The Judgment Seat of Christ

By Leonard Ravenhill

This is the King of kings, and He's the Judge of judges, and it's the Tribunal of Tribunals, and there's no court of appeal after that. The verdict is final!

We're not going to be judged just because of what we've done, we're going to be judged for why we did it! Not for the action, (but) for the motive.

- Leonard Ravenill

Saved Through Childbearing?

An intriguing article here on 1 Timothy 2:15

"But women will be saved through childbearing" (NIV): this simple statement has mystified average Bible readers as well as Christian scholars for centuries. Is Paul here suggesting salvation by works? In what sense can a woman be "saved" by bearing children? What would be so virtuous about bearing children that could become the cause of women's salvation? And what about single women or married women who do not or cannot have children? Even apart from these interpretive questions, the passage sounds horribly sexist and out of date in the days of female Prime Ministers or Supreme Court Justices. How are we to understand this passage, and how are we to apply it?

The Idolatory of Entertainment

"America has a king and his name is Sport. He has a wife and her name is Entertainment!"

Because there isn't enough real joy in the house of God, we need entertainment. Entertainment is the devil's substitute for joy. Because there isn't enough power in the house of God, people are always looking for something to take its place.

- Leonard Ravenhill

I am in many ways an avid gamer, always on the lookout for the latest in PC games and hardware upgrades. Recently I had, for the first time, manually installed additional hardware into my computer on my own. Needless to say, it was a trying experience just having to figure out how to open up the casing. I also follow the latest football news and often troll through various football related sites throughout the day in order to get that latest piece of news or results.

And it has struck me how obsessed I can become with them.

I still remember clearly this incident months ago. It was about 11.30pm and I was just about to quit procrastinating and actually get down to doing my devotions. As a sort of last gesture, I just skimmed through a football news site and the thing that caught my eye was the game currently being played. It was Arsenal versus Manchester United with the score at 2-0 in Arsenal's favour. Being somewhat an Arsenal supporter (with a strong dislike for the other team) and seeking to justify my procrastination I reasoned, 'surely just watching the last twenty or so minutes won't be that bad.'

I turned on the television just in time to see Man Utd pull one goal back with fifteen minutes left to play. The final few moments were nerve-wracking as Arsenal fought valiantly to protect their lead. When the final whistle sounded I remembered I was literally trembling with excitement over what I had just seen. And as the adrenaline wore off, a crushing reality struck me. You get so excited over a small insignificant football game while fellowship with the Awesome God hardly interests you?

I also have many PC games scattered throughout my room, legacy to a buying spree that has spanned more than a decade. Games ranging from those simple city-building sims to the graphic-intensive monsters of today's strategy games. With improvements in graphics comes the need for improvements in graphics hardware. If there is one thing that I do splurge on, it would be on much computer hardware. With any decent graphics card today costing upwards of $300 at the least, any proper upgrade is sure to cost an arm and a leg. One thing I have come to realize over the years however, is that no matter how good or addictive a game is, sooner or later you will get bored with it. The same goes with any toy Man may conceive. Soon the urge to get the latest games in order to keep oneself entertained would spur one to buy whatever is being offered on the market, or if one is less financially endowed, rotate the games that one already has in order to find that thrill again. I found that whatever "joy" I had in any game soon began to turn stale in my mouth. It could not satisfy me forever.

Is it any wonder that idolatry is as rampant today as it was in days of old when men bowed before images of trees and animals? (Come to think of it, they still do so today.) Now men bow and worship gods of steel and leather, of electronic components and balls that roll and bounce. People support and participate in sports events more zealously than any religious service. It has always struck me how men can stand, lift up their hands, worship and sing praises with such gusto to eleven men kicking a ball around a field and yet the worship of an Almighty God can remain so cold. The same men who would speak excitedly and ecstatically of sports, would remain indifferent or dismissive to any subject which is of eternal value. Oh what hypocrisy we live in today. Is it not truly madness? Can such an attitude truly be the reflection of a regenerated heart?

Now I am in no way opposed to sports or computers per se, but the fact still remains. There is no lasting joy in any temporal thing. Games come and go. Hardly have they reached the store shelves when another, better, one takes its place. Sporting "greats" remain but for a little time before they are eclipsed by the "next big thing". True Joy and Satisfaction is found only in the One for whom we were made for, to delight in. For God does not have a man-shaped hole in His heart, as so much contemporary teaching makes Him out to be, but Man does have a God-shaped hole in his heart. That infinite hole which can only be satisfied with that which is infinite.

And is that not such a struggle. Man has been conditioned for so long in his fallen nature to live apart from God that he does not seek to find fulfillment and joy in the only Person who can provide it. No, but because Man are by nature enemies of God and haters of Him, they seek other ways and means of satisfying themselves. They would rather kill themselves in an endless and hopeless search for joy and satisfaction rather than bow the knee before the One who provides it, and unless the Lord so acts to remove their blindness, no man will turn to Him.

But praise be to Him, who in His unsearchable Wisdom and Love, has restored the sight of His elect. That they may not be satisfied by what the World has to offer, but have clung to the Cross, "by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." (Gal. 6:14)

How wide, how high, how long, how deep is the Love of Christ? Gaze upon the wondrous Cross and be satisfied.

"Remember, again, if you cling to earthly pleasures, they will all be unsatisfying, empty, and pointless. Like the locusts of the vision in Revelation, they seem to have crowns on their heads: but like the same locusts, you will find they have stings--real stings--in their tails. All that glitters is not gold. All that tastes sweet is not good. All that pleases for a while is not real pleasure.

Go and take your fill of earthly pleasures if you will--you will never find your heart satisfied with them. There will always be a voice within, crying, like the leech in Proverbs 30:15, "Give! Give!" There is an empty place there, which nothing but God can fill. You will find, as Solomon did by experience, that earthly pleasures are but a meaningless show--promising contentment but bringing a dissatisfaction of spirit--gold plated caskets, exquisite to look at on the outside, but full of ashes and corruption within. Be wise in your youth. Write the word "poison" on all earthly pleasures. The most lawful of them must be used in moderation. All of them are soul- destroying if you give them your heart. Pleasure, must first have the guarantee that it is not sinful--then it is to be enjoyed in moderation."

- J. C. Ryle

'Salvation'

The four tenses of Salvation:

The past perfect tense: I had been saved from the pleasure of Sin - Repentance
The past tense: I am saved from the penalty of Sin - Justification
The present tense: I am being saved from the power of Sin - Sanctification
The future tense: I shall be saved from the presence of Sin - Glorification

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An article by A. W. Pink (again) that deals with something that I have often struggled with.

This is a subject which is rarely touched upon today, yet in certain quarters especially there is a real need that it should be dealt with. By inward impressions we have reference to some passage of Scripture or some verse of a hymn being laid upon the mind with such force that it rivets the attention, absorbs the entire inner man and is accompanied by such an influence, that the partaker thereof is deeply affected. For example: a person may have lived a most godless life, utterly unconcerned about spiritual things and eternal interests, when suddenly (perhaps while he was indulging the lusts of the flesh, his thoughts being entirely occupied with carnal objects), there sounded in his conscience the words, “Be sure your sin will find you out.” So forcibly is he impressed, it seems as though someone must have audibly uttered those words, and he turns to discover the speaker, only to find he is alone. So deep is the impression, he cannot shake it off, and he is convicted of his lost condition and made to seek the Saviour.

