SOLI DEO GLORIA

The Incomparable Christ

2010-01-01T09:29:00.002-06:00

"More than two thousand years ago there was a Man born contrary to the laws of life. This Man lived in poverty and was reared in obscurity. He did not travel extensively. Only once did He cross the boundary of the country in which He lived; that was during His exile in childhood. He possessed neither wealth nor influence. His relatives were inconspicuous and had neither training nor formal education. In infancy He startled a king; in childhood He puzzled doctors; in manhood He ruled the course of nature, walked upon the billows as if pavements, and hushed the sea to sleep. He healed the multitudes without medicine and made no charge for His service. He never wrote a book, yet all the libraries of the country could not hold the books that have been written about Him. He never wrote a song, and yet He has furnished the theme for more songs than all the songwriters combined. He never founded a college, but all the schools put together cannot boast of having as many students. He never marshalled an army, nor drafted a soldier, nor fired a gun; and yet no leader ever had more volunteers who have, under His orders, made more rebels stack arms and surrender without a shot fired. He never practiced medicine, and yet He has healed more broken hearts than all the doctors far and near. Every seventh day the wheels of commerce cease their turning and multitudes wend their way to worshipping assemblies to pay homage and respect to Him. The names of the past proud statesmen of Greece and Rome have come and gone. The names of the past scientists, philosophers, and theologians have come and gone, but the name of this Man abounds more and more. Though time has spread two thousand years between the people of this generation and the scene of His crucifixion, yet He still lives. Herod could not destroy Him and the grave could not hold Him. He stands forth upon the highest pinnacle of heavenly glory, proclaimed of God, acknowledged by angels, adored by saints, and feared by devils, as the living, personal Christ, our Lord and Saviour." --anonymous

Quote of the Day

2009-09-23T20:15:00.001-05:00

"Those who have received salvation are to attribute it to sovereign grace alone, and to give all the praise to Him, who makes them to differ from others."--Jonathan Edwards

Quote for the Day

2009-09-11T19:49:00.000-05:00

"The most damnable and pernicious heresy that has ever plagued the mind of man was the idea that somehow he could make himself good enough to deserve to live with an all Holy God" - Martin Luther

Sheeple

2009-09-09T19:43:00.002-05:00

Sheep are considered by biologists to be perhaps the dumbest animals by comparing the size of their brain to the size of their body. They have no sense of direction, and for a defense mechanism they simply run around in circles. Predators need only wait on the sheep to wear themselves out and then they have an easy victim. Time and again we are characterized as sheep in the Bible. We need direction and guidance. We cannot know which direction we are going and we have no way of defending ourselves. But "all things are possible through Christ who strengthens me." Thankfully and humbly we can submit to the Good Shepherd for when He calls His sheep we hear His voice and He guides us and protects us and keeps us in His fold.

Jesus says "I am the good Shepherd: the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep." John 10:11. What does this really mean to us? Do sheep ask the shepherd to come to them and save them? Can the sheep admit or deny the Shepherd in their life? Why do we believe we can deny or accept the good Shepherd to come into our lives? Jesus is always there, we as sheep sometimes do not see Him clearly, but he is there nonetheless.
John 10:14-15, 27

The Comforter

2009-08-31T16:57:00.003-05:00

In todays church circles there isn't alot of preaching of the Holy Spirit, unless you attend a Pentecostal church. Alot of this is probably due to the fact of the issue of speaking in tongues and healings that occured at the times of the 1st century church, that most denominations don't want to address today. This post is not to speak on those matters either, although I have no problems discussing them. I do however want to speak of the Holy Spirit's mission.

When Jesus left the disciples He told them He must go so that the Comforter would come. He did come and what a miraculous work He did at Pentecost, but it didn't stop there. As with my other posts it is pretty evident that I don't give alot of credence to man's "will", it is all about God and for His Glory; hence the title of the blog.

We often fail to teach that the Holy Spirit is the One that convicts of sin, that revives the dead man to hear the Gospel and believe. The Spirit is there from the beginning, opening the eyes of the blind. He is the supernatural and sovereign agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ. The Holy Spirit indwells, instructs, sanctifies, instructs and empowers believers. When we pray for the salvation of our lost love ones, we should be praying that the Holy Spirit convicts and revives the dead man; for dead men can't make any decisions. You must be quickened by the Spirit to see who God the Father is and to see and accept Jesus as Savior. Without the work of the Spirit in a sinner's life he will never be saved.

Quote for the Day

2009-08-24T21:32:00.000-05:00

You must first deny the authenticity and full inspiration of the Holy Scripture before you can legitimately and truly deny election. --Charles H. Spurgeon

Paul Washer asked about Election

2009-08-23T21:29:00.001-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRGMp0md5CE

Sideshow Evangelism

2009-08-23T16:56:00.000-05:00

In today's churches we have gotten so far away from the true Gospel, that what we need is to return to the old paths. In our arrogance though, many churches think they need to change more; become more like the world to reach the lost. We have pastors that must really think that it is up to them to save all the lost souls out there. Where is God's Sovereignty? It's still there, always has been and always will be. Jesus told us to go forth preach the Gospel, tell men of their need of a Savior, to repent and turn from their wicked ways. Only God can bring about this change in a man, we are only told to tell them and disciple them. Of course we are to be a sounding board and to help them in their walk, but we mustn't deviate from the Gospel just to increase our numbers because a Barna poll said baptism numbers are down, and membership numbers are down.

I am not against change, but it must be done in the proper context. We mustn't allow a circus atmosphere to take the place of our true, heartfelt worship. He is worthy of our worship and praise, we don't have to put on a sideshow for people to be saved. We can't give sight to the blind, He can; we can't raise the dead, only He can. We must be careful of the backdoor evangelism approach that seems to be permeating the pulpits around the world today. We should pay close attention to Paul's words. "And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God."--1 Cor. 2:1-5

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."--Hebrews 13:8

Defining Election

2009-08-18T21:13:00.000-05:00

"God has made a choice, for election signifies selection and appointment. God has exercised His own sovereign will and singled out from the mass of His creatures those upon whom He determined to bestow His special favors. There cannot be an election without a singling out without a passing by. The doctrine of election means that from all eternity God made a choice of those who were to be His special treasure, His dear children, the co-heirs of Christ. The doctrine of election means that before His Son became incarnate God marked out the ones who should be saved by Him. The doctrine of election means that God has left nothing to chance: the accomplishment of His purpose, the success of Christ's undertaking, the peopling of heaven, is not contingent upon the fickle caprice of the creature. God's will, and not man's will, fixes destiny." -- A.W. Pink

2009-08-14T21:45:00.000-05:00

Dawg on the Lawn: Ten reasons NOT to ask Jesus into your heart.

2009-08-13T21:23:00.000-05:00

Dawg on the Lawn: Ten reasons NOT to ask Jesus into your heart.