I’m Not Embarrassed…

All right…I know Mike, and Andy thought this video would embarrass me by showing this before I preached to the Jr. High class, but the fact is…I Love It! I love the first 15 seconds of it anyway…after that it’s just redundant…it’s just redundant…it’s just redundant…oh did I say that already? Anyways…I wanted more people to be able to enjoy it, so I am posting it again. You need to have the audio up (especially in the beginning), so if you’ve never seen it…enjoy “My King”

http://www.hindsfamily.com/andy/new.asp

Yes, I know this is just cheap blog filler, but I’m preaching tonight at Men’s Prayer Meeting, and thought I’d better devote my time to preparing for that. Come out if you can 9pm at the chapel of FBBC.

Pseudo-Christians

Plain and simple Mormons are Pseudo-Christians, just like Jehovah Witnesses and Oneness Pentecostals. I will give you this though the LDS Church has gone to great lengths to hide that fact that they are not really Christians. They will argue that they are to the end, but if someone has the wrong Jesus they are not Christian at all. Bob Lonsberry is a Mormon and yet asserts that he is a Christian, but the following statement is very telling…It’s rare that we hear Mormons be so open about their faith. Usually they are pretty tight lipped to us about their key heresies. Here's what Bob said in his column on 6/21/2007

“While it is categorically false that Mormons are not Christians and don’t believe in Jesus Christ, it is true that Mormon beliefs are very different from conventional Christian theology. It is also true that “the (Mormon) Jesus is not the same Jesus of the Christian faith.” – Bob Lonsberry
Full article here - http://www.lonsberry.com/writings.cfm?story=2176&go=4

Sure Mormons believe in “a” Jesus Christ, but even according to Lonsberry, his Jesus is not the same as mine. My Jesus is God manifest in he flesh, the second person of the trinity. This doctrine my friends is vital…so here’s the situation, if the Mormon “Jesus” and my Jesus (the one of the traditional Christian faith) are different one of us has the wrong Jesus.

The Deity of Christ is one of the Five Fundamental doctrines of Christianity, and cannot…cannot, again I say, cannot be compromised. Every year more and more unbelievers, as well as Christians are exposed to this cult through their “Hill Camorah Pageant” an outdoor drama outreach held in Palmyra, NY. People are shown what they may see as just a different Christian denomination with a wonderful emphasis on family values, and high standards, but this is not another denomination. The LDS church is a pseudo-Christian cult.

For a great artical about the Deity of Christ see this by Mike Barone
http://www.gloriousgrace.com/content/sermonsessays/MichaelBarone/DeityOfChrist.asp

To a “Born Again, Bible Believing Christian” a Mormon, even a Mormon carrying a King James Bible, MUST be considered lost and in need of evangelism. With that said, the Christian Research Counsel (CRC) does an outreach at the Hill Camorah Pageant, where they pass out literature explaining the differences between Christianity and Mormonism. This organization will be going down to Palmyra during the week of July 12th through July 21st to minister to LDS, and non-LDS people attending the pageant. The following is a description of what CRC does and what you can get involved with if you are interested.

DAYTIME ACTIVITIES AT MORMON VENUES

* At the Joseph Smith Farm, we'll have signs and T-shirts that read http://www.whichfirstvision.com/ and hand out the brochure titled "Documented History of Joseph Smith's First Vision" to cars leaving the parking lot. Typically, there will be few opportunities for direct dialog with people.

* At the Book of Mormon Printing House in the Village of Palmyra, we will wear T-shirts that say http://www.weusedtoagree.com/ and hand out our brochures "Which Scripture Has Been Tampered With?" and "We Used to Agree...What happened?." This will be pedestrian traffic and presents more opportunities for dialog, primarily with Mormons.

* In the Village Park we will wear T-shirts which say http://www.weusedtoagree.com/ and set up a canopy stand with free DVD's and literature. This will present opportunities for dialog with Mormons.

* If we have enough help, we'll have a few people milling around on Main Street in Palmyra, handing out "How to make sure you have eternal life." (In the past, this brochure has been titled "Heavenly Father's Plan for You."

You can read and even print these brochures from CRC’s web site http://www.whatmormonsdonttell.com/ If you're coming to the Pageant, please familiarize yourself with all the brochures, especially the ones you know we'll be handing out. they will do more to prepare you for dialog with the pageant visitors than anything else I can recommend. And they serve as a ready reference on the spur of the moment, provided you've actually read them and highlighted the points you want to recall while witnessing and keep them with you.

