Step Into Freedom

Broken

2011-02-02T10:53:00.003-05:00

2011-01-06T12:56:00.002-05:00

2010-03-25T10:49:00.002-04:00

God Saves Bad People. Art Azurdia

2010-01-13T22:47:00.000-05:00

Salvation!

2009-12-19T10:56:00.000-05:00

The Fire

2009-11-20T19:14:00.001-05:00

Christ and the Writings of Moses

2009-11-18T10:24:00.000-05:00

Christ and the Writings of Moses

"For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?" (John 5:46-47)

This sharp rebuke by Jesus to the Jewish leaders who were seeking an occasion to have Him executed came as the climax to a long message following His miracle at the pool of Bethesda. These Jews always made a great show of allegiance to the teachings of Moses in the Pentateuch, so Jesus pointed out that this was hypocritical, since Moses "wrote of me"--yet they refused to "believe my words."

There are many "Christian" intellectuals today who are, if anything, involved in even greater hypocrisy, professing to believe in Christ while rejecting the plain teachings of Genesis and the other books of Moses. The Lord Jesus, for example, taught that "from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female" (quoting Genesis 1:27) and also that, therefore, "shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh" (quoting Genesis 2:24). But these compromising Christians insist that He was quoting from two contradictory accounts of creation, and also that men and women were there not at the "beginning" of creation, but came along about 4.5 billion years after the creation of the earth and about 15 billion years a fter the beginning of the cosmos.

The Lord also taught that the Genesis Flood was global and cataclysmic (Luke 17:26-27), whereas the compromises argue that it was either local or tranquil or both. They also commonly seek to explain away the miracle of the Red Sea parting, the daily bread from heaven, and other mighty miracles recorded in the books of Moses. Rejecting Moses and his teaching to their shame, how can they really believe in Christ when they reject His words? HMM (From the Institute for Creation Research)

God works in the heart of the believers

2009-07-08T09:25:00.000-04:00

He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he trims clean so that it will be even more fruitful ... This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
(John 15:2,8)

God works in the heart of the believers, not on their outward appearances (1 Samuel 16:7). He does not sew a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old garment (Mark 2:21). He makes you a new creation, so you joyfully shout, "the old has gone, the new has come!" (2 Corinthians 5:17).

As a result of this new life you bear fruit. The Father prunes you so you produce much fruit. We all need pruning to lay aside every weight and sin which so easily ensnares us (Hebrews 12:1). We have bad habits, like weights burdening us. We also have evil surroundings ensnaring us. Our abiding in Christ is the condition to bear fruit, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself (John 15:4). Our fruit should increase as we grow in knowing Christ.

The greatest fruit is to live victoriously, defeating Satan and having a successful witness for Christ (Acts 1:8). It glorifies the Father, since it declares the kindness of His care, the goodness of His laws and the abundance of His grace.

Jesus has chosen you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain (John 15:16). He chose you for salvation, and for a service. What an honor!

1995 Open Doors International. Used by permission.

Menes Abdul-Noor is from Egypt, a respected leader of the Christian Church in Cairo.

7/08/09

Which Jesus?

2009-06-21T10:06:00.000-04:00

"The problem with 'asking jesus into your heart' is that there are millions of Jesus' who are waiting to get into your heart, but there's only one true Jesus who says 'Repent and Believe the Gospel' " Rett Copple

What is mercy?

2009-06-20T23:01:00.000-04:00

Mercy is this: a man blasphemes God's holy name, then takes another breath. That is mercy. ~Pastor Wayne Sutton

Memorize Scripture

2009-06-20T14:18:00.001-04:00

Bible Bee

A
Genesis 1:1–2;
Joshua 1:9;
Nehemiah 9:6;
Psalm 1:5–6; 19:14; 23:4; 23:6; 34:4–5; 34:8–9; 34:18–19; 56:3–4; 90:1–2; 100:3; 119:10–11; 119:103–105; 126:5–6;
Proverbs 15:1–2
B
Isaiah 26:3–4;
Matthew 9:37–38; 11:28–30;
John 1:1–2; 1:14; 3:16; 3:19; 3:35-36; 5:24; 10:10; 14:5-6; 14:21; 15:5; 15:10-12; 15:16; 17:3; 20:30–31
C
Acts 1:8; 4:12;
Romans 1:20; 3:23-24; 3:27-28; 5:1-2; 5:7-8; 5:12; 6:22-23; 8:1-2; 8:18-19; 8:31-32; 10:10-11; 10:17; 12:2; 15:4
D
1 Corinthians 2:12; 2:14; 10:13; 10:31-32; 15:3-4; 15:58;
2 Corinthians 4:3–4; 5:17-18; 5:20-21;
Galatians 2:20; 3:22; 5:22–23;
Ephesians 2:10; 4:1–2; 4:25; 4:28; 4:29
E
Ephesians 4:31–32; 5:1–2;
Colossians 1:16; 1:19–20; 3:1–2; 3:9–10; 3:17;
1 Thessalonians 5:16–18;
1Timothy 4:12;
2 Timothy 2:15; 3:16–17;
Titus 2:11–12;
Hebrews 4:14; 10:24–25; 11:3; 11:6; 13:5
F
James 5:16;
1 Peter 1:13; 1:15–16; 2:2–3; 2:20; 2:24; 3:15; 5:10;
2 Peter 1:20–21; 3:9;
1 John 1:7; 1:8–9; 4:10–11; 4:14–15;
1 John 4:20;
Revelation 22:12–13

Category Two

G
Genesis 3:14-15; 8:20–22;
Exodus 15:11–13; 34:6-7;
Deuteronomy 1:29–31; 6:4-9; 32:1-4;
Joshua 1:7–9;
1 Samuel 12:22-25
H
1 Samuel 15:22-23;
1 Chronicles 29:10-13; 19:1-4; 32:6–8; 33:6–9; 37:1-6; 66:16-20; 71:16–18
I
Psalm 85:8-13; 94:8-12; 95:1-7a; 100:1-5; 102:25-28; 103:1-5; 103:20–22; 139:1-6
J
Psalm 139:13–16; 145:1–6;
Proverbs 3:5–10;
Isaiah 40:28-31; 45:5–7; 46:9–11; 59:1–4;
Jeremiah 29:11–13
K
Matthew 5:13-16; 6:9-15; 6:25–27; 6:31-34; 7:11-14; 22:36-40; 28:5–7; 28:18–20;
John 1:1-4
L
John 1:10-14; 3:16-18; 6:37-40; 8:29-32; 10:27–30; 11:25–27; 17:14–16;
Romans 1:16-17
M
Romans 1:18–20; 5:1–5; 5:9–11; 8:5–8; 8:26-27; 8:28–30; 10:8–9; 12:1-2;
1 Corinthians 2:14–16; 6:18–20; 10:12-13
N
1 Corinthians 15:50–54;
Galatians 2:20-21;
Ephesians 2:8–10; 4:1–6; 4:29-32; 5:8-11; 5:15-21; 6:1–4;
Philippians 3:20–21; 4:4–7
O
Philippians 4:8-9; 4:11–13;
Colossians 2:13-14; 3:15-17;
1 Timothy 1:15-17; 4:12-16;
2 Timothy 3:14–17;
Titus 2:11–14;
Hebrews 1:1–3
P
Hebrews 4:12-13; 4:14-16; 10:23-25; 13:5–8;
James 1:22-25; 4:7–10;
1 Peter 2:9-10; 3:15–17; 5:5–7; 5:8–9
Q
2 Peter 1:5-8; 3:9–12;
1 John 2:15–17; 3:1–3; 3:21–24; 4:16-19; 5:11-13; 5:19-20;
Revelation 5:9-10

THE MENACE OF THE RELIGIOUS MOVIE

2009-05-30T14:34:00.000-04:00

THE MENACE OF THE RELIGIOUS MOVIE
by
A.W. Tozer
(1897-1963)

When God gave to Moses the blueprint of the Tabernacle He was careful to include every detail; then, lest Moses should get the notion that he could improve on the original plan, God warned him solemnly, "And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shown thee in the mount." God, not Moses, was the architect. To decide the plan was the prerogative of the Deity. No one dare alter it so much as a hairbreadth.

The New Testament Church also is built after a pattern. Not the doctrines only but the methods are divinely given. The doctrines are expressly stated in so many words. Some of the methods followed by the early New Testament Church had been given by direct command; others were used by God's specific approval, having obviously been commanded the apostles by the Spirit. The point is that when the New Testament canon was closed the blueprint for the age was complete. God has added nothing since that time.

From God's revealed plan we depart at our peril. Every departure has two consequences, the immediate and the remote. The immediate touches the individual and those close to him; the remote extends into the future to unknown times, and may expand so far as to influence for evil the whole Church of God on earth.

