Christian Heritage News

By Tim Challies - Posted at Challies.com : The history of Christ’s church is inseparable from the history of Satan’s attempts to destroy her. While difficult challenges have arisen from outside the church, the most dangerous have always been from within. For from within arise the false teachers, the peddlers of error who masquerade as teachers of truth. False teachers take on many forms, custom-crafted to times, cultures, and contexts. Here are seven of them you will find carrying out their deceptive, destructive work in the church today. Please note that while I have followed the biblical texts in describing them in masculine terms, each of these false teachers can as easily be female. The Heretic The Heretic is the most prominent and perhaps the most dangerous of the false teachers. Peter warned against him in his second letter. “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even

By Marsha West - Posted at Berean Research : Many of our visitors are aware that we recently published a White Paper on Discernment . In doing the research for our paper we came across a piece by Bible study author, speaker and blogger Michelle Lesley written in June 2016 where she responds to those who take her to task for “naming names.” Her answer to #6 “You’re being unkind, unloving, ungodly, divisive, hateful, self-righteous, mean, critical, etc. for calling out false teachers” is spot on. Bereans will find Michelle’s responses to the opposition a great help in contending with scoffers. She writes: Discernment- it’s a dirty job, but somebody’s gotta do it. While I’m a women’s discipleship blogger rather than a discernment blogger, discernment is part of discipleship. And it’s sorely lacking among Christian women today, which is why it’s regularly featured in my writing. ... Read more here.

Medical aid worker Petr Jasek. (The Voice of the Martyrs) Posted at Morning Star News : Court convicts Christians on charges related to ‘espionage.’ JUBA, South Sudan (Morning Star News) – A judge in Sudan on Sunday (Jan. 29) sentenced Czech aid worker Petr Jasek to life in prison and two other Christians to prison terms of 12 years on charges related to “espionage,” a defense attorney said. “Petr Jasek was imprisoned for life,” attorney Muhanad Nur told Morning Star News. Along with the life sentence for espionage and waging war against the state, Jasek was also sentenced to six months in prison for spreading false rumors undermining the authority of the state (“spreading false news aimed at tarnishing the image of Sudan”) and a fine of 100,000 Sudanese pounds (US$16,000) for working for a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in Sudan without a permit. He was also sentenced to one year in prison each for inciting strife between communities, entry in and photography of military

By Mike Ratliff - Posted at Possessing the Treasure : 1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. 2 Peter 2:1 (NASB) False professors and false prophets have one thing in common. They are convinced that the ‘religious paradigm’ they love, cherish, follow, and proclaim is true. Of course, they come to this conclusion through what some of them refer to as their ‘thinkology.’ In other words, what makes it true in their hearts is their own acceptance of it. The deciding or defining standard, which is used by these people, is their own value system. They oppose clear Biblical truth because “they just don’t believe it” while they embrace humanistic forms of Christianity simply because their ‘thinkology ‘ gives them a green light. I am not discounting God working in His people to increase th

By Dr. R. Scott Clark - Posted at The Heidelblog : Late modern Americans face a plethora of choices in English-language Bible translations: The King James Version (KJV), the American Standard Version (ASV), the Revised Standard Version (RSV), the New International Version (NIV), the New King James Version (NKJV), the Living Bible (LB), the New American Standard Bible (NASB), and the English Standard Version (ESV) are just a few. For most of these are there are sub-sets and revisions of revisions (e.g., the NASB 95). The KJV (also known as the Authorized Version) has undergone multiple revisions since 1611 as have the others. History For most Americans, through the first half of the 20th century, the KJV was the English translation. The 1901 ASV had made a dent (and before that the Revised Version in the UK) and the 1946 RSV made another dent, particularly as it was adopted by the liberal mainline denominations. Among evangelicals, however, the KJV was probably the dominant transl

By Erin Tuttle - Posted at Truth In American Education : After the grassroots put their faith in Trump’s promises to end Common Core, his appointment of Betsy DeVos, an advocate of the standards, was a huge disappointment to them. Nevertheless, they remained steadfast in their support for Trump, and decided to send him a letter asking that any future appointments would hold the same views Trump expressed during the campaign. Unfortunately, their pleas were not heard. A list of education staffers sworn in this past Friday indicates that the Department of Education (ED) will be aligned to DeVos’ agenda, not Trump’s. Even if DeVos is not confirmed, likeminded people will be controlling White House education policies. Despite Trump’s lambasting of Jeb Bush’s education policies, the list of staffers looks more like the choices that would have been made under a Jeb Bush administration. In fact, Politico reported that two of Jeb’s former employees have been given top posts on the e

