“I Never Talk About Religion or Politics”

Jay Adams has written a blog post that got my attention.  The old saying, "never talk about religion and politics" is not true anymore.  Everyone is talking about politics these days, but not religion.  As Christians, we need to change the subject to the faith, to eternal things and to Jesus Christ. Read the article here to find out what you can do to change the conversation.

His Name Shall Be Called Jesus!

Enjoy this timely message by Rev. Chuck Wilson.  His Name Shall Be Called Jesus!

Five Solas of the Protestant Reformation

These five sermons on the Five Solas of the Reformation were preached recently at Unity Presbyterian Church in Piedmont, SC.

​Reformation Truth # 1: Scripture Alone - 2 Timothy 3:15-17 
​Reformation Truth # 2: Christ Alone - 1 Timothy 2:1-7
Reformation Truth # 3: Faith Alone - Romans 1:15-18
Reformation Truth # 4: Grace Alone - Ephesians 2:1-10
​Reformation Truth # 5: Soli Deo Gloria - Romans 11:33-12:2

Is Christ's Righteousness Yours?

"For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Corinthians 5:21)

The Sad State of Theology in the American Church

Stephen Nichols, of Ligonier Ministries, has wrtitten an insightful piece on the suspicion of authority in the American church.  Nichols writes: 

The State of Theology study for 2016, undertaken by Ligonier Ministries and LifeWay Research, looked at 47 statements of religious belief. Among those statements are four that directly examine beliefs regarding church. Take a moment to give yourself this brief church survey. Do you agree or disagree with these following four statements?

Worshipping alone or with one’s family is a valid replacement for regularly attending church.

Churches that do not preach from the Bible should not be considered a Christian church.

There is little value in studying or reciting historical creeds and confessions.

My local church has the authority to withhold the Lord’s Supper from me and exclude me from the fellowship of the church.

On the first one, regarding worshiping alone, 58% agree, 12% are unsure, and 30% agree. On the second one, regarding the identity of a Christian church, the agree column racked up less than a simple majority at 46%, 17% were not sure, and 37% disagreed. On the third statement regarding the historical church, a strong 57% disagree, 16% are not sure, and only 27% agree.

Now let’s consider the results regarding the fourth statement on the authority of the local church to withhold communion. The responses to this statement are one of the most visually striking of all responses to the 47 statements of the survey. Many of the responses revealed polarized results, with only slight majorities and large numbers on either the disagree or agree side. A few of the questions elicited a visceral response of either disagreement or agreement. This question garnered the most responses in the unsure column of all the 47 statements. The middle of the spectrum, with not sure being lodged between agreeing and disagreeing, was a big bubble of a response regarding this statement. 61% are not sure. Another 26% disagree, while only 13% agree.

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The 2016 Election

Who should you vote for in the upcoming election?  Sorry, I'm not going to tell you who to vote for, but I think it's always a good idea to look at the big picture, specifically the platforms of the two major political parties.  The question I ask as I look at the comparison of each platform is - which platform is more in line with a Christian worldview?  In the end, let your conscience be informed by God's word, and pray for divine wisdom as you vote. 

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/jul/31/glaring-differences-between-republican-democratic-/
https://www.frcaction.org/updatearticle/20160719/republican-and-democratic-platforms
https://billygraham.org/story/2016-party-platforms/

Read the full Republican Party platform and Democratic Party platform from the parties’ websites.

As Christians, we need to beef up on our prayers for the nation, its leaders and the coming election.  

"Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.  For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."  (1 Timothy 2:1-4)

Van Til’s Critique of Barth’s Christology

Van Til’s Critique of Barth’s Christology (Part 1)

Van Til’s Critique of Barth’s Christology (Part 2)

Lloyd-Jones on Van Til on Barth

Christianity and Barthianism

Cornelius Van Til

Philadelphia: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 1962

464 pp, clothbound

ISBN: 978 0 87552 481 8

Dr. Lloyd-Jones writes:

This is Dr. Van Til’s second book on Karl Barth and Neo-orthodox teaching. His first, The New Modernism, appeared in 1947. That publication did not receive the attention that it merited.

This new volume is in a sense a sequel to the former. It is, however, strikingly different in many respects. It is much more comprehensive and thorough, and the theological element is very much more prominent. In addition it is very much more readable. It is indeed a magisterial volume which, it seems to me, should be compulsory reading for all who are interested in the present church and theological position.