The temptation to introduce "new" things into the work of God has always been too strong for some people to resist. The Church has suffered untold injury at the hands of well intentioned but misguided persons who have felt that they know more about running God's work than Christ and His apostles did. A solid train of box cars would not suffice to haul away the religious rubbish which has been brought into the service of the Church with the hope of improving on the original pattern. These things have been, one and all, positive hindrances to the progress of the Truth, and have so altered the divinely-planned structure that the apostles, were they to return to earth today, would scarcely recognize the misshapen thing which has resulted.

Our Lord while on earth cleansed the Temple, and periodic cleansings have been necessary in the Church of God throughout the centuries. Every generation is sure to have its ambitious amateur to come up with some shiny gadget which he proceeds to urge upon the priests before the altar. That the Scriptures do not justify its existence does not seem to bother him at all. It is brought in anyway and presented in the very name of Orthodoxy. Soon it is identified in the minds of the Christian public with all that is good and holy. Then, of course, to attack the gadget is to attack the Truth itself. This is an old familiar technique so often and so long practiced by the devotees of error that I marvel how the children of God can be taken in by it.

We of the evangelical faith are in the rather awkward position of criticizing Roman Catholicism for its weight of unscriptural impedimenta and at the same time tolerating in our own churches a world of religious fribble as bad as holy water or the elevated host. Heresy of method may be as deadly as heresy of message. Old-line Protestantism has long ago been smothered to death by extra-scriptural rubbish. Unless we of the gospel churches wake up soon we shall most surely die by the same means.

Within the last few years a new method has been invented for imparting spiritual knowledge; or, to be more accurate, it is not new at all, but is an adaptation of a gadget of some years standing, one which by its origin and background belongs not to the Church but to the world. Some within the fold of the Church have thrown their mantle over it, have "blessed it with a text" and are now trying to show that it is the very gift of God for our day. But, however eloquent the sales talk, it is an unauthorized addition nevertheless, and was never a part of the pattern shown us on the mount.

I refer, of course, to the religious movie.

For the motion picture as such I have no irrational allergy. It is a mechanical invention merely and is in its essence amoral; that is, it is neither good nor bad, but neutral. With any physical object or any creature lacking the power of choice it could not be otherwise. Whether such an object is useful or harmful depends altogether upon who uses it and what he uses it for. No moral quality attaches where there is no free choice. Sin and righteousness lie in the will. The motion picture is in the same class as the automobile, the typewriter, or the radio: a powerful instrument for good or evil, depending upon how it is applied.

For teaching the facts of physical science the motion picture has been useful. The public schools have used it successfully to teach health habits to children. The army employed it to speed up instruction during war. That it has been of real service within its limited field is freely acknowledged here.

Over against this is the fact that the motion picture in evil hands has been a source of moral corruption to millions. No one who values his reputation as a responsible adult will deny that the sex movie and the crime movie have done untold injury to the lives of countless young people in our generation. The harm lies not in the instrument itself, but in the evil will of those who use it for their own selfish ends.

These pictures are produced by acting a religious story before the camera. Take for example the famous and beautiful story of the Prodigal Son. This would be made into a movie by treating the narrative as a scenario. Stage scenery would be set up, actors would take the roles of Father, Prodigal Son, Elder Brother, etc. There would be plot, sequence and dramatic denouement as in the ordinary tear jerker shown at the Bijou movie house on Main Street in any one of a thousand American towns. The story would be acted out, photographed, run onto reels and shipped around the country to be shown for a few wherever desired.

The "service" where such a movie would be shown might seem much like any other service until time for the message from the Word of God. Then the lights would be put out and the picture turned on. The "message" would consist of this movie. What followed the picture would, of course, vary with the circumstances, but often an invitation song is sung and a tender appeal is made for erring sinners to return to God.

Now, what is wrong with all this? Why should any man object to this or go out of his way to oppose its use in the house of God? Here is my answer:

1. It violates the scriptural law of hearing.

The power of speech is a noble gift of God. In his ability to open his mouth and by means of words make his fellows know what is going on inside his mind, a man shares one of the prerogatives of the Creator. In its ability to understand the spoken word the human mind rises unique above all the lower creation. The gift which enables a man to translate abstract ideas into sounds is a badge of his honor as made in the image of God.

Written or printed words are sound symbols and are translated by the mind into hearing. Hieroglyphics and ideograms were the first symbols used to represent ideas. These ideograms were, in effect, not pictures but letters, and the letters were agreed-upon ideas. Thus words, whether spoken or written, are a medium for the communication of ideas. This is basic in human nature and stems from our divine origin.

It is significant that when God gave to mankind His great redemptive revelation He couched it in words. "And God spake all these words" very well sums up the Bible's own account of how it got here. "Thus saith the Lord" is the constant refrain of the prophets. "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life," said our Lord to His hearers. Again He said, "He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life." Paul made words and faith to be inseparable: "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." And he also said, "How shall they hear without a preacher?"

Surely it requires no genius to see that the Bible rules out pictures and dramatics as media for bringing faith and life to the human soul.

The plain fact is that no vital spiritual truth can be expressed by a picture. Actually all any picture can do is to recall to mind some truth already learned through the familiar medium of the spoken or written word. Religious instruction and words are bound together by a living cord and cannot be separated without fatal loss. The Spirit Himself, teaching soundlessly within the heart, makes use of ideas previously received into the mind by means of words.

If I am reminded that modern religious movies are "sound" pictures, making use of the human voice to augment the dramatic action, the answer is easy. Just as far as the movie depends upon spoken words it makes pictures unnecessary; the picture is the very thing that differentiates between the movie and the sermon. The movie addresses its message primarily to the eye, and the ear only incidentally. Were the message addressed to the ear as in the Scriptures, the picture would have no meaning and could be omitted without loss to the intended effect. Words can say all that God intends them to say, and this they can do without the aid of pictures.

According to one popular theory the mind receives through the eye five times as much information as the ear. As far as the external shell of physical facts is concerned this may hold good, but when we come to spiritual truth we are in another world entirely. In that world the outer eye is not too important. God addresses His message to the hearing ear. "We look," says Paul, "not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." This agrees with the whole burden of the the Bible, which teaches us that we should withdraw our eyes from beholding visible things, and fasten the eyes of our hearts upon God while we reverently listen to His uttered words.

"The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach." Here, and not somewhere else, is the New Testament pattern, and no human being, and no angel from heaven has any right to alter that pattern.

2. The religious movie embodies the mischievous notion that religion is, or can be made, a form of entertainment.

This notion has come upon us lately like a tidal wave and is either openly taught or tacitly assumed by increasing numbers of people. Since it is inextricably bound up with the subject under discussion I had better say more about it.

The idea that religion should be entertaining has made some radical changes in the evangelical picture within this generation. It has given us not only the "gospel" movie but a new type of religious journalism as well. It has created a new kind of magazine for church people, which can be read from cover to cover without effort, without thought---and without profit. It has also brought a veritable flood of religious fiction with plastic heroines and bloodless heroes like no one who has ever lived upon this well known terrestrial ball.

That religion and amusement are forever opposed to each other by their very essential natures is apparently not known to this new school of religious entertainers. Their effort to slip up on the reader and administer a quick shot of saving truth while his mind is on something else is not only futile, it is, in fact, not too far short of being plain dishonest. The hope that they can convert a man while he is occupied with the doings of some imaginary hero reminds one of the story of the Catholic missionary who used to sneak up on sick people and children and splash a little holy water on them to guarantee their passage to the city of gold.

I believe that most responsible religious teachers will agree that any effort to teach spiritual truth through entertainment is at best futile and at worst positively injurious to the soul. But entertainment pays off, and the economic consideration is always a powerful one in deciding what shall and what shall not be offered to the public---even in the churches.

Deep spiritual experiences come only from much study, earnest prayer and long meditation. It is true that men by thinking cannot find God; it is also true that men cannot know God very well without a lot of reverent thinking. Religious movies, by appealing directly to the shallowest stratum of our minds, cannot but create bad mental habits which unfit the soul for the reception of genuine spiritual impressions.

Religious movies are mistakenly thought by some people to be blessed of the Lord because many come away from them with moist eyes. If this is a proof of God's blessing, then we might as well go the whole way and assert that every show that brings tears is of God. Those who attend the theater know how often the audiences are moved to tears by the joys and sorrows of the highly paid entertainers who kiss and emote and murder and die for the purpose of exciting the spectators to a high pitch of emotional excitement. Men and women who are dedicated to sin and appointed to death may nevertheless weep in sympathy for the painted actors and be not one bit the better for it. The emotions have had a beautiful time, but the will is left untouched. The religious movie is sure to draw together a goodly number of persons who cannot distinguish the twinges of vicarious sympathy from the true operations of the Holy Ghost.

