Who is the King of Glory?!

What is the Gospel? - Dr. Michael Horton

Tue, 22 May 2012 17:22:55 -0500

What is the Gospel? - Dr. Michael Horton

Question from FB: What should Christians think about playing the lotto and why.

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 02:33:48 -0500

My Answer: Personally, I don’t see gambling as a legitimate expression of my stewardship of what God has given to me.

There is no verse in the Bible that explicitly says, “Do not gamble.”(Somebody always says [referring to Acts 1], “Well, I mean, even the disciples cast lots.”Right. That was a means by which they were able to determine the will of God because God spoke through that method — that’s a different scenario.)

But I do not believe that the Bible legitimizes gambling (including the Lottery) as a means of stewardship.I also feel on the social end of it that the Lottery is a disaster and I will tell you why.The people who buy the tickets are the people who can least afford to buy the tickets. An already poor populace are literally consuming those things. It plays into the hands of the people who need to learn how to work productively and not hope against hope. It is another expression of “They that would be rich fall into many snares and hurtful lusts.” 1 Tim. 6:9

The Bible advocates gaining money by inheritance, by hard work, and by wise investment, but it never advocates getting rich by gambling or fast money.The Lottery is not a legitimate way to make a living or invest for the future, nor is it a good form of stewardship; and it is certainly not a legitimate way to fund education at the expense of already poor people who are going to waste their subsistence on that. “Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep, and an idle person will suffer hunger.” Proverbs 19:15

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live,...

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 17:52:13 -0500

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20

Jerry Brito: Top ten myths about introverts

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 11:01:59 -0600

Jerry Brito: Top ten myths about introverts:

jerrybrito:

Myth #1 – Introverts don’t like to talk.
This is not true. Introverts just don’t talk unless they have something to say. They hate small talk. Get an introvert talking about something they are interested in, and they won’t shut up for days.

Myth #2 – Introverts are shy.
Shyness has nothing to…

The gospel according to MLK...

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 15:18:38 -0600

“Certainly God in His sovereignty utilized Martin Luther King as a catalyst that brought about social change. That , however, does not make MLK any more a man of God than it does Hitler. I know that statement just fell on some of you like a ton of bricks so let me explain. The social gospel taught by MLK is one centered around liberation theology.This ideology renders MLKs Christianity as nothing more than a tool in his belt, much similar to the fellow in Norway who went on a shooting spree last year. He utilized ministry as a method to incite social protest and civil disobedience. In many of MLKs own writings he self refutes his claim to biblical Christianity. He denies the fall of man, the historical accuracy of the biblical record, hell, the trinity, the virgin birth, deity, and bodily resurrection of Christ. He, like many atheists, attributes many Christian doctrines with borrowing from Mithraism and other pagan mythologies and mystery religions. He believes that scriptural literalism is not a necessity for Christian thought, and that the fundamental doctrines maintain philosophical profundity even without literally believing in the accounts themselves. This my friends is not Christian thinking. Now I want to go on record as saying that I surely enjoy the social liberties we have in this country, but I also want to shoot down the idea of MLK as a Messianic character. I also want to obliterate the thinking that his ideology and methodology is grounded in the gospel. It is ultimately another gospel. What does the scriptures say about those who come preaching another gospel?” -Jose Garcia

Many would say that the Bible is sexist toward women. How would you say that the Bible empowers women?

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 12:18:49 -0500

The Bible has distinct roles for women and men. Man and women are equal in nature and both equal candidates for salvation, but women and men have differing roles. I know it to be true that God is best honored when both men & women honor those roles.

Dialogue: Simeon the Calvinist & Wesley the Arminian

Sat, 23 Jul 2011 02:02:02 -0500

Simeon: Sir, I understand that you are called an Arminian; and I have been sometimes called a Calvinist; and therefore I suppose we are to draw daggers. But before I consent to begin the combat, with your permission I will ask you a few questions. Pray, Sir, do you feel yourself a depraved creature, so depraved that you would never have thought of turning to God, if God had not first put it into your heart?

Wesley: Yes, I do indeed.

