Who Said it?  “The Father exercises rightful authority over all things. It is God the Father, not the Son or the Spirit, who is said to have grand authority over all things. The Father, then, is understood as supreme over all, and in particular, He is supreme within the Godhead as the highest in authority and the One deserving ultimate praise… The subordinate relationship of the Son to the Father is seen in the Bible’s use of the names “Father” and “Son.“

Since (they say) the Father has a supreme position within the Trinity, the logical conclusion or understanding of which suggests that Christ the Son would by necessity have a non-supreme position within the Trinity. What say readers ?

Another Spirit or the Holy Spirit?: Roger Oakland Understand the Times (good info on Jesus Movement in article)

The Bible teaches there is another spirit, another gospel and another Jesus?[1] If God is God, why would such deception exist? The answer is very simple. Satan, the father of lies, is the great deceiver who wants to be God.[2] His plan is to deceive the world in the name of the Savior, Jesus Christ. [3] Therefore, if the Spirit of God leads the lost to the Son of God, could it be that that “another spirit” is how the devil leads the whole world to the antichrist? These are questions that every Christian should think about, especially in the Last Days when deception is on the increase.

For some time now, I have been thinking about these things. How does Satan deceive, and should a Christian be aware of how Satan works? The Bible is full of references that warn believers to wake up and to expose darkness.

Further, the concept of checking out the roots of a tree has been constantly on my mind. What does it means to check out the roots of a tree with reference to Christianity? Some time ago, a friend of mine gave me an illustration he believed had an important spiritual implication. The illustration was that of a simple drawing of a tree that was filled with ravens sitting on the branches……

Love, Truth and Apostasy: Words from Ralph M. Peterson who’s always right; sometimes wrong! Here’s a sample of his article ~ “I get sick and tired of overly sensitive, eccentric (that means off-centered), “touchy feely,” mealy mouthed, politically correct Christians who attempt to lay some kind of guilt trip on any of us who would be forthright and straight up with the truth of the Gospel….Furthermore, God’s Word commands that we must fight (contend) earnestly for the Faith. Regardless how unloving it might seem to those who desire love and peace at any cost, real biblical contending against error is not unloving at all….”

Dear Dr. Charles Stanley, what are you trying to tell us? Are you a Contemplative? “Is Charles Stanley trying to tell Christians something but doesn’t want to come right out and just admit, “Hey, I’m a contemplative, and I am using my In Touch magazine to let everybody know it.”   ……..

Tim Keller and Contemplative Prayer: {Ed Note: My question is…that Keller has been teaching Roman Catholic Mysticism for years upon years, he founded the ecumenical group, The Gospel Coalition in 2007  and most everyone signs on board, despite this well known fact…why is that?} Mike Ratliff posts, “….”To make a charge like this we need to start by stating the case that Contemplative Prayer is not Christian and we did that here. Next, we need to show clear evidence that Tim Keller is an unabashed advocate of Contemplative Prayer or CSM. I have two sets of proof for that…”

Is  Your Lamp Full of Light?: Ken Silva ~”This proliferation of hirelings we have on our hands roaming the evangelical landscape right now  pretending to be pastors has literally reversed that which we are sent by Jesus to proclaim. The Lord be praised though that those who are listening to the true Voice of the Great Shepherd within these words will still hear the truth….”

Here I tell you that the evangelical camp has drunk deeply of the poison philosophy of postmodernism and spends the majority of its time preaching about man, and what God supposedly wants to do to make his life better here on earth. Take a moment to think about it; simply consider the worship songs written in the past few years. 

Instead of preaching for the glory and honor of the Creator, we cower before His creation and attempt to appease man’s already inflated self-esteem. It’s called pride; even though the Seeker Driven prophet-pastor today may try to tell himself that he is only making the Christian message more “accessible….”

Obscure Heroes of the Reformation Series : Andy Underhile has concluded his series, introducing us to short biographical sketches of:

William Farel, Nicholas Ridley, Hugh Latimer, Thomas Cranmer, Peter Ramus, Immanuel Tremellius, Thomas Erpenius, Edward Dering, Augustin Marlorat, Caspar Olevian, Zachary Ursinus and Conrad Pelican.

