Pester Brat's Saint and Sinner Hypocrisy Blog

Not Grace Fellowship of Mountain Home, ID. What better day and place to celebrate the birth of our Savior than His Church that He was born to purchase with His own blood (Mt. 1:21; Acts 20:28) Some Megachurches Closing for Christmas By RACHEL ZOLL, AP Religion Writer Tue Dec 6,10:57 PM ET This Christmas, no prayers will be said in several megachurches around the country. Even though the holiday falls this year on a Sunday, when churches normally host thousands for worship, pastors are canceling services, anticipating low attendance on what they call a family day. Critics within the evangelical community, more accustomed to doing battle with department stores and public schools over keeping religion in Christmas, are stunned by the shutdown. It is almost unheard of for a Christian church to cancel services on a Sunday, and opponents of the closures are accusing these congregations of bowing to secular culture. "This is a consumer mentality at work: `Let's not impose the church ...

http://runningwell.blogspot.com/2005/12/robert-haldane-on-controversy.html: Many religious persons have a dread of controversy and wish truth to be stated without any reference to those who hold the opposite errors. Controversy and a bad spirit are, in their estimation, synonymous terms. And strenuously to oppose what is wrong is considered as contrary to Christian meekness. Those who hold this opinion seem to overlook what every page of the NewTestament lays before us. In all the history of our Lord Jesus Christ, we never find Him out of controversy. From the moment He entered on the discharge of His office in the synagogue of Nazareth till He expired on the cross, it was an uninterrupted scene of controversy. Nor did He, with all the heavenly meekness which in Him shone so brightly, treat truth and error without reference to those who held them or study to avoid giving its proper appellation to those corruptions in doctrine or practice that endangered the interests of immortal souls...

Grace Fellowship of Mountain Home Idaho Evangelism & Discipleship Training 2Tim. 2:2 The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. I Sharing the Gospel A) The Issue: While this may seem like a "given," unfortunately it is something that needs to be covered because of it often being watered down and compromised when presented. B) What Is Sharing The Biblical Gospel? (Or Maybe the Question Should be, What Is It Not?) 1. It is not about trying to get people to "ask Jesus in their heart." 2. It is not about trying to get people to "accept Christ." 3. It is not just trying to get people to "give their life to Christ" while this is indeed a part and result of it. 4. It is not about doing everything we can to get people to say the "sinner's prayer." 5. The Gospel is about Jesus Christ and His sufficient, substitutionary, sacrifice, and ...

The Top Ten Turkey Awards of 2005: ...the strange birds in evangelicalism Several of you had emailed me wondering if I was going to post "a turkey of the year" list. No doubt that 2005 was a banner year in many arenas. So I thought the idea would prove to be interesting and provocative. One caveat: the list below does not include political figures, entertainers, actors, news pundits, etc. I tried to focus on the evangelical-community-at-large when considering who would be worthy candidates. I hope you will enjoy and post me your additions to your "turkey top ten" if you're daring enough. 2005 proved to be quite a year! Campi 1. Paige Patterson, Jack Graham, Johnny Hunt: for promoting an anthropocentric Arminian gospel and theology; and for labeling Calvinistic pastors within the SBC as those who have “Crept In Unawares.” (While Paige Patterson is studying "theology 101" gearing up for his "debate" with Dr. Mohler on Calvinism, Jack Graham has...

What is worldliness, and when is it sinful? Christians in earlier generations were a lot more concerned about worldliness than we typically are. Many evangelicals these days don't even seem to be aware that worldliness is still a sin. A major shift seems to have occurred in less than three decades' time. I have vivid recollections of the two semesters in I spent in fundamentalist purgatory in the mid-1970s. Worldliness was one of the most oft-mentioned sins by chapel speakers at the Baptist college where I was enrolled. To hear them describe it, worldliness was essentially the sin of being too cool. An acquaintance of mine—a rigidly old-fashioned middle-aged woman—once scolded me as a worldling for wearing contact lenses. She was certain my motives for wearing them were driven only by carnal vanity. She pleaded with me to opt for thick bifocals instead. "I like you the way God made you," she protested. "He didn't make me with eyeglasses," I reminded her....

Let's not lose in truthfulness what we gain in charity Your weekly dose of Spurgeon PyroManiac devotes Monday space to highlights from The Spurgeon Archive. The following excerpt is from an article titled "Ministers Sailing under False Colours," originally published the February 1870 Sword and Trowel: Our forefathers were far less tolerant than we are, and it is to be feared that they were also more honest. It will be a sad discount upon our gain in the matter of charity if it turn out that we have been losers in the department of truthfulness. There is no necessary connection between the two facts of growth in tolerance and decline in sincerity, but we are suspicious that they have occurred and are occurring at the same moment. We freely accord to theological teachers a freedom of thought and utterance which in other ages could only be obtained by the more daring at serious risks, but we also allow an amount of untruthfulness in ministers, which former ages would have u...

3 Months that Seem like 3 Years It's been three months since the tropical monster Katrina hit our area. It feels like three years. Since then we've seen incredible things, things that are just too amazing to understand by photo or by print. Those of you who have visited this area and have worked with us here in Slidell and New Orleans know what I mean. The level and intensity and broadness of the destruction that the Lord levied on this area is something you cannot communicate. It has to be witnessed firsthand. We've seen God answer prayer almost instantaneously; even bringing to us under our feet a domesticated pet rat roaming in the very backyard of a boy who had recently prayed for a replacement to his drowned rat, Debbie. Provision under Providence is a faith builder and the Lord has shown us His sustaining grace each and every day as we labor. This experience has shown us that for the most part, we play church and live complacently in our communities. Having your hand ...