God’s attributes don’t compete against one another for importance. His love doesn’t override everything else He says about Himself.
Moreover, love isn’t something that God discovered in the New Testament, thus abandoning His earlier dominant attributes of justice and wrath. The transition from Malachi to Matthew doesn’t mark a transition in God’s character. God doesn’t change (Malachi 3:6). “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). God is love, but He doesn’t dispense with His other characteristics in favor of His love.
Unfortunately there is a modern propensity to overemphasize God’s love and ignore His other attributes. We recently asked John MacArthur about the dangers of that imbalanced view of God. Here’s what he had to say:
If we are to accurately understand and present the love of God, then we must do so in a way thatcomplements—not competes with—His other attributes. They must be harmonized within the corpus of Scripture. While that is theologically challenging, it is not impossible. As John pointed out, the seeming conflict between some of God’s attributes is ultimately resolved at the cross of Christ.
And we’ll explore that in greater detail next time.
The greatest threat to the church is not persecution. It’s not the rise of atheism, Islam, or liberal politics. It’s not the Pope. And it’s not the rampaging immorality of the world around us.
No, the greatest threat to the church—and to individual believers—is compromise.
If this current election cycle has taught us anything, it’s that the world has no use for fixed ideologies any more. People will go along with whatever works—or merely appears to work—in the need of the moment. It doesn’t matter what you have to say or do, as long as you get the results you’re after.
ABC news did an interview with renown Christian Pastor Joel Osteen regarding the new year and after watching the interview I am even more convinced that Christians would rather hear “positive” messages over the truth.
But what is worst than Osteen’s interview (which sounds more like a self-motivation speech) is how he did not refer to Jesus or Scripture – not even once!
Jesus’ last instructions to us was to “…teach (the world) to obey everything He has commanded us...” (Matt. 28:20) For someone who had the opportunity to teach the world to obey God’s truths but chose to ignore it one must question Osteen’s Christianity and unfortunately anyone else for that matter who would omit teaching, rebuking and correcting (2 Tim. 3:16) from their message.
As mentioned in another blog post titled I Hate Hearing About Sin! today’s Christian needs everything “…to be uplifting in order for it to be mentioned in a sermon, represented through television, posted on social media or sent through email” and we can credit Pastor’s like Osteen and those who support them for this tragedy that is hindering God’s truths.
Nevertheless, our Lord knew this will happen…
“For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” (2 Tim. 4:3)
…question is, was He talking about you? Think About It.
Creating our own meaning of scripture is bad enough, but when we decide to fabricate our own answers regarding God’s nature; intentions and thoughts, well that’s just pure arrogance – and unfortunately ignorant as well.
Romans 11:34 tells us: “Who has known the mind of the Lord?” and Isaiah 55:8,9 says: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” says the Lord. “For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Having said that, I am dumbfounded to why Televangelist Pat Robertson of the very popular 700 Club would answer the following question with such a shocking and un-biblical response:
A co-worker confronted me in the break room and said she can’t believe in a God who let her baby of 3 years old die – suffering a long battle in and out of hospitals – while He heals other children. She asked me, “Why did God allow my baby to die?” I told her that I don’t know why her child died, but God sees the whole picture, we see only in part. What else can I say? – Jane
Robertson responds stating human error and medical malpractice could be the blame for the child’s death, however the following is just ludicrous:
John MacArthur is advocating a special, particular kind of discrimination that needs to happen if the Christian church is to remain healthy and pure. It may not be culturally sensitive to say so, but it’s right, and loving too.
Do you think John has made the case for this particular kind of discrimination in the Christian church? Why or why not?
If he has, what do you think of the standard he has proposed?
We are always quick to request for prayers when someone is sick or going through a difficult time. Facebook, Twitter, emails and mobile textes pour in when we need prayers right away — when it comes to prayers we want it now!
However when it comes to sharing God’s truths we don’t see the same enthusiasm and excitement. Sadly many professing Christians cower away from sharing the entirety of God’s Word. Sure we may pick and choose certain scriptures and post it on our social media pages, but to share ALL of God’s word; ALL of His truths and warnings we run far away refusing to share any of it.
Having said that, how many of you saw the video clip of President Obama’s attempt to defame the name of Christianity at the 2015 National Prayer Breakfast? Although Obama was correct to say that we have seen faith used “as an instrument great good, but also twisted and misused in the name of evil” there were a few things he said that I believe pin-pointed Christianity as a hateful religion, while using just the right amount of words to justify all other religions. Personally it seemed to me as an indirect way to say All-religions will go to Heaven, all religions lead to the same god, all religions posses the truth. Here is the video.
One of the most popular video on YouTube, with over a million views, is a video of a Pastor telling his congregation of how he punched a boy in his chest, crumpling him to the floor all because he didn’t take God seriously.
