Christmas Meditation 2010

My family and I watched Planet Earth on Christmas Eve. The beauty and majesty displayed on film was awe inspiring. And I don’t mind taking delight in the works of God displayed in his world. Calvin said, “Meanwhile let us not be ashamed to take pious delight in the works of God open and manifest in this most beautiful theater." Better yet, Isaiah recorded that the angels said the whole earth is full of God’s glory (Isaiah 6:3). And the Apostle John wrote that, “All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being”(John 1:3). Who is the “him”? John said the eternal Word is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ (John 1:17). How humbling is it that the one through whom all things exist would become flesh (John 1:10,14). The One who created all things that we are watching on Planet Earth, would come into this world to save sinners (1 Tim. 1:15)—simply amazing and profound beyond measure.


Bats fly with sonar in complete darkness catching bugs with stealth like accuracy; and the eternal Son of God, the designer of such creatures, came into the world to save sinners. One far outweighs the other and I get to delight in both. But to compare the two is like comparing the sun to a candle.

What are you going to think about Christmas this year?

That's Christmas (Short Film) HD from St Helen’s Church on Vimeo.

Nostalgic Again....? Not really....

Powerful North Korean Student Testimony // The 3rd Lausanne Congress CapeTown South Africa 2010

Veterans Day 11-11-10

Veterans Day is a holiday honoring military veterans. I want to say thank you to those who served and are serving in the military. My life has been enriched by encountering men and women who have served our country. I have gained a deeper understanding by talking with them about their experiences.

I am thankful to have men in our church that fought during WWII in the thick of the battle to stop Hitler's evil genocidal machine. One gentleman in our church, Tony Utt, was on a mountain top in Italy on November 10, 1943, when a piece of shrapnel ripped through his helmet and into his skull. Tony was carried down the mountain, transported to Africa and then to the US. Six months later Tony left the hospital with a metal plate in his skull to cover the hole that the shrapnel left.

I am thankful to have a man in our church that lived in a foxhole in South Korea to help keep the aggressor of North Korea from taking over. I found out about Glenn Olomon’s service in Korea because his wife, Betty, was in the hospital and Glenn was spending the night sleeping on the floor. I was a new pastor at the time and told Glenn that I admired his dedication to Betty by sleeping on the floor night after night. Glenn laughed and said it was easy because he lived in a fox hole for two years in Korea.

We have a Korean church that meets in our church on Sunday afternoons. The pastor of the Korean church drives from a larger Korean church about an hour and half away. A few years back they had an appreciation dinner for military veterans. Another year they had a dinner for Korean veterans to honor their service.   They had a nice meal, gave Korean gifts of appreciation to each of the veterans’ in honor of their military service on their behalf.

At the Korean War Memorial in DC there is stone engraved with these words: 

OUR NATION HONORS

HER SONS AND DAUGHTERS

WHO ANSWERED THE CALL

TO DEFEND A COUNTRY

THEY NEVER KNEW

AND A PEOPLE

THEY NEVER MET

1950 - KOREA - 1953

My dad (3rd from the right) and four of his brothers served in the military. Two served during WW2 and two served during the Korean War. Robert was wounded at the battle of the Bulge and received the Purple Heart Award. Last week I learned that Odie, who also served during WW 2, struggled with the effects of the war for years. Curtis and Richard served during the Korean War. Curtis was a medic during the war. My dad, being the youngest, served shortly after the Korean War. The majority of his time in the Air Force was with the 57th Weather Reconnaissance. Growing up he would tell us about the time he saw the sun rise twice in the morning.

He was stationed for five months on the island of Eniwetok and was a part of operation Castle Bravo. On March 1, 1954, he witnessed a nuclear explosion that was 1,200 times more powerful than what was dropped on Japan. Bravo was the most powerful nuclear device ever detonated by the United States. The bomb was detonated on Bikini Island while he was on Eniwetok. The fallout contaminated more than seven thousand square miles of the surrounding Pacific Ocean including some of the surrounding small islands like Rongerik, Rongelap and Utirik. It would have contaminated Eniwetok but the wind had changed direction the day of the blast. My dad was not told that there had been nine nuclear detonations on Eniwetok before he arrived.

Another thing that I learned from my dad in recent days in talking about him and his brothers serving in the military was he said his mom and dad cried when he left and came home from service. They had all five of their sons return home, but many men and women did not return home.