3. The religious movie is a menace to true religion because it embodies acting, a violation of sincerity.

Without doubt the most precious thing any man possesses is his individuated being; that by which he is himself and not someone else; that which cannot be finally voided by the man himself nor shared with another. Each one of us, however humble our place in the social scheme, is unique in creation. Each is a new whole man possessing his own separate "I-ness" which makes him forever something apart, an individual human being. It is this quality of uniqueness which permits a man to enjoy every reward of virtue and makes him responsible for every sin. It is his selfness, which will persist forever, and which distinguishes him from every creature which has been or ever will be created.

Because man is such a being as this all moral teachers, and especially Christ and His apostles, make sincerity to be basic in the good life. The word, as the New Testament uses it, refers to the practice of holding fine pottery up to the sun to test it for purity. In the white light of the sun all foreign substances were instantly exposed. So the test of sincerity is basic in human character. The sincere man is one in whom is found nothing foreign; he is all of one piece; he has preserved his individuality unviolated.

Sincerity for each man means staying in character with himself. Christ's controversy with the Pharisees centered around their incurable habit of moral play acting. The Pharisee constantly pretended to be what he was not. He attempted to vacate his own "I-ness" and appear in that of another and better man. He assumed a false character and played it for effect. Christ said he was a hypocrite.

It is more than an etymological accident that the word "hypocrite" comes from the stage. It means actor. With that instinct for fitness which usually marks word origins, it has been used to signify one who has violated his sincerity and is playing a false part. An actor is one who assumes a character other than his own and plays it for effect. The more fully he can become possessed by another personality the better he is as an actor.

Bacon has said something to the effect that there are some professions of such nature that the more skillfully a man can work at them the worse man he is. That perfectly describes the profession of acting. Stepping out of our own character for any reason is always dangerous, and may be fatal to the soul. However innocent his intentions, a man who assumes a false character has betrayed his own soul and has deeply injured something sacred within him.

No one who has been in the presence of the Most Holy One, who has felt how high is the solemn privilege of bearing His image, will ever again consent to play a part or to trifle with that most sacred thing, his own deep sincere heart. He will thereafter be constrained to be no one but himself, to preserve reverently the sincerity of his own soul.

In order to produce a religious movie someone must, for the time, disguise his individuality and simulate that of another. His actions must be judged fraudulent, and those who watch them with approval share in the fraud. To pretend to pray, to simulate godly sorrow, to play at worship before the camera for effect---how utterly shocking to the reverent heart! How can Christians who approve this gross pretense ever understand the value of sincerity as taught by our Lord? What will be the end of a generation of Christians fed on such a diet of deception disguised as the faith of our fathers?

The plea that all this must be good because it is done for the glory of God is a gossamer-thin bit of rationalizing which should not fool anyone above the mental age of six. Such an argument parallels the evil rule of expediency which holds the end is everything, and sanctifies the means, however evil, if only the end be commendable. The wise student of history will recognize this immoral doctrine. The Spirit-led Church will have no part of it.

It is not uncommon to find around the theater human flotsam and jetsam washed up by the years, men and women who have played false parts so long that the power to be sincere has forever gone from them. They are doomed to everlasting duplicity. Every act of their lives is faked, every smile is false, every tone of their voice artificial. The curse does not come causeless. It is not by chance that the actor's profession has been notoriously dissolute. Hollywood and Broadway are two sources of corruption which may yet turn America into a Sodom and lay her glory in the dust.

The profession of acting did not originate with the Hebrews. It is not a part of the divine pattern. The Bible mentions it, but never approves it. Drama, as it has come down to us, had its rise in Greece. It was originally a part of the worship of the god Dionysus and was carried on with drunken revelry.

The Miracle Plays of medieval times have been brought forward to justify the modern religious movie. That is an unfortunate weapon to choose for the defense of the movie, for it will surely harm the man who uses it more than any argument I could think of just offhand.

The Miracle Plays had their big run in the Middle Ages. They were dramatic performances with religious themes staged for the entertainment of the populace. At their best they were misguided efforts to teach spiritual truths by dramatic representation; at their worst they were shockingly irreverent and thoroughly reprehensible. In some of them the Eternal God was portrayed as an old man dressed in white with a gilt wig! To furnish low comedy, the devil himself was introduced on the stage and allowed to cavort for the amusement of the spectators. Bible themes were used, as in the modern movie, but this did not save the whole thing from becoming so corrupt that the Roman Church had finally to prohibit its priests from having any further part in it.

Those who would appeal for precedent to the Miracle Plays have certainly overlooked some important facts. For instance, the vogue of the Miracle Play coincided exactly with the most dismally corrupt period the Church has ever known. When the Church emerged at last from its long moral night these plays lost popularity and finally passed away. And be it remembered, the instrument God used to bring the Church out of the darkness was not drama; it was the biblical one of Spirit-baptized preaching. Serious-minded men thundered the truth and the people turned to God.

Indeed, history will show that no spiritual advance, no revival, no upsurge of spiritual life has ever been associated with acting in any form. The Holy Spirit never honors pretense.

Can it be that the historic pattern is being repeated? That the appearance of the religious movie is symptomatic of the low state of spiritual health we are in today? I fear so. Only the absence of the Holy Spirit from the pulpit and lack of true discernment on the part of professing Christians can account for the spread of religious drama among so-called evangelical churches. A Spirit-filled church could not tolerate it.

4. They who present the gospel movie owe it to the public to give biblical authority for their act: and this they have not done.

The Church, as long as it is following the Lord, goes along in Bible ways and can give a scriptural reason for its conduct. Its members meet at stated times to pray together: This has biblical authority back of it. They gather to hear the Word of God expounded: this goes back in almost unbroken continuity to Moses. They sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs: so they are commanded by the apostle. They visit the sick and relieve the sufferings of the poor: for this they have both precept and example in Holy Writ. They lay up their gifts and bring them at stated times to the church or chapel to be used in the Lord's work: this also follows the scriptural pattern. They teach and train and instruct; they appoint teachers and pastors and missionaries and send them out to do the work for which the Spirit has gifted them: all this has plain scriptural authority behind it.

Now, for the religious movie where is the authority? For such a serious departure from the ancient pattern, where is the authority? For introducing into the Church the pagan art of acting, where is the authority? Let the movie advocates quote just one verse, from any book of the Bible, in any translation, to justify its use. This they cannot do. The best they can do is to appeal to the world's psychology or repeat brightly that "modern times call for modern methods." But the Scriptures---quote from them one verse to authorize movie acting as an instrument of the Holy Ghost. This they cannot do.

Every sincere Christian must find scriptural authority for the religious movie or reject it, and every producer of such movies, if he would square himself before the faces of honest and reverent men, must either show scriptural credentials or go out of business.

But, says someone, there is nothing unscriptural about the religious movie; it is merely a new medium for the utterance of the old message, as printing is a newer and better method of writing and the radio an amplification of familiar human speech.

To this I reply: The movie is not the modernization or improvement of any scriptural method; rather it is a medium in itself wholly foreign to the Bible and altogether unauthorized therein. It is play acting---just that, and nothing more. It is the introduction into the work of God of that which is not neutral, but entirely bad. The printing press is neutral; so is the radio; so is the camera. They may be used for good or bad purposes at the will of the user. But play acting is bad in its essence in that it involves the simulation of emotions not actually felt. It embodies a gross moral contradiction in that it calls a lie to the service of truth.

Arguments for the religious movie are sometimes clever and always shallow, but there is never any real attempt to cite scriptural authority. Anything that can be said for the movie can be said also for aesthetic dancing, which is a highly touted medium for teaching religious truth by appeal to the eye. Its advocates grow eloquent in its praise---but where is it indicated in the blueprint?

5. God has ordained four methods only by which Truth shall prevail---and the religious movie is not one of them.

Without attempting to arrange these methods in order of importance, they are prayer, song, proclamation of the message by means of words, and good works. These are the four main methods which God has blessed. All other biblical methods are sub-divisions of these and stay within their framework.

The whole preach-the gospel-with-movies idea is founded upon the same basic assumptions as Modernism, namely, that the Word of God is not final, and that we of this day have a perfect right to add to it or alter it wherever we think we can improve it.

A brazen example of this attitude came to my attention recently. Preliminary printed matter has been sent out announcing that a new organization is in process of being formed. It is to be called the "International Radio and Screen Artists Guild," and one of its two major objectives is to promote the movie as a medium for the spread of the gospel. Its sponsors, apparently, are not Modernists, but confessed Fundamentalists. Some of its declared purposes are: to produce movies "with or without a Christians slant"; to raise and maintain higher standards in the movie field (this would be done, it says here, by having "much prayer" with leaders of the movie industry); to "challenge people, especially young people, to those fields as they are challenged to go to foreign fields."