No doubt each one who reads the above paragraph has heard or read some such case, perhaps many like it. And quite possibly a number of our readers are distressed in that there has been nothing in their own experience which corresponds thereto, and because there is not, they greatly fear they have never been truly converted. But such an inference is quite unwarranted. God does not act uniformly in the work of regeneration, any more than He does in creation or in providence; and we have met many who never had any such experience as we have described above, yet whose salvation we could not doubt for a moment. “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth: so is everyone that is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8). Sometimes the wind blows with great velocity, at other times very gently and almost imperceptibly. But how foolish I would be if, seeing the leaves moving in the breeze, I denied the wind was blowing at all, merely because it came not with hurricane intensity! (Emphasis mine)

The "Good News" Which Isn't

Read it and weep.

“God knows where the money is, and he knows how to get the money to you,” preached Mrs. Copeland, dressed in a crisp pants ensemble like those worn by C.E.O.’s.

The preachers barely acknowledged the recession, though they did say it was no excuse to curtail giving. “Fear will make you stingy,” Mr. Copeland said.

But mostly the preachers were working mightily to remind the crowd that they are God’s elect. “While everybody else is having a famine,” said Mr. Savelle, a Texas televangelist, “his covenant people will be having the best of times.”

“Any time a worried thought about money pops up in your mind,” Mr. Savelle continued, “the next thing you do is sow”: drop money, like seeds, in “good ground” like the preachers’ ministries. “Stop worrying, start sowing,” he added, his voice rising. “That’s God’s stimulus package for you.”

At that, hundreds streamed down the aisles to the stage, laying envelopes, cash and coins on the carpeted steps.

(Taken from The New York Times)

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Utterly disgusting, that's the only way I can describe it. And to think that such crap is being taught in Singapore as well. Think of all those churches, with their large membership rolls and fancy "worship" setups, being built upon the greed of men and the bones of unconverted church members. What a blasphemy, what an outrage! To so demean the infinitely valuable work of Christ in reconciling a Sinful Man to a Holy and Just God. To cast aside the infinite glories to come for trinkets, things made of gold and steel that will rust and be destroyed.

In the end, the biggest problem with prosperity theology is not that it promises too much, but that it promises far too little. The Gospel of Jesus Christ offers salvation from sin, not a platform for earthly prosperity. While we should seek to understand what drives so many into this movement, we must never for a moment fail to see its message for what it is -- a false and failed gospel.

- Al Mohler

Is it not true, that Christianity in Singapore today is derided and scorned for such foolish doctrine. Read the internet forums and the newsprints. Christianity is being made to look like a circus, with all its health, wealth, prosperity and feel good messages.

For, as it is written, "The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you."

- Romans 2:24

How long more will the Lord withhold His Wrath from us. Calling it a "gospel" is a terrible misnomer, for make no mistake, such a "gospel" does not save but rather damns a soul. How long will your church remain silent oh Lord. How long will we remain blinded to the dangers of such abominable teaching. Lord grant us eye salve that we might see our foolishness and repent.

Be Merciful to us.

Say What?

Read this post in the Christian Post

How does the Lord judge evildoers? He does not do it like an earthly judge, who passes the verdict without mercy against criminals. He judges like the father in the story of the prodigal son. He loves His children and tells them what is needed for them to prosper in life. At the same time, He does not force them to do His will, even though it is perfect. He gives them the dignity of personhood to choose what they will.

He does not punish them in the way that earthly judges do just so that they will fear His law. He exhorts them with tears but leaves the final decision to them. If they are bent on leaving, He lets them leave. And they are finally judged by their own actions. They suffer the consequences of their own wrongdoing. It is not God that judges them; it is finally that they become their own judges. Such is the way of the Lord. And such are the ways of His children, who refrain from being judges of one another. (emphasis added)

The best way to refute this kind of nonsense is to let Scripture do so.

They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.
- Romans 2:15-16

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?
- Romans 3:5-6

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:
- 2 Timothy 4:1

Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.
- 2 Timothy 4:8

Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.
- Hebrews 13:4

Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door
- James 5:9

And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile,
- 1 Peter 1:17

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
- Revelations 20: 11-15

Easy search on BibleGateway.com. Makes you wonder if any editor actually reads what gets posted on the website. Such is the danger in modern Christianity that attempts to bring God down to the level of a mere creature. Let God be true, and every man a liar.

Rejoicing in the Lord by A. W. Pink

From here

On the other hand, there are not a few among the Lord’s people whose tendency is to go to an opposite extreme, being afraid to rejoice in the Lord lest they be guilty of presumption. They who are most painfully conscious of the sea of iniquity surging within, feel it would be hypocrisy to joy in God and sing His praises. But let it be carefully borne in mind that the same human instrument who cried, “O wretched man that I am,” penned this very exhortation. However low the true believer may sink in his feelings, however cold and barren his heart, there is still abundant cause for him to heed this injunction. He is not bidden to rejoice in his own experiences or attainments, but “in the Lord.” It is a call to the exercise of faith, of hope, of love.

Though poor in this world’s goods, though grieving the loss of loved ones, though suffering pain of body, though harassed by sin and Satan, though hated and persecuted by worldlings, whatever be the case and lot of the Christian, it is both his privilege and duty to rejoice in the Lord. He has given us abundant cause so to do: His favour, love, faithfulness, longsuffering, granting us access to the Throne of Grace, the privilege of communion with Himself (in our sorrows and trials!), the promise of an eternity of bliss in His presence—all call for gladness and praise. This exhortation to rejoice in the Lord does not mean we are bidden to cast all sorrow out of our hearts, nor are we acting contrary to its terms when we grieve over sin. Godly sorrow and holy joy are coinciding and not conflicting emotions: there is no enjoying the sweetness of the Lamb apart from the “bitter herbs” (Exo. 12:8).

- A. W. Pink

Thoughts on Recent Events

No doubt many, if not all, would have heard or read of the issue of religion in this country that is being discussed at length in the mass media over the past week. Nothing surprising there since it is merely the re-ignition of debate of events that have occurred in the past 8 months and of which I have blogged about before.

My concern remains in the implication for the church and for many Christian organizations in schools and in society. Such pressures to conform, to cover up the cross and remain silent are nothing new. For a long time now, mission schools and organizations like the BB have been continually under fire for proselytizing and have often compromised under such pressure.

By His Grace, a small flame continues to burn and His Work is still continually being accomplished in such places.

However, the question has to be asked of us. When then do we make a stand? How long will we continue bowing to the World's demands, whilst consoling ourselves by doing some small work on the side. I had served in an organization for six years and have seen how the Gospel and Christ are slowly shafted to one side. No longer was the Cross our controlling vision. No longer was the proclamation of the Gospel viewed as essential and inviolable. No, it became about training leaders and the teaching of "christian" values, morality without Christ. The Object became a mocking symbol of our impotence. The advancement of a kingdom without Christ, a personal fiefdom of those who saw the organization as a place to gain respect and power and personal influence. We deluded ourselves with little acts of piety in order to sooth our religious conscience, while we rushed to remove as many vestiges of Christ from our programmes. To my shame, I had bought into this "vision" for far too long.

We look at a world today that declares, "There is no Truth!". Yet there is One who says, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life." The world says, "There are many ways to god". Yet there is One who says, "No one can come to the Father except through Me." The world bleats with false humility, "Everyone is right!". Yet there is One who says "I the LORD speak the truth; I declare what is right." (Isa. 45:19b)

Has there always been persecution of the Church here? Yes. And of a kind much more subtle and oftentimes deadlier than physical violence. It is not the kind of persecution that burns down churches and sends Christians to prison camps, but it is of the kind that allures and pressurizes. A persecution that seeks to merely remove the small issue of the Cross, while still leaving you with all your programmes and comforts and all the trappings of a church but ultimately devoid of its power. While we weep and pray for those in India or China who have lost all that they have in this world for Christ's sake (as we rightly should), we fail to see the greater danger that looms over us. Like the proverbial frog in the cooking pot, we do not realize the danger that is creeping up on us until is it too late. A little compromise here, a little change there and soon we will realize we're left with nothing of biblical Christianity. We talk so much of wanting to be like the early Church, the Church of the Book of Acts. Are we willing to pay the cost?

