Superbowl 2013 New Orleans LA - Kindgom Work

Dr. Jeffress Responds to Tebow Controversy (2/24/13)

What Is the Gospel?

by R.C. Sproul

There is no greater message to be heard than that which we call the Gospel. But as important as that is, it is often given to massive distortions or over simplifications. People think they’re preaching the Gospel to you when they tell you, ‘you can have a purpose to your life’, or that ‘you can have meaning to your life’, or that ‘you can have a personal relationship with Jesus.’ All of those things are true, and they’re all important, but they don’t get to the heart of the Gospel.

The Gospel is called the ‘good news’ because it addresses the most serious problem that you and I have as human beings, and that problem is simply this: God is holy and He is just, and I’m not. And at the end of my life, I’m going to stand before a just and holy God, and I’ll be judged. And I’ll be judged either on the basis of my own righteousness – or lack of it – or the righteousness of another. The good news of the Gospel is that Jesus lived a life of perfect righteousness, of perfect obedience to God, not for His own well being but for His people. He has done for me what I couldn’t possibly do for myself. But not only has He lived that life of perfect obedience, He offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice to satisfy the justice and the righteousness of God.

The great misconception in our day is this: that God isn’t concerned to protect His own integrity. He’s a kind of wishy-washy deity, who just waves a wand of forgiveness over everybody. No. For God to forgive you is a very costly matter. It cost the sacrifice of His own Son. So valuable was that sacrifice that God pronounced it valuable by raising Him from the dead – so that Christ died for us, He was raised for our justification. So the Gospel is something objective. It is the message of who Jesus is and what He did. And it also has a subjective dimension. How are the benefits of Jesus subjectively appropriated to us? How do I get it? The Bible makes it clear that we are justified not by our works, not by our efforts, not by our deeds, but by faith – and by faith alone. The only way you can receive the benefit of Christ’s life and death is by putting your trust in Him – and in Him alone. You do that, you’re declared just by God, you’re adopted into His family, you’re forgiven of all of your sins, and you have begun your pilgrimage for eternity.

Originally Posted at www.ligonier.org 

Ray Comfort at Huntington Beach, CA on the Pier... Again

Christ's Call: Radical Obedience by K.P. Yohannan

Nick Vujicic Extraordinary Testimony

Jesus Is Risen - EASTER 2012 Marshill Church

Originally Posted at www.marshillchurch.og 

Matt Chandler - God is for God (Code Orange Revival)

Sharing the Gospel with Break Dancers

Here Am I Ministry: breakdancers from slava fesyuk on Vimeo.

Matt Chandler - David & Goliath & The Gospel

Do You Teach Your Kids the Gospel or Law?

Everything that isn’t gospel is law. Let us say it again: everything that isn’t gospel is law.

Don't breed despair in your kids

Every way we try to make our kids good that isn’t rooted in the good news of the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ is damnable, crushing, despair-breeding, Pharisee-producing law. We won’t get the results we want from the law. We’ll get either shallow self-righteousness or blazing rebellion or both (frequently from the same kid on the same day!). We’ll get moralistic kids who are cold and hypocritical and who look down on others, or you’ll get teens who are rebellious and self-indulgent and who can’t wait to get out of the house. We have to remember that in the life of our unregenerate children, the law is given for one reason only: to crush their self-confidence and drive them to Christ.

The law doesn't make us good

The law also shows believing children what gospel-engendered gratitude looks like. But one thing is for sure: we aren’t to give our children the law to make them good. It won’t, because it can’t. In our hearts we know that’s true because the law hasn’t made us good, either, has it?

“ Every way we try to make our kids good that isn’t rooted in the good news of the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ is damnable, crushing, despair-breeding, Pharisee-producing law.”