Read the rest of the article.

John Calvin on True Spirituality, Work, Service to God

Let us leave the Papists to get on with their fooling around with God. Why do they fret themselves so much? Because they have never known how God wishes to be served and honored. According to them, his ordinances are nothing compared to their foolish inventions. Let me give you an example. A man works honestly in order to make a living; though he only has brown bread to his heart’s content, he still calls upon God in the morning and praises him in the evening. If he has children, he denies himself as much as possible in order to feed and clothe them. If God sends afflictions to his household, he bears them patiently. If he practices some kind of handicraft, or some other trade, he will refrain from cheating on his neighbors. He would prefer to die rather than to wrong anyone. 

This man, who lives first and foremost an honest life, will not be arrogant enough to seek self-advancement without restraint. He will not be given over to intemperate habits. He will be modest in his eating and drinking, patient in all adversities. What kind of man is this according to the Papists? ‘Oh, he’s a secular man; in other words, he is a man of the world.’ This is how much they value the pure service of God. We know that the principal service that God requires of us is that we devote ourselves entirely to him; this means that we will glorify him in affliction as well as in prosperity, and that we will follow the vocation we have when we are called, without pride, ambition or envy. God takes delight in this, but according to the definition of the Papists, those who live in this way are worldly!  

The Papists do not engage in digging earth, nor do they get involved with sewing or tailoring, or anything else. Theirs is a contemplative life, and they are in a state of perfection. Can you not see how the world has been deceived? Such people, who make God into little statues, well deserve the pit for devising such absurd errors. As for ourselves, let us be aware that our God is Spirit, and that he wants to be served spiritually, as he tells us in his Word. At the same time, let us be wary of becoming trapped in the foolish notions which bewitch these wretches; let us, instead, realize that God speaks with us so that we might have recourse to him in all holiness, righteousness and uprightness. Let us measure our lives against the law and not against our own opinions or those of the world. Let us be concerned with what God commands and forbids, since we have to give account to him, and knowing that we have no other judge than God himself. 

May we exercise ourselves in all these things, believing that if we do so, we will not be laboring in vain. Leave the Papists to break their legs and their necks, all the while unsure of what they are doing, yet vexing God and provoking him more and more. In order that we do not strive in vain, or wander about here and there following this or that opinion without a fixed destination, let us exercise ourselves in the things that Paul teaches us in this passage. Subsequently, we will not be condemned for occupying ourselves with meaningless things which God disapproves of, detests, and declares to be frivolous.

John Calvin. Thirty-Six Sermons of John Calvin (Kindle Locations 4561-4569). Monergism Books. Kindle Edition.

Unity Presbyterian Church is now on iTunes

Sermons at Unity Presbyterian Church are now available on iTunes.

Predestination and the Call to Witness

This past Sunday, the men of our church studied an excellent chapter on evangelism in a great book by Rev. Terry Johnson titled When Grace Comes Home.  Then today I started reading a spot-on sermon by John Calvin titled "The Call to Witness."  Both authors have a strong conviction and belief in predestination and the doctrine of election.  Both authors also have an equally strong conviction that every Christian is to be a witness for Christ and His gospel, since this is the means by which God calls His elect to Himself.  Calvinism, contrary to popular opinion, does not destroy the motive to evangelize.  Rather, since Calvinism is the truth of Scripture, it is the only proper motive for evangelism. Any other motive or method that leaves out God's sovereignty in saving men will end up relying on man-centered, fleshly methods which truly dishonor God.

John Calvin wrote, "Although God shows His glory and majesty in the gospel, yet the unthankfulness of men is such, that we have need to be exhorted, not to be ashamed of this gospel. If the gospel be not preached, Jesus Christ is, as it were, buried. Therefore, let us stand as witnesses, and do Him this honor, when we see all the world so far out of the way; and remain steadfast in this wholesome doctrine."  Clearly, Calvin's belief in divine election did not hinder him from being a faithful witness for Christ or urging other Christians to do so.  

Calvin appeals to God's grace in saving us in order to motivate us to bear witness to others.  "Behold! God hath drawn us out of the gulf of hell! We were utterly cast away and condemned: but he hath brought us salvation, and hath called us to be partakers of it. Therefore, seeing God hath showed Himself so liberal, if we on our parts turn our backs to Him, is not this a shameful malice?"  

