Calvinism Is The Gospel

Michael Horton On Eternal Security

Here is another quote from Michael Horton's book Putting Amazing Back Into Grace:

"Those whose hearts and minds have been (and are being) renewed by God's grace should not be obsessed with worry about falling away because, although we will always have periods of  wondering around in the wilderness and falling into various temptations and sins, we really are becoming new persons, The ugly duckling is turning into the beautiful swan, to our surprise!

"God never plants trees that do  not bear fruit: [Jesus said] 'You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit - fruit that will last' (John 15:16)...

"Since God initially gives us the grace to believe in him and to turn from self, why would he not give us the grace to keep on trusting him? One simply cannot believe in the possibility of loosing through moral failure and salvation by grace at that same time.

"If we expect ourselves to maintain our faith and keep everything going, we fall under the reprimand of the apostle Paul, as he confronted the Galatian church: 'You foolish Galatian's! Who has bewitched you?... I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?' (Galatians 3:1-3).

"We always approach God on his terms. Admittedly this fact does serious injury to our pride because it tells us that we are saved in spite of rather than because of ourselves."

Michael Horton

I am thoroughly enjoying this book and highly recommend it for anyone who wants to understand the grace and mercy of our Heavenly Father.

Repent & Return To God

The Wrath Of God

Savior But Not Lord?

"We are justified solely by knowledge of, ascent to, and trust in the person and work of Jesus Christ. And yet, anyone who is justified has been regenerated, grafted into the life of Christ, and fruits of gratitude will inevitably follow. Without an interest in the Savior and his Word and sacraments and the fellowship of his people there is no life. Christ's lordship is not an option for the first-class Christians but an inevitability for all who share his life. At the same time, we will always be perfectly righteous before God's judgment even though we struggle with indwelling sin throughout our life."

Michael Horton

Putting Amazing Back Into Grace

Another One For My Non-Calvinist Friends

This is from Calvinistic Cartoons... enjoy.

The Gospel In Psalm 1

Here is the first message in R.W. Glenn's new series The Psalms of Jesus:

Will God Always Forgive Me Of Repetitive Sin

A Tale Of Two Sons: John MacArthur

Calvinist Or Baconist - You Decide

Since saying that I am a Calvinist always seems to tweak some people the wrong way, and everybody seems to be on a bacon kick these days, I have decided that, as of today, I am now a Baconist.

Calvinism Is Satanic

That Last River Which We All Must Pass Over!

From Grace Gems yesterday...

That Last River Which We All Must Pass Over!

The Israelites were necessitated first to pass over the Jordan River, before they could enter Canaan, the promised land. But no sooner had the feet of the priests, who bore the ark of the covenant, rested in the water--but the proud waves saw it and fled, and the swelling streams were driven back, and congealed in heaps to enable them to pass over with safety.

Every child of God resembles an Israelite in this respect; he is passing through the wilderness of this world, and traveling to the land of promise. DEATH is that Jordan River which runs between this wilderness world--and our heavenly Canaan. Death is that swelling stream which overflows the banks of every mortal creature. It is that last river which we all must pass over!

But this is the happiness which believers have--that Jesus Christ, our High Priest, who bears the everlasting covenant upon His shoulders, has already dipped His feet in the streams of this water, so that the streams of bitterness are diverted, the sting of death plucked out, the waters of the salt sea dried up; yes, the power of the curse cut off, so that death is but a sure step to glory!

Why then am I afraid to die? The channel is dry! I see the footsteps of my Savior at the bottom--and Heaven and happiness on the other side! The waters cannot overwhelm my soul!

They may go over my sins,
They may go over my foes,
They may go over my miseries,
They may go over my troubles,
                 but my soul shall pass over to its eternal rest!

Lord, therefore fit and sanctify me for death--and then take down my earthly tent. I cannot be with You too soon!

"I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far!" Philippians 1:23

Thomas Sherman 

Nebuchadnezzar and His Conversion

Daniel chapter 4 reminds us that God is sovereign in salvation. In this sermon Voddie Baucham does a great job of showing us just exactly what that means and why this is an important message for the modern church to hear. I encourage you to take the time to listen.

The Gospel: The Most Terrifying Truth Of Scripture

The Resurrection Changes Everything

The Importance Of Meditating On Scripture

Here is a quote from Puritan author Thomas Brooks on the importance of meditating on Scripture:

Remember, it is not hasty reading - but serious meditating upon holy and heavenly truths, that make them prove sweet and profitable to the soul. It is not the bee's touching of the flower, which gathers honey - but her abiding for a time upon the flower, which draws out the sweet. It is not he who reads most - but he who meditates most, who will prove the choicest, wisest and strongest Christian.

Thomas Brooks

Spend some time every day meditating on, not just reading, God's word.

Another Good Sermon Series

Here is a brief series By Dr. Steve Hereford out of Matthew chapter 7; this is a series that every Christian needs to listen to, and a message that every non Christian needs to hear.

For All Of My Non-Calvinist Friends

You know who you are...

This Should Make You Sick!

As things are heating up on the political stage over government funding of abortion and government forcing religious organizations such as hospitals and universities to provide contraceptives and abortions to their employees as part of the healthcare plans the offer, even if it is against the religious  beliefs of the organization, I have been thinking about not only our religious freedom that is guaranteed under our Constitution, but also about the millions of lives that have been lost to abortion in our country since the legalization of abortion in 1973. And as I have been thinking about this I realized that in the almost 5 years that I have been writing this blog I have done very few posts about the tragedy of abortion, and it is time to correct that.

