”Yes, but they are well-intentioned…”

This morning, I was thinking about this, you know when you share the Gospel with non-believers and they give you their idea and opinion on God, Origins and all of that. Often, the question of sincerity will come up, they say that if they have a sincere heart, God will understand them and save them because they were sincere…

We would answer that we’re not questionning their sincerity but their beliefs. We tell them that they should know and accept the truth of the Gospel of Jesus-Christ.

We proclaim the truth of the Word. We share what God teaches in the Bible and what He has done in our lives.

We do not leave them thinking that as long as they are sincere they will go to heaven when they die.

That would be false and unbiblical…

I hope that this is still true of evangelism but I am not even sure…

Notice the shift in evangelism in the past few years? Diluted ”feel-good” Gospel or, sometimes, no Gospel at all, business-like churches led by ”CEO Pastors”, questionable doctrines and methods, ect…

And let’s say you notice some of these issues and try to share your concerns, what happens?

They listen? They change? They tell you that they want to focus on people and not doctrine? They tell you that they are missional and don’t have time to argue about methods?

In other words, truth of the Word is not important anymore, because they mean good…

But, do they really mean good when they do evangelism without sharing the Gospel and, in the end, people are not exposed to the Truth of the Word and they don’t get saved because they do not hear the Word of Christ? ( Rom. 10)

They are well-intentioned…  But that’s not the point…

Who is Maitreya?

I don’t know if you are familiar with the name Maitreya… Maybe you know him as ”The World Teacher”

According to his website, ”He has been expected for generations by all of the major religions. Christians know him as the Christ, and expect his imminent return. Jews await him as the Messiah; Hindus look for the coming of Krishna; Buddhists expect him as Maitreya Buddha; and Muslims anticipate the Imam Mahdi or Messiah”

He is all of that? Christ, Buddha, Messiah…? Because, although the names are different, we all ”refer to the same individual” as we read on the site… After all, we have the ”same” god, right?

Interesting, since we can read on the same website that ”Jesus of Nazareth and the Christ are not one and the same person.” So Jesus-Christ was not the Christ… He was not the Messiah, the annointed One. ”Christ” doesn’t even refer to a person according to them. Christ is a ”rank” or a ”Function” in the hierarchy of the ”Masters of Wisdom” and these ”Masters” guide the evolution of humanity, from behind the scene, toward a ”saner and more just world for all.”

Isn’t that cute? Make the world a better place… That’s fine but I will never follow someone who denies Christ. Because, you know who is the liar? ”It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.” – 1 John 2:22-23

Biblical Contradictions

You hear that a lot, right? ”The Bible is FILLED WITH CONTRADICTIONS!” And then, they give you a list…or just one… Or none, because they don’t want ”To waste their time reading a book full of lies and myths”… Or, they give you a link, like this one and, I guess, feel really good about themselves because they think they ”got you”.

Indeed, they can create doubts in your mind and yes, there are some difficult passages in Scriptures but the contradictions?

We have to either work really hard, or not hard enough, to find contradictions in the Bible.

You need to remember is that these ”Contradictions claims” are not new. They have been around for decades, if not centuries. (William Henry Burr wrote a book on biblical contradictions in the 1800’s)

Just so you can give an answer when you are confronted with a ”Contradiction”, Here’s a list of 143 with the explanations. A great work to preserve the integrity of Scriptures.

Also, for a deeper study, here’s a book, yes a FULL Book, totally free! You can read it here. (The book is called ”An examination of the alleged discrepancies of the Bible, by John Wesley Haley)

I hope these ressources will be helpful to you. They were for me…

BP Oil Spill = Revelation 16:3-7?

We read in Revelation 16:3-7:

”The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead man, and every living thing in the sea died.The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. Then I heard the angel in charge of the waters say: “You are just in these judgments, you who are and who were, the Holy One, because you have so judged; for they have shed the blood of your saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve.” And I heard the altar respond: “Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and just are your judgments.”

Remember another place in Scripture where the sea was turned into blood?

You got it, Moses with Pharaoh in Exodus 7:20-25:

”Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD had commanded. He raised his staff in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials and struck the water of the Nile, and all the water was changed into blood. The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink its water. Blood was everywhere in Egypt. But the Egyptian magicians did the same things by their secret arts, and Pharaoh’s heart became hard; he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said. Instead, he turned and went into his palace, and did not take even this to heart. And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile to get drinking water, because they could not drink the water of the river.”

It happened before and you can see in the two texts that it is a result of God’s judgment.

Now, is it the fulfillment of Revelation 16:3 that is happenning now?

Verse 3 is interesting because it says ”Into blood like that of a dead man”

John Macarthur in a sermon on Revelation 16:

”The second angel pours his bowl into the sea and it becomes like blood, like that of a dead man…thick, black, dark, cooled, coagulated. It just pictures the sea like the pool of blood that would come from a man who had been stabbed and all his blood was lying in a pool. I don’t know what it is that the Lord is going to use to do this.”

It’s almost like he was describing the Gulf of Mexico today…

Now, we’re not trying to guess the date the Lord will return but we still should keep in mind that He will return someday and we should be ready…

”For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.” – 1 Thes. 4:16

Does Rick Warren love God?

I almost wrote the title ”Is Rick Warren a Christian?” But I thought it wasn’t right… ”Is Rick Warren a false prophet?”… Not sure about this title either…

If Rick Warren loves God? I would have to answer Yes… He loves God, not sure that he loves His Word so much…

We read in the Purpose-Driven Life on p. 124 :

”God wants his family to be known for its love more than anything else. Jesus said our love for each other—not our doctrinal beliefs—is our greatest witness to the world.… Relationships must have priority in your life above everything else.”

