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Rom.5:14 - Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression... The Word of God clearly teaches us that we are by nature sinners and we are born in iniquity. Now since God is not the author of sin everyone is born of Adam with the full complement of possibilities. Now through a mixture of physiology, chemical balances, carnal abnormalities, certain sinful tendencies, and probably a host of other subtle curse anomalies every one is different. For instance, a husband and wife have three children, three different children exhibiting...

I ran across this post today from an Evangelical Protestant commentator named Michael Spencer. He described how he spent the better part of a day recently listening and thinking about Catholic radio and the greater and lesser degrees of effectiveness of the men and women who host shows on major Catholic radio networks like EWTN and Ave Maria. Though I don't agree with all his observations (Scott Hahn is indeed the intellectual heavy-weight Protestants make him out to be), I found myself agreeing with some them and, on one or two points, agreeing wholeheartedly. But even in the areas where...

An East Tennessee woman recently took a trip to Jerusalem with her church group, and she came back with a picture of Jesus. Judy Mayes believes she captured an image of Jesus when she took a snapshot inside a tunnel near the Western Wall. When she flipped through the digital pictures, she saw a white figure on the tunnel image. She shared it with her pastor, who told her he thought it was Jesus. From the white robe, to blood trickling from the face to a crown of thorns. While skeptics will certainly disagree with its authenticity, the Jesus photo...

First let me say a word in praise and defense of my former boss, my professor, mentor and friend Ron Sider. I need to start off with this affirming word because by the end of this post--and in the one to follow--I'm afraid I'm going to have to be rather harshly critical of my old friend. ...I have enormous respect and affection for Ron Sider, so much so that my regard for him is able to withstand even something like his dismaying endorsement of the overwrought, corrupt and corrupting "Manhattan Declaration." In partial defense of Ron, though, we should note...

Spurgeon's Morning & Evening - December 10 -------------------------------- Morning Devotional "So shall we ever be with the Lord." - 1 Thessalonians 4:17 Even the sweetest visits from Christ, how short they are-and how transitory! One moment our eyes see him, and we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, but again a little time and we do not see him, for our beloved withdraws himself from us; like a roe or a young hart he leaps over the mountains of division; he is gone to the land of spices, and feeds no more among the lilies. "If to-day he...

Spurgeon's Morning & Evening - December 9 -------------------------------- Morning Devotional "Therefore will the Lord wait that he may be gracious unto you." - Isaiah 30:18 God often DELAYS IN ANSWERING PRAYER. We have several instances of this in sacred Scripture. Jacob did not get the blessing from the angel until near the dawn of day-he had to wrestle all night for it. The poor woman of Syrophenicia was answered not a word for a long while. Paul besought the Lord thrice that "the thorn in the flesh" might be taken from him, and he received no assurance that it should...

Grace December 8, 2009  "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God." (1 John 3:1)  Grace, as we see it developed in the New Testament, was unknown in the Old Testament. Certainly God's grace was showered on objects of His favor, but His loving kindness, mercy, and mighty hand could hardly be compared to His unmerited salvation, justification, faith, and spiritual gifts.   The New Testament word for grace, charis, had a classical meaning. Aristotle defined it as "conferring freely with no expectation of return, and finding...

December 8 Trials and Pain: The Labor of Self-love For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ. --Galatians 1:10 The labor of self-love is a heavy one indeed. Think for yourself whether much of your sorrow has not arisen from someone speaking slightingly of you. As long as you set yourself up as a little god to which you must be loyal there will be those who will delight to offer affront to your idol. How then can you...

Evangelical Alliance Ireland has controversially suggested that Christians should support a Bill that would extend the rights and privileges of marriage to homosexual couples who register their partnerships. The suggestion has drawn fire from other evangelical groups. The Irish Government’s Civil Partnership Bill would grant welfare and tax benefits on a par with marriage to homosexual and heterosexual cohabiting couples who enter a civil partnership. Evangelical Alliance Ireland’s General Director, Sean Mullan, claimed in a statement: “The Government is seeking to legislate for greater justice and fairness for co-habiting couples, both same-sex and opposite-sex couples. As Christians we should support...