"But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name."
So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.
But Peter and John answered them, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge,
for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard."

- Acts 4: 17-20

When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them.
And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, "Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them,
who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit,

"'Why did the Gentiles rage,
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers were gathered together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed'—

for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,
to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.
And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness,
while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus."
And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

- Acts 4: 23-31

And though I may be tempted to despair at the state we are today, there is One who has promised He will build His Church and all that He wills He accomplishes.

Soli Deo Gloria

Examining Thy Motives

I have just read a very convicting post/note on Facebook here and indeed it is a terrible struggle for me in so many ways.

Looking back from my time in ACS until this very hour, the allure of selfishness, self-centeredness and self-righteousness are ever present in my own heart. The desire to do something great, to be well-known, to be able to speak well so as to impress, to have all the answers, to be the "go-to" guy for all things big and small. Such is the depravity of a Man's heart, to even do and desire right and good things for wrong motives.

Why do I do what I do? A man confesses with his lips and honours Christ, but his heart is far from Him. Who can know the heart, for the heart is deceitfully wicked above all things. I fear who I am inside, the person that goes by many names, the Old Man, the Flesh, the Sinful Nature. Surely Man is the most vile and wretched of all creatures, his heart the stinking cesspool and source of his iniquity. Blinded by his own self-worth and progress, he does not even know himself.

Why the desire to preach or pray? Is it for His Name's sake or for something darker. With regards to relationships, is godliness and my pursuit of it simply a means of gain? To impress and seduce? TO make myself more desirable? Why even write this blog post? So as to tell and boast to others of my piety? God forbid it! Are my hands clean oh Lord, is my heart pure?

Who am I oh Lord. Who am I apart from You. Surely I deserve to be cast into the darkest pits of Hell for my crimes against You. Oh wretched man that I am. Who can rescue me from this body of death.

Only through Jesus. Only though Jesus. May He that was slain receive the reward of His suffering.

"Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.

See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting."

- Psalm 139: 23-24

Take Heed What You Read by A. W. Pink

Some of God's dear people may suppose that it would be presumptuous to set themselves up as judges of what they hear or read, but that is a serious mistake, being both a false humility and a shirking of duty. The Apostle rebuked the Hebrews because their senses (spiritual faculties) were not developed so as to discern between good and evil (Heb. 5:13). With as much reason might it be termed pride for any one to pass judgment upon the groceries or meats purchased from the stores. Others may ask, "But how are simple and unlearned souls to distinguish between the different religious publications of the day?" Very simply: in sampling your natural food how do you determine whether or not it be seasoned? By your natural taste, of course. So it is spiritually: the "new man" has a palate too! If the God of creation has given us natural palates for the purpose of distinguishing between wholesome and unwholesome food, the God of grace has furnished His people with a capacity, a spiritual sense, to distinguish between nutritious and innutritious soul food.

Taken from here

The Spirit Who Draws Men

An interesting article.

"With others the supernatural agency of the Spirit is effectually shut out by the belief that Truth will prevail: that if the Word of God be faithfully preached, souls will be truly saved. Far be it from us to undervalue the Truth, or cast the slightest reflection on the living Word of God; yet modern ideas and present conditions demand that we plainly point out that it is not the Truth, the Scriptures, the Gospel, which renews the soul; but instead, the power and operations of the Holy Spirit. "You may teach a man the holiest of truths, and yet leave him a wretched man. Many who learn in childhood that ‘God is love,’ live disregarding, and die blaspheming God. Thousands who are carefully taught, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved,’ neglect so great salvation all their days. Some of the most wicked and miserable beings that walk the earth are men into whose consciences, when yet youthful and unsophisticated, the truth was carefully instilled."

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""The belief that Truth is mighty, and by reason of its might must prevail, is equally fallacious in the abstract, as it is opposed to the facts of human history, and to the Word of God. We should take the maxim, the Truth must prevail, as perfectly sound, did you only give us a community of angels on whom to try the Truth. With every intellect clear and every heart upright, doubtless Truth would soon be discerned, and, when discerned, cordially embraced. But, Truth, in descending among us, does not come among friends. The human heart offers ground whereon it meets Truth at an immeasurable disadvantage. Passions, habits, interests, yes, nature itself, lean to the side of error; and though the judgment may assent to the Truth, which, however, is not always the case, still error may gain a conquest only the more notable because of this impediment. Truth is mighty in pure natures, error in depraved ones.


"Do they who know human nature best, when they have a political object to carry, trust most of all to the power of Truth over a constituency, or would they not have far more confidence in corruption and revelry? The whole history of man is a melancholy reproof to those who mouth about the mightiness of Truth. ‘But,’ they say, ‘Truth will prevail in the long run.’ Yes, blessed be God, it will; but not because of its own power over human nature, but because the Spirit will be poured out from on high, opening blind eyes and unstopping deaf ears."

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"None will ever be drawn to Christ, savingly, by mere preaching; no, not by the most faithful and Scriptural preaching: there must first be the supernatural operations of the Spirit to open the sinner’s heart to receive the message? And how can we expect the Spirit to work among us while He is so slighted, while our confidence is not in Him, but in our preaching? How can we expect Him to work miracles in our midst, while there is no humble, earnest, and trustful praying for His gracious activities? Most of us are in such a feverish rush to "win souls," to do "personal work," to preach, that we have no time for definite, reverent, importunate crying unto the Lord for His Spirit to go before us and prepare the soil for the Seed. Hence it is that the converts we make are but "man made," and their subsequent lives make it only too apparent unto those who have eyes to see that the Holy Spirit does not indwell them nor produce His fruits through them. O brethren, join the writer in contritely owning to God your sinful failure to give the Spirit His proper place."

- A. W. Pink

HT: DefCon
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A short excerpt from the next chapter.

"When the soul has sunk into the mire of despair no human power is sufficient to lift it out and set it upon the Rock. Now that the renewed sinner perceives that not only are all his past actions transgressions of God’s Law, but that his very heart is desperately wicked—polluting his very prayers and tears of contrition—he feels that he must inevitably perish. If he hears the Gospel, he tells himself that its glad tidings are not for such an abandoned wretch as he; if he reads the Word he is assured that only its fearful denunciations and woes are his legitimate portion. If godly friends remind him that Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost, he supposes they are ignorant of the extremities of his case—should they urge him to believe or cast himself on the mercy of God in Christ, they do but mock him in his misery, for he now discovers that he can no more do this of himself than he can grasp the sun in his hands. All self-help, all human aid, is useless.

In those in whom the Spirit works faith, He first blows down the building of human pretensions, demolishes the walls which were built with the untempered mortar of man’s own righteousness, and destroys the foundations which were laid in self-flattery and natural sufficiency, so that they are entirely shut up to Christ and God’s free grace. Once awakened, instead of fondly imagining I am the man whom God will save, I am now convinced that I am the one who must be damned. So far from concluding I have any ability to even help save myself, I now know that I am "without strength" and no more able to receive Christ as my Lord and Savior than I can climb up to Heaven. Evident it is, then, that a mighty supernatural power is needed if I am to come to Him who "justifieth the ungodly." None but the all-mighty Spirit can lift a stricken soul out of the gulf of despair and enable him to believe to the saving of his soul."