This last point should not be allowed to pass without some of us doing a little challenging on our own account. Does this new organization actually propose in seriousness to add another gift to the gifts of the Spirit listed in the New Testament? To the number of the Spirit's gifts, such as pastor, teacher, evangelist, is there now to be added another, the gift of the movie actor? Instead of the Holy Spirit saying, "Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them," these people will make use of what they call a "Christian talent listing," to consist of the names of "Christian" actors who have received the Spirit's gift to be used in making religious movies.

Thus the order set up in the New Testament is openly violated, and by professed lovers of the gospel who say unto Jesus, "Lord, Lord," but openly set aside His Lordship whenever they desire. No amount of smooth talk can explain away this serious act of insubordination.

Saul lost a kingdom when he "forced" himself and took profane liberties with the priesthood. Let these movie preachers look to their crown. They may find themselves on the road to Endor some dark night soon.

6. The religious movie is out of harmony with the whole spirit of the Scriptures and contrary to the mood of true Godliness.

To harmonize the spirit of the religious movie with the spirit of the Sacred Scriptures is impossible. Any comparison is grotesque and, if it were not so serious, would be downright funny. Try to imagine Elijah appearing before Ahab with a roll of film! Imagine Peter standing up at Pentecost and saying, "Let's have the lights out, please." When Jeremiah hesitated to prophesy, on the plea that he was not a fluent speaker, God touched his mouth and said, "I have put my words in thy mouth." Perhaps Jeremiah could have gotten on well enough without the divine touch if he had had a good 16mm projector and a reel of home-talent film.

Let a man dare to compare his religious movie show with the spirit of the Book of Acts. Let him try to find a place for it in the twelfth chapter of First Corinthians. If he cannot see the difference in kind, then he is too blind to be trusted with leadership in the Church of the Living God. The only thing that he can do appropriate to the circumstances is to drop to his knees and cry with poor Bartimaeus, "Lord, that I might receive my sight."

But some say, "We do not propose to displace the regular method of preaching the gospel. We only want to supplement it." To this I answer: If the movie is needed to supplement anointed preaching it can only be because God's appointed method is inadequate and the movie can do something which God's appointed method cannot do. What is that thing? We freely grant that the movie can produce effects which preaching cannot produce (and which it should never try to produce), but dare we strive for such effects in the light of God's revealed will and in the face of the judgment and a long eternity?

7. I am against the religious movie because of the harmful effect upon everyone associated with it.

First, the evil effect upon the "actors" who play the part of the various characters in the show; this is not the less because it is unsuspected. Who can, while in a state of fellowship with God, dare to play at being a prophet? Who has the gall to pretend to be an apostle, even in a show? Where is his reverence? Where is his fear? Where is his humility? Any one who can bring himself to act a part for any purpose, must first have grieved the Spirit and silenced His voice within the heart. Then the whole business will appear good to him. "He feedeth on ashes; a deceived heart has turned him aside." But he cannot escape the secret working of the ancient laws of the soul. Something high and fine and grand will die within him; and worst of all he will never suspect it. That is the curse that follows self-injury always. The Pharisees were examples of this. They were walking dead men, and they never dreamed how dead they were.

Secondly, it identifies religion with the theatrical world. I have seen recently in a Fundamentalist magazine an advertisement of a religious film which would be altogether at home on the theatrical page on any city newspaper. Illustrated with the usual sex-bate picture of a young man and young woman in tender embrace, and spangled with such words as "feature-length, drama, pathos, romance," it reeked of Hollywood and the cheap movie house. By such business we are selling out our Christian separation, and nothing but grief can come of it late or soon.

Thirdly, the taste for drama which these pictures develop in the minds of the young will not long remain satisfied with the inferior stuff the religious movie can offer. Our young people will demand the real thing; and what can we reply when they ask why they should not patronize the regular movie house?

Fourthly, the rising generation will naturally come to look upon religion as another, and inferior, form of amusement. In fact, the present generation has done this to an alarming extent already, and the gospel movie feeds the notion by fusing religion and fun in the name of orthodoxy. It takes no great insight to see that the religious movie must become increasingly more thrilling as the tastes of the spectators become more and more stimulated.

Fifthly, the religious movie is the lazy preacher's friend. If the present vogue continues to spread it will not be long before any man with enough ability to make an audible prayer, and mentality enough to focus a projector, will be able to pass for a prophet of the Most High God. The man of God can play around all week long and come up to the Lord's Day without a care. Everything has been done for him at the studio. He has only to set up the screen and lower the lights, and the rest follows painlessly.

Wherever the movie is used the prophet is displaced by the projector. The least that such displaced prophets can do is to admit that they are technicians and not preachers. Let them admit that they are not God-sent men, ordained of God for a sacred work. Let them put away their pretense.

In conclusion

One thing may bother some earnest souls: why so many good people approve the religious movie. If it is an evil, why have not these denounced it?

The answer is, lack of spiritual discernment. Many who are turning to the movie are the same who have, by direct teaching or by neglect, discredited the work of the Holy Spirit. They have apologized for the Spirit and so hedged Him in by their unbelief that it has amounted to an out-and-out repudiation. Now we are paying the price for our folly. The light has gone out and good men are forced to stumble around in the darkness of the human intellect.

The religious movie is at present undergoing a period of gestation and seems about to swarm over the churches like a cloud of locusts out of the earth. The figure is accurate; they are coming from below, not from above. The whole modern psychology has been prepared for this invasion of insects. The Fundamentalists have become weary of manna and are longing for red flesh. What they are getting is a sorry substitute for the lusty and uninhibited pleasures of the world, and it saves face by pretending to be spiritual.

Let us not for the sake of peace keep still while men without spiritual insight dictate the diet upon which God's children shall feed. The religious movie represents amateurism gone wild. Unity among professing Christians is to be desired, but not at the expense of righteousness. It is good to go with the flock, but I refuse mutely to follow a misled flock over a precipice.

If God has given wisdom to see the error of religious shows we owe it to the Church to oppose them openly. We dare not take refuge in "guilty silence." Error is not silent; it is highly vocal and amazingly aggressive. We dare not be less so.

Let Us Repent and Believe: Faith Born of Need

2009-05-18T10:17:00.000-04:00

Let Us Repent and Believe: Faith Born of Need

Sweet Bondage

2009-05-13T09:16:00.001-04:00

The human mind does not want to comprehend that there is one greater than himself...but if he is ever regenerated, born again, made new by the Creator of Heaven and Earth, there is a freedom in serving the Living God that you can't describe in words. You are free from the heavy burden of the things of this world and you can move on... Read More in joy to the service of our Lord. You finances are free because your desire is for Him. Your mind is free to bring every thought to the captivity of Christ. Your heart is free to love with a holy love that is not dependent on return, it is enough that Christ ask you to do it. You might say that does not sound like freedom to me it sounds like slavery....it is, but what sweet bondage!

Agony

2009-05-12T16:24:00.001-04:00

Joel Osteen, it's just the Truth - Paul Washer

2009-05-09T10:05:00.001-04:00

New Blogs

2009-05-03T21:16:00.002-04:00

I am posting more on Re-Discovering The Way for people seeking to become Christians and new believers.
I'm also posting on Fisher Crow for those who are witnessing or wish to learn to witness.

See if you are in the faith

2009-04-18T08:17:00.001-04:00

How long have you told yourself that "I am a Christian"?
Does your life show that you are?
Do you know what the signs of a healthy Christian are?
Examine Yourself
and see if you are in the faith.
Eternity is a long time.
Click Here and Read "Examine Yourself Article"
Then listen to Examine Yourself Sermon.

Well Said......from The Lawman Chronicles " I no longer want to be called Christian"

2009-04-14T13:54:00.001-04:00

.....To any professing or genuine Christian who visits this blog; to any unbeliever who may visit this blog; let it be known that the Rick Warrens, Joel Osteens, Perry Nobles, Rob Bells, Todd Bentleys, Moral Government theologians and others like them do not represent me, or the God I serve. I do not believe they know the God of the Bible or His Christ. Until they repent, turn from their sin, receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, forsake their heresies and blasphemies, and rightly divide the Word of God they are not my brethren.....

2009-04-02T21:14:00.001-04:00

2009-03-30T18:15:00.000-04:00

William Booth was Right

2009-03-26T13:00:00.001-04:00

Writing one hundred years ago, William Booth,founder of the Salvation Army made
the following prediction. He stated, "I consider that the chief dangers which confront the coming century will be religion without the Holy Spirit, Christianity without Christ,forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, and heaven without hell."