I just came from a funeral service for an aunt of mine who was a staunch Catholic. I came out of that religion about 25 years ago after reading for myself what the Bible had to say. My question surrounds the actuality of salvation for all the millions who still practice Mary worship and so forth. Knowing that one cannot serve two masters, I wonder at how it is possible that the aforementioned can really experience Christ in a saving way, while they continue to believe that the church of Rome is solely responsible for their eternal welfare. Answer: Greetings...

Spurgeon's Morning & Evening - December 8 -------------------------------- Morning Devotional "Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy." - Revelation 3:4 We may understand this to refer to justification. "They shall walk in white"; that is, they shall enjoy a constant sense of their own justification by faith; they shall understand that the righteousness of Christ is imputed to them, that they have all been washed and made whiter than the newly-fallen snow. Again, it refers to joy and gladness: for white...

Will There Be Faith on the Earth? December 7, 2009  "I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8)  This sad query by Jesus seems to suggest that true Christian faith could almost disappear from the earth before He returns. Neither Christ nor His disciples answered the question, leaving it for us to consider on our own.   Since all people--even atheists--have faith in something, it is clear that Jesus used the word "faith" to refer specifically to genuine trust in the true...

December 7 Trials and Pain: Criticism and Abuse But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts. --1 Thessalonians 2:4 "Let not thy peace depend on the tongues of men," said the wise old Christian mystic, Thomas a Kempis; "for whether they judge well or ill, thou art not on that account other than thyself." One of the first things a Christian should get used to is abuse.... To do nothing is to get abused for laziness, and to do anything...

There was a constant conflict between the Reformers and the Baptists on the proper subjects of baptism. At first the Reformers were disposed to take the Baptist side of the controversy and to deny the necessity of infant baptism. "The strength of the Baptist reasoning in regard to infant baptism," says Planck, the great German Protestant historian, referring to Melanchthon, "made a strong impression on his convictions." Planck continues: "The Elector, wishing to quell the controversy, dissuaded the Wittenberg theologians from discussing the subject of infant baptism, saying he could not see what benefit could arise from it, as it...

Spurgeon's Morning & Evening - December 7 -------------------------------- Morning Devotional "Base things of the world hath God chosen." - 1 Corinthians 1:28 Walk the streets by moonlight, if you dare, and you will see sinners then. Watch when the night is dark, and the wind is howling, and the picklock is grating in the door, and you will see sinners then. Go to yon jail, and walk through the wards, and mark the men with heavy over-hanging brows, men whom you would not like to meet at night, and there are sinners there. Go to the Reformatories, and note those...

The answer seems too simple: other alleged divine writings are not from God because they are not among the 66 books of the Bible and, in fact, they contradict the Bible...

A new unauthorized biography of "America's pastor" Rick Warren uncovers a marriage with an unconventional beginning and a time of depression that later gave Warren the strength to become who he is today. Jeffery L. Sheler, religion correspondent for U.S. News and World Report, delves into the world of Warren in his latest book, Prophet of Purpose: The Life of Rick Warren. The book portrays the affable yet confident megachurch pastor who calls presidents and billionaires his friends in a much more vulnerable light. In a live Web discussion with Christianity Today editor-in-chief David Neff on Wednesday, Sheler talked about...

Spurgeon's Morning & Evening - December 6 -------------------------------- Morning Devotional "As is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly." - 1 Corinthians 15:48 The head and members are of one nature, and not like that monstrous image which Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream. The head was of fine gold, but the belly and thighs were of brass, the legs of iron, and the feet, part of iron and part of clay. Christ's mystical body is no absurd combination of opposites; the members were mortal, and therefore Jesus died; the glorified head is immortal, and therefore the body is...

Spurgeon's Morning & Evening - December 5 -------------------------------- Morning Devotional "Ask, and it shall be given you." - Matthew 7:7 We know of a place in England still existing, where a dole of bread is served to every passerby who chooses to ask for it. Whoever the traveller may be, he has but to knock at the door of St. Cross Hospital, and there is the dole of bread for him. Jesus Christ so loveth sinners that he has built a St. Cross Hospital, so that whenever a sinner is hungry, he has but to knock and have his wants...

