The litmus test for Revival is sound Doctrine

Dr. John Piper writes the following article concerning genuine revival.

Lee Grady, the editor of Charisma, one of the main charismatic magazines, has written a lament and critique of the Lakeland “revival” which is now in a tailspin over the leader's announced separation from his wife. Grady’s summons to pray for the church and our nation is right, and among his commendable questions and observations are these:

• "Many of us would rather watch a noisy demonstration of miracles, signs and wonders than have a quiet Bible study. Yet we are faced today with the sad reality that our untempered zeal is a sign of immaturity. Our adolescent craving for the wild and crazy makes us do stupid things. It’s way past time for us to grow up."
  
• "True revival will be accompanied by brokenness, humility, reverence and repentance—not the arrogance, showmanship and empty hype that often was on display in Lakeland."
  
• "A prominent Pentecostal evangelist called me this week after Bentley’s news hit the fan. He said to me: “I’m now convinced that a large segment of the charismatic church will follow the anti-Christ when he shows up because they have no discernment.” Ouch. Hopefully we’ll learn our lesson this time and apply the necessary caution when an imposter shows up."

Charismatics will not be the only ones who follow the Antichrist when he rises. So will the mass of those who today in thousands of evangelical churches belittle the truth of biblical doctrine as God’s agent to set us free (John 8:32).

Discernment is not created in God’s people by brokenness, humility, reverence, and repentance. It is created by biblical truth and the application of truth by the power of the Holy Spirit to our hearts and minds. When that happens, then the brokenness, humility, reverence, and repentance will have the strong fiber of the full counsel of God in them. They will be profoundly Christian and not merely religious and emotional and psychological.

The common denominator of those who follow the Antichrist will not be “charismatic.” It will be, as Paul says, “they refused to love the truth.”

The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12)

Our test for every Lakeland that comes along should first be doctrinal and expositional. Is this awakening carried along by a “love for the truth” and a passion to hear the whole counsel of God proclaimed?

Stay Alert Christians!

Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned:and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple Rom 16:17-18

If unique is what you seek then look again...

In a day when the seeker-friendly and post-modern churches want to offer a unique approach, it just so happens they all end up looking the same. I happened to be browsing some popular church websites and was amazed at the similarity between the layouts and graphics. Maybe they each use the same web design company and get a huge discount. But I thought these were the cutting edge guys who were going to bring a fresh and unique approach to church. It looks to me like they are copying each other.

Michael Phelps and the glory of God

OK, this will be my final post regarding Michael Phelps and his incredible achievements at the Olympics. As I have been watching and reflecting on what Michael as been able to accomplish my question is "why am I drawn like a magnet to watch him swim?" And it finally hit me that within the core of my soul I am hard wired to admire greatness. And I admire greatness in such a way that it diminishes me to the point I forget self and then magnify the object of my affection. As I have watched Michael Phelps win race after race I am admiring the best swimmer in the world. And if I compare myself to him, I look like the infant wading around in the baby pool.

Why do we like to see a beautiful sunset on the ocean? Because as we look at the ocean and the sunset we forget ourselves and delight in the object of our affection. We in essence love to be diminished in view of something that is much greater than ourselves.
That is why we go and watch a professional football or basketball game. It is the reason we go to the movies or skiing in the Rockie Mountains. We are programmed to be awed by things that are great.

Now bring all that over into our relationship with God Himself. When we read His word from Genesis to Revelation He reveals the greatness of His name. In each page we can look and meditate on a spiritual sunset at the beach, or mountain top view at peak season during the fall. At those times we are reminded of our smallness and we are actually for a moment or two able to forget totally about self. Yes, as I have watched Michael Phelps swim 4 laps in an Olympic size pool for that brief moment I admire the greatness of his ability and at the same time forgetting about me.

My prayer is that we in the church will return to God's word in such a way that He will be the primary focus of our attention and affections. In doing so we will see Him as He is - great, majestic and glorious and us as we are - weak, small and needy. At that moment I become satisfied in Him as He becomes magnified in me!

Congratulations Pastor Greg and Daniell

Here is a blog site "shout out" to Pastor Greg and his lovely wife Daniell with their new baby. What a little bundle of joy! Blessings guys to you and the whole family.

A photo recap of our summer 2008

When church dies

This from the Borean Blog Site:

"Death (of a Church) occurs when unbelievers are allowed to take over ministries in the church. It happens when a church becomes more concerned with form and liturgy than it is with life on a spiritual level. Death occurs when a church becomes more concerned about welfare and social ills than it is about salvation. It happens when a church loves systems more than it loves Jesus Christ. And it happens when a church becomes more concerned with material things than spiritual reality. That's how a church dies. It all is a result of sin.

Sin--in any form that the church tolerates, whether it is in the members or the leaders. Tolerance of sin begins the cycle; then comes the tolerance of unbelievers in the church until no one cares who is a believer or an unbeliever. The end comes when the man who runs the church isn't a believer. Sins of commission and omission kill a church little by little. When that happens, Christians become carnal. Soon afterwards, unbelievers come into the church, and then a total tolerance for sin exists. The church begins to die, and the people who really love Jesus Christ leave only to be replaced by people who don't know Him." —John MacArthur

Purpose Driven Problems...

This is a radio show post from Chris Rosebrough's show called "Fighting for the Faith."
The show starts with a guy (Dutch Sheets) who leads a concert of students and he exegetes his own dream or vision. Hmmm... The lyrics are "mess us up...mess us up..."
You might find this hard to believe but here it is on you tube.


VERY IMPORTANT! PLEASE LISTEN TO AUDIO SEGMENT BELOW
But the main content of the show deals with the Granger Community Church (6th most influential church in America) where the following statistics have been revealed:
Granger’s own qualitative study revealed that:

47% of those attending Granger DO NOT believe in salvation by grace.

57% of those attending Granger DO NOT believe in the authority of the Bible.

56% of those attending Granger DO NOT believe Jesus is the only way to eternal life.

Folks many mainstream orthodox evangelicals have been talking about the potential dangers of the seeker-friendly church growth movement in America. And now we see that these potential dangers have in fact become a reality. There are so many churches in America that fall under this type of ministry focus.

Below I have posted the last 11 minutes of Chris's radio show where you hear the senior pastor reveal the stats.

















Seeker-Friendly Alert! - Seeker-Friendly Alert! - Seeker-Friendly Alert

Herding the Emerging

“Trying to define the Emerging church is a bit like herding cats.”

-Todd L. Miles, “A Kingdom without a King? Evaluating the Kingdom Ethic(s) of the Emerging Church,” SBJT (Spring, 2008 ) p. 88.

O Great God

Read the words from the song "O great God." This is from the Valley of Vision CD that is part of Sovereign Grace Ministries.

Lyrics

O great God of highest heaven
Occupy my lowly heart
Own it all and reign supreme
Conquer every rebel power
Let no vice or sin remain
That resists Your holy war
You have loved and purchased me
Make me Yours forevermore

I was blinded by my sin
Had no ears to hear Your voice
Did not know Your love within
Had no taste for heaven’s joys
Then Your Spirit gave me life
Opened up Your Word to me
Through the gospel of Your Son
Gave me endless hope and peace

Help me now to live a life
That’s dependent on Your grace
Keep my heart and guard my soul
From the evils that I face
You are worthy to be praised
With my every thought and deed
O great God of highest heaven
Glorify Your Name through me


O Great God_sample music