Spurgeon on Free Will

"Philosophy and religion both discard at once the very thought of free will; and I will go as far as Martin Luther, in that strong assertion of his, where he says, `If any man doth ascribe of salvation, even the very least, to the free will of man, he knoweth nothing of grace, and he hath not learnt Jesus Christ aright.' It may seem a harsh sentiment; but he who in his soul believes that man does of his own free will turn to God, cannot have been taught of God, for that is one of the first principles taught us when God begins with us, that we have neither will nor power, but that he gives both; that he is `Alpha and Omega' in the salvation of men."

"Their foot shall slide in due time"- Deut. 32.35

Free(?) Will

I came across this post and it made think about the idea of "Free Will." I would be eager to hear your view on this. Please do keep in mind though that this topic can really get heated.

People want to feel that they have a free will. I think it all boils down to the fact of pride. We want to feel like we have a say in what goes on. We want to think that "God does His part and we do ours." In one way this statement is correct. God does do His part. He chooses, convicts and draws us to Himself. We also do our part. Our part is sin, sin and sin. We run from God. We hide from God. We are opposed to God on all fronts. Salvation is totally and wholly His. He initiates it and completes it.

We have sinfully made salvation a man thing. If you really think about it from man's point of view salvation totally is up to man.

It goes like this. "Jesus is knocking on the door of your heart. Just let Him come in. He is waiting on you to make a decision for Him. He is ringing His holy hands hoping that today will be the day."

What an unscriptural view of salvation. We moved God out of His seat of Omnipotence and taken His place. If we teach that God is really limited by what we do then salvation is all about man and not God.

Pastor's School Update 2

I wanted to give one more update as to the happenings at Beeson Divinity School's Pastor's School in Birmingham, AL.

When my family and I arrived we each received a nice duffle bag with somet things inside. Keep in mind that I shared in an earlier post that I was afraid this conference had been going downhill over the past several years with its heavy emphasis on ecumenicalism. One of the items in the duffle bag was a Lead Like Jesus Seminar DVD with Ken Blanchard and Erwin McManus. I knew that was a problem. It found its way to the trash.

A friend, while we were there asked me to look over a handout he received while at a session on Suffering and Evil. The leader of the class, a Ph.D, M.D. and a professor at the school proceeded to give his deistic view of the happenings of the world and that God cannot intervene and that many things happen by mere chance. Buffoonery

The week left me mentally rested but spiritually bothered by the throng of Rodney King Theology ideas and viewpoints. Is this where everything is headed?

On a brighter note Calvin Miller seems to have changed a bit. Over the past couple of years Miller has been a little too liberal for my liking and seems to have been friendly with the mystical crowd. In the session I went to he seems to have made a strong change back to his roots. It is clear that he is not Calvinistic in his theology but his strong evangelistic fervor and desire to see the church be the church and not follow the church growth methods was refreshing.

I am contemplating if I will attend the Pastor's School next year.

Pastor's School Report-Catholicism update

This week I am at Beeson Divinity School's Pastors School at Samford University in Birmingham, AL.

My family and I have been coming to it for the past 9 years. It has been a source of mental rest for me and at times spiritual encouragement. Over the past 3-5 years I have noticed a strong tendency toward the ecumenical movement. It has bothered me because when this movement is pushed something else ALWAYS follows...compromise. For all groups to get along you have to bring in all sorts of things and teachings and throw out other things to make room for the ecumenical party favors.

When I arrived here Monday I noticed that the Dean of Beeson, Timothy George (who is Mr. Ecumenical in theology circles), was teaching a class with Franciscan Brother-Father-Friar Francis Russo from Washington DC. The name of the class was "Saint Francis of Assisi-A Saint for all of us." I thought to myself "I've got to go and hear this."

I have never thought that an ascetic lifestyle equated salvation but I guess to some it does.

Anyway, my son and I attended and it was ridiculous. Timothy George's explanation of Francis of Assisi's salvation was "he looked around and was burdened for the homeless derelicts on the street and decided to become one himself."

Francis Russo stood up in his Franciscan garb and told us how he had taken the vows of:

1. Poverty

2. Chastity

3. Obedience

I was wondering if he wanted us to clap or something. I never heard about his conversion though. Interesting

He then stood near a framed painted picture of Jesus on a cross and told us about how Francis of Assisi loved the gospel. Over and over I heard that phrase with not one crumb of an example of such.