A Couple of Questions from John Gill: Feileadh Mor

…if anything comes to pass without the will of God, or contrary to it, or what he has not commanded, that is decreed, (Lam. 3:37) how is he a sovereign Being, that does according to his will in heaven and in earth, and works all things after the counsel of his will? (Dan. 4:35; Eph. 1:11)

…and if anything is by chance and fortune, or the mere effect of second causes, and of the free will of men, independent of the will of God, and if he works under these, in subserviency to them, and takes his measures of operation from them, then he must be dependent on them; and how then can it be said with truth, that “of him, and through him, and to him, are all things?

He continues…..

 

 

 

 

 

UPDATES: From Behind The Curtain of the “HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH”

What’s Up With The Reformed Big Dogs?  “Over the past few years, a frequent refrain I’ve heard is, “Sovereign Grace Ministries just can’t have the problems that you people are discussing here, or else guys like Mark Dever and Al Mohler would not continue to support C.J. Mahaney…….”

A few follow-up comments to this post:

by Kris: “……I believe it’s very important that we Christians THINK FOR OURSELVES about these things, rather than be blind followers of men, even men we believe to be godly and have integrity.

A lot of the post is also a lot more than speculation. It is a FACT that Al Mohler, Ligon Duncan, and Mark Dever have all made various statements in support of their friend, statements in which they made declarations about Brent’s documents which they were really not qualified to make, considering that they were basing their declarations upon what they know of SGM through their rather distant associations and not upon any firsthand or intimate knowledge.

It’s also perfectly legitimate (and I would argue necessary) to ask WHY these guys all chose to involve themselves in CJ’s troubles, to the point where they went on the record as endorsing their pal and discrediting Brent Detwiler. I’m dismayed, actually, to think that so many people are so blinded by these celebrities and their writings (as great as those writings may be) that they don’t ask more questions.”

“You know, in light of Challies’ most recent post, and this response from Mr. Trueman, I wonder if maybe finally, some of these guys are starting to figure out that something is odd and different about SGM and this thing with CJ…that maybe they’re not actually dealing with your garden variety church ruckus.

Certainly a guy like Tim Challies can’t keep attempting to soothe himself with statements like “Strong leadership will offend some people” when he keeps provoking outrage from survivors every time he posts about SGM’s issues (or even alludes to a topic like spiritual abuse). After awhile, you’d think his common sense would kick in and he’d start to wonder why so many well-spoken people keep writing him the same things, keep passionately attempting to get him to figure out that SGM IS NOT NORMAL!

I mean, does Challies get those kinds of responses when he writes about other organizations? Supposedly, “strong leadership” exists in other churches mentioned on Challies’ blog. Do a lot of survivors of those churches write to Mr. Challies?

I’m thinking not.

Because it’s NOT about “strong leadership” or “biblical authority” or “pastoral authority” or whatever else Tim Challies might want to call it. SGM’s problems all flow from the cultic expectations they set up for members to place on leaders – where “no church is perfect” (supposedly), but then you almost have to have something close to perfection in order for everything to function well, because there is no formal accountability to the members, not in any shape or form at all. There is also (or at least always has been, until SGM leaders figured out that it’s not playing well to the general public these days) SGM’s lockstep homogenous culture, where members somehow have absorbed the idea that if a lifestyle “suggestion” comes down from on high from their leaders, they need to put it into practice in their own lives…even if it’s (supposedly) “just a suggestion.”

I doubt Mr. Challies hears of those sorts of cultural abuses, done in the name of the gospel, when he discusses other ministries.

Maybe one day, some of these Reformed Big Dogs and Junior Reformed Big Dogs will finally start to put two and two together and actually come up with four.”

*****Picture~Source: Paul’s Passing Thoughts

Filed under: Week in Review/Current Issues | Tagged: another Jesus, authoritarian spiritual authority, C.J. Mahaney, Charles Stanely contemplative, contend for faith, contending defending for faith, counterfeit Holy Spirit, ESS, God's Sovereignty, heroes reformation, In Touch Magazine contemplative, Jesuit Agenda, John Gill, Mark Dever, postmodernism, pride of man, Self Esteem Gospel, SGMS, Sovereign Grace Ministries, Spiritual Abuse, Steven Furtick, The Gospel Coalition, The Jesus Movement, Tim Keller contemplative, WOF | 9 Comments »