Pester Brat's Saint and Sinner Hypocrisy Blog

Monday and Tuesday of this week, I was in the Paltalk room called "Dogmatic Reformed Theology." On Monday i was asked to be an Admin, and I agreed. After I got in to the room on Monday, I saw the link to Matt Slick's website dealing with his alleged misrepresentation. That was not my reason for being in the room, and there was no discussion about it, so I didn't think anymore about it. On Tuesday, when I first went into the room, either the link was not in the banner and added later or I just didn't notice it at first. I don't claim to be the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree ;- ). It did not occur to me until I talked to someone who told me so, that my being in that room, especially as an Admin could be viewed as my support and agreement for the alleged misrepresentation of Matt Slick's comments. Let me say again that I have not taken any sides in this, and I'm more concerned about how it is being handled as I mentioned in my last post. But I do ap...

Paltalk is a text chat channel where people can talk to one another by typing, and talking one at a time if you have a microphone and speakers. They also have a Christianity section for professing Christians to minister, learn and fellowship. I say professing Christians because the "Christianity" section is a very broad catagory put there by secular Paltalk, and includes JW's LDS, RCC, Oneness Pentacostals, CoC, etc. But there are also rooms set up by people that embrace the doctrines of sovereign grace of both the paedo and credo--- baptist backgrounds. There are always going to be differences of interpretation on the non essential non salvific doctrines, but it's how we handle such differences that define who we are as chosen, called and justified believers in Christ. There has been several "differences" that have arisen since I began particpating on Paltalk 4-5 years ago. The latest one that has seemly caused strife among "sovereign gracers" inv...

The following is an article sent to me by a dear saint and friend, Steve Horne, AKA Canons of Dordt on Paltalk. Introduction: For several months now I have been thinking of the realities of the mortality of mankind. This has been on my mind for several reasons. One, I have observed my father approach his death. Two, I have read a wonderful booklet written by Thomas R. Johnson, M.D. in February of 2004 entitled DEATH AND DYING: A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE. And thirdly, I have been faced with my own mortality since the diagnosis of cancer and the battle it brings. All of us, however, have this subject close in our minds since we have seen grand parents, parents, aunts, uncles, brothers and sisters along with best friends life slip from this world. Each of us have known of others that have been born, educated in their cultures and life work, established great plans, and then they are gone from this life. As difficult as this is, and it is difficult, this is the way of life. It is something we...

Mulligan Mondays ...sometimes you just need another swing at the ball The Salesman-Marketer Driven Church Churches are now seeking marketing-savvy breed of pastor. Home on the Range-- The Need to Get Back to the Basics (I am sorry to be posting this on Tuesday morning, but I had to make sure of the source and context of this quote before posting. Thank you for your patience.) When the golf swing is in trouble, it's time to return to the fundamentals of the game. This is the situation before us today. A Poor Swing Listen to these unfortunate words: But in the opinion of Mr. London of Focus on the Family, any church leader's success depends at least in part on bringing the best of corporate-marketing tactics to bear on a righteous cause. "Nearly every pastor is a salesman or a marketer of one kind or another because … we have a philosophy to sell. The best marketers and best salesmen will have more converts, will have more people, will take in more money. Evangelicals are m...

“This book contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers. Its doctrine is holy, its precepts are binding, its histories are true, and its decisions are immutable. Read it to be wise, believe it to be saved, practice it to be holy. It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you. It is the traveler’s map, the pilgrim’s staff, the pilot’s compass, the soldier’s sword, and the Christian’s charter. Here heaven is open, and the gates of hell are disclosed. Christ is the grand subject, our good its design, and the glory of God its end. It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet. Read it slowly, frequently, and prayerfully. It is a mine of wealth, health to the soul, and a river of pleasure. It is given to you here in this life, will be opened at the judgment, and is established forever. It involves the highest responsibility, will reward the greatest labor, and condemn al...

Received this from a dear sister in Christ. Enjoy :^ ) How you know your husband is a Calvinist: 1. He’d like to take you to church, but the nearest church with “good theology” is 100 miles away. 2. You ask him for roses, but he only buys you TULIPs. 3. It gives him inordinate pleasure to choose a lobster out of the tank. 4. He named your two daughters “Sovereign Joy” and “Irresistible Grace.” 5. You light a candle and offer to read the Song of Solomon out loud, but he’s more in the mood for Romans…again. 6. He’s asked the elders at church to find a new name for the “free-will offering” 7. When you first met him, he asked if your name was Grace, since you were "so irresistable." 8. For your honeymoon, he suggests you go to Wittenberg, Noyon, and Geneva, with s stopover in Phoenix, AZ. 9. He always feels compelled to explain his usage of the word "all" whenever he uses it. 10. He has a piece of paper in the back of his Bible with the "problem verses" expla...