As a Thief in the Night December 4, 2009  "For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape." (1 Thessalonians 5:2-3)  Whenever there is a war, or a great calamity, or a great time of suffering, there almost inevitably follows an upsurge of interest in biblical prophecy with many predictions of the immediate return of Christ.   According to our text however (which immediately...

December 4 Trials and Pain: Good In Thy Sight Then Samuel told him everything, and hid nothing from him. And he said, "It is the Lord. Let Him do what seems good to Him." --1 Samuel 3:18 A determination to know what cannot be known always works harm to the Christian heart. Ignorance in matters on our human level is never to be excused if there has been opportunity to correct it. But there are matters which are obviously "too high for us." These we should meet in trusting faith and say as Jesus said, "Even so, Father: for so...

A court in northern China has sentenced five leaders of an unauthorized Protestant church to prison terms of up to seven years on charges including illegal assembly, rights groups reported. The sentences are among the harshest in recent years for members of house churches -- congregations that refuse to register and accept the authority of the government's Religious Affairs Bureau. Arrests stemmed from a Sept. 13 raid by police and hired security guards on sunrise services held by the 50,000- member Linfen Fushan Church in Linfen, northern Shanxi province, according to a Nov. 26 report from rights groups and the...

Spurgeon's Morning & Evening - December 4 -------------------------------- Morning Devotional "I have much people in this city." - Acts 18:10 This should be a great encouragement to try to do good, since God has among the vilest of the vile, the most reprobate, the most debauched and drunken, an elect people who must be saved. When you take the Word to them, you do so because God has ordained you to be the messenger of life to their souls, and they must receive it, for so the decree of predestination runs. They are as much redeemed by blood as the...

On the night Campbell elected the youngest openly gay mayor in America, hundreds rallied in Vallejo to protest their mayor following his remarks about gays and heaven. Demonstrators bearing rainbow flags and signs outside Vallejo City Hall Tuesday night directed their ire at Osby Davis for his comments in a New York Times' article about the growing political clout of Evangelicals. Davis, who narrowly (and we mean narrowly) defeated gay rival Gary Cloutier in 2007, told Scott James that those pearly, beatific gates would remain shut for gays. "... they are in fact committing sin and that sin will keep...

The Rainbow and the Cloud December 3, 2009  "And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire." (Revelation 10:1)  This is the last reference in Scripture to the beautiful rainbow and a most majestic picture it is. A mighty cloud descends from heaven enveloping the great Creator/Savior Himself, here called (as is often true in Scripture) an "angel," but with a description applicable only to the glorified Son of man (note...

December 3 Trials and Pain: He Knows For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. --Hebrews 4:15-16 Don't pity yourself. Don't be afraid to tell God your troubles. He knows all about your troubles. There is a little song that says, "Nobody knows the trouble I've seen," but there's Somebody who knows, all right. And our Fellow Sufferer...

Christians United for Israel (CUFI) seeks to support both Jews and the nation of Israel. One of the primary scriptures they stand upon is: "For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem's sake I will not remain quiet, til her righteousness shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch." ~ ISAIAH 62:1 If you are unable to attend this event or you would like to do more to support Israel, CUFI requests you sign The Israel Pledge so your name will be joined with thousands of others from across the country and presented to our...

It is amazing how many names were applied, in the period of the Reformation, to the Baptists. They called each other brethren and sisters, and spoke of each other in the simplest language of affection. Their enemies called them Anabaptists because they repeated baptism when converts came from other parties. This name Anabaptist is a caricature. It damns first by faint praise and then by distortion. "The opprobrious term ‘Anabaptist’ was and is a vile slander. It was invented to conceal thought. It shrouded in a fog the grand ideals of a people loving peace and truth. The term is...

Spurgeon's Morning & Evening - December 3 -------------------------------- Morning Devotional "There is no spot in thee." - Song of Solomon 4:7 Having pronounced his Church positively full of beauty, our Lord confirms his praise by a precious negative, "There is no spot in thee." As if the thought occurred to the Bridegroom that the carping world would insinuate that he had only mentioned her comely parts, and had purposely omitted those features which were deformed or defiled, he sums up all by declaring her universally and entirely fair, and utterly devoid of stain. A spot may soon be removed, and...

