Shocking Secrets Hidden By The Pro Homosexual Lobby

As Christians, our primary argument against the homosexual lifestyle must be God's clear repudiation of homosexuality in Scripture (Leviticus 18:22, Leviticus 20:13, Deuteronomy 23:17, Matthew 19:4-6, Romans 1:18-32, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, 1 Timothy 1:8-11, Jude 1:7). In 2 Corinthians chapter 2 we see that we, as Christians, are the aroma of Christ. To those who are being saved this is the smell of life. But to those who remain dead in their sin the aroma of Christ is the stench of death. We cannot remove everything offensive from the Gospel and expect there to be anything left. The cross of Christ is offensive precisely because the horrific price that our Lord paid points to the horrific depth of sin we have committed. Removing homosexuality from that list of crimes against God is not only a lie to those who are in bondage to this lifestyle. It also steals from them the reason why they would need such a wonderful Savior to suffer God's wrath in their place.

CJ Mahaney says: "You will never see the cross as something done for you unless you first see it as something done by you."It's why the famous song asks the question: Were you there when they crucified my Lord? It's why Luther said that we all walk around with His nails in our pockets. And it's why rejecting the imputation of Adam's sin to us also is a rejection of our sins being imputed to Christ. Seeing our own sin makes us love our Savior and makes it easy to love homosexuals trapped in their own sin. And if we really love homosexuals then we must do all we can to help them see their own sin that they too may love our glorious Savior.

Having said this, during some recent research on this subject for a presentation I was delivering, I was shocked to discover some highly concealed statistics regarding those who indulge in the homosexual lifestyle.

Life Expectancy:
Practicing homosexuals, on average, have a vastly reduced lifespan. Thomas Norup of Statistics Denmark provided data for the years 1990 through 2002. On average, ever-married men outlived the ever-homosexually-partnered by 23 years in Denmark (74 years v. 51 years) (Presented by Dr. Paul Cameron of the Family Research Institute at the March 2007 Eastern Psychological Assn Convention, in Philadelphia).

Likelihood of Contracting HIV/AIDS:
The US Center for Disease Control said, in 2009, that a homosexual male is 44 times more likely to get HIV/AIDS than a heterosexual male.

Connections with Pedophilia:
Although homosexuals account for less than two percent of the population, they constitute about a third of child molesters. (K. Freund and R.I. Watson, "The Proportions of Heterosexual and Homosexual Pedophiles Among Sex Offenders Against Children: An Exploratory Study," Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy 18 (Spring 1992): 3443, cited in "The Problem of Pedophilia," op. cit. Also, K. Freund and R.I. Watson, "Pedophilia and Heterosexuality vs. Homosexuality," Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy 10 (Fall 1984): 197, cited in NARTH Fact Sheet.)

Further, as noted by the National Association for research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), "since homosexual pedophiles victimize far more children than do heterosexual pedophiles, it is estimated that approximately 80 percent or pedophile victims are boys who have been molested by adult males. (7. Thomas Schmidt, Straight and Narrow? Compassion and Clarity in the Homosexuality Debate (Downers Grove, IU.: Intervarsity Press), p. 114, cited in "The Problem of Pedophilia, op. cit., p. 2. )

If the secular authorities are so dedicated to the education of our children about this "lifestyle" why are they not mentioning these statistical realities? What follows is John Macarthur giving a lengthy presentation on thinking biblically about homosexuality:

Witnessing To People In Their Pain

Just two days ago we sold a piece of furniture in the local newspaper. A man called Per came to collect it. We had a nice chat and, as is my custom, I handed Per a Gospel tract that I have designed with a powerful checkerboard illusion on the front page. I asked him which square was darker - A or B? "A" definitely appears darker in the picture but things are not always as they seem. The next picture reveals the truth that both "A" and "B" are the same color. I told Per that even though many people don't believe in God because they cannot see Him, they cannot even trust their own eyes. In fact, the Bible warns us that we can even be deceived by our own hearts (Jeremiah 17:9). But the day is coming when that heart will stop beating and the deception will be over. Because the God Who made us will judge us and He is not deceived about anything. He knows everything we do, everything we say, and even every thought that passes through our head. I told Per as he was leaving that I had written something on the tract that I wanted him to read and consider because his eternal future depended on it.

Just then, Per turned around and told me that he had just been diagnosed with a very serious illness and he did not know what to think about God and eternity. Moments like these are very sobering, humbling, and demand very tender sensitivity. But they are also God ordained moments where the God of the universe arranges an appointment between fallen dying men and a messenger of the Way, the Truth, and the Life! It is a very fair criticism to say that I cannot adequately empathize or sympathize with a man like Per at such a vulnerable moment. But I do know Someone Who can:

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:14-16)

The fact of the matter is that God has dealt ever so graciously with myself and my family. I cannot explain why - I certainly don't deserve such blessings at all. But when I looked into Per's eyes and saw the fear and helplessness I knew that I could point him to the One Who has tasted the full spectrum of human suffering and knows what he is going through. When Per asked me why he had been struck with such terrible affliction I could point him to the One Who:

Has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted (Isaiah 53:4).

I told Per that I could not answer him the specific reason why he was struck with such devastating illness. But I told him that we should ask another question instead. Why does God allow us to live in spite of our sin? Why does He delay His wrath? CJ Mahaney says that "we will never see the cross as something done for us until we understand the cross as something done by us". Though Per was a victim and I was in no position to lecture him on suffering, I could appeal to the Savior Who was treated as if He lived the life of the vilest sinner ever in order that God could treat the vilest of sinners as if they had the righteousness of Jesus Christ. When people are hurting and vulnerable we still need to gently show them their guilt before God so that they can understand why Jesus died on the cross. I showed Per that it is not just how bad our sin is but also how holy God is. God cannot demonstrate His great love to us if He violates His righteousness. And to forgive sinners would violate His justice and righteousness unless . . . a substitute Who was fully God and fully man came and fulfilled the law that we had broken and taken the punishment that we deserve - thereby satisfying God's wrath against the sinner and crediting the sinner with Christ's righteousness. God had grabbed Per's attention and had brought him to someone who could give him the message he needed to hear (Per left our house with openness and thankfulness for our conversation - please pray for him, wouldn't it be great to enter into eternal life together with him?).