By Rev. David T. Myers - Posted at This Day in Presbyterian History : A Man Called Peter Peter Marshall - Wikipedia The young man was returning from work one starless night in Scotland. Figuring he could save time by cutting across one of the moors, the twenty-one year old began to walk through the field and was startled when he heard his name “Peter” called by someone. Inquiring as to who it was who called him, all he heard was the howling of the wind. He took up his pace again, only to hear an urgent voice again, “Peter!.” He stopped, trying to figure out who was calling him. Suddenly, he stumbled, and in reaching out his hand, found an empty space ahead of him. Not able to see any more clearly, he felt around the edge of the ground and realized that he was on the edge of an abandoned stone quarry. One more step would have resulted in him falling to a certain death in that quarry. The near accident made a powerful impression on Peter Marshall. He had no doubt that the voi

By Shane Vander Hart - Posted at Truth in American Education : Abt Associates in a report they submitted for the state of Massachusetts did a cross-section of nine states that had gone through some process of revising the Common Core State Standards. They looked at Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, New Jersey, Ohio and Utah. The authors of the report, Jill Norton, Jennifer Ash, and Sarah Ballinger, acknowledged due to the states that were chosen it doesn’t give a full picture of what has taken place nationally, but essentially they found states that revise the standards didn’t really revise much at all. They reported on changes with the math standards, “Across all grade levels in mathematics, the nine states revised 26.5 percent of the standards, with 73.5 percent of the standards were kept the same. The number of math standards revised ranged from 17 changes in one state to 282 changes in another. Moreover, eight of the nine states added math standard

Posted at China Aid : (Midland, Texas—Jan. 23, 2017) China Aid recently released a summary of religious persecution across in China in 2016, noting how Communist Party terminology shifted from guiding religions and socialism into mutual adaptation into a promoting the full-on Sinicization of religious beliefs. According to the summary, 2016 brought a major change in the Communist Party’s approach to religious management. Under the administration of former Chinese president Jiang Zemin, the role of the Party in regards to religion was to encourage it to mutually adapt with socialism. In April of last year, however, current Chinese president Xi Jinping convened National Religious Conference for the first time since 2001 and introduced the idea of “Sinicizing” religions; that is, forcing them to conform to the Chinese government’s agenda. The report focuses on the implementation of the Revised Regulations on Religious Affairs, which was introduced as a draft in September. In prepar

By Amy Spreeman - Posted at Berean Research : “I saw myself as a far superior Christian! I belonged to a church that was restoring prophets and apostles, and was right on the cutting edge of what God was doing on the Earth.” Jessie was fully steeped in the NAR (New Apostolic Reformation) movement without realizing it. Today she tells her story to expose for what it is: An anti-biblical counterfeit that sounds almost like biblical Christianity. In this series, I want to take readers beyond the textbook What is the New Apostolic Reformation Movement explanation, into the personal experiences from those who have been there, and what happened when God opened their eyes to the truth. This is Jessie’s story in her own words... Read more here.

Posted at Christian Heritage Fellowship : There is no evidence to support the notion of atheists, agnostics, secularists, and the irreligious that America was founded upon secular principles. Just the opposite is true! In fact, thousands of pieces of evidence exist that affirms the fact that America was founded by Christians upon the principles of the Bible. Rewriting America’s history and inundating the public with misinformation have been the weapons of choice for those seeking to place America under the tyrannical heel of atheism and irreligion. Among the thousands of pieces of evidence that demonstrate America’s Christian origin is the first presidential inauguration of George Washington, officiated April 30, 1789. The events chronicled in the following paragraphs will convince the most judicious and candid readers of the Christian intent of American’s Founding Fathers. Given the fact that they were so forthright with regard to their Christian faith in one of the most impor

Posted at  Louisiana Huguenot: Doug Wilson says he dropped the label of Federal Vision. What those giddy for church unity fail to see is he maintains he is keeping the content. I suggested he should resign from the ministry and join a church body that holds him accountable. Repentance in the abstract isn’t real. The problem is that the CREC can’t hold people accountable. As Butler and Harris note, The McPresbytery may by two-thirds majority vote and pending judicial process, censure a member church or a CREC officer. A censure under this provision does not affect a member church’s voting rights or appeal rights in the broader assemblies. (IV.A.2.n) ... Read more here.  See also: The CREC Constitution (After Thought) Excerpt: "Here we see in blatant form that the Krek is not only not presbyterian, it is not even an instance of any form of church government. The local 'elders,' including the local 'pastor,' give the appearance of accountabi