DECISIONAL REGENERATION James E. Adams Introduction What is Regeneration? "Except a man be born again1, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). Our Lord Jesus Christ taught that the new birth is so important that no one can see heaven without it. Mistakes concerning this doctrine have been very destructive to the Church of Christ. Regeneration, or the new birth, is a work of God. It is not a work of man. It is not something that man does but something that God does. The new birth is a change wrought in us, not an act performed by us. This is stated so beautifully by the Apostle John when in the first chapter of his Gospel he speaks of the children of God as those "which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (v. 13). What is "Decisional Regeneration"? The history of the Christian Church has seen many errors concerning the new birth. These teachings depart from Scripture by attributing to man the abi...

Can A Person Be Taught How To Be Born Again? December 20, 2000 By Pastor Bret Lovitz One of the popular terms used in God's word about the believer's relationship to the Lord is "Born Again." Even up to one day before typing this article I have heard incorrect or incomplete interpretations of this term. Now before I proceed, I do want to say that I too had the wrong understanding about being born again, for the first eleven years of my Christian life. I am also not saying that everyone who has the wrong understanding of being born again is not saved. But unfortunetly most of the modern church does not completely understand how and when a person is born again from the Spirit of God. It is my hope that this article will help in some way, if the Lord chooses to use it. About a decade ago, a very popular professing Christian wrote a book called "How To Be Born Again." We cannot teach someone how to be born again. Now we can teach them how to be saved. But there ...

Scripture Over System "...it is the duty of the theologian to subordinate his theories to the Bible, and teach not what seems to him to be true or reasonable, but simply what the Bible teaches." Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, vol. 2:559

The Bible Cut Down to Size -- Scripture and the Modern Attention Span Posted: Thursday, September 22, 2005 at 3:12 am ET "This is a gateway to the Bible for everybody. We have to face the fact we live in an overwhelmingly secular society and must do all we can to present people with the story and what Christianity is about." Those are the words of Rev. Martin Hinton, a British churchman who decided that the Bible is just to intimidating for modern readers. According to The Guardian [London], Hinton has produced a condensed Bible intended to be read in just 100 minutes. "We have sacrificed poetry to clarity," Mr Hinton commented. "Those who want a sense of the glorious poetry in the Bible will have to look elsewhere, but anyone who wants a sense of the story and the argument will find it here." Len Budd, publisher of the slimmed-down Bible, admitted that much had been lost in the reduction. "Is it a dumbing down of the Bible? Yes, but that's the wo...

The Valley of Vision ...a prayer of dependence, joy, contrition and hope Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly, Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision, where I live in the depths but see Thee in the heights; hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold Thy glory. Let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up, that to be low is to be high, that the broken heart is the healed heart, that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit, that the repenting soul is the victorious soul, that to have nothing is to possess all, that to bear the cross is to wear the crown, that to give is to receive, that the valley is the place of vision. Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells, and the deeper the wells the brighter Thy stars shine; let me find Thy light in my darkness, Thy life in my death, Thy joy in my sorrow, Thy grace in my sin, Thy riches in my poverty, and Thy glory in my valley.

A postscript about Packer's remarks Yesterday's comments also included this quotation from J. I. Packer's explanation of why he supports the ecumenical Juggernaut of "Evangelicals and Catholics Together": Fundamentalists . . . are unlikely to join us in this, for it is the way of fundamentalists to follow the path of contentious orthodoxism, as if the mercy of God in Christ automatically rests on the persons who are notionally correct and is just as automatically withheld from those who fall short of notional correctness on any point of substance. I agree that it's possible in a more or less passive sense for an ignorant, untaught, or immature (albeit authentic) believer to hold a deficient ("notionally incorrect") understanding of justification by faith, the doctrine of the Trinity, or any number of essential Christian doctrines. But would any genuine Christian deliberately, actively, and with full knowledge reject such essential doctrines and teac...

How far did Spurgeon's liberality go? "There is no bigotry in the world equal to the bigotry of modern liberalism. Sectarianism may be bitter, but latitudinarianism is wormwood and gall."—C. H. Spurgeon, from "Ourselves and the Annexationists", in The Sword and the Trowel -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A time to embrace In the comments section of yesterday's post, someone posted a portion of one of my favorite quotes from Spurgeon. The full paragraph it was extracted from is a tad long, but the additional context is well worth reading: It has been the desire of the true Calvinist,—not of the hyper-Calvinists, I cannot defend them—to feel that if he has received has received more light than another man, it is due to God's grace, and not to his merits. Therefore charity is inculcated, while boasting is excluded. We give our hand to every man that loves the Lord Jesus Christ, be he what he may or who he may....

Some Hate is Good Jesus, the Word of God incarnate, drove out the moneychangers who polluted God’s temple by their lies and hypocrisy. The thieves were causing some to blaspheme and others to see religion as a way to financial gain and manipulation. The holy soul of Christ was stirred to godly hatred. His cleansing of the temple illustrates that some hate is good. He was zealous for truth in religion, and hated that which caused others to stumble. Theological liberals despise this image of the angry Christ, but the faithful disciple knows Christ was filled with righteous indignation. The Word of God knew the law and the prophets, therefore he hated every false way. His love of the Father and his word compelled him to drive out sin. When we love someone, we do not like others to misrepresent them. We hate those who tell lies about them or distort their words. When we love the truth, we cannot help but hate what is false. Loving truth necessitates hatred of lies, just as the love of plan...