EVENING ACTIVITIES AT THE PAGEANT

From 6 to 9:15 PM every evening of the Pageant, we'll hand out literature and answer Mormon and non-Mormon questions about Mormonism on public property adjacent the Pageant. If the new parking arrangement is working for the LDS, our access to pedestrians will be stifled and we will depend on holding lightweight signs to draw people to the web page http://www.whatmormonsdonttell.com/ and to the canopy which we'll erect as close as possible to the Pageant.

There is a wonderful opportunity to come out and minister with CRC at the Hill Camorah Pageant this year. If interested contact Brad White WHITE94@aol.com He will get you all the details, and the registration form.

Prepare ye the way of the Lord!

Check out the new picture of me preaching in the wilderness around 30AD. Let me know what you think : ) It's at the bottom of my page.

Comedy of Errors

Ok so there is really nothing spiritual about this post, but it’s too funny not to share. Today is Mrs. Young and my 7th anniversary, She’s gotten prettier everyday, and her cooking just gets better…that’s probably why my pants have gotten tighter…oh well. For our Anniversary I decided to be the romantic and take her away to Niagara Falls for a night away from the housework and home school, and the kids and the parents ect… and stay in a luxurious hotel suite where we could relax and enjoy time together.
Ha ha ha…This trip turned out to be a comedy of errors to such a point that I had to write about it.

When you only have one night to get away you need to make it special, but when only one of the two draws a paycheck (and not a real impressive one) we need to be quite frugal, and creative, but being frugal and creative can have it’s drawbacks…here are some tips that will warn and alert you to such drawbacks…

Tip # 1 – When planning on a one night excursion it is crucial to get out of the house as early as possible. This will allow you to enjoy as much “vacation” time as possible. – We however did not get out with such luck. Mrs. Young’s Mom was our Babysitter, and had to work a full day, about the time when we were expecting her to be home we got a phone call saying that she was “almost” ready to leave, but had to finish up a few last things. We got a really late start, but finally she was home and we were clear to leave.

Tip # 2 – Having reliable transportation will make getting there and back a breeze – After finally getting into the van to go I turned the key to the sound of nothing…(turned it again) still nothing….Mrs. young pointed back to the back lights above where the girls sit, they had been on all night and my battery was dead! We had to take my mother-in-laws little Chevy Cavalier (powered by squirrels)

Tip # 3 - Just because a hotel is in the city of Niagara Falls does not mean that it is anywhere near the “Falls” or that it is in a nice area. – We were miles from the “Falls” and pretty much surrounded by the ghetto. (The American side of the “Falls” is horribly run down…It’s really a shame)

Tip # 4 – Just because the room in the picture online looks good does not mean the room you get when you get there does. – It was ok, but really it looked old, and not that well maintained. (I can’t complain really, I’ve stayed in worse)

Tip # 5 – Just because you reserve a Jacuzzi suite does not mean the people at the front desk are going to put you in a Jacuzzi suite…Upon getting to our room I quickly noticed there was no Jacuzzi. I went down to the front desk and told them someone had stole the Jacuzzi out of our room…she was not really impressed with my attempt at humor. She told me that she really didn’t think it would be important, so she switched our room to one without a Jacuzzi…um…er…really? So like when I specifically asked on the phone for the Jacuzzi Suite you thought I was just concerned with the suite part huh? Oh Well.

Ok we finally got checked in to a room with a Jacuzzi, and we getting all ready to go out to see the “Falls” I got directions from the lady at the front desk (I’m not sure what makes me ask the person who couldn’t figure out I wanted a Jacuzzi in my Jacuzzi Suite for directions, but anyways…) I started out and realized this was just a bad idea. It was light when I left, but it was getting dark and there was no way I was going to be able to get around down there in the dark with my eyesight and all those one way streets. So we headed back to the hotel area to try and find a restaurant.

Tip # 6 – Just because the restaurant is in the US doesn’t necessarily mean the people who work there speak English – This was actually one of the highlights of the trip. We ate at a place called “India Kitchen” but when we got there we were greeted by a very immodestly dressed blonde Indian girl (…um…) and she didn’t speak English. Luckily she figured out we wanted a table, and the manager (I think) came out to wait on us. He was great, and the food was spectacular. I loved it, and good food makes a good vacation in spite of all the little problems.

