Did They Really Say That?

?!?

The blood of Christ, while it was to release the repentant sinner from the condemnation of the law, was not to cancel the sin; it would stand on record in the sanctuary until the final atonement.  Ellen G. White 1890, Patriarchs and Prophets, p.357.

At the time appointed for the judgment - the close of the 2300 days, in 1844 - began the work of investigation and blotting out of sins.  Ellen G. White 1888, Great Controversy, p.486.

According to E.G. White, repentance of sins does not free you from them, instead they are just moved to another book for judgment until your life ends; there is no assurance of salvation.

However, the Scripture plainly teaches that you are saved the moment you repent of your sins and place your faith in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus.  The sins are forgiven by Him and not held against you later.

I would suggest Seventh-day Adventists review what the Bible says about this in the following passages:

Psalm 103:12

Isaiah 43:25

Jeremiah 31:34

Ephesians 1:7

Colossians 2:13-14

Hebrews 8:12; 13:12

1 John 1:7,9; 2:2; 4:10

Ellen White plainly contradicted Scripture and was a false prophet.

Church Youth Groups

I found this quote in my files.  I had torn the page from an article in O Timothy Magazine, Vol.20, Issue 7, 2003.  This citation was highlighted on page 7, and continuing on page 8.  I did not note the author.  I think it is something we need to remember when it comes to just exactly what we should be doing about our youth in church.

The church is not in the business of entertaining young people, but calling them to discipleship in Christ and separation from the world and holiness of living.  It is true that what you win them with you win them to.  If a church uses worldly means to win young people, those thusly won will be worldly.

If a church has an organized youth group, it must be very careful about the selection of those who lead the youth.  Young people don’t need a “Good Times Charlie.”  They don’t merely need another buddy who will pal around with them in fun and games.  They get plenty of that.  What they desperately need, and what the church is required by God to give them, are godly, spiritually mature people who will love them and show them the path in God’s perfect will, who will call them to reject the vain, “cool” ways of this present wicked world, who will challenge them to be pure, to pull down the worldly idols from their hearts, to give themselves wholly to the service of Jesus Christ while there is still time, to yield to Christ’s command to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.

Unfortunately, I have been in churches where the youth pastor is indeed another immature “buddy” leading immature youth.  One church we attended for about six months, a local “Willow Creek” wannabe, was one of the most disappointing in this area, and our two teens wanted nothing to do with the youth group after a few Sundays - they said it was like being back in junior high with a public school mentality and lots of PDA.  The spiritual junk food served up in that youth group, and so many others we’ve seen in operation, does nothing for building spiritual maturity in young people.

It’s time we start treating our youth like young adults and giving them real meat all the time!

Joel Osteen - Confirmed Heretic

Joel Osteen is again in the news, and again proclaiming that Mormonism is just another form of Christianity.  Albert Mohler has an excellent article about this situation, which I highly recommend.

What this proves is that Osteen hasn’t the vaguest idea of what true Christianity is, or what the true Gospel is.  Yet, while watching the video of Osteen, which Mohler posts, we hear Osteen claim that he grew up in the “purest form of Christianity”!  The Christianity Osteen grew up in was anything but pure, which is why he is nothing but a false teacher today - he’s teaching what he learned from his father, to which he added his own ideas with even more emphasis on “feel good theology.”

Osteen’s father, John Osteen, although ordained as a Southern Baptist pastor, dissociated himself from the Baptists in 1958 when he became charismatic.  It was he who started Lakewood Church which Joel Osteen heads today.  (Joel doesn’t pastor this gathering because he is a goatherd who feeds false doctrine - poison - to those who gather to hear him.)

Joel himself has no biblical training, although he did spend one semester at Oral Roberts University learning the Word of Faith heresy.  Osteen’s experience at producing his father’s television programs, his popularity due to the self-esteem messages in his books, his ability as a motivational speaker and his message of the prosperity gospel are all what gives him his large audience.  There is very little of true biblical teaching in anything written or taught by Osteen, but that is because he has claimed that “people are not looking for theology,” which is why he doesn’t teach it.  