The story of Jonah isn’t about learning to be obedient or facing the consequences. The story of Jonah is about how God is merciful to both the religiously self-righteous, unloving Pharisee (Jonah) and the irreligious, violent pagan. The story is a story about God’s ability to save souls and use us even when we disobey. It’s a story about God’s mercy not our obedience. Here’s how a conversation with a child would differ if we were giving gospel instead of law:

“Good job, Joshua! Now what does the story teach us?” Mom asked.
Caleb’s hand was the first one up. “It means that we should obey when God tells us to do something, like go tell people about God.”
“Yes, Caleb, we are to obey God but that’s not the primary message of the story. Can you think of any other message?”
Jordan piped up. “Lots of times people don’t want to obey God.”
“Right, Jordan! That’s exactly right. I know that it’s hard for me to obey. I’m just like Jonah, too. Can you think of any other messages? No? Then let me help you. This story is a message about how kind and merciful God is. He was kind to the bad people from Nineveh because he didn’t destroy them even though they deserved it. He was kind to them by making them believe the message that Jonah told them. But he was also kind to Jonah. Even though Jonah didn’t love his neighbors (the people from Nineveh), God didn’t leave him to die in the belly of a big fish, although that was what he deserved. Instead he gave him another chance and kept giving him chances even though Jonah didn’t really love God or his merciful nature. God gives us so many opportunities to obey him because he loves us and is so merciful. God shows us how he loves us because his dear Son, Jesus, spent three days in a very dark place just like Jonah did. He spent three days in a grave after dying for our sins. But then he rose again from the dead so that we could be good in God’s eyes and tell other people about how loving he is. Can you think of some things we could do so that other people would know about God’s love?”
Different answers were shouted out. “We could bake cookies for our neighbors and invite them to church! We could offer to do chores for them, too!”
“Right! Now let’s celebrate God’s mercy and have a party with some goldfish crackers and blue Jell-O I’ve made.”
Adapted from Give them Grace by Elyse Fitzpatrick and Jessica Thompson, © 2011. Used by permission of Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.org.
Originally Posted at www.TheResurgence.com 

The Danger of Moralistic Parenting

If a majority of our children are leaving the faith as soon as they can, something has gone terribly wrong.

Certainly the faith that has empowered the persecuted church for two millennia isn’t as thin and boring as “Say you’re sorry,” “Be nice,” and “Don’t be like them.” Why would anyone want to deny himself, lay down his life, or suffer for something as inane as that? Aside from the “Ask Jesus into your heart” part, how does this message differ from what any unchurched child or Jewish young person would hear every day?

Turning God into Santa

Let’s face it: most of our children believe that God is happy if they’re “good for goodness’ sake.” We’ve transformed the holy, terrifying, magnificent, and loving God of the Bible into Santa and his elves. And instead of transmitting the gloriously liberating and life-changing truths of the gospel, we have taught our children that what God wants from them is morality. We have told them that being good (at least outwardly) is the be-all and end-all of their faith.

This isn’t the gospel; we’re not handing down Christianity. We need much less of Veggie Tales and Barney and tons more of the radical, bloody, scandalous message of the God-man crushed by his Father for our sin.

“ Instead of the gospel of grace, we’ve given them daily baths in a 'sea of narcissistic moralism.'”

This other thing we’re giving our children has a name—it’s called “moralism.” Here’s how one seminary professor described his childhood experience in church:

The preachers I regularly heard in the . . . church in which I was raised tended to interpret and preach Scripture without Christ as the central . . . focus. Characters like Abraham and Paul were commended as models of sincere faith and loyal obedience. . . . On the other hand, men like Adam and Judas were criticized as the antithesis of proper moral behavior. Thus Scripture became nothing more than a source book for moral lessons on Christian living, whether good or bad.

Teaching Good Manners Instead of Salvation

When we change the story of the Bible from the gospel of grace to a book of moralistic teachings like Aesop’s fables, all sorts of things go wrong. Unbelieving children are encouraged to display the fruit of the Holy Spirit even though they are spiritually dead in their trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1). Unrepentant children are taught to say that they’re sorry and ask for forgiveness even though they’ve never tasted true Godly sorrow. Unregenerate kids are told they are pleasing to God because they have achieved some “moral victory.”

Good manners have been elevated to the level of Christian righteousness. Parents discipline their kids until they evidence a prescribed form of contrition, and others work hard at keeping their children from the wickedness in the world, assuming that the wickedness within their children has been handled because they prayed a prayer one time at Bible club.

