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sthernbelle1860
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Name: Lindsay
Country: United States
State: Kansas
Metro: Buieville
Birthday: 8/4/1987
Gender: Female
Interests: God’s sovereignty and glory in the redemptive work of history, biblical womanhood, Gamecock athletics, the English language, Dixie, family, warm weather, domesticity, fellowship
Occupation: Student
Message: message meEmail: email me
AIM:  MrsRobertELee
Member Since:
1/26/2005
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| What is the place of prayer in your life? What prominence
does it have in our lives? It is a question that I address to all. It is as
necessary that it should reach the man who is well versed in the Scripture, and
who has a knowledge of its doctrine and its theology, as that it should reach
anyone else. What part does prayer play in our lives and how essential is it to
us? Do we realize that without it we faint?
Our ultimate position as Christians is tested by the character of our prayer
life. It is more important than knowledge and understanding. Do not imagine
that I am detracting from the importance of knowledge. I spend most of my life
trying to show the importance of having a knowledge of truth and an
understanding of it. That is vitally important. There is only one thing that is
more important, and that is prayer. The ultimate test of my understanding of
the Scriptural teaching is the amount of time I spend in prayer. As theology is
ultimately the knowledge of God, the more theology I know, the more it should
drive me to seek to know God. Not to know about Him, but to know Him. The whole
object of salvation is to bring me to a knowledge of God. I may talk learnedly
about regeneration, but what is eternal life? It is that they might know Thee,
the only true God in Jesus Christ whom God has sent. If all my knowledge does
not lead me to prayer there is something wrong somewhere. It is meant to do
that. The value of the knowledge is that it gives me such an understanding of
the value of prayer, that I devote time to prayer and delight in prayer. If it
does not product these results in my life, there is something wrong and
spurious about it, or else I am handling it in a wrong manner.
-Martyn Lloyd-Jones | | |
| This article is a couple months old but I still think it's worth posting...
Blessed Are the Warmongers
by Darrell
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God" (Matt. 5:9)
Prior to the Iraq imbroglio, Richard Land compared
war in a Iraq to a summertime skirmish against mosquitoes: "If you're
going to deal with terrorists you can't just swat them or use insect
repellent. You have to drain the swamp. Saddam Hussein is one of the
major swamps. The U.S. would be doing the world a favor and acting in
the best interest of future citizens of the U.S. by removing Saddam
from power."
Leaving aside the fact that there was no working or collaborative relationship between
the Iraqi regime and al-Qaeda, when a leading Christian ethicist can
compare warfare with pest extermination, one wonders if all moral sense
is lost.
Dr. Land is no backwater preacher. Educated at Princeton and Oxford, Land was called "God's Lobbyist" by Time magazine
and has served as president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics
& Religious Liberty Commission since 1988. In that role, Land is
perhaps America's most prominent Southern Baptist among
movers-and-shakers in the New York-Washington corridor. He also played
a prominent role among Evangelical Christians defending the Iraq war on Just War Theory grounds.
Well, it turns out that draining swamps is pretty dangerous work. So far the tally in
Iraq is 2300+ dead American servicemen and more than 17,000 wounded.
Unlike prior conflicts, the Pentagon has been unwilling to discuss
Iraqi casualties, leaving it to independent researchers and journalists
to come up with numbers. The website Iraq Bobycount puts the number of dead Iraqis between 33,000-37,000. In 2004, the medical journal Lancet put the number at 100,000, and recently, Andrew Cockburn used more sophisticated statistical analysis to arrive at a whopping 180,000. Throw in the $350 billion that has been spent so far and we've really got ourselves a good ole' swamp-drainin'.
With
leaders like Dr. Land blazing away, Evangelicals have been the
political foot soldiers and enablers of preemptive war in Iraq. In
October 2002, nearly 7 in 10 "conservative Christians" favored military action
against Iraq and despite some slippage, there remains strong support
for administration policy in the Middle East. According to a recent Gallup poll, just 16 percent or Republican churchgoers who attend services once a week thought the war was a mistake.
My own denomination, the SBC, passed a resolution
last June expressing "deepest gratitude and respect for our president,"
who "has been forced to make difficult decisions that place our
servicemen and servicewomen in harm's way." Southern Baptists are also
encouraged "to pray regularly for our president and to stand with him
in opposing global terrorism." Presumably the admonition excludes
imprecatory Psalms, though the resolution was unclear on that matter.
