Full of Grace and Truth

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

 

We need to be grace people and truth people. Not half grace and half truth.  Not all grace on Mondays and all truth on Tuesdays.  All grace and all truth all the time.

When I was being interviewed to be the pastor at University Reformed Church, I had to indicate where I was on a spectrum of issues.  One of the lines measured grace versus truth.  I wrote something like: “This is a bad question.  Seeing as how Jesus came from the Father full of grace and truth, I believe we should be 100% in both directions.” I think they knew it was a loaded question and wanted to see my response.    Continue at Kevin DeYoung

So Who Exactly IS the Mainstream of the Charismatic Movement?

The fall out from the Strange Fire conference shows a general truth about critiquing the craziness of the charismatic movement. It seems that whenever a pastor points out the flagrant error and false worship associated with the charismatic movement,  charismatics respond by saying that we always grab the “low hanging fruit” on the fringe of the movement and try to pass it off as some sort of accurate representation of the movement as a whole. We’re told that the level-headed, reformed charismatic folks are the obvious mainstream representatives of charismatics, and the entranced glossolalaholics and Fletch-clone healers are the outlandish fringe. Thus, since most charismatics are even-keeled, level headed, and have books in our book store, we should leave the charismatic craziness alone–after all, it is so isolated.

This argument has always made me puzzled since it’s so horribly obvious to me that the theologically absurd charismatic church of 20,000 obviously has far more influence in the movement and “on the street” than the theologically cautious charismatic church of 2,000 (and that’s being generous since the theologically absurd churches aren’t just bigger, but far more numerous).    Continue at Lyndon Unger

Six Eternal Truths to Remember Each Day

A startling thing has happened among modern Christians in the western world. Many of us habitually think and act as if there is no eternity—or, as if what we do in this present life has no bearing on eternity. 

 

The trend today is to focus not on our eternal future (who cares about the “sweet bye and bye”?) but our present circumstances, as if this world were our home. Yet Scripture states the reality of our eternal future should dominate and determine the character of our present life, right down to the words we speak and the actions we take (James 2:12; 2 Peter 3:11–12).

Let’s be sure to remind ourselves today—and every day—of “the real thing.” Here are six eternal truths to remember:

1. There are only two eternal destinations—Heaven or Hell—and I and every person I know will go to one or the other.

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.  But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it (Matthew 7:13–14). 

Both Heaven and Hell touch Earth—an in-between world leading directly into one or the other. The best of life on Earth is a glimpse of Heaven; the worst of life is a glimpse of Hell. For Christians, this present life is the closest they will come to Hell. For unbelievers, it is the closest they will come to Heaven.   Continue at Randy Alcorn

Is it Ever OK to Lie?

Is it ever not a sin to lie? Or—to let the double negative cancel itself out and get  right to the chase—does God ever put you in a position where sinning is the right thing to do?

 

This question is as bothersome as it is perennial. It invariably comes attached to this hypothetical: say you lived in Nazi Germany, and you have Jews hiding in your living room, and the SS guards knock on your door and ask if you are hiding Jews. What do you do? Do you lie?

Let me give you my conclusion, and then try and walk you there with me. First: GOD HATES LYING. So yes, it is always a sin to lie, and no, it is never ok to lie. Proverbs 12:12-13 explains why:  

“No disaster overcomes the righteous, but the wicked are full of misery.  Lying lips are detestable to Yahweh, but faithful people are His delight.”

Lying lips are one of the seven things that God finds detestable (Proverbs 6:16). Christians are called to let their yes be yes, and lying violates that basic principle (James 5:12). Meanwhile, God is a God of truth (John 14:7), while the devil is the father of lies (John 8:38). Lies are an affront to providence, as they imply that the world would be better if God simply would have worked it out more to our liking. Thus every lie is an attack against the sovereignty of God, and essentially places you in opposition to that which is true. Instead of lying, speak the truth (Col 3:9, Eph 4:22, 24).

It really is that simple.    Continue at Jesse Johnson

4 Truths About Hell

“There is one very serious defect to my mind in Christ’s moral character, and that is that He believed in hell.” So wrote the agnostic British philosopher Bertrand Russell in 1967. The idea of eternal punishment for sin, he further notes, is “a doctrine that put cruelty in the world and gave the world generations of cruel torture.”

