Pester Brat's Saint and Sinner Hypocrisy Blog

I have been under conviction lately, and have shared this already with a couple of people. I feel like time is really moving fast. Especially as we measure it in weeks. With me working at the bank during the day 5 days a week, and studying and ministering off and on at night throughout the week, each week seems to come and go quickly. Since I'm not getting any younger, some evenings I'm really tired from being on my feet all day. One of the goals I'm striving for is to get my bills paid down in the next year or two so my family and I can live just off church income. With the sense of time going fast, comes the sense that I'm not [able to?] doing for the Lord what I would like to for His honor and glory, although I do think I could do some of it at night. Whether it is organized studies, or articles for the church body, I would like to do more of that in addition to the prayer and study throughout the week for the local flock and those I know outside of the church. I jus...

A Monthly Commentary by the Prince of Preachers for The Postmodern Church On The Sufficiency of Scripture If the revelation of God were not enough for our faith, what could we add to it? Who can answer this question? What would any man propose to add to the sacred Word? A moment's thought would lead us to scout with derision the most attractive words of men, if it were proposed to add them to the Word of God. The fabric would not be of a piece. Would you add rags to a royal vestment? Would you pile the filth of the streets in a king's treasury? Would you join the pebbles of the sea-shore to the diamonds of Golconda? Anything more than the Word of God sets before us, for us to believe and to preach as the life of men, seems utterly absurd to us; yet we confront a generation of men who are always wanting to discover a new motive power, and a new gospel for their churches. The coverlet of their bed does not seem to be long enough, and they would fain borrow a yard or two of lin...

Spurgeon said this in 'A Defense of Calvinism':There is no soul living who holds more firmly to the doctrines of grace than I do, and if any man asks me whether I am ashamed to be called a Calvinist, I answer?I wish to be called nothing but a Christian; but if you ask me, do I hold the doctrinal views which were held by John Calvin, I reply, I do in the main hold them, and rejoice to avow it. But far be it from me even to imagine that Zion contains none but Calvinistic Christians within her walls, or that there are none saved who do not hold our views. Most atrocious things have been spoken about the character and spiritual condition of John Wesley, the modern prince of Arminians. I can only say concerning him that, while I detest many of the doctrines which he preached, yet for the man himself I have a reverence second to no Wesleyan; and if there were wanted two apostles to be added to the number of the twelve, I do not believe that there could be found two men more fit to be...

I had an interesting dream last night. Without going into detail, I was in the middle of a Islamic war between the extremists and 'peace-loving' Muslims. It is common for us to reflect on our dreams after we wake up, to try to see how much we can reemember and try to make sense of it. While doing that one thing led to another, and it reminded me about the "tolerance" issue that has become a 'hot topic' since the '911' attack on the USA in 2001. Is there a difference between the "world's" view of tolerance, and what the word of God says? Are we supposed to submit to worldly tolerance by not saying anything negative religions other than 'biblical' Christianity, by not even sharing the gospel because it implies that their religion is wrong and 'biblical' Christianity is right?. Does the Muslim religion practice even worldly tolerance? The reason why there are extremist Muslims and peace-loving Muslims is being their so-called...

June 10, 2005 “CO-BELLIGERENTS” OR GOOD SAMARITANS? Filed under: Pro-Life — Administrator @ 11:12 am Evangelical Christians committed to sound doctrine must distinguish themselves theologically from those who reject fundamental truths of the Protestant Reformation. Theological unity must never come at the expense of those truths. However, cultural reform efforts like the pro-life movement are not primarily about doctrine, but social justice. To work, they must be broad and inclusive. Historically, for example, social reform efforts designed to abolish slavery and establish civil rights for all Americans were led by large ecumenical coalitions that, despite their theological differences, committed themselves to one goal: establishing a more just society. The same is true of abortion. While rejecting religious pluralism (the belief that all religions are equally valid), we must work closely with those who oppose the destruction of innocent human life, regardless of their religious persu...

This is from a church that an old friend of mine started going to in southern Maryland... We believe that a believer should abstain from worldly entertainment such as poker playing cards, gambling, sports, television, video games, movies, comic books, going to the mall and dancing. We believe that bishops and deacons should be male, married, have children, and have their house in order (1 Timothy 3:1-13, Titus 1:5-9) The following beliefs are not believed by all members of King James Baptist Church but are held by a sizable group of people including the Pastor: We believe that the head veil is a command of Scripture for women. The head veil is a symbol of the headship and therefore the submission required by women (1 Corinthians 11:1-16), covers nakedness (Isaiah 47:1-3), and aids in separation from the world (2 Corinthians 6:14-18, Romans 12:1-2). We believe that Christians should not be part of the military, should not fight in wars, and should not defend himself when persecuted for ...

There is an opposite problem with legalism in the body of Christ as well. Saying something is legalism when it is not. If something is commanded in the word of God whether only once or more, no matter how minor it may "seem" in comparison to other commandments, it is not legalism for the Christian to desire to obey God's word. And it is not legalism for a Pastor, Elder or other Christian to reprove a person disobeying these "type" of commandments. As I attempt to put together what I have mentioned so far in parts one and two, let me site some examples. I have a personal standard to not be alone with a woman other than my wife or daughters in a private place. Again that is a standard. There is nothing wrong with Christians having standards, and it's usually wise. But if something happened where it just didn't work out, it would legalism for me to say I sinned or for someone else to say I sinned. It is legalism to say that music itself, television itself, ...

This is an issue that I have been thinking more about in recent weeks, and even shared with my Elders last night. The term is thrown around alot by Christians who do not want to be legalistic. In my background as a Free Will Baptist, I was very close to being legalistic, if not outright legalistic in certain areas. The problem of legalism is associated closely with those of the "fundamentalist" movement. Being a fundamentalist used to be a good thing. This term is associated with those and the beginning of the 20th century who gathered together to systematically put toegther the fundamentals of the Christian faith based on the word of God. Those doctrines that must be rightly believed to evidence that someone is saved. But over the years many in the fundamentalist movement began treating "standards" (which are often wise and good) as commandments, that when/if violated, are considered sin. That is legalism!!! It is a form of aceticism, that certain things themselves...