By Dr. Jim West - Posted at Zwinglius Redivivus : Elections and inaugurations are always a time of simultaneous rejoicing and lamentation. Those whose candidate won rejoice and those whose candidate lost lament. The recent Presidential election is certainly no different in that respect than any other. Yet the current election seems to have polarized people of good will and Christian faith in a way that is unusual and in some respects unprecedented. In some cases acrimony and hostility have erupted. To say this is unfortunate is an understatement because no matter who wins or loses elections Jesus is still Lord and God is still on his throne. Additionally, Christians are uniquely obliged by Scripture to live as good members of society. As Paul tells the Romans ... Read more here.

By Persis - Posted at Tried With Fire : This has been a time of raising my own awareness. You would have to be living under a rock to not realize that America is becoming an increasingly divided nation over the issues of race, class, and immigration. Reading Divided by Race , at the recommendation of an African American brother, was eye-opening. Here you have professing believers who have almost opposite assessments of racial issues within the American church. Why do we think so differently? What produced these two wide trajectories? Then came the racial incident involving Michael Luo, deputy metro editor of The New York Times. Now it was much closer to home because, after hearing his story and many others that poured forth, these were my people. Their stories are very much like mine. So to gain more understanding, I began to read and listen. The first book was The Making of Asian America by Erika Lee. This was a fascinating book and quite a feat given its scope. I had no ide

By Shane Vander Hart - Posted at Caffeinated Thoughts : I’m also not opposed to school choice, but I think we need to be very cautious about how it is implemented and I think what can constitutionally be done at the federal level is extremely limited. Kaine asked DeVos if she believed there should be “equal accountability” given to private schools receiving taxpayer funds.   She wouldn’t agree. I’m thinking, “can you define that please?” Betsy DeVos, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Secretary of Education, had her confirmation hearing before the Senate HELP Committee on Tuesday evening. So what did we learn? Not a whole heck of a lot. Here’s a video of the entire preceding if you feel so inclined. Personally I wouldn’t recommend it. For over three hours we heard Democrats whine about not getting a second round of questions. That was probably the most heated aspect of the entire hearing. I agree with U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) that DeVos should not be trea

Continental Army -  Lefferts Watercolor By Rev. David T. Myers - Posted at This Day in Presbyterian History: When Lord Cornwallis brought his British army into the southern colonies, it was the Presbyterian colonists of that part of the infant nation which met him and his forces in every county and town with their Bibles, their Psalm books, and their rifles. Sending a fierce cavalry officer in Colonel Banastre Tarleton, who rarely gave quarter, into western South Carolina, with a picked force of 1100 men, they came up against the smaller American forces at a grazing ground on the Broad River called the Cowpens. Commanding the American militia and Continentals was Brig. General Daniel Morgan, a Presbyterian elder. In charge of the second of three lines of American soldiers was Presbyterian elder Andrew Pickens. The majority of the militia were from the Presbyterian congregations of South Carolina and Virginia. It was almost entirely a Presbyterian army. All through the nig

Posted at A Ruby In the Rough : National Sins and National Judgments A sermon by John Owen Preached April 11, 1679. “For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of his glory. The show of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.” — Isa. iii. 8, 9. First, Here is a confluence of sins delighted in. Secondly, Here is a concurrence of various judgments unregarded. In the ninth chapter of this prophecy, the prophet enumerates, from the 13th verse to the end of the chapter, all sorts of judgments and indications of the continuance of God’s displeasure, concluding every one of them with this: “For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still;” and it will end in their utter destruction. Thirdly, Here are the preparative causes of ruin, that which wou