The Bible Isn’t a Book of Fairy Tales

If our “faith commitments” haven’t taken root in our children, could it be because they have not consistently heard them? Instead of the gospel of grace, we’ve given them daily baths in a “sea of narcissistic moralism,” and they respond to law the same way we do: they run for the closest exit as soon as they can.

“ Good manners have been elevated to the level of Christian righteousness.”

Moralistic parenting occurs because most of us have a wrong view of the Bible. The story of the Bible isn’t a story about making good little boys and girls better. As Sally Lloyd-Jones writes in The Jesus Storybook Bible:

No, the Bible isn’t a book of rules, or a book of heroes. The Bible is most of all a Story. It’s an adventure story about a young Hero who comes from a far country to win back his lost treasure. It’s a love story about a brave Prince who leaves his palace, his throne—everything—to rescue the one he loves. It’s like the most wonderful of fairy tales that has come true in real life.

This is the story that our children need to hear and, like us, they need to hear it over and over again.

Originally Posted at www.TheResurgence.com 

Mining the Archives: Luther Gets Saved in Habakkuk

The book of Habakkuk, a small book of prophecy tucked toward the end of the Old Testament, was written in about the 7th century B.C. Six hundred years later, it was instrumental in the writings of the Apostle Paul, and some 1,500 years later, in the life of the great reformer, Martin Luther. The following is adapted from a  sermon Pastor Mark gave as part of a  sermon series series on the prophetic book in 2003.

“Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him,

but the righteous shall live by his faith.”

Habakkuk 2:4

A lot of pastors are in ministry trying to pay God back rather than just trusting Jesus. Martin Luther was one of those guys: his incentive for ministry was to pay God back. He was going to study theology, and he had the mind of an attorney.

Luther tries God v. man

Luther saw God as a judge and as a prosecuting attorney. He saw himself as a defense attorney. He realized that God’s case against him was that he’s a sinful man unfit for heaven and forgiveness. So he picked up ministry, he picked up the Scriptures, he started to study, trying to find a way to defend himself against this case that God has made against humanity.

He came to the conclusion that God has an airtight case: we’re all wicked. That’s the only thing that is absolutely provable in Christianity is the evil of the human heart. That’s why we lock our doors. And that’s why we have jails. That’s why we have attorneys. That’s why we have prisons. That’s why we are reticent to even extend a hand of friendship to a stranger because we know not whether they are a friend or foe.

Luther said, “You know what? God’s case against humanity is a winner. We’re bad. And especially if God is judge, can’t lie to him. And if God is prosecuting attorney, you’re not gonna beat him. There’s no way out.” So he decided was he was going to study the Scriptures and find all the things that God wanted him to do, and then he’d do those so God would like him.

The Pursuit of Perfect Penance

And he tried really hard. Really hard. Harder than any of us. He became a priest, which meant no wife, no sex, no kids.  He actually went that far. He became a monk and a pastor and a professor of theology. He said, “Not only that, since sin requires punishment, I’ll punish myself. I’ll sleep on an uncomfortable bed or the floor. I’ll eat terrible food or starve myself so I rack my body.” And he actually did have intestinal problems for the rest of his life. “I’ll avoid all worldly pleasure. I won’t laugh. I won’t have a good time.”

And this guy was so racked because he was such a clever and clear-thinking mind. When it came to the Scriptures he realized that, in light of God’s Word, he was doomed.

What the monks would do usually is they would send the men into confession with a priest. And you would go in to the priest and you’d tell him all your sins, and then he would absolve you and proclaim forgiveness upon you, and they’d go do their work as monks. (We Christians do the same thing except for our priest’s name is Jesus. He’s our high priest. We go to him and confess our sins, and he died for them and he pardons us and grants us forgiveness.)

Confess? Yes. Hoe? No.

The problem was Martin Luther would be in there all day, every single day. He realized that even the way he confessed sin was a sin, so he would confess his sin and the way he confessed his sin. And then he realized that the motive for confessing his sin was a sin. So he would confess the motive and the mean and the sin. Right? Because it’s not just doing the right thing. It’s doing the right thing in the right way for the right reason. And the other monks thought, “He must be lazy, trying to get out of the work. He goes in there and prays all day so he doesn’t have to go out and hoe the garden.”