What does a statement like that suggest? That the Word of God is not important? Understanding the truths of the Bible is not necessary? That We should just all meet on sunday and ”love” each other?…

Social implication and good works are excellent things! Don’t get me wrong, but they are not the first mandate of the Church.

It is troubling when you find out that the Bible teaches something that is quite the opposite of what Pastor Warren is saying… Consider the following verses:

”What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.”- 2 Tim. 1:13-14

”Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.” -2 Tim. 4:2

”Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him.” – 2 John v. 9-10

”And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?… …Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” – Rom. 10 

See the importance of Scripture and Doctrine here? It is very obvious.

Just another thought, remember Jesus quoting Scriptures while he was tempted in the desert in Matthew 4?

Now, does Rick Warren love God? Probably… But His Word, probably…Not…

And I am not just saying that because of that one phrase from Rick Warren, I had to come to that conclusion because of the way he casually uses Scriptures in his Purpose-Driven Books… Not to mention his, daily, twisting of Scriptures on Facebook…

I guess the real question is : ”Can you love God and not His Word?”

”Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.” – Ps. 119:97

Muslims and Christians Together! – Rick Warren

No one will be surprised when I say that I am not the biggest fan of Rick Warren, mostly because of his ability to quote and use Scriptures in a more than casual way, when it is not completely out of context…

Now, I found out that Pastor Warren wants to yoke with Muslims, he wants to reach an agreement with them, to work with them… He intends to do that by not focusing on what is divisive.

I certainly am worried because I think that the Gospel of Christ IS divisive. There is not gray area in it. Jesus IS the only way to the father and muslims do not believe that.

Apparently, the goal is to mobilize a ”billion-man army” to knock down the 5 global giants as called by Pastor Warren.  Click here for more details on the ”Plan”…

Why this great plan? Warren says that it is because Jesus sent us to make disciples of all nations…

I want to make disciples of all nations as well, I love to see people coming to Christ! I love to share the gospel with unbelievers.

But how? How can you make disciples of all nations when the five giants you’re ”fighting” have nothing to do with the Gospel and lost people… Furthermore, how can you make disciples of all nations when you leave out the ”divisive stuff” in order to work with Muslims? Aren’t you condemned to alter the gospel message?

Certainly, social implication is something that every christian should do, but it is not the main responsibility of the church.

The Church exist for the building up of the saints so that the saints can be equipped to share the Gospel of Christ with the World ( Eph. 4). That’s the great commission! ( Mat. 28.18-20)

The great commission is NOT social implication…

The losts need to HEAR the Word of Christ in order to get saved…

”So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”

– Rom. 10:17

Where is our precious Book?

I noticed a couple of years ago that the Word of God was no longer the reference to figure out what could be done in the church, it was no longer the authority.

Any ”man of God” could write a book and have it sold to thousands of churches and it was fine as long as it ”worked”.

It is not even permitted to question those books or methods. If we do, we’re ”rebels”. We have a problem if we don’t just accept and follow.

I remember one time, a friend of mine wanted to put in place a ”transformation path” in their church. It was some kind of a book with some question about your past and what could’ve affected you while growing up. What made you the way you are. This book was supposed to bring one to spiritual maturity…
Of course, when you tell them that only the work of the Holy Spirit, the reading of God’s word, prayers and trials will be bring spiritual growth, they tell you ”Yes, of course we know and you’re right” but nowhere in their books we see that. Nowhere the importance of reading Scriptures is underscored. We give our opinion, share our experience, etc… But we’re not studying the Word of God…

From time to time we’ll share a verse, preferably one about love or something that is not comfronting, nothing divisive or authoritative. I guess to make sure, we’re still an ”evangelical” church…

”The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.” – Ps. 119:72

Where is our precious book?…

Why did we stop trusting the Word of God?

It always amazes me when I see christians embracing so quickly any ”christian” books that may come out. Anyone claiming to be a christian will be supported, encouraged and even relied upon, no matter what their ideas might be. We do not want to hurt, judge or show a lack a love. ”Who are we to judge?” someone might ask.

What is the cause of all that? Why are we so blind that we can’t see the lies in those new ”Church-Growth” or ”Emerging” or any other ”Evangelical” movements?

Beside lack of biblical knowledge and discernment, there is the way it is presented. No one will be against the idea of bringing more people in the church. No one will question the idea that we must love one another. No one will be against doing what is good to help our neighbor. We all want to obey God in doing all that but should it be our main focus? Did Jesus call us to preach a ”social gospel” or was his focus on seeking and saving the losts?

Even tough God calls us to do what is good, to treat everyone the way we want to be treated ( Luke 6:31), He doesn’t ask us to forget about His Word. We are to continue/dwell in the things we have learned and become convinced of ( 2Tim. 3:14) and search the Scriptures daily to see if thing are so(Acts 17:11).

We need to read His Word, to study his Word, to memorize His Word, to medidate His Word, we need to share His Word with the ones who don’t know Him. We need to pray God and ask for wisdom when we lack of it( James 1:5). We need to examine everything and hold fast to what is good! ( 1 Thes. 5:21)

The foundation of our ministry/church/life should be the Word of God and only the Word of God.

”The Law of God is perfect, restoring the soul”- Psalm 19:7