Christ
‘Secular scientists are finding exactly what Flood geologists have predicted all along—huge crystals can and did grow extremely fast. In other words, magmas can cool into minerals in a matter of days!
Geology students are taught that large-crystal igneous rocks called pegmatites1take vast amounts of time, even millions of years, to solidify and cool. Secular geologists reason that the minerals need a lot of time to nucleate and grow—bigger minerals need big amounts of time, similar to plant growth.
But a new study published in Nature Communications demonstrated that large crystals in pegmatites can grow to massive sizes in just a few days.2 Scientists from Rice University and University of California, Riverside examined trace element concentrations in the Stewart pegmatite in southern California. What they found shocked them: The trace element distribution in the crystals was best explained by accelerated crystal growth. They may have grown to meter-size (three feet) in just a few days.2 Co-author Cin-Ty Lee, a Rice University geology professor, stated in a UPI report on the study:
Pegmatites cool relatively quickly, sometimes in just a few years, and yet they feature some of the largest crystals on Earth….The big question is, really, “How can that be?”3
Lead author Patrick Phelps, a graduate student at Rice, added:
We examined crystals that were half an inch wide and over an inch long….We showed those grew in a matter of hours, and there is nothing to suggest the physics would be different in larger crystals that measure a meter or more in length. Based on what we found, larger crystals like that could grow in a matter of days….We’d done the math and the physics. That part was sound. While we didn’t expect it to be that fast, we couldn’t come up with a reason why it wasn’t plausible.3
In fact, this rate was nearly unbelievable and totally unexpected, defying conventional thought. It was several orders of magnitude faster than what had previously been taught in the classroom for decades.3
But should rapid cooling and rapid crystal growth be a surprise? It wasn’t too long ago that secular scientists found that magmas (molten material) can ascend through the crust at much faster rates than expected. These rates were also surprising to deep-time thinkers.
In fact, the rapid ascent of magmas was found to be much more common than geologists once believed.4,5 Terry Plank and Philipp Ruprecht determined that the magma beneath Costa Rica’s Irazú Volcano rose roughly 35 km (22 miles) in just months, or at most a few years.5 They also found that some magmas can ascend 10 km (6.2 miles) in just 10 minutes. That’s nearly three times faster than a human can run a 10 km race!
What is so shocking to the uniformitarian scientific world is the speed of these events. Geology students worldwide are taught that magmas take millions of years to ascend to the surface and many more millions to cool and crystallize. Pegmatites were thought to be the slowest-growing crystals of all because of their massive size. Taking away the assumed deep time for these crystals to form takes away the uniformitarian argument that the formation of igneous rocks requires a lot of time.
Instead, secular science is finding that minerals grow and magmas move at rates predicted by Flood geologists. Pegmatite crystals and solidified granites could have easily formed in the past 4,400 years since the upheaval of the biblical Flood. No fabricated concept of deep time is necessary—not millions or even tens of thousands of years.
Science is confirming the time frame of the Bible. Even fast-growing crystals testify to the recent Genesis Flood.
Stage image: A sample of Republic granite from Dr. Tim Clarey’s personal collection from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
Stage image credit: Michael Hansen/ICR. Copyright © 2020.
References
1. Pegmatite is a descriptive term for an igneous rock with crystals averaging larger than about a half-inch long. Some pegmatite crystals can even exceed several feet in length.
2. Phelps, P. R., C.-T. A. Lee, and D. M. Morton. 2020. Episodes of fast crystal growth in pegmatites. Nature Communications. 11: 4986.
3. Hays, B. Earth grows large crystals, rare elements in just minutes. UPI Science News. Posted on upi.com October 7, 2020, accessed October 15, 2020.
4. Clarey, T. Express-Lane Magma Indicates Young Earth. Creation Science Update. Posted on ICR.org September 13, 2013.
5. Rosen, J. 2016. Crystal clocks. Science. 354 (6314): 822-825.’https://www.icr.org/article/rapid-crystal-growth-supports-flood-model/?utm_source=phplist9201&utm_medium=email&utm_content=HTML&utm_campaign=Christmas+Ornament%2C+Glow-in-the-Dark+Platypuses%2C+and+More%21
‘Alyson Thompson, of Dignity in Dying (formerly the Voluntary Euthanasia Society), said: ‘MSPs returned to the Scottish Parliament in 2021 will be asked to vote on safeguarded assisted dying proposals for terminally ill, mentally competent adults.’
As always in such announcements, no acknowledgment was made that those deemed terminally ill under such laws include those with non-terminal illnesses who forego life-sustaining treatment, and that vanishingly few patients deemed mentally competent in jurisdictions like Oregon undergo psychological evaluation. Or that safeguards are really just malleable criteria open to extension – or that ‘assisted dying’ is in fact assisted suicide.