Below are the numbers of American deaths during our major wars:

Civil War           364,511

World War I     116,516

World War II    405,399

Korean War        36,574

Vietnam              58,209

Here is another post i did regarding the miltary: Should we feel guilty for having a Memorial Day?

http://alwaysreformingtoscripture.blogspot.com/2007/05/should-we-feel-guilty-for-having.html

                                                                      
                                                                     REMEMBER

Putting Jesus In His Place

I read this book a few years back and i am going to recommend it tonight at church as I deal with the doctrine of the Trinity... it is a must have book!  Here is a link for other helpful resources listed [ here ]

The central theological distinctive of Christianity--that Jesus is God incarnate--has repeatedly come under fire from adherents to other religions and scholars who interpret Jesus as a prophet, angel, or guru. Putting Jesus in His Place is designed to introduce Christians to the wealth of biblical teaching on the deity of Christ. Using evidence from the New Testament, this book helps readers appreciate the significance of Christ's deity in a personal relationship with Him, and gives them the confidence to share the truth about Jesus with others


ENDORSEMENTS:


Martin Hengel Professor Emeritus of University of Tübingen, Germany : An exceedingly readable and intelligible book on a centraloand hotly debatedotheme of the Christian message. The work is based upon a scholarly, well-informed investigation of the most important Christological texts in the New Testament. It gives not only rich biblical information to the reader but also practical pastoral guidance.



Fred Sanders Biola University : You might be surprised to learn that the case for Christ’s deity has actually become stronger during the past couple of decades. The average, reasonably l-informed Christian has probably missed out on the flood of new approaches, observations, and lines of argument that have been flowing from the scholarly books and journals lately. Bowman and Komoszewski’s Putting Jesus in His Place has gathered the best of all this recent scholarship and put it together in one readable, memorable, and engaging volume. If you graduated from seminary twenty years ago, you need to know that your notes are out of date and that there are exciting new ways of presenting the case that Jesus is God. I know of no other book that gathers such a wide variety of different types of biblical evidence for this doctrine, organizing it clearly and making all the right connections. While reading the book, I found myself at several points thinking, It’s too bad that a popular-level book like this can’t afford to give the details on some of the more complicated evidence, only to discover that Bowman and Komoszewski plunged right in and provided easy-to-understand summaries of the specialist scholarship. Putting Jesus in His Place is the book I’ve been looking for to put into the hands of believers who want to understand how the New Testament teaches that Jesus is God.



Rev. Mark D. Roberts, Ph.D. Irvine Presbyterian Church : As a pastor with a commitment to engage in serious scholarship, and as a scholar with a commitment to communicate with non-specialists, I’m always looking for books that address pressing topics in a way that is academically solid yet available to a wide audience. Putting Jesus in His Place is just such a book. Nothing is more critical in today’s world than the question of Jesus’ true identity. It is often claimed that his divinity was a late invention by the church, and is not taught in the New Testament. Putting Jesus in His Place shows the folly of this claim by an exacting analysis of the New Testament data. The facts are clear: the New Testament writers regarded Jesus as God, both implicitly and explicitly. Putting Jesus in His Place will reassure Christians of the truth and prepare them to be articulate, well-informed defenders of this truth in the wider world. Anyone who reads this book will no longer fall prey to the mistaken notion of the deity of Christ as some later addition to authentic Christian faith. Instead, every reader will be challenged to acknowledge the ancient affirmation of Jesus as God, and to consider the personal implications of this confession for contemporary living.



I. Howard Marshall Professor Emeritus, University of Aberdeen, Scotland : This book is a very comprehensive study of all the material in the New Testament that testifies to or is consistent with the full deity of Jesus Christ, the sheer quantity of which may come as a surprise to some readers. There is helpful detailed discussion of many controversial passages that will be useful to students who want to go more deeply into the problems.



Craig A. Evans Acadia Divinity College, Nova Scotia, Canada : Putting Jesus in His Place is a reader-friendly treatment of a difficult topic, one that is often neglected in New Testament scholarship. Bowman and Komoszewski clarify the issues, focus on the key passages, and mount an impressive defense of a cardinal Christian doctrine. Anyone who wonders about the divinity of Jesus should read this book.



Paul Copan Palm Beach Atlantic University West Palm Beach, FL : This wide-ranging yet accessible book by Bowman and Komoszewski is a splendid compilation of the evidenceoboth explicit and impliedofor Jesus’ deity, which pervades the New Testament. The authors make a convincing case as they discuss biblical texts, interact with important recent literature, and present the striking significance and entailments of Jesus’ divinity. A remarkable work!



Daniel B. Wallace Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts : Finally, here is a book that lays out the case for the deity of Christ in clear, compelling, memorable language. Putting Jesus in His Place fills a huge gap by converting the best of biblical scholarship on the subject into language that anyone can understand. This book is a feast for the mind; the endnotes give the reader a glimpse of the meticulous work the authors went through to make the reading so palatable. The acronym HANDS is an ingenious memory device to help any Christian know the basic teaching about Jesus’ deity. When you learn what it means, youill never forget what the New Testament affirms about the divinity of our Lord. I thank God that Bowman and Komoszewski have combined their talents on this supremely important topic and well-written book. The church of the 21st century is in their debt.



