It's is all about me... Isn't it?

Most in the church today think that the gospel is all about them. Sure, they may not say it in so many words, but they really do believe it. This can be borne out by how they live and what they do.

The fact is that the gospel is about what happened within historical time 2000 years ago. It is redemptive history worked out in the life and death of Christ. To many, the gospel is man's response to the gospel or God's regenerative work in the believer today.

Whenever the apostles are preaching the gospel in the book of Acts, they are preaching about historical events. They never make our responses to the gospel, the gospel itself! To the apostles, the gospel is always what transpired in history, in measured time, in the verifiable acts here on earth two millenia ago.

The problem with making the gospel anything but the historical events of the Christ, is to remove the validity of the gospel. The gospel has no meaning outside of its objective historical setting. Without the historical events the gospel does not exist!

However, many treat their own experiences with the gospel as the gospel itself, and preach that as the "gospel." This way they rob the gospel of its objective nature, making it equal to just another self-help program. By preaching their own experiences as the gospel, there simply remains no reason for anyone to follow this "gospel" since which person's "gospel" will they follow?

The fact is that many people change after converting to some or other religion. If a changed person is the evidence of the religion, then we have a problem. How will we gauge which religion to follow? Do we test the change in each person to see who changed the most?

No, if we have to test religions by their subjective experiences, then which experiences should we test by? This will reduce the gospel to a case of pragmatism.

The fact is that we need to test by objective criteria. Criteria that can be verified. Experiences are unverifiable since we have no way of testing the internalization of anything!

The real gospel is historical, fully documented and can be tested. That is why our experiences should never be treated as the gospel, but rather the life and events of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Our lives can only speak of the work of the gospel in us, not of the gospel itself in its completeness.

Best Bible Software (IMHO)

I see that some of our Christian blog writers recommend Bible Study Software such as Logos Bible Software.

When I look at the pricing of this software it simply takes my breath away! I wonder what Luther, Calvin and the Puritans did without this software?! Poor guys had to do it the hard way!

I looked at the price for the Gold Edition in my own currency (R11 399.00/$1379.95) and I almost fell off my chair! This is exactly the edition that I would like to have myself, but at that price I'd rather do a root-canal at the dentist! The Gold Edition has almost everything that any serious Bible scholar could need. Yet, this is a price that is totally out of my league without some kind of sponsorship.

However, there is light at the end of this pricing darkness!

e-Sword is free, and it is good. It includes many different free versions of the English translation, such as the ESV, ASV, CEV, Message, KJV and several more. It further includes the Majority Greek NT, Scrivener Textus Receptus, Westcott-Hort, Hebrew OT, Septuagint, Vulgate and also many foreign language translations.

Further, some of these texts are coded with Strong's numbering system.

There are also many Commentaries available. There are commentaries like Clarke's Commentary, Barnes, John Gill, Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Matthew Henry, Robertson's Word Pictures, etc.

e-Sword also includes Dictionaries, such as Brown-Driver-Briggs' Hebrew Definitions, Easton's, ISBE, Nave's, Strong's Bible Dictionary, Thayer's Greek Definitions, etc.

There are also some Graphics available. It includes the American Bible Society Maps, Classic Bible Maps, Ancient Mediterranean Maps and even NASA Satellite Images.

Then there are the Extras. This would include the Ante-Nicene Fathers, All of Grace by Spurgeon, Antiquities of the Jews by Josephus, Concerning Christian Liberty by Martin Luther, Creeds of Christendom and History of The Christian Church by Schaff and many more.

There are also some Devotions included and finally some STEP Libraries such as collections by A.W. Pink, J.C. Ryle and John Bunyan.

In my opinion, e-Sword is one of the best Bible Study Software products to be found. If the price of e-Sword is considered, then I would say it is the best deal you can find on any Bible Study Software! The reason for saying this, is that it is FREE software! Yes, you read correctly! It is free.

I have been using e-Sword now for many years. Probably from about early 2001, and I have been more than happy with this software.

It is easy to use and easy to configure. Starting with e-Sword is simple, even for someone that is not very computer literate. It is also advanced enough to satisfy a regular computer user.

