Is having a solid Systematic Theology important?…uh yeah…

For those who poo-poo anything that smacks of “doctrine,” and uses the phrase “I don’t care about all that “propitiation stuff” I just love Jesus…” This video is for you.

…and it’s good for a laugh.

Another example of “so called” revival…yeah right

As you watch this video; ponder these words:

“For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. “Behold, I have told you in advance.”
Matthew 24:24-25

This is what elevating experience above scripture allows…

This is an example of some of what went on at the “Florida Revival.”

Does this have anything to do with “revival?” I think not.

This illustrates what the problem is within the Charismatic Church in general…lack of discernment.

If you are from a Charismatic church, on what basis can you distance yourself from what you see here? How can you evaluate Mr. Bentley’s experience? How can you say that Todd Bentley did NOT encounter an angel as he claims? When scripture takes a back seat to “experience” then the basis for evaluating things like this is gone.

For those of you who are not Charismatically inclined, you will be left shaking your heads.

Not to mention; this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ertiP50W9PY&feature=related

You’ll notice that nobody talks about sin, holiness, sanctification; it’s about “the experience” that they had.

Relics are alive and well…

I found this while surfing James White’s blog www.aomin.org.

Having a family member who is Roman Catholic; this hit home.

This morning I noted Erik Raymond’s blog entry on relics (Hi Erik!). There are few things more repulsive to the life-long Protestant than relics, and nothing more creepy than entering an old style traditionalist Roman Catholic church filled with skeletons and bones and the like. The relic trade continues to this day, despite how often modern Roman Catholics try to sanitize this glaring example of gross superstition and unbiblical idolatry. To be honest, just allowing modern Rome’s representatives to “spin” the pictures of people bowing in front of corpses and skulls and femurs, lighting candles and fingering their rosaries, is normally enough refutation in and of itself for any semi-literate reader of Holy Scripture. The few texts they cobble together have to be so grossly isolated, so completely removed from any meaningful biblical context, so as to provide automatic refutation upon the most basic contemplation. It only took a moment or two with Google to pull up the images found here.

Modern Rome, and its apologists, is truly an enigma. On the one hand you have the liberalism found throughout the scholarship of Rome. Inclusivism at best, universalism at worst, is the watchword of the day. On the other hand you still have the worst of medieval superstition in many lands, and Rome’s apologists have the gall to try to stick all of this under one grand banner of “Mother Rome.” The relic trade was well worthy of Erasmus’ scorn half a millennium ago, when he rightly noted that one could build an entire ship out of all of the “genuine fragments of the cross.”

Bottles of Mary’s milk and feathers of the Angel Gabriel were a dime a dozen then, and were just as much of a fraud as they are today. But what is worse is that the theology that gave rise to this gross superstition remains in Rome today. Ask the faithful flocking to Fatima or Lourdes or any of the other of a thousand shrines today. Ask the people on their knees praying to dead bones. And then be reminded: Rome remains as much of an opponent to the gospel of grace as she has ever been.

Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher.

For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day. Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.
2 Timothy 1:8-14

Continous Creation?

Have you ever thought about how God “upholds all things” by His will?

Do you believe that God “spun the top” of creation, and now it’s in motion by itself and that every once in a while he nudges it back on track?

I’ve spoken to many people who have that view of God’s Sovereignty over His creation. If this is you…then read the following, it will cause you to pause and rethink the whole issue.

I believe that I got this from www.monergism.com. If I didn’t that’s a great site to visit anyway!

Continuous Creation

A difficult doctrine to grasp, but one well worth thinking about.

by Dr. C. Matthew McMahon

The Doctrine of Continuous Creation

 

In the realm of Christian Theology there are certain theological subjects that stretch our minds further than our capacity. These subjects move above and beyond our conception for complete thought about a given subject. For instance, we can understand things about God, but cannot comprehend Him completely – to attempt such is beyond our capacity as human beings
We are finite in our thinking and thus finite in our thoughts about Him. Yes, we can understand that He is holy, but to understand His holiness comprehensively is impossible. The reason is obvious – we have finite brains which cannot contain an infinite amount of data concerning God’s holiness. Only God can rightly interpret the fullness of His own being. However, there are other subjects which stretch our mind in the exercise of thought. For instance, there are doctrines that are hard to understand, but they are understandable if we press our minds to grasp the concepts surrounding those doctrines. It is never true that we will grasp the whole measure of any doctrine. However, that should never stop us in the exercise of our minds on difficult topics, or even those topics which may not be in the popular realm of Christian thought. One of these topics is called the Doctrine of Continuous Creation.