Craig L. Blomberg Denver Seminary : The one thing we have no record of Jesus of Nazareth ever saying is iI am God,i though countless charlatans and madmen over the centuries have used precisely these words. As a result, some people, including some Christians, think the case for Jesus’ deity rests solely on the half-dozen passages in the New Testament where others directly call him “God.” Bowman and Komoszewski here offer massive disproof of this minimalist notion. While a sizable majority of the texts they survey afford implicit rather than explicit evidence for the deity of Jesus, and while it is possible to dispute the implications they derive from certain passages, it is impossible to dismiss the cumulative case that the first Christians, following Jesus’ own lead, viewed him as God incarnate, and that the New Testament is replete with dozens of texts that attest this conviction. The book itself is remarkably clear and uncluttered, but detailed endnotes interact with almost all of the significant, recent relevant scholarship as well. Warmly to be commended.



Craig J. Hazen Biola University : Rarely have I seen such a comprehensive and deeply scholarly presentation in theology at such an accessible leveloand on one of the most important topics anyone can study: the deity of Christ. Bowman and Komoszewski obviously know this topic as well as anyone in the world because it takes that depth of knowledge to present a case like this in language that can be grasped by non-scholars in every walk of life. I predict this will be a standard textbook on the subject and a much-used resource for anyone who wants to make the case for Jesus’ deity to unbelievers such as Muslims, Mormons, Jehovahis Witnesses, New Agers, and skeptics in this generation.



Ravi Zacharias Ravi Zacharias International Ministries : Putting Jesus in His Place is a meticulously researched and brilliant book on a subject that continues to remain significant even after 2000 years. Robert Bowman and Ed Komoszewski have given readers a unique and unparalleled resourceoand one with life-changing implications. I commend this volume to you with much appreciation for their work.



Richard Bauckham St. Mary’s College, University of St Andrews : Bowman and Komoszewski do a splendid job of showing that the divine identity of Jesus is not confined to a few key texts, but presented throughout the New Testament in a wide variety of ways. Their arguments are fully based on the best of recent scholarship, and explained in a way that all serious readers of the New Testament will appreciate.



Murray J. Harris Trinity Evangelical Divinity School Deerfield, IL : An exciting, compelling and user-friendly investigation of the full range of New Testament evidence for the unique divine identity of Jesus Christ, admirably suitable for the non-specialist reader, yet with detailed up-to-date specialist notes.



Thomas R. Schreiner Southern Baptist Theological Seminary : The deity of Jesus Christ is central and foundational to the gospel. Bowman and Komoszewski show that Christis deity pervades the New Testament and is not limited to a few proof texts. Those who have eyes to see will find it everywhere, and if your eyes are deficient this book is just the corrective you need. The work is convincing, clear, and scholarly. Most of all, the book is glorious, reminding us that Jesus is to be worshiped as our Lord, Savior, and God.



Larry W. Hurtado University of Edinburgh, Scotland : This book gathers up admirably the results of a number of recent studies that combine to show how remarkably early Jesus was reverenced as somehow ring a divine status, and how this reverence was exhibited overtly in a whole range of confessional terms and devotional actions. Whether or not one shares the authors’ own particular stance on some matters, they have provided a readable and well-informed summary of a large body of scholarly work showing a very early and very high view of Jesus, not as something emerging by slow evolution, but as an explosively quick and remarkable phenomenon.



Kenneth Boa Reflections Ministries, Atlanta, GA : Putting Jesus in His Place is the finest and most comprehensive apologetic for the deity of Christ that I have yet encountered. The material is rigorous yet highly accessible because of the transparency of the structure and the directness of the style. It is my hope that this book will become a standard resource for educational institutions and for people who desire a clearer vision of the Lord Jesus.

--------------------------------------
In Jeff Miller's review over at Bible.org, he closes with this:

Bowman and Komoszewski have put Jesus in His place. Jesus is fully God. The authors stage a direct attack upon certain core errors in the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses and Arius (the 3-4^th century precursor to today's JWs), as well as contemporary Oneness and Modalism movements. Certainly there is enough here to place an element of doubt in the minds of many Jehovah's Witnesses. Every serious Jehovah's Witness will have this book on his shelf; how much more should it be on the shelf of every serious Christian.

Before The Throne of God Above

High School test 'slams' Christianity, lauds Islam

HS test 'slams' Christianity, lauds Islam
By YOAV GONEN Education Reporter (NY POST)
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/bad_faith_in_regents_exam_IHsTi7lMbqhfdMDrnF3xYL#ixzz0xZIpFdKy



Islamophilic Indoctrination in New York High Schools
by Andrew Bostom

http://www.andrewbostom.org/blog/2010/08/24/islamophilic-indoctrination-in-new-york-high-schools/

In Christ Alone

10 Christians are Killed in Afghanistan

Last week I read an article that came out in June 2010 titled, "Kill the Christians."subtitle--Lawmakers and protesters in Afghanistan are calling for just that

Then today in our local newspaper had a front page article, 10 killed onAfghanistan medical mission    .