Struggling with Impatience

13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself,
14 saying, "Surely I will bless you and multiply you."
15 And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise.
16 For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation.
17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath,
18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.
19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain,
20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

- Hebrews 6:13-20

One of my greater struggles, especially in this day and age of fast food and faster computers, is the constant struggle with impatience. I used to think that I was a very patient fellow when I was younger, that is, until I found out more about myself.

Whether it be standing in a queue, waiting at a traffic junction or leading a group, the desire to jump ahead is always there. Perhaps that is why I prefer playing strategy and city-building sims rather than FPS or RPGs since one gets to "play god" so as to speak, where at a click of a button decades can pass and the fruits of ones planning clearly seen.

Maybe that's why this post-uni life is so frustrating. The neither-here-nor-there feeling. Where one has to start re-building ties with others whom one has neglected over the past six years or seek new ones, only to realize the truism that Rome really wasn't built in a day.

So hard to wait, so hard to wait.

But yet the great irony is that eventually, all things will come to past. All of ones hopes and plans for the future will soon become the present, and then fade into the past. One day Christ will return and there will be no more sorrow, no more struggles against the flesh, no more worries about the future. To be swallowed up in Life forever.

Oh Lord to wait for You and on You.

Only one life, twill soon be past, only what's done for Christ will last. And when I am dying, how happy I'll be, if the lamp of my life has been burned out for Thee.

Being Conformed to Him

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

- Romans 8:26-29

"Father. make me like your Son." What a terrifying prayer is that to make. I remember asking that one year ago and then sitting back and thinking, do I really know what I have just asked for?

And I thank the Lord for what He has done in me the past month, not that He has given me some great spiritual victory or experience, but rather for exposing again and again the utter depravity and evil that lurks within my own heart.

The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

- Genesis 6:5

For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.

- Matthew 15:19

Sins that I thought I never would have were brought to light through God's Providence. To see ever more clearly the depths which the heart would plunge to in sin. To be confronted with the amazing sinfulness of sin before a God who is infinitely Holy and Righteous. To be afraid of trusting even one's own heart and instead casting oneself upon the mercy of the One who is Faithful and True. To adore the Love and Grace of God displayed in Christ in the light of one's own evil heart. Is not the Love of God beyond measure, that He would die for even one hopeless sinner like me? Love so amazing, so divine.

Lord sanctify me, that I would be pleasing to you. Father, make me like Christ.
Amen

D. A. Carson on Polemical Theology

Polemical theology is nothing other than contending for a particular theological understanding (usually one that the contender holds to be the truth) and disputing those that contradict it or minimize it. It is impossible to indulge in serious critical thought without becoming enmeshed, to some degree, in polemics.

Nevertheless there is something wrong-headed about making polemical theology the focus of one’s theological identity.... Still other Christians develop websites and ministries whose sole aim is to confute error. God knows there is plenty of error to confute. To make the refutation of error into a specialized “ministry,” however, is likely to diminish the joyful affirmation of truth and make every affirmation of truth sound angry, supercilious, self-righteous—in a word, polemical.

Read more here

*Update*
I was reading an article in the same newsletter and this portion caught my eye.

But there is one other question I usually pose, if not bluntly, then at least in some form: to whom do you intend to be accountable?

The question is crucial because any Christian studying theology, at whatever level, is not engaged in a simple mastery of technique or information. The study of theology engages heart and mind; to put it in the idiom of Calvin, true knowledge of God and true piety are inseparable. In addition, the temptations of theological study are huge.

Protestantism, by prioritizing a book, the Bible, and the written and spoken word, inevitably has an inbuilt gravitational pull towards intellectualism. Proper Protestantism is not about religious feeling or psychology; it is about truth—defined, proclaimed, believed.

Wake Up Church

A Grouse

Something that I read on the Christian Post

"There is a tendency either to have God do so much that Man does nothing or to have Man do so much that God is unnecessary. The first is the error of antinomianism – the logical implication of the Reformed faith. The second is best exemplified by non-Christian Deism."

Typical misunderstanding of the Reformed position. Now blame me for being too dogmatic, but perhaps in order to be really fair the writer should have the added that the logical implication of the Arminian faith is Legalism and Open Theism, a less then omniscient and omnipotent god who can't really get anything done unless we help him out.

"There is order and method. Both must be observed, be it the precedence of Word before work or the total dependence on God in the former and the total independence of Man in the latter.

Those who pray as if everything depended on them will have no faith while those who work as if everything depended on God will have no results."

Maybe someone should direct the writer to read his bible more often and find verses such as these.

Unless the LORD builds the house,those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city,the watchman stays awake in vain.

- Psalm 127:1

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

- Ephesians 2:10

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

-Philippians 2:12-13

Which One Are You

One justifies, “Society has changed, so we must follow.”
One admits, “We have changed, so we must return.”

One deduces, “We should lower the bar to include more (people).”
One determines, “We must raise the banner to remove more (wickedness).”

One smiles, “We must make members happy before themselves.”
One chooses, “We must make sinners holy before God.”

One states, “Sin is an attitude of disobedience toward God.”
One declares, “Sin is a heart of rebellion against God.”

One quips, “We must alter our methods”.
One reveals, “We must correct our message”

One retorts, “We must convince them to be ‘churched’.”
One warns, “We must convert them to be sons.”

One quacks, “The answer is on the bookshelves.”
One proclaims, “The answer is in The Book.”

One shamelessly asks, “What works...(for us)?”
One sincerely asks, “What’s wrong...(with us)?”

One is popular.
One is respected.

One is entertaining.
One is anointed.

One is cute.
One is called.

One is sugar.
One is salt.

One is of the world.
One is from above.

Which One are you?

Taken from Cry For Repentance

An Enlightening Blog Post

From here

One of the most important lessons I learned was this: Christ is paramount. Christ is everything. I was struggling so much to understand things that were probably beyond me that I was neglecting real, personal relationship with the living Savior, the man who came into space/time history, died a real death on the cross, and was physically resurrected from the dead, who literally ascended into heaven and who sits at God's right hand, praying for me every day. When I was tempted to enter into ultimately fruitless debates with friends about this or that theological point, I stopped to ask myself: "Will this bring me closer to Christ"? Most of the time the answer was no, and so I avoided the conversations.

The Beauty of the Bride

You have ravished my heart,
My sister, my spouse;
You have ravished my heart
With one look of your eyes,
With one link of your necklace.
How fair is your love,
My sister, my spouse!
How much better than wine is your love,
And the scent of your perfumes
Than all spices!

- Song of Solomon 4: 9-10



Opening my eyes I see
The answer to my soul's great need
To belong, to be more than what I am
A stunning new reality
Unfolding now inside of me
I'm a part of the beauty of the bride

My belongingness
Was bought by His faithfulness
Was purchased with His blood

Chorus:
We will see Him coming
With His arms held open wide
Captivated by the hidden beauty of the bride
Sooner than we know
And all at once He will appear
And we will finally be made one
At last we'll hear the Bridegroom calling "Come"

Homeless now, I'll soon be home
Lonely now, but never alone
With a thirst to keep myself for Him
He has made his purpose clear
Choosing now to leave me here
Still I long and I wait to hear His call

My belongingness
Was bought by His faithfulness
Was purchased with His blood

The Spirit and the bride say "Come"
And let the one who hears say, "Come"
And to all who thirst, now let them come

Chorus
We will finally be made one
When we hear the Bridegroom call
Calling "Come"

Online Browsing

But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

- John 17: 13-16

I do not know why I still keep reading the local online forums. Perhaps it is too deeply ingrained in my habits to open up the browser window everytime I turn on my comp. However, everytime I look at the topics being discussed especially those with regards to religion, one can almost predict with 100% certainty the content of those discussions.