The Holiness of God

2009-03-25T23:08:00.000-04:00

2009-03-25T17:24:00.001-04:00

2009-03-23T23:59:00.001-04:00

Love for the Human Soul from I'll Be Honest on Vimeo.

2009-03-18T15:12:00.001-04:00

Ye Must Be Born Again

2009-03-06T08:26:00.000-05:00

Ye must be born again.
—John 3:7

Regeneration is a subject which lies at the very basis of salvation, and we should be very diligent to take heed that we really are "born again," for there are many who fancy they are, who are not. Be assured that the name of a Christian is not the nature of a Christian; and that being born in a Christian land, and being recognized as professing the Christian religion is of no avail whatever, unless there be something more added to it--the being "born again," is a matter so mysterious, that human words cannot describe it. "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 every one that is born of the Spirit." Nevertheless, it is a change which is known and felt: known by works of holiness, and felt by a gracious experience. This great work is supernatural. It is not an operation which a man performs for himself: a new principle is infused, which works in the heart, renews the soul, and affects the entire man. It is not a change of my name, but a renewal of my nature, so that I am not the man I used to be, but a new man in Christ Jesus. To wash and dress a corpse is a far different thing from making it alive: man can do the one, God alone can do the other. If you have then, been "born again," your acknowledgment will be, "O Lord Jesus, the everlasting Father, Thou art my spiritual Parent; unless Thy Spirit had breathed into me the breath of a new, holy, and spiritual life, I had been to this day 'dead in trespasses and sins.' My heavenly life is wholly derived from Thee, to Thee I ascribe it. 'My life is hid with Christ in God.' It is no longer I who live, but Christ who liveth in me." May the Lord enable us to be well assured on this vital point, for to be unregenerate is to be unsaved, unpardoned, without God, and without hope...Charles H. Spurgeon

2009-02-17T00:40:00.001-05:00

Testimony of realizing the Lordship of following Christ from I'll Be Honest on Vimeo.

Distractions

2009-02-16T19:26:00.002-05:00

I get so amazed at how easy it is to get involved in a project and loose all vision of anything else. I have been working on a business plan to open a restaurant and for 2 days have done nothing else. Oh I have picked up my bible in the morning and before I went to bed and read it, but I was not in communion with my Lord and that bothers me. Lord don't let me get so wrapped up in the things of this world that I push you aside and forget about our relationship. I wonder if I haven't made a mistake taking on this business venture. I miss my freedom and flexibility of time. I miss being able to spend hours in bible study, prayer and listening to sermons. Then again I wonder how can I in my day to day activities keep my mind on the Lord. Is this what I'm supposed to be doing?

Salvation is Serious Buisness

2009-02-12T20:26:00.000-05:00

Are you Safe from God? - Tim Conway - Sermon Jam from I'll Be Honest on Vimeo.

2009-02-12T17:44:00.001-05:00

The Lost Doctrine - Paul Washer from I'll Be Honest on Vimeo.

2009-02-01T21:07:00.000-05:00

God Is Real!

2008-12-27T08:12:00.001-05:00

Do Not Worry....

2008-10-13T11:46:00.004-04:00

Here is a good sermon on the scripture below...DO NOT WORRY...by Pastor Mark Keilar (Mat 6:19-34) Do not lay up treasures on earth for yourselves, where moth and rust corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. 20 But lay up treasures in Heaven for yourselves, where neither moth nor rust corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 22 The light of the body is the eye. Therefore if your eye is sound, your whole body shall be full of light. 23 But if your eye is evil, your whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! 24 No one can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. 25 Therefore I say to you, Do not be anxious for your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor for your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Behold the birds of the air; for they sow not, nor do they reap, nor gather into barns. Yet your heavenly Father feeds them; are you not much better than they are? 27 Which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his stature? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They do not toil, nor do they spin, 29 but I say to you that even Solomon in his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Therefore if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much rather clothe you, little-faiths? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, With what shall we be clothed? 32 For the nations seek after all these things. For your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things.33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.34 Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow; for tomorrow shall be anxious for its own things. Sufficient to the day is the evil of it.

The Meaning of the Cross

2008-09-08T15:40:00.001-04:00

Don't know what to pray?

2008-09-02T18:57:00.000-04:00

if you get tired of praying, "God bless so and so," here are some more specific requests, based on various

Scriptures. Pray that the person (family member, missionary, pastor, yourself, etc.)…

…will love God more fervently from the heart (Matt. 22:37).
…will realize his present exalted position [His beloved sons and daughters] in Christ (Eph. 1:17-2:6).
…will be filled with the Holy Spirit and walk in the Spirit (Eph. 5:18; Gal. 5:16).
…will be regular and systematic in reading, studying, and memorizing His Word (Ps. 119).
…will have the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:15-16).
…will grow daily in Christ-like maturity, developing the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23; Col. 1:28).
…will appropriate the full armor of God (Eph. 6:10-20).
…will be alert to Satan’s strategies (2 Cor. 2:11).
…will not love the world system (1 John 2:15-17).
…will have a spirit of brokenness and humility (Phil. 2:1-8).
…will have a servant’s heart (John 13:1-17).
…will build a godly family (Eph. 5:22-6:4).
…will become an effective prayer warrior (Col. 1:9; 4:12).
…will know God’s hand on him in physical and material things (3 John 2-3; Phil. 4:19).
…will be a faithful steward of all that God entrusts to him (1 Cor. 4:1-2; Matt. 25:14-30).
…will learn to praise the Lord (Psalm 103; 150).
…will live in prayerful worship (John 4:24; Phil. 3:3).
…will love fellow Christians from the heart (Rom. 12:9-13; 1 Pet. 1:22; 4:8).
…will reach out to the lost (1 Cor. 9:19-23).

2008-08-06T21:22:00.003-04:00

In the middle of chaos and disorder, God shows us his promise of peace....
This old barn with the cross on it is in the middle of a huge construction project. This simple reminder of our Savior's love is like an island in the middle of a storm. When I passed it the first time it took my breath away. I went back home and got my camera to take this picture before it's destroyed. Picture taken near Bristol, VA.

Christian Persecution in Eritrea

2008-07-26T21:47:00.003-04:00

Matthew 5:10-12 “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11″Blessed are you when men cast insults at you, and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, on account of Me. 12″Rejoice, and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Our Father

2008-07-23T09:26:00.002-04:00

Our Father (It is a wonderful privilege to be able to come to the living God as children. When we pray this prayer I belive Jesus started with Our Father, to remind us when we pray to remember that we pray not only for ourselves but for the whole body of Christ)
Who is in heaven(Our Father is a heavenly Father, above all things, above all earthly fathers, Our Father in heaven is the ultimate Father, knowing exactly what His children need to grow and trust in Him.)
Hallowed be Your NameAll honor, worship, glory and praise belong to the Father/Son/Holy Spirit for He only is worthy to be praised.
The Lord most Holy, Just, and Merciful is worthy of all our devotion.)
Your Kingdom come Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven(Lord use me to build Your Kingdom, teach me to hear Your voice and be ever obedient to Your word. As the angels in heaven obey You without question, so let me also be a willing joyful child to Your will.)
Give us this day our daily breadLord we acknowledge that all provisions come from You. We ask knowing that our source is You, and it's not anything that man does. All of our blessings come from You and there is nothing good in our lives that do not come from You. Even the air we breath and the ability to breath it comes from You. We thank You for your loving care even if sometimes it doesn't feel to us very loving. We trust You do for us those things that draw us closer to You and develop in us trust.)
And forgive us our debts as we forgive those who are indebted to us.( Father forgive us our sins and keep us ever mindful of those sins. Holy Spirit give us a conscience that will not let us sin. We forgive those that have harmed us either intentionally or unintentionally. We forgive our enemies. )
Lead us not into temptation (Lord don't let us be carried away by our own lusts and fleshly desires, but change our desire toward You. Place in our hearts those things that are according to Your will.)
And deliver us from evil(Lord in these troubled times protect our spirits from evil. Keep us ever mindful of You, garb us with the whole armor of God that we may be ready for battle, and while the body may suffer our spirits will be in accord with You.
Amen

2008-07-21T20:59:00.001-04:00

Revival Conferance 2008

2008-07-10T21:59:00.003-04:00

Will God send another great awakening? Can revival still change nations? There are over 10,000 conferences that happen every year. The 'Revival Conference' is not to be just another conference but a honest, sincere, earnest plea for the desperate need of revival. The conference will have the chief object to be God-glorifying. There is no cost to attend the event. No materials will be sold. There will be no big bands. The speakers will come on their own accord trusting God for provision. There will be no emphasis on money during the event. The event will be a simple, apostolic, yearning for a genuine biblical revival in our day. The conference is hosted by the ministry of sermonindex.net and is a inter-denominational event.