Other links: Christianity Today   
 Slain NY Doctor Was In Afghanistan For 3 Decades


Pray that God would continue to raise up Christians to share the gospel among the nations and for the church to support such gospel efforts.

Romans 10:

14 How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?
15 How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, "HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!"
16 However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, "LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT?"
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.



Keep up with recent reports of the persecution of our brothers and sisters throughout the world  

Senator Burris seeks to turn military hospitals into abortion clinics

Read the article here posted by Jason Smathers.

Inside a Planned Parenthood September 9, 2009

An Indiana Planned Parenthood Caught On Tape Giving Fabricated Medical Information

Watch Your Mouth! (part 1)

There are pastors, who in their sermons from time to time, will mention how self-vindication (works righteousness) before a holy God will not save anyone. Many of them use Isaiah 64:6, “For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; and all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.” They may explain that the word “filthy garment” in Isaiah 64:6 is literally a “menstrual cloth.” It is offensive to think about—which is the purpose of it. Some pastors have even gone so far to say that our righteous acts to justify us before a holy God are as a “bloody tampon.”  I am not arguing for the right to use “bloody tampon”, even though that is what many call a menstrual cloth.  It is interesting that when I asked a young teenager boy in our church what a menstrual cloth was, his response was that it is something that music leader uses to wipe down an instrument. 

I even had someone tell me that it was not proper to use the word "menstrual cloth". When asked why, the reply was, "because it is wrong." But why is it wrong? "It just is!" Really? Have we become so prone to coming up with our own system of ethics that we have a hard time with what the Bible says? I am arguing for the right to explain what the text says.  I will not refrain from explaining that it is justified to explain that the “filthy rag” in the NASB is literally a “menstrual cloth.”

I will give 11 pieces of evidence that will show that a pastor is justified to explain that “filthy rags” in Isaiah 64:6 can be understood as “menstrual cloth.”

1. Brown, Driver and Briggs Hebrew Lexicon: menstruation (prop. time, period), stained garment (fig. of best deeds of guilty people (pg 723) (BibleWorks 6 software)

2. A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, William L. Holladay: (menstrual) period Isaiah 64.5 (p. 265)

3. Theological Workbook of the OT (Harris): (1564a) menstruation (Isa 64:5). (BibleWorks 6 software)

4. The NET Bible is a completely new translation of the Bible with 60,932 translators’ notes! It was completed by more than 25 scholars – experts in the original biblical languages – who worked directly from the best currently available Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts.
**Read more about here: http://www.bible.org/page.php?page_id=3537


The New English Translation says, 64:6 We are all like one who is unclean, all our so-called righteous acts are like a menstrual rag in your sight. 12 We all wither like a leaf; our sins carry us away like the wind.

Footnote 12 tn Heb “and like a garment of menstruation [are] all our righteous acts”; KJV, NIV “filthy rags”; ASV “a polluted garment.”
See internet: http://net.bible.org/bible.php?book=Isa&chapter=64#6

Did the NET have any justification for such a translation? Yes. Hebrew dictionaries translate the Hebrew word as “menstrual cloth”.

5. The Hebrew was later translated into Greek and the Greek use of that word in Isaiah 64:6 is translated in other places as menstrual period (Lev. 15:33; 20:18; Isa. 30:22; 64:5; Lam. 1:17; Ezek. 22:10; 36:17).

6. J.A. Motyer, in his commentary on Isaiah, says of 64:6:
Filthy rags/’a garment of menstruation’, i.e. stained by menstrual blood. Bodily discharges that were linked with procreation were considered a defilement because they were so vitally associated fallen human life. Even what we might consider to be in our favour, our righteous acts, flow from a fallen nature and partake of its fallenness (The Prophecy of Isaiah: An Introduction & Commentary, p. 520).

7. The 1599 Geneva Study Bible:
64:6 But we are all as an unclean [thing], and all our h righteousnesses [are] as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
(h) We are justly punished and brought into captivity, because we have provoked you to anger, and though we would excuse ourselves, yet our righteousness, and best virtues are before you as vile cloths, or (as some read) like the menstruous cloths of a woman.
See internet: http://bible.crosswalk.com/Commentaries/GenevaStudyBible/gen.cgi?book=isa&chapter=064

8. The Pulpit Commentary: “Isaiah 64:6 All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; or, as a menstruous garment (see Lam. 1:17)” (p..460).