By Raymond Ibrahim  - Posted at Voice of the Persecuted : The price of the modern West’s inability to comprehend Islam’s medieval tactics is not just ignorance concerning the nature of the enemy, but ignorance concerning his victims as well—in this case, countless, nameless children. Past and present, Muslim militants continue relying on the same inhumane tactics to terrorize “infidels.” The devastating effects of one of these occurred last August in Turkey: a child “recruited” by the Islamic State blew himself up in a suicide attack that left at least 51 people—mostly fellow children—dead. This child was one of countless, nameless, faceless children seized, beat, and indoctrinated in Islam, until they become willing “martyrs” and executioners . Known as the “cubs of the caliphate,” they are graduates from “schools [established by ISIS] to prepare hundreds of children and teenagers to conduct suicide attacks.” The Islamic State is fond of showcasing these abducted children tu

Photo Credit: Helen Parshall By Heather Clark - Posted at Christian News Network: WASHINGTON — Over 20 clergy members representing Judaism, Hinduism and Islam, as well as those professing Christianity, gathered on Tuesday to seek a “blessing” over a new Planned Parenthood facility that opened last fall in the nation’s capital. “In almost every message to our staff, I talk about our doing sacred work,” Laura Meyers, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, told DCist. “This confirms the sacredness of the work we do.” “Now I can tell patients that this is a blessed space,” also remarked Serina Floyd, the medical director at the facility, located next to Two Rivers Charter School. According to reports, the event was organized by the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC) and Christine and Dennis Wiley, who lead Covenant Baptist United Church of Christ in Washington, D.C. Read more here.

By Dr. Gary North - Posted at The Tea Party Economist : I am not one of those people who believes that a particular political party is at the end of the road. That’s because I think both political parties are in the hip pocket of the Council on Foreign Relations, and have been since approximately 1932. Political parties have periods in which they are dominant. Then the electorate swings back to the other party. There is not much difference between the two parties ideologically. There may be a difference of rhetoric, but when it comes time to voting for the welfare-warfare state, there is bipartisan support. The Democrats are going to have a tough time until the economy reverses. I don’t think any other issue matters in the lives of most Americans. All the issues that the mainstream media hyperventilate about are of virtually no interest to the people who elected Donald Trump. Trump knows this. So do the MSM. He had his first press conference this week. The New York Times w

Posted at Morning Star News : Church, former Islamic extremist fear another assault. NAIROBI, Kenya (Morning Star News) – Islamic extremists ambushed a church leader in eastern Uganda last week after a sheikh they had sent to assassinate him at a church service instead became a Christian, sources said. In Amuria, about 170 miles (280 kilometers) northeast of Kampala, Bishop George Edweu of the Pentecostal Upright Church had arrived at his church building at 5 a.m. on Jan. 2 for a morning devotion when he saw a young man on the ground. He got out of his car to attend to him, he told Morning Star News. When he reached the young man, six masked men appeared and took hold of him, demanding that he reveal the whereabouts of the sheikh (Islamic teacher) who had converted at his church service, a 24-year-old father of two whose name is withheld for security purposes. Some of the gang began slapping and kicking Bishop Edweu; others hit him with sticks. “As I fell down, a vehicle with bri

By Tom Strode - Posted at Baptist Press : WASHINGTON (BP) -- North Korea ranks as the most dangerous country for Christians for the 16th consecutive time after a year in which the persecution of followers of Jesus continued to rise, according to a new report. Release of the annual World Watch List from Open Doors USA came as religious freedom advocates call for President-elect Trump to act in the first 100 days of his administration to protect Christians and other people of faith overseas. About 215 million Christians underwent "high, very high or extreme persecution" last year in the 50 countries on its watch list, Open Doors reported Wednesday (Jan. 11). Open Doors -- which has served the persecuted church overseas for more than 60 years -- defines persecution as hostility endured by a person because of his identification with Christ. It can include loss of property, imprisonment, torture, rape and death. According to Open Doors, the top 10 countries where Christians

By David Roach - Posted at Baptist Press : WASHINGTON (BP) -- A Washington D.C. church's decision to call a legally-married lesbian couple as co-pastors has led a fellow District of Columbia Baptist Convention pastor to call for "prayerful dialog" between convention leadership and the church. A Southern Baptist Convention seminary president suggested the DCBC should disfellowship the congregation. Meanwhile, DCBC executive director Robert Cochran told Baptist Press the convention has "no plans to disassociate" with the church and he "has never discussed the issue of homosexuality with" the congregation's leaders. Calvary Baptist Church in Washington -- a congregation that voted in 2012 to cease cooperation with the SBC -- approved Sally Sarratt and Maria Swearingen Jan. 8 as its new senior ministers, according to a news release from the church. The two women were married in 2014, according to media reports. Joseph Lyles, pastor of Fort

