Recently I asked on the Facebook page if a pastor who has a drink occasionally is above reproach. The answers were varied, with supporting biblical and historical texts for both arguments. This led me to ask myself a question: “Since there is so much controversy surrounding alcohol(and smoking), should Christians bother putting themselves in the midst of this debated issue?” In the Bible it would be pretty hard to say that alcohol and smoking in themselves are sins, since it... Read more
Editor’s Note: Below is a guest post from a new friend, Steve Swan. Steve is the associate pastor at The King’s Fellowship, a church in the heart of Winnipeg, Canada. Steve is married to his best friend, Sarah and they have two daughters, Nora(3) and Lulu(1). You can find his blog at Words of Truth & Reason. In Charles Spurgeon’s book The Soul Winner, he writes this about evangelism: “We must not excuse ourselves, but force ourselves to the irksome... Read more
Thank you to everyone who participated in the voting. To bring everyone up to speed, we are debating the issue of sanctification. Is it monergistic (something God does without the cooperation of the individual) or is it synergistic (something God does in cooperation with the individual)? THE RESULTS Monergistic – 50% Synergistic – 45.45% I don’t know – 4.55% Fascinating, huh? I had no idea how close the results were going to be. I think we can all come... Read more
We Reformed folk all agree that justification is monergistic, but where we sometimes differ is in our view of sanctification. Tell me what you think! I’ll gather the results and share them along with another post later this week. Read more
Many of us would be quick to say that God’s love is universal to all mankind. The majority of us grew up singing songs like “Jesus loves me” and “Jesus loves the little children” in which one line in the song states: “Jesus loves all the children of the world”. This is something I struggled with recently that was spurred on by a few comments made on my post, Westboro Baptist No More. In the doctrine of election we know that... Read more
You cannot kill a tree by picking its fruit. You must kill its roots. Unearthed has launched production of “The Hearts of Men” – a feature length documentary engaging men that fuel demand in sexual exploitation – the missing link in this battle. Groundswell will tell you about our journey up to this point, and give you a few ways to partner with us. To learn more, act, or give, visit our new website: unearthedpictures.org Read more
My post yesterday titled, “A Charles Spurgeon prayer for lent” created some interesting dialog on the Facebook page. The voiced concerns were that Charles Spurgeon wouldn’t celebrate the season of Lent, at all. Many said they did some research and dug through his sermons but to no avail. I want to share with you what I found from different Spurgeon sermons. Colossians 2:16. Let no man, therefore, judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or... Read more
Lord Jesus, take from us now everything that would hinder the closest communion with God. Any wish or desire that might hamper us in prayer remove, we pray you. Any memory of either sorrow or care that might hinder the fixing of our affection wholly on our God, take it away now. What have we to do with idols anymore? You have seen and observed us. You know where the difficulty lies. Help us against it, and may we now come boldly, not in the holy place alone, but in the holiest of all, where... Read more
Editor’s Note: Below is a guest post from my brother, Brendan McCaskell. Brendan is finishing up his B.A. in Business Administration and Biblical Studies at Canadian Mennonite University. He is also a youth pastor at City Church in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Find his blog at Reformed Ramblings. We are a people of beliefs. I believe this, you believe that and we pretend not to think that our beliefs are the correct ones. In the name of acceptance we smile and nod... Read more
Charles Spurgeon said that, “True prayer is measured by weight, not by length. A single groan before God may have more fullness of prayer in it than a fine oration of great length.” This is a great reminder for us. How many would say that we spend great lengths in prayer so we can ‘feel’ holy? Or maybe so we can accomplish some of our plans for our life, with God as the magic genie that grants us gifts. I... Read more
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