It is sometimes so surreal that one could easily pass it off as the rantings of a small minority in a larger society, not knowing that it is simply the natural outflow of a world that "although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened." (Romans 1:21)

The online world is an interesting place, for within it a man is protected by a cover of anonymity that allows him to expose the things in his heart. Free of the constraints of civility, he is free to express his heart's desires. Reading these religious threads on online forums has further convinced me that we need to wake up and realize that in no way is the value system of the World ever going to be reconciled with Christ and that as true (an important clause) Christians, there can be no question in compromise with a World that is an enemy of God.

It is a depressing read for me as a person who, for better or for worse, desires somehow that we could all simply get along. But God's Word is clear. The World will never cross over to Christ and hates all those whom Christ has called to Himself.

Are there not nice people in the world who are non-Christians? Have I not met Muslims and Buddhists and Atheists who are really decent people? People who show kindness and hospitality that would put many of us to shame. Yet there is a fundamental gulf that separates us and I just can't find the love to tell them.

What does Christ demand from us? That all will bow their knee to Him and declare Him as Lord. For the day will come when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, whether out of love and adoration or out of the terror of the One who will rule the nations with a rod of iron. I shudder to think of those who in this life, having taken whatever grace and mercy has been given to them, and spitting back at the One who will call them to account. For if the righteous and scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly? (1 Peter 4:18) What great weeping and sorrow will there be on that day, where even mercy and grace will be taken away and nothing would be left to stand between them and fire of God's Wrath.

Oh that the Lord will guard us from the Evil One in these the last days.

Decisions for Christ?

Just a quick comparison

From Christian Post Singapore

CCC Media Ministry Records Over 1M Decisions for Christ in 1 Month

For the first time in its five-year history, the media arm of Campus Crusade for Christ recorded over one million decisions for Jesus Christ in a single month.

In its announcement Wednesday, CCC’s Global Media Outreach (GMO) reported that 1,030,581 people indicated either a first-time decision to follow Jesus or a decision to recommit their life to Christ through one of more than 90 GMO-hosted Gospel Web sites in June.

Tired of Running

One wonders what is the point of so much running to and fro. Of jumping from one event to another, to go from one programme to another with such fanatical zeal. "What can I do" is the cry in the night, when one feels so small and useless. The endless working up of emotions and the subsequent nights of complete utter loneliness.

Life goes on, people come and go. They enter and leave every Sunday, where is the change? The Spirit of the Lord is no where to be found. No words of admonition or exhortation are spoken, no holy desire or fear to drive a man to his knees and on his face. Prayer is a small thing, one of little import. A thing best left to old ladies and fanatics to do on our behalf. Content to sleep on while the candlestick is removed. Why am I here oh Lord.

"The Lord will not answer, He has not heard your pleas" is the ever present terror within me. Why will you not hear oh Lord. For I am at the end of my tether, my own heart betrays me. How often have I desired to run and hide from You as Adam and Eve did in the garden. All my works crumble to dust and there are no fruits to be found on the trees. Was it all futile? Was it all a vain thing? Have all that I have done been for naught?

How great is the war within, more terrifying than any physical war throughout history. A war more than then matter of life and death, but rather that of eternal life and eternal death. A war where enemies abound even in those things closest to you, the most intimate with you. Is it well, is it well with my soul?

"26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.
28 Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses.
29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?
30 For we know him who said, "Vengeance is mine; I will repay." And again, "The Lord will judge his people."
31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."

- Hebrews 10:26-31

A Short Reminder

For myself

The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.

- 1 Peter 4:7

*Edit*
For something just totally random, this is one reason I want to get a cat in the future.

Feeling Clueless

There have been some developments in my life that have left me feeling utterly clueless. Oh Lord be merciful to me.

To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.
O my God, in you I trust;
let me not be put to shame;
let not my enemies exult over me.
Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame;
they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.

Make me to know your ways, O LORD;
teach me your paths.
Lead me in your truth and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all the day long.

Remember your mercy, O LORD, and your steadfast love,
for they have been from of old.
Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
according to your steadfast love remember me,
for the sake of your goodness, O LORD!

- Ps 25: 1-7

Turn to me and be gracious to me,
for I am lonely and afflicted.
The troubles of my heart are enlarged;
bring me out of my distresses.
Consider my affliction and my trouble,
and forgive all my sins.

- Ps 25: 16-18

Tozer on Regeneration and the Lordship of Christ

An excellent online book of A. W. Tozer's "I call it heresy" using 1 Peter. Read it here.

So, there is a divine principle here - the fact that a man truly born again is a man who has experienced regenesis, supernatural regenesis. Just as God generated the heavens and the earth in the beginning, He generates again in the breast of the believing man!

Just as surely as God's calling the world out of nothing was a major miracle, the work of God in making a believing Christian out of a sinner is a major miracle as well.

In the light of what God is willing to do and wants to do, consider how we try to "get them in" in modern Christianity.

We get them in any way we can. Then we try to work on them - to adjust them and to reform them.

I may be misunderstood when I say this, but we even have two works of grace because the first was so apologetically meaningless that we try to have two.

I do not speak against the second work of grace; but I am pleading for the work that ought to be done in a man's heart when he first meets God. What I am asking is this: Why should we be forced to invent some second or third or fourth experience somewhere along the line to obtain what we should have received the first time we met God?

I believe in the anointing of the Holy Spirit after regeneration - but I also believe that we ought not to downgrade the new birth in order to find a place for the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

I have read much and studied long the lives and ministries of many of the old saints of God in past generations. I am inclined to believe that many of them were better Christians when they were just newly-regenerated than the run of the so-called "deeper life" people whom I meet today.

- A. W. Tozer

Now, to be genuinely born again is the miracle of becoming a partaker of the divine nature. It is more than just a religious expression; more than the hyphenated adjective we often hear, such as "He's a born-again man."

Some evangelicals are slow to admit it, but I know that this important matter of the new birth has fallen into cold hands, along with many other important Bible teachings. I don't have to tell you that in many Christian churches you will feel as though you are in a mortuary instead of the church of the Living God.

Christians who have been miraculously begotten again ought to be rejoicing in their deliverance from the tomb of spiritual death. Instead, we often feel as though we are in the presence of a corpse just brought in from the street. Sad indeed that the words "born again" have become words that seem to mean precious little because the emphasis of supernatural grace has dwindled away, even in some fundamentalist circles.

The new birth is still a miracle of God - it is not a matter of the mind, not just a mental thing. It is my judgment that there are many who talk about being born again on the basis of their mental assent to Christian principles. I think there are many who have received Christ mentally who have never discovered the supernatural quality of the grace of God or of the acts of God.

- A. W. Tozer

Christianity's One Drawing Card

"This is why much of the seeker friendly stuff is an abomination. Christianity has One drawing card: It is Christ. Social events or promising some sort of fellowship or friendship or this or that or any other thing is not Christianity. The fellowship and the friendliness and everything else must come forth out of Christ. It is Christ that brings you into that fellowship, not the fellowship that brings you into Christ so much. When you start your churches, when you plant your churches, when you preach your Gospel, put Christ before men and let them deal with Him. If they reject Christ, allow them to reject your fellowship. Don't bring them in gradually. Put Christ before them completely, and at first, and along with the demands. Do it lovingly, do it patiently, do it thoroughly.