Given the superhuman efforts made this year to save lives from Covid-19, and the many traumas people have faced in being separated from loved ones, some reticence might have been expected about the timing of the announcement, but no: the pandemic is bluntly stated as good reason to pursue death as public policy. ‘The past few months have thrust the issues of death and dying into the spotlight. It is now at the forefront of people’s minds,’ said campaigners – in line with their sister charity pushing all-or-nothing advance directives at the height of the pandemic.
The Scotsman quoted our CEO, Dr Gordon Macdonald, in response:
‘It is disappointing that ideological pro-killing campaigners continue to push this narrow and dangerous agenda during a global pandemic – a crisis that has already seen many vulnerable groups treated differently, including the elderly people being discharged from hospitals into care homes without adequate testing for Covid-19 and the blanket use of Do Not Resuscitate orders.
‘Changing the law would remove universal protections and send out a message that the lives of the terminally ill and disabled people are less worthy of protection than others. In other countries that have legalised assisted suicide and euthanasia, the law has been extended to include other groups.’https://www.carenotkilling.org.uk/articles/new-scottish-assisted-suicide-bill-to-come-in-2021/
1Timothy 5:22 Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure.
The following article is almost unbelievable but then again it seems many people are drawn to men who are bizarre! This is definitely NOT New Testament Christianity!
‘Luke MacDonald describes himself as a pastor who’s excited to share “Good News in the Neighborhood”—a slogan he’s emblazoned on an entire merchandise line of hats, hoodies, and T-shirts.
But some who knew MacDonald during his time at Harvest Bible Chapel say he’s just as much of a bully as his father—disgraced celebrity preacher, James MacDonald. They recount bizarre stories of Luke MacDonald urinating in meetings, throwing chairs in a rage, and failing to report abuse of a minor in Harvest’s youth ministry.
MacDonald—a former executive pastor at Harvest and current associate pastor at Faithful Central Bible Church in Los Angeles—announced last week he’s returning to Chicago to plant a church.
Yet some former Harvest members and staff say MacDonald isn’t fit to serve in any church and they’re alarmed at his return.
Urinating in Meetings
Alex George—whose father, Dan George, was an elder at Harvest—told me that Luke MacDonald urinated into a cup during a job interview George had with MacDonald in December 2012.
George said that at the time, Luke was in charge of all youth ministry at Harvest and George was a paid part-time youth worker interviewing for a full-time position with Harvest’s junior high ministry.
George said the meeting took place in Luke MacDonald’s office as Luke sat behind his desk and George was seated on the opposite side. George said that while MacDonald was explaining to George that he was going to get the position, MacDonald took a cup off the top of his desk. Then, George said he heard what sounded like MacDonald urinating in the cup.
“I asked him, ‘Are you peeing in that cup?’ To which he said, ‘Yeah,’ pretty nonchalantly, and moved on as if it wasn’t an issue,” George recounted.
George said MacDonald then put the cup of urine on his desk and commented that he could make George do anything he wanted George to do. George said he responded by saying “no” and laughing nervously.
George said he did not get the full-time position, and soon afterwards, he was fired from his part-time position, as well.
Don Hampton, a former contractor hired to help Harvest with a capital campaign, said he had a similar experience with Luke MacDonald in 2015.
Hampton said in the middle of a meeting with MacDonald and four others, MacDonald got up and started pacing back and forth. He then went into an adjacent bathroom, urinated in the toilet while continuing to converse with the door open, and then reentered the room like nothing had happened, Hampton said.
“I’m looking at the other faces in the room, wondering ‘Is this normal?’” Hampton said.
In addition to that incident, Hampton said that several times, MacDonald called him at home and was “berating and verbally abusive.” Hampton said MacDonald would cuss on the phone and talk about other staff members with whom he was upset.
I reached out to Luke MacDonald repeatedly seeking comment, but he did not respond.’https://julieroys.com/luke-macdonald-bullying-bizarre-behavior/?mc_cid=4aa4e5a695&mc_eid=b13d34ad49
Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
When a brother can rise up and kill his own brother and show NO remorse at all, then I guess, the following shouldn’t surprise us!
‘Babies in Ireland may be surviving late-term abortions and being abandoned to die under the nation’s new abortion law, according to a new study.
Published in the journal BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, the study provides a horrific glimpse at how unborn babies are being legally aborted in Ireland.
“In Ireland, several babies have already been born alive after abortion and left to die, admits a new study,” David Quinn, director of The Iona Institute, wrote Tuesday on Twitter. “This will cause absolutely no controversy, no heart-rending national debate, no questioning of what we have wrought.”
Ireland voted to repeal its Eighth Amendment, which granted unborn babies a right to life, in 2018. By the end of 2019, 6,666 unborn babies had been legally aborted in the country. The law allows abortions for any reason up to 12 weeks and without restriction in cases of fatal fetal anomalies.
