Calvinism

See --> I HATE CALVINISM!!!!

Build Your Own Bible

Check out THIS great idea from Southern Seminary student, Todd Young.

He takes you through a step by step, illustrated process that shows how you can build your own Bible that contains blank pages for study notes.

What to do when sitting with a Calvinist

If you are not able to read the print on the image above, I have copied the 7 steps that one needs to take when exposed to a Calvinist (below).

1 Do not engage a Calvinist in a conversation, no matter how nice he or she may appear.
2 Ignore the Calvinist, and read a book or magazine.
3 If the Calvinist persists, pretend to be a Muslim and pray. Remember, Calvinists are worse than Muslims.
4 If pretending to be Muslim doesn’t work, feign SARS, or Ebola.
5 If there are multiple Calvinists on the plane, bottles of Calvinix will drop from ceiling panels above your seat.
6 Upon arrival at your final destination freely exit the plane leaving all of your personal items behind.
7 Exit the plane via the emergency shute, helping other passengers in need. Flee immediately to your nearest bookstore and read anything by Dave Hunt.

What a tragedy it is for someone to write this. It is an even greater tragedy to the face of Calvinism. The person who published this obviously has come up against, as I call them "crooked nosed" Calvinists; Calvinists who are mostly intrested in being right with little regard to the person that they are approaching. This is a tragedy. Yes, these types of Calvinists are full of Truth however, I have to wonder where the love is.

2 John states in chapter 1, "Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father's Son, will be with us in truth and love." Grace, mercy and peace will follow us where ever we go because, these are reflections of the attributes that He posesses. They are not self derived attributes.

If the attributes that we display to our Arminian brothers are akin to what it appears have been displayed to the brother who wrote the above, it needs to make us, who claim the Doctrines of Grace, wonder if we reflect ourselves or if we reflect the one who graciously condescended to stoop and capture our hearts.

We need to remember that our hearts have been arrested. We are now slaves to Christ. We are His. Thus, we should look like Him. If we aren't, we need to examine ourselves more closely.

Intrestingly, I came across the following video of Ray Comfort who is a Calvinist. He is witnessing to a young lady (of all places) on an airplane. What providence!!! ;) hehehe This man displays Truth and love. He is a man who desperately loves God and desperately desires to see all men come to Christ. He exemplifies the heart of a true Calvinist.

Vida Eterna

"The sad part is that illegals often come here wanting to provide for their families back home—but the reality is that their absence often deteriorates the family more than if they’d never left.”

For some reason I was not able to link to the article "One Question" at The WeB Magazine Of the Presbyterian Church in America, so I copied and pasted it below.


One Question

ByFaith asked four pastors and missionaries, all of them with years of experience with Hispanic immigrants this question: How should the fact that illegal immigrants have knowing broken the law affect our attitudes toward them. One pastor in Florida told us: “I don’t ask the immigrants we help whether they are here legally or not. It’s incumbent upon us to love our neighbors and to help meet their needs.

But I take a different stance about those south of the border. Those who want to come here illegally shouldn’t do it. But we can’t close our doors to those who are already here. We’re still called upon to love mercy and act justly toward them.

The sad part is that illegals often come here wanting to provide for their families back home—but the reality is that their absence often deteriorates the family more than if they’d never left.”

Here are three other replies.

Question: How should the fact that immigrants knowingly broke the law affect our attitudes toward them?

In many cases, we don’t know why people are breaking the law (whether it’s for a family member in need, for example). So my attitude should be to try to understand why they’ve come to the U.S., what their needs are, and their reality here.

But I disagree with those who put water bottles in the desert for illegals crossing the border. I think it’s better to discourage that behavior.

An illegal Mexican immigrant visited the church I pastored in Houston and asked for advice on what he should do. We talked and prayed about it, and it didn’t seem to me that he had a good reason to be here. I counseled him, “For your own good and for the good of your family, I think you should go back.” And he did.