Clearly,
Christians do have certain obligations to civil authorities. We should
indeed pray for our leaders (I Tim. 2:1-2), honor their God-ordained
office (I Peter 2:17, Rom. 13:7), pay taxes (Rom. 13:6-7, Matt.
22:15-21), and obey their lawful commands (Rom. 13:5, Titus 3:1).
However,
I think these texts are frequently misunderstood in such a way as to
leave the State free to rampage about in an unbiblical way. Paul says,
"there is no authority except that which God has established. The
authorities that exist have been established by God" (Rom. 13:1). So
even the State is established and ordained by God for the purpose of
being God’s servant (deacon) "to do you good" (v. 4). In other words,
the State is also under the authority of God, accountable to Him, and
must rule in accordance with His divine rule as revealed in Scripture.
But Scripture accords the State a very limited role, as I have argued elsewhere. "Swamp-draining" in the name of nation-building cannot be defended from Scripture.
Likewise,
the duty to pray for civil leaders is indeed an affirmative command.
But Paul’s point writing in the first century is that we are to pray
FOR rather than TO such men. His admonition to Christians living in an
age where the State frequently became God was to worship Christ rather
Caesar. In short, Romans 13 must not devolve into Revelation 13.
Christians
also don't read on to figure out why we are supposed to pray for our
leaders. The purpose, says Paul, is that "we may lead a peaceful and
quiet life." Surely living in the grip of perpetual war doesn't qualify
as a peaceful and quiet life. Furthermore, it is undeniable that
Christian missionaries will have a far more difficult time evangelizing
in Islamic nations because of the actions of the American government
and native Christians will face increasing hostility in their Islamic homelands.
There
is another theological problem driving Evangelical war fever.
Christians, particularly my Calvinist brethren, will argue until they
are blue in the face that man is totally depraved, incapable of
responding to God without the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit.
Even in Christ, the Apostle Paul speaks in Romans 7 of our continual
struggle with sin.
Throughout Scripture, civil leaders behave in
ungodly ways. Exodus 1:18-21 records the account of Pharaoh commanding
the Israelite midwives to kill every Jewish boy. Daniel 3 tells the
story of Shadrach, Meschach and Aded-Nego and their defiance of the
king when commanded to worship a false God. In Acts the disciples are
arrested for preaching the Gospel. In Revelation, it is clear that "The
Beast" becomes incarnate in a State.
Likewise, in today’s
world, Christians have no trouble affirming that there is evil that
cannot be reasoned with. Savage butchery in Rwanda or Sudan; the
murderous rampages of Hitler, Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot; such savagery
singes our consciences and Christians know that such evil lurks in the
heart of man because of sin.
Yet we are completely unwilling to
look in the mirror. We can’t consider the possibility that our own
elites have become so thoroughly corrupted and sinful that they could
engage in similar behavior. Instead, Christians are perfectly willing
to centralize authority in the executive branch at the expense of the
legislature, in contravention of the vision laid out by the founders,
and quite frankly standing in opposition to a Christian understanding
of original sin.
To take one example, Leon Podles, writing for
the editors of Touchstone Magazine, wrote that Christians "can decide
their government is in error and that a given war is unjust" but "the
presumption is that a democratically elected government is
well-intentioned." According to Podles, we should forget the Maine, the
Lusitania, the Gulf of Tonkin, Wilson's promise to stay out of WWI, or
Roosevelt's solemn pledge to stay out of bloody European wars. All of
this and much, much more must be scuttled down the memory hole,
post-haste.
Likewise, most Christians seem willing to ignore
allegations of torture, warrantless search and seizure, illegal
wiretappings, prison without a fair trial or any trial, and a war built
on a façade of false pretenses in order to prop up a Christ-professing
president and his political party. Because they have bought the GOP's
empty rhetoric on abortion and other social issues, Evangelical voters
have become the primary political instrument wielded by the Republican
establishment, a rent-a-mob that ultimately becomes a vehicle to foster
globalism and meddlesome interventionism—the very ingredients producing
the Islamist backlash.
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Eph. 1:11 ...[W]ho [God] worketh all things after the
counsel of His will.
Q. If God works all things after the counsel of His will,
how much
does He work to the will of you, me, Satan, etc.?