Speakers: Henry Blackaby, Paul Washer,
Denny Kenaston, Al Whittinghill, Bill McLeod,
Roger Ellsworth, Ralph Sutera, Don Currin,
Brent Williamson, Dean Taylor, Alan Martin.

Christian Maturity

2008-07-10T21:46:00.001-04:00

Knowing who we are in Christ

2008-02-29T10:15:00.000-05:00

What a wonderful lesson for any Christian!

2008-02-04T10:22:00.000-05:00

The Cross

2008-01-27T16:28:00.000-05:00

Childlike Faith and God's Ability To Lead

2008-01-26T21:18:00.000-05:00

For the 4 part lessons go HERE

2008-01-19T21:39:00.000-05:00

The Acropolis of the Christian Faith

2008-01-16T19:17:00.000-05:00

A Matter of Life and Death! by Theodore Epp

2008-01-14T17:53:00.000-05:00

James 3:1-6

Consider four parallels that a fire has with words spoken by the tongue: It hurts, it spreads, it consumes, but it can have a good use under control.

It only takes one false or bitter word to hurt deeply. In fact, the hurt may be so deep that recovery is impossible.

Just as fire spreads, so do spoken words. Some people are always willing to listen to destructive words about others, and they spread the words further so the damage becomes even more extensive.

Just as fire consumes, so do words spoken by a tongue that is out of control. Fire will destroy anything combustible that lies within its path. Words, too, have been known to destroy careers and lives. This is especially seen in the news media when political viewpoints are at stake.

We who know Jesus Christ as Saviour need to think solemnly about this matter so our tongues are not used to the disadvantage of others. Proverbs 18:21 says, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit" (NASB).

Think of it! The power of death and life reside in the tongue. And the last phrase of this verse especially applies to those who spread gossip: "Those who love it will eat its fruit."

"Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles" (Prov. 21:23).

2008-01-01T20:05:00.000-05:00

A LOST SOUL SPEAKS

2007-12-16T16:24:00.000-05:00

John Bunyan the famous baptist preacher before his conversion attempted suicide and was given a vision of hell of which he recounts of a soul there speaking of hell: "Our miseries in this infernal dungeon are of two sorts; what we have lost, and what we undergo. And these I will name under their several heads. First then for what we have lost. Here we have likewise lost the company of saints and angels, and in their place have nothing but tormenting devils. Here we have lost heaven too. The seat of blessedness. There is a deep gulf betwixt us and heaven, so that we are shut out from thence forever. Those everlasting gates that let the blessed into happiness are now for ever shut against us here. To make our wretchedness far yet more wretched, we have lost the hope of ever being in a better state, which render our condition truly hopeless. The most miserable man upon earth still has hope. And therefore, it is a common proverb there that were it not for hope, the heart would break. Well may our hearts break then since we are both without hope and help. This is what we have lost; which, but to think on, is enough to fear and rend and gnaw upon our miserable souls forever. Yet, oh, that his were all! But we have sense of pain as well as loss. And having showed you what we have lost, I am trying to show you what we undergo. And first, we undergo variety of torments: we are tormented here a thousand, nay, ten thousand different ways. They that are most afflicted upon earth have seldom any more than one malady at a time. But should they have the plague, the gout, the stone, and fever at a time, how miserable would they think themselves? Yet all those are but like the biting of a flea to those intolerable, pungent pains that we endure. Here we have all the loathed variety of hell to grapple with. Here is a fire that is unquenchable to burn us with; a lake of burning brimstone ever choking us; eternal chain to tie us; here is utter darkness to affright us, and a worm of conscience that gnaws upon us everlastingly. And any one of these is worse to bear than all the torments mankind ever felt on earth."

"But as our torments here are various, so are they universal, too, afflicting each part of the body, tormenting the powers of the soul, which render what we suffer most un-sufferable. In those illnesses you men are seized with on earth, though some parts are afflicted, other parts are free. Although your body may be out of order, your head may yet be well; and though your head be ill, your vitals may be free; or though your vitals be affected, your arms and legs may still be clear. But here it is otherwise: each member of the soul and body is at once tormented. The eye is here tormented with the sight of the devil's who do appear in all the horrid shapes and black appearances that sin can give them. The ear is continually tormented with the loud yellings and continual outcries of the damned. The nostrils smothered with sulphurous flames; the tongue with burning blisters; and the whole body rolled in flames of liquid fire. And all the powers and faculties of our souls are here tormented. The imagination, with the thoughts of the present pain; the memory lost with reflecting on what a heaven we have lost, and of those opportunities we had of being saved. Our minds are here tormented with considering how vainly we have spent our precious time, and how we have abused it. Our understanding is tormented in the thoughts of our past pleasures, present pains, and future sorrows, which are to last for ever. And our consciences are tormented with a continual gnawing worm."

"Another thing that makes our misery awful is the extremity of our torments. The fire that burns us is so violent that all the water in the sea can never quench it. The pains we suffer here are so extreme that it is impossible they should be known by any one but those that feel them. Another part of our misery is the ceaselessness of our torments. As various, as universal, and as extremely violent as they are, they are continual, too. Nor have we the least rest from them. If there were any relaxation, it might be some allay. But this makes our condition so deplorable that there is no easing of our torments, but what we suffer now we must for ever suffer. The society or company we have here is another element in our misery. Tormenting devils and tormented souls are all our company; and dreadful shrieks and howlings, under the fierceness of our pain, and fearful oaths, is all our conversation. And here the torments of our fellow sufferers are so far from lessening our misery that they increase our pain. The place in which we suffer is another thing that increases our sufferings. It is the abstract of all misery, a prison, a dungeon, a bottomless pit, a lake of fire and brimstone, a furnace of fire that burns to eternity, the blackness of darkness for ever; and lastly, hell itself. And such a wretched place as this must needs increase our wretchedness. The cruelty of our tormentors is another thing that adds to our torments. Our tormentors are devils in whom there is no pity; but being tormented themselves, do yet take pleasure in tormenting us. All those particulars that I have reckoned up are very grievous; but that which makes them much more grievous is that they shall ever be so; and all our most intolerable sufferings shall last to all eternity. 'Depart from Me ye cursed into everlasting fires' is that which is perpetually sounding in my ears. Oh, that I could reverse that fatal sentence! Oh, that there was but a bare possibility of doing it! Thus have I showed you the miserable situation we are in, and shall be in forever."

In the prophet Jeremiah God said to the hell bound nation of Moab "I will weep for thee." Can we share God's tears for those that are walking in the vanity of their minds and apart from God. Weep Christian!

If you ask...

2007-12-10T20:46:00.001-05:00

“If you ask for wealth, you may not get it, for it is a small and paltry thing which the Lord may not care to give you. But if you
ask for eternal life, you shall have it, for this is a great thing and God delights to give the greatest blessings to those who come
to Him by Christ Jesus, so that, what might seem to hinder should now encourage!”
...C. H. Spurgeon

Greatness and Goodness

2007-12-10T20:38:00.000-05:00

“In the greatness of our troubles there may often be space for the greater display of the goodness of God!”
C. H. Spurgeon

I will not fear....

2007-12-08T23:26:00.000-05:00

I will not fear, death because to be absent from the body is to be present with My Lord,
I will not fear injury,or sickness because ALL things work together for GOOD to those that love The Lord!
I will not even fear thousand dollar gas bills because I am not laying up treasure on this earth but in heaven where rust does not corrupt or the moth eat of it.
The Lord is able to see me though any trial and I will not look at circumstances but only look at Him, My Lord and Saviour.

The True Meaning of the Cross

2007-11-09T10:32:00.000-05:00

Why?

2007-11-09T10:19:00.000-05:00

How can we be right with God?

2007-11-09T10:05:00.001-05:00

Decisionism

2007-11-09T09:52:00.000-05:00

May the Lamb that was Slain Receive the Reward of His Suffering!

2007-11-07T13:32:00.000-05:00

Is asking Jesus into your Heart the way to be Saved?

2007-11-07T13:28:00.000-05:00

One of the most basic things that has amazed me for many years is the preaching of "Giving your heart to the Lord" or "Asking Jesus into your life" to become a Christian. Do we not realize that such a practice is found NOWHERE in the entire Bible? Is there ANY example of someone "asking Jesus into their heart" (or similar) to become a Christian in the book of Acts? NO - NOT EVEN ONE. The book of Acts is full of literally thousands of people becoming born-again Christians. And we are often told exactly what these people did. But there is no record of any of them doing anything like "asking Jesus into their heart" to be saved...READ MORE

Book of Remembrance

2007-11-07T13:24:00.001-05:00

The Fear of the Lord is the Beginning of Wisdom...