Here is the video:
Whether this video was taken out of context or if this Pastor was speaking metaphorically, it really doesn’t take away the fact that this video did nothing to draw people to Jesus Christ but rather pushed them away in disgust. For many of the replies was like this comment from user nathwatts1 who said: “This is why i don’t believe in god.”
Yesterday I stumbled across a video by Christian Apologist, Theologian and Editor of Walter Martin’s Kingdom of the Cults Ravi Zacharias regarding an important question that could have used a sincere biblical based answer: Can a man or woman be a sincere Christian if they were homosexual? [View video here]
First off I’d like to say I love Ravi Zacharias, his ministry to defend God’s word against false and world religions are commendable. However recently I’ve been noticing many of today’s Teachers, Pastors, Evangelists and even those who profess themselves to be “Christian Apologist” has turned to a flawed approach to the truth. An approach that is extremely careful on what passages are used, a diverting from scripture and excluding the usage of the word “sin.” Sadly, though Zacharias is a renown respected Apologist, his answer to such an important question was sadly misrepresented and gave no justice to the truth of scripture.
But before I get into that, lets examine this video. I’ve added time stamps for you to reference.
Video Examination
In his response, Ravi answers the question with a great story that compares our sexuality with racism, how both are sacred and shouldn’t in anyway be violated {video time stamp: 1:13}. After this story however, things take a strange turn for the worst when Ravi refers to Christian Philosopher Henry Nouwen. Although Nouwen clearly taught Universalism Ravi still refers to Nouwen as: “One of the Greatest Saints of recent memory..” {video time stamp: 5:47}. Here is a quote from Nouwen’s last book Sabbatical Journey, page 51, 1998 Hardcover Edition ”
“Today I personally believe that while Jesus came to open the door to God’s house, all human beings can walk through that door, whether they know about Jesus or not. Today I see it as my call to help every person claim his or her own way to God.”
Churches are everywhere. So why is it so difficult to find a good one? There are many towns and cities void of even one Bible-teaching, gospel-proclaiming, disciple-making church. There are several reasons good churches are so rare today.
1. Leaders are entrepreneurs, not shepherds.
Recent decades have given rise to an abundance of maverick churches led by entrepreneurial pastors with grandiose visions. They approach the pulpit not as shepherds of God’s flock, but as CEOs executing corporate strategies for their personal brands. That model is a stark departure from the New Testament’s job description for pastors and church leaders, but its popularity is pervasive in U.S. churches and it’s sadly been exported around the world.
2. Leaders prize pragmatism, not preaching.
Another factor that makes finding a good church difficult is the widespread lack of doctrinal conviction and commitment. Postmodernism dictates that we don’t hold too tightly to one truth, one moral standard, or one way of thinking. And as that mindset further infiltrates the church, many shepherds are exposing their own wavering convictions to the very people they are called to protect and defend. Doctrinal statements are altered or simply ignored, as churches prize pragmatism and popularity over faithfully preaching the truth of God’s Word.
3. Pragmatic entrepreneurs do not produce mature disciples.
Finally, many believers struggle to find a church because they are confused about what constitutes a good church in the first place. The prevalence of unqualified teachers and a weak commitment to the truth have left a generation of Christians spiritually undernourished. They sense their need for faithful teaching and caring leadership but they lack the discernment and wisdom to identify such a church. They simply don’t know what to look for.
In the following video, John MacArthur answers one of the many questions we’ve received lately about what to look for in a church. His answer sheds much-needed light on many of the critical issues facing the church today.
The quality of a church is inextricably tied to the quality of its leaders. Yet the evangelical landscape is overrun with CEOs, self-help gurus, stand-up comedians, and motivational speakers masquerading as pastors. While the world looks for leaders with skills and charisma, the church must focus on the biblical qualifications for church leaders.
Over the coming weeks, John MacArthur is going to walk us through the biblical standards for shepherds. What qualifies a man to pastor the people of God? And just as important, what disqualifies him? The answers to those critical questions establish the only basis for appointing, following, and, in some cases, removing leaders of God’s church. Don’t miss it.
Undoubtedly a lot of planning has gone into your Christmas celebration this year. Between decorating the house, organizing meals and visits with relatives, preparing for and attending office, church, and family parties, and all the time spent shopping, wrapping, and sending gifts, you can see why Christmas is a multi-month event for many people.
But let’s take a step back from the hectic schedule and ask an important, fundamental question: Should Christians celebrate Christmas?
For many believers, that’s an audacious thought—Of course Christians ought to celebrate Christ’s birth!
But when you consider the rampant commercialism, greed, and self-indulgence that has overtaken the season, combined with the suspect pagan origins of the holiday and its various trappings, you can understand why more and more Christians are skipping Christmas.
So what is a conscientious believer to do? Can our Christmas celebration be a light to a lost world, or is abstaining altogether the best way to adorn the gospel? John MacArthur was recently in studio, and we posed the question to him. You can see his answer in the video below.
“Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).
1 Thess. 5:21 