9. Adam Clark's (1762–1832) commentary:

Verse 6. As filthy rags iddim. Rab. Mosheh ben Maimon And we ben made as unclene alle we: and as the cloth of the woman rooten blode flowing, all our rigtwisnesses. -Old MS. Bible. If preachers knew properly the meaning of this word, would they make such a liberal use of it in their public ministry? And why should any use a word, the meaning of which he does not understand? How many in the congregation blush for the incautious man and his "filthy rags!"
See internet: http://studylight.org/com/acc/view.cgi?book=isa&chapter=064

10. Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary On the Whole Bible (1871)
unclean thing--legally unclean, as a leper. True of Israel, everywhere now cut off by unbelief and by God's judgments from the congregation of the saints. righteousness--plural, "uncleanness" extended to every particular act of theirs, even to theeir prayers and praises. True of the best doings of the unregenerate (Php 3:6-8; Tit 1:15; Heb 11:6). filthy rags--literally, a "menstruous rag" (Le 15:33; 20:18; La 1:17). fade . . . leaf-- (Ps 90:5, 6).
See internet: http://studylight.org/com/jfb/view.cgi?book=isa&chapter=064&verse=006#Isa64_1

11. MacArthur Bible Commentary, p 840.
As in 53:6 (cf. 6:6, 7), the prophet included himself among those confessing their unworthiness to be in God’s presence. Isaiah employed the imagery of menstrual cloths used during a woman’s period to picture uncleanness (cf. Lev. 15:19-24). This is true of the best behavior of unbelievers (cf. Phil. 3:5-8).



Click here for articles on how you want to stand before God

Liberty's Conclusion to Caner Controversy

Wade Burleson

SBC Today: "We praise God that Dr. Caner Is Exonerated" -- I say, "Huh?"

If Celebrity Were Integrity the Southern Baptist Convention Would Be Morally Blameless: Why the SBC Can Be Faulted for Ergun Caner's Rise and Demise

What Would Happen If Liberty Followed the Student Honor Code In the Ergun Caner Situation?

Tom Chantry
A Declaration from Liberty

Gene Clyatt
Lynchburg, We Have A Problem...

Rose Marie
Camels Swallowed, Forest Still Missing and Presumed Lost


Carla Rolfe
Liberty FAIL

Daniel Spratlin
Ergun Caner Found to be a Liar by Liberty University

Justin Taylor
Just One Question for the Trustees of Liberty University

Francis Turretin
Dr. Ergun Caner - Liberty Investigation Complete

When Can We Expect Our Apology?

When Can We Expect Our Apology? Part 2



James White

Liberty Announces Removal of Ergun Caner as Dean of Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary

Quick Update

The Full Liberty Statement

Christianity Today Picks Up Quotes: Jerry Falwell Jr. and Glenn Beck

The Caner Scandal Becomes the Evangelical Cover-Up
07/02/2010 - James White






NEWS
WSET-TV Channel 13 ABC (Lynchburg, VA)
A Following Review, LU Will Replace Dr. Caner as Dean



Townhall.com
Muslim-turned-preacher out as Baptist school dean

Lynchburg News Advance
LU won’t renew Caner’s contract as dean of seminary

Liberty Student News
ERGUN CANER GUILTY: REMOVED AS DEAN FROM SEMINARY

First Amendment Rights---Denied in Dearborn, Michigan

This is hard to believe--but check it out here:
Distribute the Gospel of John? No!

Read about it here as well.
watch this video, Arrested for Being Christian Preachers at Dearborn Arab Festival 2010

UPDATE: Wednesday, June 30, 2010  Yet Another Policeman Weighs In

Saturday, June 26, 2010  How Many Ways Can a Single Police Department Violate Our First Amendment Rights?

Watch the Live Webcast of Ligonier Ministries' 2010 National Conference

Title: Tough Questions Christians Face

click here to view live

Conference Schedule

THURSDAY, JUNE 17

Pre-Conference

9:00 - 9:20 a.m.
The Brave New World of New Media, Ed Stetzer

9:25 - 9:45 a.m.
Principles for Conduct in Communication, Tim Challies

10:00 - 10:20 a.m.
Taking Captive New Media for the Church, Burk Parsons

10:25 - 10:45 a.m.
The Hypersocialized Generation, Albert Mohler

10:55 - 11:55 a.m.
Questions & Answers

Conference

3:10 - 4:10 p.m.
Why Did Jesus Have to Die?, John MacArthur

5:10 - 6:00 p.m.
Is the Doctrine of Inerrancy Defensible?, Michael Horton

8:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Does the Doctrine of Divine Decrees Eliminate Human Will?, John MacArthur

FRIDAY, JUNE 18

8:30 - 9:30 a.m.
What Is Evil and Where Did It Come From?, R.C. Sproul

9:30 - 10:30 a.m.
Why Do Christians Still Sin?, R.C. Sproul Jr.

