel as to how "too-nice she is with clients" and I sign something which confirms that the condo is off the market. Any one noticed anything?

In the meantime I am doing my homework looking for a bigger place, and I stumble over this agent whom I shall call Jael (like Deborah and Sisera). Jael is excellent, and we find a home for me to buy on my first trip with her. So why not have Jael try and sell my condo.

I re-read my contract with Mary and noticed it was NOT irrevocable and I am possibly very safe. I sign with Jael.

Guess what?Jael calls me this morning with the following piece of info. Mary did not effectively CANCEL the contract as I had asked her, instead she just put the condo off the market.

What do I do next?
I got in contact with Mary's broker. She had not act in good faith. Thankfully I had kept a copy of the e-mail exchange specifically requesting her to cancel the CONTRACT. I am awaiting his decision.

Mary did not turn out to be as nice as she looked.

Worshipping towards the East

2006-09-23T08:22:00.000-04:00

Ezekiel 8:16 And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD's house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.

Yesterday was "No cars day". The city blocked off a good segment of a major street in downtown Montreal, ran long swaths of green grass along the main road and sprinkled them with picnic tables. Where cars used to run to and fro was now used for pedestrians and others who had the opportunity to enjoy their lunch breaks in the middle of St. Catherine Street on what was a beautiful Autumn day.

Two main things struck me. As we walked along my friend noted how lovely it would be if everyday life was like that. No cars in the streets, just man enjoying nature. I replied it will be just that one day when the Lord comes back to reign when technology will be no more based on electricity and computers etc, but will revert to what God always wanted it to be like.

The second thing which caught my attention and this time saddened me was that along these runways (if I can call the swaths of green grass that) were large groups of men and women, all in perfect unison, doing Thai Chi. In very slow motion, all were waiving their hands, legs and moving their bodies, turning around and back again.

In other words, the message that came across was people linking a clean environment with a religious practice from the East.

THAT is what saddened me.
The West, a supposedly Christian world, has been blessed with the availability and easy accessiblity to the Word of God but they cannot link a clean environment to the return of the Lord?

Read up the verse again and notice:
their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.

You can draw your own conclusions.

"whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."

2006-09-18T18:55:00.000-04:00

A friend of mine, P., died in a car accident this week because another friend was speeding. P. was in his late twenties. The last time I saw him I witnessed to him, he wanted to know more. But I never got to see him again. P. was the kindest one in a bunch of pleasure-driven fools. Unless he had called on the Lord Jesus Christ to save him, he is now burning in hell.
Forever.

Satan quotes textual variants

2006-09-11T16:22:00.000-04:00

Since we're on the subject of wisdom of words and fleshly wisdom, I want to show you what an ex-King James Bible believer (at least that's what he claims) answered me when I made the following point in defending ONE perfect Bible.

But before that I need to tell you about Isaiah 9:3 to which I referred. I did not present him what I'm immediately presenting below. I simply referred to the verse as you'll see in the excerpt.

Isaiah 9:3 in the perfect King James Bible says

Thou hast multiplied the nation, and NOT increased the joy:

the ASV, New ASV (evolutionist scholars?), RV, RSV, New RSV (evolutionist scholars?), BBE, CEV, WEB, New IV (evolutionist scholars?) all claim that God did increase the joy, contradicting the King James Bible (which is based on the Antiochian manuscripts, not the corrupt Alexandrian ones as the afore-mentioned translations are). In Isaiah 26:15 God increases the nation, but you don't read about any joy because He is removing the nation far into all the ends of the earth, then they pour out a prayer of rescue to God during the tribulation. You see in Isaiah 9:3 He is increasing them as the sand of the sea BEFORE He judges them during the tribulation, leaving a remnant ( see Isaiah 10:22 !). The column in Isaiah 9:3 seperates the church age and tribulation from the millennium. But the scholars couldn't believe the words and get the prophecy. They couldn't understand how the nation could be increased without the joy being increased, so they followed a favourite rule of theirs
"change the Bible to match the scholar's ignorance".

that said, here's the excerpt.

I said:
-"You can use the euphemism of 'textual variants' all you want but some readings are in clear contradiction like Isaiah 9:3 for example..."

He replied:
-"Perhaps you want to call them a contradiction, but I would just say you have an inaccurate definition of "contradiction" as it applies to the work of textual criticism determining the value of textual variants."

Now you look me straight in the electronic eyeball and tell me that's an honest answer.

Gen 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of EVERY tree of the garden thou mayest FREELY EAT:
Gen 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt SURELY die.