By Michelle Lesley Originally published June 26, 2015 Earlier this week, Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission published a nifty little article called “ 10 Things I Wish Everyone Knew About Southern Baptists “. Althought I disagree with Dr. Moore on a number of things, I thought the article was pretty good, overall. But it got me thinking. Yes, there is a lot of ignorance about Southern Baptists out there among those who aren’t part of our denomination. However, there’s also a lot of ignorance inside the SBC about what’s really going on in our denomination, our doctrine, practices, leadership, and so on. These are ten SBC realities I wish the average Southern Baptist church member were more aware of. 1. LifeWay sells lies and heresy, and they don’t want you to know. Now I’m not saying everything they sell is lies and heresy. I’ve bought lots of good doctrinally sound materials from them over the years. However,

Posted at This Day in Presbyterian History : The Root of the Presbyterian Apostasy? When church historians evaluate the history of American Presbyterianism, the publication of the “Auburn Affirmation” will stand out in importance like the nailing of Luther’s ninety-five theses on the Wittenberg Germany church door in 1517. Except this Affirmation, unlike that of the German reformer, constituted a major offensive against biblical Christianity. The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in 1923 had repeated the earlier high court’s affirmations of five essential truths which made up the fundamentals of Christianity. They were the inerrant Scripture, the Virgin Birth, the substitutionary atonement of Christ, His literal bodily resurrection from the dead on the third day, and supernatural miracles. However the very next year, on January 9, 1924 , one hundred and fifty Presbyterian elders issued an affirmation in Auburn, New York which stated that these five fundamentals we

Posted at A Ruby in the Rough : OPC Report of the Committee on Secret Societies: On this score the evidence is overwhelming. There is no room for any reasonable doubt as to Masonry’s being a religion. Not only do the symbols, rites and temples of this order point unmistakably to it as a religion, but a great many Masonic authors of note emphatically declare it to be just that. Of almost numberless quotations that could be given here the committee has selected a few. J. S. M. Ward, the author of several standard Masonic works, defines religion as “a system of teaching moral truth associated with a belief in God” and then declares: “I consider Freemasonry is a sufficiently organized school of mysticism to be entitled to be called a religion.” He goes on to say: “I boldly aver that Freemasonry is a religion, yet in no way conflicts with any other religion, unless that religion holds that no one outside its portals can be saved” (Freemasonry: Its Aims and Ideals, pp. 182, 185, 187). T.

By Rolley Haggard - Posted at Breakpoint: IT'S WHAT WE'RE DOING BY STAYING SILENT ON ABORTION A recent article in “World” Magazine titled “ Still-silent shepherds ” summarized the top reasons evangelical pastors give for not preaching against abortion. Among them is that “preaching on the issue might politically stigmatize the pastor or politicize the pulpit, scaring seekers off.” Aside from the fact that such reasoning is purely pragmatic—concerned with results (what works) rather than principle (what's right)—it is also severely problematic in three of its underlying assumptions: One, that pulpits should avoid moral issues with controversial political overtones; Two, that silence is justified on issues that may “scare seekers off”; Three, that ignoring issues like abortion won't adversely impact gospel ministry. I submit that pulpits operating on these assumptions are undoing the very work they hope to do. To varying extents, they are “unpreaching” the gospel. Read mo

By Bud Ahlheim - Posted at Pulpit & Pen: The Passion Conference just wrapped up its 20th anniversary with a massive crowd of millennials in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. The event, running from January 2 –4, saw over 50,000 eighteen to twenty-five-year-olds * packing the venue in order to, according to the Passion 2017 website , “see a generation leverage their lives for what matters most.” To accomplish this noble task, the event’s front man, Pastor Louis Giglio , gathered a wide array of notable “celebrity Christian” personalities to prance, dance, proclaim and croon across the platform. False teachers aside, the stellar celebrity Christian line-up must’ve been a deal even at the $209 at-the-door ticket price. (* The conference website is explicit in discouraging those under 18 in attending and, other than what it calls “Door Holders,” discourages anyone over 25 -except leaders of groups of millennials – from attending. Children are not welcome.) Among this yea

By Heather Clark - Posted at Christian News Network : CHICAGO — Four suspects are in custody after a live Facebook video showed a special needs teenager being bound, tortured, and taunted by African American youth, who yell “(expletive) white people.” Chicago police state that the 30-minute physical assault shows the bound 18-year-old with his mouth duct-taped having his clothes and scalp cut with a knife, while those that gather around him laugh, drink and sprinkle cigarette ashes on him. The four suspects repeatedly struck the mentally challenged teen, calling out, “(Expletive) Donald Trump! (Expletive) white people!,” as well as “Beat his (expletive),” and “He gonna be a corpse.” They also force the victim, who they called a “goof-(expletive) white man,” to say “(Expletive) Trump” and “I love black people.” Read more here.