In my opinion, you cannot go wrong when using this software!

Body Piercing Saved My Life

Tim Challies did a very interesting review of Andrew Beaujon's book, Body Piercing Saved My Life.

Although Beaujon is not a Christian, he has been attending Christian concerts and events, since this is a subject that intrigues him. Read the commentary by Challies to see how Beaujon views Christian contemporary music.

I would like to comment on something that Challies wrote,
"On a more minor note, he [Beaujon] often focuses undue attention on the music itself rather than the lyrics. While music is no doubt important, and while we should clearly attempt to bring before God music that is excellent, he expends little effort in examining lyrics. Many Christians, as much as they love a good melody, wants songs that speak of the great truths of the Scriptures more than they want songs that are memorable or even musically superior. There are two dimensions to songs and he seems to give preeminence to the wrong one. "

I don't disagree with Challies entirely, since in principle he is right in saying that "Christians, as much as they love a good melody, wants songs that speak of the great truths of the Scriptures more than they want songs that are memorable or even musically superior." What I do disagree with is the word "many" that he starts his sentence with in this case. I am personally not so sure that there would be many modern Christians that would think like that.

From my experience with the church I have seen a very different dynamic in the church. It seems to me that many Christians--whether my many is more or less than Challies' many is disputable--are more interested in the entertainment value in the Christian music they listen to than the actual words being sung. I have noticed this even concerning worship music, to the point that I am calling it worshitainment. I have written about this already (Worship at a price, Big words and worshitainment and most recently Praising God down!).

Churches have become so worshitainment centered that it would be almost inconceivable that they would use so-called "boring" music with good Biblical words that speak to the soul. Please, believe me when I say that I have nothing against good professional sounding music, modern or old! That is not the point! What I do have a concern about is that many Christians think that the music is the worship. To them, the sound and the vibe it gives is the worship. It all comes back to the entertainment value intrinsic to the music.

Sure, there are churches out there where the Christians are more concerned about the actual words of their worship. However, many times they are at the opposite side of the spectrum, where the music itself has no real value. The fact is that our worship is about the words and the meaning they convey, yet that meaning may have different vehicles by which they are conveyed. The vehicle may be writing, preaching, or even in song. The fact is that in each of these cases we must ensure that the vehicle that conveys the message is a good vehicle.

My point is that there are Christians out there that do believe that the lyrics of our songs are important. However, there are also others that find it more convenient to be titillated by music, rather than actually use their brains to think about what they are singing!

Just thinking...
Polemical Commentary on
the State of the Church

Jesus and Satan joining hands in fighting HIV/AIDS?

It keeps on happening! Satan wanting to join forces with Jesus in fighting a so-called evil. The problem with this is that the reasons for doing so between our dear Lord and the fiend of hell are diametrically opposed to each other.

Christ came to bring deliverance to the elect. Satan wants to bring bondage. Christ brought us the light. Satan only brings light-less darkness of oppression. Christ's deeds are done with the good of mankind in mind. Satan comes to kill, steal and destroy!

So, if these two kingdoms--the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness--are so irreconcilable, how is it that some of the church's so-called leaders think that it would be acceptable to join forces with the devil to fight any scourge on earth?

It seems that Rick Warren thinks that it would be acceptable to link the cause of Christ with the cause of the devil!

Warren, the senior teaching pastor at Saddleback Church in California, has invited U.S. senator Barack Obama to speak to Warren's church on Dec 1, 2006.

Now, for those who do not know who Obama is, as a state legislator he stood for abortion through the complete term of pregnancy while opposing parental notification. He also opposed all bans on partial-birth abortion. He also supports the homosexual agenda including so-called "hate crimes" against homosexuals, which may in due course be used to silence the clergy on this issue. He even opposed the right of life for babies who survived failed abortions.

Is this the type of person that Warren wants to associate with?

Discernment goes a long way in doing what is right with the right people. However, when we start joining forces with the forces of darkness, it shows our own lack of discernment and indeed our lack of understanding our Biblical mandate!