A. None.
B. 20%
C. 50%
D. 85%
Is. 14:24 Jehovah of hosts hath sworn, saying , Surely, as
I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it
stand.
Q. How much of what He wants to come to pass, doesn’t?
A. All of His thoughts will come to pass
B. Some of His thoughts will not come to pass
C. A few of His thoughts will not come to pass
D. A lot of His thoughts will not come to pass
Rom. 8:29 For whom He foreknew, He also foreordained to be
conformed to to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many
bretheren: and whom He foreordained, them He also called: and whom he called,
them he also justified: and whom He justified, them He also glorified.
Q. How many do you think have been called, justified, or
glorified that He did not first foreknow or foreordain?
A. Write in your answer: ___________________
John 10:14 I am the good shepherd; and I know my own, and
mine own know me, even as the Father knoweth me, and I know the Father; and I
lay down my life for the sheep.
Q. Where does this scripture say that Jesus laid down his
life for the sheep and the goats
A. It doesn’t
B. It doesn’t, but I just know He meant the goats, too
John 6:65 No man can come unto me, except it be given unto
him of the Father.
Q. How many come to Jesus that were not first given to him
by the Father?
A. 0
B. 5,000
C. 5,000,000
D. 10,000,000
John 6:37 All that the Father giveth me shall come unto me
Q. How many that the Father gave Him will not come to
Him?
A. Two
B. A couple of thousand
C. A couple of million
D. Trick question, it says they will all come unto him
John 10:28 I [Jesus] give unto them the (true followers, or
‘sheep’) eternal life; and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them
out of my hand. My Father, who hath given them unto me, is greater than all; and
no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
Q. How many sheep do you think have been snatched from
either God’s or Jesus’ hands?
A. None
B. 50,000
C. 500,000
D. 1,000,000
Rev. 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship
him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. Rev. 20:15 And whosoever was not found
written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
Q. Considering this, and other related scripture, God having
to blot out a name from the book of life would mean:
A. God makes mistakes.
B. Some have been snatched from Jesus’ hands?
C. God didn’t know that some of His sheep were really goats.
D. None of the above.
Q. Could a person whose name was written in the book of life
from the foundation of the world not have become a Christian (or have saving
faith in God if born before Jesus)?
A. No
B. Yes
C. This confuses me, but I’m going to believe the Bible.
D. This confuses me, and I’m going to pretend this isn’t in
the Bible (be honest).
Matt. 13 10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why
speakest thou unto them in parables? 11 He answered and said
unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of
heaven, but to them it is not given.
Q. Jesus himself declared that one of the reasons why He
spoke in parables was that the truth might be concealed from whom it was not
intended. Is this fair?
A. No.
B. Yes.
C. Who are we to question God?
D. I’m going to pretend I didn’t see that verse.
Rom. 8:28 To them that love God all things work together for
good, even to them that are called according to His purpose.
Q. How many things do not work for the good of those who
love God?
A. 10% of all things
B. 40% of all things
C. 85% of all things
D. Trick question, the Bible says all things work for the
good of those who love Him
Mark 14:30 And Jesus said unto him (Peter), Verily I say
unto thee, that thou, today, even this night before the cock crow twice shall
deny me thrice.
Questions:
A. Could Peter not have denied Jesus three times before the cock crowed
twice?
Answer here: ____________________________
B. Did Jesus make Peter deny him, or did Peter do it of his own free will?
Answer here: ____________________________
Exodus 4:11 [God Himself asks the rhetorical question] Who
gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or dumb? Who gives him his sight or makes
him blind? Is it not I the Lord?
Q. Is this fair?
A. Yes.
B. No.
C. Who are we to question God?
D. I’m going to pretend this isn’t in the Bible. | | |
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“We hold that Christ, when He died, had an
object in view, and that object will most assuredly, and beyond a doubt, be
accomplished…. we cannot so belie our reason as to think that the intention of
Almighty God could be frustrated, or that the design of so great a thing as the
atonement, can by any way whatever, be missed of.” -Spurgeon
I’m
a little overdue a post on definite atonement.
I personally don’t have much to say but I will share with you just a
smidgen of the verses that have revealed an overwhelming blatancy to me on this
doctrine, as well as a few thoughts from some of my favorite theologians…sorry
if it’s a little bit of a haphazard collection of Scripture & quotes. At least I’m updating!
