Learning Evangelism From Jesus - Jerram Barrs

" Here I need to address in detail one of the issues that many Christians reading this book will find most challenging. We are to imitate Jesus by being intentional about developing intimate fellow- ship with sinners. This means that we are to make the effort to build such close relationships with unbelievers, regardless of their beliefs or way of life, that we delight to eat and drink at one another’s tables and visit joyfully in one another’s homes. This will mean that we are going to get to know people who are considered by some of our churches to be sinners—the kind of people that God-fearing people should despise.

Why should we welcome sinners and unbelievers joyfully, and why should they welcome us joyfully? Every day of our lives Jesus comes to each of us in our rebellion, moral failures, lack of love, and our reluctance to honor him. Even though we have cold hearts, every day he asks us to welcome him into our lives and into our homes. Every day he says to each one of us:

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. (Rev. 3:20)

How poorly we understand the gospel and the grace of God to us when we think we ought not to have “sinners” in our homes, or that we ought to keep ourselves and our children away from the homes of obvious sinners. Fellowship with sinners is the gospel. There is no other gospel of Christ."

( Jerram Barrs, Learning Evangelism From Jesus, p. 96,97)

Take Your Vitamin Z

The Uncritical Temper - Oswald Chambers

Judge not, that ye be not judged.

Jesus says regarding judging - Don't. The average Christian is the most penetratingly critical individual. Criticism is a part of the ordinary faculty of man; but in the spiritual domain nothing is accomplished by criticism. The effect of criticism is a dividing up of the powers of the one criticized; the Holy Ghost is the only One in the true position to criticize, He alone is able to show what is wrong without hurting and wounding. It is impossible to enter into communion with God when you are in a critical temper; it makes you hard and vindictive and cruel, and leaves you with the flattering unction that you are a superior person. Jesus says, as a disciple cultivate the uncritical temper. It is not done once and for all. Beware of anything that puts you in the superior person's place.

There is no getting away from the penetration of Jesus. If I see the mote in your eye, it means I have a beam in my own. Every wrong thing that I see in you, God locates in me. Every time I judge, I condemn myself (see Romans 2:17-20). Stop having a measuring rod for other people. There is always one fact more in every man's case about which we know nothing. The first thing God does is to give us a spiritual spring-cleaning; there is no possibility of pride left in a man after that. I have never met the man I could despair of after discerning what lies in me apart from the grace of God.

My Utmost For His Highest

The Utter Goodness Of God

You are of purer eyes than to behold evil,  And cannot look on wickedness.  (Habakkuk 1:13a)

He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He. (Deuteronomy 32:4)

Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. (Psalm 107:1)

Oh, how great is Your goodness, Which You have laid up for those who fear You, Which You have prepared for those who trust in You, In the presence of the sons of men! (Psalm 31:19)

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. (James 1:17)

The Infinite Glory Of The Cross

“We want the fact of substitution to strike us, and then the cross will grow sublimely great. In vision I behold it! Its two arms are extended right and left till they touch the east and west and overshadow all races of men; the foot of it descends lower than the grave, till it goes down even to the gates of hell; while upward the cross mounts with a halo round about it of unutterable glory, till it rises above the stars, and sheds its light upon the throne of the Most High.

Atonement is a divine business; its sacrifice is infinite, even as the God who conceived it. Glory be to his name for ever! It is all that I can say. It was nothing less than a stretch of divine love for Jesus to give himself for our sins. It was gracious for the Infinite to conceive of such a thing; but for him to carry it out was glorious beyond all.”                         

Charles Spurgeon, “Jehovah-Jireh” (sermon on Gen 22:14)

Of First Importance

Why We Love The Doctrines Of Grace - John Piper

Unconditional election delivers the harshest and the sweetest judgments to my soul.That it is unconditional destroys all self-exaltation; and that it is election makes me his treasured possession. This is one of the beauties of the biblical doctrines of grace: their worst devastations prepare us for their greatest delights.

What prigs we would become at the words, “The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth” (Deuteronomy 7:6), if this election were in any way dependent on our will. But to protect us from pride, the Lord teaches us that we are unconditionally chosen (7:7-9). “He made a wretch his treasure,” as we so gladly sing.