Finally, the priest said, “Enough already. Can’t you be in denial like everybody else and just go hoe the garden? Everybody else is in denial. Can’t you just say, ‘Well, I had a bad thought and we say blah, blah, blah, now move on?’”

Luther said, “No. I was reading the Scriptures and it says, ‘Be perfect.’ It says, ‘Do everything.’ It says, ‘Obey God.’ It says, ‘Motives count.’ It says, ‘Method counts. Everything counts.’ I’m not making it.”

And Luther became so depressed that he was almost at this place of suicide and coming apart. And then something amazing happened.

Martin Luther’s room while in exile at Wartburg Castle

The German Theologian Reads the Turkish Apostle Who Reads the Judean Prophet

He was studying the book of 
Psalms, and it brought him back to Romans 1:17, where Paul quotes Habakkuk, which led him all the way back to Habakkuk 2:4. Over 2,000 years after it was written, that same little verse that exploded for Paul, exploded for a guy named Martin Luther.

Luther writes, “There I began to understand that the righteousness of God is that by which the righteous lives by a gift of God, namely by faith. And this is the meaning: The righteousness of God is revealed by the gospel, namely the passive righteousness, which the merciful God justifies us by faith. As it is written,” he quotes Habakkuk 2:4, “he who through faith is righteous shall live. Here I felt that I was altogether born again and have entered paradise itself through open gates. Here a totally other face of the entire Scriptures showed itself to me.”

Martin Luther got saved in Habakkuk 2:4.

The Reformation Takes Form

And out of his understanding came what we call the Reformation, the cleaning up the understanding of the gospel and the recognition that “I don’t save myself. Jesus saves me. I don’t need to be good. Jesus was perfect. I don’t need to please God. Jesus did on my behalf. I don’t need to work my way to God. God has humbled himself and come down for me. I just need to trust him, and he will take away all my sin and he will love me and forgive me and adopt me into his family.”


“He will then give me a new heart. He will give me a new life. He’ll make me a new creation. And then all these Scriptures that I know are good I will begin to live in accordance with those Scriptures by grace because it’s grace that saves me and it’s grace that empowers me to honor God, through the Holy Spirit that the Son of God will send into me so that it’s no longer I who live, but it’s Christ who lives in me and through me and often times in spite of me. And then God gets all his glory and I get my redemption and I trust him, not me, and it’s about him, not me, and he’s God and I’m not.”

And 2,600 years after Habakkuk writes this little verse it’s still working because God said it. That’s how God still transforms and loves and heals and forgives and redeems people.

God says, “Know who I am. Don’t fight me. Trust me. And once you have, keep trusting me until you see me, and then your faith shall be sight.”

At this point, I call you all to response.  Last week a number of people came to Christ in this church. They stopped worshipping themselves and started worshipping Jesus.

If you’re a non-Christian, that is what you need to do: Your trust needs to be in Jesus, not yourself. His death, burial and resurrection, not your morality or spirituality or sincere or insincere attempts. You recognize your sin. You own it, you name it, and you ask Jesus to forgive you, and he will. And you trust him and belong to him and walk with him. And he will give you the grace to become the person that he intends for you to be. He’s good from beginning to end.

There is a wealth of resources in the  Mars Hill media library, including  over 500 sermons preached at the church, some dating back to 2000. Many of the sermons don’t have video, much less a  sleek intro video with scored backing track, just grainy, scratchy audio of a younger Pastor Mark. But the truth of the gospel and the relevancy of the teachings last. So, from time to time, we’ll repost bits from those archived sermons here on the blog so that they can be useful to you in your discipleship. (And because we’ve been studying the Gospel of Luke for over a year now—with another year to go—it’s good to shake things up and learn something from a different book every once in a while.)

Originally Posted at http://blog.marshillchurch.org/ On January 30th 2011

Skeptics Society—Shame on you!