Yesterday as I was reading headlines on the internet trying to get up to speed on the day's news I saw one that grabbed my attention; the title of the article was 19 Facts About Abortion In America That Should Make You Very Sick. With my interest piqued I clicked on the link, and here is what I read:

19 Facts About Abortion In America That Should Make You Very Sick

Every single day, a silent horror kills more Americans than were killed on 9/11. Every single year, this silent horror kills about as many Americans as have been killed on all the battlefields in all of the wars in U.S. history combined. This silent horror is called abortion, and it is a national disgrace. Overall, more than 50 million babies have been slaughtered since Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973. We have become a nation with so little regard for human life that nobody even really talks that much about this issue anymore.  But the truth is that it is at the very core of what is wrong with America. As I have written about previously, we have become a nation that is obsessed with population control, and we have been exporting this sick philosophy all over the globe.  As you read this, there are workers from U.S. organizations and UN organizations (both funded by your tax dollars) that are on the other side of the world setting up "family planning services" for women in poor countries. The goal of these organizations (just like we see in the United States) is to reduce the number of poor children being born. The sick control freaks that run things have decided that overpopulation is a plague that must be eradicated and that mass murder is the answer. Unfortunately, there are very few people that are still willing to speak out strongly against abortion in America. So the carnage is just going to go on and on and on.What will the history books say about a nation that murdered 50 million of its own babies?

The following are 19 facts about abortion in America that should make you very sick....

#1 There have been more than 53 million abortions performed in the United States since Roe v. Wade was decided back in 1973.

#2 When you total up all forms of abortion, including those caused by the abortion drug RU 486, the grand total comes to more than a million abortions performed in the United States every single year.

#3 The number of American babies killed by abortion each year is roughly equal to the number of U.S. military deaths that have occurred in all of the wars that the United States has ever been involved in combined.

#4 Approximately 3,000 Americans lost their lives as a result of the destruction of the World Trade Center towers on 9/11.  Every single day, more than 3,000 American babies are killed by abortion.

#5 It has been reported that a staggering 41 percent of all New York City pregnancies end in abortion.

#6 According to Pastor Clenard Childress, approximately 52 percent of all African-American pregnancies now end in abortion.

#7 One very shocking study found that 86 percent of all abortions are done for the sake of convenience.

#8 According to the Guttmacher Institute, the average cost of a first trimester abortion at the ten week mark is $451.

#9 The average cost of a vaginal birth with no complications in the United States is now over $9,000.

#10 A Department of Homeland Security report that was released in January 2012 says that if you are "anti-abortion", you are a potential terrorist.  Unfortunately, there have also been other government reports that have also identified "anti-abortion" protesters as potential threats.

#11 A while back one Philadelphia abortionist was charged with killing seven babies that were born alive, but witnesses claim that he actually slaughtered hundreds "of living, breathing newborn children by severing their spinal cords or slitting their necks."

#12 Some abortion clinics have been caught selling aborted baby parts to medical researchers.

#13 Planned Parenthood Founder Margaret Sanger once said the following....

"The most merciful thing that a family does to one of its infant members is to kill it."

#14 In a 1922 book entitled "Woman, Morality, and Birth Control", Planned Parenthood Founder Margaret Sanger wrote the following....

"Birth control must lead ultimately to a cleaner race."

#15 Planned Parenthood performs more than 300,000 abortions every single year.

#16 Planned Parenthood specifically targets the poor.  A staggering 72 percent of Planned Parenthood's "customers" have incomes that are either equal to or beneath 150 percent of the federal poverty level.

#17 There are 30 Planned Parenthood executives that make more than $200,000 a year.  A few of them make more than $300,000 a year.

#18 Planned Parenthood received more than 487 million dollars from the federal government during 2010.

#19 The following is one description of the five steps of a partial birth abortion....

1) Guided by ultrasound, the abortionist grabs the baby's legs with forceps.
2) The baby's leg is pulled out into the birth canal.
3) The abortionist delivers the baby's entire body, except for the head.
4) The abortionist jams scissors into the baby's skull. The scissors are then opened to enlarge the skull.
5) The scissors are removed and a suction catheter is inserted. The child's brains are sucked out, causing the skull to collapse. The dead baby is then removed.

How can we murder our own children?

Unfortunately, there are organizations out there such as Planned Parenthood that spend millions upon millions of dollars trying to convince the American people that abortion is okay.  Just check out this jaw dropping propaganda video.

And every single year, politicians from both political parties continue to vote to give hundreds of millions of our tax dollars to Planned Parenthood.

Our politicians talk about how we need to spread our values to the rest of the world, but what kind of "values" do we really have when we have such little respect for human life?

There is no hope for America as long as this mass slaughter of innocent children continues to go on all across the United States.

Please share this list of facts about abortion in America with as many people as you can.  We need to wake the American people up.  Most Americans spend their days in an entertainment-induced haze and take very little time to think about the issues that really matter.

And if you think that the issue of abortion does not matter, then you are dead wrong.

The mass murder of more than 50 million American babies is something that cannot be ignored.

Their blood is crying out to us from the ground where it has been spilled.

Yes, this article is going to make a lot of people uncomfortable, but it is the truth.

Isn't it time that someone started telling the truth in America?

http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/19-facts-about-abortion-in-america-that-should-make-you-very-sick

The author of this article is correct - this should make us sick! And as Christians we should be on our knees before the throne of God in repentance for not doing all we can to stop this murder of the most innocent and helpless among us. It is no wonder that our country is in the mess it is, how in the world can we imagine that God will bless us while this is going on in our land?

Does Repetitive Sin Mean We Aren't Saved?

In this short video Hank Hanegraaff, The Bible Answer Man, explains the Gospel, talks about the difference between justification and sanctification, and explains how we can overcome sin and experience security in our salvation. Take a few minutes to watch...