Only the devastating freeness and unconditionality of electing grace lets us take and taste such gifts for our very own without the exaltation of self.

Jesus Is The Truth

"Jesus is the Truth. We believe in Him, — not merely in His words. He Himself is Doctor and Doctrine, Revealer and Revelation, the Illuminator and the Light of Men. He is exalted in every word of truth, because He is its sum and substance. He sits above the gospel, like a prince on His own throne. Doctrine is most precious when we see it distilling from His lips and embodied in His person. Sermons [and songs] are valuable in proportion as they speak of Him and point to Him. A Christ-less gospel is no gospel and a Christ-less discourse is the cause of merriment to devils." (C.H. Spurgeon)

A Good Soldier

Cheap Grace - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“Cheap grace is the enemy of the church. It means forgiveness of sins proclaimed as a general truth . . . an intellectual assent to that idea is held to be sufficient to secure remission of sins. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without repentance. . . grace without discipleship, grace without a cross . . . Costly grace is the gospel [of the church] . . . It is costly because it costs a man his life, and grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his son . . . it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God . . . When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)

Thoughts On Rick Warrens "Purpose Driven Church"

 (Editorial note: This is part of a review that a student at Liberty University is doing between John MacArthur's book, "Fool's Gold" and Rick Warren's book, "The Purpose Driven Church".)

 Rick Warren seems to exhibit a strong reliance on God, and positive intentions in bringing people to Christ, and “healing the sick,” so to speak. Through his testimony it appears that God was really confirming in Warren’s heart what He willed him to do. His servant mentality is something many lack. Also, his view and passion to do outreach is something to be sought after and commended. Though, I would like to discuss a possibly major flaw in stating his focus as follows. Rick Warren states, “I determined to begin with unbelievers, rather than a core of committed Christians.” He claims that his focus is to “bring the unchurched, irreligious people of our community to Christ” He uses Mark 2:17 as scriptural reference (pg 39). However, I fear that what Rick Warren was actually starting was not a biblically defined church gathering, but rather a way to evangelize. But, in calling his ministry a church, he causes confusion. And therefore, could be considered unbiblical.


I base this conclusion on several reasons I have gathered from the scriptures describing what a church is and what its purpose is. The purpose of the church is not to be a gathering of unbelievers in hopes of their salvation. The purpose of the church is to gather believers together and grow in the knowledge of God, and to send out people from the church to make disciples of all nations.

I would like to preface this by saying that I do believe people can get saved within the church, I just do not agree that that should be the main focus or purpose of the church gathered for corporate worship. The main focus of the church is to equip the saints, but can be a “hospital” for the sick. In Colossians 1:24-25, Paul refers to “his body” (“his” being Christ’s) as the church. In Ephesians 4:4, 12, Paul again refers to Christ’s body as being unified, and how the purpose of leaders such as pastors and teachers are to build up the body of Christ. And in Ephesians 4:13, the purpose of that body is to attain unity in faith and mature in the knowledge of God. How can Christ’s body be made up of individuals that do not yet know Christ? In Hebrews 10:25 it commands us not to neglect meeting together, but encourage one another. How can God-centered, Son-ward encouragement occur if the individual does not yet know God? Ephesians 3:10 states, “so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.” This is the eternal calling of the church, to prove God’s glory. As far as church growth is concerned I do not believe the church needs to conduct various experiments in attempts to grow, for 1Corinthians 3:6 says, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.” John Macarthur focused in on 1 Thessalonians 5:21 “Hold fast what is good.” He goes on to say, “the attitude this calls for is incompatible with the suggestion that we should lay doctrine aside for the sake of unity. It cannot be reconciled with the opinion that hard truths should be downplayed to make God’s Word more palatable for unbelievers (pg 30, Fools Gold).” I just fear that too often, well intentioned ministers “lay aside doctrine” in hopes of winning more individuals to Christ. I am just not so sure how wise that sort of thinking is.