The study included interviews with 10 Irish doctors who do late-term abortions on unborn babies diagnosed with fatal anomalies. Several described their work as “brutal” and “killing” with one admitting to “stabbing the baby in the heart.” They also expressed concerns about babies surviving abortions and uncertainty about who is supposed to care for the babies when they do.’https://www.lifenews.com/2020/11/19/in-ireland-babies-are-being-born-alive-after-abortion-and-left-to-die/
There are many well meaning people within the charismatic movement along with many charlatans. The following article should be a help to those believers who sincerely desire to know the truth on the subject from Scripture.
‘Does the Bible teach definitively that the charismatic gifts have ceased? Can cessationism (the view that they have ended) be proved? Some say that the cessationism cannot be conclusively proved from Scripture.
We believe, however, that the ceasing of revelatory and sign-gifts in the time of the apostles is very plainly taught in God’s Word, so plainly, in fact, that the opposite view has only seriously appeared in the last 100 years or so.
The term cessationism comes from the great 17th-century confessions of faith, such as the Westminster and Baptist confessions. These both use the same word. Speaking about how God has revealed his will and committed it to the Scriptures, the confessions say, ‘Former ways of God’s revealing his will unto his people being now ceased’. This word does not actually come from the Bible, but the doctrine does.
Not only has revelation been completed and ceased, but so have the signs that revelation is in progress. Here is a brief summary of six biblical proofs that the revelatory gifts have ceased (visions, words of knowledge, words of wisdom, and prophecies), and also the sign-gifts (healings and speaking in tongues). God still heals, of course, but in answer to prayer, and not through the hands of a gifted healer.
The controversial passage of 1 Corinthians 13.8-10 will not be used in this article to prove the ending of the gifts. We will refer only to passages which we believe to be conclusive.
1. Not since the apostles
The first proof for cessationism (the ending of revelatory and sign-gifts) is that healings and wonders could only be done by apostles, and were their special authenticating signs. In 2 Corinthians 12.12 Paul says: ‘Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds.’
There were some people in the church at Corinth who challenged Paul’s apostleship. To defend himself he draws attention to his gift of healing and of working other miraculous signs, stating that only the apostles could do such things.
An apostle was someone who had accompanied the Lord, seen him after his resurrection, and been personally commissioned by him. As a special witness of the resurrection he was given power to heal. He was also a person who would be shown ‘all truth’ by the Holy Spirit (John 14.26 and 16.13), and would either write or endorse inspired Scripture.
Believers would need to know who the true apostles were in order to respect their unique authority. They would know them by their healings and other signs. People who did not belong to the band of apostles (which included two named assistants) could not do these things. If they had been able to do them, then no one would have been certain who were true apostles.
In Acts 2.43 and 5.12 it is again made clear that all the miracles were performed ‘by the hands of the apostles’. This was exclusively their sign. Also, in Hebrews 2.3-4 the healing gifts are firmly linked to the apostles.
Paul was an apostle by virtue of having seen the risen Lord, and having been directly commissioned by him. His lack of training by Christ was made good by his receiving special and unique revelations. He states that he was ‘one born out of due time’ (1 Corinthians 15.8), indicating that he was the only apostle outside the original band and therefore the last apostle. (Modern claims to apostleship do not match the biblical qualifications and are improper and wrong.)
When people say that cessationism (the ceasing of sign-gifts) cannot be proved from Scripture, they forget that the book of Acts says specifically that healings and other wonders were exclusive to the apostles, who have now passed away.
When the churches had grown and multiplied Peter went to Lydda, and then Joppa, famously healing Æneas and raising Dorcas from the dead. Entire communities were astonished, because none of the other believers in such places could do these things.
When a lad fell out of a window in Troas, there was only one person present who could raise him up, and that was Paul. The charismatic idea that healings were performed by numerous Christians is simply not to be found in the New Testament. Only the apostles are recorded as having healed, together with two apostolic assistants or delegates, Stephen and Philip, and possibly Barnabas.
The only time someone outside this group performed a healing was when the Lord told Ananias to heal Paul. There is no other healing apart from these in the early church. The Pentecostal/charismatic idea that healings took place constantly by Christians at large is not taught in the Bible. Thus the infallible record of Scripture shows the entire charismatic approach to healing to be a mistake based on a myth. The record proves that the healings and mighty deeds were restricted to a class of people who have passed away.
2. The temporary purpose of tongues
The second proof that cessationism can be proved from the Scriptures (sign-gifts have ceased) is about tongues-speaking. It is the biblical statement that tongues-speaking was given by God specifically as a sign for Jews, signalling to them that the new era of Messiah had arrived.
In 1 Corinthians 14.21-22 Paul says,
‘In the law it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord. Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not.’
In other words, the gift of tongues was a miraculous proof to Jews who were resistant to believing in Christ, that the new age and a new church order had arrived. It was not for the benefit of Jews who had come to believe, but a sign of promise and warning to those who did not believe. It was not intended for Gentiles, but Jews.