Calvin goes on to remind us how deep God's grace and salvation run, even to His eternal election, so that we might be all the more thankful and zealous to serve Him and be His witnesses. "For He had no respect to our works or dignity, when He called us to salvation. He did it of mere grace. Therefore we shall be less excusable, if we disobey His requirements, seeing we have not only been purchased by the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, but He had a care of our salvation before the world was made. Let us here observe that St. Paul condemns our unthankfulness, if we be so unfaithful to God, as not to bear witness of His gospel; seeing He hath called us to it."  

Calvin writes, "Whereupon hangeth our salvation? Is it not upon the election and choice that hath been from everlasting? God chose us before we were. What could we do then? We were made fit, we were well disposed to come to God." With this understanding of our own salvation, we will give all the praise to God.  And when we tell the good news to others, this is part of that good news, that "God chose us without any respect to our works, as we could have done nothing before: but we are debtors to Him for all; for He drew us out of the bottomless pit of destruction, wherein we were cast, and past all hope of recovery. Therefore, there is good reason for us to submit ourselves wholly to Him, and rely upon His goodness, and be thoroughly ravished with it. Let us hold fast this foundation, as I said before, unless we will have our salvation perish and come to nought. This doctrine is profitable for us if we can apply it well to our own use."

We are the most faithful witnesses of Christ's salvation, when we tell the whole story, that we were chosen from eternity, Christ atoned for us in the fullness of time, called us by His Spirit, justified us by faith and will glorify us forever. (see Romans 8:30) 

John Calvin. Thirty-Six Sermons of John Calvin. Monergism Books. Kindle Edition. 

Cultural Envy - Hint: This is what Socialism feeds off of.

The following is by David Chilton, from his book Productive Christians in an Age of  Guilt Manipulators. It is from chapter 10, titled "Cultural Bone Rot." It accurately describes the politics of the Left, which is socialistic. I encourage you to read the whole chapter! Chilton writes:

  Now Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. And the LORD blessed him, and the man became very rich, and continued to grow richer until he became very wealthy; for he had possessions of flocks and herds and a great household, so that the Philistines envied him. Now all the wells which his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines stopped up by filling them with earth. (Genesis 26:12-15)
   Envy is the greatest disease of our age. It is often confused with jealousy and covetousness, which have to do with wanting the possessions and privileges of others. Envy is much more insidious - and deadly. Envy is the feeling that someone else's having something is to blame for the fact that you do not have it. The principal motive is thus not so much to take, but to destroy. The envier acts against the object of his envy" not to benefit himself, but to cut the other person down to his own level-or below. The American Puritan divine Samuel Willard defined envy as "a man's repining at his neighbor's Prosperity, looking upon himself to be Hurt by it."1 In his massive study of envy, Helmut Schoeck points up this central factor: "the envious man's conviction that the envied man's prosperity, his success and his income are somehow to 'blame for the subject's deprivation, for the lack that he feels.' 2 It can be summed up in Pierre-Joseph Proudhon's famous epigram: Property is Theft! 3
   This explains why "Envy and Malice are inseparable"4; as we can see from the example in Genesis quoted above, the envier's goal is destruction. Henry Hazlitt writes: "The envious are more likely to·be·mollified by seeing others deprived of some advantage than by getting it for themselves. It is not what they lack that chiefly troubles them, but what others have. The envious are not satisfied with equality; they secretly yearn for superiority and revenge."5
   And it is this envious, destructionist mentality, nursing itself on the notion that ''your wealth is the cause of my poverty," that is the basic ethos of socialism. 6  For socialism does not..... and cannot - build up capital. It seeks only to expropriate or destroy the capital of others. It exalts a malignant, misanthropic disposition into an article of political economy, a machine for tyranny. Socialism is institutionalized envy.