“So
too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer by
works, if it were, grace would no longer be grace” -Romans 11:5-6
“It
is not that we keep His commandments first, and that then He loves; but that He
loves us, and then we keep His commandments. This is that grace, which is
revealed to the humble, but hidden from the proud...God chooses us, not because
we believe, but that we may believe...“
-Augustine
Who
did Christ die for?
“Christ loved the church and gave
himself up for her.” -Ephesians 5:25
When Jesus uses the analogy of the
shepherd and his flock in John 10, he says, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the
sheep…I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father knows me and I
know the Father—I lay down my life for the sheep.” Later when speaking with the Jews, Jesus says, “but you do not
believe because you are not my sheep.
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall
never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.” Clearly, Jesus’ flock does not include everyone, only those who
believe. Those who believe are his
sheep.
“If you say that he died for every
human being in the same way, then you have to define the nature of the
atonement very differently than you would if you believed that Christ only died
for those who actually believe. In the first case you would believe that the
death of Christ did not actually save anybody; it only made all men savable. It
did not actually remove God's punitive wrath from anyone, but instead created a
place where people could come and find mercy -- IF they could accomplish their
own new birth and bring themselves to faith without the irresistible grace of
God.” – John Piper
And we all know we can’t
accomplish our own new birth and bring ourselves to faith because…
“’The Spirit gives life; the flesh
counts for nothing…this is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the
Father has enabled him.” -Jesus, John 6:63,
65
“What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says
to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion
on whom I have compassion.’ It does
not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: ‘I raised you up for this very purpose, that
I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the
earth.’ Therefore God has mercy on whom
he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. One of you will say to me: ‘Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will? But who are you, O man, to talk back to
God? ‘Shall what is formed say to him
who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’ Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump
of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use? What if God, choosing to show his wrath and
make his power known, bore with great patients the objects of his
wrath—prepared for destruction? What if
he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy,
whom he prepared in advance for glory…?”
(Romans 9:14-23)
There seems to be a horrible
misunderstanding among some Arminians that the doctrine of limited atonement
means that God “leaves out” or rejects people who honestly want to know
Jesus. This couldn’t be any further
from the truth. It is extremely evident
from Scripture that all who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved, and
this is not incongruous with limited atonement.
Jesus speaks this truth in John 6
when he says, “I am the bread of life.
He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will
never be thirsty. But as I told you,
you have seen me and still you do not believe.
All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I
will never drive away. For I have come
down from heaven not to do my will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me,
that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the
last day. For my Father’s will is that
everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and
I will raise him up at the last day.”
"To all who did receive him,
who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of
God." John 1:12
“Ask and it will be given to you;
seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks
finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8
“Therefore, forasmuch
as no man is excluded from calling upon God, the gate of salvation is set open
unto all men; neither is there any other thing which keepeth us back from
entering in, save only our own unbelief.” John Calvin | | |
| “[The Bible] is the writing of the living God:
each letter was penned with an Almighty finger; each word in it dropped from
the everlasting lips; each sentence was dictated by the Holy Spirit. Albeit,
that Moses was employed to write his histories with his fiery pen, God guided
that pen. It may be that David touched his harp, and let sweet Psalms of melody
drop from his fingers; but God moved his hands over the living strings of his
golden harp. It may be that Solomon sang canticles of love, or gave forth words
of consummate wisdom, but God directed his lips, and made the preacher
eloquent. If I follow the thundering Nahum, when his horses plough the waters,
or Habakkuk, when he sees the tents of Cushan in affliction; if I read Malachi,
when the earth is burning like an oven; if I turn to the smooth page of John,
who tells of love, or the rugged, fiery chapters of Peter, who speaks of fire
devouring God’s enemies; if I turn to Jude, who launches forth anathemas upon
the foes of God, every where I find God speaking; it is God’s voice, no man’s;
the words are God’s words, the words of the Eternal, the Invisible, the
Almighty, the Jehovah of this earth. This Bible is God’s Bible, and when I see
it, I seem to hear a voice springing up from it, saying, ‘I am the book of God;
man, read me. I am God’s writing; open my leaf, for I was penned by God; read
it, for he is my author, and you will see him visible and manifest
everywhere.’”
C.H. Spurgeon, "The Bible"
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