His views are at least more consistent than religious philosopher John Hick, who refers to hell as a “grim fantasy” that is not only “morally revolting” but also “a serious perversion of the Christian Gospel.” Worse yet was theologian Clark Pinnock who, despite having regarded himself as an evangelical, dismissed hell with a rhetorical question: “How can one imagine for a moment that the God who gave His Son to die for sinners because of His great love for them would install a torture chamber somewhere in the new creation in order to subject those who reject Him to everlasting pain?”

So, what should we think of hell? Is the idea of it really responsible for all the cruelty and torture in the world? Is the doctrine of hell incompatible with the way of Jesus Christ? Hardly. In fact, the most prolific teacher of hell in the Bible is Jesus, and He spoke more about it than He did about heaven. In Matthew 25:41–46 He teaches us four truths about hell that should cause us to grieve over the prospect of anyone experiencing its horrors.

1. Hell is a state of separation from God.

On the day of judgment, Jesus will say to all unbelievers, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire” (v. 41). This is the same sort of language that Jesus uses elsewhere to describe the final judgment of unbelievers (see 7:23).    Continue at Tom Ascol

“Charles Finney: The Greatest Distorter of Christian Truth in Our Age”

Dr. Michael Horton, Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics at Westminster Seminary California, wrote an article for Modern Reformation Magazine back in 1995 titled “The Legacy of Charles Finney.”  Growing up in evangelical, Southern Baptist and Church of God circles, Charles Finney was always a man to be praised.  Horton however exposes Finney’s unbiblical and unorthodox theology.  Here are some quotes from Finney and Horton’s responses:

Who is Finney?

Charles Finney (1792-1875) ministered in the wake of the “Second Awakening,” as it has been called. A Presbyterian layover, Finney one day experienced “a mighty baptism of the Holy Ghost” which “like a wave of electricity going through and through me … seemed to come in waves of liquid love.” The next morning, he informed his first client of the day, “I have a retainer from the Lord Jesus Christ to plead his cause and I cannot plead yours.”Refusing to attend Princeton Seminary (or any seminary, for that matter); Finney began conducting revivals in upstate New York. One of his most popular sermons was “Sinners Bound to Change Their Own Hearts.” [Emphasis Mine]

Denying the Perseverance of the Saints (Eternal Security)

First, in answer to the question, “Does a Christian cease to be a Christian, whenever he commits a sin?” Finney answers:

“Whenever he sins, he must, for the time being, cease to be holy. This is self-evident. Whenever he sins, he must be condemned; he must incur the penalty of the law of God … If it be said that the precept is still binding upon him, but that with respect to the Christian, the penalty is forever set aside, or abrogated, I reply, that to abrogate the penalty is to repeal the precept, for a precept without penalty is no law. It is only counsel or advice. The Christian, therefore, is justified no longer than he obeys, and must be condemned when he disobeys or Antinomianism is true … In these respects, then, the sinning Christian and the unconverted sinner are upon precisely the same ground (p. 46).”

Horton responds,   Continue at Jared Moore

God Has Abandoned America, and the Only Solution is Regenerated Individual Hearts

America is in bad shape. Every sin imaginable is rampant in every form of media, politics, and education. Putting prayer back in public schools won't fix it. More church attendance won't fix it. More baptisms won't fix it. More conservative politicians won't fix it. As John MacArthur says correctly in this video, the only solution is the Truth.

And the only Truth is the Word of God in Scripture.   HT: Vince & Lori

Leaders Tell the Truth

Leaders are involved in one of the most morally significant callings on earth, and nothing the leader touches is without moral meaning and importance. While the leader shares the same basic moral requirements as everyone else, there are certain virtues that the leader simply cannot do without.

In making us in his image, God created human beings as moral creatures. Our minds are constantly in a moral mode of thinking and reasoning. Our consciences demand attention, and we are continually observing others around us for moral signals.

Our Creator gave us laws, principles, precepts, and commandments that guide us, convict us, and protect us. Christian leaders know to be thankful for the common morality that is revealed in nature and has been recognized in some form in virtually every civilization and culture. We are also thankful for the specific moral instruction given to us in the Bible through the commandments and statutes and laws that frame our Christian moral knowledge.

Furthermore, we must recognize the importance of the moral order represented by the government, which, after all, was also given to us by our Creator in order that we might live in societies of order and peace. If these structures of law and morality did not exist, leadership would be impossible.

