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The Doctrine of Election Isn't About Saving People Against Their Will

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There has been so many misconceptions about Calvinism that even some beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus have them. While I don't care too much if a person is Calvinist or non-Calvinist (and a non-Calvinist isn't automatically an Arminian) - there has been a serious and gross misrepresentation of Calvinism that needs to be addressed. This is the mistake that Calvinism or the doctrine of election is about saving people against their will when it isn't. So what drives people unto the Lord Jesus? John 6:44 has Jesus saying that no man can come unto Him except that the Father draws said person to Him. The great Reformed Baptist preacher Charles H. Spurgeon got it right when he said that people aren't saved against their will but they are made willing by the Holy Spirit. A good example of election and people made willing by the Holy Ghost is the conversion of Saul. If there's anything that Calvinist Christians can get it right - it's that they don'

Beware of Christmas Covetousness

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Christmas is really the most commercialized holiday of the year, isn't it? Celebrating Christmas isn't inherently wrong while not celebrating it isn't wrong either. The problem today with the Christmas season may not be the season in itself but the people celebrating it. It's becoming more and more pagan or worldly each year. It's no surprise that the non-existent Santa Claus becomes the center of the world's Christmas than Jesus Christ Himself. Just think about it - a little child would think more of what Santa Claus may give or may even be wishing from said non-existent person for what the others have. If there's one commandment out of the Ten Commandments that get broken a lot during Christmas - it's most likely the tenth commandment namely "Thou shalt not covet." Covetousness is desiring something that's not yours and wanting to have what others have. You may not be necessarily desiring your neighbor's wife or husband (which is

Lost People Love Christmas Until They Realize the Bad News Behind Why Jesus Was Born in Human Flesh

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It's no doubt that it's just a few days before Christmas. Christmas has been a time to look forward to for merrymaking (some even do it to the point of getting too drunk to do it), get together with the families, receiving a special year-end Christmas bonus and children look forward to their Christmas gifts. But do they ever even realize the ugly message of Christmas? Let's take a look at the reality of the Christmas message that gets read. We can read it in Matthew's and Luke's first two chapters. Matthew 1:21 says that Jesus came to save His people from their sins. Luke 1:47 has Mary declaring her need for a Savior. This addresses the ugly reality that man isn't basically good. The message of man's total depravity is offensive to mankind because men are prone to believe that they are basically good. The idea of man being basically good is a stranger to Scripture. One could go ahead and argue but Romans 3 talks about the total depravity of man. James

The Irony Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI Condemns Himself With His Quote About Mary the Mother of Jesus

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There's such a thing that your own words will condemn you. It reminds me of how a fake Catholic defender ended up refuting his own arguments when he said, "Read the Bible and you can't go wrong because salvation is found in Jesus Christ!" while believing that church membership is required for salvation and that Sola Scriptura is unscriptural. The same can be said with Benedict XVI with his quote about the blessed Mary, the earthly mother of Jesus. To dismiss Benedict XVI's statement because he's a Roman Catholic is to commit the Ad Hominem fallacy. There is really truth in said statement in his book "An Invitation to Faith" when he said that Mary's greatness consists in one fact - she wants to magnify God and not herself! Mary said in Luke 1:47 that her soul rejoices in God her Savior. She was willing to do everything to do God's will and what is the Roman Catholic institution teaching about her? It's so sad how the Roman Catholic insti

Using Luke 1:47 to Defend the Doctrine Mary is Sinless?

It's really the painful truth that the Bible can't be understood by the unsaved. Tthe supernatural work of the Spirit of God is necessary to help people understand. What makes me baffled is how a certain Catholic tract even uses Luke 1:47 to defend the heresy that Mary is free of original sin. But do they even understand the context? Now let's check what Luke 1:46-47 says in a Roman Catholic translation which in my case - I usually prefer to use the Good News Translation: My heart praises the Lord; my soul is glad because of God my Savior. So how can it be that a sinless woman like Mary would still need a Savior? None. Only sinners need a Savior! Yet, it's baffling how a Roman Catholic tract even uses Luke 1:47 to defend the doctrine that Mary is supposedly born without sin. As said, obvious context is obvious but the truth is that Scriptures are spiritually discerned. It doesn't matter how plain and simple and how bright as day the truth is but eyes blinded