Gen 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, (according to today's most respected scholars, Satan's questioning should here be taken as genuinely inquisitive. Indeed he merely seeks to avail himself of the most accurate rendition of the words of God. To accuse him of casting doubt upon the words of God smacks of unlearned boorishness. After all, did not Confusedius say that the hall-mark of intelligence is the posing of questions? And does not Satan appear in association with the tree of KNOWLEDGE?) Ye shall NOT EAT OF EVERY TREE of the garden? (According to today's most respected scholars, Satan is not contradicting God. He simply plays upon "an inaccurate definition of 'contradiction' as it applies to the work of textual criticism determining the value of textual variants")

Gen 3:2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat (according to today's most respected scholars, one should not accuse Eve of misquoting God by omitting the word "freely" because here she is in fact quoting the Septuagint which was written in Greek before creation by 72 angels, and which does not contain the word "freely" in Genesis 2:16) of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
Gen 3:3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, LEST (According to today's scholars Eve here preferred the reading of the MS Pi Beta Kappa n. 5666. In any event "lest" does not deny a possibility of dying and therefore there is no doctrine which is lost, so believers of the King James Bible are flippant conspiracy theorists) ye die.

2 Corinthians 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

"No doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you."

2006-09-08T11:21:00.000-04:00

Please read the verses first, and observe how accurate the Bible remains to this day, yea and will remain, in uncovering the nature of men and predicting their conversation, even believers.

1Corinthians 1:17 For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.

1Corinthians 2:1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
1Co 2:2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
1Co 2:3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
1Co 2:4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
1Co 2:5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

1Co 2:13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual

The following are genuine, random excerpts from Christian blogs. I suggest you ready an Oxford English Dictionary (unabridged), a dictionary of philosophy, an encyclopedia of theology, oh and you might need a Bible, but am not sure about that one.

"a simple act of punctilliar faith in Jesus Christ alone"

Punctilliar folks, punctilliar. How simpler can it get?

"an excellent refutation of the inferential claim of a pretribulation secret rapture. Consider historic premillennialism; it's a more tenable eschatological framework than the dispensational variety"

He's saying: consider taking deciphering courses in non-linear cryptography.

"Regenerate man has a free will that is regulated by two opposing capacities within his ontological being"

I have an ontological being. At least he's logical.

"the context of parabolic structures, and as such, are not to be taken literally, but the accounts within the metaphorical contructs correspond to spiritual truths."

This statement exhibits parables and metaphores and is not to be taken literally.

"What is striking in all of these is not just the typological reference but the nature of the type's realization. In each case there is no mere parallel being drawn: there is an eschatological transcendence ... this in keeping with the Matthean "eschatological transcendence" pattern noted previously, as well as the "Christological ego" in the antitheses themselves"

I wonder if Matthew and Christ knew that.

"In the fifth antithesis (vv.38-39) Jesus proceeds from the lex talionis to non-resistance."

We now know what Jesus was doing from 12 to 30. He was taking courses in Latin in order to rise to the level of modern scholars.

"The verbs "destroy" and "fulfill" (katalusai, plerosai) are both telic, or purpose, infinitives."

They failed to tell you that these verbs also rime.

"The parenetic function of the law and prophets anticipated a "fulfilling" "

To activate the parenetic function, please press simultanesouly ctrl-alt-shit-f11-f3-esc.

"suggests that "these least commandments" is a proleptic reference not to Moses' law but to Jesus' "Nova Lex" "

Not to worry; I can explain "proleptic". It means "for, in agreement with, advocating that which is leptic".

"A counterfactual possibility, not a live possibility. If God exhaustively revealed his plan for the world, then that would set up the conditions for its non-fulfillment. But, of course, that contrary-to-fact condition is not in the cards."

King, Queen, Jack, 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-As. He's right, it ain't in the cards. What a Joker.

"And since infallible certainty can ' t be mediated by rational or evidentiary means, it must be that it is gifted to the elect by God directly. Yes? If in answer to this, one posits a kind of synergistic relationship between the Holy Spirit 's witness and our rational means of inquiry"

That's saying that you can't be sure this same statement is true, because it is mediated by your rational or evidentiary means. As to what the latter are, you'll have to ask your ontological being, if you have one.

"And the way I prove it may take a very different form than the process of learning. There ' s a logical order and a pedagogical order.There ' s the way in which things are metaphysically interconnected, and then there ' s the way in which we discover them."

I'm still working on that one. What came first, the physical or the metaphysical? And how did we discover the difference between the logical and the pedgogical? Logically or pedagogically? Where are Plato and Aristotle when you need ' em?!

"Probability is a relative concept. Probable relative to what is possible, which is, in turn, relative to what is actual."

which in turn is relative to probability, which is relative to what is possible, which is relative to what is actual which is relative to what is probable which is relative to what is possible which is relative to what is actual...

"In other words, the alternative to predestinarian determinism is fatalistic determinism."

Aren't you glad he clarified that one?

"There is also a fatalistic quality to Molinism. It endows the agent a libertarian freewill. But the agent has no control over what possible world is instantiated.Given a choice, he ' d prefer to be instantiated in a world where he goes to heaven rather than hell."

Molinism: the philosophy of H.A. Molin whose adherents are generally undercover agents of the libertarian persuasion. The philosophy is peculiar in its preference of heaven over hell while admitting neither.