When I was a young Christian, I heard that many cults practice what's called the 'divine lie', that they will tell you certain lies if necessary in order to gradually bring you in, so that you will accept the greater [teachings], so the end justifies the means. In many ways, that is what church-growth does, the end justifies the means-'Well we finally got them there to Christ'. No! Remember this, if you use carnal means to bring carnal men into your church, you'll have a carnal church and you'll have to constantly use carnal means to keep them. Start off with Christ from the very beginning. The radical claims of Christ and the radical demands of Christ."

- Paul Washer

HT: Puritan Fellowship

God and Evil

Some resources from Desiring God for future references

Does God Author Sin? (1/4)
Does God Cause Sin? (2/4)
Does God Permit Sin? (3/4)
The Author-Story Model (4/4)

I find it interesting that whenever the Bible speaks of Man's objection to God's "hand" in "bringing about" or "ordaining" evil, its defense does not consist of an attempt to placate or soothe Man's perceived sense of injustice, but rather rebuts the objection with a simple declaration of His Transcendence and of Man's ignorance and his non-right to question His motives and plans.

Perhaps there is a mystery to this "problem"

John Piper on Holy Emulation

An interesting post for all to read here

Removing of the Offence?

We have no need of being culturally sensitive as long as we're biblically accurate.

- Paul Washer on the Gospel

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God,just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.

- 1 Corinthians 10:31-33

For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

- 1 Corinthians 1:22-24

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

- Romans 1:16

Reading a book on the rise of Western Christendom, it was said of some of the 8th century missionaries, that

"[He] made his entrance there with exceeding splendor, for barbarian nations need to see a little worldly pomp and show to attract them to make them draw nigh willingly to Christianity"

Now who says the Seeker-Sensitive Movement is a new thing, as the Wise man said, "Their is nothing new under the sun."(Eccl 1:9)

A couple of months ago I was "facilitating" my church cell group's discussion on Romans 2:1-16. As we went through verse by verse we came to verse 4 which said,

Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.

- Romans 2:4-5

I began talking about the dangers of presuming upon the Love of God especially prevalent in the visible church today, of how God's Love has been taken for granted to such an extent that it is used as an essentially blank cheque to live a life of almost total disobedience to God. I then mentioned about God's Mercy in providing each new day an opportunity of sinners to repent, but that we cannot presume upon this mercy and say "I will repent at such and such a later time" since we can have no guarantee we will see the sun the next morning nor can we predict the return of the Lord at any moment.

Everything was going relatively fine till someone piped up, "That's all well and good, but how do we tell or convince other people?" Needless to say that put a screeching halt to my train of thought. "Well plainly I suppose", I hurriedly replied. I soon discovered that wasn't quite an adequate enough answer. The discussions came quick and fast and the fundamental point to them which I failed to see for about ten minutes was this, how do you convince lost, carnal christians and unbelievers that this is true? There was no confusion or disagreement over the truth of this passage (at least I hope there wasn't), but the question of convincing others came up. I guess my confusion was that it never occurred to me about the "need" to repackage uncomfortable truths in God's Word in order to make it more "acceptable" to those "outside".

I had the strongest urge to say that I had little concern of making hard truths more palatable to sinful men since men are convinced (or rather convicted) not by human wisdom or clever arguments, but by the Holy Spirit and our role is to simply speak forth the Truth of God plainly from Scriptures. However, in my cowardice I dared not speak up for the Sufficiency and Power of God's Word. May the Lord forgive me of this great sin.

But is not the weakness in me so much prevalent in the church as well? In the quest to be well-liked, to be thought of as a nice guy, in the desire to be as unoffensive to as many people as possible, we remove the offense of Christ and His Cross and betray the one who shed His Blood for us. We do not trust in God's power to save His Elect, but we must use every conceivable marketing gimmick and emotional manipulation technique in order to coerce as many people as we can to make "decisions for Christ", and we pat ourselves on our backs for a job well-done when all we have done is to make two-fold sons of hell.

Is it little wonder then that so many church members live lives in exactly the same manner as their unsaved neighbours do? Is it little wonder then that so many youths in churches today are hardly interested in the things of God and that we have to pander to their carnal interests in order to keep them in church? For the Word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword (Heb. 4:12), and it will wound the conscience and soul of one who is walking contrary to Him.

I write this post not to heap further condemnation those who hold to a man-centered Christianity (for they are condemned already (see John 3:18)), but rather as a confession of my being ashamed of Christ and failing to contend earnestly for the Faith once and for all delivered to the saints. May the Lord have mercy upon me and upon those who have traded God's Truths for man-pleasing doctrines.

Calvi-minians?

An interesting post that I thought I would link here for future reading.

So, there is tension in the common man's mind. He exhibits a number of Calvinistic traits in recognizing that the human will is determinable and that there is a force that determines what happens, and yet he exhibits Arminian traits in asserting his own autonomy from determination and his attempt to control deterministic forces.

For all you Obama Fans

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary

___________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release June 1, 2009

LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER PRIDE MONTH, 2009
- - - - - - -
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2009 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. I call upon the people of the United States to turn back discrimination and prejudice everywhere it exists.

Continue reading here

Transitioning to Work

It's been a tiring couple of weeks since I started working for my Dad. The constant early hours and later returns is something that will take some getting used to. It is strange to think now of career and life in terms of years and decades in contrast to the day-by-day, month-by-month considerations during the Uni years.

One thing that is of high concern now is the question of whether this is the job for me to stay in for life. I have had previous considerations of going into full-time ministry, but recent events (not related to my present working situation) have cast some doubts upon my ability and maturity in pursuing such an option. It is easy, in the ease and care-freeness of youth to dedicate oneself to a cause with little thought of counting the cost. Often times, the idealism of youth gives way to cynical reality.

I do not know where the Lord will lead from here, though I trust that ultimately He will lead me to the place where has prepared and ordained for me to be. Any prayers will be deeply appreciated.

P.S. Somehow by God's Grace, I managed to get a Second Upper Honours. Really thankful for a project supervisor who was really helpful during the whole process.

Soul Winning Made Easy?

An interesting post from this blog. Comments anyone?

Feeling Sick

Well not really physically, but reading this website (which I refuse to name) makes me want to weep.

The only verse that I can think of at this point.

Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

- Romans 1:32

Oh Lord have mercy

*Edit* Some links arguing against this found here, here, here, here and here

Let Us Be Like Other Nations

'Let us be like the nations, like the tribes of the countries, and worship wood and stone.'

- Ezekiel 20:32b

Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah and said to him, "Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations."

- 1 Samuel 8: 4-5

Reading history, one is struck by the truth in the adage "history repeats itself". Indeed when the wise man proclaimed that there is nothing new under the sun, much apostasy and heresy in the visible church today are simply rehashes of ancient heresies.

Israel wanted to be like the other nations around them. They desired to have a human king even though they already had the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. They followed the surrounding nations in their worship of rocks and trees and brought the judgment and wrath of God upon themselves for their rebellion.

Is not the visible church doing likewise today? We will not have God to rule over us, instead He has to submit to our will, our plans, our designs. He has to change His plans according to Man's decisions lest He infringes upon Man's sovereign will. God has become a glorified genie-in-a-lamp that must give us what we want or else we would not worship Him.

Similarly in the evaluation of a church, it is no longer according to the standard set in the Bible but rather to the standards of the World. No longer do we consider whether a church is faithful in its proclamation of the Gospel or Holy Scripture. No longer do we strive for Truth and Holiness amongst the brethren nor warn men of the judgment to come. Rather, the standard of success seen in the church today is the standard set by the World. The biggest, the wealthiest, the most "happening", the most seeker-friendly church is seen as the godliest church.

