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Showing posts from March, 2011

Tolstoy, after Rousseau, on Knowledge and Wisdom

“Real wisdom is not the knowledge of everything, but the knowledge of which things in life are necessary, which are less necessary, and which are completely unnecessary to know. Among the most necessary knowledge is the knowledge of how to live well, that is, how to produce the least possible evil and the greatest goodness in one’s life. At present, people study useless sciences, but forget to study this, the most important knowledge.”

Randoms

Is Belief in Jesus Necessary ? Ronald Nash explores the dangers of Inclusivism. "The inclusivist view that those who have never heard the gospel will be saved has a serious, negative effect on Christian missions. In light of these and other problems, inclusivism should not be considered an acceptable option for Christians." David Wilkerson answers the question, " Hell: What is it Like ?" Former Redskins coach, NASCAR team owner talks at prison, then school . Joe Gibbs, who won three Super Bowl championships as coach of the Washington Redskins and three NASCAR titles as a team owner, spoke to inmates at the S.C. Department of Corrections and later a luncheon at Columbia International University about his testimony, “Life is Game.” If any gospel has God’s saving mission to the ends of the earth within its purview it is the Gospel of Luke. Registration for Summer Studies at Columbia International University open April 1!  Register for Atlanta courses here .

Books I am Giving Away

BookMooch.com is a book trade site

St. Pats in Five Points, 2011

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What a wonderful day!  35,000 people were expected downtown last Saturday and a couple thousand "plus" had an opportunity to hear or read the gospel through tracts, open air preaching and one-on-one conversations.  Here is just one video sample of the first two hours (or so) of the day:

Why We Celebrate St. Patrick's Day on March 17th

According to church tradition, Patrick was born in Britain around A.D. 385 while the country was under Roman rule. His real name was Maewyn Succat. At the age of 16 he was kidnapped and taken to Ireland as a slave and sold to a local landowner named Meliuc. For the next six years Patrick served as a slave shepherding sheep with little human contact. Although the country was harsh and bleak, Patrick’s childhood faith—learned from his Christian parents—sustained him. He wrote, “The love of God and His fear increased in me more and more, and the faith grew in me, and the spirit was roused, so that, in a single day, I have said as many as a hundred prayers, and in the night nearly the same, so that whilst in the woods and on the mountain, even before the dawn, I was roused to prayer and felt no hurt from it, whether there was snow or ice or rain.” Under those harsh conditions, Patrick’s childhood faith strengthened and matured and would one day enable him to reform a nation. Patrick s

Job's Reflection, part 1

The Old Testament book of Job is not one we may intentionally turn to unless it is the next book in our Bible reading, or we are facing some sort of deep difficulty and we flip though it looking for a measure of consolation. I am now reading through it yet again as part of my regular course of Bible reading—but this one passage has arrested my attention, and I would like to spend some time doing what Job does in this passage: reflect. I can honestly say I don’t know how many times I’ve read through the book and it never impacted me this way before—and it’s always been there. The book of Job contains many clues that indicate the man himself lived long before Moses. This may not seem important at first, but the passage holding my attention is all the more intriguing because of this fact. Moses received the Moral, Civil and Ceremonial laws of God while on Mount Sinai, long after Job lived and died. Just hang on to that thought. A quick survey so we have the passage in context (it is a

Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones introduces George Whitefield

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(ht: Open Air Campaigners)

The Challenge of Natural Disaster

When I read and hear the news about the recent tsunami that swept over Japan (as I write this, keen eyes are on California as the water level is rising) and I reflect on the many other similar events of the past few years, I find my perspective being challenged. Why do we call things like earthquakes, fires, floods, hurricanes and storms, tornadoes, volcanoes, snowfalls, and like events “natural disasters?” I had to stop watching the news and local weather because when it rains, it is disaster because we need the sun. When the sun shines, the report is delivered apologetically as we need the rain. When we refer to these things as natural disasters, aren’t we implying that creation should behave in some other fashion? What is creation’s view of the events? “Disaster” is defined as a state of ruin or misfortune, an occurrence of widespread destruction and distress. Ruin for whom? Misfortune for whom? What is being destroyed? Who is having the distress? Creation is to behave a ce

