Tried With Fire

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you,let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. Galatians 1:6-9 In Sunday's sermon on this text, Pastor Ryan did not mince words about the serious responsibility of being true to the gospel. He said there are two ways it can be distorted - adding to it or taking from it. For example, the Roman Catholic Church, the New Perspective on Paul , and legalism in its many forms add to the gospel. Even if there is an acknowledgement of what Christ has done, it is not all sufficient to make us right with God. However, liberal theology takes...

When I was in college, a popular evangelical author/speaker came to my school for a 3-day crusade. There were posters and fliers announcing his coming, and a lot of build up to the event among the Christian organizations. I don't remember the substance of the talks, but I still recall the advertising method after all these years Many of the posters announced in bold letters, "Maximum Sex". Yeah, the old bait-and-switch tactic. I guess they thought if you want to attract the college crowd, what better way to do it than with sex. The speaker shared the gospel along with the message of abstinence, but it was primarily "be chaste for what you eventually get." This sounds like the prosperity gospel to me. Unfortunately this methodology was the norm then and is even today. Whether it is conscious or not, this reasoning agrees with the secular view that sexual fulfillment is the be all and end all. I'm not denying God's good gift for marriage, but where is Je...

That's my daughter's description of the Osteen book . Sadly fitting, no? I was flipping through it yesterday and didn't know whether to laugh at the sentimentality or be angry (righteous anger I hope) and cry over the false gospel being presented.  If this book was billed solely as self-esteem psycho-babble, no problem. It is what it is and doesn't pretend to be otherwise. However, what raises my ire is attaching "God" and "Jesus" to this drivel.  I use quotes, because the "God" Victoria Osteen describes doesn't exist in the Bible. "God" is your big daddy in the sky who's madly in love with you. And hey, who cares about repentance.  Who needs it because what do we have to repent of? Sin is just a mistake or a failure, the inability to believe in, love, and applaud ourselves. We're all fine because "forgiveness" is cheap and easy, like an eraser that makes all our failures magically disappear. As for a gr...

I was flipping through Hope by Jeremiah Burroughs when I came to the appendix, containing a reprint of one of his works. I wonder what Joel Osteen would think of the title,  The Misery of Those Whose Portion is in This Life ? Be content with your portion here; do not murmur and repine, for though you have not so much as others have yet you have what will make you happy forever...  So may I say to you who are godly, has God given you Jesus Christ? Has He given you Himself to be your portion? And are you troubled that you have no more of what beasts may have as well as yourselves? Oh, be ashamed of any mournful discontentments for want of the comforts of this world! From The Misery of Those Whose Portion is in This Life , appendix in Hope by Jeremiah Burroughs, Soli Deo Gloria, pg. 141.

If you ever wondered how much it costs to have your ears scratched...

HT: White Horse Inn (click on image for larger view)