But laws and commandments are not enough. Leadership requires the possession and cultivation of certain moral virtues that allow leadership to happen. If the leader does not demonstrate these essential virtues, disaster is certain. Consider these people who have changed the moral landscape of modern life. When you hear the name Richard Nixon, the first thing that comes to mind is the fact that he became the first (and so far, only) president of the United States who had to resign from office. When you hear of Enron, the first thing we all remember is the spectacular failure and collapse of a major American corporation, at least in part because of fraudulent valuations.  Continue at Al Mohler

The Knowledge of the Holy by A. W. Tozer (Book Notes)

A. W. Tozer's The Knowledge of the Holy is one of the great classic works of Evangelical spirituality from the twentieth century. It is an exploration of the character and attributes of God that is both theologically sound and devotionally rich, weaving together Scripture, hymnody, prayer, and practical application, along with some of the most illuminating quotations of worshipful saints from across the centuries. 

I recently completed reading it again and this time took notes. Here is a selection of some of the most helpful statements, with both chapter and page numbers (though my edition is different from the one linked above). 

You can also get the book for just $ .99 on Kindle. 

What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. (Ch. 1; p. 7)

An attribute of God is whatever God has in any way revealed as being true of Himself. (Ch. 3; p. 18)

The full sun-blaze of revelation came at the incarnation when the Eternal Word became flesh to dwell among us. (Ch. 3; p. 20)

The doctrine of the Trinity is…truth for the heart. (Ch. 4; p. 29)  Continue at  Brian Hedges

Can You Risk Honesty in Church?

The church teaches, in fact demands, honesty. But in many instances church is not a place for honesty. Of course, I do not speak of the whole of the Christian church, only that which I know by observation and experience. (Let the reader understand.) The church’s response to honesty can reveal it is not well-equipped to handle full-disclosure honesty. While the church requires honesty, it may show it does not know quite what to do when there is transparent honesty.

Honesty is particularly dangerous when Christians admit to two struggles – struggles with doubt and struggles with sin.

I believe in truth – transcendent, timeless, universal, propositional truth. But, I also believe in doubt as a reality of human and Christian experience. Perhaps it is because the church believes in truth and certainty that it has so much trouble dealing with doubt – sometimes ignoring it, sometimes denying its existence, seldom inviting its expression. Doubt is an ugly step-child in the church.

There are those who know little, perhaps nothing, of doubt.  For them all things are clear and certain. God is there. He is good. The Bible is God’s Word. Jesus is their Savior. They are going to heaven when they die.

In some cases I think this certainty is a gift of temperament.  In other cases I believe it is a blessed gift of grace. But I know it is not a universal bestowal of nature or of grace. I also know that when such certainty walks through the valley of the shadow of prolonged illness, devastating defeat, severe depression, or death it sometimes stumbles. For others nothing daunts such faith. For some doubt grows into strong faith. For others doubt is a constant companion.These differences are aspects of the mysteries of human existence and God’s providence.   Continue at Christian Curmudgeon

30 Suggestions for Theological Students and Young Theologians

“Reflections of a Lifetime Theologian: An Extended Interview with John M. Frame,” interviewed by P. Andrew Sandlin in Speaking the Truth in Love: The Theology of John Frame (ed. John J. Hughes; Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian & Reformed, 2009), 106–10: 

[Question]: Finally, what advice would you offer to theological students and young theologians as they face a lifetime of theological work?

[John Frame’s answer]: Well, here are some thoughts, in no particular order.

1. Consider that you might not really be called to theological work. James 3:1 tells us that not many of us should become teachers and that teachers will be judged more strictly. To whom much (biblical knowledge) is given, of them shall much be required.
2. Value your relationship with Christ, your family, and the church above your career ambitions. You will influence more people by your life than by your theology. And deficiencies in your life will negate the influence of your ideas, even if those ideas are true.
3. Remember that the fundamental work of theology is to understand the Bible, God’s Word, and apply it to the needs of people. Everything else—historical and linguistic expertise, exegetical acuteness and subtlety, knowledge of contemporary culture, and philosophical sophistication—must be subordinated to that fundamental goal. If it is not, you may be acclaimed as a historian, linguist, philosopher, or critic of culture, but you will not be a theologian.
4. In doing the work of theology (the fundamental work, #3), you have an obligation to make a case for what you advocate. That should be obvious, but most theologians today haven’t a clue as to how to do it. Theology is an argumentative discipline, and you need to know enough about logic and persuasion to construct arguments that are valid, sound, and persuasive. In theology, it’s not enough to display knowledge of history, culture, or some other knowledge. Nor is it enough to quote people you agree with and reprobate people you don’t agree with. You actually have to make a theological case for what you say.  Continue at John Frame

Motherhood Is a Calling (And Where Your Children Rank)

A few years ago, when I just had four children and when the oldest was still three, I loaded them all up to go on a walk. After the final sippy cup had found a place and we were ready to go, my two-year-old turned to me and said, “Wow! You have your hands full!”