Once upon a time I would have focussed my conversation on praying for physical healing. And I told Per that I would pray for him and I have prayed for his healing - because nothing is impossible for God. But at the end of the day, we are all terminally ill and our days are numbered. Physical healing still prolongs the inevitable. The far more important issue is whether we are reconciled to God. If we love hurting people and long to see them reconciled to God, then we can find ways to sensitively show them their true need for Christ - in sickness and in health. That they may hunger for the righteousness of Christ more than their physical healing. It is easy for me to say, but regardless of this, these words remain true in spite of my inability to identify with those whose days are short. Rather may it remind me of my own fragile mortality, the uncertainty of tomorrow, and the precious gift of eternal life for those who repent of their sinful ways and put all their trust in Christ. May it remind us all that suffering can be a blessing in disguise:



Laura Story has her own true story of suffering and grief that lies behind this wonderful song:

Reformed And Charismatic - The Cessationist Stink (Part 10)

For those of you who think I am only reporting one side of the stink, I am actually on the lookout for any theological heavyweights weighing in who are taking a supporting view of Driscoll. Still waiting . . .

Meanwhile, Michael Horton over at The White Horse Inn blog has weighed in and had some very interesting things to say:

Reformed and Charismatic?
by Michael Horton
22 August 2011

Obviously, those who believe that miraculous prophecy continues after the apostolic age should not be lumped together with radical movements like the New Apostolic Reformation.  Nevertheless, it does provide an occasion to think carefully about the compatibility of Reformation theology with Charismatic emphases.  This is especially the case when there have been renewed calls for a “Reformed Charismatic” synthesis in our own circles.

I’ve never been willing to die on the hill of cessationism: that is, the belief that the miraculous gifts such as prophecy, healing, and tongues have ceased.  I’m still not.  Nevertheless, I am convinced that non-cessationism is neither exegetically sound nor historically compatible with Reformed theology. Furthermore, the surprisingly widespread popularity of more radical views of ongoing sign-gifts, coupled with political ambition, pushes me into the unpleasant position of challenging the views even of far sounder brothers with whom I agree on so many important points.

As a Charismatic Calvinist, Wayne Grudem has been used by God to bring the doctrines of grace to many who would likely not have encountered these truths otherwise.  I have immense respect for his clear defense of many cardinal doctrines of Christianity.  At the same time, the Calvinism-Charismatic bridge goes in both directions and his view of continuing prophecy has contributed to a curious hybrid that in my view cannot survive in the long run.  Reformed theology is a system—not one imposed on Scripture, but one that arises from the self-consistent Word of God.

Mark Driscoll, a student of Grudem’s, has recently claimed to have regular visions of the sinful—usually sexual—behavior of people he encounters. “I see things,” he says, although the gift he describes is nowhere exhibited even in the apostolic era.  Also posted on his Mars Hill website is a critique of cessationism as “modernistic worldliness,” lumping this view with deism and atheism.  “Functional cessationism is really about the mind, but functional charismatic theology is really about the heart.”  He concludes with a plea: “…you Reformed guys, especially you who are more Presbyterian, you tend to ignore the Holy Spirit and attribute everything the Spirit does to the gospel.” Sovereign Grace Ministries, led until recently by C. J. Mahaney, has also followed Grudem’s path toward a synthesis of Calvinistic and Charismatic emphases.

There is much to admire in these men and their labors.  I am not targeting these friends and brothers, but pleading with them—and with all of us—to rediscover the ordinary means of grace, ordinary ministry, ordinary offices, and to long for a genuine revival: that is, a surprising blessing of God on his ordinary ministry in our day. The false choice between head and heart, the Spirit and the Word, has been a perennial polemic of the radical wing of Protestantism.  Mark Driscoll’s plea above reveals that dangerous separation of the Spirit from his Word.  Only by assuming such a cleavage can one argue that Reformed theology ignores the Holy Spirit.

We have had enough “apostles,” “prophets,” and “Moses-model” leaders who build ministries around their own gifts.  We need to recover the beauty of Christ alone upon his throne as the Priest-King of his church, exercising his ministry by his Spirit through preaching, sacrament, and discipline in mutually accountable communion with the wider body of Christ.  Reformed theology is not just the “five points” and “sovereign grace,” but a rich, full, and systematic confession.  It’s a human and therefore fallible attempt to wrestle with the whole counsel of God—in both doctrine and practice, soteriology and ecclesiology.  Until we rediscover this richness, “Reformed” will mean “whatever my leader or circle believes.”

Of course, the biblical case that must be made cannot be made well in this brief space.  However, I’ll focus on the question of whether the gifts of prophet and apostle have ceased.  In Ephesians 4:7-16, the apostle says that offices prophets and apostles as well as pastors, teachers, and evangelists are gifts of his heavenly ascension.

Against both Rome and the radical Anabaptists, the Reformers argued that prophet and apostle are extraordinary offices, for a foundation-laying era.  They are sent at key moments in redemptive history, and their writings are added to the canon of Scripture.  Like the distinction between a nation’s constitution and its courts, the biblical canon is qualitatively distinct from ecclesiastical interpretation.  The former is magisterial (normative), while the latter is ministerial (interpretive).

Particularly in the wake of the Pentecostal and charismatic movements, this question has divided Christians into two camps: cessationists (believing that the gifts of healing, prophecy, and tongues have ceased) and non-cessationists.  Non-cessationists find no exegetical reason to distinguish some of these gifts and offices from others in terms of their perpetuity.  However, cessationists hold that the New Testament itself makes a distinction between the foundation-laying era of the apostles and the era of building the church on their completed foundation (1 Cor 3:10-11).  Although the New Testament establishes the offices of pastors/teachers, elders, and deacons, it does not establish perpetual prophetic or apostolic offices with their attendant sign-gifts.  With this in mind, we must examine each gift in question.

Paul treats prophecy (prophēteia) as preaching, which although illumined by the Spirit is (unlike the scriptures) un-inspired and therefore must be tested (1 Cor 12:29; 1 Thes 5:19-21).  At Pentecost, the gift of tongues was a Spirit-given ability to proclaim the gospel in languages that one had not been taught.  The diverse crowd of visitors to Jerusalem for the feast asked, “And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?” (Ac 2:8).  We should therefore understand “tongues” as synonymous with natural languages, which some were miraculously gifted to speak and others to interpret.  This served not only as a sign that Christ’s universal kingdom has dawned but as a practical way of disseminating the gospel from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth.  None of these gifts was given for the personal edification of believers alone, but for the spread of the gospel and the maturity of the saints in that Word.

