Not a fan of "all" of CS Lewis' works but what he wrote in his book 'The Screwtape Letters' was brilliant
as to how the enemy seeks to work in the lives of believers. This is the 1st Chapter of 22. Enjoy!
March 21, 2012
March 19, 2012
He Knows My Name
What a comfort to know that He knows our name and is with us through our most trying times.
Thank you Jesus, that when all else fails I can count on YOU!
Thank you Jesus, that when all else fails I can count on YOU!
March 8, 2012
Trojan Horse Pride of Life
EX Ministries Trojan Horse Pride of Life from EX Ministries on Vimeo.
“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” This is the pride of Life; a life that turns the heart of an artist to seek after opportunities to be seen before men; while they parade around in false humility masking their inner most ambitions of making their name great with Gods. For centuries church folks have made music their platform for merchandising their version of the gospel and using their talent to affirm and validate them with the world. (A ministry of helps disguised as evangelism called to the reach the world and the industry.) But instead they have become enemies of God, deceived by their own hearts. The industry is a system that is set-up to lift up man so that they are worshiped as superstars. This is the same scenario that displeased God in heaven and the end game that got Lucifer kicked out! It is a Trojan horse, the pride of life. I John 2:15-17March 6, 2012
Churches adopt new Ten Commandments
Just another version of let's make our own "religion" - unbelievable! Definitely would not want to be this guy on judgment day.
Churches adopt new Ten Commandments
By Hannah Furness
Hundreds of churches across the country are now preaching an updated version of the Ten Commandments, rewritten to reflect modern values.
The religious rules, which Christians believe were etched onto tablets by God and given to Moses, have been modified to use up-to-date language and principles.
Inspired by last year’s riots, the new vows include “manage your anger”, “know God” and “catch your breath” and are understood to be used in more than 600 churches in Britain.
The original “thou shalt not steal” has become “prosper with a clear conscience”, and the lengthy “thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain” becomes “take God seriously”.
The commandments, designed by popular evangelical preacher J John, have been praised by religious leaders for bringing practical advice to modern congregations.
Using short, simple language interspersed with slang, the new rules have now been released on a DVD called “just10 for churches”, aimed at providing guidance.
The tenth commandment, for example, has altered the Biblical “thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's” to just “find contentment.”
“Thou shalt not commit adultery” have been edited to “affair-proof your relationships”, and “honour thy father and thy mother” has altered to “keep the peace with your parents”.
J John claims his commandments enable "everyone to understand God's timeless principles on how we should live" and said he was inspired to write them by last summer’s riots.
He said: "Along with a lot of people I think about the way that we live nowadays and what leads people to do the sort of things that happened in the riots - whether or not we have forgotten something about a good way of living."
The Reverend Paul Roberts, 54, vicar of St John the Evangelist in Old Coulsdon, Surrey, which dates back to 1210 AD, is among those using the new commandments.
He said: "It's basically a way of presenting the Ten Commandments to help people connect with them in a positive way.
"Rather than just seeing them as a list of things you shouldn't do, it is meant to help people live as God intended for our good.
"Unlike the dos and don'ts most people imagine when quizzed about the maker's instructions, the message is meant to be both a challenge and an encouragement."
Wayne Dulson, 40, minister of Loughton Baptist Church, Essex said: "People really engaged with the Ten Commandments in a new and fresh way.
"People now see these commandments not as a set of rules but as a template for living so that we experience God's best for our lives.
"All ten commandments were extremely challenging, especially as the series helped us see them in the context of modern day living.
"People keep telling me how just10 has made them think much more about how they live their lives and also how much they have learnt about the commandments as they found out things they never knew before."
Steve Jenkins, spokesman for the Church of England, said they supported new ways of communicating and added: "The Book Of Common Prayer is very clear that the faith needs to be taught afresh in every generation."
Even former Conservative Shadow Home Secretary Ann Widdecombe, who left the Church of England after objecting to women priests, has backed J John's rules.
"I'd say it's not a patch on Moses but not a bad set of rules really," she said.