1. Samuel Willard, A Compleat Body of Divinity (New York: Johnson Reprint Corporation, 1969), p. 750.
2. Helmut Schoeck, Envy: A Theory of Social Behavior (New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., 1970), p. 17.
3. James Billington, Fire in the Minds of Men: Origins of the Revolutionary Faith (New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1980), p. 290. Art Gish, a modem evangelical socialist, makes a similar statement: "Capitalism, that is, the system of private property and competition, is itself thievery" (Robert G. Clouse, ed., Wealth and Poverty: Four Christian Views of Economics [Downers Grove, IL: Inter Varsity Press, 1984] p. 76).
4. Willard, p. 751.
5. Henry Hazlitt,The Conquest of Poverty (New Rochelle, NY: Arlington House, 1973), p. 126.
6. See Ludwig·von Mises, Socialism: An Economic and Sociological Analysis (London: Jonathan Cape, 1951), pp. 436, 457ff, 531; see also Herbert Schlossberg's discussion of resentment in Idols for Destruction: Christian Faith and Its Confrontation with American Society (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1983), pp. 51.;59, 69-74.
7. Sider, Rich Christians, p. 54 [p. 47].

Is it always wrong to hate?

Is it always wrong to hate? Ecclesiastes 3:8 says there is, "A time to love, and a time to hate."

Things God hates:

Proverbs 6:16-19 These six things the LORD hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him:  A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren.

Proverbs 11:20 Those who are of a perverse heart are an abomination to the LORD, but the blameless in their ways are His delight.

Proverbs 15:8 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is His delight.

Proverbs 15:9 The way of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, but He loves him who follows righteousness.

Proverbs 17:15 He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just, both of them alike are an abomination to the LORD.

Proverbs 20:10 Diverse weights and diverse measures, they are both alike, an abomination to the LORD.

Deuteronomy 25:16 For all who do such things, all who behave unrighteously, are an abomination to the LORD your God.

Psalms 11:5 The LORD tests the righteous, but the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates.

Isaiah 61:8 For I, the LORD, love justice; I hate robbery for burnt offering;

Zechariah 8:17 Let none of you think evil in your heart against your neighbor; and do not love a false oath. For all these are things that I hate, says the LORD.

Psalms 5:5 The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all workers of iniquity.

Psalms 45:7 You love righteousness and hate wickedness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions.

Things that believers should hate:

Psalms 101:3 I will set nothing wicked before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; It shall not cling to me.

Psalms 119:104 Through Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way.

Psalms 119:113 I hate the double-minded, but I love Your law.

Psalms 119:128 Therefore all Your precepts concerning all things I consider to be right; I hate every false way.

Psalms 119:163 I hate and abhor lying, but I love Your law.

Psalms 139:22 I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them my enemies.

Proverbs 8:13 The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverse mouth I hate.

Psalms 97:10 You who love the LORD, hate evil! He preserves the souls of His saints; He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.

Psalms 101:3 I will set nothing wicked before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; It shall not cling to me.

Proverbs 8:13 The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverse mouth I hate.

Amos 5:15 Hate evil, love good; Establish justice in the gate. It may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

Luke 14:26 If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.

Those who hate God are wrong:

Exodus 20:5 You shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me.

Numbers 10:35 So it was, whenever the ark set out, that Moses said: "Rise up, O LORD! Let Your enemies be scattered, And let those who hate You flee before You."

Deuteronomy 7:10 And He repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack with him who hates Him; He will repay him to his face.

Deuteronomy 32:41 If I whet My glittering sword, and My hand takes hold on judgment, I will render vengeance to My enemies, and repay those who hate Me.

Job 8:22 Those who hate you will be clothed with shame, and the dwelling place of the wicked will come to nothing.

Psalms 5:5 The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all workers of iniquity.

Psalms 68:1 Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered; let those also who hate Him flee before Him.

John 7:7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil.

Those who hate others are wrong:

Leviticus 19:17 You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him.

Matthew 5:44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.

1 John 2:9 He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now.

1 John 2:11 But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

1 John 3:15 Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

For Women Only

The following was written by the wife of one of our elders at Unity ARP Church and posted with permission.

TRUE HEIRS OF GOD TEND THEIR GARDENS

I will make him a helper comparable to him, Gen. 2:18.

For Women Only: Helping to TEND AND KEEP

Daughters of Eve, why were we women created? The Word of God tells us we were created to be fit helpers to the sons of Adam, in tending and keeping the garden. Last week you read heart-felt instructions and encouragements for men regarding this tending and keeping – but what is our role? How may we help? Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man, 1 Cor. 11:8. But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. 1 Cor. 11:3. How may we please God in the areas requiring our tending [cultivating, promoting the growth of] and keeping [guarding]?