Similarly, the gift of healing was a sign that Christ’s kingdom had arrived, bringing a preview of the consummation in all of its fullness at the end of the age.  Yet signs always cluster in the Bible around significant turning-points in redemptive history.  Like the temporary prophesying of the elders in Moses’ day, the extraordinary gifts of signs and wonders are given to validate the sacred ministry of human ambassadors.  Once that ministry is validated, it no longer requires further confirmation.  (For an excellent treatment of this topic, see Richard B. Gaffin, Jr., Perspectives on Pentecost  (P & R, 1979), especially 94-95, in relation to Wayne Grudem’s contention that “prophets and apostles” in 1 Corinthians 12:28 and Ephesians 4:11 refer to the same group.) It would seem, then, that the gift of prophets and apostles (along with the gifts of miracles, prophecy, and tongues) was given but fulfilled its foundation-laying function.  Just as Paul’s understudy Timothy is an ordinary minister, we find no evidence that his ministry was attended by extraordinary signs and wonders.

Some theologians, such as Wayne Grudem, recognize that the office of apostle has ceased, but are “unsure if this question” of the cessation of spiritual gifts “can be decided from Scripture.” [This and following Gruden quotes from his Systematic Theology, 906-912, 1031; cf. Wayne Grudem, The Gift of Prophecy in the New Testament Today (Westchester, IL: Crossway, 1988), 226-252.]

With Grudem I agree that 1 Corinthians 13:8-13, which speaks of prophecies and tongues passing away “when the perfect comes,” is inconclusive.  Paul is most likely referring to the consummation, when there will be no need for faith and hope and all that will endure into eternity is love (v 13).

However, I do not find Grudem’s case for continuing prophecy persuasive.  He clearly distinguishes prophecy today from the prophecy that delivered the sacred oracles of Holy Scripture.  This is both the strength and the weakness of his position.  Grudem believes that the kind of prophecy that is ongoing in the church is distinguished from preaching and teaching by being “a spontaneous ‘revelation’ from God….” (Grudem, Systematic Theology, 1058)

So the distinction is quite clear: if a message is the result of conscious reflection on the text of Scripture, containing interpretation of the text and application to life, then it is (in New Testament terms) a teaching.  But if a message is the report of something God brings suddenly to mind, then it is a prophecy. (Grudem, Systematic Theology, 1058)

In my view, this interpretation introduces a definition of prophecy that is not consistent with its practice in the apostolic church.  Nowhere is prophecy distinguished by its spontaneous quality.  Furthermore, in spite of his salutary caution against raising such prophecies to the level of Scripture, this interpretation still raises the question as to whether the Spirit issues new revelations that are not already communicated in Scripture.  If prophecy is defined simply as Spirit-given insight into Scripture, then is this not synonymous with preaching?

Today, the Spirit validates this ordinary ministry of the gospel through preaching and sacrament: the signs and wonders that Christ instituted to confirm his Word.  If it is true that the apostles understood their work to be an extraordinary ministry of foundation-laying and their miraculous signs as its validation, then “no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ….If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward” (1 Cor 3:11, 14).

While living stones are continually being added to the temple, the edifice itself is “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone” (Eph 2:20).  As the person and work of the head is distinct from that of its members, the foundation-laying ministry of the apostles is different from the “up-building” ministry of their successors.

Where apostolic preaching became Scripture, our proclamation, faith, and practice stand in continuity with the apostles to the extent that they conform to that rule. To understand Scripture as canon, within its Ancient Near Eastern treaty background, is to recognize that, like the redemptive work to which it testifies, it cannot be revised by addition or subtraction (Dt 4:2; Rev 22:18-19).  While interpretations are always subject to change, the constitution has been given once and for all.

Similarly, the canon that witnesses to Jesus is the covenant that he ratified in his self-sacrifice.  In its appeal to this canon and its practice of its stipulated rites, the church participates in the heavenly reality as servant rather than Lord of the covenant.  Just as Jesus-history is qualitatively distinct from our own, the apostolic canon is qualitatively distinct from the subsequent tradition (or preaching) that interprets it.  One is magisterial, the other ministerial.  Just as the church does not extend or complete the work of redemption but receives, interprets, and proclaims it, the church does not extent or complete revelation.  The interim between Christ’s advents is not an era of writing new chapters in the history of redemption.  Rather, it is a period in which the Spirit equips us for the mission between Acts and the Apocalypse—right in the middle of the era of the ordinary ministry with its new covenant canon.  Just as the church cannot extend the incarnation or complete Christ’s atoning work, it cannot repeat Pentecost or prolong the extraordinary ministry of the apostles, but must instead receive this same word and Spirit for its ordinary ministry in this time between.

Go On To Part 11
Go Back To Part 9
Go Back To Part 1

Should Reformed Charismatics Get A Free Pass - The Cessationist Stink (Part 7)

More from Phil Johnson today examining the culpability of charismatics with reformed theology with regard to the current debate over cessationism, continuationism, and the YRR crowd. Phil's response to Mark Driscoll's "revelations" will be posted tomorrow.

Should Type-R Charismatics Get a Free Pass?
Does the fact that we are "together for the gospel" necessitate our being "together" [or even silent] on the matter of charismatic claims as well?
by Phil Johnson
02 November 2007

A prodigious wacko fringe has always been one of the charismatic movement's most prominent features. In little more than a century, the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements have spun off so many bad doctrines and bizarre characters that I have a thick dictionary in my office just to help me keep track of them all.

Furthermore, I'm convinced it's not just some kind of fantastic cosmic coincidence that has loaded the movement with an unusually high number of charlatans and heretics. I've suggested on more than one occasion that a major reason the charismatic movement has produced more than its fair share of aberrant behavior is because the distinctive doctrines of charismatic belief foster gullibility while constantly seeding the movement with all kinds of whimsy. Specifically, the charismatic belief that it's normative for Spirit-filled Christians to receive extrabiblical divine revelation through various mystical means has opened the door for all kinds of mischief.