11:40 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
How Do We Know Which Interpretation Is Right?, Derek Thomas

2:30 - 3:25 p.m.
Is the Bible Just Another Book?, Steven Lawson

4:15 - 5:15 p.m.
Is the Exclusivity of Christ Unjust?, Alistair Begg

7:15 - 8:30 p.m.
Questions & Answers

SATURDAY, JUNE 19

8:30 - 9:40 a.m.
Why Does the Universe Look So Old?, Albert Mohler

9:40 - 10:30 a.m.
Is Calvinism Good for the Church?, Burk Parsons

11:15 a.m. - 12:05 p.m.
If God Is Good, How Could He Command Holy War?, Derek Thomas

12:05 - 1:00 p.m.
Can We Enjoy Heaven Knowing of Loved Ones in Hell?, R.C. Sproul

Courageous Missionary Murdered

Read about it here and here

Christian leader faces questions about Muslim past

USA TODAY article-- Christian leader faces questions about Muslim past




James White has a list of questions for Caner

Gentlemen, there are a large number of direct questions Ergun Caner must answer. Nothing but open and clear explanations, not excuses, will do. I strongly suggest that you ask the following questions of Ergun Caner, and then publish, openly, the responses, for all of these questions flow from his public pronouncements.

1) When did Ergun Caner live in Turkey? Dates, locations, must be provided.
2) What madrassa did he train at in jihad? Where was he a member of the Youth Jihad? When? For how long?
3) Why has he claimed in public to have been born in Istanbul, Turkey, when he was born in Stockholm, Sweden?
4) Why does he claim to be 100% Turkish when his mother is Swedish?
5) Why has he plainly implied he could speak Arabic (in response to the Islamic claim that unless you can read the Qur’an you cannot criticize it) when his mother tongue is Swedish, and he cannot, in fact, read or speak Arabic?
6) How does he explain his presence in Ohio by at the very latest age four, and possibly as early as 2 and a half, as indicated by legal documents?
7) How does he explain his claim to have always lived in Muslim majority countries before coming to the United States? Sweden is not today, and surely was not in 1969, a majority Muslim nation.
8) How does he explain his often published claim to have come to the United States in 1978 or 1979? How can this be seen as anything other than a purposeful distortion necessary for his “I came as a jihadist from Turkey” rather than “I came as a son of a Muslim father and a Swedish mother to Ohio as a small child” persona?
9) Can Ergun Caner prove he was a devout, active Muslim in high school? One that even wore traditional Islamic garb (though that is unusual in Turkey)? Does he have evidence of this in the form of pictures? Some of us have seen pictures of Ergun in his high school yearbook, and none of them show him wearing Islamic dress.
10) Dr. Caner claims in some of his talks that he learned English in Brooklyn. When did he live in Brooklyn, rather than Ohio?
11) How does Dr. Caner explain the fact that he claims to have done his prayers in the bathroom in high school, though that would be highly unusual and in fact either the act of an ignorant Muslim or one in fear of his life?
12) Why did Ergun Caner say Ramadan was forty days long when in fact it is a lunar month in length? If he had ever fasted during Ramadan I can assure you he would know the difference.
13) Why did Ergun Caner on video confuse the Shahada with the opening words of Surat al-Fatiha? Given that both are part of the Islamic prayers, and would have been repeated thousands of times during his youth as a devout Muslim, how could he be confused about such a basic thing?
14) Emir Caner says their mother became a “hippy” upon coming to the United States. Yet Ergun says she wore Islamic clothing until he baptized her. Which is true?
15) Dr. Caner often uses derogatory terms like “towel head” and “sand nigger” of himself, excusing these racial slurs because he claims to be of these ethnic groups. Yet, these are slurs mainly of Arabic people, not of Turkish people; and beyond this, he is only half Turkish, as his mother is Swedish. So why does he engage in this behavior?
16) Dr. Caner has repeatedly said “his family” disowned him upon his conversion. Yet, court records indicate he lived with his mother as custodial parent, not his father; and Emir says that while his father did disown his sons who converted, their mother was basically ambivalent, as she was no longer a Muslim anyway. Is having your non-custodial parent, who has remarried, disown you identical to being disowned by your (entire) family?
17) Dr. Caner has claimed to engage in more than sixty Muslim debates. Where is the evidence of these debates? Who has he debated? What are their names? When did the debates take place?
18) Dr. Caner claimed to have debated Shabir Ally in Nebraska. Caner admitted in February, 2010, that he never debated Shabir Ally. Who, then, did he debate in Nebraska? When? On what topic?
19) Dr. Caner claimed to debate Abdul Saleeb. Abdul Saleeb means “servant of the cross.” So why did he claim to debate a Christian along with Shabir Ally? Was he simply putting Arabic-sounding names together in a line as a means of impressing his audience?
20) Ergun Caner has often, in talks, and in print, referred to “Hadith 9:57.” Since any meaningful citation of the hadith literature requires the use of the name of the actual collection (in this case, Sahih al-Bukhari), does this not show a fundamental ignorance of the most basic elements of scholarly inquiry into Islamic studies on Ergun Caner’s part?
21) Ergun Caner holds a Th.D. in Theology. Why has he often changed the degree to a Ph.D.?
22) Dr. Caner heads up the Global Apologetics program. His claim to have engaged leaders of numerous religions in debate in many foreign countries and all across the United States is directly related to his recruiting of students. Why should his false claims about his past, and his apologetic work, not be considered false advertising and fraudulent?