Tip # 7 – Using a credit card for purchases when on vacation allows you to travel without the worry of cash being lost or stolen… however… - We tried to pay with the card at the counter, the very polite man politely said “I’m sorry you’re card is declined” what? No way! So I paid with the debit card and we went back to the hotel. After calling the credit card company we discovered that earlier that day we had made a $475 purchase online to Sam Goody music, and $230 at familyancestry.com (you know anything about this Andy???) jk! Well someone had stolen our card number and they had to shut down our account and there went that!

Well dinner was excellent and we went back to our hotel and the rest of the trip went pretty good, but really it was a comedy of errors. We had a great time in spite of it all, and as much as I’d like to sound spiritual and say that at every trial I was asking “Lord what wilt thou have me to do” I really was just laughing at how everything was going wrong, and we were still having fun. I am blessed with a wonderful wife, and I’ve had 7 wonderful years married to her, and Lord willing I will have many more.

Ok that was my story… I will do my best to write posts with spiritual content in the future and I vow that I will never again post anything with the word “Jacuzzi” in as many times as it appeared in this post.

Speaking of heresy…

Speaking of heresy, I’ve come to the uncomfortable conclusion that I don’t believe in Hell. Before you call the doctrine police on me, I will point out that you probably don’t either. (sorry I shouldn’t say that I don’t know who you are) I don’t believe in Hell. Well…of course I am saying that for effect and I am overstating it, I don’t believe in Hell enough. I just can’t seem to get my mind around it entirely.
Can You?
I mean if I had to write a paper describing what the Bible says about Hell, I would say that it’s fire and brimstone and blackness of darkness, where the souls of men burn for all eternity. I would say it’s a place where the fire is not quenched and the worm dieth not. I’d say Hell is a place of unfulfilled desires, extreme thirst, and unimaginable pain. I’d say it’s weeping and gnashing of teeth, and if a person does not repent of their sins and put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ they will spend eternity in such a place…but if I examine that in light of how urgent I am for souls, I must not believe it… and with what I see from most of us that name the name of Christ, you don’t either. (again, sorry I’m just speculating)
Leonard Ravenhill tells a story of a British criminal named Charlie Peace. As Charlie Peace was being led away to be executed, the chaplain read to him out of “The Consolations of Religion.” Charlie Peace asked the chaplain to re-read part of the description of Hell, and when he heard the apathetic tone with which the chaplain used to casually describe Hell’s agony he made the following statement:
“Sir,” addressing the preacher, “if I believed what you and the church of God say that you believe, even if England were covered with broken glass from coast to coast, I would walk over it, if need be, on hands and knees and think it worthwhile living, just to save one soul from an eternal hell like that!” Wow! And that’s a criminal’s response.
I am reading George Whitefield and as I see his brokenness, and his weeping over the lost he was preaching to it concerns me. It’s not like I don’t practice evangelism. I go street preaching, I pass out tracts, I witness to friends at work and strangers out on the street, but I am growing more and more aware than there is something lacking.
I’m not sure but I think the reason something is lacking in the Church’s approach to soul-winning…(I’m sorry I don’t want to put this on you too) I think the reason something is lacking in my approach to soul-winning is that I just don’t believe in Hell. Let me say that more accurately…I don’t believe Hell enough. Do you?
I guess we need to ask ourselves this…(sorry, I keep bringing you into this don’t I?), I guess I need to ask myself this… Supposing that beliefs dictate behavior, what by my actions do I do that prove my belief in Hell? Not to bring you into this again, but it probably wouldn’t hurt for all of us to ask ourselves that question, even if it’s just me that doesn’t believe in Hell…enough.

Stone...it's more than just a name

Ezekiel 36:26 - A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

What a beautiful day for street ministry! Mid-70’s and sunny…the perfect Rochester day. I had the opportunity to witness to a young black man who went by the name of “Stone” It only took a few moments to realize that “Stone” was more than just his name…it was the condition of his heart. He didn’t want to hear anything I had to say, and he wouldn’t take a gospel tract. I asked him if he had ever got a tract before…”it’s garbage” he said, “I crumple em’ up and throw em’ away” - (That response usually denotes some aversion to the gospel message.) I asked him where he was going when he died…no answer. After I suggested Heaven or Hell, he said he’d figure it out when he got there. I warned him it would be too late, “for it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” I got a little more witnessing in when he told me to stop harassing him. I apologized immediately and explained I wasn’t trying to harass him, but trying to warn him, and I walked away.
I listened to Dave Baker preach a little, and Stone leaned up against a pole by the bus stop. I don’t know if he was listening, but I think he understood that I really didn’t want to harass him.
Well after Andy Hinds preached and we were getting close to heading out. I had some million dollar bills and a different tract called “Why Christianity” that answers some really good questions from http://www.livingwaters.com. I put the million dollar bill in the "Why Christianity" tract and went over and handed to Stone. “I got a million dollars for you Stone” I said handing him the tract. (This bill looks so real that it catches people off guard.) He caught himself smiling at the offer, and I told him I was leaving and asked him if he’d just take the “Why Christianity” tract with the bill and see if it answered any of his questions. He shook his head taking the tract and I walked away. Pray for Stone!
Pray that God’s word can break up that stony heart, and that he would repent of his sins and put his trust in the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