I would not for a moment deny that there are some relatively sane and sensible charismatics who love Scripture and generally teach sound doctrine while avoiding most of their movement's worst errors. I think they represent a fairly small minority of the worldwide charismatic community, but they do exist. A few of them are good friends—even longtime friends—of mine. I have friends (for example) in the Calvary Chapel movement, which is mildly charismatic in doctrine but whose worship is generally more Bible-centered than even the typical non-Charismatic seeker-sensitive church. As a matter of fact, my chief concern about the Calvary Chapel movement would not even be their advocacy of charismatic views, but their increasingly aggressive campaign against Calvinism.

That's not all. I have warm affection and heartfelt respect for most of the best-known Reformed charismatic leaders, including C. J. Mahaney, Wayne Grudem, and Sam Storms. [Let's call them "Type-R Charismatics."] I've greatly benefited from major aspects of their ministries, and I regularly recommend resources from them that I have found helpful. I've corresponded with the world-famous Brit-blogger Adrian Warnock for at least 15 years now and had breakfast with him on two occasions, and I like him very much. I'm sure we agree on far more things than we disagree about. And I'm also certain the matters we agree on—starting with the meaning of the cross—are a lot more important than the issues we disagree on, which are all secondary matters.

But that is not to suggest that the things we disagree on are non-issues.

Candor, and not a lack of charity, requires me to state this conviction plainly: The belief that extrabiblical revelation is normative does indeed "regularly and systematically breed willful gullibility, not discernment." Even the more sane and sober [Type-R] charismatics are not totally exempt from the tendency.

Remember that Paul Cain and the Kansas City Prophets found an amazing amount of support from "Reformed Charismatics" on both sides of the Atlantic, even after it was clear to more objective minds that the "prophets'" were regularly and systematically issuing false prophecies.

And that fact ought to have been clear very early. In 1989, the senior Kansas City prophet, Bob Jones, acknowledged that he could claim an accuracy rate of no higher than two-thirds. By 1991, Jones was utterly discredited because of his own sexual misconduct with women who came to him seeking prophetic counseling.

Shortly after that (in early 1992), John MacArthur, Lance Quinn, and I met with Paul Cain and Jack Deere in John MacArthur's office at Jack Deere's request. Deere wanted to try to convince John MacArthur that the charismatic movement—especially the Vineyard branch—was on a trajectory to make doctrinal soundness and biblical integrity the hallmarks of Third-Wave charismatic practice. He brought Cain along, ostensibly so that we could see for ourselves that Cain was a legitimate prophet with a profound gifting.

But Cain was virtually incoherent that day. Lance Quinn remarked to me immediately afterward that it seemed as if Cain had been drinking heavily. (In retrospect it seems a fair assumption that this may indeed have been the case.) Even Deere apologized for Cain's strange behavior that day, but Deere seemed to want us to assume it was because the Spirit was upon Cain in some unusual way. They both admitted to us that Cain's "prophecies" were wrong at least as often as they were right. When we cited that as sufficient reason not to accept any of their prophecies at face value, they cited Wayne Grudem's views on New Testament prophecy as justification for ignoring the errors of prophecies already proven false while giving credence to still more questionable pronouncements.


That meeting was extremely eye-opening for me. Deere was unable to answer basic questions about certain practices Lance and I had personally observed him participating in at the Anaheim Vineyard just a few weeks before that meeting. Specifically, we asked him about two "prophets" whose public words of knowledge in the morning service were flatly contradictory. (The dueling prophets were apparently using their "gifts" to air out a dispute over some decision the church's leaders had recently made.) Deere acknowledged that the prophecies that morning were contradictory. And he could not explain why John Wimber let both prophecies stand without a word of explanation or clarification. (He seemed to shrug off our concern by speculating that perhaps even Wimber wasn't sure which prophecy, if either, was the true one.) Again, he appealed to Grudem, perhaps the most theologically sound of all charismatics, as justification for accepting the two prophets' gifting as legitimate anyway.

I left that meeting amazed that anyone would give credence to such "prophets." But several of the best "Reformed Charismatic" leaders—all citing Grudem for authority—continued to give credence to Cain, the Kansas City Prophets, and others like them for a long, long time. Some of the Reformed Charismatics who lent Paul Cain undue credibility did not really renounce him as a prophet until about twelve years later, when his personal sins finally came to light.

(And it may be stretching things to say everyone concerned actually "renounced" Cain's supposed prophetic gifting even then. He has lately made something of a comeback. [Jack Deere's book still touts Cain as a super-prophet, and the book was recently released in Romania, where it has left a massive amount of confusion in its wake. Wayne Grudem's endorsement of the book remains unaltered. I recently wrote him to ask if Cain's moral failure would spur him to modify or remove his endorsement of Deere's paean to Cain, and Grudem wrote to asssure me that his endorsement of the book still stands.])

As long as Reformed charismatics justify the practice of encouraging people to proclaim "prophecies" that are unverified and unverifiable—and which frequently prove to be wrong—I'll stand by the concern I expressed: even the very best of charismatics sometimes foster unwarranted and unreasonable gullibility.

And gullibility about whether God has really spoken or not is seriously dangerous.

When a false belief is truly dangerous and comes replete with the kind of long and dismal track record extrabiblical revelation brings with it, it's not "uncharitable" for those who see the danger and are truly concerned about it to sound a shrill warning rather than humming a gentle lullaby.

My charismatic friend, Dr. Warnock, insists that I have been uncharitable because I have stated my opinion about the dangers of charismatic doctrine without explicitly exempting him and others whom he likes from my warning against gullibility. It makes him "uncomfortable" to read such things on our blog as often as we post them (even though the vast majority of our [2007] posts on the charismatic issue [were in fact] made at his behest).

I have to say in reply that his appeal to how our posts make him feel, while he declines to give any rational or reasonable explanation for why he thinks our candor must be motivated by a lack of charity, is an echo of the very tendency that I think is so dangerous in the charismatic mindset.

I do realize some people are uncomfortable with such a firm stance against the charismatic position. I'm equally uncomfortable with the charismatic position itself. Let's both remember that our respective comfort levels are not a reliable gauge of our brothers' charity (or lack thereof), and let's try to focus on the actual issue under discussion.