Another illegal couple had become Christians after they moved to the U.S. They were concerned about the lies they had told, and I counseled them to tell the truth to the authorities. They had the mindset that they would be at peace either way: whether they were deported back to Mexico and would help plant a church there, or whether they would stay in our church community in Houston. The authorities let them stay, and that man is a deacon in the church today. It’s a great story of Christians having a big view of God.

Alex Villasana, a Mexican national (both he and his wife have green cards, their two children are U.S. citizens) is planting a PCA church in Norcross, Ga.


Question: How should the fact that immigrants knowingly broke the law affect our attitudes toward them?

We must show hospitality to the alien among us. The state and the kingdom of God do not have the same interests, so we shouldn’t get caught up in the tenor of national politics on this issue.

Violating immigration law is not the same thing as committing murder, though some have equated the two. Our missionaries overseas violate immigration laws all the time. So the question to me is, why do we treat illegal immigrants differently than we treat congregants who speed in traffic or lie on their taxes?

We’re trying to enfold our Hispanic community members into our church. Instead of establishing another church, we’re trying to welcome them into our existing family. It’s hard, but it’s what the gospel is all about.

Travis Hutchinson is pastor of Highlands Presbyterian Church in LaFayette, Ga. The church offers blended services (English and Spanish together) in an increasingly Hispanic community.

Question: How should the fact that immigrants knowingly broke the law affect our attitudes toward them?

Christians are not thinking gospel-centered when it comes to this issue. They reveal a confusion of sword with cross, and the state with the gospel.

Jesus did not do any background checks, and He didn’t question the reason for anyone's sins or oppression, but instead ministered respectfully and gracefully to all. Therefore, the gospel of Jesus Christ embedded in our attitude is the only rule of conduct for ministering to sinners, even illegal immigrants. Are we servants of the gospel or enforcers of the state?

However, I believe that Christian illegals, if they can't get legal papers to stay, should go back to their countries out of their relationship to the lordship of Christ.

Al Guerra is a Cuban-born pastor to Hispanics in Chicago, who is getting his doctorate of ministry degree through Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando.

Let the Nations be Glad!

Check out --> MISSIONS ATLAS PROJECT

It Was Truly A Miracle

I went on a mission trip to Acuna, Mexico this past week and was able to see many people pray to receive Christ as their Savior. However, few evidenced true conversion. I am not saying that those who prayed to receive Christ who did not show outward signs of conversion were not regenerated. I am saying that few evidenced being born again like the lady in this picture.

I walked up to this lady and her mother to share the Gospel with them and shortly after, her husband joined us. Because I do not speak Spanish I had to have an interpreter. From the start, I could tell that the Holy Spirit was working on this lady shortly after I began sharing with her. You could see that she was deeply disturbed. I presented the Gospel as clearly as possible but she did not at that point want to cry out to her Creator to be saved.

By God's providence, another interpreter came up who was in the Catholic Theology class that I was in. I knew that he would be able to answer her questions more clearly than what I could. I gave him the reins and asked him to present the Gospel to her in her own language.

He was able to answer her questions much more clearly than I. Because of this, their conversation was very "smooth". He asked her if she understood everything that she had just been taught and she answered yes. He then asked her if she understood her position before God and she said that she did. Last he asked her if she felt that God was calling her and she said tearfully said YES.

He then led her in prayer to receive the greatest Gift of all.

This picture was taken as she was praying to receive Christ as her LORD and Savior. You can see a tear rolling down her cheek if you look closely.

May God bless her all of the days of her life.

Praise God for being the Giver of life! To Him be the glory forever and ever!

Bridge Builder

“Our greatest challenge is to recover our passion for the gospel in evangelism and missions and to renew our determination to defend the gospel in an age of postmodern confusion. I would hope to articulate a vision that would unite Southern Baptists and energize us together.”

-Al Mohler on being nominated as SBC president