Written by: Dr. Kent Hovind

At first I thought it was a joke. Someone sent me a fund-raising pamphlet from the Skeptics Society titled “Top 10 Myths about Evolution.” The cover depicts the old cartoon of Darwin’s head on an ape’s body, and the subtitle is: How We Know it Really Happened. The booklet states that if I donate $5,000 or more to the Skeptics Society, I can be a “Patron” and get a free dinner with the Executive Director Michael Shermer at a restaurant of my choice. Wow! That’s an expensive meal!


Let’s debate

Anyway, I’ve debated Michael Shermer twice (see debates “Three Views” and “How to Debate a Creationist”) and will do it again (plus 10 other evolution experts to assist him) any day of the week with 90% of my brain tied behind my back! I’ll even buy dinner AND pay him $500 to debate with me again based on a few simple conditions:

•Anyone is allowed to videotape the debate and sell copies that are not edited other than improving the quality of graphs, charts and visuals used.

•Each side (not each person) gets equal time.

•We talk about one topic at a time. (My experience has been that they will throw out 10 topics in rapid succession—as this pamphlet does—and only give you time to respond to one or two. Then they claim you couldn’t answer the others.)

So, even though Michael’s 10 “evidences” for evolution have been discredited and disproven long ago (many in my debates with him, so he should know better than to use them), I will give a brief summary—again—of why the first three are wrong (all others are covered in my seminar series and even my debates with him. The only reason he keeps using these long discredited “evidences” is because that’s all the atheists have! (See John 8:44 for why)

Skeptics Society fund-raising mailer

#1 “Myth”: Why aren’t apes evolving into humans?

Michael states that creationists say, “If humans came from apes, why aren’t apes evolving into humans?” His answer is that this is not really what evolution teaches, but rather that apes and humans have a common ancestor. This answer is a feeble attempt to draw attention away from the bigger issue: Nobody has ever seen ANY plant or animal (including apes and humans) produce ANYTHING other than their own kind. Dogs produce dogs, humans produce humans and apes produce apes WITHOUT EXCEPTION! If Michael wants to believe apes and humans have a common ancestor, that is fine; but neither he nor anyone else should claim this is SCIENCE.

Every farmer on planet earth throughout all of recorded history has counted on evolution NOT happening! When the farmers plant corn, they expect (and get) CORN—EVERY TIME!

I told Michael he is right to be skeptical of UFOs and other paranormal subjects he often criticizes, but I can’t figure out why he would not be skeptical of his own evolution religion, which teaches everything came from nothing for no reason by no Creator. Why would he not be skeptical of the wild idea that animals can change (slowly or quickly) into different kinds of animals when there is NO scientific evidence that this even CAN happen, let alone evidence that it did happen?

#2 “Myth”: Too many gaps in the fossil record

This one is amazing to me. He claims that critics of evolution say: “There are too many gaps in the fossil record for evolution to be true.” His answer is: “In fact, there are lots of intermediate fossils. Archaeopteryx, for example, is one of the earliest known fossil birds with a reptilian skeleton and feathers …”

Michael, shame on you! First, there is no such thing as a “fossil record.” There are billions of bones in the ground but no “record.” Some people put their interpretation on those bones but NONE have dates on them when they are found and none can talk. The very existence of fossils is evidence of a worldwide flood! Fossils don’t form in any quantity today even though millions of animals die every year.

Secondly, archeopteryx is NOT evidence for evolution! Only six skeletons have been found, all from the same quarry. There is plenty of evidence they are 100% bird, similar to the hoatzin flying around South America today. There are also many who think the archeopteryx fossils have been tampered with and are fraudulent. See my seminar, Part 4, for LOTS more on this and the other supposed “missing links” used as evidence for evolution.

Third, fossils are simply bones in the dirt. You cannot prove those animals had ANY offspring, let alone DIFFERENT offspring. Why should we believe the bones in the dirt can do something that NO animal on earth today can do—produce something other than their kind?

#3 “Myth”: Fossil record does not show gradual change

This one deals with the common complaint that the “fossil record” does not show gradual change. His answer is that the change was rapid “in a process called punctuated equilibrium.” The idea is that evolution happened so fast that no evidence was preserved. Try THAT in any court of law: “Your Honor, we don’t have any evidence so that proves it happened!”