What about Blumenthal?

New York Times Vietnam story
On May 17, 2010, the New York Times published an article stating that Blumenthal "never served in Vietnam, despite statements to the contrary. The Times has found that he obtained at least five military deferments from 1965 to 1970 and took repeated steps that enabled him to avoid going to war." (On June 30, 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson issued Executive Order 11360, mandating that no deferments for post-graduate study be granted in the future, except for those men pursuing medical and dental courses.) The Times also published a March 2, 2008, video in which he states that "I served in Vietnam".[58][59]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Blumenthal


Richard Blumenthal served our country, but he lied about being in Vietnam . He also claimed to have been that captain of Harvard’s swim. He attended Harvard but he wasn’t the captain of the swim team.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_xAfu5xA04





Democratic Official Says Blumenthal Claims Were ‘Wrong’
By MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM
Published: May 23, 2010

On how many different occasions did he say that he served in Vietnam?

Drop me an email if you know?

My Take on the Ergun Caner Controversy

I was on the phone with a truck driver in my church who listens to a lot of Christian radio while on the road. While I was on the phone with him he said that he listened to a great program from Focus on the Family about a man who was raised Muslim and had become a Christian. Here is my dilemma. How do I explain to him Ergun Caner’s inconsistencies? Now that there is controversy surrounding many of Caner’s claims, I did a little research to make sense of it all.

I believe that Ergun was raised in a Muslim home and in his teenage years became a Christian. I think what happened with Ergun was that he was born into a Muslim family and his father no doubt disowned Ergun when he became a Christian. However, after the events of 9-11, Ergun’s testimony was greatly embellished (a euphemism for lying) to bring more drama to his conversion story. The sermon that aired April 26, 2010 on Focus on the Family was from a sermon he preached in 2001. It has some outright dishonest statements in it that he has continued to make for many years. It would be nice if Ergun would just set the record straight—publically.

I wish that Ergun would have just stated the facts. His father was a Turkish Muslim who married his mother in Sweden. Ergun was born in Sweden and moved to America before August 25th, 1970 (Emir's birth date), not 1978. So he was under the age of four when he moved here, not 13, 14 or 15. He was born into a Muslim home and when he converted to Christ as a teenager, his father disowned him for it. Later, both of Ergun’s brothers became Christians but his father remained a Muslim until his death in 1999. Praise God for saving him and his brothers. We all wish he would not have lied by changing dates and other details.

You see, there would be no controversy over Ergun’s testimony if he would not have embellished it. We can only hope for him to repent and set the record straight. I have waited a couple of weeks after Ergun’s sermon aired on Focus on the Family to see if there would be some kind of public statement. I (and others) even emailed Ergun and Elmer Towns to see if they had a response to these problems and I received no response. If you know of a response where Ergun has stated he was wrong about the dates I would like to see it.

James White has 22 questions he would like Ergun to answer (click here).

I would like to hear an explanation on when he to America. Here is why:




Here are some of the websites that have provided information regarding the Caner controversy:

Alpha and Omega

FBC Jax Watchdog

Witnesses Unto Me
*check out the documentation files

Squirrel in Babylon

Christ Reformed Baptist Church (5 articles)

Ministry of Reconciliation

Grace And Truth To You

Q and A Panel: Calvin, Newton and Luther

If you could resurrect three saints of old to hold a conference, who would you choose?  Of course, we would choose Jesus, Moses and Paul.  However, who would you pick from church history? What is one sermon topic or text you want each of them to address? What question would you pose to each for the Q and A panel?  Is there a topic you wish they would clarify?   

Romans 5:6-11

Romans 5:6-11
6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 11 And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

Obama's National Health Care Includes Abortion

Obama's plan for national health care would provide for abortion. See here (Wall Street Journal) , here (Reasoned Audacity) and here (The Heritage Foundation).


How would abortion insurance work?  Here are the cost below from an abortion clinic:

Surgical Abortion:
Pre-Abortion Counseling/Ultrasound- $100

       up to 12 weeks LMP- $395
13 & 14 weeks LMP- $495
15 & 16 weeks LMP- $650
17 & 18 weeks LMP- $825
19 & 20 weeks LMP- $1050
21 & 22 weeks LMP- $1350
23 weeks LMP - $1750
More than 23 weeks LMP- $2250
http://www.midwestabortions.com/fees.html

Maybe they need visual aids so that persons wanting to purchase abortion insurance can see why the cost go up as the baby increases in size--so does the cost!