Then the Q&A came. Amazingly, I restrained myself. Finally, one fellow in the front row said how he was worried that the "dialogue" between Catholics and Baptists is starting to fade because of Joseph Ratzinger's (the pope) comments last month and how worried he is that some Baptists are withdrawing fellowship from the "dialogue." I wanted to throw some cheese up there to him and play "Time to say goodbye" on my air violin.

Russo along with George said that what Ratzinger (the pope) said was nothing new and they had always felt that way. I wanted shout "AMEN, AMEN and AMEN." The problem came when no one had a problem with that answer.

I will post later with more of the sordid details from this class.

Papal Bull on Mariolotry

Chris at Papal Bull has a good post about what is commonly known as Mariolotry or Mariology. Do check it out.

Wickedness Run Wild

The wickedness never stops.

The Templeton-funded seminar "Open Theology & Science" held at Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy, Massachusetts is evidence of this. Slice of Laodicea brought this to our attention and can be followed here.
It amazes me how we so quickly lower God to our standards. If we can make Him touchable, tangible, and tolerable then we can rule our own lives without God's intervention. He is just some deistic cosmic force that created in the beginning and now sits back on his human-made throne and hopes that we give him credit for things. He wrings his hands hoping that things that turn out for the good but is hopeless to control or change things. He has no idea of what the future holds and is just as surprised by its events as we are. This is what Open to Correction is sharing with us in the latest installment from Compromising Today.

I suppose these conferences are for our good. When God starts getting too much recognition, admiration, and exaltation man has to bring God down a peg so that He can be not on our level, but below us.

Most of the above is written in total sarcasm. I am appalled that this wickedness (and that is what this is) goes on. May God have mercy on us.

Too Much Fun

I think the problem that I see that is so prevalent today is the worship of fun. If you can jazz up the lesson with fun or dress it in a Veggie Tale's outfit it will be a hit. BUT, you have to stay current or up to date or you will be moved into the morgue of purposelessness.

We have to have fun or we don't want it. The entertainment industry is booming because we all want to have fun, we all want to laugh, and we don't, Don't, DON'T want to be too serious or touch on sensitive subjects that might offend.

The church has become a tool that promotes worldliness. It shows the world that adultery, drunkeness, and vile behavior is something that we can laught at. The TV is proof of that.

The mom and dad who want to be entertained to death are no different than the child who wants to be entertained in church. In the end it is all about making ourselves estatic with entertainment. Right?

The Arch-Heretic Speaks

To all of my detractors, this post seems to clarify my point about the Roman Catholic Church being a cult.

Of course this article does not highlight their main doctrines but does emphasize the point that they think that everyone else is wrong. To make a claim like that is presumptous and wicked. That is saying that the RCC is THE authority and defines Christianity.

I really do not know what other proof the papist and papist sympathizers need.

In all of the years that I have taught about World Religions at the church level and college level, going over the Roman Catholic Church brings out the optical daggers and fumes of anger like nothing else.

The truth hurts.

Youth Ministries- A Point Made Even Clearer

Here is an article that highlights the point. I could not have said it any clearer.

Youth Ministries? Part 2

I recently asked in my first post "Is the youth minister a scriptural office?"

A few wrote back and stated that " 'xyz' is not in the Bible either, does that make it wrong?"

To me this is what is described in Latin as "argumentum a silentio" or an argument from silence.

To follow this reasoning one could easily take anything that is not specifically prohibited in the Bible and say that it is fine.

The problem I still see that is most prevalent is that "it works." Just because something works does not make it a good thing. Pointing a gun at someone's head "works" also. That does not make it right. Again, this is pragmatism.

Then we have others who think that since little Jr. and little Jane do not have a godly daddy that a youth minister is or can be a blessing to them. What is wrong with the men and women of the church pointing little Jr. and little Jane (Titus 2) to the Lord and to good works?

Here is an interesting question to consider. Why do we feel that little Jr. and little Jane need a specialized service like children's church, youth groups, youth Bible studies and so on? What is wrong with the Word from the pulpit? Does it really need to be scaled down to help them understand when in fact the Holy Spirit is the One who opens our spiritual eyes to understand.

I know this is not popular in a day when we have singles Bible studies, singles-again Bible studies, senior adult Bible studies, men and women's Bible studies and left-handed blue eyed people that like American Idol Bible studies. But I think these questions have to be asked.

We have "specialized" groups so much that "big" church is not needed or relevant. Since when does something have to be relevant to be spiritually productive?

Besides, little Jr. and little Jane cannot sit still during church for a whole service.

Interesting Quote

"There is enough dust on some of your Bible's to write "damnation" with your fingers. "
--Charles Spurgeon