It's Not Okay to Take Your Children to See "Santa Claus" in the Malls

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Well it's December 6 (the traditional Roman Catholic feast day of Nicholas of Myra) and there's still that ongoing need to keep refuting foolish parenting notions such as nothing is wrong with lying to children about Santa Claus. Some can even argue that it's no different than me being taken to see an event where there's a Mickey Mouse or any cartoon-character related mascot. But this is where difference between seeing a child to see "Mickey Mouse" and Santa Claus step in? One could think that a child seeing Mickey Mouse usually knows he's not seeing the fictional character called Mickey Mouse. It's just like hosting a birthday party and the child is aware that the mascot is just an employee wearing a suit pretending to be Mickey Mouse. It's just like having a McDonald's or Jollibee party. Most of the time, children know that the mascots are just people in suits. Parents usually have the audacity to tell them that Mickey Mouse is just a pret

The Story of Vietnamese Christian Boun Chan

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What does it gain one to get the whole world yet lose one's soul? This is the vibrant testimony of Boun Chuan who was once a Communist director general became a Christian and lost everything he once had. You can think of how many people have converted from becoming persecutors to persecuted. You can talk about the testimony of Saul of Tarsus leaving his affluent position with the Pharisees for Christ, Matthew and later Zaccheus  left the job of a dirty publican for Christ, some Romans under the service of cruel Roman emperors got converted - the story of Boun Chan is no different! The idea of risking one's life for a Bible sounds absurd to human ears. But you can't get wrong because the Bible is indeed the Word of God. Boun Chan could stand all the torture and starvation for the name of Christ - but he could never stand a day without a Bible. He took every risk to keep reading it and he would get tortured standing for God's truth. But no amount of pressure from an at

The Worldly Call Christians as Old-Fashioned All the While Christianity is Timeless

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I remembered the time I was in a Baptist school, I got saved and I was soon bound for every insult the world could give to me. One of them was that I was old-fashioned because of my beliefs. I remembered one time that the school was called "old-fashioned" but why? While there are times I could criticize the school's refusal to make some adjustments (such as keeping typewriters or not getting a new textbook) but most of the criticism that happened could be summarized in the hymn called "The Old Fashioned Way". 1 They call me old-fashioned because I believe That the Bible is God’s holy Word, That Jesus, who lived among men long ago, Is divine, and the Christ of God.  Chorus;  My sin was old-fashioned, My guilt was old-fashioned, God’s love was old-fashioned, I know; And the way I was saved was the old-fashioned way, Thro' the blood that makes whiter than snow.  2 Old-fashioned, because I believe and accept Only what has been spoken from heav’

Christianity and World AIDS Day

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It's December 1 and Christmas isn't the only thing in the air. We've got World AIDS Day too. World AIDS day is an international day to help raise awareness of the deadliness of AIDS. It's a noble cause yet there's one concern that must be raised - how useless it is to have an awareness for AIDS if there's no Gospel preaching. I remembered how Dr. John F. MacArthur once preached about the dangers of moral reform without Jesus. The same can be true for any moral reform movement that only seeks to reform humanity without the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So how are the people who usually get Acquired Immune Defiency Syndrome or AIDS? Below is a table of those who are at the high risk are the following according to the World Health Organization : 75% is really a huge number isn't it? This chart reveals that sex workers, homosexuals who engage in sodomy, drug addicts, transgenders and prisoners tend to have a high AIDS rate. Now, AIDS doesn't discriminate

Charles H. Spurgeon Saw Christmas as a Massive Opportunity for Evangelism

If Halloween (which also happens on the same day as Reformation Day) isn't the only big opportunity for soulwinning - Christmas is as well and it's the first day of December. Personally, I don't feel like celebrating Christmas because of all the misfortunes and mischief that fall upon people. The rush traffic hours, people asking for the license to sin, the prevalence of drunkenness and gluttony - it should be safe to say why Charles H. Spurgeon changed his mind on 1871 about Christmas. He writes this as the beginning of his said Christmas sermon of said year: WE HAVE NO superstitious regard for times and seasons. Certainly we do not believe in the present ecclesiastical arrangement called Christmas: first, because we do not believe in the mass at all, but abhor it, whether it be said or sung in Latin or in English; and, secondly, because we find no Scriptural warrant whatever for observing any day as the birthday of the Saviour; and, consequently, its observance is a sup

Does the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant Teach Conditional Security?