Paul quoted from Isaiah 28.11, a chapter in which Isaiah prophesies Christ’s coming. As a sign to Jews, Isaiah says Jewish people will be addressed by those with ‘stammering lips and another tongue’. Gentile languages will challenge them, a most belittling experience for Jewish people. At the same time it was a sign that the Messianic age would bring Gentiles into the church, and the Gospel would be preached in other languages.
This would be a mark of the new age when God would pull down the flag of the Jewish church, and run up the flag of the Jewish-Gentile church of Jesus Christ. Unbelieving Jews, who resisted Christ and clung to the skirts of Moses, would find the Word of God being preached to them in barbarian, Gentile languages.
All this came to pass, beginning on the day of Pentecost. The Jews were duly called and warned, but tongues are not mentioned outside the Acts of the Apostles and 1 Corinthians 12-14, showing that they had accomplished their purpose of warning the Jews that the new era had arrived.
This announcing of the church age was accomplished while the apostles lived, and the sign has been withdrawn. What passes for tongues-speaking today is not done in the presence of doubting Jews, and has nothing to do with the sign of the New Testament. The sign that the church age has come has served its purpose, and been surpassed by the reality.
The Gospel is now preached in virtually every language in the world, and the sign that this would happen is long extinct. The purpose of tongues (according to Paul’s teaching) has been fulfilled, proving their discontinuation.
3. Tongues were real languages
The third proof of cessationism adds to the second, and it is this – that a gift of real languages was given on the day of Pentecost (and for a while afterwards), which has never been seen since that time. It should be obvious to us that the miraculous languages of the books of Acts and 1 Corinthians have never occurred since those days.
Tongues-speaking of modern times is never any known human language, but only meaningless, disjointed speech. Nothing miraculous happens. In New Testament times the tongues-speaker was given by the Spirit the ability to speak in a real language which he had never learned, and people who had grown up with him were astonished.
Jewish people would be present (as it was specifically a sign for them). On the day of Pentecost many Jews who lived in foreign regions heard their own languages spoken, and attested the genuineness of the speakers. After Pentecost the Spirit would give the miraculous gift of understanding to interpreters so that the authenticity of the language would be proved. Nothing like this has been seen since Bible times.
Today those who advocate tongues-speaking point to 1 Corinthians 13.1 where Paul, speaking hypothetically, says that even if he spoke an angelic tongue, without love, it would amount to nothing. Desperately looking for a text, charismatic teachers take Paul’s words as a justification for ecstatic, non-linguistic tongues, but it is plain to any thinking person that this is a serious misuse of the verse.
By describing literal languages, the Bible effectively warns us that these gifts have been withdrawn. They simply have not happened at any time in history, anywhere in the world, since the very early days of the church. What happens today is that people (who may be sincere Christians), in their desire to do what their leaders insist is right, seek to give utterance outside the rules of speech. However, they do not speak real languages, or even understand what they are saying.
Cessationism is clearly taught in Scripture, by virtue of the fact that the very precise description of real languages given in Scripture cannot be applied to anything that has taken place since.[1]
Since Bible times we have had glorious events of reformation and mighty revivals, when the Spirit of God has been pleased to work in exceptional power. Yet we have not one reported or recorded claim of anyone speaking a real language they had never learned. This is certain proof that the gift of biblical tongues has ceased.
4. No instructions to appoint prophets
The fourth proof for cessationism is this: there are no New Testament instructions about appointing apostles, prophets, healers, or anything of the kind. This is a matter of tremendous significance, because God has given a detailed pattern for the church in the New Testament. It is true that some Christians do not believe that the Bible provides a blueprint for the church, but most people who are of baptistic, Bible-believing persuasion do.
The apostle Paul commands us repeatedly to be the most careful imitators of him in our church polity and conduct, and the pastoral epistles set out how we should behave and function in the church of God. We are given the precise pattern for the church for all time.
We have instructions that most carefully set out how to select preaching and ruling elders and deacons, but no instructions about the appointment of apostles (because they were not to be perpetuated), or on how to recognise or accredit a prophet (because revelatory gifts ended with the completion of the Bible). Nor are there instructions about appointing healers.
This is not merely an argument from silence, but a proof that these offices and functions were not to continue. The instructions for all matters of church organisation are complete and detailed and all-sufficient for the church until Christ comes again. We disobey God’s perfect pattern if we make appointments in the church that he has not prescribed and commanded. We disobey Scripture.
How can it be said that there is no certain scriptural proof that the gifts have ceased, when the pattern for the church gives no instructions for the continuation of inspired spokesmen and sign-workers? This is conclusive proof of cessationism – unless we do not hold to the sufficiency of Scripture, and do not believe that God has given a pattern for his church.