Read more about this episode in the continued Warren saga here.

Just thinking ...

Praising God down!

Modern, especially Charismatic, churches seem to have this notion that we have to continually sing louder in order to bring God down into the service. There is this idea that we have to sing in tongues or at least make a lot of noise in order for God to inhabit our praises, thereby joining us in our services.

This happened in church today. People were making a lot of noise when the worship leader took control of the situation and announced that we weren't there yet. We were then told to sing in tongues and to lift our voices even higher for God to inhabit our praises.

(1)  When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 
(2)  And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.
(Ac 2:1-2)

Scripture seems to be so different from the concocted ideas that the church can come up with at times. The disciples were told to wait in Jerusalem until the promise. When the promise came, it wasn't because they conjured Him down! He came in His own time. The amazing thing was that they weren't jumping up and down shouting at the top of their lungs in order to ensure His arrival! "They were sitting!" This indicates a very relaxed atmosphere in which no one was forced to do anything to bring God down into the house!

It will also not help to quote verses from the Old Testament! The Old Testament (OT) had very different "mechanics" than the New Testament (NT). In the OT there was a physical place where God dwelt and showed Himself. The Temple!  This is where God came down to, in order to visit the people. In the NT it is very different. Whereas in the OT, God showed Himself at various times in the temple, in the NT there is no longer a physical temple where we must go to meet God! Now, the Christian is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19), and He does not take up residence at various times in the Christian's life, but rather He indwells the Christian at all times.

It seems to me that the evangelical church has gone so far down the road towards seeking the next experience that it will get up to almost any kind of shenanigans to make those experiences real. Whether these methods are Scriptural or not, do not seem to deter them from seeking the next big thing.

To them, especially if they are charismatic, worship has undergone a tragic metamorphosis. It has happened so often that people would exit the church saying that worship wasn't good that day and that it did nothing for them.

A pastor was once waiting at the door of the church he pastored at the end of the service, and when a visitor walked out he asked the visitor how he enjoyed the service. The visitor answered that he enjoyed the sermon, but the worship did nothing for him. Hearing this the pastor answered him by saying, "Well I am glad to hear that. We didn't come here to worship you!"

The problem with this neo-evangelicalism is that it has become very self-centred and selfish in its motives. This church has become obsessed with itself, thinking that it is the center of the universe. It has forgotten about the Creator of the universe to the extent that it has denied Him His rightful place, and in the process usurped the throne of the King of kings.

If the church's aim is to move from experience to experience, it will never grow up to full maturity in Christ. If the only thing that can keep it going is adrenalin, then it surely has lost its way. Adrenalin does not strengthen the spirit of man. It simply gives a momentary feeling of invincibility and then fades away.

What will help the spirit to be strengthened is to daily spend time in the study of the Scriptures and to meditate on it.

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.
(2 Tim 2:15)

We are supposed to work at learning the truth of the Scriptures and to live thereby. These neo-evangelicals are forever looking for short cuts to growing in Christ (sanctification). The fact is that there are no short cuts. There are no easy ways to be sanctified in Christ. If it all depended on following ten steps and five songs at the top of our voices we would be back to serving the law in order to gain acceptance before God! If our sanctification depended on recipes to follow, it would be the same as following the law in order to secure that sanctification.

The fact is that acquiring sanctification cannot be acquired in a moment when that adrenalin shoots through our veins. Sanctification takes a lifetime of glorifying God in everything we do and living out the Word that we study each day!

If the church wants reformation, it certainly is going about it the wrong way!

It is time the church moves back to the basics and stops seeking grand schemes to get highs on adrenalin.

The neo-evangelicals surely are experience-adrenalin junkies!

May it find deliverance!

Just thinking...

He loved us

In this is love, not that we have loved God
but that he loved us and
sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
(1 Jn 4:10 ESV)

In our Westernized understanding of everything, today was no different. The theology of the self and of self-esteem and all things subject to self, when the Bible is being read today, instead of reading the Bible from the viewpoint of writer, we force our modern concepts onto the Bible.