When Joel does teach any theology, it is usually of the Word of Faith heresy, and he is one of the broadcasters on the Trinity Broadcasting Network - haven of all the Word of Faith heretics.  His sermons always start with a WOF liturgy of “positive confession.”  Most of all, he avoids discussing sin, and does not like to call people “sinners.” 

I just recently posted an article about Osteen’s statement that he could attend a same-sex fake wedding without a problem - something no real pastor would do because that would give tacit approval and validation of the ceremony.

Joel Osteen does not understand or preach true biblical Christianity yet “Christian “ booksellers make a fortune off of his many books.  He has been labeled as America’s “most influential pastor,” and one of Barbara Walters’ “10 Most Fascinating People in America.” 

And yet, for all his influence, Joel Osteen does nothing to lead people to the true Christ and true God, rather he feeds them poison on a weekly basis.

Some Thoughts About “Contemporary” Music in Worship

How many seeker-sensitive and market-driven churches would lose their audience if they dropped the rock music?  What you win them with is what you win them to!

“I challenge those committed to the contemporary philosophy to give up rock music for one month and serve the Lord without it.  If you need rock music in order to enjoy and serve the Lord, you have a serious problem.”  David W. Cloud, O Timothy, Vol.20/No.5, p.6

“Dr. Johnson once said, that if he were allowed to make the ballads of a nation, he cared not who made the laws.  It is true in a more important sense that he who is permitted to make the hymns of a church, need care little who preaches, or who makes the creed.  He will more effectually mold the sentiments of a church than they who preach or make creeds and confessions.”  Albert Barnes, Barnes Notes on the New Testament, Ephesians-Colossians.

“Regardless of whether the words are, ‘party till ya puke’ or ‘Jesus loves me,’ when the bass is so powerful that car alarms have been known to go off, do the words really make a difference?  Okay, so now that the volume’s been turned down, find out if the Christian words really have a message that glorifies God.  I believe the music itself should be tested as well. How will Christians be noticed if they look - and sound - just like the world?”  Will Humble, Bay City, TX.  Letter to editor of New Attitude Magazine, June-August 1993.

Worship Songs?

Today’s parallel to Victorianism would include praise music that mirrors the vapid emotionalism and egocentrism of pop culture.  I once visited a church where I was startled to hear the congregation sing lines like “You are my all desire,” and “I want to feel the warmth of your embrace.”  Thy lyrics made no mention of God or Jesus.  No reference to salvation or justification or any other theological theme.  Nothing to suggest that the song was anything but a love song to someone’s girlfriend.  The lyrics were such an extreme example of the Jesus-is-my-girlfriend genre that I wondered how any man could sing it with a straight face - though as I looked around the room, I saw several men with their eyes closed, arms raised.

Nancy Pearcey, Saving Leonardo, p.271

Do Not Tolerate False Teaching

If we would hold fast that which is good, we must never tolerate or support any doctrine which is not the pure doctrine of Christ’s Gospel. There is a hatred which is downright charity – that is the hatred of erroneous doctrine. There is an intolerance which is downright praiseworthy – that is the intolerance of false teaching in the pulpit. Who would ever think of tolerating a little poison given to them day by day? If men come among you who do not preach “all the counsel of God,” who do not preach of Christ, sin, holiness, of ruin, redemption, and regeneration, and do not preach of these things in a Scriptural way, you ought to cease to hear them.  
~ J.C. Ryle

Hat tip to Erin over at “Do Not Be Surprised...”

More Reasons Why the Romanist Church Isn’t of God

I’ve been cleaning out my files and have gotten into my “Catholic” folder.  Here are some old things I’ve found, which makes me just shake my head at Romanists.