2007-11-06T17:29:00.000-05:00

Don't fear men who can kill you and after you are dead can do no more to you, but fear the one that after you are dead can cast you into the lake that burns forever....
This truth should make people tremble...Why do we say no to God? I would be asking myself that question if I were you.

2007-11-01T21:32:00.001-04:00

The future belongs to those who belong to God. This is hope. ... W. T. Purkiser

2007-10-31T15:54:00.003-04:00

Please Pray for the Firefighters, Police Officers, and Emergency Medical Workers Fighting the CA Fires

2007-10-26T11:39:00.001-04:00

The Most...Prepare to Cry!

2007-10-11T14:29:00.000-04:00

Let me re-introduce the Christ!

2007-10-11T12:52:00.001-04:00

The Genealogy of Grace

2007-10-10T10:28:00.000-04:00

Do you ever skip over all the genealogies in the bible? This one begat this one and this one begat that one and so on and so on...
I tend to do it myself.
Read this article by John MacArthur and it will give you a whole new perspective on all the begats:)
The Genealogy of Grace

Who is the Fourth Man?

2007-10-06T23:06:00.000-04:00

In Genesis, He is the seed of the woman.
In Exodus, He is the Passover Lamb.
In Leviticus, He is our High Priest.
In Numbers, He in the Pillar of cloud buy day, and fire by night.
In Deuteronomy, He is the Prophet, like unto Moses.
In Joshua, He is the Captain of our Salvation.
In Judges, He is our Judge and Lawgiver.
In Ruth, He is our Kinsman-Redeemer.
In Samuel, He is our Trusted Prophet.
In Kings and Chronicles, He is our Reigning King.
In Ezra, He is our Faithful Scribe.
In Nehemiah, He is the Re-builder of the broken down walls.
In Esther, He is our Mordecai.
In Job, He is our Ever-Living Redeemer.
In Psalms, He is our Shepherd.
In Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, He is our Wisdom.
In Song of Solomon, He is our Lover and Bridegroom.
In Isaiah, He is the Prince of Peace.
In Jeremiah, He is the Righteous Branch.
In Lamentations, He is the Weeping Prophet.
In Ezekiel, He is the Wonderful Four-Faced Man.
In Daniel, He is the Fourth Man in the Fire.
In Hosea, He is the Faithful Husband ever married to the backslider.
In Joel, He is the Baptizer with the Holy Spirit.
In Amos, He is our Burden Bearer.
In Obadiah, He is Mighty to Save.
In Jonah, He is our Foreign Missionary.
In Micah, He is the Messenger with Beautiful Feet.
In Nahum, He is the Avenger of God's Elect.
In Habakkuk, He is God's Evangelist.
In Zephaniah, He is our Saviour.
In Haggai, He is the Restorer of God's Lost Heritage.
In Zechariah, He is the Fountain open in the House of David.
In Malachi, He is the Sun of Righteousness, with Healing in His Wing.
In Matthew, He is the Messiah.
In Mark, He is the Wonder-Worker.
In Luke, He is the Son of Man.
In John, He is the Son of God.
In Acts, He is the Holy Ghost.
In Romans, He is our Justifier.
In Corinthians, He is our Sanctifier.
In Galatians, He is the Redeemer from the curse of the Law.
In Ephesians, He is the Christ of unsearchable riches.
In Philippians, He is the Supplier of all our needs.
In Colossians, He is the Fullness of the Godhead bodily.
In Thessalonians, He is our Soon-Coming King.
In Timothy, He is the Mediator between God and man.
In Titus, He is the Faithful Pastor.
In Philemon, He is the Friend that sticketh closer than a brother.
In Hebrews, He is the Blood of the Everlasting Covenant.
In James, He is our Great Physician.
In Peter, He is the Chief Shepherd.
In John, He is Love.
In Jude, He is the Lord, coming with ten thousand of His saints.
In Revelation, HE IS THE KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

Ten Shekels and a Shirt

2007-10-06T21:44:00.000-04:00

That's My King!!

2007-10-05T13:38:00.001-04:00

This is America....

2007-10-03T21:48:00.000-04:00

There is no sin [unchastity] which will sooner bring about a nation’s fall. If history teaches anything, it teaches that sensual indulgence is the surest way to national ruin. Society, in not condemning this sin, condemns itself.
~ F. B Meyer

2007-10-03T21:38:00.000-04:00

The Church needs a mighty overhauling by divine Hands, that is, she needs the baptism with the Holy Ghost and fire....Leonard Ravenhill...(Read More)

Do you really understand what Christ did for us?

2007-10-03T20:36:00.000-04:00

We were born into sin because of the first sin committed by Eve and then Adam in the Garden of Eden. Hell was a place for satan and the fallen angels. It was not a place for man until he disobeyed God. Now because of our sinful nature we are children of disobedience. A just and Holy God MUST punish disobedience. There are many examples in the Old Testament. Many innocent animals died to cover our sin but Christ paid the price for our sin once and for all.
Christ became sin...he became all the vile, filthy, wretched, things that sinful man had ever been and ever would be, and God His Father poured out His wrath that was reserved for us onto His Son. Glory to the Lamb of God!!!

Isaiah 53

1 Who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,
And as a root out of dry ground.
He has no form or comeliness;
And when we see Him,
There is no beauty that we should desire Him.
3 He is despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
4 Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He opened not His mouth;
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment,
And who will declare His generation?
For He was cut off from the land of the living;
For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.
9 And they[a] made His grave with the wicked—
But with the rich at His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was any deceit in His mouth.
10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him;
He has put Him to grief.
When You make His soul an offering for sin,
He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,
And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.
11 He shall see the labor of His soul,and be satisfied.
By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many,
For He shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great,
And He shall divide the spoil with the strong,
Because He poured out His soul unto death,
And He was numbered with the transgressors,
And He bore the sin of many,
And made intercession for the transgressors.

Is there a problem with a "Romantic Lover" Jesus?

2007-10-03T15:00:00.000-04:00

ABOUT THE "ROMANCING JESUS" MOVEMENT:

What does the term "Passion for Jesus" mean to you? Would it surprise you to learn that whole Christian movements are now using it to mean a kind-of "eros" love for Jesus - a 'passion' for Him similar to what an earthly husband and wife have for each other? (-From the word "eros" we ultimately get the word 'erotic'). And what does the term "Intimacy with Jesus" mean to you? Would it surprise you to learn that many are now using it to mean sensual "romantic" encounters with Jesus - with Him as the Bridegroom and them as the 'Bride'?......(read more)

For Those That Love God

2007-10-02T11:08:00.000-04:00

"Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him."
1 Corinthians 2:9

The Revival Hymn

2007-09-28T13:16:00.000-04:00

What are we waiting for?

2007-09-28T12:18:00.001-04:00

That world outside is not waiting for a new definition of Christianity it's waiting for a new Demonstration of Christianity!
...Leonard Ravenhill

Pray for Revival

2007-09-21T10:09:00.000-04:00

Revival Conference
Tuesday, October 23, 2007 at 1:00 pm ET - Thursday, October 25, 2007 at 10:00 pm ET
Canton, OH

CONFERENCE VISION

"How long, Lord?" - Psalm 79:5

Will God send another great awakening? Can revival still change nations? There are over 10,000 conferences that happen every year in America. The "Revival Conference" is not to be just another conference but a honest, sincere, earnest plea for the desperate need of revival in North America. There is no cost to attend the event. There will be a minimal of materials sold. There will be no big bands. The conference will have the chief object to be God-glorifying. The speakers will come on their own accord trusting God for provision. There will be no emphasis on money during the event. A minimal amount of materials will be sold. The event will be a simple, apostolic, yearning for a genuine biblical revival in our day.

This conference is hosted by the ministry of sermonindex.net and is a inter-denominational event. The event will be hosted at the "Trinity Gospel Temple" venue which has been freely given to be used for this event. The conference is not officially affiliated with any denomination or specific church. There is no cost to attend the conference but it is asked that you pre-register to secure a seat for the event.

Jesus said " I am The Way The Truth and The Life and NO man comes to the Father but through me"

2007-09-20T12:23:00.001-04:00

1 Samuel 2 Hannah’s Prayer

2007-09-07T16:46:00.000-04:00

1 Samuel 2
Hannah’s Prayer
1 And Hannah prayed and said:

“My heart rejoices in the LORD;
My horn[a] is exalted in the LORD.
I smile at my enemies,
Because I rejoice in Your salvation.

2 “No one is holy like the LORD,
For there is none besides You,
Nor is there any rock like our God.

3 “Talk no more so very proudly;
Let no arrogance come from your mouth,
For the LORD is the God of knowledge;
And by Him actions are weighed.

4 “The bows of the mighty men are broken,
And those who stumbled are girded with strength.

