Meadows

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Maturity in Essentials and Non-Essentials

By Pastor John Samson

“In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; and in all things, charity.” – Augustine

Doctrine divides! It divides truth from error. It divides the true teacher from the false teacher; the spirit of truth from the spirit of error; and the true Christ from the Anti-Christ.

In the Church, Christians hold differing views about important, yet non-essential matters. Let me explain. There are doctrines in the Bible that while very important, are not essential to salvation. For instance, whether or not someone believes in the baptism of infants or whether or not God still heals today, I think are important issues; yet, what someone believes about these is not essential to someone being included or excluded from the kingdom of God. Someone is not a “false teacher” who takes a different position on these issues. The same is true for doctrines such as whether someone is “pre-trib,” “mid-trib,” or “post-trib” in their belief about the end times, or for those who take different positions on the millennnium – “a”, “pre” or “post.” Sincere, godly, dedicated believers believe different things about these issues, but it does not mean that one person is saved and another damned because they have a different view.

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Thundering Truth !!

“The old truth that Calvin preached, that Augustine preached, that Paul preached, is the truth that I must preach today, or else be false to my conscience and my God. I cannot shape the truth; I know of no such……thing as paring off the rough edges of a doctrine. John Knox’s gospel is my gospel. That which thundered through Scotland must thunder through England again.” ~Charles H. Spurgeon

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The Thrill of the Bungee Jump

This is an absolutely excellent post done  From Ray Comforts blog

It hit a real nerve with me  !!! I do hope it does for our dear readers here too – God bless.

Comfort Food
Read the Bible in a year: Genesis 25-26, Psalm 31, Matthew 16

I watched a video clip of a bungee jumper recently, whose cord looped around his neck. He was more than likely already dead when his friends were calling for him to take the noose off his neck and to lift his knees. This came hard on the heels of a shallow-thinking woman who jumped off a bridge in South Africa. Continue reading →

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A “Call to Discernment” (registration now open) – Justin Peters

July, 7th 2012

10:00 am – 5:00 pm

This is a 1 day seminar titled “a call to discernment” presented by Justin Peters of Justin Peters Ministries (sadly his hyperlink is blocked by Facebook so we recommend that you just google Justin Peters Ministries for his website).

The seminar presents the dangerous and false doctrines of the “word of faith” movement and “prosperity gospel” sweeping through the modern church. Justin is a genuine brother in Christ and presents a solid Biblical and Gospel-centered presentation on the origins, implications and the non-Biblical nature of this very popular false teaching.

Other speakers include:

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Worthy Examples To The World

From Strength for Today by John MacArthur

“Let love of the brethren continue.” – Hebrews 13:1

To be a testimony to the world, Christians need to live what they profess.

The nineteenth-century preacher Alexander Maclaren once said, “The world takes its notion of God most of all from those who say they belong to God’s family. They read us a great deal more than they read the Bible. They see us; they only hear about Jesus Christ.” Sound biblical doctrine, as important a foundation as it is, is inadequate by itself to influence the world toward Christ’s gospel.

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Christ Exalted

Jonathan Edwards

Christ Exalted
Or
JESUS CHRIST GLORIOUSLY EXALTED ABOVE ALL EVIL IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION

Dated August 1738. Lecture.

1 Corinthians 15:25, 26
For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed, is death.

Subject: Our Lord Jesus Christ in the work of redemption gloriously appears above all evil.

THE apostle in this chapter particularly opposes some among the Christian Corinthians who denied the resurrection of the dead and infested the church with their doctrine. There were two sorts of persons in that age who were especially great opposers of the doctrine of the resurrection. One among the Jews were the Sadducees, of whom we read, Acts 23:8. For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, either angel or spirit. And we have the same account in other places. Among the heathen that were the chief opposers of this doctrine were their philosophers. The doctrine of the resurrection of the dead was not consistent with their philosophy, by the principles of which, it was impossible that one who was deprived of the habit of life, would ever receive it again. And therefore they ridiculed the doctrine when the apostle preached it among them at Athens. (Acts 17) Probably the church at Corinth received this corruption from the philosophers, and not the Sadducees. For Corinth was near to Athens, and the place of the chief resort of the philosophers of Greece.

The apostle, in opposing this error, first insists on Christ’s resurrection from the dead, and next on the resurrection of all the saints at the end of the world. And in the verses next before the text, shows how both are connected, or that one arises or follows from the other. And then adds, “then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule, and all authority, and power. For he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” Observe,

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Beth Moore recommends “JESUS CALLING” Book Claiming Direct Divine Revelation !

By

on Dec 21, 2011

The largely pretending to be Protestant evangelical community continues its pilgrimage back to the legalistic spiritual bondage of apostate Roman Catholicism and its evil author the Church of Rome.

As an online apologetics and discernment work Apprising Ministries does what we can to document this woeful walk away from the truths recaptured during the Lord’s Reformation.

How sad He must be to see James Robison And Rick Warren Working To Reverse The Protestant Reformation. Bottom line is this: If sinful ecumenicists like Robison and Warren are right, then the Reformers were wrong.

