SMILINGLY LEADING YOU TO HELL [Excerpts]

One of these is unlike the others: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, niceness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. According to Paul's letter to the church at Galatia, all but one of these is what he refers to as the fruit of the Spirit, which is to say, visible evidence of the presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of a Christian. If you are a Christian, your life will necessarily be marked by this kind of character. But which one is foreign to the list? Niceness.

Humans seem to be naturally drawn to niceness. Niceness is comfortable. To be nice is to be pleasant in manner, to be agreeable, to adhere to social conventions. We like to be around people who are nice at least in large part because we are comforted by their pleasant words or deeds and by their adherence to whatever social custom dictates. It is an attractive quality, but it can also be a deceptive one. It is, after all, an external trait, and one that has no necessary correlation with what is going on at an internal, spiritual level.

Brian McLaren may well be the nicest guy around. He recently faced a good bit of criticism for leading a commitment ceremony following his son's same-sex wedding -- a ceremony that included "traditional Christian elements." In the aftermath, McLaren was as nice as he has ever been. On his blog he answered a former fan who now understood that he could no longer see McLaren as a mentor....McLaren's answer was nice; it had the appearance of humility and genuinely sorrowful affection. Yet it was radically opposed to the Bible. He rashly changed the way we interpret Scripture, denying what the Bible makes so clear. If you allow him to, Brian McLaren will "nice" you straight to hell.

And he is far from the only one. Both the history of the church and contemporary Evangelical church are replete with nice people who are in complete rebellion against God. Is there anyone nicer than Joel Osteen? Yet is there anyone whose message has less of the gospel and more anti-biblical nonsense? You can watch him [online], sitting with Oprah, receiving accolades, nicely, smilingly leading an eager crowd farther and farther from the cross. He is nice, but he, too, will nice you straight to the gates of hell, flashing that brilliant smile all the while.

Christians are called by God to stand firm on what the Bible says is true, no matter how counter-cultural, and no matter how odious to the spirit of the age....It may be impossible to be nice when we stand with firm conviction on what the Bible says about marriage, about the value of unborn children, or any other area where culture conflicts with Scripture. We need to be okay with that, as long as the fruit of the Spirit is present in its place. If we are to be nice at all, we must first be full of love, patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control, and the other character qualities that are genuinely reflective of the Spirit.

Niceness is not a bad trait. It is not wrong or sinful to be nice. But we vastly overestimate it and at the same time confuse it with those traits that matter so much more. It may be good to be nice, but it is so much better to be holy.

TIM CHALLIES

ROLL OF DAD AND MUM

This is interesting:

Proverbs 1:8 NKJV 'My son, hear the instruction of your father, And do not forsake the law of your mother...'

It seems that the role of dads and mums is laid down here. The dad teaches how to live and the mum lays down the law; sorta like laying the foundation which the dad builds on. Cool!

Any other thoughts on this?

WHO TEACHES WHO?

God's word is presented to all mankind. Never does the Bible suggest that a special rank of spiritual leaders must explain it to the rest of mankind; and that without such help ordinary people could not understand it. In fact, the opposite is taught in Scripture. Consider a few examples: "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Deut 8:3, quoted by Jesus at Mat:4:4, Lk 4:4); "Blessed is the man...[whose] delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night" (Ps:1:1-2); "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word...(Ps:119:
9).

Notice that in each case an ordinary man (or woman), and even a young man/woman, meditates upon and obeys God's word. There is no hint that the persons mentioned needed to consult any special teacher concerning the scriptures. Therefore, we must conclude that to be the case for everyone.

Dave Hunt

WHY WON'T YOU LISTEN?

And what is the reason that men who profess and call themselves Christians do often find fault with the doctrines they hear preached, and say they must be wrong, they cannot be the truth of God, they are too humbling, too strict: and yet they will not take the trouble of looking at their Bibles, to see whether these things be really so.-"The Christian Race and Other Sermons"

CONTEND THE FAITH

Jude exhorts us to "earnestly contend for the faith once [for all time] delivered to the saints" (Jude 3). Jude's epistle makes it clear that the faith (i.e., God's revealed truth, the gospel, which every Christian is to believe, obey and teach) never changes, that any revision or compromise thereof must be vigorously opposed and that contending for the faith is the responsibility of every Christian.

Perhaps most shocking is Jude's implication that the enemies of the faith ("certain men") will be influential church leaders. The phrase "have crept in" can only mean within the church; and "unawares" indicates that their betrayal of the faith is, astonishingly, no deterrent to their wide acceptance as Christian leaders!

DO YOU HEAR ME?

Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.   But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.   To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by  name and leads them out.   And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.   Yet they will by no means follow a  stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.  I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.   The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.  I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.   My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.

John 10:1-5, 9-11, 27 NKJV

Bread or Cake?

"All Scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work."  (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

I AM NOT ASHAMED

Charles Spurgeon,

A gospel which is after men will be welcomed by men; but the true gospel of the grace of God needs a divine operation upon the heart and mind to make a man willing to receive into his utmost soul such a distasteful truth.

My dear Brethren, do not try to make it tasteful to carnal minds. Hide not the offense of the cross, lest you make it of none effect. The angles and corners of the gospel are its strength: to pare them off is to deprive it of power. Toning down is not the increase of strength, but the death of it.

SALVATION FOR SALE

Most of Rome's wealth has been acquired through the sale of salvation. Untold billions of dollars have been paid to her by those who thought they were purchasing heaven on the installment plan for themselves or loved ones. The practice continues to this day—blatantly where Catholicism is in control, less obviously here in the United States where (for example) one pays the Church to have a Mass card placed on the altar in the name of the deceased during Mass to reduce time in purgatory. The wealthy often leave a fortune for masses to be said for their salvation after their death.

Dave Hunt

CATHOLICISM DENIES FINISHED WORK OF CHRIST

Dave Hunt

Catholicism's false gospel hasn't changed. It diametrically opposes the evangelical view of what Christ's crucifixion and forgiveness of sins mean. Let me quote from Vatican II, Flannery's Edition, Vol. 1 (the same teaching is affirmed by the new universal Catechism of the Catholic Church released by the Vatican). This is what Catholicism teaches and Catholics believe and practice today:</p>
<p> "Christ's death earned "satisfactions and merits" which have been deposited into a "Treasury" to which have been added "the prayers and good works of the Blessed Virgin Mary [and] the prayers and good works of all the saints [beyond what they needed for their own salvation].</p>
<p> From the most ancient times in the Church good works were also offered to God for the salvation of sinners.... Indeed, [by] the prayers and good works of holy people...the penitent was washed, cleansed and redeemed....Following in Christ's steps, those who believe in him have always...carried their crosses to make expiation for their own sins and the sins of others. They were convinced that they could [by such good works and sacrifices] help their brothers to obtain salvation from God..." (pp 64-66)</p>
<p> Out of this "treasury of the Church" salvation/redemption is dispensed in installments by the Catholic clergy through the seven sacraments. One never passes "from death to life" (Jn:5:24) but is always earning salvation with the Church's help. In fact, excommunication is the penalty for saying one is saved and knows he has eternal life through faith in Christ's finished work. The very heart of the gospel which evangelicals affirm is denied by Catholicism in all its creeds, catechisms, canons and decrees and dogmas, and those who dare to affirm it are anathematized.