It is no different with our verse here today (1 Jn 4:10). In a sermon today, this verse was used to demonstrate that God loves all human beings indiscriminately and evenly. Of course, emphasis is put on the fact that it was not we who "loved God but that he loved us." The "us" is seen as any human being, whether saved or not!

Further, it was opined that God has already given us His love. It now depends on us to receive it and only then could we experience it.

The fact is that this verse is not saying that at all!

The book of 1 John is full of terms like "us." It is clear that when the apostle John wrote 1 John he was making sure the readers would understand that the information contained in the letter was specifically meant for them as Christians.

What John was trying to teach his readers was that they were not the ones who loved God first. The fact is that all of us are dead in our trespasses until God sheds His love abroad in our hearts. John was telling them that God was the one that reached out to them and not they to God. God was the initiator in this love expression (v9).

It is not us who must receive God's love. It is God that must unveil His love and pour it out on us. God's love is not simply an offer on the table that in order for it to take effect, we have to actually take hold of it first! God's love is not like a $100 bill put on the table that we have to appropriate first before it becomes part of us. No! God's love is like a fresh outpouring of rain that cannot be avoided. It is poured out on us.

It is God's love that seeks us out. We cannot and will not seek it out, since we are under the wrath of God while we are without Christ.

(9) What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin,
(10) as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one;
(11) no one understands; no one seeks for God.
(12) All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one."
(13) "Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive." "The venom of asps is under their lips."
(14) "Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness."
(15) "Their feet are swift to shed blood;
(16) in their paths are ruin and misery,
(17) and the way of peace they have not known.",
(18) "There is no fear of God before their eyes."
(Rom 3:9-18 ESV)

Just thinking...

Some Objections to the Biblical Doctrine of Election

There are many objections to the Biblical doctrine of election.

Some of them are handled here.

Just thinking ...

ECUSA doomed by its heretical leader

The Episcopal Church USA (ECUSA) is now in a complete free-fall into heresy. They have chosen a presiding bishop for the USA that is leading the pack down the swift path to hell.

Their new leader, a woman, Bishop Katharine Jefferts-Schori, believes that God makes people gay and that Jesus is not the only way. "If we insist we know the one way to God," she said, "we've put God in a very small box."

Read more here.

Just thinking...

A Proud Dad!

I am always proud of the accomplishments of my children. Sometimes the accomplishments are tiny, yet I will still praise my kids for the small things they do well. Like when my son bowls a better ball in cricket than before, or my daughter gets 1% more in her Sepedi (a black South African language) test.

However, I am currently particularly proud of both my children.

This past weekend (Oct 28), my son, Jason (9yrs), participated in a gymnastics competition with several clubs attending. This was also the first time that Jason competed in 6 instead of 4 events. They did not perform the vault as usual, and therefore did 3 extra events that they previously did not perform.

Apart from the usual events of vault (excluded this time), floor, high bar and parallel bars, they added the pommel horse, rings and handstands.

In the overall results, my son received a silver medal, and in the individual events he also won the rings. With the handstands the kids had to stand on their hands for 25 seconds. In this event he completed the mandatory 25 seconds and was given a score of 9.8 for execution.

So, for my son it was a good weekend. We are so proud of him.

On October 18, 2006, my daughter, Nicole (11yrs), did her UNISA (University of South Africa) piano exam. The results arrived yesterday. She received an over-all score of 90% and as a result made it onto the university's Roll of Honour. I am sure you can imagine how proud we are of her accomplishment. I just wish I can get her to practice her piano more than one day per week.

Well, that is enough bragging for now!

Proud Dad!

Is John Piper Bad?

A little lightheartedness.




Just thinking...

Reformed Rapper

HT: Justin Taylor

Curtis Allen raps "Unstoppable" at Bethlehem Baptist Church.



Just thinking...

How the Reformation Changed the World

Dr. Peter Hammond from Frontline Fellowship has written some very insightful articles on the Reformation and how it affected our world.

