Moralistic Deism

If sin is understood mostly as moral misbehavior, the gospel will be understood mostly as a tool to get us to behave better. - Pastor Tullian

https://www.gotquestions.org/Moralistic-Therapeutic-Deism.html

Atheism

"Atheism turns out to be too simple. If the whole universe has no meaning we should never have found out that it has no meaning." - C.S. Lewis

"It just recently occurred to me exactly how backwards our society is when a person is insulted that we tell them they are NOT degenerated pond scum."

"He who affirms that Christianity makes men miserable, is himself an utter stranger to it." - C.H. Spurgeon

"When you are arguing against God you are arguing against the very power that makes you able to argue at all." - C.S. Lewis

"The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried." - G.K. Chesterton

"I now maintain nothing is literally right or wrong because there is no morality…” — atheist philosopher Joel Marks

"Maybe the atheist can't find God for the same reason a thief cannot find a policeman." - Author unknown

"There is darkness without, and when I die there will be darkness within. There is no splendor, no vastness anywhere, only triviality for a moment, and then nothing." - Bertrand Russell

If you are an atheist you ultimately believe the same as Bertrand Russell even if you never admit it to yourself or others with such words of hopelessness. You come from nothing.  You are going to nothing.  Your existence is a random accident.  You can claim your existence is a product of wonderful genetic mutations, sublime occurrences and evolution but that still leaves you with a problem.  You have to invent a meaning for your life.  Bertrand Russell was very aware that there was no meaning...no beauty...no purpose to an existence that did not begin with a Creator.

http://www.blogos.org/gotquestions/atheist-fairy-tales.php

http://www.thepoachedegg.net/the-poached-egg/2012/05/apologetics-atheists-quotes-on-atheism.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-adam-jacobs/a-reasonable-argument-for_b_831185.html?ir=Divorce

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-david-wolpe/why-are-atheists-so-angry_b_833662.html

“I date my break [from atheism] from a very casual happening. I was sitting in our apartment on St. Paul Street in Baltimore. . . . My daughter was in her high chair. I was watching her eat. She was the most miraculous thing that had ever happened in my life. I liked to watch her even when she smeared porridge on her face or dropped it meditatively on the floor. My eye came to rest on the delicate convolutions of her ear — those intricate, perfect ears. The thought passed through my mind: ‘No, those ears were not created by any chance coming together of atoms in nature. They could have been created only by immense design.’ The thought was involuntary and unwanted. I crowded it out of my mind. But I never wholly forgot it or the occasion. I had to crowd it out of my mind. If I had completed it, I should have had to say: Design presupposes God. I did not then know that, at that moment, the finger of God was first laid upon my forehead.” - Whittaker Chambers, Witness (New York, 1953), page 16.

Either God is infinite or energy/matter is infinite...meaning something has always been here which absolutely boggles the finite human mind.  Since science dictates that something can't come from nothing, one of those two things must be true. The problem for atheists is the Law of Cause and Effect which basically states that something can't come from nothing.  Atheists like to talk about being logical and scientific and basing their beliefs on what can be observed.  However, their explanations of the origins of the universe, i.e. The Big Bang Theory, directly contradict long held scientific laws.

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=12&article=3716

So the very framework they cling to calls their entire belief system into question from the very beginning.  That's a problem and an honest atheist will admit as much.



http://www.worldoncampus.com/2011/10/ask_a_former_atheist


http://saddleback.com/mc/m/5e22f/

http://www.bloggingtheologically.com/2012/01/14/in-what-way-has-god-hallowed-his-name/

http://news.yahoo.com/rise-atheism-america-110700315.html

http://www.outreachmedia.org.au/email/Apr_12_jpg.jpg

http://blogs.christianpost.com/christianlife/combating-atheism-with-sola-scriptura-6461/

http://www.christianpost.com/news/popular-atheist-blogger-announces-conversion-to-catholicism-76905/

http://niddriepastor.com/2012/08/12/jesus-never-existed-well-ok-then-maybe-he-did/

http://www.amazon.com/Not-Gods-Type-Rational-Academic/dp/0802431941/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342556663&sr=1-1&keywords=Holly+Ordway

http://www.apologetics315.com/2012/09/former-atheist-richard-morgan-interview.html#more

http://www.btylerellis.com/2014/07/31/college-graduate-becomes-a-christian-after-2-years-of-weekly-investigative-studies/?platform=hootsuite

http://www.biblegateway.com/LeeStrobel/2012/09/in-the-nick-of-time/

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/06/listening-to-young-atheists-lessons-for-a-stronger-christianity/276584/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=M8XSa79sU0M

http://www.biblegateway.com/blog/2013/06/lee-strobel-the-last-bible-verse-i-read-as-an-atheist/

http://www.apologetics315.com/2013/06/alister-mcgrath-interview-transcript.html#more

http://www.worldmag.com/2009/10/strange_collocation

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2013/07/15/the-six-types-of-atheists/

www.toughquestionsanswered.org/2013/02/08/can-secularists-survive-without-christianity