Jeremiah 23:29 - Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?

Just in Case You Missed the Call...

One of my favorite quotes: Yes from a man who feed the hungry, clothed and sheltered the downtrodden, but never lost focus on preaching the need for salvation through Jesus Christ!

"'Not called!' did you say?'Not heard the call,' I think you should say.Put your ear down to the Bible, and hear Him bid you go and pull sinners out of the fire of sin. Put your ear down to the burdened, agonized heart of humanity, and listen to its pitiful wail for help. Go stand by the gates of hell, and hear the damned entreat you to go to their father's house and bid their brothers and sisters and servants and masters not to come there. Then look Christ in the face -- whose mercy you have professed to obey -- and tell Him whether you will join heart and soul and body and circumstances in the march to publish His mercy to the world. -- William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army

Anyone up for street preaching tomorrow? we're meeting at Mortimer St. parking lot 10:30am

Keeping First Things First

In our local paper the Democrat and Chronicle had a first page article that began like this…

“When a church is surrounded by poverty, its mission seems as obvious as the neighborhood's broken windows and sagging stairs. - Feed the hungry. Provide clothes and housing for those who are struggling. Offer job training, But when a church is surrounded by freshly manicured lawns and homes that look perfect from the outside, what should its mission be?”… and the article went on to say that their mission is to offer financial counseling, help care for people’s aging parents, deliver meals, and repair houses…um…what?

What should the churches mission be?…It doesn’t matter whether it’s in a poverty stricken area or Beverly Hills the mission of the Church is same, and I’m sorry Marketta Gregory it is not to feed the hungry, provide clothes and housing to the poor, or offer job training. The mission of the church is to seek and save the lost! Now don’t get me wrong…I think all those things mentioned are good things, but the mission of the church? Not primarily! Someone somewhere got mixed up in what Christ’s first priority was. Luke tells us the "Son of man (Jesus) is come to seek and to save that which was lost", and when He (Jesus) was about to ascend into Heaven His last words to His disciples were “ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” He did not say “listen, while I’m away make sure you help people balance their checkbook”

I don’t mean to sound too sarcastic...but this is a dangerous theology that replaces meeting people’s spiritual needs with meeting their physical or emotional needs. It’s the social gospel, and more and more it’s worming its way into evangelicalism as a deceptive counterfeit. Now I am willing to admit that I am being a little harsh. In fact, I think a lot of these programs are good, and as one of the ministers says "There are many difficult times when the face of Christ needs to be given to someone." But Christ was supremely concerned for the spiritual needs of people, and their physical and emotional needs were a distant second.

I want to explain better why this bothers me. Setting up a soup kitchen and saying that we are doing the work of Christ by feeding the poor, while neglecting to do the work of an evangelist (2Timothy 4:5) will only send a poor person to Hell on a full stomach.
Providing job training to help people provide better for themselves will only ease the road to a lake of fire if we never address that person’s sin problem…and that’s the rub!
We don’t want to address their sin. It is easier to just help them care for their aging parents instead of sitting them down and showing them how desperately they need the Saviour. We can set up euchre tournaments, and church sponsored dances for the lonely without looking like fanatics, but boy, if we show then the scriptures that say “Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” we get …"oh your one of them". Well I am one of them. Call me silly, but I think we need to love people enough to point them to Jesus and prepare them for eternity, and not to our Christian Investment Seminar to prepare them for retirement.
Again I am for these programs that help those in need…well except the euchre and dancing…not so much that…but it’s not the mission of the Church.
I also don’t want this to sound like I’m taking a shot at Marketta Gregory, to a lot of people that’s what Christianity is to them, a social program, but that is simply not true. It is a salvation program! - Now heres the question churches...How are people on the outside like going to get that straight if we can’t?

