The Study Corner    

The New York Times editorial borad apparently believes that an evangelical who takes Scripture seriously cannot serve in a role like surgeon general.

Here is an interesting article from OldTruth.com relating to the Independence day celebrations in many churches. There’s quite a bit of good discussion on it:

“If you are in a church where the flag falls out of the ceiling on the Fourth of July, and an honor guard comes down the isle with flags for each branch of the service. And if you are singing God bless America on ANY Sunday on real estate owned by God. If this is the stuff you tolerate on the Lord’s Day, it’s not far off from Asherah poles” (idols in the Old Testament).

That was Michael Horton of the White Horse Inn who said that, on a recent program entitled Christless Christianity which dealt with the many ways modern churches get away from centering on Christ as their primary message.

Read the rest of the article…

And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them”(Acts 7:59-60, ESV).

Stephen is listed as the first Christian martyr. The first person to be put to death for believing in Jesus. The first of many, known and unknown, who through the centuries and even today look to heaven and commit their spirits into God’s hands.

It’s not just that Stephen died, it’s how he died that’s important. Yes, he was executed under false accusations and he was stoned to death–a painful, drawn out way to die. He did get a glimpse of heaven and saw the glorious risen Son of God…waiting for him.
But in his final moments, Stephen echoes Jesus. He did what Jesus did–he committed his spirit into the loving, faithful hands of God the Father. Luke 23:46 records, “Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!’” (ESV).

Stephen also extended forgiveness to his executioners, just as Jesus did. “And Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do’” (Luke 23:34, ESV).

Now, it’s quite possible some of the people stoning Stephen had seen Jesus die. Maybe Stephen had been there too. We don’t know how long he was a follower of Jesus or what he’d already witnessed.

But whatever the circumstances, Stephen had Jesus’ example of how to die, and he followed it. Just like Jesus, Stephen committed himself to God and forgave those who hated him. Following Jesus is not only about how we live but how we die too.

So, if you’re ever called on to die for Jesus, to give up your life because of your faith in Him, remember Stephen and be bold to follow the example of Jesus.

NotReligion

http://www.notreligion.com

In today’s daily insight email from NotReligion.com they had a topic I just had to share.

December 21, 2006
Key Passage: Matthew 7:15-20
Topic: Bible Study/Theories

“Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves” (Matthew 7:15, NLT). J

Jesus is speaking about prophets whose messages were not from God. They sounded like the real thing but their words were false. And Jesus warned His followers to take care that they didn’t believe them.

Today we still deal with false prophets and false teachings: people or movements that promote something that’s not true according to God’s Word.

One false truth is that Christianity is too exclusive. Those who propagate this say there are many ways to God, not just one.

But the truth is only Jesus is the way. In the Bible, Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me” (John 14:6, NLT).

Some false teachers tell us that Jesus would expect us to be tolerant and accept all kinds of lifestyles. For example, they’d say that Christianity can’t say an activity such as sexual relationships between individuals of the same gender is unacceptable–they claim such criticalness would displease Jesus.

In Romans 1:26-27, the apostle Paul tells us the truth about God’s attitude toward those “who suppress the truth in unrighteousness”: “That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other.”

Another recent teaching is that the verses recording Jesus’ death on the cross should be changed so God is seen as more nurturing. In this version Jesus’ death wouldn’t be presented from a typically violent, male approach. This “rewording” would add a softer, more feminine element to our God and so appeal to the feminist movement.

The truth: God hates sin. And Jesus had to die a tortuous death to rescue us from the result of sinful lives–eternal death in hell. The Bible says, “He [God] sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins” (Romans 8:3, NLT).

The dangerous thing about these false teachings is that they come disguised, just as Jesus said. They look logical or kinder or more tolerant than we would expect…and so they appeal to us. But they’re wolves. And they will destroy us.

Tony has a scathing and yet very accurate bead on how to scare people off before they even get to your doors.

Check it out