5 Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,
And the hungry have ceased to hunger.
Even the barren has borne seven,
And she who has many children has become feeble.

6 “The LORD kills and makes alive;
He brings down to the grave and brings up.

7 The LORD makes poor and makes rich;
He brings low and lifts up.

8 He raises the poor from the dust
And lifts the beggar from the ash heap,
To set them among princes
And make them inherit the throne of glory.

“For the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s,
And He has set the world upon them.

9 He will guard the feet of His saints,
But the wicked shall be silent in darkness.

“For by strength no man shall prevail.

10 The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken in pieces;
From heaven He will thunder against them.
The LORD will judge the ends of the earth.

“He will give strength to His king,
And exalt the horn of His anointed.”

How do you know you are saved?

2007-07-27T11:27:00.000-04:00

Casting Crowns "Praise YOU in this Storm"

2007-07-27T11:20:00.000-04:00

Amazed!

2007-07-27T10:28:00.000-04:00

Once you understand what wrenched beings we are and how much the devil has changed us from the perfect creation that God intended into what we are now, you become amazed at God's Grace.
We are nothing!
Disobedient children with a nature diametrically opposed to the Goodness of God.
When you understand the minute details that God put into motion so we would not have to suffer the punishment of satan, you come to understand that God is truly an awesome God!
He could have wiped the slate clean and started over. He could have destroyed his creation with the speaking of a word. In his loving kindness he gave us a way back to him.
His son Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus the Christ) stood in our stead and took the punishment we deserved.
When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden God took an animal and killed it and used the skin to cover the sin that had been committed. I don't know why blood was needed but I do know that I am saved by the blood of Yeshua.
A free gift from God, I did nothing to deserve it and can do nothing to pay for it.
I am thankful that I won't have to spend eternity in the lake of fire with satan and his demons.
I can be forever present with God. I thank you Lord for making a way for me. You alone are worthy, there is none Good but you. Your mercies are new every morning.
Sin is slavery but Salvation is freedom! Thank you!!

How about you? are you sick of never feeling full? always hungry for something? can't get enough? What do you strive for? Food, clothes, possessions, drink, drugs, adventure, movies, books, cars, women, men, sex, relationships, sports, gambling, ...what is that thing you can't get enough of? What drives you? Do you ever feel a lasting satisfaction? How long before the good feeling of the last movie wears off? How long before you need another drink? How soon are you looking for the next book, the next partner, the next fix the next______________________?
There is only one book and that's God's word and if you call on him...REPENT (turn away, change your attitude) of your sin, ask forgiveness, believe that Yeshua paid your fine and trust in him, you can be free from that never ending hunger and thirst.
Ask God to call you, to set you on the path of righteousness. It's not dull! It's the biggest adventure you can ever go on. Trust Jesus!

Go here for more information on how to become free....
Living Waters Dotcom

2007-07-19T11:02:00.001-04:00

Christian Glitter by www.christianglitter.com

Rapture

2007-06-22T15:45:00.000-04:00

Want a worthy cause? Try this....

2007-06-21T11:59:00.000-04:00

Hearth Cry Missionary

So often we give our money away to churches and organization and you wonder if the money God gave you stewartship over is going to the right places. I don't think you'll have to give it a second thought with this group.

Paul Washer....This is preaching!

2007-06-14T12:25:00.000-04:00

Paul Washer Preaching at Youth Meeting

This is a Shockingly Powerful & Biblical message
preached to about 5,000 youth in a day when youth
are appealed to through shallow and worldly means.

At one point in this sermon the 5,000 Youth are
clapping and yelling BUT THEN the preacher makes
a comment that CHANGES THE WHOLE ATMOSPHERE TO
WHERE YOU COULD HAVE HEARD A PIN DROP... As you
can imagine, the preacher was never invited back.

We believe the whole sermon will be a blessing
to many souls. For more info about Paul Washer
go to www.heartcrymissionary.com

Why Hate crime laws would ban Biblical Christianity

2007-05-14T22:44:00.001-04:00

"...the real danger
of 'hate crime' laws is that
they criminalize thoughts and beliefs

.'"Prescription for tyranny

"...a school administrator
told the student: 'Leave your faith in the car'

when your beliefs might offend others."
'Leave your
faith in the car'

"Arlene Elshinnawy, 75, and
grandmother of three, was holding a sign: 'Truth is hate to those who hate the
truth,' before she was hauled off by police officers."

Christians in bull's-eye

"Practitioners of homosexual, cross-dressing, transvestism, and
transsexualism become federally-protected minority groups...."
Congress denying equal protection
"The notion of the
'hate crime' has now been
established in English law.
Thanks to the mullahs, anyone daring to subject the Muslim faith to the
same kind of harsh analysis brought to bear on Christianity or Judaism
could be convicted as a 'hate criminal.'"
The Menace of the Lobby

Read More....

Great is the Lord!

2007-05-14T22:37:00.001-04:00

I proclaim the greatness of the Lord. Me who being born in sin, my innocence ripped from me at the age of 3 and I wallowed and lusted after the flesh. Lying, knowing that even as a child I should have proclaimed the sin. I am a filthy sinner, but for the Lord Jesus Christ I would still be wallowing in sin. The blood of Jesus Christ washed me clean and put in me a new heart. No longer a child of evil works but striving to be holy as God is Holy. I proclaim the Greatness of the Lord! Holy is His name! Praise be the wonderful King of Kings and Lord of Lords!

Hollywood Blaphemy

2007-05-04T14:58:00.000-04:00

Do you watch movies that take the name of the Lord in vain? I don't think I'll ever watch another movie or tv show that does.....
See this video..
Hollywood Blasphemy
Sometimes we let our guard down. Let things slide...take the easy path....we hear so much that our ears become numb to what's really being said. We see so much our eyes are blinded to what we are really seeing....
It's not worth it! I was taught a lesson today...Dear Lord I confess my sin, I repent of it and ask your forgiveness!

What is important to you?

2007-04-30T20:06:00.000-04:00

The Many Faces of Idolatry

Virgina Tech

2007-04-16T22:00:00.001-04:00

In the midst of heavy rain and heavy wind my Mother calls me to let me know that 30 people have been shot at Virginia Tech. We can't really get the news because the high winds and water have damaged the phone lines somehow.

I find out later that this was a case of domestic violence.

I ask the Father to please pour out his Holy Spirit on men, that they learn to love their wives and children, I ask that he pour out his Spirit on women that they love their children and husbands with the love of Christ, in the name of Yeshua.

My daughter-in-laws cousin just lost a baby because her husband decided he did not want any more children and beat her stomach till the baby died.

Our judicial system is very ineffective at dealing with these problems and in a lot of case add to the problem causing worse abuse and death.

As a victim of domestic violence from the age of 3 years old until age 36 my heart is heavy with grief for these people.

I did not understand when I was a child how someone I loved so much could beat me the way I was beat. I did not understand how a husband that I loved could do the same thing.

I do not understand now how women cannot love their children, how men can be joined to a woman and then abuse her, how women having the devotion and affection of a good husband cheat on them.

I know that it is the works and lies of satan, and there is no comfort in that knowledge.

Perfect love casts out all fear....Lord teach us to love perfectly.

To God be the Glory

2007-03-16T19:51:00.000-04:00

Great is he that is in me, than he that is in the world.

Perfect love, casts out all fear!

The Job Story Amplified

2007-02-27T11:08:00.000-05:00

Have you ever read the story of Job? We are that story. satan is the ruler of this world, for now. We are under attack. We need to fight. Putting on the armor of God. Using the name of Jesus to repel and thward the plans of satan and his band of fallen angels every moment of every day.
Get rid of everything that does not glorify God. Pray the names of Jesus.
God destroyed all but 8 souls once because the hearts of men considered only evil all the time.
Take a look at what is going on. Greed, envy, lust, etc. etc. ad nausium...
Don't entertain these creatures. Stay out of the theaters and stop renting the horror movies. They are portals for satan and his horde to invade your life.
Be kind, gentle, loving, peaceful, helpful, trustworthy. Think on the wonderful things of God.
Remember GIGO (garbage in garbage out) well it works in reverse as well.
(Good in Good out).

Phl 4:8
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things [are] honest, whatsoever things [are] just, whatsoever things [are] pure, whatsoever things [are] lovely, whatsoever things [are] of good report; if [there be] any virtue, and if [there be] any praise, think on these things.

If it does not glorify God. Don't watch it, read it, listen to it, or have it in your life.

A Helper, Peace and the ruler of this world

2007-02-25T21:58:00.000-05:00

John 14.... 25 “These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. 28 You have heard Me say to you, ‘I am going away and coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, ‘I am going to the Father,’ for My Father is greater than I. 29 “And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe. 30 I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me. 31 But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do. Arise, let us go from here.