Mark 16:15 - And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

For full article -
In church ministries, looks can be deceiving - Marketta Gregory Staff writer D&C

A Small Ouch from Andrew Murray

I didn’t have anything for you today, so I’m just going to leave this quote from a book called “Humility”, nothing I would ever post of my own would hurt as much as this. The first time I read this I set the book down and literally cried at my selfishness, and arrogance. I re-read it often to remind myself that it’s not who I am at church or at the prayer meeting, or before God…but to who I am when it’s just Jen and I, or the kids and I, or me at work, or just me and my thoughts…

“This lesson is one of deep importance. The only humility that is really ours is not that which we try to show before God in prayer, but that which we carry out, in our ordinary conduct. The insignificances of daily life are the importances and the tests of eternity because they prove what spirit really possesses us. It is in our most unguarded moments that we really show and see what we are.”
- Andrew Murray

Comfort in Affliction

2 Corinthians 4:17 - For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory

One of my least favorite Bible truths has to do with how God grows a man. From my reading it looks like everyone that was greatly used of God was greatly tried by God. He also seems to do it with His people as a whole. In the Old Testament it was the children of Israel, and in the New Testament we see the same scenario with the Church, God using trials, and afflictions to grow and mature His people, and bring them closer to Him. Here is a few of the descriptions I see of God growing and maturing His people:

Purifying – Like refining gold in a furnace of fire – Proverbs 17:3
Purging – The way you cut away at a tree to make it bear more fruit – John15:2
Polishing - To grind away at something to remove its roughness – Isaiah 49:2

God’s ways are not our ways, they are far beyond, and infinitely wise…That may not sound comfortable, and it’s not! But when it comes from the God if all comfort (2Cor. 1:3) we can take rest in Him. Some things stuck out to me in my reading of the first few chapters of Exodus this time that I want to share…or at least record, about comfort in affliction.

Exodus 1:12a - But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew

I’ve already established with the afore mentioned verses that there is a growing, and maturing that comes from affliction, just as there is a purifying that comes from a refiners fire, and we see that principle in Exodus 1:12 with the children of Israel. Their hard bondage, and their burdens were causing a growing, and it was this growing that was causing Egypt to tremble. There is a comfort in knowing that if we are enduring a trial, or bearing a burden, that there is a growing that is able to take place.

Exodus 3:7- And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;

There is comfort in God’s awareness of our trials. He sees, He hears, He knows! God was never asleep on the throne, and during 400 years of affliction He was aware of every injustice. Every affliction was witnessed by the eyes of the Lord (Proverbs 15:3)…every misuse of their women, every abuse of their children, and every crack of the whip that striped the back of their men. There is comfort in knowing that our affliction is never beyond our gracious God’s sight… There is comfort in knowing that we are never so far that our cries are not heard by our loving Father… There is comfort in knowing that in a multitude of sorrows He knoweth our frame. (Psalm 103:14)

Exodus 3:17- And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.

The comfort of redemption! Oh the great and wonderful promises of God, and His Word! He declares “I will bring you up out of the affliction!” There is an expected end to the trial. I love the analogies that we often hear concerning this topic. The refiner never holds the silver in the fire longer than it takes to burn away the dross. The husbandman never cuts away more branches than necessary. There is comfort in knowing that God is more compassionate than the refiner or the husbandman. He never would hold us in a trial longer than it takes to accomplish His will in us. He will never try us beyond our ability to endure either. (1Cor. 10:13)

Exodus 4:31- And the people believed: and when they heard that the LORD had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped.

The end result of the trial is to look back and see how God carried you through, so that you can respond as the children of Israel, and bow your head and worship God! John Piper appropriately points out that worship is the ultimate goal of the Church. John 4:23,24 expressly tells us that the Father is seeking worship, and that He is seeking a specific kind of worship. (in spirit and in truth) There is comfort in knowing that our trials and afflictions result in our highest purpose, and that is the worship of our great King.

One last note: The worship came when they looked back. I noticed this because I have often found that in the midst of my afflictions, try though I might…true worship is difficult. But oh the times after the trial when I looked back and saw only that one set of footprints, and I knew that God only had carried me through, I have been able to lift up my hands in praise, and bow my head in worship, and exalt the name of Jesus Christ singing Glory to His name!

Proverbs 30:5 - Weeping may endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning

There is comfort in the trials, when the trials come from the Comforter.

2 Corinthians 1:3 - Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;