5. Revelation is now complete
The fifth proof for cessationism is that the Bible plainly teaches that revelation is now complete. There can be no new revelation after the time of the apostles. We have already noted that in John 14.26 and in John 16.13 the Lord Jesus Christ says twice to the disciples that the Holy Spirit, when he comes, will lead them into all Truth.
They would be the authors of New Testament books, and the authenticators of inspired New Testament books not from their own pens. Soon all the Truth would be revealed, and after the apostolic era there would be no more revelation of Scripture. The Word would be complete.
How glad we are of that! What a state we would be in if people could pop up here, there and everywhere (as they do in the charismatic world) giving us new revelations. Who would know what was right, and what was true? But the Scripture is the final yardstick for everything, being complete and perfect, sufficient and trustworthy.
Jude was able to speak about the faith which was ‘once delivered unto the saints’. His epistle was written possibly 25 years before the final book of the Bible, but late enough for all the main doctrines and church instructions to have been revealed. At this late stage of revelation he speaks of the faith once delivered, or better, once for all delivered. It is virtually complete; soon (from Jude’s standpoint) there will be no more revelation.
The closing verses of the Bible warn that nothing must be added or taken from the words of the book of Revelation, but this clearly applies to the whole Bible, not just the last book. We know this because the warning closely echoes the one given by Moses in the first book of the Bible (the first five were originally one book), namely Deuteronomy 4.2, ‘Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish aught from it’ (words repeated by Moses in Deuteronomy 12.32).
The completion of revelation is also proved by the fact that apostles and prophets are described as the foundation stage of the church.
In Ephesians 2.20 the church is described as being – ‘built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets [that is – New Testament prophets], Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone’. A foundation is something completed and stable, while the building continues to be constructed.
What about Joel’s prophecy, quoted by Peter on the day of Pentecost, saying that when the Spirit is poured out, all believers, male, female, old and young will prophesy? Is it not implied that this will go on literally until the Lord’s return? No, because our understanding of this prophecy must agree with the unassailable teaching of the Bible that revelation was soon completed, and then ceased.
It is this completed revelation (especially the Gospel) that will be the witness of believers of all ages, male and female, through all the world, until the end. Believers will continue to see visions and dream dreams in the sense that they embrace, reflect upon, and proclaim the infallible ‘visions and dreams’ given to them in the Bible. They will not ‘prophesy’ in the sense of receiving new revelation. They will also dream dreams of Gospel plans and conquests. In this sense the prophecy of Joel is still being fulfilled.
The extraordinary manifestations such as tongues had clearly vanished by the time Peter wrote his two epistles, for he gives no hint whatsoever that these features of the early scene were still operating.
As revelation was completed in the time of the apostles, we see that the task of apostles and prophets is over. And if the gifts of revelation are ended, then so are the authenticating signs of inspired penmen. We remember how Paul said, ‘Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in…signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds’ (2 Corinthians 12.12).
How can it be said that there is no biblical proof for cessationism when Scripture emphatically says that all revelation has been completed, like a foundation, at the beginning of the church age?
6. Scripture witnesses the end of gifts
The sixth proof for cessationism is that Scripture shows that they were in the process of being withdrawn at that very time. Paul, for example, who possessed apostolic power to do signs and wonders and mighty deeds, could not, in the course of time, heal Timothy or Trophimus or Epaphroditus.
We also see the withdrawing of the healing gifts in James 5, where James gives instructions about praying for the sick, and how the elders may lay hands upon the bedridden. It is obvious in this passage that there is no gifted healer in sight, only elders, who pray.
Anointing is mentioned, but the Greek term for religious anointing is not used. The Greek uses a very practical word that means ‘rub down’ with oil, more like a remedy for bedsores. James effectively says, ‘Don’t be so heavenly-minded that you are of no earthly use, but take some physical relief for the suffering person.’
What matters most is prayer. It is certain in the instructions of James that no gifted healer is brought in to command healing, or to give a healing touch. The laying on of hands of ordinary elders is a symbolic act, communicating the church’s love, care and responsibility.
The passage of James contains four exhortations to pray, and it follows his teaching that we ought to say, ‘If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.’ We can and must pray for healing, but it may be God’s will that a sufferer should witness to God’s grace in the illness.
The main point for us in this article is that there is no one possessing personal power to heal in James 5. Healing is by God in answer to prayer. The ongoing stance of the church is seen as praying for healing, remembering that some are called to live as ‘an example of suffering affliction, and of patience’ (James 5.10).
The fact that James does not mention healing gifts shows unmistakably that the possession of healing power was withdrawn quite early in the course of the apostolic era.
Would a neutral reader assume Bible gifts were for every age?
It has been suggested that if a new convert with no experience of church life were shut in a room with a Bible, it would never occur to that person that the charismatic gifts had ceased. The opposite is true. There are many people (we know some) who come from other faiths who have been converted to Christ by private Bible reading, and subsequently found their way into a church. From the Bible alone they received no expectation of a charismatic scene. Much more frequently – increasingly so as time passes – believers leave charismatic churches having realised that what takes place there is not what they find in the Bible.