It looks to me like there are only two options in Michael’s (and most evolutionist’s) mind:

•Evolution happened slowly (Darwin’s theory) or

•Evolution happened rapidly (Steven Gould and Niles Eldridge’s theory).

There is a third choice, Michael: Evolution didn’t happen AT ALL! This leaves the only logical option being Creation. That choice brings with it some serious baggage that you seem to be desperately trying to avoid—a CREATOR.

There IS a Creator

Well, accept it! There is a Creator and He WILL be the Judge of the world soon! He has a record of every word (Matthew 12:36) and every deed (Romans 2:6) and even every thought (Hebrews 4:12) of everyone on earth and will bring everything into judgment (Hebrews 9:27).

If you have ever broken even ONE of God’s laws (see the 10 Commandments, Exodus 20) one time (such as lying, stealing, using God’s name in vain, lusting after a woman who is not your wife, etc.), I suggest you get a good lawyer for your trial or repent and ask for forgiveness.

I know one who has NEVER lost a case. He is my advocate for judgment day. “And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” (I John 2:1)

How to be saved

It’s really amazingly simple.

A – Admit you have sinned and broken God’s laws. (Romans 3:23)

B – Believe that God Himself came down in the form of a man, Jesus Christ, and died on the cross to pay for those sins and rose again three days later. (Romans 6:23; 10:9)

C – Call upon Him to forgive you and save you. (Romans 10:13)

That simple act of faith will make you part of God’s family. You will be ‘born again’ (Jn. 3:1-8) and become a new creature (II Cor. 5:17) have your sins forgiven and face God judgment day “justified.” That is “just as if I’d never sinned.” (Rom. 3:24; 5:1, 9; 8:30; Gal. 2:16-17; Titus 3:7, etc.)

Since you will be dead for a lo-o-o-o-ong time, I strongly suggest you get ready for the day you face the Creator. With Christ as your advocate you are saved, forgiven, born again, a child of the Father, justified and Heaven bound. Without Him…well, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb. 10:31) since “God is angry with the wicked every day.” (Ps. 7:11) Think about it!

Originally Posted by Dr. Kent Hovind at www.drdino.com 

Christmas

Are You A Good Person?

Originally Posted on The Way of The Master Youtube Page

Share the Gospel !!......

Originally Posted By The Way Of The Master on Youtube

RE - POST: Enter to Win The Big Question

The Big Question is a DVD that carefully and non-aggressively walks through a very clear Law and Gospel presentation. Todd Friel hosts it and it features Kirk Cameron, Voddie Bauchum, John Piper, and Ray Comfort. The quality and content is excellent. I'd encourage you to watch it first then give it away to someone you care about who doesn't know the Lord.

There will be 4 winners!
Here's what to do to win:

There are 2 Ways to enter your name in the drawing...

1. For 2 entries, post this give away on your website, blog, or social networking site.

2. For 1 entry, simply enter your name below (in the comment section) and a way for me to contact you if you win.

Contest ends Monday, May. 31 2010.

I (Trish Ramos) will randomly pick 4 names and the winner will be announced on Tuesday, June 1, 2010!

Open to US and Canada residents only
Originally Posted by Fish with Trish @ www.fishwithtrish.blogspot.com

Good Friday

WARNING ALTHOUGH THESE VIDEOS ARE BASED ON EVENTS THAT REALLY HAPPENED TO OUR LORD, FOR THE SALVATION FOR US ALL, THE CONTENTS ARE GRAPHIC AND MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR YOUR CHILDREN

Good Friday is a day of remembrance when, as Christians, we solemnly reflect on the death of our Savior Jesus on a Roman cross to pay the penalty for our sin. It is a sober reminder of what we did to God before our joyous celebration of what God did for us—resurrect from death and conquer Satan, sin, and death—on Easter Sunday.

“No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”
- Jesus Christ (John 10:18)



Originally posted at www.marshillchurch.org

The Heart of the Gospel..

Paul David Washer