Ephesians 1:3-14 (NKJV)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will,  that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

Credo Baptism / Paedo Baptism

John MacArthur: Case For Believers Baptism

R.C. Sproul: Case For Infant Baptism

Don't Waste Your Sports

Taken from title page Click Here To Be Taken To Source

 We can exploit sports for our own ambition and fame. We can worship our sports, our heroes, and even ourselves. Because of our sin, we often waste the gift of sports.

Or, we can enjoy sports for the glory of God. By modeling humility and joy both on and off the field, we capture an opportunity to glorify God.

As a Christian parent that struggles with the scenario of "overdoing it" with respect to having my children get involved in "extracirricular" activities (sports or other), I find the following clips edifying:

It Is Finished

I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do.

The Death of Jesus Christ is the performance in history of the very Mind of God. There is no room for looking on Jesus Christ as a martyr; His death was not something that happened to Him which might have been prevented: His death was the very reason why He came.

Never build your preaching of forgiveness on the fact that God is our Father and He will forgive us because He loves us. It is untrue to Jesus Christ's revelation of God; it makes the Cross unnecessary, and the Redemption "much ado about nothing." If God does forgive sin, it is because of the Death of Christ. God could forgive men in no other way than by the death of His Son, and Jesus is exalted to be Saviour because of His death. "We see Jesus because of the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour." The greatest note of triumph that ever sounded in the ears of a startled universe was that sounded on the Cross of Christ - "It is finished." That is the last word in the Redemption of man.

Anything that belittles or obliterates the holiness of God by a false view of the love of God, is untrue to the revelation of God given by Jesus Christ. Never allow the thought that Jesus Christ stands with us against God out of pity and compassion; that He became a curse for us out of sympathy with us. Jesus Christ became a curse for us by the Divine decree. Our portion of realizing the terrific meaning of the curse is conviction of sin, the gift of shame and penitence is given us - this is the great mercy of God. Jesus Christ hates the wrong in man, and Calvary is the estimate of His hatred.     John 17:4  (Oswald Chambers)

My Utmost For His Highest

All the hell that you shall ever have!

Consider Christian, that all your . . .

trials and troubles,

calamities and miseries,

crosses and losses,

which you meet with in this world--is all the hell that you shall ever have!

Here and now you have your hell. Hereafter you shall have your heaven!

This is the worst of your condition; the best is yet to come!

Lazarus had his hell first--and his heaven last;Dives had his heaven first--and his hell at last.

You have all your pangs, and pains, and throes here--that you shall ever have!

Your ease, and rest, and pleasure--is yet to come!

Here you have all your bitters;your sweets are yet to come!

Here you have your sorrows;your joys are yet to come!

Here you have all your winter nights;your summer days are yet to come!

Here you have your evil things;your good things are yet to come!

Death will put an end to all your sins--and to all your sufferings!

Death will be an inlet to those joys, delights, and comforts--which shall never have an end!

Who can seriously meditate upon this, and not be silent under God's most smarting rod?

("The Mute Christian Under the Smarting Rod" or, "The Silent Soul with Sovereign Antidotes" by Thomas Brooks, 1659, London.)

Meditate On These Things

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

Luke Warm And Loving It

"A Theology Of The Great Commission" by Russell Moore

"The centrality of Christ in the accomplishment of redemption establishes both the universal scope of the mission of Christ and the freeness of the gospel offer, seen in the way Jesus is called the Savior of “the world,” literally the entire cosmos (John 3:16-17). The universal scope of the sacrifice of Christ for the sins of the world further grounds the global and cosmic nature of the Great Commission.

Some Christian theologians have tended to abstract the atonement from Christ himself, as though the atonement were simply a strictly commercial transaction of so-much wrath for so-much sin. And yet, the New Testament presents propitiation more specifically in terms of the sinner’s union with Christ as his substitute and representative.

Thus, the apostle John writes: “And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only but also for the whole world” (1 John 2:2 NKJV, emphasis added). This does not result in universalism precisely because the benefits of the atonement come only through union with Christ the covenant king. Believers, before they came to faith, were not justified before God, and their sins were not seen as propitiated, even though no one disputes that Jesus objectively died for them.