Beyond question Southern Baptist Bible teacher Beth Moore still remains enormously popular within today’s anything goes evanjellyfish.

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WELCOME !! We hope you like the new look

Ephesians 2:8-9

Amplified Bible (AMP)

8For it is by free grace (God’s unmerited favor) that you are saved ([a]delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God;
9Not because of works [not the fulfillment of the Law’s demands], lest any man should boast. [It is not the result of what anyone can possibly do, so no one can pride himself in it or take glory to himself.]

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Note to our Valued Readers, Bothers and Sisters

As you can see we changed the look and we would love your valued opinions. Please feel free to tell us if you like the new look in the comments section  🙂

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Who Were the Magi?

Bible Q & A With John MacArthur

Few biblical stories are as well known, yet so clouded by myth and tradition, as that of the magi, or wise men, mentioned by Matthew. During the Middle Ages legend developed that they were kings, that they were three in number, and that their names were Casper, Balthazar, and Melchior. Because they were thought to represent the three sons of Noah, one of them is often pictured as an Ethiopian. A twelfth-century bishop of Cologne even claimed to have found their skulls.

The only legitimate facts we know about these particular magi are the few given by Matthew in the first twelve verses of chapter 2. We are not told their number, their names, their means of transportation to Palestine, or the specific country or countries from which they came. The fact that they came from the east would have been assumed by most people in New Testament times, because the magi were primarily known as the priestly-political class of the Parthians-who lived to the east of Palestine.

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The Certainty of Judgment

John MacArthur – Grace to You

“If the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?” (Heb. 2:2-3).

Today the majority believes that God is a God of love and grace, but not of justice. One brief look at Hebrews 2:2-3 ought to convince anyone otherwise. The writer’s point is this: Since the Old Testament makes it clear that transgression and disobedience met with severe and just punishment, how much more so will equal or greater punishment be rendered under the New Testament, which was revealed by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself?

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Six Ways Satan Is Stealing Christmas

John MacArthur – Grace to You

Selected Scriptures December 21, 2009

Six Ways Satan is Stealing ChristmasThe majority of people in the world will miss the next Christmas. But how can that be? How can anyone miss Christmas, given the amount of advertising, publicity, and promotion the holiday receives each year? Because although many celebrate Christmas every year, most don’t know what it’s about. In spite of all the media promotion of Christmas, the majority of people will miss it because it has become so obscured.

For those of us who know and love the Lord Jesus Christ, Christmas is a time to focus on His birth. But even we can get caught up in the swirl of activity around Christmastime and can miss it in a practical sense. Satan has so cluttered the Christian concept of Christmas with such needless paraphernalia that its true meaning is easily lost.

A Brief History of Christmas

Most scholars doubt that December 25 th is the true date of Christ’s birth. There is no biblical support for it, and some against it. That date was decided upon by the church in Rome in the fourth century. They had a specific reason for doing so.

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John Calvin’s , Christmas Observance

By Bob Vincent

Many people who profess to be Calvinists are surprised to learn that while John Calvin was opposed to the bad things that have sometimes come to be associated with Christmas, he wasn’t against keeping the holiday as a celebration of the birth of Christ and saw it as a matter of liberty for the churches and the individual.

We can gain insight into Calvin’s views by reading two letters, one written on January 2, 1551; the other in March of 1555.  The relevant portions are below, followed by the full contents of both letters.  One may observe that Calvin’s understanding of the Regulative Principle of Worship is not so much focused on the kind of uniform, narrowly limited kind of worship that came to be the legacy of Puritanism, but on protecting the liberty of local congregations and individuals.  One must never forget that liberty of conscience, under the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ speaking in the Scripture, is a fundamental of fundamentals for John Calvin.

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The Truth of the Nativity

John MacArthur – Grace to You

The story of the first Christmas is so beloved that singers and storytellers across the centuries have embellished and elaborated and mythologized the story in celebration. However, most people now don’t know which details are biblical and which are fabricated. People usually imagine the manger scene with snow, singing angels, many worshipers, and a little drummer boy. None of that is found in the biblical account.

Christmas has become the product of an odd mixture of pagan ideas, superstition, fanciful legends, and plain ignorance. Add to that the commercialization of Christmas by marketers and the politicization of Christmas in the culture wars, and you’re left with one big mess. Let’s try to sort it out. The place to begin is in God’s Word, the Bible. Here we find not only the source of the original account of Christmas, but also God’s commentary on it.

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Charismatic Chaos – John MacArthur

Charismatic Chaos Part 1

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Exaltation Follows Humility

From – Strength for Today – John MacArthur

“Therefore also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” – Philippians 2:9-11

God will exalt the humble.

Having plumbed the depths of Christ’s humiliation (Phil. 2:5-8), Paul now soars to the heights of His exaltation (vv. 9-11). Like Paul, the apostle Peter affirmed that the great theme of Old Testament prophecy was the sufferings of Christ and the glory to follow (1 Peter 1:11). Regarding Christ, the writer of Hebrews says that “for the joy set before Him [He] endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2). Christ understood His sufferings in light of His exaltation.

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