Let us examine the areas we looked at last Lord’s Day Thought, but in reverse area.

1. The Church:

1. How are we women to help tend the church?

1. To help cultivate the church, we women are to be students of the Word, in order to always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and respect, 1 Peter 3:15, 16a.
2. To help cultivate the church, we women are to be hospitable; Use hospitality one to another without grudging, 1 Peter 4:9.
3. Serve where God has gifted you, For you were called to freedom. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another, Gal. 5:13.

2. How are we women to help guard the church?

1. Keep quiet; be submissive: Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor, 1 Tim. 2:11-14.
2. Be respectful to others: Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves, Phil. 2:3.
3. Have the mind of Christ: I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord, Phil. 4:2. And how can this possibly be done? How can two people ever agree? Complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Phil. 2:2, 5. If a matter can’t be resolved, follow the Matthew 18 pattern for resolution.
4. Don’t gossip: Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets, but he who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a thing covered, Prov. 11:13.

2. The Home:

1. How are we women to help tend the home?

1. Cultivate an atmosphere of love for God and His Word and love for one another. If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and my Father will love him, and We will come to him and make our home with him, John 14:23; A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. John 13:34. And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another, 1 Thess. 3:12; Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God, 1 John 4:7.
2. Submit joyfully to your husband and require the same respect of your children. Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, Eph. 5:22, 23a.
3. Use every situation as an opportunity for teaching your children the truths of God, Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him, Col. 3:16,17.

2. How are we women to help guard the home?

1. Deal with a spirit of rebellion in your children as its earliest signs (rolling of eye eyes; sighing); know the hearts of your children and know their friends. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry, 1 Sam. 15:23.
2. Don’t allow complaining: “Show yourself a Christian by suffering without murmuring, for which sin fourteen thousand and seven hundred were slain, Num. 16:49.” ~ Samuel Rutherford
3. Dress and behave modestly, likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, 1 Tim. 2:9.
4. Love your husband passionately, They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands, Titus 2:4.

III. The Heart:

1. How are we women to tend our hearts?

1. Make certain you have a new heart that can be tended. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh that they may walk in My statutes, Ezek. 11:19, 20. Remember, The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? Jer. 17:9. Remember that hypocrite, Simon, who “believed” but was deluded. He was baptized and amazed at the signs and miracles performed by the apostles. But when his unbelief was revealed, the apostles saw that his heart is not right before God, Acts 8:21. Is your heart right before God? Or are you as Ezekiel describes: Your people say to one another, ‘Come, and hear what the word is that comes from the Lord.’ And they come to you, as people come, and they sit before you as My people, and they hear what you say but they will not do it; for with their mouth they show much love, but their hearts pursue their own gain, Eze. 33:31, 32.
2. Take care where your treasure is. Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matt. 6:19-21.

2. How are we women to guard our hearts? Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flows the springs of life, Prov. 4:23.

1. Why do our hearts need to be guarded? Because, “There is nothing one half so worthy of abhorrence as the human heart. God spares from all eyes but His own that awful sight, a human heart; and could you and I but see our heart we should be driven mad, so horrible would be the sight.” ~ Charles H. Spurgeon
2. How then, can our heart be kept? There are some basic means of keeping the heart, mentioned by John Flavel in his precious book, Keeping the Heart. Some of them are:

1. Furnish your hearts richly with the Word of God, which is their best preservation against sin.
2. Call your hearts frequently to an account. Cleanse me from secret faults, Ps. 19:12.
3. Take heed of becoming so busy that you cannot manage without neglecting your main business of guarding your heart.
4. Take heed of losing the sweetness of your communion with God.
5. Carefully observe your heart’s first declining from God and stop them there. Unite my heart to fear Thy name, Ps. 86:11.
6. Live in the midst of spiritual meditation.

I would add this:

7. Let your reading be steeped in heart-guarding works.
8. Keep repenting. “If a small piece of dust gets into the eye it will never stop twinkling and watering till it has wept it out. So the upright heart cannot be at rest till it has wept out its troubles and poured out its complaints before the Lord.” John Flavel, Keeping the Heart, p.7.

So beloved, please know that the tasks of tending and keeping are not yours, but Christ’s. It is Christ in you that will give you the victory – always stained with sin on this side of glory, but with the faithful promise of a day when you will be unable to sin, and you will have a heart that only wants to love, serve and please your Lord and Savior! But for now, the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus,

Phil. 4:7.