Does being totally depraved mean we're always sinning no matter what? Yes. Romans 14:23 says, "Whatever is not from faith is sin." And so you don't even need total depravity. You just need unbelief in order to say that everything a person does who is not a believer is sin. Maybe another word on that. Why is that the case? If you have a son, and you want him to do something, and he does the thing-like unbelievers don't usually kill people, OK? So they're obeying that commandment, "Don't kill," but why are they doing that? Are they doing it...

Insatiable Eyes December 2, 2009  "Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied." (Proverbs 27:20)  There are many warnings in Scripture about "the lust of the eyes" (1 John 2:16) that can turn our hearts away from that which is godly and eternal. Solomon's sober caution in our text is certainly significant, especially since he had admonished his son, "Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee" (Proverbs 4:25). Similarly, Job had "made a covenant with |his| eyes"(Job 31:1) lest his "heart walked after" what he looked...

December 2 Trials and Pain: Piles of Ashes Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. --Hebrews 12:11 If God has singled you out to be a special object of His grace you may expect Him to honor you with stricter discipline and greater suffering than less favored ones are called upon to endure.... If God sets out to make you an unusual Christian He is not likely to be as gentle as He is usually pictured by the...

Spurgeon's Morning & Evening - December 2 -------------------------------- Morning Devotional "Thou art all fair, my love." - Song of Solomon 4:7 The Lord's admiration of his Church is very wonderful, and his description of her beauty is very glowing. She is not merely fair, but "all fair." He views her in himself, washed in his sin-atoning blood and clothed in his meritorious righteousness, and he considers her to be full of comeliness and beauty. No wonder that such is the case, since it is but his own perfect excellency that he admires; for the holiness, glory, and perfection of his...

The Blessing of Abraham December 1, 2009  "I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." (Genesis 12:3)  The apostle Paul referred to this event as "the blessing of Abraham" (Galatians 3:14) that has been conferred on the nations through the substitutionary work of Jesus Christ. When that promise was given to Abraham, two major thoughts were clear. First, multitudes of people and many nations would come from Abraham. And second, a special "seed" would come through Abraham (Galatians 3:16) who would make possible...

December 1 Trials and Pain: The Dark Night of the Soul How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? --Psalm 13:1 Some of you know something of that which has been called "the dark night of the soul." Some of you have spiritual desire and deep longing for victory but it seems to you that your efforts to go on with God have only brought you more bumps and more testings and more discouragement. You are tempted to ask, "How long can this go on?"... Yes, there is a dark...

Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church and author of the bestselling book The Purpose Driven Life, drew fire last year when he was invited to give the invocation at President Obama's inauguration. His support for Proposition 8 in California, which defined marriage as between a man and a woman only, and his anti-gay-marriage views concerned many in Obama's base. Now Warren's on the defensive again, this time for his affiliation with Martin Ssempa, a Ugandan pastor who has endorsed proposed legislation in Uganda that makes certain homosexual acts punishable by life in prison or even, in some cases, death. Ssempa...

Spurgeon's Morning & Evening - December 1 -------------------------------- Morning Devotional "Thou hast made summer and winter." - Psalm 74:17 My soul begin this wintry month with thy God. The cold snows and the piercing winds all remind thee that he keeps his covenant with day and night, and tend to assure thee that he will also keep that glorious covenant which he has made with thee in the person of Christ Jesus. He who is true to his Word in the revolutions of the seasons of this poor sin-polluted world, will not prove unfaithful in his dealings with his own...

The Saints November 30, 2009  "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 1:1)  In the opening salutations to the churches at Rome, Corinth, Ephesus, Philippi, and Colosse, the apostle Paul addresses the "saints" in those churches—a term essentially synonymous (as in our text above) with "the faithful in Christ Jesus." The Greek word (hagios) is also translated even more frequently as "holy." Evidently "saints" are "those who are holy." For example, just three verses later Paul speaks thus of believers:...

