JOEL 2 GENERATION

We are living in a day when many historic Christian emphases/teachings are almost entirely neglected and/or absent altogether.  In an age of self-promotion, and numbers of followers on Social Media (with people obsessed with 'likes' and 'shares'), where is the Apostolic Christian emphasis that we need to be 'dying to ourselves' and focusing on humility? Recently in my preaching/teaching, I imagined things John the Baptist would have NEVER participated in. In short, I believe he would utterly reject the "cult of self" and self-promotion that characterizes so much of the ministry in the Body of Christ today.  What was John's goal? His was his aim in ministry? Was it to establish a name, a ministry for himself? Absolutely NOT.  In stark contrast to the 'platform building' efforts in today's Church, John's intention was TO BECOME LESS! He said it like this... John 3:30 – “He [Jesus] must become greater(increase), I must become less(decr...

We've dealt with "Hyper-Grace" teachers and teaching before in this blog. But this false teaching continues to be prevalent within the Body of Christ.  Hyper-Grace teaching can only be supported by 'cherry picking' verses out of the NT and then doing some heterodox exegesis of other passages (i.e. 1 John 1:8). NO ONE would ever come to the conclusions of Hyper-Grace teachers if they read through ALL of the New Testament, considering the "whole counsel" of the Apostolic deposit. And you won't find a single Christian theologian, apologist, or leader in the early centuries of the church that would support the conclusions of the modern Hyper-Grace teachers. NOT ONE! That alone should disturb any of these teachers who somehow believe they have unlocked the original Apostolic teaching that somehow got lost for nearly 2000 years! Today the Lord highlighted Philippians 3:12 again to me and the Apostle Paul completely dismantles the Hyper-Grace teachers in a ...

I am all for the best use of technology. And clearly, during Covid, the online 'Zoom Meeting' became the way much of the world was forced to function for a time. I was teaching at a university at the time and we were entirely online using Zoom for classes and faculty meetings for over a year.  Most churches also shifted all of their gatherings to virtual ones using Zoom (or a similar type of online platform).  But our church NEVER met virtually on Zoom - we met in person. Even when it was illegal to do so. We gathered - for a couple of weeks, we even gathered in small groups of 3-4 in our cars (we called it, "Church on Wheels"). After a couple of weeks of that, we shifted into meeting in houses, in person, and NEVER looked back after that. There were a few weeks when the entire country wasn't allowed to leave their homes with a strict curfew in place and because there was no other way, during those weeks we did meet virtually.   And as far as we know, we were the ...

Archbishop Viganò is a fearless voice of truth in today's Roman Catholic Church. Whereas many Roman Catholics have abandoned their church's teaching regarding abortion, like the primitive church, any faithful Catholic rejects abortion as the murder of innocent babies in all circumstances.  Archbishop Viganò goes beyond abortion in his following statement to come against many other wicked, evil forces at work in the world today. He speaks the truth regarding Covid and the so-called "safe & effective" vaccines.  My prayer is that God will use this statement to lead many Roman Catholics to repentance, those who have bowed the knee to the spirit of the age and who have abandoned the Apostolic teaching of the entire church of Jesus Christ regarding abortion. Following are excerpts from Archbishop Viganò's Statement: "THE SUPREME COURT of the United States of America, overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, healed a constitutional vulnus  [wound] and at the...

There were no so-called "Pro-Choice Christians" in the early Church! Abortion was/is murder. It would have been grounds for excommunication - to have participated in one or to support/believe in the practice. That has ALWAYS been the Christian position. It was the Apostolic faith and practice. Today's Christians, who believe they can follow Jesus and support abortion rights, are deceived. They are supporting murder. It is a false teaching that has crept into the church and has led many into apostasy.  #abortion, #pro-life, #christianity, #Roe v Wade, #infanticide, #murder

For the Presbyterian Church USA (PC USA): Abortion was once considered a "horrible crime" and "infanticide"! Today they are "outraged" and "mortified" that the Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade.  It is with pain that I write this post. I grew up in a conservative PCUSA church - my parents were married in that church, my wife and I were married in that church and for many years we were supported as missionaries from that PCUSA church. My mom was a member of that church and transferred her membership to another PCUSA church closer to where they were living. She faithfully attended that church until she died. We had both of my parents' memorials at that PCUSA church. A number of years ago we also became affiliated with yet another conservative PCUSA Church that began supporting our ministry and still does to this day. Thankfully, back in 2014, the first church parted ways with the denomination. The one that still supports us also left the...

"Dr. MacMullen ( Christianizing the Roman Empire ) states unequivocally that the main way[s] Rome was converted to Christianity were healing and, most especially, exorcism."  (Francis MacNutt, pg. 87, Healing Reawakening ) Professor Ramsey MacMullen – Retired Emeritus Professor of History, Yale University, He was called "the greatest historian of the Roman Empire alive today”. Interview with Ramsey MacMullen When we consider how the early Christians brought people to Christ, we might think of Paul’s preaching. One might think that this “method” was what subsequent generations of Christians employed, but IT AIN’T SO. It didn’t happen that way. My guess is that because of the persecution open preaching was simply too difficult most of the time. In contrast, what worked best was “one on one talk about the proofs of the truth of Christianity and by proofs, I mean EXORCISM above all. Christianity advertised its own particular powers through driving out demons that caused sick...