"You are evoking categories from Reformed theology, radically redefining them, and then attempting to generate a point of tension. But if you redefine the key terms, then it ceases to be an internal critique. The tension is not generated by the inner logic of Calvinism, but by your semantic subterfuge"

To properly appreciate the gist of the rebuttal, one must be versed in Deformed theology and the cartoon Calvin and Hobbes.

"John was arguing reductio ad absurudum"

Reduction ad absurdum is an argumentative technique which floods the opponent with such a barrage of verbiage that it "reduces him to absurdity."

Job 12:2 No doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you.

Part 3 on the pre-trib.rapture

2006-09-01T23:43:00.000-04:00

Pre-tribulation rapture of the church, part3; Which Gospel?

longest one yet. hope it bears fruit.

Pre-tribulation rapture of the church, part 2

2006-08-30T17:01:00.000-04:00

Pre-tribulation rapture OF THE CHURCH; part 2

a Biblical estimation of the original autographs

2006-08-30T14:37:00.000-04:00

Just what should born-again believers make of the original autographs?
Here's a small dose of Biblical common-sense you'll never get in 95% of Christian colleges.

http://www.samgipp.com/answer/gipp_answer_01.html

Pre-tribulation rapture of the church, part 1

2006-08-18T21:47:00.000-04:00

This "presentation" was promised to a brother of mine about 10 months ago. I have only posted the first part which deals with the so-called "last trumpet" of 1 Corinthians 15:52 which is a starting point argument for many, though not all post-tribs.
May it be a blessing to all.

pre-tribulation rapture of the CHURCH

they hate him that rebuketh in the gate

2006-08-14T22:09:00.000-04:00

At 2:30 p.m. this Sunday, 7 men and 4 women and a boy hit the streets of down-town Montreal for open-air preaching. We stood at an intersection of Ste-Catherine's street, the nastiest street in the city. We had had us a good Sunday morning service, and were looking forward to preach the gospel to a lost city, hearts-a-pounding.
We began passing-tracts at the 4 corners of the intersection. A few minutes later, one of our elders, a seasoned man, bellowed from an island splitting the road

"PEOPLE OF MONTREAL, THE BIBLE SAYS"

what ensued was awesome. I mean it. We had the listeners, the scoffers, the puzzled, the disgusted, the amused, you name it. 5 of the men, taking turns, hollered their lungs out in English and French, from both sides of the road. Just picture a busy North American Metropolitan hearing the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and the reality of hell-fire preached to it open-air. What a blessing. What a joy. It is tremendous to let out everything that you accumulate. Sermons burn your heart to witness, men of God encourage you to speak out. You want to warn the untold millions of hell. We preached God's wrath for sin and His love through His Son. We read Romans 1 and Romans 10 out loud. You should've seen peoples' faces as the list of sins went on, being cried out in the gates of the city

Romans 1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
:29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
:30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
:31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
:32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

One priest got annoyed. It's odd that Sodom doesn't annoy him but a bunch of King James Bible preaching folks are an eye-sore.
Sometimes you'll get the washed-down believers
" that's not the way to reach people". Their conscience pricks them. Others are very encouraged. We met a few such people. Praise God.
One man who had a license to operate on a street corner scrunched the tract that the little boy gave him and threw it at his head. He gave us a rough time over his 6 meter radius. Like the young boy's father said "there's nothing new under the sun"(Ecclesiastes 1:9), referring to the silversmith of Ephesus (Acts 19:24-25).

Eventually the cops showed up. 3 people had claimed we followed them screaming at them. No such thing occured. We explained ourselves to the cops and claimed the right to preach. Thankfully they went on... with tracts in their hands.

One soul got saved. He bowed his head and prayed behind the traffic light.

Scott Strobel has a sermon entitled "the world's best kept secret". He preaches that Satan has managed to keep secret from people that they need to call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to save them from hell and give them eternal life.
Thousands of people got the message that Sunday. May the Lord God bless the seeds that were planted, send to water them, and give the increase.

They hate him that rebuketh in the gate -Amos 5:10

I am in the Father, and the Father in me

2006-08-10T11:52:00.000-04:00

John 14:11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me:

I have often wondered and tried to imagine how could that work. This morning I had an illumination of the following analogy (if I can call it that).

Think of a chain containing two rings, A and B. A can say "I am in B" and B can say "I am in A". Together they are a chain = one. Yet each maintains its individuality.

I think I can now understand how could Jesus say At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you (v.20).

gloryland girls

2006-07-31T14:55:00.001-04:00

listen, it's short
members.aol.com/jhscottv/ohlook.ram

you can get a little more here

hometown.aol.com/jhscottv/audio6.html

thought Matthew might particularly enjoy that one

2006-07-24T00:07:00.000-04:00

is not mentioned, but notice also that the white horse has a crown (see Rev.6:2)

(click picture to enlarge)