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Jesus' Perspective on Sola Fida by John MacArthur Many who have embraced "the New Perspective on Paul" are also proposing a different slant on the doctrine of justification by faith. When the text of Scripture is interpreted in the new light, they say, Pauline support for the principle of sola fide [faith alone], the doctrine of imputation, and the distinction between law and gospel doesn't seem quite so strong. We say that's nonsense. We reject the historical and hermeneutical revisionism of the New Perspective, but regardless of how one interprets the apostle Paul, it is quite clear that Jesus...

" John Calvin…is looked upon now, of course, a theologian only, but he was really one of the greatest of gospel preachers. When Calvin opened the Book and took a text, you might be sure that he was about to preach "Through grace are ye saved, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God." CH SPURGEON (14:216) Like his dear Lord Jesus, John Calvin has often been wounded in the house of his friends. Some Christians - who should rejoice in his ministry - practically hate him as much as Rome ever did. All manner of...

Episcopal presiding bishop terms individualistic salvation 'heresy' By Bob Allen Thursday, July 09, 2009 ANAHEIM, Calif. (ABP) -- The presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church called the evangelical notion that individuals can be right with God a "great Western heresy" that is behind many problems facing the church and the wider society. Describing a United States church in crisis, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori told delegates to the group's triennial meeting July 8 in Anaheim, Calif., that the overarching connection to problems facing Episcopalians has to do with "the great Western heresy -- that we can be saved as individuals,...

Tax Day TEA Parties have been scheduled for Toledo and Wauseon (Fulton County) for April 15th. Here is the info: Toledo Tax Day Tea PartyLocation: One Government Center (640 Jackson St, downtown Toledo) Time: 11:30am-1:00pm or later Website: Facebook EventFulton County Tax Day Tea PartyLocation: Fulton County Courthouse (Fulton St, downtown Wauseon) Time: 2:30pm-4:30pm Website: Facebook Event US Representative Bob Latta, Representative of Ohio's 5th District and newly appointed member of the House Budget Committee, will be speaking at both events. Several other guest speakers are being lined up for the events as well.

The Edwards Campaign took it upon themselves to post Ann Coulter's comments from Monday's Good Morning America on YouTube. VIDEO HERE Of course, they edited out the comments just before, thus destroying the context of what she said (which was a reference to liberal media hypocrisy over Bill Maher's comments about how the world would be better off had Dick Cheney died in a terrorist attack).

Do stop behaving as if you are God, Professor Dawkins by Alister McGrathThe Daily Mail 5/18/2007 Original Article He is a 'psychotic delinquent', invented by mad, deluded people. And that's one of Dawkins's milder criticisms. Dawkins, Oxford University's Professor for the Public Understanding of Science, is on a crusade. His salvo of outrage and ridicule is meant to rid the world of its greatest evil: religion. "If this book works as I intend," he says, "religious readers who open it will be atheists when they put it down." But he admits such a result is unlikely. "Dyed-in-the-wool faith-heads" (that's people...

Rev. Jerry Falwell Dies LYNCHBURG, Va. (AP) - A Liberty University executive says the Rev. Jerry Falwell has died. Falwell was hospitalized in "gravely serious" condition after being found unconscious Tuesday in his office at Liberty University, a school executive said earlier. Ron Godwin, the university's executive vice president, said Falwell, 73, was found unresponsive around 10:45 a.m. and taken to Lynchburg General Hospital. Godwin said he was not sure what caused the collapse, but he said Falwell "has a history of heart challenges." "I had breakfast with him, and he was fine at breakfast," Godwin said. "He went...

The Gym of the Soul by Stuart Shepard, managing editor Rocky Balboa finds redemption. Can Rambo be next? "No matter what, you can overcome your past," he said. "With help, if you look to God, you can overcome your past and be reborn."Hmm. That's an interesting quote. You may be wondering who said it. Sounds like it would be from a prominent evangelical leader, or maybe someone with a powerful testimony, or perhaps a youth pastor hoping to break through to a crowded room of young people. Or, would you believe, Rocky Balboa?Or, to be more accurate, Sylvester Stallone, the...

Were the Remonstrants Faithful to Arminius? For the past four hundred years, the doctrinal battle between Arminians and Calvinists has raged on. This battle had its formal beginning with the issuance of the Canons of the Synod of Dordecht in 1619. These canons were the result of a national synod held in Dordrecht by the Dutch Reformed Church, and attended by delegates from Reformed churches throughout all of Europe, for the purpose of addressing the Five Articles of Remonstrance issued by followers of Jacobius Arminius in 1610, one year after Arminius’ death. The articles addressed point on which the Remonstrants...