They are:

• HOW THE REFORMATION CHANGED THE CHURCH
• THE REFORMATION ROOTS OF WESTERN CIVILISATION
• THE GREATEST CENTURY OF REFORMATION
• How the Reformation Changed the World

You can also buy his compact little book, The Greatest Century of Reformation here. It is a great little book and is a very quick read. It would be ideal for someone who is new to the Reformation.


Just thinking...

Reformation Needed Today

In today's church, when the word "reformation" is uttered, "revival" is meant.

What do these people mean by that term, "revival." For many it means having goose bumps, a warm feeling, loud music, jumping around, roaring like lions, and, yes, even hissing like snakes!

For others "revival" means crying a lot, falling on the ground and great, rousing sermons by the latest preaching fad all the way from the wonderful U.S. of A! Here in the South African church, it seems that everything coming from across the Atlantic from North America just must be good! The fact is, that most of these preachers that come to South Africa by invitation are charlatans and even worse... heretics!

Maybe some think that this is "revival?!"



In these circles, whenever the Reformation, started by Martin Luther on October 31, 1517, is mentioned, eyes start rolling as if to say, "There you go again! We don't live there anymore! The church has moved on!"

In reality, the church has moved on! Instead of being reformed, it has become deformed!

The church no longer is making that clarion call to truth that it once did when the Reformation started. The Bible is no longer at the forefront of the church, but rather the latest fad experience that must be imported from elsewhere. Today, it is more important to be relevant (whatever that means) than to actually preach the truth.

It is more important for the church today to have a "reformation of deeds than a reformation of doctrine," according to Rick Warren. How is it that a man of his supposed importance simply cannot see the state that the church is in? The church is ignoring everything that makes it a Christian church, yet he does not think that a reformation of doctrine is needed!

If ever the church was in need of a Great Reformation, it would be now! It no longer knows why it is a Christian church. How many in the church can in any way articulate the orthodox Christian distinctive doctrines?

Why is the church in this pitiful state? It has forgotten its roots! Pastors and preachers themselves can no longer point to history to show the validity and historical significant truth of Christianity. They have no truth-ground to stand on. They have some mystical belief in the Bible, but when they have to explain that belief to a secular audience, they have no historical ground to stand on. To them, Christianity has become just like Hinduism with all its mysticism, completely devoid of true reality. Reality that exists in time and space!

If only the church would return to the Bible! "Oh, but we do preach from the Bible. The pastor reads from it every Sunday for his sermon."

Sure, there are many pastors that actually read the Bible from the pulpit. The problem is that many of them go off on some rant as soon as the Bible reading is done. Their sermons hardly ever interact with the Bible and when they do, then it is a verse here and there completely out of context.

Some pastors go as far as picking themes for several sermons in which they would like to make a point. The problem is, they pick a theme and then massage a string of verses into a nice little train of thought to support their premise, whether those verses really mean what they purport them to say or not.

Pastors no longer allow the Scriptures to speak for themselves. They have become lazy in their study of the Bible and do not want to put in the long hours necessary to prepare for an expository sermon.


The world around us is falling apart and still, many pastors want so much for people to like them in order to draw the crowds. In order for people to like them, these pastors must as a consequence get rid of all the offensive material in the gospel, and end up drawing the crowds with nothing but the elements of the world itself. In the end, what are these people getting saved towards? Definitely not the gospel and Jesus Christ! These preachers simply attract people to "all that is in the world--the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions," which "is not from the Father but is from the world" (1 Jn 2:16 ESV).

The church is in need of Reformation and it does not know it. It has become intoxicated with the ways of the world. We all know how an alcoholic reacts to being told that he needs to reform. He denies he has a problem! The church is doing exactly the same. Many are denying that there is a problem and just tend to point the finger back at those that are concerned about the state of the church!

In this day and age we do not only need one Martin Luther. We need hundreds. Also of Calvin and Zwingli and other Reformers. We need someone to stand on the pinnacle of the church's "rooftop" and cry for reformation in the church.

We need to make the Bible the real center of the church before we can have Reformation. It is here that pastors, the so-called spiritual leaders and shepherds of the church MUST stand up and perform the task given to them by Christ. Jesus told Peter to go feed His sheep! If pastors do any less than that, they are NO pastors at all.