Go On To Part 8
Go Back To Part 6
Go Back To Part 1

Exposing And Expelling Heretics (Part 3)

Today we continue on our expository journey through the Epistle of Jude. Jude represents the first expository assignment I have been tasked with in our church plant in Denmark - Kristuskirken. Though short in length, Jude is a letter jam packed with information on why we should hunt down false teachers that conceal themselves in the church, how we should identify them, and that we as Christians should go to war against them secure in the knowledge of being kept in the safety of God's preserving grace. Much of the credit for this series must go to John MacArthur whose teaching on this Epistle has been my major source. This teaching is too vital not to post in this forum and I hope it will pour fuel on our fire to "contend earnestly for the once for all delivered faith".

1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: 2 May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. 3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. (Jude 1-3)

In verse three we hear Jude’s motivation for this letter. He wanted to write to the church about their common salvation but found it necessary to call them to war against the false teachers that were among them. Jude doesn’t get a kick out of exposing heretics. It is driven by his love for their common salvation, his love for the Gospel. Those of us who think we are in discernment ministries need to constantly check that we are driven out of a love for Christ and the salvation we find in Him.

We don’t know exactly which church it was written to and what their specific situation was but we know that it was probably written just before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD. This was a very dangerous time for the church. The Roman government was attacking the Christians from the outside and the Gnostic heretics were attacking the church from the inside. All of the Apostles except for John had been killed and the church was very vulnerable.

Jude was convicted that it was:

necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. (Jude 3b-4)

This is the war that we are called to and we will be exploring this in great detail as I continue through this little book in the coming weeks. But knowing what this book is about gives us the reason for what Jude wrote in the rest of verse one and verse two:

To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. (Jude 1b-2)

As Jude speaks to the soldiers before they enter the battle he desires to comfort them with the wonderful doctrines of election and perseverance. Jude is telling them that if God has called them then they are loved by God. And if they are loved by God then God will keep them and keep them from being corrupted by these evil false teachers. He is echoing the words of Jesus when He said:

All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. (John 6:37)

One of the questions that is going to come to mind is this...if all this is going on in the church, if all this corruption and apostasy is escalating and escalating, is God really sovereign? Are things spiraling out of control because God really is not sovereign over all of this? And if that's the case then we might be engaging in this battle exposed to deadly things that could rob us of our salvation. But the fact that we are called, we are loved, we are kept, and we are blessed in the midst of an escalating apostasy, protects both the sovereignty of God and the security of believers. It's true that Apostasy does escalate and is dangerous. And that's why Jude begins by saying, "You have nothing to fear. You're the called, the loved, the kept and the blessed." That's how he begins the letter and look how he finishes off:

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. (Jude 24-25)

Whatever is happening all around us, God is still running the whole universe and working all things together for His glory. This includes saving the worst of sinners. Jude is reminding the church that salvation is totally a work of God.

Are you going to heaven when you die? If you think you’ll go to heaven because of your baptism, or because you do good, or because God sees your heart - then you are deceived and headed for hell. God does see your heart and that is the problem. He not only sees your lying, and stealing, and blaspheming; he sees the thoughts of your heart. Jesus said that impure lustful thoughts are actually adultery of the heart (Matthew 5:27-28). The Bible concludes that all men are guilty before God, without excuse, and under God’s wrath (Romans 1:18-20). Do you agree with God about this? If you don’t get this then you will never understand the cross. CJ Mahaney says that:

You will never see the cross as something done for you until you see it as something done by you.

The cross was the place where Jesus who was fully God and fully man perfectly kept all of God’s laws that we have broken. He then suffered the wrath of God on the cross that we deserve. He takes our sins upon himself and credits his righteousness to our account. God treats Jesus as if he lived our life so that He can treat us as if we lived Jesus’ life. This way God can show His great love without being corrupt because his justice is satisfied. Jesus rose from the dead proving this was true and we know it was true because Jude repented of his sinful ways and put his faith in the one he had rejected. Jude is right, salvation is totally of God. It is His gracious gift that we receive by faith, it is the gift of God, not of works so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:8-9). In the coming weeks as we hear Jude’s call to fight for the Gospel let us be comforted in the knowledge that Jude reminded his readers - if salvation is all of God, then our eternal preservation from corruption is also done by God.

To be continued next Friday . . .

Go On To Part 4
Go Back To Part 2
Go Back To Part 1

Osama Bin Laden - What He Teaches Us About The Gospel

I had been planning to blog about Chuck Norris today, who just returned from a brief vacation to Pakistan. But in the light of major breaking news, I thought it important to put all else on hold and discuss the recent death of Osama Bin Laden.

It is interesting to note how the word justice has been so readily thrown around (even by bleeding heart liberals) in the aftermath of the successful raid and execution of Osama Bin Laden in his hideout. It is a ready acknowledgement that time does not erase crimes and, also, that even the pagan world recognizes that there is a righteous aspect to the punishment of wrongdoers. I too draw some sense of satisfaction from Bin Laden finally receiving retribution for the atrocities he has instigated. But I also feel the danger of gazing too long in the direction of a world full of wickedness lest it obscures my own horrendous crimes against a Holy God.

I recently heard a sermon by CJ Mahaney where he said:

You will never see the cross as something done for you until you see it as something done by you.

It can be a dangerous and damning practice to spend more time gazing in the direction of a world full of sinners who far exceed your own "small and petty sins". Pause and consider the outrage you felt when Bin Laden's responsibility for the September 11 atrocities was revealed. Now go and multiply that outrage by infinity and load it into the cannon of God's wrath that is aimed straight at you (John 3:36) . . . unless you are clothed with the imputed righteousness of Christ. It is not just the magnitude and volume of our rebellion against a Holy God, but Who we have sinned against. If I lie to my daughter she can do nothing to me. If I lie to my wife I'll be sleeping on the sofa. If I lie to my boss he can fire me. And if I lie to the government they can throw me in jail. The higher the authority we sin against - the greater the consequences. What if God is an infinite authority??? Then His righteousness would deem our crimes against Him as infinite. A healthy grasp of this truth for the unbeliever will drive him to the Savior in desperate need of forgiveness for sin and the righteousness of Christ. For the believer it should grow and deepen our gratitude for Christ's wondrous redemptive work. The knowledge of our own wretchedness should also aid us in our willingness to love the pagans we witness to and instill a gracious humility into our tone of conversation. We can actually learn a lot about the Gospel in the death of a global terrorist . . .