Lesson 10         The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit Times of Refreshing Chapter 1 Refreshing of His blessing Revival: What does it mean? Peter tells us in Acts 3:19 that it is a “time of refreshing... from the presence of the Lord,” a time when God visits us with a refreshing of His blessings, by reviving the hearts of His people and convicting and regenerating precious lost souls. Most of us will agree that today we need a definite, positive refreshing from the presence of the Lord. I know, without the shadow of a doubt, without the Spirit of God being poured...

This excerpt is taken from the Christian classic, The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan. FAITHFUL: Then Faithful stepped forward again, and said to Talkative, Come, what cheer? How is it now? TALKATIVE: Thank you, well: I thought we should have had a great deal of talk by this time.FAITHFUL: Well, if you will, we will fall to it now; and since you left it with me to state the question, let it be this: How doth the saving grace of God discover itself when it is in the heart of man?TALKATIVE: I perceive, then, that our talk must be about...

Lesson 9         Counsel to the Saints A Call to Prayer Chapter 9 The Struggle Let me speak, lastly, to those who do pray. I trust that some who read this tract know well what prayer is, and have the Spirit of adoption. To all such, I offer a few words of brotherly counsel and exhortation. The incense offered in the tabernacle was ordered to be made in a particular way. Not every kind of incense would do. Let us remember this, and be careful about the matter and manner of our prayers. Brethren who pray, if I know anything of a...

Four Views on the Millennium Contents What Is The Millennium in Question?Why Is This Millennium in Question?The ViewsDispensational PremillennialismHistorical PremillennialismPostmillennialismAmillennialismConclusion What Is the Millennium in Question? When Christians discuss their millennial views, they are speaking of their interpretation of the much debated passage in Revelation 20:1-10. "Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he threw him into the abyss,...

Lesson 8         Advice to the Unsaved A Call to Prayer Chapter 8 There is no excuse Let me speak a parting word to those who do not pray. I dare not suppose that all who read these pages are praying people. If you are a prayerless person, suffer me to speak to you this day on God’s behalf. Prayerless reader, I can only warn you, but I do warn you most solemnly. I warn you that you are in a position of fearful danger. If you die in your present state, you are a lost soul. You will only rise again...

Lesson 7         Prayer and Contentment A Call to Prayer Chapter 7 Sorrow abounds I ask, lastly, whether you pray because prayer is one of the best means of happiness and contentment. We live in a world where sorrow abounds. This has always been its state since sin came in. There cannot be sin without sorrow. And until sin is driven out from the world, it is vain for any one to suppose he can escape sorrow. Some without doubt have a larger cup of sorrow to drink than others. But few are to be found who live long without sorrows or...

Lesson 6         Prayer and Backsliding A Call to Prayer Chapter 6 Backsliding really happens Do you wish to grow in grace and be a devoted Christian? Be very sure, if you wish it, you could not have a more important question than this—Do you pray? I ask whether you pray, because neglect of prayer is one great cause of backsliding. There is such a thing as going back in religion after making a good profession. Men may run well for a season, like the Galatians, and then turn aside after false teachers. Men may profess loudly while their feelings are warm,...

Lesson 5         Diligence in Prayer, the Secret of Holiness A Call to Prayer Chapter 5 Vast difference I ask whether you pray, because diligence in prayer is the secret of eminent holiness. Without controversy there is a vast difference among true Christians. There is an immense interval between the foremost and the hindermost in the army of God. They are all fighting the same good fight; but how much more valiantly some fight than others. They are all doing the Lord’s work; but how much more some do than others. They are all light in the Lord; but how much more...

Lesson 4         Prayer Produces Great Encouragement A Call to Prayer Chapter 4 God is ready I ask whether you pray, because prayer is an act in religion to which there is great encouragement. There is everything on God’s part to make prayer easy, if men will only attempt it. All things are ready on his side. Every objection is anticipated. Every difficulty is provided for. The crooked places are made straight and the rough places are made smooth. There is no excuse left for the prayerless man. There is a way by which any man, however sinful and unworthy, may draw...

Lesson 3         Prayer: The Most Neglected Duty A Call to Prayer Chapter 3 Some never pray I ask whether you pray, because there is no duty in religion so neglected as private prayer. We live in days of abounding religious profession. There are more places of public worship now than there ever were before. There are more persons attending them than there ever were before. And yet in spite of all this public religion, I believe there is a vast neglect of private prayer. It is one of those private transactions between God and our souls which no eye sees, and...

Lesson 2         The Habit of Prayer: Mark of a True Christian A Call to Prayer Chapter 2 Those who pray I ask again whether you pray, because a habit of prayer is one of the surest marks of a true Christian. All the children of God on earth are alike in this respect. From the moment there is any life and reality about their religion, they pray. Just as the first sign of life in an infant when born into the world is the act of breathing, so the first act of men and women when they are born again is...