The Epicurean Paradox

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[note: I pre-set this blog over a week ago, to post this today.  The headlines today are full of coverage of a tsunami in Japan.  Coincidental?] The “Epicurean Paradox” makes the following propositions: If God is willing to prevent evil, but is not able to, then He is not omnipotent. If He is able, but not willing, then He is malevolent. If He is both able and willing, then whence cometh evil? If He is neither able nor willing, then why call Him God? The Bible read like today’s headlines: people being burned alive, children being torn from the womb, mass killings, cannibalism, heads being cut off, hangings, stonings, rape, incest, adultery, lust, prostitution, bodies being eaten by worms, “men of God” running around drunk and naked, and so many other horrible things.  Has God lost control, or is He impotent? Let’s be very clear: the Bible shows who and what man really is as it exposes all our sins, our lusts, our hatred, our love for violence. God is not the one doing the evi

Randoms

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CIU Alumnus Tullian Tchividian (Senior Pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian ) preached " Jesus + Nothing = Everything " in Chapel on Tuesday, March 8, 2011.  Must listen. Two new collections have been added to the Bible Bulletin Board: The Samuel Davies Collection (1724-1761) - 66 Sermons available and The J. C. Philpot Collection (1802-1869) - 74 Sermons available 15 Doctor Who Fan Arts and Mash-ups found here .

"The Lord is not paying attention to my prayers."

A dear woman from Nigeria wrote and asked "i have been praying to God for a husband and children but it seems that the Lord is not paying attention to my prayers- what have i done wrong and how do i right the wrong? pls help me as i am very desperate and frustrated". First, we must remember that God works everything according to His purposes in Christ Jesus. He cannot be moved to work according to our purposes.  There is no power in prayer, as if it were magic.  God is the God of power and He answers according to His glory. Second, there are three ways God answers prayer: He can say, “Yes,” and grant the request; or He can say, “Wait, not just yet,” or He can say, “No.” It seems right now He is saying “Wait,” but that does not mean He will say, “Yes,” either. God has ways of putting each of us in a place where we must learn to become content in Him, for “ godliness with contentment is great gain .” (1 Timothy 6:6)

Three questions you should answer:

How old are you right now? How long would you like to live? People die at your age, so what you are doing on what could be your last day that matters for eternity? Take the Good Person Test

"Am I A Prophet Because I Dream?"

A person wrote me from on mobile phone from Nigeria asking the following question.  I post the conversation here for your encouragement as you are obediently share the gospel whereever you are: Question : "My question: i am a dreamer, i dream every moment i go 2 sleep both day time and night & i dream about great things & some times evil ones, even in my life b4 d physical manifestation of some things i have already saw in d dreams. So am i a prophet or am i called by God or is God in need of using me or what? I do not understand pls help me." Answer :  If you have a dream and feel that perhaps God gave it to you, prayerfully examine the Word of God and make sure your dream is in agreement with Scripture. If so, prayerfully consider what God would have you do in response to your dream (James 1: 5). In Scripture, whenever anyone experienced a dream from God, God always made the meaning of the dream clear, whether directly to the person, through an angel, or through

Randoms

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Dr. Mike Barnett, Associate Dean of CIU 's College of Intercultural Studies answers the question, " How Will We Respond to the Revolutions? " The  Alot is better than you at everything. Here is an excellent explaination on the Biblical mention of Unicorns:

"Can I keep sinning and not be punished?"

The following question came to me from Ghana, West Africa (as part of a longer conversation).  I post the question and a response here for your encouragement as you go into all the world with the gospel: Question: "[A Missionary said] 'When a christian sins God requires him/her to repent (be sorry) and ask His forgiveness. He will forgive your sin'. No wonder sin is prevalent on earth. Now tell me, If I kill your child, then I go to steal, I slap you for no reason. In all these instances I become sorry and ask for His forgiveness and continue this cycle till I die I will not be punished? Even disbelievers too feel sorry for some wrongs they do." Answer:   Imagine you find yourself in court with a $50,000 fine. Will the judge let you go simply because you say you’re sorry and you won’t commit the crime again? Of course not. You should be sorry for breaking the law and, of course, you shouldn’t commit the crime again. But only when someone pays your $50,000 fine