For Men Only

The following was written by one of our elders at Unity ARP Church. It is posted with permission.

TRUE HEIRS OF GOD TEND THEIR GARDENS

For Men Only: TEND AND KEEP, Gen. 2:15 THE GARDEN GOD GIVES YOU

Heirs need MEN to take on their God-given responsibilities as heads of homes – holy men, lovers of Jesus, lovers of wives and lovers of their heirs. Beloved family and friends, what has ever happened to the 21^st century man? Sadly, see the demise of the home, the weakness of the church and the curse of society because most men have abandoned, forgotten and given up their Divinely-appointed responsibilities. Stop and really think about it. Why have our lives, our homes, churches and society imploded into chaos, sin, and despair? Yes, I know it is SIN, that root of all evil, death and corruption. Yes, it was at the Fall all was undone.

Beloved family and friends, please observe ever so carefully with spiritual eyes. For this is where all the problems of the world come from: men did not keep God’s instruction: Then the Lord God took THE MAN and put him in the garden of Eden to TEND AND KEEP IT, Gen. 2:15. We know well what happened and how our demise came about. Men as in Adam “resisted the will of God. The Word of God was rejected, and the way of God was deserted,” (A. W. Pink) and men, because of our disobedience, You shall surely die, Gen. 2:17. Because of our sin, we are today NOT TENDING AND KEEPING our garden. That murderer and liar, Satan, twists us into blind, dead fools, attempting to kill us; and we, men, have become the laughing stock of the world. Most of all we do not guard our hearts and especially our homes from the evil one. For the word in Hebrew, “Keep” here means “hedge about; protect; guard; watch for those who lay in wait to harm” our gardens. Beloved men, mark this well; for this is the sin of our hearts. I pray that we would wake up and see the whole world laughs at us and rightfully so, placing us at the bottom of the family in respect and honor. Children are the masters of the homes; wives take over the morals and decision-making; fathers are the brunt of the jokes and ridicule – disrespected fools. The sinful world sees through our great sin, even from Adam, that we do not take the initiative to our God-given covenant responsibilities of tending and guarding our hearts and homes. So in pride we sought after sin and the pleasures of this world, to the point we have become aimlessly lost in sin. Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes his flesh his strength whose heart departs from the Lord, Jer. 7:5.

LET US SEE HOW WE ARE TENDING AND GUARDING THE GARDENS GOD HAS GIVEN US:

I. Our hearts need to be broken and new life enter in. We need to FLEE TO JESUS for help and forgiveness, pleading for restoration in the blood of Jesus. No excuses! No Adam blaming Eve or others. Stop sinning by grace; for every moment hold on in prayer for dear life. Study hard the Word of God. Attend a place of worship with sound preaching that stirs your soul to see your own sin and the need of Christ at all times, for all things.

II. Our Homes

1. Do a lot of daily tending the garden of your homes; be daily in the Word with your wife and children.

Love your wife; care for her; pray for her. FLEE DAILY TO JESUS. Together read Scriptures with her; pray with her; both of you pray – pray together. That is first and foremost. Then lead your HEIRS to Jesus in family worship in respect and honor of the Lord.

2. Keep guard: protect your home, your God-given garden

Do not allow the seeds of sin, disrespect, bad attitudes and anger kill the garden of your home. Be honorable in order to have honor. Be a protector of your home; do not allow your precious wife or children to wander where Satan dwells. Rule well your home in loving respect. Do not allow your home to be ruled by a wife or child or any other than Christ, through you, especially in spiritual matters. Men: you make the decisions; do not put your wife out in front to be your voice. YOU PROTECT YOUR HOME in loving devotion.

III. Our Churches: Men, stand up in faithfulness to Christ. Lead in the worship, teaching and loving care of the very body and bride of Christ. Men: love Christ! If you do you will love your wives and your homes as unto the Lord. Men in love to the Lord will find a church that Biblically cares for souls in loving devotion to the Lord Jesus and to one another. Men, be in leadership over your heart, over your home and over the church in truth and love to Jesus.