On reading Acts carefully, they discover that only the apostolic band healed, and feel they have been misled by the Pentecostal-charismatic notion that numerous people did so.
Some wonder what the original significance or purpose of tongues was, and when they learn from Paul that they were specifically for Jews, they again feel misled by their teachers.
They also feel mis-taught when it becomes obvious that tongues were real languages, a vastly more miraculous matter than incomprehensible sounds.
Then, as soon as these believers appreciate the importance of the scriptural pattern for the church, the question sometimes arises in their minds – ‘Where are the Bible’s instructions for appointing apostles, prophets and healers today?’ They find there are none, and become even more critical of the teaching they have received.
Then the question of the authority and sufficiency of Scripture intrudes, and they think, ‘Is not revelation complete? How, then, can modern prophecies be valid and inspired?’ It becomes obvious that all the ‘authoritative’ prophecies they have heard are a great mistake, and a delusion.
Many thinking believers see for themselves that to charismatic people, Scripture is second in importance to human imagination and mysterious experiences.
Finally, the more these friends study the Word, the more they see the evidence that the signs disappeared soon after their spectacular initial outpouring.
None of this means that the Lord does not move his people to remember duties or truths, or urge them to do certain things, or warn them of imminent dangers. These are divine intimations, not revelations or gifts.
In the history of the church, there are recorded instances of people having an intimation from God about some threatening event or person, but these are never revelations of doctrine. We find such things in times of severe persecution. For instance, up until Perestroika in Russia, we heard of very credible instances when God’s key servants were wonderfully delivered from arrest because the Lord impressed on someone not to go to some particular place. It was later discovered that a KGB-police ambush lay in wait for them. However, no recipient of such an intimation was given a regular gift, and certainly not an authoritative revelation of doctrinal truth. God can do all kinds of things to deliver and bless his people, but this is not in any way the reappearance of apostolic or prophetic gifts bestowed on individuals.
The damage of charismatic teaching
Many charismatics are coming to see the enormous gap between the Bible and what they have been taught. Such doubters are often troubled by the fact that huge numbers of Catholics, who depend on Mary, the Mass, and works for salvation, are also able to speak in tongues and prophesy. Many also worship in exactly the same way as charismatic Protestants.
Charismatic doubters may also hear that non-Christian cults also speak in tongues. You do not need to be a saved Christian to speak in charismatic-style tongues, because it is not a true gift of the Spirit.
There are many sincere Christians in the charismatic movement, but we believe that the attempt to revive revelatory and sign-gifts is a very harmful mistake. We can see the harm in the emergence of huge sections of the movement in which the Gospel has virtually disappeared, buried under unbiblical extravagances.
There are large charismatic groups that now deny the penal substitution of Christ, and some even deny the Trinity. (One of the world’s most famous charismatic preachers and authors denies the doctrine of the Trinity.)
Worldly entertainment-style music dominates charismatic churches, even music of the most extreme and godless kind. The theatrical antics of money-grabbing charismatic leaders may be seen at any time on religious TV, and the prosperity-gospel heresy is seemingly everywhere. Numerous charlatans and rogues have built large followings, carrying out their supposed ‘healings’ at venues throughout the world. Even music-hall fortune-telling techniques are being presented as spiritual wonders, in once respected churches.
The powerful current that constantly propels the charismatic constituency further and further from the Bible is evidence of a serious fundamental error, namely, the idea that the revelatory and sign-gifts are for all time. To experience them involves a twofold mistake: firstly, the downscaling of the gifts to something non-miraculous (eg: turning real languages into non-linguistic utterances); and secondly, the downgrading of Scripture, which must bow to imagined experiences of dreams, visions, ‘words from the Lord’, and similar revelations. There is harm done also to individual Christians whose faith is greatly diverted from the Lord and his Word, to phenomena and sensations.
We sincerely pray that God will deliver those who are his true children from the accumulating harm of this wildly mistaken departure from Scripture. It is perfectly possible to prove that cessationism is a Biblical truth.
Reference
[1]The unauthentic tongues-speakers of today do not even attempt to follow the Bible’s rules for the exercising of the gift in those days – that no more than two or three at most should speak in any service (1 Corinthians 14.27).’https://www.metropolitantabernacle.org/Christian-Article/Cessationism-Proving-Charismatic-Gifts-have-Ceased-Sword-and-Trowel-Magazine
There is a form of Christianity today that loves everybody and seeks not to offend anyone! Nevertheless, ‘Prominent secular conservative voices repudiated British singer-songwriter Harry Styles for appearing on the cover in Vogue magazine in a dress. Both Candace Owens (also here and here) and Ben Shapiro confronted his masculinity. MSNBC defended Styles with the exact or identical argument used by evangelicals and fundamentalists for unisex apparel: “Jesus wore dresses.” That I have seen, only secularists have renounced this fashion. Zero of what we call the Christian public intellectuals say anything about it. I don’t hear any public Christian voices. A very low percentage of professing Christians mount any defense of designed gender distinction. Very little makes evangelicals and even most fundamentalists more angry than a Christian who stands for unique female and unique male items of clothing.