But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.) By no means! For then how could God judge the world? But if through my lie God's truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? And why not do evil that good may come?-as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one." "Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive." "The venom of asps is under their lips." "Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness." "Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known." "There is no fear of God before their eyes." Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it- the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus (Romans 3:5-26)

Getting Kicked Out Of A Pentecostal Camp For Evangelizing - My Life In Denmark (Part 7)

Today I am going to talk publicly for the first time about an awful personal experience that occured over two years ago at a Christian conference in Denmark. It was the day I incurred the wrath of the Pentecostal movement in Denmark for witnessing to some people at their annual conference. What triggered my decision to speak publicly was when I recently found out that the man who banned me from the 2008 Pentecostal conference in Denmark (Pinse Camp in Danish) - because I was sharing the Gospel - is the same man who has recently labelled one of my closest friends as a "modern day pharisee" (there is some conjecture that he actually gave that label to the whole evangelism ministry I am a part of). Well how about that! I was under the strange impression that one of the hallmarks of acting like a pharisee is sabotaging the preaching of the Gospel . . .

And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. . . So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. (Acts 4:1-3,18)

The man in question is Lars Due Christensen who is a high ranking Pentecostal pastor in Denmark and is also an influential voice in the wider Danish evangelical landscape. It would seem that playing the Pharisee card is a useful option for a church leader who needs to deal with a problematic church goer - especially the problem of those who dare to ask theological questions or preach the Gospel based on what Scripture says. Christensen's Pharisee comment (which he claimed was the general consensus of his peers) resulted in a close friend of mine being banished from the pulpit of his home fellowship. With ramifications like that, you would expect a pastor to provide some biblical basis for such a strong allegation. But no, the Pharisee card has diplomatic immunity. The Pharisee card demolishes all objections in it's path. The Pharisee card absolves the prosecutor of any responsibility to substantiate his claims. The Pharisee card is the emergency off ramp from the hermeneutical highway. The Pharisee card is the steadfast friend of the biblically incompetent pastor.

After almost four years of living amidst the catastrophe otherwise known as "Danish Christianity" I can no longer remain silent. What follows is my account of the day Lars Due Christensen had me evicted from the 2008 Pentecostal Conference in Denmark! It would seem that I committed the unpardonable sin of the annual Pentecostal summer conference - preaching the Gospel where it never gets preached - at the annual Pentecostal summer conference! I think it is time to set the record straight. When friends of mine cut all correspondence with me without ever giving a reason or even talking to me, when a fellow evangelist nearly has a speaking engagement cancelled because he is friends with me, and when I keep learning shocking truths about myself through third parties - then it is time for me to recount the events of July 14th 2008 as they actually happened.

Monday the 14th of July 2008, my family and I travelled to the small town of Mariager to visit some friends who live there. It just so happened that the annual Pentecostal summer conference was happening at the same time. We saw that there were meetings being held there during the evening and decided to go and hear the speaker who was from England (I always like to take the opportunity to listen to messages in English). The sermon was something along the lines of Foxes Book of Emergents With Hurt Feelings and ended with an "inverse altar call". What do I mean by "inverse altar call"? It is an altar call where, instead of people coming forward under conviction of sin in order to repent before God, hurting and victimized people were called forward to get a big cosmic hug. You can tell a lot about the gospel a man preaches by how he portrays mankind. Are we victims in need of therapy or sinners who need to repent. Undoubtedly, some people are victims, but unless the victim sees his personal guilt that is transcendent over his misfortune, he will never comprehend a cross meant for criminals that was substituted with a Savior. The whole experience was all so lame and pathetic that I went out into the pleasant night air of the Danish summer. What I witnessed outside, looking around the conference grounds, was a large smattering of teenagers and young adults enjoying the wide variety of entertainment being provided for them on site.

I stood in line to buy some candy and satisfy my sugar habit. I usually carry tracts and talk to strangers wherever I go and standing in line was no different. I had some optical illusion tracts in my pocket and offered one to the guy behind me. He showed it to his friends and they came to me wanting one of the tracts. More and more people started to gather around asking me for these tracts. I decided to tell them that they had to let me ask them 2 questions before I gave them each a tract. The first question was – if I wasn’t a Christian tell me why I should become one? By this point there was maybe 20 or more people gathered around me and none of them were able to give an answer to this question. It is important to remember that the day will come when we will answer to God for the things we say and the things we are silent about. If someone who professes Christ cannot give a good reason why someone should become a Christian it should raise a serious question as to whether that person understands the message of the Christian Gospel.

The second question I asked them was – if I had three minutes to live and I wanted to know how to get to heaven what would you say to me? Again no one could answer this question. At this point I was grieved in my spirit and longed to tell them about the Cross of Jesus Christ. These were not difficult questions about transubstantiation or ecclesiology. This was basic level Christianity and these youth were completely out of their depth. I longed to share the Gospel with them and I did. CJ Mahaney says that we should preach the Gospel to ourselves every day and I am a firm believer that you can never hear the story too many times. Furthermore, I told the people nothing outside of normal historical Pentecostal doctrine. Pretty much similar content to what was on the tract. By this point even more people had gathered around. I told them about the Holiness of God, and then about the sinfulness of mankind and how we have all broken God’s commandments, then I spoke about how the day is coming when everyone will be judged by God and that our greatest need will be righteousness on that day, then I spoke about what Jesus did for sinners by fulfilling the law that they had broken and then by taking the Father's wrath that they deserve as a substitute on the cross. That the good news of the Gospel is about how the wonderful Savior took the sins of the sinner upon Himself and imputed His perfect righteousness to the sinners account that we can have pardon from sin, and righteousness before God. I finally shared how God now calls all people everywhere to repent of their sinful ways and trust in Jesus Christ alone to save them from the wrath that they deserve.

I stopped speaking and stood there expecting everyone to leave. Some people applauded and others were weeping under conviction but no one left. Several of them asked me to continue - this was not planned and noone was being held against their will. With all the other entertainment going on around them they were free to leave but they were hungry to hear more. How dull and pathetic worldly entertainment is when compared to the thrilling doctrine of imputed righteousness - especially to a group of people, many of whom were beginning to grasp their own unrighteousness.