She could have just as well said, “Don’t you know what causes that?” or “Are they all yours?!”

Everywhere you go, people want to talk about your children. Why you shouldn’t have had them, how you could have prevented them, and why they would never do what you have done. They want to make sure you know that you won’t be smiling anymore when they are teenagers. All this at the grocery store, in line, while your children listen.

A Rock-Bottom Job?

 

The truth is that years ago, before this generation of mothers was even born, our society decided where children rank in the list of important things. When abortion was legalized, we wrote it into law.

Children rank way below college. Below world travel for sure. Below the ability to go out at night at your leisure. Below honing your body at the gym. Below any job you may have or hope to get. In fact, children rate below your desire to sit around and pick your toes, if that is what you want to do. Below everything. Children are the last thing you should ever spend your time doing.

If you grew up in this culture, it is very hard to get a biblical perspective on motherhood, to think like a free Christian woman about your life, your children. How much have we listened to partial truths and half lies? Do we believe that we want children because there is some biological urge, or the phantom “baby itch”? Are we really in this because of cute little clothes and photo opportunities? Is motherhood a rock-bottom job for those who can’t do more, or those who are satisfied with drudgery? If so, what were we thinking?   Continue at Rachel Jankovic

Charismatic Chaos

The charismatic movement, once considered a splinter group on the fringe of Christianity, has gained steam and entered the ‘90s at full speed. Dramatic new accounts of bizarre, supernatural events are attracting men and women hungry for religious experiences while causing others simply to ask, What is really happening here?, or more important, What should I believe? 

This 12-message album thoughtfully and carefully shines the light of Scripture on teaching that is gaining a massive and loyal television following, leading to disunity on a world-wide scale, and promising to fuel controversy for years to come. Recorded by John MacArthur, these messages will help you gain an understanding of his bestseller Charismatic Chaos in a short amount of time.

    Includes the following 13 messages:

Listen Does God Still Give Revelation? June 16, 1991 Selected Scriptures 90-53 Download: High Low

Listen Does God Still Give Prophecies? June 30, 1991 Selected Scriptures 90-54 Download: High Low

Listen Proper Biblical Interpretation August 04, 1991 Selected Scriptures 90-55 Download: High Low

Listen Does God Do Miracles Today? August 11, 1991 Selected Scriptures 90-56 Download: High Low

Listen The Third Wave August 25, 1991 Selected Scriptures 90-57 Download: High Low

Listen How Do Spiritual Gifts Operate? September 01, 1991 Selected Scriptures 90-58 Download: High Low

Listen What Was Happening in the Early Church? September 08, 1991 Selected Scriptures 90-59 Download: High Low

Listen Does God Still Heal? September 22, 1991 Selected Scriptures 90-60 Download: High Low

Listen Speaking in Tongues September 29, 1991 Selected Scriptures 90-61 Download: High Low

Listen What Is True Spirituality? October 13, 1991 Selected Scriptures 90-62 Download: High Low

Listen Does God Promise Health and Wealth? Part 1 October 27, 1991 Selected Scriptures 90-63 Download: High Low

Listen Does God Promise Health and Wealth? Part 2 November 03, 1991 Selected Scriptures 90-64 Download: High Low

Listen Does Experience Determine Truth? June 09, 1991 Selected Scriptures 90-52 Download: High Low

Women Need Support and the Truth, Not Abortion

Guest post by Kathy Norquist, executive assistant to Randy Alcorn

Recently a Texas judge upheld a law that requires a woman to be shown an ultrasound before obtaining an abortion. His decision was discussed on The View and Joyce Behar and Barbara Walters made the following stunning statements:

Joyce Behar: “It's very totalitarian in my opinion. I mean, it smacks of forcing somebody to confront something that they have already decided they don't want to deal with.” 