1.  I have read many times over the years that Rome supports the ungodly idea of evolutionism, and have reported it in the past.  Of course as bad as it is for Rome to support evolutionism, Rome also claims “intelligent design” isn’t science.  How ironic - that which has absolutely no evidence - evolutionism - they support as science, yet that which all science points to - intelligent design - is declared not to be science.  A Timesonline article from 11 Feb. 2009 says that “The Vatican has admitted that Charles Darwin was on the right track when he claimed that Man descended from apes.”  The purpose of the statement was to dispel rumors that the Pope was about to endorse intelligent design.  We sure wouldn’t want him to do that, would we?

2.  An article from the July-August 2008 issue of The Catholic Answer magazine responds to a question about the after-death fate of Buddhists.  The answer with a statement from the Second Vatican Council. “Nor shall divine providence deny the assistance necessary for salvation to those who, without any fault of theirs, have not yet arrived at an explicit knowledge of God, and who, not without grace, strive to lead a good life..  Whatever good or truth is found amongst them is considered by the Church to be preparation for the Gospel and given by Him who enlightens all men that they may at length have life.”  Then the editor said, “[Jesus Christ] is the Word through whom alone God reveals himself.  Wherever there is any truth - and indeed there is some in all the great religions - that truth is present through the revealing activity of Jesus Christ, God’s Word.  A Buddhist may have no personal knowledge of Christ. But if he finds salvation, it will be because Christ Jesus died for him, and because he has clung to, and lived, the truth he has received from Jesus Christ.  That is why the church teaches there is no salvation apart from Jesus Christ.” 

Let me get this straight:  Any follower of a pagan false god, or no god at all, has some truth in his belief system.  That truth comes from Christ.  This unbeliever does not have to know a thing about Christ - or even the true God - so long as he his clinging to and living the bit of truth he has.  By doing so, he will be saved through Christ.  Sounds like a works-oriented salvation to me.  Anyone in the world who does good works based on what truth he knows, regardless of what false god he worships, will be saved.  I wonder where they find that in the Bible?

3.  From an article dated 27 March 2008, from Focus on the Family “CitizenLink” e-mail news, is the interesting bit of information that, as of that date, 96 of 211 Catholic universities and colleges in the U.S. had pro-homosexual clubs on campus.  Georgetown University, who already had a a club, was in the process of making a new “center for homosexual students.”  Can anyone explain to me why these schools permit advocating what the Bible calls an abomination?  What’s next for these Romanist schools - clubs for fornicators?  What about pedophiles? 

4.  Mother Teresa is usually held up by Romanists as a wonderful Christian, yet there are many evidences that she was not a true Christian but a very devoted Catholic.  While the two are not always mutually exclusive, they usually are.  Teresa did a lot of good works, of that there is no denial.  But from a September 7, 2001 article from CNN.com, I learned that Teresa underwent exorcism late in life.  How can a Christian be demon possessed?  

5.  The New York Times, 11 July 2007, carried an article which demonstrated once again the arrogance of the Romanist church.  The article was discussing statements made by the pope on the previous day, which were restating things from a 2000 document.  First, you will be happy to know that “the Roman Catholic Church alone is the mediator of salvation, though other beliefs can be its ‘instrument.’”  Gee, and I thought Christ was the mediator of salvation!  Continuing on in the article, we learn that the Romanist church says all other Christians suffer from “defects.”  I agree there are many defective churches, as I regularly note on this blog, but the Romanist church has to be one of the MOST defective denominations in existence!

6.  The history of the Romanist church includes their punishing anyone who had their own copy of the Bible - the church didn’t think it was safe for the layman to be reading it (because then they’d learn that the church was in serious error!).  Some were even executed for possessing the Bible.  Well, over the years I have read about the Romanist church still discouraging reading the Bible, but an article from 26 November 2004, from the Fundamental Baptist Information Service, reports on a Nov. 17th proposal to urge Catholics to read their Bible.  This proposal was presented at the fall meeting of U.S. Catholic Bishops, but the proposal was voted against!!!  Nope, we don’t want Catholics reading those Bibles, do we!