Simeon: And do you utterly despair of recommending yourself to God by anything you can do; and look for salvation solely through the blood and righteousness of Christ?

Wesley: Yes, solely through Christ.

Simeon: But, Sir, supposing you were at first saved by Christ, are you not somehow or other to save yourself afterwards by your own works?

Wesley: No, I must be saved by Christ from first to last.

Simeon: Allowing, then, that you were first turned by the grace of God, are you not in some way or other to keep yourself by your own power?

Wesley: No.

Simeon: What then, are you to be upheld every hour and every moment by God, as much as an infant in its mother’s arms?

Wesley: Yes, altogether.

Simeon: And is all your hope in the grace and mercy of God to preserve you unto His heavenly kingdom?

Wesley: Yes, I have no hope but in Him.

Simeon: Then, Sir, with your leave I will put up my dagger again; for this is all my Calvinism; this is my election my justification by faith, my final perseverance: it is in substance all that I hold, and as I hold it; and therefore, if you please, instead of searching out terms and phrases to be a ground of contention between us, we will cordially unite in those things where in we agree.

God has given us clear directives in His Word about worship. The...

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 13:00:50 -0500

God has given us clear directives in His Word about worship. The Word is to be primary in our worship. Worship is a rhythm of revelation and response. God reveals Himself through His Word and we respond to that revelation. When the Word is absent in our worship our response is manufactured and the results are pleasing to us. When the Word is apparent in our worship, our response is authentic and pleasing to God.

Looking unto Jesus. —Hebrews 12:2

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 03:35:22 -0500

It is ever the Holy Spirit’s work to turn our eyes away from self to Jesus; but Satan’s work is just the opposite of this, for he is constantly trying to make us regard ourselves instead of Christ. He insinuates, “Your sins are too great for pardon; you have no faith; you do not repent enough; you will never be able to continue to the end; you have not the joy of His children; you have such a wavering hold of Jesus.” All these are thoughts about self, and we shall never find comfort or assurance by looking within. But the Holy Spirit turns our eyes entirely away from self: He tells us that we are nothing, but that “Christ is all in all.” Remember, therefore, it is not thy hold of Christ that saves thee—it is Christ; it is not thy joy in Christ that saves thee—it is Christ; it is not even faith in Christ, though that be the instrument—it is Christ’s blood and merits; therefore, look not so much to thy hand with which thou art grasping Christ, as to Christ; look not to thy hope, but to Jesus, the source of thy hope; look not to thy faith, but to Jesus, the author and finisher of thy faith. We shall never find happiness by looking at our prayers, our doings, or our feelings; it is what Jesus is, not what we are, that gives rest to the soul. If we would at once overcome Satan and have peace with God, it must be by “looking unto Jesus.” Keep thine eye simply on Him; let His death, His sufferings, His merits, His glories, His intercession, be fresh upon thy mind; when thou wakest in the morning look to Him; when thou liest down at night look to Him. Oh! let not thy hopes or fears come between thee and Jesus; follow hard after Him, and He will never fails me” -C.H. Spurgeon

“My hope is built on nothing less. Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness:
I dare not trust the sweetest frame, But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.”

Oh how we should cherish & reverence the Word of God in our...

Mon, 27 Jun 2011 17:46:15 -0500

Oh how we should cherish & reverence the Word of God in our country! (by DianneBecker)

lovingtheunknown: Francis Chan- “I don’t want to belittle God”

Fri, 20 May 2011 18:39:42 -0500

lovingtheunknown:

Francis Chan- “I don’t want to belittle God”

Lord knows Imma SUCKA for white chocolate…smh

Mon, 16 May 2011 08:12:57 -0500

Lord knows Imma SUCKA for white chocolate…smh

He that endures to the end will be saved. Matthew 24:13

Sun, 15 May 2011 03:57:42 -0500

Yes, our individual efforts are the play a part in our endurance to the end. It’s what’s behind our individual effort that really matters. The Christian will be saved and will be brought to final salvation in the end only because of the merit of Jesus Christ. Because of His life, death, and resurrection, all who believe and trust in Jesus and His work on the cross will be saved and kept by His power. John 10:27-29 states “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”Jesus saves His sheep. Jesus gives His sheep eternal life. Jesus keeps His sheep to the end. The Father gives these sheep to Jesus. The Father makes sure that His sheep are kept unto the end. Therefore, the credit for our arriving justified on the last day goes only to God and His Christ.