"What he's trying to do is offer a modern take on the original to explain it to a modern audience, which is fine as long as he doesn't dispense with the original."
Source
Churches adopt new Ten Commandments
By Hannah Furness
Hundreds of churches across the country are now preaching an updated version of the Ten Commandments, rewritten to reflect modern values.
The religious rules, which Christians believe were etched onto tablets by God and given to Moses, have been modified to use up-to-date language and principles.
Inspired by last year’s riots, the new vows include “manage your anger”, “know God” and “catch your breath” and are understood to be used in more than 600 churches in Britain.
The original “thou shalt not steal” has become “prosper with a clear conscience”, and the lengthy “thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain” becomes “take God seriously”.
The commandments, designed by popular evangelical preacher J John, have been praised by religious leaders for bringing practical advice to modern congregations.
Using short, simple language interspersed with slang, the new rules have now been released on a DVD called “just10 for churches”, aimed at providing guidance.
The tenth commandment, for example, has altered the Biblical “thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's” to just “find contentment.”
“Thou shalt not commit adultery” have been edited to “affair-proof your relationships”, and “honour thy father and thy mother” has altered to “keep the peace with your parents”.
J John claims his commandments enable "everyone to understand God's timeless principles on how we should live" and said he was inspired to write them by last summer’s riots.
He said: "Along with a lot of people I think about the way that we live nowadays and what leads people to do the sort of things that happened in the riots - whether or not we have forgotten something about a good way of living."
The Reverend Paul Roberts, 54, vicar of St John the Evangelist in Old Coulsdon, Surrey, which dates back to 1210 AD, is among those using the new commandments.
He said: "It's basically a way of presenting the Ten Commandments to help people connect with them in a positive way.
"Rather than just seeing them as a list of things you shouldn't do, it is meant to help people live as God intended for our good.
"Unlike the dos and don'ts most people imagine when quizzed about the maker's instructions, the message is meant to be both a challenge and an encouragement."
Wayne Dulson, 40, minister of Loughton Baptist Church, Essex said: "People really engaged with the Ten Commandments in a new and fresh way.
"People now see these commandments not as a set of rules but as a template for living so that we experience God's best for our lives.
"All ten commandments were extremely challenging, especially as the series helped us see them in the context of modern day living.
"People keep telling me how just10 has made them think much more about how they live their lives and also how much they have learnt about the commandments as they found out things they never knew before."
Steve Jenkins, spokesman for the Church of England, said they supported new ways of communicating and added: "The Book Of Common Prayer is very clear that the faith needs to be taught afresh in every generation."
Even former Conservative Shadow Home Secretary Ann Widdecombe, who left the Church of England after objecting to women priests, has backed J John's rules.
"I'd say it's not a patch on Moses but not a bad set of rules really," she said.
"What he's trying to do is offer a modern take on the original to explain it to a modern audience, which is fine as long as he doesn't dispense with the original."
Source
March 1, 2012
The Old Cross and the New
By A.W. Tozer
ALL UNANNOUNCED AND MOSTLY UNDETECTED there has come in modern times a new cross into popular evangelical circles. It is like the old cross, but different: the likenesses are superficial; the differences, fundamental.
From this new cross has sprung a new philosophy of the Christian life, and from that new philosophy has come a new evangelical technique-a new type of meeting and a new kind of preaching. This new evangelism employs the same language as the old, but its content is not the same and its emphasis not as before.
The old cross would have no truck with the world. For Adam's proud flesh it meant the end of the journey. It carried into effect the sentence imposed by the law of Sinai. The new cross is not opposed to the human race; rather, it is a friendly pal and, if understood aright, it is the source of oceans of good clean fun and innocent enjoyment. It lets Adam live without interference. His life motivation is unchanged; he still lives for his own pleasure, only now he takes delight in singing choruses and watching religious movies instead of singing bawdy songs and drinking hard liquor. The accent is still on enjoyment, though the fun is now on a higher plane morally if not intellectually.