I remembered when I was newly saved and I still had some issues with forgiveness to others. Now there was one warning where I was told that if I don't forgive then God will restore everything that I owe Him and throw me to Hell. Now there's a problem with the scenario as it presents the dilemma of having to forgive in order to be forgiven. Do I have to forgive in order to be forgiven or is it that I forgive because I'm forgiven? That's what heretical preachers who preach conditional security would like to suggest while they ironically (and somewhat consistently) display an unforgiving attitude towards people who offended them! What's the meaning of the parable of the unforgiving servant found in Matthew 18:22-35? Jesus is using an exaggeration to show the seriousness of sin. I decided to some consultation with older brothers in the faith. A talent is worth 16 years of salary. To owe someone 10,000 talents is to owe someone a really huge unpayable amount! Someti

Lifestyle Checks for Pastors Shouldn't Be Neglected

I've heard of how people in authority need a lifestyle check. I've heard of policemen, legislators, governors and mayors should be subjected to lifestyle check. Unfortunately, it's highly possible that many churches have ignored the reality of giving pastors a lifestyle check. Why is it important to know how a pastor lives? It's because the Bible puts qualifications of what makes a good pastor. 1 Timothy 3:1-7  This is a true saying, if a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. [2] A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; [3] Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous; [4] One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; [5] (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?) [6] Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pr

Atheists Contradict Themselves By Admiring Well-Made Designs While Rejecting the Truth of God's Intelligent Design

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Here's a comic strip that actually describes how self-contradictory it is to become an atheist. I could remember listening and viewing through various atheist videos on Youtube, read some atheist blogs such as "Darwin Killed God" (though it turns out Charles Darwin wasn't an atheist either) where they always say that they don't believe in creationism because it's supposed to say that God simply used a magic wand to make things appear. They claim that intelligent design is impossible and nature only came by evolution. However, one has to analyze the very structures revealed by biology. Did you know that the human eye is even more powerful than the camera? Did you know that the human body is the most complex machinery ever? Did you know that the human brain invented the computer? These are all very complex structures which couldn't just come by random accident. Yet, that's what atheists want to believe that nature and life just came by accident, t

The Late R.C. Sproul's View on a Pet's Afterlife

Losing a pet can be a devastating thing for some when it newly occurs - even if they may have moved on months later with a new pet. Somebody in church may have posted that when a dearly departed brother or sister in Christ died that the pet dog died next. Somebody said that it was a good thing that the pet dog died and that said departed person will be happy to see that pet again with the Lord. Then I was thinking of that time I read Robert C. Sproul's book called "Now That's a Good Question" where he wrote this one: I can’t answer that question for sure, but I don’t want you to think for a minute that it’s a frivolous question. People get very attached to their pets, particularly if the pet has been with them for a long time. In our present culture more and more pet cemeteries are appearing, and we see people going to great expense and ceremony---gravestones and all---to dispose of the bodies of their pets.  Within the Christian church there are different school

A Much Bigger Problem for Those Who Take the Mark of the Beast Than Just Getting Marked

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There's that ongoing huge outrage when Dr. John F. MacArthur had caused when it came to his comments on the Mark of the Beast. At Grace to You, you may find this blog post titled " Unforgivable ?" in regards to the mark of the Antichrist or the Beast which says the following: On the other hand, only one very specific sin is ever said to be unforgivable. Any sin that is repented of is forgivable. Immediately after declaring all fornicators, drunkards, and swindlers unfit for heaven, the apostle writes, “Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11). After saying, “Whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven,” Jesus famously forgave Peter, who denied Him before men.  Jesus Himself said, “Any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven ” (Matt

Dear Christian, Don't Seek God's Approval and the World's Approval at the Same Time

Christians would have this struggle that they are tempted to seek the approval of both God and the world at the same time. This is foolish thinking for this very reason - John 15:18-19 warns that the Christians are not of the world and James 4:4 says that the friends of the world are enemies of God. A Christian is now a friend of God and therefore they have become enemies of the world. The world is in enmity with God and Jesus warned in John 15:18-19 that the world will hate the Christian because it hates Him before it hates His followers! So how would one illustrate the very idea of pleasing God and man at the same time? One can think of the serious mistakes made by Solomon and Jehoshaphat. Solomon in 1 Kings 11:4 soon foolishly made alliances with pagan kingdoms. Ecclesiastes has Solomon regretting his very foolishness. Jehoshaphat soon made a foolish alliance with King Ahab in 2 Chronicles 18 and was rebuked for it in 2 Chronicles 19:4. Solomon knew better than to marry heathen wo