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/12/13/christmas-gift-for-atheists-five-reasons-why-god-exists/

http://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/pop-atheism-and-power-gospel/

http://www.btylerellis.com/2014/07/31/college-graduate-becomes-a-christian-after-2-years-of-weekly-investigative-studies/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/11047072/Richard-Dawkins-immoral-to-allow-Downs-syndrome-babies-to-be-born.html

https://jamesbishopblog.wordpress.com/2015/04/08/atheists-are-freethinkers-unlike-those-subjected-to-religious-dogma-a-reply/

https://jamesbishopblog.wordpress.com/2015/05/23/former-atheist-astrophysicist-sarah-salviander-explains-her-journey-to-christianity

http://seanmcdowell.org/blog/former-french-atheist-becomes-a-christian-an-interview

http://hopebeyondreason.com/2015/08/09/antonyflew

http://michaelminot.com/2014/10/talking-with-atheists/

http://www.christiantoday.com/article/five.atheists.who.lost.faith.in.atheism/61784.htm

http://reasonsforjesus.com/how-science-morality-led-biologist-and-former-atheist-wayne-rossiter-to-christianity/

https://www.premierchristianity.com/Past-Issues/2017/April-2017/When-sceptics-convert-3-former-atheists-walking-the-path-of-CS-Lewis

http://crossexamined.org/interview-with-a-former-skeptic-3-important-lessons/

https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2016/june/nicole-cliffe-how-god-messed-up-my-happy-atheist-life.html

https://www.str.org/blog/why-evidence-will-not-convince-some-atheists#.XEu5IvZFzIU

It's All a Gift

“No one knows who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” - Luke 10:22

 "You should always look at yourself and think, 'I can't believe I'm a Christian.' If you're a Christian, it's a miracle." - Tim Keller

"Belief in the Gospel is not in our DNA. Belief in the Gospel is a miracle God is constantly performing." - Ray Ortlund

"Your faith will not fail while God sustains it. You are not strong enough to fall away while God is resolved to hold you." - J.I. Packer

500 posts.  That's a lot of time, thought and effort...and guess what?  Every single one of them was a gift.  Many were directly inspired by topics that I was wrestling with or by things the Holy Spirit was showing me.  But every post was only done because I was given the ability, opportunity and insight by the God of the universe.

We like to think we are in control of so many things.  But as I read today..."proximity does not equal control."  I did not control my last breath or heartbeat.  I don't control the saving work of the Spirit in my life.  I didn't go out and seek faith in Jesus and call it my own.  It's all a gift.

God has taken it upon Himself to hold on to me.  My assurance of salvation does not lie in myself.  It lies with a covenant-keeping God.




http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/the-incalculable-wonder-of-being-a-christian

Confessing Our Sins

http://www.desiringgod.org//blog/posts/confessing-our-sins-together

http://feedingonchrist.com/confess-sins-one-another/

Evidence for the Eternal?

"I don't think God lets anyone peek around the curtain of eternity if they are not going to stay." - Tim Keller

Bottom line...start and end with the inspired Word of God.

From Hank Hanegraaff...

Popular interest in near-death experiences (NDEs) is at a fever pitch. From Raymond Moody's Life after Life to Eben Alexander's Proof of Heaven, to Mary Neal's To Heaven and Back, to Todd Burpo's Heaven Is for Real—and, of course, now the movie—NDEs have titillated the masses for the better part of a generation. New revelations ranging from the physical characteristics of the devil (three heads, earless, a nasty nose, and moldy teeth) and demons (green, long fingernails, hair made of fire), to descriptions of God the Father (blue eyes, yellow hair, and huge wings), God the Son (sea green-bluish eyes and a rainbow-colored horse), and God the Holy Spirit (bluish but hard to see), are captivating the minds of millions of evangelicals. The problem is there are significant liabilities associated with NDEs.

First, we should note that the substance of an NDE is inevitably informed by the worldview of the celestial traveler. And that is precisely the problem. The objective reference point of sacred Scripture has been supplanted by the subjective experiences of those who have allegedly had a foretaste of heaven. Thus, while Scripture knows nothing of human preexistence, Betty Eadie—in concert with her Mormon presuppositions—alleges that while being embraced by the light, she recognized the very Jesus that she had previously encountered in her preexistence. In like fashion, Raymond Moody and Eben Alexander—in accord with their presuppositions—view life after life as devoid of the judgment of an altogether holy God. As such, what I said in yesterday's Daily e-Truth bears repeating: the subjective recollections of near-death experiencers are wildly divergent and mutually contradictory; and thus, logically, they can all be wrong, but they cannot all be right.