I pleaded with them to think about these things. I told them not to just believe what I was saying but to test it according to Scripture and read one of the four Gospel’s in the Bible. I was not after their money or trying to get them to join a church. I was concerned about them and their understanding of salvation knowing I may never speak with them again. That was certainly Lars Due Christensen's desire - that I would not speak with these people again. The following day, Lars Due Christensen, who was one of the main leaders and organizing pastors at the conference had people on the lookout for me. He duly tracked me down, demanded that I leave the conference site immediately or security would provide personal assistance in finding the exit. In fairness to Lars Due, he should have been concerned - I could have been a Mormon! But he was in no mood for conversation. I asked him to give a reason for the eviction and he wouldn't give me one. I showed him one of the tracts I had been handing out and asked him if he objected to any part of the message contained therein - again he wouldn't answer. I asked him what I had done wrong - you guessed it, no answer. Just prior to my hasty departure I was given the obscure remark that I had confused the people I talked to but no further explanation on what he meant by this.

Some of the readers may consider the possibility that I am only giving my skewed perspective of a tense situation. Well this is how I later recounted the events to Lars Due via e-mail, a version of events that he never even questioned (except for our farewell conversation - I have a recording of that instead). But in the days, weeks, and months that followed, I easily noticed that my popularity had declined to the level of a pork chop in a Synagogue. Nothing was said to me directly, but the silence was deafening. The saga will continue on Monday . . .

Go On To Part 8
Go Back To Part 6
Go Back To Part 1

Preaching Myths In Modern Pulpits (Part 2)

Myth 2. Doctrines only became true after they were written in creeds.

Let me explain by quoting popular emergent church leader Rob Bell from his best selling book Velvet Elvis:

“This is part of the problem with continually insisting that one of the absolutes of the Christian faith must be a belief that ‘Scripture alone’ is our guide. It sounds nice, but it is not true. In reaction to abuses by the church, a group of believers during a time called the Reformation claimed that we only need the authority of the Bible. But the problem is that we got the Bible from the church voting on what the Bible even is . . . (Bell then goes on to say) When people say that all we need is the Bible, it is simply not true” (p. 67-68).

So Bell thinks that the Bible didn’t exist before the church voted on it. Is this true? John Macarthur had this to say:

When various councils met in church history to decide on the canon (and canon means books that are inspired by the Holy Spirit) they did not vote for the canonicity of the book but rather recognized, after the fact, what God had already written. The councils were formed to formalize what they already knew. They were also necessary because of all the fakes that were getting around at the time (taken from The Macarthur Study Bible).

Another great example of this is the first two articles of the Together For The Gospel (T4G) statement of Affirmations and Denials (what you get when Thabiti Anyabwile, Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan, John Macarthur, CJ Mahaney, Al Mohler, John Piper, and RC Sproul bang their heads together):

Article I: We affirm that the sole authority for the Church is the Bible, verbally inspired, inerrant, infallible, and totally sufficient and trustworthy. We deny that the Bible is a mere witness to the divine revelation, or that any portion of Scripture is marked by error or the effects of human sinfulness.
Article II: We affirm that the authority and sufficiency of Scripture extends to the entire Bible, and therefore that the Bible is our final authority for all doctrine and practice. We deny that any portion of the Bible is to be used in an effort to deny the truthfulness or trustworthiness of any other portion. We further deny any effort to identify a canon within the canon or, for example, to set the words of Jesus against the writings of Paul.

The last part of that statement would not have been written 10 years ago. But with new false teaching that appears through history, we are forced to respond to it. Using Jesus' words against Paul doesn’t suddenly become wrong because we added it to our doctrine statement.

Here’s another quote from Rob Bell’s book Velvet Elvis where he says that the doctrine of the Trinity:

“emerged in the several hundred years after Jesus’ resurrection” (p. 22).

Rob Bell is talking about the Athanasian Creed which was written in the fourth century AD. What Rob Bell is saying would be like me saying that nobody thought terrorism was wrong until September 11 2001 because that is when we first see all these new anti-terrorism laws appearing. But we know that flying a plane into a building was always wrong. We just never needed to write it down until it actually happened. So too with the Trinity. It is what Scripture always clearly taught and was always understood – they didn’t need a creed until a lot of the heresies about the Trinity started being taught. So just like anti terrorism laws were written in response to 9/11 so the Athanasian creed was written in response to false teaching that was happening concerning the Trinity.

Truth 2. The Christian creeds never invented anything new – they are a wonderful gift to us confirming what true Christians have always believed during church history.

The subject of the Trinity leads me to my third myth which I will discuss on Friday: Myth 3 - The Trinity can be illustrated by water, ice, and steam.

Go On To Part 3
Go Back To Part 1

Obama To Enter Diplomatic Talks With Raging Wildfire

Barack Obama has taken diplomatic skill to a whole new level. This video courtesy of www.onion.com . . .


Obama To Enter Diplomatic Talks With Raging Wildfire

This video is an excellent satire that highlights the delusions of grandeur that world leaders can have and also the delusions Christians can have in the political process. We should support things that are morally right and stand for righteousness - this is all part of exercising the biblical worldview. But the only way to bring about genuine change is to prioritize our energies towards the proclamation of the Gospel. Because the heart of the human problem is the problem of the human heart.

Only God can change that sinful heart. We may receives plenty of good counsel on how to conduct ourselves or bring about change but it will all turn out to be a complete failure with no positive results unless conversion lies at the heart of the process. From that point on godly counsel serves as a valuable outlet to demonstrate how God has changed us inwardly. Please hear me on this – there are good programs out there but unless God has done a regenerative work in our hearts the program becomes worthless. This is the issue that must be explored before all others.

The issue of being transformed or “saved” by God has become the Evangelical no-brainer of the 21st century. We all like to think we’ve got a tick in the salvation box and it’s time to move on to more interesting stuff. If that is your thinking then you need to take a holy pause. It can be a dangerous assumption to think that we or our neighbor are “right with God”, especially if there is no outward fruit of inner transformation. I have to confess that I spent many years of my Christian walk with only a shallow understanding of the Gospel. When I stopped trying to move on from it and started to mine deep into it I was able to find pearls of wisdom and treasures of truth that transformed my life. To correct a famous quote of Billary Clinton “it’s the Gospel stupid”.

Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron have an entire ministry (Way of the Master) focused on understanding, experiencing, and articulating the Christian Gospel rightly. They do a lot of interviews and street witnessing, and regularly speak with professing Christians. This has made me acutely aware of the massive subculture out there who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and deny Him with their lifestyle. Christianity for most of these people hinges on good works, church attendance, birthright, or baptism. I think Keith Green summed it up well in the seventies when he said that “going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to McDonald’s makes you a hamburger”.

But easily the most deceptive and alarming trend that Ray and Kirk have exposed is the multitude of professing Christians out there still living in slavery to their pet sins all the while entrusting their salvation in a ”sinners prayer” that they once recited. I’m not saying that altar calls are totally wrong, but what I am saying is that prayer does not save people – it is the One we are praying to who saves us (provided it is the biblical Jesus) and initiates a miraculous transforming work within us. Jesus told Nicodemus “unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3b) and that “unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5b). Jesus is talking about a lot more than a sinner’s prayer here. What Jesus is referring to with water and Spirit is explained in Ezekiel 36.

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness (there’s the water), and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you (there’s the Spirit). And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. (Ezekiel 36:25-27)

It is God Who is speaking in these verses and it is worth noting how He explains conversion and Who it is that does the converting. I will sprinkle clean water on you; I will cleanse you from all your idols; I will give you a new heart; I will remove your heart of stone; I will put MY Spirit within you; I will cause you to walk in MY ways; I will cause you to obey MY commandments. God does everything when he saves someone – even the ability to walk in obedience is a gift from God. This is what happens when someone is truly born again.

Please understand that this is not about judging every person’s salvation. But it is a call not to take salvation for granted. It is a call to heed the Apostle Paul’s advice to the church in Corinth (II Corinthians 13:5) and “examine ourselves to see whether we are in the faith”. To see whether we are bearing the fruit of the Spirit that testifies to His inner work. CJ Mahaney always reminds his church members to preach the Gospel to themselves daily. In his book “The Cross Centered Life” he says:
These are God’s promises to all who respond to His wonderful plan of salvation. Too many of us have moved on from that glorious plan. In our never-ending desire to move forward . . . too many of us have stopped concentrating on the wonders of Jesus crucified. Too many of us have fumbled the most important truth of the Bible, and therefore we’ve suffered the consequences (p17).

And I have really labored this point because it gets so easily bypassed in our haste for practical solutions to every conceivable problem. Genuine conversion and the resultant indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the foundation that must be in place in order for us to enact all other biblical principles. Wherever we are in our relationship with God, let us pause and take stock. May we come humbly before God and examine ourselves to see whether we are in the faith. May we fervently explore the endless depths of Christ’s love for His Church demonstrated in the cross.

The Cross Expounded With Shai Linne And Timothy Brindle

Featuring the preaching of CJ Mahaney this is just great stuff. Hip Hop/Rap may not be your cup of tea but this is theologically streets ahead of what you'll hear on your "family safe" Christian radio station. Just listen to the content and give thanks. Can you believe that Christ would die for you??? Why would He lay down His life for a wicked sinner like me? Kneel and marvel at the foot of the blood stained cross!

CJ Mahaney Sermon Jam - The Cup

CJ Mahaney is definitely a preacher I can listen to for hours. The man simply bleeds passion. Listen to this powerful sermon jam as CJ zeroes in on Jesus anguish in the garden and the "cup" that horrified our Lord. What was this cup? Listen close and listen good and meditate on it for a good while . . . . .


Coming Wednesday - Way of the Master Profiles - EZ

RECOMMENDED BOOKS - C J MAHANEY

CJ Mahaney leads Sovereign Grace Ministries in its mission to establish and support local churches. After 27 years of pastoring Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, Maryland, CJ handed the senior pastor role to Joshua Harris on September 18, 2004, allowing CJ to devote his full attention to Sovereign Grace. He serves on the Council of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals and on the board of The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. CJ's books include Humility: True Greatness; Living the Cross-Centered Life; and Sex, Romance, and the Glory of God. He is the editor of Worldliness and Why Small Groups?, and has coauthored other books in Sovereign Grace Ministries’ Pursuit of Godliness series.


PREACHING THE CROSS
Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan, John Macarthur, C J Mahaney, Al Mohler, John Piper, R C Sproul
Category: Church
Click Here To Order
Proclaiming the gospel is without a doubt the most important task of pastoral ministry, yet often other, seemingly more urgent activities obscure it. From time to time all pastors and preachers need to be reminded of the primacy of the gospel. Preaching the Cross does just this. It is a call to expository, gospel-centered preaching as the center of pastoral ministry. This volume showcases an unprecedented combination of pastors representing a variety of evangelical traditions. Though they differ on some secondary points of church practice, they all enthusiastically celebrate the centrality of the cross of Christ — keeping the main thing the main thing. That message every reader can take away from this book and adopt in his pastoral ministry.


SEX, ROMANCE, AND THE GLORY OF GOD
C J Mahaney
Category: Marriage
Click Here To Order
Sex is a gift from God to his people. It is to be enjoyed within marriage. This book teaches a husband how to cultivate the intimacy with his wife that God intends for him. Scripture illuminates the path of marital intimacy. The Song of Solomon shines brightly, showing us the way to the best sex we can possibly experience. If you are looking for a book that will give you a few easy tips for spicing up your sex life, look somewhere else. This book invites you instead to completely revolutionize your romantic relationship with your wife. It calls all of us to a more profound and deeply satisfying kind of countercultural sex than most of us have ever experienced.


THE CROSS CENTERED LIFE
C J Mahaney
Category: Theology
Click Here To Order
Remember Jesus Christ? Although it seems almost too obvious, the center of our faith is surprisingly easy to forget. Dynamic pastor C.J. Mahaney shows how to overcome our tendency to move on from the gospel of grace. Finding joy in the gospel - whose promises allow us to escape condemnation whenever it attacks - helps us avoid the prevalent trap of legalism. With practical suggestions, Mahaney demonstrates the difference between knowing the gospel... and making it the main thing in daily decisions and daily living. Many Christians search in vain for something new that will pull all the pieces of their faith together. But the missing ingredient is really not missing at all. C J Mahaney shows that the truth of the gospel is not only the entry point of the faith, but the only true help for the present and hope for the future. Reading this book will reset the compass of your life to always point to the atoning work of Christ.