7 Weeks

Up to 12 weeks- $395

24 weeks

More than 23 weeks LMP- $2250

But if you read the articles linked above, you will see that all taxpayers will really be paying for this large expansion of abortion coverage.  Those wanting to have abortion coverage will have to contribute no less than a dollar a month.

Obama's Plan Concerning Abortion:

   • It would change existing law by allowing federally subsidized health-care plans to pay for abortions and could require private health-insurance plans to cover abortion.

• It would impose a first-ever abortion tax—a separate premium payment that will be used to pay for elective abortions—on enrollees in insurance plans that covers abortions through newly created government health-care exchanges.

• And it would fail to protect the rights of health-care providers to refuse to participate in abortions.

The president's plan goes further than the Senate bill on abortion by calling for spending $11 billion over five years on "community health centers," which include Planned Parenthood clinics that provide abortions.

As always--equip yourself to engage others in this American Holocaust (are you offended that I would use that phrase? please check out Unsure About Abortion... links )

Resources:

Stand To Reason http://www.str.org/

National Right to Life http://www.nrlc.org/

The Case for Life www.caseforlife.com/

Pro Life Training http://www.prolifetraining.com/

Randy Alcorn, Prolife Answers to Prochoice Arguments (Sisters, Oregon: Multnomah Press, 2000).

Francis J. Beckwith, Politically Correct Death: Answering the Arguments for Abortion Rights (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1993).

C. Ward Kischer and Dianne N. Irving, The Human Development Hoax: Time to Tell the Truth (1997)

Stephen Schwarz, The Moral Question of Abortion (Loyola University Press, 1990).

Scott Klusendorf, The Case For Life (2009)

http://caseforlife.com/

  

Obama's Abortion Extremism

Compassion Forum With A View From The Womb

Medical Testimony Against Abortion

Unsure About Abortion...

Roe v. Wade Numbers

Obama and Partial Birth Abortion

Abortion Survivor

GO HERE TO TAKE ACTION

Here is more proof that the plan will include abortion.... watch Sen. Johanns

Have You Only Read Pre-Trib Books and Articles?

Pastor Totten,  has a website called, The Second Coming of Christ and Rapture Site .  I read his articles years ago and they were very helpful.


Here are some articles that I have written:
Weigh the Evidence

Examination of 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

Believers Are Found Throughout the Entire Tribulation

On the Fringe? *books you should read

Who'll feed pets in post-Rapture world? Atheists will be here

Our local newspaper had this article on the front page February 26, 2010, "Who'll Feed Pets in Post-Rapture World? Atheists Will Be Here” and a more detailed story in Business Week. First, it is really hard to believe that this story made the paper at all. Supposedly, only around hundred clients have signed up to have their pets cared for if the rapture happens within the next ten years. I have a hard time believing that anyone really signed up for this.

FYI: the catching up of believers to be with Christ happens at his second coming at the end of the tribulation period, so don’t waste your money on such silly schemes. See: http://alwaysreformingtoscripture.blogspot.com/search?q=rapture


Here are some resources that deal with responding to atheism:
http://www.carm.org/atheism
http://www.monergism.com/directory/link_category/Atheism/Essays/     (53 articles)
http://www.monergism.com/directory/link_category/Atheism/Debates/    (25 debates)
http://www.monergism.com/directory/link_category/Atheism/Multimedia/   (16 mp3's)

32 Hours In Haiti

Abortion Survivor

If you have never watched the two clips below of Gianna Jessen, an abortion survivor, speak, you must. It is one of the most powerful speeches that I have ever heard.

Gianna Jessen Abortion Survivor in Australia Part 1



Gianna Jessen Abortion Survivor in Australia Part 2








http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2010/01/22/overturning-and-undermining-roe-v-wade-an-interview-with-clarke-forsythe/

Haiti Disaster Relief

http://www.baptistglobalresponse.com/new/giving.php

The Revolution--Rubbish

For those of you who might have been offended by the statement I made in my sermon Sunday that George Barna's book, The Revolution, is a bunch of skubalon, I want you to know that the Greek word, skubalon, is simply translated "rubbish" (Phil. 3:8) in the NASB, NIV and ESV.


If you want to read some good critiques of the book, please read the articles below:

http://www.albertmohler.com/?cat=Commentary&cdate=2006-02-13


http://www.reformation21.org/shelf-life/revolution.php


http://www.enjoyinggodministries.com/article/revolution-part-i/


http://www.enjoyinggodministries.com/article/revolution-part-ii/


http://www.enjoyinggodministries.com/article/george-barnas-revolution-a-follow-up/