Passion 4 Him

By William Gray [1] April 29, 2014 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto Salvation for everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Gentiles. For in it is the righteousness of God reveled from faith to faith; as it is written, “the just shall live by faith” (Romans 1:16-17) Introduction:  Nearly every day we read of some new criminal act which continues to “stun the nation”. Now we have another mass shooting at Ft. Hood, Texas killing at least four and wounding another number of individuals who are as yet unknown. A massive random shooting which has again brought almost universal statements such as “what went wrong?” “How can things such as this be prevented so that they never happen again?” Random acts of violence which appears to be totally unrelated to anything that anyone previously knew about the perpetrator. Additionally, the Russians have alrea...

By Phil Johnson It's odd and troubling that the best-selling evangelical book of the past decade is a fanciful account of heaven spun from the imagination of a four-year-old boy. (Believe it or not, The Purpose-Driven Life and The Prayer of Jabez are both now more than a decade old.) Peddling fiction about the afterlife as non-fiction is the current Next Big Thing in the world of evangelical publishing. Heaven is for Real , by Todd Burpo, tells the story of Burpo's son, Colton, who says he visited heaven while anesthetized for an appendectomy at age 4. Colton, now 13, says in heaven he got a halo and real wings (though they were too small for his liking). He also claims he sat on Jesus' lap while the angels sang to him; he saw Mary standing beside Jesus' throne; and he met the Holy Spirit (who, according to Colton, is "kind of blue"). More than seven million copies of this book are now in circulation, and the publi...

    By John Whitcomb     April 20, 2014 The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead with a glorified body is a foundational truth of the New Testament. In fact, “If Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable” (1 Cor. 15:17-19). But how can we be absolutely sure that He rose from the dead three days after He died on the cross for our sins? Even one of the 12 apostles denied His resurrection: “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe” (John 20:25). Eight days later, Thomas saw Him in the upper room, and exclaimed: “My Lord and my God!” (v. 28). But how can ...

By Dr. Thomas Ice April 17, 2014   ~~Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,   —2 Thessalonians 2:3  I believe that there is a strong possibility that 2 Thessalonians 2:3 is speaking of the rapture.  What do I mean?  Some pretribulationists, like myself, think that the Greek noun apostasia, usually translated “apostasy,” is a reference to the rapture and should be translated “departure.”  Thus, this passage would be saying that the day of the Lord will not come until the rapture comes before it.  If apostasia is a reference to a physical departure, then 2 Thessalonians 2:3 is strong evidence for pretribulationism. THE MEANING OF APOSTASIA  The Greek noun apostasia is only used twice in the New Testament.  In addition to 2 Thessalonians 2:3, it occurs in Acts 21:21 whe...

By Dr. Thomas Ice April 17, 2014  An important question that many Christians often ask is “Are we living in the last days or end times?”  When people ask me this question, I usually respond with a clear “Yes and No!”  Such an answer requires an explanation.  My explanation is that the Bible uses such terminology in multiple ways, so that some references do refer to our own day, while others do not. LAST DAYS VOCABULARY  Sometimes Christians read in the Bible about the “last days,” “end times,” etc., and tend to think that all of these phrases all of the time refer to the same thing.  This is not the case, just as in our own lives there are many endings:  there is the end of the work day, the end of the day according to the clock, the end of the week, the end of the month, and the end of the year.  Just because the word “end” is used does not mean that it always refers to the same time.  The word ...

By John MacArthur Do discernment and divisiveness go hand in hand? Is it true that the term discernment is often employed as a cover for a contentious or critical spirit? Let’s acknowledge that there are unscrupulous people who, under the guise of “biblical discernment,” engage in unbrotherly criticism. Their tactics often include innuendo, character assassination, guilt by association, and other dishonest methods. They weave conspiracy theories, sensationalize their attacks against others, and favor personal slurs over substantive doctrinal analysis. Militant fundamentalism has made this type of criticism its specialty. As a consequence, that movement has steadily lost its influence, forfeited its credibility, and fragmented into tiny, warring factions. My appeal for discernment is not a call to that sort of factious attitude. Undoubtedly the prevalence of hypercritical attitudes among some fundamentalists has caused a backlash th...

Question:   Since there are so many sacred books of various religions, all of which claim to be true, how can anyone be sure that the Bible is the true Word of God without first examining all the others? Even though another sacred writing might be mostly false, couldn’t it still have enough truth in it to make it worth the time and effort to examine all religious writings?   Response:  That philosophy leads to liberalism’s conclusion that there is no definitive truth and no conclusive answer to any question whatsoever. For example, how could one be certain that two plus two was only four without first examining whether it might not also be three or five or six or seven or every other number? Since numbers are infinite, one would never come to the end of the search. So it is with religion: No one could live long enough to examine every claim of every religion that has ever existed. Nor is such an effort necessary. Thankfully, truth is not arrive...

Smith, Chuck An excerpt from  Why Grace Changes Everything   Walking in the Spirit is an amazingly practical proposition. It doesn’t mean that we float through life with a halo over our head and an angelic smile on our face. We can be spiritually minded and still relate to people about earthly things. Some believers react so strongly against the pervasive worldliness of our culture that they lose the ability to communicate with their friends, relatives, and neighbors. Walking in the Spirit doesn’t take us out of reality; it allows us to function in reality with optimum effectiveness. Relationship First Somebody once said, “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” How true that is in the spiritual realm! While walking in the Spirit is an incredibly practical proposition, we must bear in mind that it’s not the place we begin.  Relationship always precedes behavior . A great example of this principle is found in the book of ...

Question: I’ve spent countless hours talking to those who support biblical movies, and no matter what concerns I raise that are abundantly clear from the Scriptures, the final word on their part is, “I hear what you’re saying, but I still feel that God can use such movies to win people to Jesus.” I am continually frustrated by their lack of biblical discernment. What do you say to those who respond based upon what they feel?   Response:  God, in His abundant mercy, can certainly bring conviction of sin and draw a person to Himself in ways and means that seem to be an exception to what we would normally see. Consider these scenarios: 1) A Roman Catholic at Mass hears a verse quoted from Scripture during the priest’s homily. The verse speaks to the person’s heart and leads him to the biblical gospel and salvation. 2) A Jehovah’s Witness is reading through his New World Translation bible, and some of its verses that contradict Witness doctrine lead the pers...

By Nathan Busenitz   April 8, 2014   ~~In the apostle John’s account of the new earth in Revelation 21-22, prominent attention is given to the New Jerusalem, the capital of the eternal heaven. Nearly half of Revelation 21 is devoted to describing the physical properties of the magnificent metropolis. Its glorious splendor will be the heart of the new earth, for it is here that God Himself dwells. New Jerusalem Christians rarely think of heaven as a city, and yet that is precisely how God describes it (Heb. 11:16; cf. John 14:2). Cities have buildings, streets, houses, and citizens. They are places of political power, economic industry, higher learning, refined culture, and impressive architecture. These characteristics are true of the heavenly city as well, though the New Jerusalem will far outshine any of earthly city in both its magnifi...