Gospel Living

General Session 11 If The World Hates You: Preaching Christ in the Face of Hostility by Al Mohler 2017 Shepherds' Conference Can we make peace with this culture?  Is this culture neutral in regards to Christ?  Can we gain enough influence to make the world love us and our Lord?  The answer to all these questions is no , and we need to come to terms with this.  MEDIA LINKS:   MP3  /  VIMEO  /  ARABIC MP3  /  KOREAN MP3  /  RUSSIAN MP3  /  SPANISH MP3 General Session 11 - Albert Mohler - Shepherds’ Conference 2017 from Grace Community Church on Vimeo . Al Mohler MORE SERMONS

Counted Worthy by Paul Washer Suffering for Christ in a World That Hates Him 2017 Shepherds' Conference (No video for this session) MEDIA LINKS:   MP3  /  SPANISH MP3 We often have an elevated view of persecution in the United States, acting as though a mean look equates to those thirty-nine lashes.  Even so, we do live in a world that hates the truth of God, and its animosity grows.  What should our message and assurance be?

5  Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. 6  And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. 16  And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. 17  And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. Why do people excited about God and the Bible walk away without warning?  We’re continuing to study the parable of the sower, and today we’re considering the seed that fell on rocky ground.  A farmer may see soil, but the rocks lying just beneath the surface will block roots from reaching the water table.  As he broadcasts out the seed in that direction, those plants may seem to spring up faster.  Unfortunately, because the roots don’t go as deep...

The Muslim world begins Ramadan at sundown on Saturday, June 28.  As they do, it's an opportunity for Christians to pray for their brothers and sisters living under Islamic rule. Open Doors published a list of specific prayers Christians can pray during the 30-day cycle.   View or download the PDF here .

Frank Turek's is another story of how lip service to diversity of opinion really means "believe what we believe OR ELSE." From AFA: I urge you today to take a moment and let the decision makers at Cisco hear from you. If we don't start to speak up and fight back we are going to continue to lose and one day soon it will be illegal to preach against homosexuality from the pulpit. That day is coming. Frank was treated unjustly and unfairly (fired) just because he held traditional views on marriage.   TAKE ACTION and send this Action Alert to as many people as you can. Frank's story can serve a great purpose if we can get it across the country.   Send an email to Cisco and send this Action Alert to as many people as you can. Frank's story can serve a great purpose if we can get it across the country. Send your email letter now!

The four Christian missionaries walked out of the courtroom today with the judge's delightful words, "Y'all come back now." Unfortunately, one of the charges stuck -- Negeen was found guilty of disobeying an officer for continuing to video when ordered to stop.  Though the sentence was credited in full from her initial July visit to jail, she stills plans on appealing. Thankfully, the rest of the charges were dropped, though nothing was done about Roger Williams' false police report or the rest of the lies.  The four praise God for being counted worthy to have faced these false charges in the name of Christ, and you can read their account here .

The Christian missionaries arrested in Michigan based on false charges faced their pretrial yesterday. The judge wants more evidence. You can read Nabeel's post here and the story run by The Detroit News here .

You might remember the arrest of Christians who were witnessing at an Arab festival in Dearborn .  This was the same group harassed  at the 2009 festival . Well, the video cameras were returned, and those at Acts 17 Ministries do not seem to have deserved the treatment they received from police.  You be the judge. Video info: http://www.AnsweringMuslims.com/ Chief of Police: 313-943-2235 Mayor's Office: 313-943-2300 Mayor's Email: mayor@ci.dearborn.mi.us Dearborn Police arrest a young Christian girl for holding a camera and telling them to stop touching her. Her trial for "Disturbing the Peace" and "Failure to Obey a Police Order" is set for September 20th. Pre-trial is August 30th. HT to James White .  From his blog: We finally have video of the arrest of David Wood and Nabeel Qureshi in Dearborn. I am truly incensed. I am incensed, of course, at the grossly unconstitutional actions of the Dearborn PD (and the clearly politically based cove...

You might remember that a year ago, a small group of Christian missionaries went to the annual Arab festival in Dearborn and were harassed by security guards .  (I say missionaries  because this was an ethnic celebration, not an Islamic/religious one as some have misunderstood.) On Friday, June 18, they were back at the festival.  This time the police decided it would be easier to simply arrest the Christians.  Why?  Who knows?  They were not impeding traffic or causing a disruption.  They were avoiding speaking on Islam and simply shared the message "Jesus loves you."   Their cameras were confiscated by police and have yet to be returned.  Upon their release from prison, though, they released the following video with other footage provided by another person: (HT: Acts 17 ) Jesus promised believers this kind of behavior when they obey His word.  I know there are Christians who are intentionally rude to police to try to get...

Security hassles a few Christians that ask a question at a Muslim booth that invites people to ask questions. Hmmm. (HT: Veritas ) Here is the explanation from Acts 17 Ministries : On June 21st, I moderated a peaceful public debate between Mary Jo Sharp and Ehteshaam Gulam . After the debate, Nabeel, Mary Jo, and I went to the Dearborn Arab Festival, which had already become an open celebration of persecution against Christians. The festival organizers had declared that Christians could not distribute materials on the public sidewalks or street, and, when the matter was brought before the courts, the judge agreed that Christians could not freely distribute information during the festival. (Note: This decision has been defended in the media by claiming that the “no-distributing-materials” rule applied to everyone, and therefore wasn’t unfair to Christians. However, anyone who was at the festival knows that this is not true. People were walking up and down the sidewalks distributing pam...

Here are a few stories evidencing man's sinfulness: Owner of Stolen Car Sued in Hit-Run Death .  But Lord, if You hadn't provided me a running car to steal... (HT: Overlawyered ) EPA mad that White House calls CO 2 natural .  My favorite line?  " But now an internal White House memo reveals glimpses of sanity within the administration ."  'Bout time.  What's goofy about this?  The control the EPA demands.  It's all about pride. Girl kicked out of grad school for her religious views .  The continual redefinition of "tolerance" into "I have to affirm every possible lifestyle and belief" is simply the pride of man desiring to be free from any restrictions. [Video] People still justify killing in the name of religion .  (Content caution: there are some graphic pictures.  Parents, watch the video alone first.  HT: Jihad Watch ) We still call murder good. (HT: Cent ) Finally, this (HT: Dan Philips ):