By Sam Powell - Posted at My Only Comfort : Thoughts on Psalm 129, from a sermon preached at First Reformed Church, February 9, 2014. Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth, may Israel now say: 2 Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth: yet they have not prevailed against me. 3 The plowers plowed upon my back: they made long their furrows. 4 The LORD is righteous: he hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked. 5 Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Zion. 6 Let them be as the grass upon the housetops, which withereth afore it groweth up: 7 Wherewith the mower filleth not his hand; nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom. 8 Neither do they which go by say, The blessing of the LORD be upon you: we bless you in the name of the LORD. (Psa 129:1-8 KJV) This is a psalm about evil men. I recognize that there are Christian people who sin against each other. This Psalm isn’t about them. I recognize that there are even unbelievers who sin against C

By Peter LaBarbera - Posted at Americans For Truth About Homosexuality : Walmart funds leftist homosexual groups and perverse LGBTQueer “pride” parades, markets “gay” products like “Heather Has Two Mommies” Walmart Now Markets Homosexuality to Kids: Walmart’s online store sells the new edition of “Heather Has Two Mommies,” a “children’s” picture book that promotes the normalcy of lesbian parenting. Above is a screen shot of Walmart.com. The retail giant now scores a “100 percent” on Human Rights Campaign’s rigged “Corporate Equality Index” –which punishes corporations for giving to pro-family organizations, yet rewards them for funding LGBTQ activist groups. To receive a “100-percent” score, corporations must be committed to funding grotesque, body-disfiguring transsexual “sex-reassignment surgeries” as part of their company’s “health” insurance plan for employees. Take Action: contact Walmart HERE or call 800-925-6278). Click to enlarge. Read more here. * Please be w

By Bud Ahlheim - Posted at Pulpit & Pen: For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. Psalm 103:11-12 Relief. It’s perhaps the first thing that comes to mind when the Holy Spirit has raised a dead soul to life in the miracle of regeneration. We are, as a result of no act of our own, forgiven our sins by an utterly righteous, exceedingly holy, and supremely sovereign God. When we apprehend the Gospel and the glorious implication of Christ’s righteousness imputed to us for eternity, though sin will still taunt and we shall still falter, the relief over the intentional forgetfulness of God for our now forgiven sin is to apprehend something of His magnificent grace. David captured this truth in his “Bless The Lord, O My Soul” Psalm cited above. The truth is given by the Lord Himself through the prophet Isaiah, “I, I am he who b

By John Ellis - Posted at PJ Media : The Apostle Paul warned the young pastor Timothy that a "time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth" (2 Timothy 4:3-4). Time and time again, Paul's divinely inspired statement has been proven true during the intervening two millennia. The twenty-first century is no exception. Below are four of the most treacherous teachings tickling the ears of professing Christians who do "not endure sound teaching." Sadly, there are many more than four, but this list represents a cross-section of the most prevalent and damnable heresies perverting the Gospel of Jesus Christ today. 4. Universalism According to those who subscribe to universalism, all humans will one day be reconciled to God. Violating the Bible's teaching on eternal punishment, the nature of God's justice, an

By Evan Murch - Posted at Evan's Scattered Thoughts : I have been thinking about this a lot lately. Often young people are told that we need to “find our calling” but sometimes this concept is very vague and unhelpful. What is a calling ? How do we find it? Do we only have one calling? I will venture to lend my thoughts on this subject. First, read the Bible. We need to recognize the Bible is all we need to make us fully equipped for every good work (2Tim.3:16); thus, our calling(s) should be made evident by reading the Word. No special revelation is required. In order to understand our calling we need to be reading, studying, immersing ourselves in the Word. We need to see the world through the lens God sees it, and this is only possible by the work of the Holy Spirit through the Scriptures . In order to change the way the world is, we need to know how it ought to be by reading God’s Word. Second, obey. Read more here.