On the other hand, the world is very serious about what Harry Styles did. That I know of, only Candace Owens and Ben Shapiro have said or written anything, and that you can tell by what’s being written from the left. The world has come to Styles’s defense with great ferocity (here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here). This is big to the world. It means a lot to the world system. It means almost nothing to Christians. Why? Christians stopped teaching and standing on biblical teaching on this matter a long time ago. This is in a major way because professing Christians themselves will attack fellow Christians for talking about what the Bible says on this subject. They will not defend the Christian who says what the Bible teaches. They attack. And then many, many just stay silent. They might be thinking what I’m writing, but they will not stand with me for what I’m writing.
Among the leftist values bromides, denouncing Styles is breaking the law, “kindness is everything.” Only positive affirmation must be given. If not positive affirmation, then smiling silence at least should be offered to be kind, according to the platitude. Meanwhile, God Almighty seethes in heaven at this abomination. He designed men and women. He requires support of His design. This is an attack on God as Creator, violating both written and natural law of God. God is not happy.
Harry Styles is not the first contemporary male to wear a dress. We’ve seen a rise in this trend. However, women long ago started wearing pants, the distinguishing male item. A majority of Christianity long ago capitulated on the biblical teaching of gender designed distinctions in dress. Very few Christians will tell you with certainty what is male and female. I contend that women wearing pants is as serious as men wearing dresses. If someone is judging these matters based upon biblical or divine authority, it must be.
On various occasions and for various reasons, including preaching there, I traveled through the vicinity of the San Francisco gay pride parade as I pastored a church in the Bay Area. They had several booths or tents for the purchase of the male skirt or dress. I think that you all know that when a “transgender” makes his statement about being a woman, he wears a dress or a skirt. He’s not wearing pants. Why do you think that is? Hmmmm. Jaden Smith, son of actor and rapper Will Smith, drew attention by wearing dresses in public a few years ago. I’ve thought that it was only a matter of time that men will start wearing dresses on a regular basis.
Most Christian men will still say that it’s wrong for a man to wear a dress, but they don’t mount a biblical explanation. It’s just a preference. They’ve actually been defending men in dresses for awhile. They say something like, everyone wore robes in Bible times, to justify their wives and daughters wearing pants. That’s their argument. It’s not one that you can draw from scripture, but it has the purpose of defending a woman wearing a male item. So now when a man wears the woman’s item, it’s that goose and the gander thing. What can they say? They’ve taken away their own biblical argument against male dresses or skirts.
Where have true believers argued against pants on women and skirts and dresses on men throughout history? They go to Deuteronomy 22:5, 1 Corinthians 11:3-16, and Job 38:3 and 40:7. I call pants the male item because of the language of Deuteronomy 22:5. A good understanding of the Hebrew of the King James Version English, “that which pertaineth unto a man,” is “male item.” It is more than just clothing. Women should not wear what is a distinctly male item. Men should not put on a woman’s garment. All who do so are an abomination unto the LORD thy God. When I write on this, it isn’t unusual that I get mocked by professing Christian men for writing on it. They want to make sure that they stand up and take a strong stand for “women’s pants.” This is very important to them.
I think that a dress or a skirt on men is still a bridge too far for most men, let alone Christian men, but the defense of that position comes from the Bible. We need men to repent of their capitulation on this issue and to join churches outside the camp to stand upon the Word of God. This is not just a matter of a gag reflex or a personal turn-off. This is about creation order. This is about the preservation of divinely originated roles. This is to preserve the family, which is to guard the truth.
Before men starting wearing dresses, women began wearing pants. Why do you think this is? It isn’t rocket science. You know that. You even know why? Pants are a male item, so they symbolize authority. I think this might be an insult to your intelligence, but when women started wearing pants, society as a whole opposed it, women too. Pants were masculine. Most people saw pants as rebellious for women. They were bucking male authority. This assumed there was male authority, represented by the terminology, men wear the pants in the family. There is less repulsion and rejection of a dress on a man right now in our culture than there was at one historical juncture with pants on women. Most of you reading this know that.
The dress that Harry Styles is wearing for the Vogue article is also frilly. It is not just a dress, but a very feminine dress. It is attempting to make an even greater statement of “gender fluidity.” If the statement was put into words, it might be, “There is no gender distinction.” A corollary to that is, “God didn’t make me; I got here through natural causation.” The postmodernist or critical theorist adds, “It’s a social construct.” Constructed by whom? The Male Patriarchy.