Without Reformation, true Reformation on the scale that Luther unleashed, the church is doomed to become completely irrelevant in its search for relevancy.

Yet, Jesus said that He would build His true church,
"and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Mt 16:18).

Just thinking...

Pyromaniacs a bunch of mean-spiritied bullies?

Oh, get over yourselves! The dissenters to Pyromaniacs, I mean!

I have been reading Pyromaniacs since the inception of the original blog of the original Pyromaniac, Phil Johnson. And in my opinion, which counts more than anyone else's if you use post-modern logic, these guys are not mean-spirited at all. If you want to know anything about being mean-spirited and just being nasty, you should read the writings of guys like Jack Chick and the KJV-Only clan!

Phil Johnson, wrote a post called Bully Pulpit in which he brings these complaints to light.

Are the Pyromaniacs innocent? Is any of us innocent? The point is that many Christians today have this odd idea that Christians should not disagree. What kind of weird Orwellian foolishness is this that we may not disagree with others. Iron sharpens iron! The fact is that within Christendom there are many different views, and not all of them can be right.

The problem arises when someone else thinks that you are wrong. In this case, these complainants think that the Pyromaniacs are wrong. Wrong in their doctrine, that is. The problem, and I am not sure that it is a real problem for the Pyromaniacs, is that they are very sure of themselves and when they write anything that "sureness" comes across. What I have noticed is that many of the post-modern kind, such as the emergent species simply do not like it when people are sure of what they believe and then are willing to stand for that belief!


To the unsure type, ala emergent type, this is akin to being mean-spirited. "How can you say I am wrong? Boo-hoo!" The problem with being sure of being unsure is that there is nothing to stand on and so the foundations are real shaky! When the foundations are shaky, the easiest thing to do is to start pointing the finger to someone else in order to prevent fingers from pointing to us! Of course, then the name-calling starts.

In all the time that I have read Pyromaniacs, and the initial blog started by Phil, I have never found them to be rude or mean-spirited. Perhaps a bit too sarcastic at times, but then they made it clear that it was not to be rude, but to use the literary device of sarcasm to make a point!

I wonder what these complainants would say if they ever dare read the writings of the great men of faith like Athanasius, Augustine and Luther who had to battle serious error and heresy in their day. When it comes to the truth of the gospel, there simply is no time to waste on beating around the bush! Get to the truth and get to it quickly! According to what I have read at Pyromaniacs I can with certainty say (Oh yes, I cannot be sure about that!) that these guys have gone about it with a good attitude. They have used serious tones and comical tones, yet they have made their point!

All the complainants can see is rudeness because they simply "can't handle the truth!"

What amazes me is that many of these guys and gals that complain so much fall headlong into the very same thing they complain about! They complain to others about being rude, yet they are rude while doing so. Others would complain vehemently about the mean-spiritedness of the Pyromaniacs but then do so in a very mean-spirited way!

The Pyromaniacs have something to say! Deal with it! Face their arguments concerning Scripture and other things and then be like the Bereans and search the Scriptures to see if these things are so.

In my opinion, the Pyromaniacs must keep on burning for the Lord!

Just thinking...

Dawkins and The God Delusion Revisited

Dr. Al Mohler brings to our attention, a review of Richard Dawkins' book The God Delusion, by the literary theorist Terry Eagleton.


Dr. Mohler writes:

"In essence, Eagleton accuses Dawkins of not knowing about which he is writing."

He then quotes Eagleton as follows:

"What, one wonders, are Dawkins's views on the epistemological differences between Aquinas and Duns Scotus? Has he read Eriugena on subjectivity, Rahner on grace or Moltmann on hope? Has he even heard of them? Or does he imagine like a bumptious young barrister that you can defeat the opposition while being complacently ignorant of its toughest case? Dawkins, it appears, has sometimes been told by theologians that he sets up straw men only to bowl them over, a charge he rebuts in this book; but if The God Delusion is anything to go by, they are absolutely right."

This blog post by Dr. Mohler is well worth reading and you can go here to read it further.

Just thinking...