The new cross encourages a new and entirely different evangelistic approach. The evangelist does not demand abnegation of the old life before a new life can be received. He preaches not contrasts but similarities. He seeks to key into public interest by showing that Christianity makes no unpleasant demands; rather, it offers the same thing the world does, only on a higher level. Whatever the sin-mad world happens to be clamoring after at the moment is cleverly shown to be the very thing the gospel offers, only the religious product is better.
The new cross does not slay the sinner, it redirects him. It gears him into a cleaner and jollier way of living and saves his self-respect. To the self-assertive it says, "Come and assert yourself for Christ." To the egotist it says, "Come and do your boasting in the Lord." To the thrill seeker it says, "Come and enjoy the thrill of Christian fellowship." The Christian message is slanted in the direction of the current vogue in order to make it acceptable to the public.
The philosophy back of this kind of thing may be sincere but its sincerity does not save it from being false. It is false because it is blind. It misses completely the whole meaning of the cross.
The old cross is a symbol of death. It stands for the abrupt, violent end of a human being. The man in Roman times who took up his cross and started down the road had already said good-by to his friends. He was not coming back. He was going out to have it ended. The cross made no compromise, modified nothing, spared nothing; it slew all of the man, completely and for good. It did not try to keep on good terms with its victim. It struck cruel and hard, and when it had finished its work, the man was no more.
The race of Adam is under death sentence. There is no commutation and no escape. God cannot approve any of the fruits of sin, however innocent they may appear or beautiful to the eyes of men. God salvages the individual by liquidating him and then raising him again to newness of life.
That evangelism which draws friendly parallels between the ways of God and the ways of men is false to the Bible and cruel to the souls of its hearers. The faith of Christ does not parallel the world, it intersects it. In coming to Christ we do not bring our old life up onto a higher plane; we leave it at the cross. The corn of wheat must fall into the ground and die.
We who preach the gospel must not think of ourselves as public relations agents sent to establish good will between Christ and the world. We must not imagine ourselves commissioned to make Christ acceptable to big business, the press, the world of sports or modern education. We are not diplomats but prophets, and our message is not a compromise but an ultimatum.
God offers life, but not an improved old life. The life He offers is life out of death. It stands always on the far side of the cross. Whoever would possess it must pass under the rod. He must repudiate himself and concur in God's just sentence against him.
What does this mean to the individual, the condemned man who would find life in Christ Jesus? How can this theology be translated into life? Simply, he must repent and believe. He must forsake his sins and then go on to forsake himself. Let him cover nothing, defend nothing, excuse nothing. Let him not seek to make terms with God, but let him bow his head before the stroke of God's stern displeasure and acknowledge himself worthy to die.
Having done this let him gaze with simple trust upon the risen Saviour, and from Him will come life and rebirth and cleansing and power. The cross that ended the earthly life of Jesus now puts an end to the sinner; and the power that raised Christ from the dead now raises him to a new life along with Christ.
To any who may object to this or count it merely a narrow and private view of truth, let me say God has set His hallmark of approval upon this message from Paul's day to the present. Whether stated in these exact words or not, this has been the content of all preaching that has brought life and power to the world through the centuries. The mystics, the reformers, the revivalists have put their emphasis here, and signs and wonders and mighty operations of the Holy Ghost gave witness to God's approval.
Dare we, the heirs of such a legacy of power, tamper with the truth? Dare we with our stubby pencils erase the lines of the blueprint or alter the pattern shown us in the Mount? May God forbid. Let us preach the old cross and we will know the old power. (A. W. Tozer, Man, the Dwelling Place of God, 1966)
ALL UNANNOUNCED AND MOSTLY UNDETECTED there has come in modern times a new cross into popular evangelical circles. It is like the old cross, but different: the likenesses are superficial; the differences, fundamental.
From this new cross has sprung a new philosophy of the Christian life, and from that new philosophy has come a new evangelical technique-a new type of meeting and a new kind of preaching. This new evangelism employs the same language as the old, but its content is not the same and its emphasis not as before.