November 30 Spiritual Warfare and Sin: The Cleansed Conscience Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. --Hebrews 10:22 What a relief to find the writer to the Hebrews encouraging us to "draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience" (Hebrews 10:22). A sprinkled conscience-surely this is a gracious thing for men and women in the world to know! One of the most relieving,...

by Chuck NessAs we approach Christmas, you will no doubt be confronted by those who would like to remove the name Christ and any reference to Him from the Holiday season. That is because the world we live in has been judged by Him and it's end is near. Thus, those who hold onto this world will do all they can to keep the lost from finding the Messiah, Christ Jesus. Many do not even want to use the word "Christmas" to describe this holiday season. There are disputes across this country in community after community where public officials are...

Spurgeon's Morning & Evening - November 30 -------------------------------- Morning Devotional "And Amaziah said to the man of God, But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel? And the man of God answered, The Lord is able to give thee much more than this." - 2 Chronicles 25:9 A very important question this seemed to be to the king of Judah, and possibly it is of even more weight with the tried and tempted O Christian. To lose money is at no times pleasant, and when principle involves it, the flesh...

Three Pastors: Life, Death, and Religion in Muslim Iran In November 1993, not far from ancient Babylon, where Daniel was thrown into the lions' den and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were pitched into Nebuchadnezzar's fiery furnace, the Rev. Mehdi Dibaj huddled in a Mazandaran Province prison cell praying about how he could defend himself from capital charges. A compactly built 60-year-old man, his short, salt-and-pepper hair bristled above dark, deep-set eyes and bunchy cheeks. His cell contained a cot, a hole-in-the-floor toilet, a line of small snapshots of his four children, and, under the high window that afforded light, a...

Spurgeon's Morning & Evening - November 29 -------------------------------- Morning Devotional "Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people ... Thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him." - Leviticus 19:16, 17 Tale-bearing emits a threefold poison; for it injures the teller, the hearer, and the person concerning whom the tale is told. Whether the report be true or false, we are by this precept of God's Word forbidden to spread it. The reputations of the Lord's people should be very precious in our sight, and we should count it...

Comparing today's Thanksgiving Proclamation by President Obama with last year's by President Bush presents us a study in contrasts. Specifically, one heart that turns in gratitude to God and one that doesn't... A friend observes this may be the first time in the history of presidential Thanksgiving proclamations the President does not call men to give thanks to God. If anyone has the gumption to check it out, please let us know. First, President Barack Hussein Obama; second, President George W. Bush.

Need continued prayers for my wife's healing, and for God to place forgiveness in her heart for me.

Spurgeon's Morning & Evening - November 28 -------------------------------- Morning Devotional "For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth." - 3 John 3 The truth was in Gaius, and Gaius walked in the truth. If the first had not been the case, the second could never have occurred; and if the second could not be said of him the first would have been a mere pretence. Truth must enter into the soul, penetrate and saturate it, or else it is of no value. Doctrines held...

Spurgeon's Morning & Evening - November 27 -------------------------------- Morning Devotional "Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord." - Zechariah 3:1 In Joshua the high priest we see a picture of each and every child of God, who has been made nigh by the blood of Christ, and has been taught to minister in holy things, and enter into that which is within the veil. Jesus has made us priests and kings unto God, and even here upon earth we exercise the priesthood of consecrated living and hallowed service. But this high priest is said to be...

Since most of us have grown up with the Thanksgiving Holiday it is easy for us to assume that this is the way things are and should be but it has not always been so nor is it necessarily so. The American Thanksgiving holiday is the result of a series of presidential proclamations. It became a federal holiday in mid-20th century. The apostolic churches in the first century, however, experienced no such national or official affirmation of their faith. The Apostle Peter called the Christians of Asia Minor “strangers and exiles” (1 Pet 2:11). Indeed they were. They had much...

Spurgeon's Morning & Evening - November 26 -------------------------------- Morning Devotional "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might." - Ecclesiastes 9:10 "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do," refers to works that are possible. There are many things which our heart findeth to do which we never shall do. It is well it is in our heart; but if we would be eminently useful, we must not be content with forming schemes in our heart, and talking of them; we must practically carry out "whatsoever our hand findeth to do." One good deed is more worth than a...

Reward According to Work November 25, 2009  "And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." (Revelation 22:12)  Although the Scriptures teach clearly that it is "not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us" (Titus 3:5), they do teach that we are "created in Christ Jesus unto good works" (Ephesians 2:8-10).   Good works will never produce salvation, but they will produce heavenly rewards. "The fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any...