Finally, beloved, the world today needs men to tend to their gardens and with hard work in faithfulness to Christ guard their hearts, homes and places of worship with loving devotion unto Jesus Christ. Think of it men; it is wicked men not tending or protecting our God-given gardens that allows unfaithfulness,, bitterness, hatred, divorce, murder, pornography, homosexuality, abortion and violence to reign in our society. This is why the roles of men and women are reversed; this is why our lives and homes are breeding grounds for rebellious heirs.

Men, we need to turn this world upside-down back to the blessed order God has given us. Let us tend and guard our lives, homes and churches in Christ Jesus. We must be born again and today, every day, FLEE TO JESUS to enable us by His grace, to do this.

Blessed is the man YOU choose, Ps. 65:4

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose hope is in the Lord, Jer. 17:7

Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, Ps. 84:8

The righteous man walks in integrity. His children are blessed after him, Prov. 20:7

Oh, how glorious is the Lord!

Beloved family and friends, we need today a revival in the hearts of men in order to have Godly heirs!

Planned Parenthood Protest - 04/23/16

On Saturday morning, April 23, along with several other ministers, I participated in a protest against Planned Parenthood. Here are my remarks given at this event. 

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Jesus said, “And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these."

Why are we here this morning to protest Planned Parenthood?  Why am I, a minister of the gospel, standing before you to speak out against Planned Parenthood?  We are here because we love God and love our neighbor.  

Almighty God is the Creator of all human life.  He alone gives and sustains life.  He alone has the right to decide who lives and who dies.  Since we love God, we love his law and we love life.  We also love our neighbors, and that includes children - even those in the womb.  Love causes us to speak up for the disadvantaged and oppressed.  Psalm 94:6 says, They slay the widow and the stranger, And murder the fatherless.  Then Psalm 82:3 tells us to: Defend the poor and fatherless; do justice to the afflicted and needy.

To defend the fatherless, we speak up for the unborn because they are defenseless and cannot speak for themselves. Proverbs 31:8-9 declares, Open your mouth for the speechless, in the cause of all who are appointed to die. Open your mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.

So, this morning we speak on behalf of the unborn children that Planned Parenthood seeks to kill, dismember and sell.  Jesus said that the devil, who is a thief, came only to "steal, kill and destroy."  That pretty well describes Planned Parenthood, whose main business and profit is from the slaughter of defenseless pre-born children.  Each year, PP kills over 300,000 babies through abortion.  And our taxes continue to subsidize this evil. This must be stopped. 

Another reason for this protest is that God's word commands us to expose evil.  Ephesians 5:11 says, And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.  This past year, The Center for Medical Progress released a series of undercover videos that exposed the horrible wickedness behind the scenes of Planned Parenthood.  They exposed that PP was engaged in selling the body parts of aborted babies for profit.  Of course the public did not know these things until they were brought to light through these videos. We applaud those who exposed such evil.  They have done God’s work. 

The Scripture says, "For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God." 

Planned Parenthood is evil and does evil deeds.  Of course they will not come to the light lest their deeds be exposed.  It is our job as Christians to expose their horrible deeds.  There is no justification for our tax dollars to be used to support this institution of death.  Our state must defund PP as soon as possible.  We will have to answer to God if we do not. 

Though PP does not have a clinic in the upstate, the Greenville Women's Clinic continues to murder children before they can see the light of day.  If we could actually see what goes on in these abortuaries, we would all be sickened and stunned.  Author Randy Alcorn writes that, "years ago a pro-life candidate ran television ads showing aborted babies, and people were outraged. A CBS Evening News reporter declared the abortion debate had reached a “new low in tastelessness.” Strangely, there was no outrage that babies were being killed... only that someone had the audacity to show they were being killed." We need to continue to have the audacity to say what needs to be said and to expose the fact that babies are being killed every day in our state and in our city. 

On a more positive not, in Matthew 19:14 Jesus Christ said, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven."  We love these little ones and seek to rescue them so that they will have an opportunity, along with their mothers, to come to Jesus that they might have life. I'm here today because my own mother chose to give birth and give life to me.  And I'm here today because Jesus Christ has given me a new heart and new life.  Since Jesus Christ has changed my life, I care about people.  I care about little children and it grieves me to hear when one of them is harmed in any way.  It is our duty to speak for the little children, to protect them and to bring them to Jesus Christ.  May we speak for them in prayer before God’s throne and speak for them in protest of those who would end their lives before the light of day.