Shapiro argues Jordan Peterson style, assuming that the Bible can’t be used in the public square. He tries to go all science, like a classic liberal. He looks at animal life and genetics. You can tell that he doesn’t feel good about his argument, so he uses “moron” and “idiot” to add. We Christians need to come in and just say it. God wants male and female items. We need to stand on them. We shouldn’t mock them. God wants the distinctions, clear ones. God created masculinity. God Himself says, Gird up your loins as a man. Go with what God says. Honor Him.
There is, as you know, now such a thing as a dress that is more feminine than other types of dresses. For instance, some women wear “business dresses” that project a kind of authority. It’s still a dress, but it’s also indicating a work that also was once only masculine. Women jumped from the feminine dress to the business dress to the pant suit. Each of these steps were moving away from a God-ordained appearance and role.
Secular conservatives should not be the ones, or at least the only ones, saying something about the perversion divine designed distinctions between gender. Ben Shapiro makes an argument, “It’s just stupid!” He’s saying something. It’s stupid. That isn’t a good argument, but he’s saying something. This is an intelligent man. We need to bring the biblical argument to the public square. It is true. It is science. It is necessary. Join in this.’https://kentbrandenburg.blogspot.com/
If you do not agree with the above article fight it out with God and His Word! Thanks for reading.
Psalm 103:1-5 “ Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”
‘Many ethnic cooking traditions have their origin in health considerations. Some of those traditions are so old their origin is unknown, which strongly suggests that the ancients had a very sophisticated knowledge of food and health, some of which is only being rediscovered today.
Throughout most of history, humans have not had the luxury of refrigeration or freezing to preserve food. And even these do not provide permanent storage for food. Meats, whether cooked or raw, deteriorate even when frozen. The cold simply slows down the process. Fat spoilage in meat is a universal problem.
Chemically, fat spoilage is referred to as lipid oxidation. Lipids in meat include fat and cholesterol. Lipid oxidation does more than give meat a rancid, warmed-over flavor. Researchers believe that oxidized lipids also contribute to heart disease. Japanese research suggested that ginger, common in oriental cooking, might retard lipid oxidation in meat. Armed with this knowledge, researchers investigated whether there was any connection between the common use of ginger and Japan’s very low rate of heart disease. They found that pork patties seasoned with ginger showed only one‑third as much lipid oxidation as unseasoned meat.
It appears that even before so‑called recorded history, people knew that ginger helped preserve meat and keep it more wholesome. This is yet another refutation of the idea that ancient man was primitive and ignorant.’https://creationmoments.com/sermons/wonders-from-ancient-cooks-2/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wonders-from-ancient-cooks-2&mc_cid=0f285a9ff8&mc_eid=00c1dcff3c
Is sexual abuse within churches getting worse or are the victims speaking out more? Whatever the case it should NEVER occur! One of the safest places for a young person should be the home and the local church! Now, ‘A former Durango church youth leader pleaded guilty Tuesday to four counts of unlawful sexual contact and now faces up to 60 days in jail after victims came forward alleging the church leader inappropriately touched them.
Preston Edward Pitcher, 38, was arrested June 22 after three victims came forward. A fourth victim came forward shortly after Pitcher was arrested, and he faced four counts of unlawful sexual contact, a misdemeanor.
Court records show the incidents were similar in that Pitcher, who had worked for First Baptist Church of Durango for 10 years, met the alleged victims in his role as a youth leader, befriended them and then made sexual advances.
The alleged incidents occurred in 2016, 2018 and 2020. Sixth Judicial District Attorney Christian Champagne said previously the fourth victim recounted incidents that occurred “within the past three years.”
Pitcher on Tuesday pleaded guilty to all four counts, signing a plea agreement that could carry a sentence of up to 60 days in jail and four years of supervised probation.
Pitcher also must take a sex offender evaluation and may be subject to various treatments. He must also register as a sex offender and faces possible court fees and fines.
Pitcher will be sentenced Jan. 12 by District Judge Anne Woods, who has discretion on the amount of jail time to be served, if any.
First Baptist Church Lead Pastor Jimmy Thoma previously told The Durango Herald none of the incidents occurred at church-sanctioned events.
The Durango Police Department interviewed Pitcher on June 22, at which time he told authorities he was asleep and not aware of his actions during one of the incidents. But he did not deny it happened and admitted to similar acts in the past, according to court records.
“Eventually, Preston was honest and admitted that he was not asleep and had touched (the victims),” the investigating officer wrote in the arrest affidavit. “Preston stated that he was aroused during these times.”’https://durangoherald.com/articles/353368
Here are some Bible verses for perhaps the top five problems the Lefties face today.
Climate Change
Genesis 8:22 While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.
Overpopulation
Genesis 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
Racism
Acts 17:26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation
Poverty
Matthew 26:11 For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always.
Gender
Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
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