Instead, Scripture writes, we too were “children of wrath, like the rest of mankind” (Eph 2:2 ESV). Jesus propitiates the wrath of God in his sacrifice, but the benefits of this propitiation become the believer’s when he comes into union with Christ through belief in the gospel. This faith union is the transition from condemnation to righteousness, from wrath to grace, from the dominion of Satan to the kingdom of Christ (Col 1:13-14). Theologian Bruce Demarest correctly concludes that “by divine intention Christ’s suffering and death are universal in its provision and particular in its application.”

The cosmic scope of the atonement is a double-edged sword. Jesus grounds the free offer of the gospel in the fact that “all is ready” (Luke 14:16-17). The apostles do not simply instruct unbelievers that if they believe in something that may or may not be true (that Jesus died for their sins), then they will find it to be true after all. Instead, the apostles plead with all unbelievers to come to Christ (that is, to abandon all other hope of salvation except in the substitutionary death and resurrection of Jesus) on the basis of the provision of the atonement (Acts 2:40; 2 Cor 5:20).  Indeed, the apostles do not just invite all people to come to Christ, with no conditions except repentance and faith; they command all people to do so (Acts 17:30-31)."  (Russell Moore)

Read the entire article by Russell Moore here

Our Loving Savior

“Let us remember that the eye of our loving Savior is upon us, morning, noon and night. He will never suffer us to be tempted above that we are able to bear. He can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, for He suffered Himself being tempted.  He knows what battles and conflicts are, for He Himself was assaulted by the Prince of this world. Having such a High Priest, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.” J.C.Ryle

Creation Points To God's Glory & Beauty!

Creation points us to God's glory and beauty! The Planet Earth DVD set shows us an appreciation for the wonder that surrounds us, in vivid, high quality detail. I highly recommend it!

Planet Earth

About The Reformed Stooge Brew Of The Month

Our pursuit of Christian liberty, in all areas, must be tempered with caution, care, and sometimes self-denial for the good of our neighbors, ourselves, and ultimately to the glory of God. With respect to alcoholic beverages, we understand that there exist those within the Body of Christ that have strong convictions against the use of alcohol. Therefore, we submit the following declaration regarding the use of alcoholic beverages:

(1) Drunkenness is a sin, period! Therefore we affirm our position that if this is a temptation for someone, then abstinence (or some form of accountability) in this area is highly recommended.

(2) It is essential that we take proactive & aggressive steps in our war on sin. For example, one may decide to have no cable TV in their home....not because it is a sin to enjoy cable TV, but because their flesh may be weak in this area (with respect to how it affects worship).

Even as we possess the liberty to enjoy the good gifts that God has given man, we also need to recognize that these good gifts come with warnings and boundaries in how we are to use and enjoy them. We must learn how to enjoy them as God has intended, or be prepared to give them up for the good of our neighbor and ourselves.

This is equally true with work, money, sex, food, or leisure as it is with drinking wine or beer.

(3) We also believe that Scripture is clear that wine (beer, alcohol) falls into the category of being a good gift from God (Gen. 27:28, Ecl. 9:7; Psalm 104:14-15, Isa 55:1).

(a) We read in 1 Chronicles 12:38-40 how food and drink was part of the celebration banquet that was prepared for David.
(b) In Isaiah 25:6, well-aged wine and rich food are spoken of as part of Isaiah's description of a great banquet that will celebrate God's victory.
(c) We also know that Jesus made wine for a party, drank wine with sinners, and also instituted it's use in the Lord's Supper (Matt. 26:29).

It is a gift that points us to Christ and what He has done for us on the cross. And as such, we do not posses the authority to change any elements of any sacrament. Therefore wine is a blessing and gift given by God, set by boundaries, that is to be enjoyed and received with thanksgiving.

(4) We recommend that the best way to enjoy a glass of wine or a fine beer is to pair them with food and/or enjoy it within the company and fellowship of friends.

(5) We enjoy food & drink from people who have invested their time and talents (via God's Common Grace) into creating and crafting a well done product. The Reformed Brew of the month is our way of sharing particularly good Ales and Wines that we have found to be enjoyable.