What we have in Heaven Is for Real is something not even the biblical writers had the temerity to do. Among the biblical writers who "spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter 1:21), not one dared say that like his Lord he spoke authoritatively about heaven from firsthand knowledge. Think about the apostle Paul. In the Bible we are told that he was "caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell" (2 Corinthians 12:4). Unlike Colton Burpo, Paul was not permitted to speak about his "surpassingly great revelations" (v. 7). Nor did any one of the biblical writers dare prophesy the century of Christ's return—one of Colton's revelations was that his father Todd would be alive to fight in the battle of Armageddon.





https://soundcloud.com/askpastorjohn/how-real-is-the-book-heaven-is

http://blogs.lcms.org/2014/review-heaven-is-for-real

http://www.challies.com/articles/what-the-bible-says-about-the-heaven-books

http://www.reclaimingthemind.org/blog/2015/01/trust-peoples-near-death-experiences

Holy Week 2014

“Only through weakness and suffering could sin be atoned - it was the only way to end evil without ending us.” - Tim Keller

"Loving like Jesus loved means one thing - sacrifice."

"Our sins have to be Christ's sins or we shall perish forever." ~ Martin Luther

“If Christ is risen, nothing else matters. And if Christ is not risen—nothing else matters.” — Jaroslav Pelikan

"Through Christ, death has lost her sting. Christ is the Death of death." ~Martin Luther

"How can we remember his death w/o sorrowing over the sin which made that death necessary?" - C.H. Spurgeon

"'Why do bad things happen to good people?' That only happened once and He volunteered." - Sproul, JR.

"The issue on which everything stands is not whether or not you like Christianity, but whether or not He rose from the dead." - Tim Keller









http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/the-problem-of-palm-sunday

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2014/04/17/maundy-thursday-4/

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2014/04/17/when-jesus-said-farewell/

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/the-greatest-prayer-in-the-world-maundy-thursday

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2014/04/18/how-can-this-be-a-good-friday-meditation/

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/it-is-finished-good-friday

http://www.rzim.org/blog/new-testament-studies/loves-unveiling-day-12-loves-extremity/

http://glennpackiam.typepad.com/my_weblog/2011/04/n-t-wright-on-the-atonement.html

http://www.bloggingtheologically.com/2013/03/22/did-jesus-really-have-to-rise-again/

http://www.bloggingtheologically.com/2014/04/20/sent-one-sends/

https://www.unlockingthebible.org/meaning-significance-resurrection-jesus-christ/

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/have-you-found-what-you-re-looking-for-easter-sunday

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2014/04/19/holy-week-day-8-sunday/

http://www.rzim.org/blog/worship-and-spirituality/ravis-easter-meditation/

http://www.rzim.org/blog/new-testament-studies/four-gardens/

http://patriotpost.us/pages/309

Christmas

 "Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will be with child ..." (Luke 1:30)

 

No matter how troubled Mary was, her heart had been cultivated by faith, and she responded to the news with composure, dignity, and faith. She did not scream or fall on her face. She simply asked the angel a question: “How will this be … since I am a virgin?” (v. 34).

 

She asked with expectancy. “How will God do this, with me being a virgin and all?” It is not a question of doubt. It is a question rooted in faith. Mary immediately believed Gabriel. She did not laugh as Sarah did when she overheard the conversation between her husband and the Lord that she in her old age would bear a son. When confronted with the miraculous, Mary asked how will.

 

Unbeknownst to Mary, this same angel had visited her relative Zechariah and brought him astonishing, impossible news. When Gabriel told Zechariah that he and Elizabeth in their old age would have a son, an amazing son, Zechariah asked, “How can this be?” (v. 18, author’s paraphrase). Not how will. How can. The difference exposed his heart. He did not believe the angel, and it did not go well for him. Mary was blessed by the angel above all women. Zechariah was struck dumb. 

 

Mary asked, “How will?” She knew that if God says something—anything—we can believe him. God is true. He is trustworthy. Jesus is a man of his Word. (From "Becoming Myself" by John Eldredge)

"At Christmas God moved into very bad neighborhood and began rehabilitating it." - Tim Keller

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/five-truths-about-the-incarnation

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/mary-s-model-for-mothers

www.bloggingtheologically.com/2013/12/21/living-in-her-old-testament-faith

http://www.lizcurtishiggs.com/2013/12/the-women-of-christmas-the-wondrous-gift-is-given/

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tullian/2013/12/25/christmas-for-the-weary-and-heavy-laden/

http://kellerquotes.com/the-greatest-gift/

http://kellerquotes.com/the-message-of-christmas/

http://www.rzim.eu/a-christmas-message-from-john-lennox

http://www.rzim.org/a-slice-of-infinity/questioning-gabriel/

www.rzim.org/a-slice-of-infinity/the-santa-delusion

http://www.rzim.org/a-slice-of-infinity/which-virgin-birth/

http://pastormark.tv/2011/12/21/who-was-saint-nicholas

thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2011/11/28/immanuel-the-real-meaning-of-christmas