So if a person doesn’t want to deal with something (in this case, someone), you just avoid it? Can you imagine applying this principle to other situations in your life? “I don’t want to deal with the fact that my daughter has been molested, so I’ll just ignore it.” “I don’t want to deal with my child being bullied at school, so I’ll just ignore it.” Countless people suffer tremendously because they don’t deal with the truth but disregard it.  Ignorance is not bliss. Proverbs 14:8 says, “The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways, but the folly of fools is deception.” It is very disrespectful to women to withhold truth from them. They need to know facts and see their unborn baby before they make a decision that will affect them for the rest of their lives. Women need support, not abortion.  Continue at Kathy Norquist

The Myths of Progress and Relevance

It is not the church's job to make the gospel "relevant" in the superficial sense of making its teachings fit with what our culture thinks. Our task is to show the Bible's relevance in the substantial sense of being a timeless Word with things to say to every changing time and place.

I must admit there was a time in my ministry when I worried that the Bible seemed out of date and so irrelevant. I worried away, seeking "connection points" and "cultural signals" that could show my audience---whether live or in print---that Jesus is as relevant as MTV. Those who have read any of my recent works will know that I have not actually abandoned the "Areopagean" task of showing how the Risen Judge speaks to contemporary culture. But something changed in my ministry about ten years ago. Something dawned on me---or, more likely, was pointed out to me---that dispelled the worry.

Cultures are constantly changing, in some respects improving, in some respects getting worse, but always in flux. And yet the people of every particular culture think their special perspective is the high point. In this sense we are products of our time and place.

If the Bible affirmed what every passing culture believed, that would surely reveal that it was not a body of wisdom for every culture through all time. Imagine, however, that there was a book containing eternal wisdom for all cultures. What should we expect to find? We would discover that it was always at odds with every culture at some point, for cultures are always in flux, sometimes coinciding with the Truth, sometimes departing from it.

The true relevance of the gospel is found in its studied irrelevance to any particular culture, whether ancient Corinthian or modern New Yorker. We do not need another message that affirms what we already think in all our foibles and cultural particularities. We surely need one that is free to challenge, rebuke, frighten, and enlighten us, as well as comfort and affirm us when appropriate. That message is the gospel. It is precisely because the gospel was not crafted to endorse ancient Athenians or modern Americans that it is wonderfully relevant to both.  Read it all at John Dickson

T. D. Jakes

 

Elephantiasis - Phil Johnson

An Open Letter to Matt Chandler (Some thought on ER2) - Byron Yawn

  

Grace and Truth Beyond the Elephant Room - Trevin Wax

  

Seven Thoughts on the Elephant Room and T.D. Jakes - Kevin DeYoung

  

Gnosticism, Nicea and Celebrity - Carl Trueman

The Elephant Room: What Really Happened, and How Things Could Have Been Different - Justin Taylor

10 Reflections on the Elephant Room - Mark Driscoll

8 Elements in True Worship

“God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” —John 4:24

This is by no means a detailed or exhaustive list of that contained in true worship; nevertheless, as a brief exposition of what the Lord Jesus Christ has presented as true spiritual worship during His encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well, I suggest that the following elements would most certainly exist.

TRUE WORSHIP is centered in the holiness of the Word of God. Jesus prayed unto the Father in the garden on the night He was betrayed, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth” (John 17:17; cf. John 4:24). If it is true worship, it will be centered in the truth of God’s Word.

TRUE WORSHIP is spiritual, and therefore, its truth must be spiritually discerned among redeemed believers. Scripture tells us, “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14; cf. John 4:24).

TRUE WORSHIP reveals our mortality from God’s Word against God’s everlasting truth in Christ, providing a perspective of the eternal. At the well, Jesus told the Samaritan woman, “Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:13-14).

TRUE WORSHIP confronts our sinful nature head-on from God’s Word.  Jesus told the woman, “Go, call thy husband, and come hither” (John 4:16). It doesn’t mealy-mouth; neither does it sidestep the issue. We should take note that it is also a direct confrontation by the Spirit’s work. One who did not know this woman would not recognize that the Lord’s statement itself pricked her heart with conviction (cf. John 16:8-11), except for her response that followed.  Continue at Jon J. Cardwell

Puritan Evangelism by J.I. Packer

In the report of the Archbishop’s Committee on Evangelism, published in 1945 under the title: Towards the Conversion of England, the work of evangelism is conveniently defined as follows: “so to present Christ Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit, that men shall come to put their trust in God through Him, to accept Him as their Savior, and serve Him as their King in fellowship of His Church.”