The old cross would have no truck with the world. For Adam's proud flesh it meant the end of the journey. It carried into effect the sentence imposed by the law of Sinai. The new cross is not opposed to the human race; rather, it is a friendly pal and, if understood aright, it is the source of oceans of good clean fun and innocent enjoyment. It lets Adam live without interference. His life motivation is unchanged; he still lives for his own pleasure, only now he takes delight in singing choruses and watching religious movies instead of singing bawdy songs and drinking hard liquor. The accent is still on enjoyment, though the fun is now on a higher plane morally if not intellectually.
The new cross encourages a new and entirely different evangelistic approach. The evangelist does not demand abnegation of the old life before a new life can be received. He preaches not contrasts but similarities. He seeks to key into public interest by showing that Christianity makes no unpleasant demands; rather, it offers the same thing the world does, only on a higher level. Whatever the sin-mad world happens to be clamoring after at the moment is cleverly shown to be the very thing the gospel offers, only the religious product is better.
The new cross does not slay the sinner, it redirects him. It gears him into a cleaner and jollier way of living and saves his self-respect. To the self-assertive it says, "Come and assert yourself for Christ." To the egotist it says, "Come and do your boasting in the Lord." To the thrill seeker it says, "Come and enjoy the thrill of Christian fellowship." The Christian message is slanted in the direction of the current vogue in order to make it acceptable to the public.
The philosophy back of this kind of thing may be sincere but its sincerity does not save it from being false. It is false because it is blind. It misses completely the whole meaning of the cross.
The old cross is a symbol of death. It stands for the abrupt, violent end of a human being. The man in Roman times who took up his cross and started down the road had already said good-by to his friends. He was not coming back. He was going out to have it ended. The cross made no compromise, modified nothing, spared nothing; it slew all of the man, completely and for good. It did not try to keep on good terms with its victim. It struck cruel and hard, and when it had finished its work, the man was no more.
The race of Adam is under death sentence. There is no commutation and no escape. God cannot approve any of the fruits of sin, however innocent they may appear or beautiful to the eyes of men. God salvages the individual by liquidating him and then raising him again to newness of life.
That evangelism which draws friendly parallels between the ways of God and the ways of men is false to the Bible and cruel to the souls of its hearers. The faith of Christ does not parallel the world, it intersects it. In coming to Christ we do not bring our old life up onto a higher plane; we leave it at the cross. The corn of wheat must fall into the ground and die.
We who preach the gospel must not think of ourselves as public relations agents sent to establish good will between Christ and the world. We must not imagine ourselves commissioned to make Christ acceptable to big business, the press, the world of sports or modern education. We are not diplomats but prophets, and our message is not a compromise but an ultimatum.
God offers life, but not an improved old life. The life He offers is life out of death. It stands always on the far side of the cross. Whoever would possess it must pass under the rod. He must repudiate himself and concur in God's just sentence against him.
What does this mean to the individual, the condemned man who would find life in Christ Jesus? How can this theology be translated into life? Simply, he must repent and believe. He must forsake his sins and then go on to forsake himself. Let him cover nothing, defend nothing, excuse nothing. Let him not seek to make terms with God, but let him bow his head before the stroke of God's stern displeasure and acknowledge himself worthy to die.
Having done this let him gaze with simple trust upon the risen Saviour, and from Him will come life and rebirth and cleansing and power. The cross that ended the earthly life of Jesus now puts an end to the sinner; and the power that raised Christ from the dead now raises him to a new life along with Christ.
To any who may object to this or count it merely a narrow and private view of truth, let me say God has set His hallmark of approval upon this message from Paul's day to the present. Whether stated in these exact words or not, this has been the content of all preaching that has brought life and power to the world through the centuries. The mystics, the reformers, the revivalists have put their emphasis here, and signs and wonders and mighty operations of the Holy Ghost gave witness to God's approval.
Dare we, the heirs of such a legacy of power, tamper with the truth? Dare we with our stubby pencils erase the lines of the blueprint or alter the pattern shown us in the Mount? May God forbid. Let us preach the old cross and we will know the old power. (A. W. Tozer, Man, the Dwelling Place of God, 1966)
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