“We are not the ministers of Christ if we preach in such a way that unconverted men do not know they are unconverted. Unless preachers preach so as to make the consciences of their hearers feel in what spiritual condition they are truly in, then they may be ministers of Satan, but they are not ministers of Christ.” – William Fenner (1600-1640)
Mike Ratliff over at Possessing the Treasure has written an excellent article that gets to the heart of the true Biblical gospel and why the many false gospels today (such as the Purpose Driven drivel) simply have people flocking to churches as unregenerate nominal Christians.
Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:8 ESV)
Relativism is the fatal disease of the unregenerate heart. Of course, it is a self-focused relativism. Everyone is unique, of course, but we have this built-in sense of ‘fairness’ that is antithetical to God’s Sovereignty. I have been a “mostly” silent observer in much of the Ergun Caner debacle. I listened to several of Dr. James White’s Radio shows in which he took on callers who wanted to discuss his stance on Dr. Caner’s obvious misrepresenting of himself as a Muslim Jihadist converted to Christianity when, in fact, he was just a normal teenager in Ohio during that time. Some of the callers though just astounded me with their attacks on Dr. White in his stance that Dr. Caner should come clean about all this. It sorta’ reminded me of an article I read several weeks ago attacking my friend Ken Silva. The article was a satirical portrayal of Ken killing a beast on the beach called an EvanJellyFish even though every now and then the beast said something that might be considered edifying. Ah, now we are back in that comfortable realm of relativism. It goes something like this, “Hey man, why are you attacking this brother in Christ? Look, he may practice Yoga and Contemplative Prayer and lead his congregation to pray to Mother God, but hey, look at all the edifying and nice thing he says in this book he just wrote!” That my brothers and sisters in Christ are the words of someone who thinks that the truth is truth because they think it is, but they do not know the words of God, the truth, because they do not hear them (John 8:46).
“The New Testament quite clearly refuses to endorse a carnal Christian experience as a legitimate status quo. It envisions the Christian life as simultaneously one of dying and one of living – of dying more and more unto sin and of living more and more unto righteousness.”
- Dr. Robert Reymond (From his New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith)
With the multitudes of easy believism sermons that are rampant in the church today and the watered down gospel presentations that are deluding people with false hope, Pastor Conway delivers a wonderful, Biblical sermon that rightly proclaims the true gospel of Jesus Christ.
This is one of many stories from Gospel for Asia that just breaks my heart. Our prayer should be for these bold missionaries as they preach Christ and lift high the cross often at the expense of their lives and their families lives. May we pray that they remain bold and persevere amidst persecution and may Christ’s love and grace be felt among them. May we in America also allow this to show us just how blessed we are to be able to freely share Christ and how spoiled we are in that very few of us are bold at all in our witness.
Ajit Bansi, a Gospel for Asia-supported missionary, dreamed of the day he could dedicate a church building for his growing congregation. But just days before it was to take place, his dream was crushed. An extremist anti-Christian group cruelly ended his life May 20.
Pastor Ajit served the Lord in Assam, India, knowing the very real possibility of incredible personal danger. Risking everything to share the hope of Christ, he led many people to the Lord and served as pastor of a church with about 60 believers.
Pastor Ajit saw his dream of a church building unfolding before him as God provided for the land and construction. He went to a nearby town to purchase the final building supplies for the church, but he never came home.
During his journey, a violent anti-Christian group ambushed Pastor Ajit and three other travelers. Leaving no option for escape, the extremists brutally shot and killed all four of their hostages, dumping the bodies on the roadside.
Source: Gospel for Asia
Jesus, Thou joy of loving hearts,
Thou fount of life, Thou light of men,
From the best bliss that earth imparts,
We turn unfilled to Thee again.
Thy truth unchanged hath ever stood;
Thou savest all that on Thee call;
To them that seek Thee Thou art good,
To them that find Thee, all in all.
We taste Thee, O Thou living Bread,
And long to feast upon Thee still;
We drink of Thee, the Fountain-head,
And thirst our souls from Thee to fill.
Our restless spirits yearn for Thee
Where’er our changeful lot is cast;
Glad when Thy gracious smile we see;
Blest, when our faith can hold Thee fast.
O Jesus, ever with us stay;
Make all our moments calm and bright;
Chase the dark night of sin away:
Shed o’er our souls Thy holy light.
Bernard of Clairvax (1091-1153)
“The practice of leading someone in a sinner’s prayer for their salvation has produced many tares or false converts in churches over the last 100 years (Matt. 13:25-40). This “evangelical tradition” cannot be found anywhere in the New Testament. Those who desire to evangelize God’s way will follow the instructions given by the Lord of the Harvest. He commissioned us to go and make disciples, not decisions (Matt. 28:18).” - Mike Gendron
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