Free Republic

A number of years ago I was preparing to board a flight to Miami when a mechanical failure forced me to take another plane to Jacksonville. On the new plane, I was inadvertently seated next to Dennis Deyoung, lead singer of the 70s — 80s Rock Band, Styx (his wife in the seat behind because of a seating mix-up.) I did not recognize him at first, only remembering his 1980s look, so I continued reading my A.W. Tozer book, ‘In Pursuit of God’. It didn’t take long for me to recognize my famous seatmate when passengers, flight attendants, and even...

This is an excerpt from my book, “Born From Above: a commentary on John 3″- available at The third chapter of John allows us to overhear a conversation between Nicodemus, the chief rabbi of Israel, and Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus was not trained in the rec- ognized rabbinic schools, but He was approved of God by signs and wonders as well as by the irrefutable doc- trine He taught. Nicodemus came to Him, and spoke for other leading rabbis when he acknowledged that Je- sus had come from God. The topic? The New Birth, as the entry into the long-awaited...

Fear Not by R.C. Sproul We are fragile mortals, given to fears of every sort. We have a built-in insecurity that no amount of whistling in the dark can mollify. We seek assurance concerning the things that frighten us the most. The prohibition uttered more frequently than any other by our Lord is the command, “Fear not …” He said this so often to His disciples and others He encountered that it almost came to sound like a greeting. Where most people greet others by saying “Hi” or “Hello,” the first words of Jesus very often were “Fear not.” Why?...

Can We Lose Our Salvation? Hebrews 6:4-6 reveals a rather unsettling truth: We can lose our state of grace and fall away from the Lord.For it is impossible to restore again to repentance those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they then commit apostasy, since they crucify the Son of God on their own account and hold him up to contempt.For those who teach what Calvinists call “the...

Once upon a time, Groucho Marx hosted the popular game show, “You Bet Your Life.” At the start of the show, a “secret word” was revealed to the studio audience. If a contestant said the word during the course of the show, a reward would descend from the rafters (a one hundred dollar bill). Whether we know it or not, we are all, Christians and non-Christians alike, contestants in the spiritual equivalent of “You Bet Your Life.” If we bet wisely, our reward is eternal life. But if we bet foolishly, we condemn ourselves to eternal damnation. That brings to...

From the author of Yecheadquarters Creation Osas, My story so far.... If you ever wondered what doctrine is right between osas and no-osas, then you have come to the right place. Don't think that because I will be supporting no-osas, that I will have a bias opinion. For I have been on both sides. I was born and raised a baptist. Grew up being taught osas. I never felt bad about it until one day my preacher preached on this subject, and what he said made me realize that this cannot be right. His sermon was based on never losing...

When I was in law school, I had a classmate named Barry (not his real name). At the time, I was not practicing the faith and by no means was a paragon of virtuous living. Despite my own low standards, I thought Barry’s carousing lifestyle crossed the bounds of propriety. He even confided to me that while he was home one weekend he made his girlfriend procure an abortion, because he was not willing to take responsibility for his actions.One day, months later, Barry out of the blue told me, “It’s time for a revival.” It was only then that...

Assurance Versus Security Security When we trust in Jesus Christ, our eternal security in Christ becomes a spiritual reality whether we understand it or believe it. Ones belief in security in Christ does not make it true or false. If we have trusted in the person and work of Christ for personal salvation, security is a fact.Assurance Assurance is the confident realization of that security. It is the realization of what we have in Christ such as eternal life, forgiveness of sin, and being the object of God’s personal care as his children. Assurance has to do with our...