7.  Ever hear of the “Criminale Solicitacciones” (also called “Crimen Sollicitationis”) document?  This document was first issued by Pope John XXIII and re-issued by John Paul II, and signed by then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict).  This document proves that at least three popes knew of widespread pedophilia and bestiality by members of the Romanist clergy as early as 1960, while allowing it to continue by instructing Romanist hierarchy to protect the criminal nuns and priests. These pedophile clergy were transferred from their areas of crime, allowing them to continue in their crime in their new areas.  I have an article sent via e-mail by a person in England, from an unknown source (he didn’t include the source) in 2008 describing this.  I also have a BBC News article from 9/29/06 detailing much of the same information, and it states that the document was written in 1962 in Latin and given to bishops worldwide with instructions to keep the document locked in a church safe.  The document imposes an oath of secrecy on the victim and the perpetrator, as well as witnesses, and threatened excommunication for breaking the oath of secrecy.  This is why there have been so many incidents of pedophilia among the Romanists, because they cover it up and move the perpetrators to new locations where they can continue victimizing people.  And this is supposedly the “true” church, whose leader represents Christ?!?

Roman Catholicism has again been proven to be an apostate organization founded by corrupt men.

Did They Really Say That?

?!?

The universal belief in death is of no advantage.  It cannot make Life or Truth apparent.  Death will be found at length to be a mortal dream, which comes in darkness and disappears with the light.  Mary baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p.42.

So, according to Eddy, death is nothing but a mere belief, and just a dream.  I guess she knows the truth now!

Nothing in Competition with the Lord

See to it therefore that there be nothing that stands in any competition with God in your esteem. Value Him more than all riches. Value His honor and glory more than all the world. Be ready at all times to part with all things else and cleave to God.  

Let God be your peculiar friend. Value His friendship more than the respect and love of all the world. When you lose other enjoyments, when you lose earthly friends, let this be a supporting, satisfying comfort to you, that you have God left. You haven't lost God.

--Jonathan Edwards, "Christians a Chosen Generation," in Sermons and Discourses, 1730-1733, ed. Mark Valeri (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1999), 318.  (Via The Berean Call 10/4/11 e-mail.)

Catholic Beliefs Defy Common Sense

In the normal Roman Catholic mass they worship the communion wafer as Christ himself, which lacks common sense to begin with, as noted in my article about this subject.  But now an incident arrives which demonstrates even more defiance of common sense by Romanist worshippers in Poland.

According to an Associated Press article in the October 3rd edition of the Cedar Rapids Gazette newspaper, these Romanists gathered Sunday (10/2) for a special mass celebrating the appearance of a dark spot on a communion wafer, which has them convinced it “is part of the heart of Jesus.”

Supposedly, this wafer developed the spot after it fell on the floor during a Mass in the Polish town of Sokolka.  “The wafer was dropped by a priest celebrating communion in 2008. In accordance with church practice, the priest placed the wafer in water to dissolve it. Several days later a nun found that the wafer had not dissolved completely and saw a red mark on it.”  Romanist officials claim that, “Two medical doctors determined that the spot was heart muscle tissue.” 

For this particular service on Sunday, “The dark-spotted wafer was carried aloft in a reliquary by a golden-robed priest in a procession and was put on display in the town's church of St. Anthony as about 1,000 faithful looked on, according to a report and footage carried by the TV station TVN.”

Folks, let’s use a wee bit of common sense here.  The fact that the Roman Catholic Church treats its communion wafers as if they were Christ is proof of their idolatry, therefore any so-called miracle would be a false one provided by Satan.  Since the wafers do not literally change to the body of Christ, they cannot bleed or have blood.  One who sees a brown spot on a communion wafer and jumps to the conclusion that it is blood can only come to that conclusion by suspending rational thought and bringing in Romanist teachings to explain it, rather than assuming it is just dirt, mold, etc.  Any doctors examining a tiny spot and identifying it as heart muscle are obviously Romanists with a bias and not giving factual data.

Placing such a wafer in an unbiblical device called a “reliquary” and carrying it so people can worship it is nothing but rank idolatry.  

Take the wafer out and toss it in the trash!