 

Did the Puritans tackle the task of evangelism at all? At first sight, it might seem not. They agreed with Calvin in regarding the “evangelists” mentioned in the New Testament as an order of assistants to the apostles, now extinct; and as for “missions,” “crusades” and “campaigns,” they knew neither the name nor the thing. But we must not be misled into supposing that evangelism was not one of their chief concerns. It was. Many of them were outstandingly successful as preachers to the unconverted. Richard Baxter, the apostle of Kidderminster, is perhaps the only one of these that is widely remembered today; but in contemporary records it is common to read statements like this, of Hugh Clark: “he begat many Sons and Daughters unto God;” or this, of John Cotton, “the presence of the Lord…crowning his labors with the Conversion of many Souls” (S. Clarke, Lives of 52…Divines, pp.131, 222, etc.) Moreover, it was the Puritans who invented evangelistic literature. One has only to think of Baxter’s classic Call to the Unconverted, and Alleine’s Alarm to the Unconverted, which were pioneer works in this class of writing. And the elaborate practical “handling” of the subject of conversion in Puritan books was regarded by the rest of the seventeenth-century Protestant world as something of unique value. “It hath been one of the glories of the Protestant religion that it revived the doctrine of Saving Conversion, and of the New Creature brought forth thereby…But in a more eminent manner, God hath cast the honor hereof upon the Ministers and Preachers of this Nation, who are renowned abroad for their more accurate search into and discoveries hereof.” (T. Goodwin and P. Nye, Preface to T. Hooker, The Application of Redemption, 1656).

The truth is that two distinct conceptions and types of evangelism have been developed in Protestant Christendom during the course of its history. We may call them the “Puritan” type and the “modern” type. Today we are so accustomed to evangelism of the modern type that we scarcely recognize the other is evangelism at all. In order that we may fully grasp the character of the Puritan type of evangelism, I shall here set it in contrast with the modern type, which has so largely superseded it at the present time.  Continue at Refocusing Our Eyes

The Rise of Extreme Tolerance

The world may value compromise and tolerance as supreme virtues, but they have a devastating effect on preaching. As more and more evangelical pulpits reflect the surrounding culture, it’s time for Christians to proclaim a distinctively biblical worldview.

Many evangelicals (once known for a very prudent and biblical approach to doctrine) are fast becoming as doctrinally clueless as the unchurched people they are so keen to please. At least three decades of deliberately downplaying doctrine and discernment in order to attract the unchurched has filled many once-sound churches with people who utterly lack any ability to differentiate the very worst fast doctrines from truth. I constantly encounter evangelical church members who are at a loss to answer the most profound errors they hear from cultists, unorthodox media preachers, or other sources of false doctrine.

In the church today, there is a growing reluctance to take a definitive stand on any issue. Discernment is frankly not very welcome in a culture like ours. In fact, the postmodern perspective is more than merely hostile to discernment; it is practically the polar opposite. Think about it: pronouncing anything “true” and calling its antithesis “error” is a breach of postmodernism’s one last impregnable dogma. That is why to a postmodernist nothing is more uncouth than voicing strong opinions on spiritual, moral, or ethical matters. People are expected to hold their most important convictions with as much slack as possible. Certainty about anything is out of the question, and all who refuse to equivocate on any point of principle or doctrine are therefore automatically labeled too narrow. Zeal for the truth has become politically incorrect. There is actually zero tolerance for biblical discernment in a “tolerant” climate like that.  Keep Reading >>>

"Charity" Toward Heresy?

There are some truths which must be believed; they are essential to salvation, and if not heartily accepted, the soul will be ruined.

Now, in [the early church], the saints did not say, as the sham saints do now, "We must be largely charitable, and leave this brother to his own opinion; he sees truth from a different standpoint, and has a rather different way of putting it, but his opinions are as good as our own, and we must not say that he is in error."

That is at present the fashionable way of trifling with divine truth, and making things pleasant all round. Thus the gospel is debased, and "another gospel" propagated.

I should like to ask modern broad churchmen whether there is any doctrine of any sort for which it would be worth a man's while to burn or to lie in prison. I do not believe they could give me an answer, for if their latitudinarianism be correct, the martyrs were fools of the first magnitude.

From what I see of their writings and their teachings, it appears to me that the modern thinkers treat the whole compass of revealed truth with entire indifference; and, though perhaps they may feel sorry that wilder spirits should go too far in free thinking, and though they had rather they would be more moderate, yet, upon the whole, so large is their liberality that they are not sure enough of anything to be able to condemn the reverse of it as a deadly error.   Keep Reading...