If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.

- 1 Timothy 6:3-5 (KJV)

For the church today so seeks to be like the World, to compete with it in terms of grandeur, achievements, size, entertainment, etc... Are not the churches that are lauded in Singapore today those with large memberships? Or those with exciting worship services that employ an array of multimedia, drama and dance? Or those with charismatic and personable preachers? Or those that provide a "comfortable" environment where "everyone is accepted" and there is no preaching on the "hard" topics of sin or repentance or self-denial?

Let us turn to the Lord while He is still near, lest we go the way of rebellious Israel and suffer under His Wrath.

The Supremacy of Christ

[A]nd what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

- Ephesians 1: 19-21

"There is not one square inch on planet Earth over which the Risen Christ does not say, 'Mine! And I rule it. I am supreme over it.'"

- Abraham Kuyper

The Judgement of God in the Pulpit

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

- 2 Timothy 4: 3 - 4

The Hatred of the World

I was planning on finally writing up my thoughts regarding the Gospel Invitation and God's Sovereign Grace, but certain recently past events have put that on the back burner for a while.

18 "If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.
19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
20 Remember the word that I said to you: 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
21 But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.
22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.
23 Whoever hates me hates my Father also.
24 If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father.
25 But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: 'They hated me without a cause.'

- John 15: 18-25

For anyone who has not been living under a rock for the past 3 weeks in Singapore, you would know of the "AWARE saga" which has been played up dramatically both in the mainstream media as well as over the internet. There is certainly no need for me to go into detail that which could be easily ascertained over the internet nor would I be commenting directly on the episode itself.

However, what is most striking and telling about this entire episode, and what I have observed over the past year or so, is the wild reaction against Christians and Christianity in general. One need only to browse the myriad of internet forums and online discussion groups for a few months to realize that topics with regards to Christianity more often then not receive more derogatory and negative comments rather than positive ones. And no doubt some of these comments are well-deserved and the issues themselves indefensible. How on earth can one justify paying a pastor half a million dollars or spending tens of millions of dollars on a souped-up church cum entertainment complex without feeling a wee bit foolish in the process. How can one justify the invitation and promotion of a "preacher" who has deviated so wildly from the Truth of God's Word that one could indict it as heretical? Is it not true, as the Apostle Paul wrote to his Jewish readers, that "The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you." (Romans 2:24) Much of what professing Christianity has done in the name of Christ has brought His Name into ill-repute. Men now mock the name of Christ and hold it in derision.

But that is not the main point of this post. While I acknowledge that some of what professing Christianity does deserves the mockings of the World, the lost man will hate true Christianity, as Christ prophesied way before our time. I believe it was Paul Washer who said that the whole world would not be converted if we all lived like Jesus, rather we would all be in prison or crucified. That is because while Jesus never gave Man a cause to hate Him, Man by nature are haters and enemies of God (cf. Rom 1:30, Rom 5:10) because Man is evil while God is Holy. Man recoils at the Holiness of God, and as the Apostle Paul writes in his damning indictment of mankind called Romans chapter 1, suppresses the truth of God his creator.

Throughout human history, Man has sought to deny God His rightful place as Creator and Lord over all creation, whether by raising physical idols to debunking His existence through science and human wisdom (think evolution) and now the latest in this series, the practical denial of any absolute standard of Truth. "All is subjective!" is the mantra of post-modern Man. Who is to say what is right and what is wrong. Judge not lest ye be judged.

The true Church of Jesus Christ has always faced the hatred of the World, whether it be from outside the physical church or from those false teachers/believers within who have "crept in unnoticed" (Jude 4). Therefore it is of little surprise that people should despise Christianity for her stand on homosexuality or for morals in general. There is simply no room for compromise or toleration of a sin that the Lord has explicitly condemned. (cf. Leviticus 18:22, 20:13) Man will continue to rebel against a God who has written His Law upon their hearts (Rom 2:14-15), and apart from a gracious work of the Lord in regeneration, will continue to rebel his way into eternal Hell.

Are we called then to love and minister to homosexuals? Of course, for what then is a homosexual but a sinner in need of grace, just as the adulterer and murderer are, to break free from the bondage of sin. But the Christian who approves of a person in homosexuality as a permissible lifestyle, that is not in need of repentance, is like one who approves the viewing of pornography or dishonesty in business as acceptable.

Will we be labeled as bigots? Will we be called unloving and people who "do not follow the example of Christ's love" even by those within the visible church? Will we be called ignorant, irrelevant, archaic, etc....? Yes, of course and most definitely. Therefore my friends, let us not be surprised or disheartened, as our Lord has predicted we will suffer for bearing His Name. But He who justified us will one day glorify us in Him and indeed let us count the sufferings of this present age unworthy to be compared with the glories to come.

So let us stand firm on Christ, the Rock of our Salvation. Soli Deo Gloria

On Homosexuality and Anorexia

Just saw this news item here on AsiaOne.

SINGAPOREAN netizens are getting riled up over a dangerous Internet trend: Pro-eating disorder websites and support groups painting eating disorders as a lifestyle choice.

What I don't get is why are these people so angry about it? I mean if they can claim that homosexuality is an alternate lifestyle choice, why shouldn't this be as well? Shouldn't they at least be consistent in there position that their are no moral absolutes and everything is relative and up to the individual to decide?

Just goes to show the irrationality of Man.

A Short Post

Last undergrad exam tomorrow. Got lots of stuff I want to write on, God Willing, so I'll be back very soon.

At the mercy of God

It has been a pretty hard couple of weeks, and the two tests plus thesis presentation did not really help matters either. I have come to realize how easy it is for me to turn to pleasures other than God whenever things seem to heat up or stress begins to build up. In my insanity I would turn away from the Spring of Life and turn to indulge in the pleasures of the flesh, which are really no pleasures at all. For no sooner does it enter in that it turns to rot and one is left with an utter sense of despair. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. It was during this past week that I came across this verse in 2 Timothy;

"God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will."

- 2 Timothy 2: 25b - 26

After reading this verse, the one thing that has been in my mind the past few days is this: I am at the mercy of God.

Firstly, it is amazing what the Apostle Paul writes here. So often we think of repentance as something we do, which it is. But very rarely will you hear anyone say or preach that repentance, nay, our entire process of salvation is ordained, purposed and carried out by God Himself. One could say the role of a man in salvation is essentially zero other than as an eternally grateful recipient.

Which leads me to my second and titular point, that Paul could write, inspired by the Holy Spirit, that it essentially God's prerogative to grant mercy and grace as He sees fit. Here then is the only true Free Will in the entire universe. For if God may grant a person repentance, it stands to reason that the opposite also holds true, that God may not grant a person repentance nor let him come to him senses, thus allowing him to store up for himself the Wrath that will be poured out on that Last Day for all eternity. And this great realization, that I am at His mercy, and that at His pleasure He may and is able to throw both my body and soul into Hell, causes me to tremble before the One who sits on that throne. For I know that God would be entirely Just in condemning me to an eternity in darkness for even the smallest sin that I have ever done and I have given no reason whatsoever for Him to show His Mercy and Grace to me.

"What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy."

- Romans 9: 14-16

Oh how evil are the depths of Man's heart. How loathsome is he in the sight of the Holy One. Yet that He should redeem for Himself a people and grant unto us a privilege of which the likes no other being in creation could boast of. For let us never forget of those angels which fell with Satan and of whom no pardon was given or offered at all.