There is a human part to endurance though. Although our efforts are not the grounds on which we are saved, they do matter and what Matthew says is true “the one who endures to the end will be saved.” Every day the Christian must fight, he must war with sin, temptation and the flesh. Here is the connection between God’s part in keeping His sheep and our part in fighting as sheep; the only reason that the Christian can fight is because God is keeping Him and enabling him to fight.

The only reason the Christian has the strength to endure is because God is keeping him and giving him strength to endure. I think Paul deals very well with this topic of endurance in Philippians. Philippians 1:6 states “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Paul is basically saying God began the initial work of salvation. God will finish the work of salvation.

1 Corinthians 1:30 says “But by [God’s] doing you are in Christ Jesus…” and Hebrews 12:1-2 states that Jesus is the Author and Finisher of our faith. What God begins He finishes. Salvation and the keeping of it belongs to God and there is rest for the Christian when he realizes that God is the Savior and Protector of his soul. Based on this knowledge of God as Savior and Protector, Author and Finisher, the believer has all the provisions and strength to fight and endure in the Christian life because he already knows God is protecting him and keeping him. In Philippians 2:12, Paul encourages the Philippian believers to “work out” their salvation with fear and trembling. “Work out” means to literally “get it done” concerning their salvation.

Now, to the person who reads this and discards the fact that God keeps His sheep primarily, it would sound like “I keep my salvation” and “My working out is the reason I am saved”. But one does not need to go too much further in Paul’s writing to see that much more is going on in this “working out” than merely our human efforts. Paul says in the next verse that the ground for our working is “for (because) it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

To use the illustration of sports, it is God who works in the team to play the game, its God who causes the team to win the game and it is God who is the arena for the team to play in. We are called to suit up and play – and play hard. We are called to go teach, make disciples, war with sin, examine ourselves, kill the flesh, and resist the devil but God is at work both in keeping us so that we can do all these things and in working through us, willing and working for His glory.

God is responsible for our working. We run the race of endurance because God is moving our muscles in the stride. We fight the good fight of faith because God is working AND willing in us to fight. Endure to the end means just that: endure to the end

gotyahweh: Like a sheep, I’m staying close to my shepherd…

Sun, 15 May 2011 03:54:18 -0500

gotyahweh:

Like a sheep, I’m staying close to my shepherd…

Let there be LIGHT!!!!

Sat, 14 May 2011 18:27:46 -0500

I believe that the single heart of one man, that even slightly rebels against God, is utterly worse than any & every natural disater that has ever transpired thru out the span of history. But I equally believe, and am very sure, that one of blood from the vein of the God-man, King Jesus, applied to that same sick heart can cause a miraculous 100% cure andchange, that matches what God did at creation! Trust Him.

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”(natural creation) has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ(spiritual re-creation). 2 Corinthians 4:6

Trip Lee - Relief

Tue, 10 May 2011 15:35:10 -0500

Trip Lee - Relief

divinerealities: GO LAKERS! Lakers/Hornets @ the Staples Center...

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 01:46:14 -0500

divinerealities:

GO LAKERS!

Lakers/Hornets @ the Staples Center - RIGHT NOW.

Series tied 2-2.

It’s our time, boys. It’s OUR TIME! LEGGO!

If you could only drink one thing for a year and it couldn't be water, what would you drink?

Sun, 24 Apr 2011 13:13:24 -0500

Strawberry Kiwi Twista

Ask me anything

What's the weirdest thing you've ever eaten?

Sun, 24 Apr 2011 04:16:39 -0500

a roach! -____-

Ask me anything

What was your favorite year?

Sat, 23 Apr 2011 13:58:15 -0500

2006

Ask me anything