Gospel Living

( Part 1 | Part 2 ) The first two posts of this series form an important foundation: we must rely on the truth the Holy Spirit revealed to us through His Word, lest we grow arrogant and embrace bold deception in the name of God.  If we lean on our own understanding of how God operates, we will fall.  If we grow unsatisfied with the Bible and seek words and visions, we invite spiritual destruction. Indeed, the light of Proverbs 30:6 dispels our confusion:     Do not add to his words,         lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar. In total, we said we must avoid Bethel because it is spiritually dangerous, and we said there are two reasons for that.  The first reason we examined in length last week, that it promotes false doctrine , and we looked at the heretical teachings streaming from the pulpit to computers and MP3 players near you.  If you have not read at least that post, please do so now, beca...

( Part 1 | Part 3 ) In the previous post , I argued that doctrine is not only unavoidable, the Holy Spirit wants us to grow in our knowledge of biblical doctrine.   Even so, I understand the many Christians who, burned by those intellectuals whose convictions were buried in seminary, believe avoiding deep theological study is the best salve for the injured soul.  They believe that you can feed only your intellect or your spirit, seeking a moving experience that is not necessarily meaningful, and missing the fact that God created both in union. As such, some of today's most popular teachers and preachers proceed with that foundation; books and sermons promising bigger and better experiences create many celebrity pastors.  However, upon this foundation a house of theology must reside, inside which a Christians find a spiritually environment that is not up to biblical code.  We will see this with our case in point --- Bill Johnson --- as we exami...

( Part 2 | Part 3 ) Doctrine and theology: sour words in the ears of many today, and with good reason.  Knowledge can puff up (1 Cor 8:1), inflating otherwise well-meaning Christians with hot air.  You probably even know someone seemingly more concerned with crossing the "t" in theology than showing the love of the cross.  Yet, God designed our hearts and minds to grow in doctrine ( instruction or teaching ), and we can't go far in our Christian walk without it.  Consider Jesus, who employed sound doctrine when His proper understanding and application of God's Word defeated Satan's temptation (Mt 4:1-11; Lk 4:1-13).  He also chastised the poor doctrine or teaching of the leaders of Israel, saying, "Have you not read" (Mt 12:3, 5, 19:4, 22:31; Mk 12:10, 26; Lk 6:3).  He equated knowing Scripture to knowing the power of God (Mt 22:29).  His Great Commission includes the directive to make disciples and to teach them (Mt 28:18-19).  As...

(HT: Apologetics 315 ) In this lively audio, the late great   Walter Martin   debates Van Hale   on the topic:   Is Mormonism Christianity?  Martin is author of a number of excellent counter-cult books, including   Kingdom of the Cults . Full   Debate MP3 Audio here .   (90 min) Enjoy.

The church is selling sex? Is this a passing fad or here to stay? Below is an interview between Phil Johnson and John MacArthur. (HT: Defending. Contending. )

Phil Johnson posted this nugget from C.H. Spurgeon: ___________________________________________ Your weekly dose of Spurgeon posted by Phil Johnson The Pyro Maniacs devote some space each weekend to highlights from The Spurgeon Archive. This short but potent excerpt comes from "Additions to the Church,"a sermon preached Sunday morning 5 April 1874, at the Metropolitan Tabernacle. ear brethren and sisters, never give up the grand old truths of the gospel. Let no excitement, even though it be the whirlwind of a revival, ever sweep you off your feet concerning the great doctrines of the cross. If God does not save men by truth he certainly will not save them by lies, and if the old gospel is not competent to work a revival, then we will do without the revival; we will keep to the old truth, anyhow, come what may! Our flag is nailed to the mast.

Kevin DeYoung's post on the dangers of mysticism is worth the read . There are lines I want to highlight for my next post (which will be up either tonight or tomorrow): "[I] n order to find truth or life or salvation–in a word, to find God–a person need not go outside of himself but need only descend within himself ." " Scripture contained nothing other than what a person had already learn by God’s Spirit ." " With their new found inner truth, these people grow dissatisfied with sermons, notions of authority, and Church-as-we-know-it ."