And yet that I should take the grace of God so often in vain and treat His mercy as some small thing. How quick am I to forget the goodness that He has shown to me, and like the children of Israel, turn aside to other "gods" and set my mind on things of the flesh. It is and has always been my constant struggle to have the faith to look in the mirror of God's Word and believe that God would save a wretch like me, who is so easily amused and satisfied by what the World offers.

You are at the mercy of God, should that not cause you to tremble?

The Lonliness of a Christian

The loneliness of the Christian results from his walk with God in an ungodly world, a walk that must often take him away from the fellowship of good Christians as well as from that of the unregenerate world. His God-given instincts cry out for companionship with others of his kind, others who can understand his longings, his aspirations, his absorption in the love of Christ; and because within his circle of friends there are so few who share his inner experiences he is forced to walk alone. The unsatisfied longings of the prophets for human understanding caused them to cry out in their complaint, and even our Lord Himself suffered in the same way.

The man who has passed on into the divine presence in actual inner experience will not find many who understand him. A certain amount of social fellowship will of course be his as he mingles with religious persons in the regular activities of the church, but true spiritual fellowship will be hard to find. But he should not expect things to be otherwise. After all, he is a stranger and a pilgrim, and the journey he takes is not on his feet but in his heart. He walks with God in the garden of his own soul - and who but God can walk there with him?

He is of another spirit from the multitudes that tread the courts of the Lord's house. He has seen that of which they have only heard, and he walks among them somewhat as Zacharias walked after his return from the altar when the people whispered, "He has seen a vision" (see Luke 1:22).

The truly spiritual man is indeed something of an oddity. He lives not for himself but to promote the interests of Another. He seeks to persuade people to give all to his Lord and asks no portion or share for himself. He delights not to be honored but to see his Savior glorified in the eyes of men. His joy is to see his Lord promoted and himself neglected. He finds few who care to talk about that which is the supreme object of his interest, so he is often silent and preoccupied in the midst of noisy religious shoptalk. For this he earns the reputation of being dull and over serious, so he is avoided and the gulf between him and society widens.

He searches for friends upon whose garments he can detect the smell of myrrh and aloes and cassia out of the ivory palaces (see Psalm 45:8), and finding few or none he, like Mary of old, keeps these things in his heart. It is this very loneliness that throws him back upon God. "Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me" (Psalm 27:10).

His inability to find human companionship drives him to seek in God what he can find nowhere else. He learns in inner solitude what he could not have learned in the crowd - that Christ is All in all, that He is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption, that in Him we have and possess life's summum bonum.

Two things remain to be said. One, that the lonely man of whom we speak is not a haughty man, nor is he the holier-than-thou, austere saint so bitterly satirized in popular literature. He is likely to feel that he is the least of all men and is sure to blame himself for his very loneliness. He wants to share his feelings with others and to open his heart to some like-minded soul who will understand him, but the spiritual climate around him does not encourage it, so he remains silent and tells his griefs to God alone.

The second thing is that the lonely saint is not the withdrawn man who hardens himself against human suffering and spends his days contemplating the heavens. Just the opposite is true. His loneliness makes him sympathetic to the approach of the brokenhearted and the fallen and the sin-bruised. Because he is detached from the world he is all the more able to help it.

- A .W. Tozer

HT: Call it Grace

R. C. Sproul and Al Mohler on Seeker-Sensitive Methodology

A must-watch for many Singaporean Christians ignorant of the dangers of the Seeker-Sensitive methodology.

"...It's a strategy of unbelief. The 'minister' wants to grow his church, the 'minister' wants to see success, and so he's looking for all these programs and all these techniques to get people to come in... But he never goes over the bridge and gets to the Word. If you want a power in your Church, be an expository preacher; preach the Word because that's where the Spirit is. Isn't that God's strategy? If we believe God's strategy, we're going to preach the Word."

- R.C. Sproul

HT: LaneCh

Quote of the Day

Equally pitiable is the hand religion of the day, when young "converts" are put to teaching a Sunday school class, urged to "speak" in the open air, or take up "personal work." How many thousands of beardless youths and young girls are now engaged in what is called "winning souls for Christ," when their own souls are spiritually starved! They may "memorize" two or three verses of Scripture a day, but that does not mean their souls are being fed. How many are giving their evenings to helping in some "mission," when they need to be spending the time in "the secret of the Most High"! And how many bewildered souls are using the major part of the Lord’s day in rushing from one meeting to another instead of seeking from God that which will fortify them against the temptations of the week! Oh, the tragedy of this hand "Christianity."

How subtle the Devil is! Under the guise of promoting growth in "the knowledge of the Lord," he gets people to attend a ceaseless round of meetings, or to read an almost endless number of religious periodicals and books; or under the pretence of "honoring the Lord" by all this so-called "service" he induces the one or the other to neglect the great task which God has set before us: "keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life" (Prov. 4:23). Ah, it is far easier to speak to others than it is constantly to use and improve all holy means and duties to preserve the soul from sin, and maintain it in sweet and free communion with God. It is far easier to spend an hour reading a sensational article upon "the signs of the times" than it is to spend an hour in agonizing before God for purifying and rectifying grace!

- A. W. Pink

HT: Call It Grace

Running Out of Time

Less than 2 weeks to FYP submission, and I've still not finished my first draft :X.

Starting to hit the panic button.

Sigh............

Because of Your Love

Because of Your Love - Tim Hughes

This is how I know what love is, this is how I know I'm free,
This is how I know salvation: Jesus came and died for me
This is why I come to worship, this is why i lift my hands
This is why I know surrender
Everything I Am

chorus:
Because of Your Love; there's dancing in my heart
Because of your grace I am free
Because of your faithfulness
There's a song that must be sung
And I will sing, I will sing because of You

I will dance, I will dance, because of You
I will dance, because of You

This is why there's joy within me
this is why my spirit sings:
Jesus your my great adventure
You're my everything


You came to save the world
To save the world, to save the world
Your love can change the world
Can change the world, can change the world

On Relationships

The real beauty of a woman is Christ in her.

I know this is a topic that seems to pop up ever so often on this blog, and I would be a liar to say that it is not something that I have contemplated on at great length in recent months. I also do know that I know exceedingly little of what it really means biblically to be in a relationship, and by extension, marriage.

One of the thing that does bother me though, especially in this modern day consumer culture that has infiltrated the church more pervasively than many realize, is the often lack of passion for God. I pray that I am not being hypocritical or arrogant in this aspect, but this is a very grave issue. Oh there is sometimes a passion for the things of God, but rarely will one hear a person declare, "I do not desire for ministry, I do not desire for accolades or status. I desire Him and Him alone, even at the cost of ministry or comfort or status."

What has this got to do with relationships? Much in every way. To find a woman who has set her mind on spiritual things in SG is already hard enough as it is. To find one whom is God-besot, with a desire for Christ motivated by His sacrifice on the Cross and for His Glory, is rarer than the rarest metal on Earth. Do I seek a perfect woman? No, no. For I know that I myself fall short on so many counts. But I pray that God would be gracious to grant me a person who is a fellow bond-servant and slave in Christ. For what else matters? Does beauty or wealth or intelligence matter in light of eternity? Do not all these things pass away with time? Yet the Beauty of Christ in her never fades, but becomes more magnificent with every step taken as eternity draws nearer.

On Salvation

Why should person come to the cross?
Why should a person embrace death, with Christ?
Why should a person be willing to go in identification down to the cross and into the tomb and up again?
I'll tell you why!
Because it's the only way that God can get glory out of a human being.

-Paris Reidhead
1919 - 1992