An Athiest on evangelism

Pyromaniacs: Penn Jillette on Evangelism



This would be a far better training video for Christians than any 3 month FAITH curriculum. And it is also a stinging rebuke.

Reaction to J316C: Read the Comments!

Founders Ministries Blog: SBC and Calvinism: Three events that widened the divide

Because there is never a dull momnt when it comes to the debate over Calvinism in the SBC, take a moment to read the article linked above at the Founders Ministry Blog. Pay close attention to the comments section as there are many interesting arguments developing in that section.

Also, read blog posts by both Phil Johnson at TeamPyro and James White at Prosapologian. Each has some helpful insight and clarification of their stance on hypercalvinism and particular redemption.

Test

This is a test to see if I can even create a post.

Walking According to the Spirit.

Romans 8:1-6

"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by flesh, could not do. By sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

Lord, let me daily set my mind on the things of the Spirit. Renew my mind daily with Your word and your Spirit that I may dwell--no matter what the circumstances I find myself in--in life and peace. Create in me a clean heart Lord. Teach me Your ways.

The Power of the Cross - beautiful song

Devotion: Psalm 19

The Law of the Lord Is Perfect

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

1The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above [fn1] proclaims his handiwork.
2Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.
3There is no speech, nor are there words,
whose voice is not heard.
4Their measuring line [fn2] goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.
In them he has set a tent for the sun,
5which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,
and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
6Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
and its circuit to the end of them,
and there is nothing hidden from its heat.

7The law of the Lord is perfect, [fn3]
reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure,
making wise the simple;
8the precepts of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is pure,
enlightening the eyes;
9the fear of the Lord is clean,
enduring forever;
the rules of the Lord are true,
and righteous altogether.
10More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
and drippings of the honeycomb.
11Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.

12Who can discern his errors?
Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
13Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins;
let them not have dominion over me!
Then I shall be blameless,
and innocent of great transgression.

14Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in your sight,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

And I sing with David, Lord, Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Is not the Word of God like a mirror to the soul? It cuts through the facade and reveals how sinful the words of our mouth and the very thoughts of our heart really are. This reminds me of the words of the hymn: guilty vile and helpless we; spotless lamb of God was he. Full atonement can it be? Halleluja! What a savior.

Great Sermon by Phil Johnson on "Cheap Imitations of Love" Ephesians 5:3-7

Click here for the list of sermons and then click on 2008-07-27am-PJ

I love to listen to Phil Johnson preach. You may know him from the Pyromaniacs blog or from his site dedicated to Spurgeon--The Spurgeon Archive.

This sermon was on the following verses:

Eph 5:3	But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints.
Eph 5:4	Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.
Eph 5:5	For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
Eph 5:6	Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
Eph 5:7	Therefore do not associate with them;

I have to admit that this sermon was delivered on my birthday and I think Phil must have had me on his heart when he preached it. It is a poweful sermon that is bold enough to state unequivocally that if you claim to be a Christian and you are sexually impure or immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, then you are probably not really saved. For those of us who use foul language and find it okay to be in the company of those who do so and who also throw around filthy jokes, Phil exhorts us to realize that this is a biblical mandate to stop and reconsider what we are doing. Paul says we shouldn't even have these things named among us. Needless to say, Phil hits on television, movies, language in the curch and from the pulpit and many other relevant topics. It takes about an hour, but it is well worth the time. I encourage you to start with that one and then work back through the long list of sermons. Then bookmark the site for future sermons.

Interesting article on "Shacking Up" in America

Dr. Albert Mohler has an interesting article on his blog today about the percentages of heterosexual couples who live together without getting married. Dr. Mohler writes, "The U.S. Census Bureau has just reported that cohabitation among
heterosexual couples has hit record numbers as living together -- as
opposed to getting married -- becomes more and more mainstream." He goes on to explain that the article is misleading because it shows that only 10% of Americans are actually "shacking up," proving that marriage is still mainstream for 90% of heterosexual couples.

While I think Dr. Mohler makes a good point, I am still disturbed by the trend. This article started me thinking about the television shows that I regularly watch. Just the other night I watched The Closer on TBS and realized that I had no problem watching the star of the show and her boyfriend/fiancee live together--and all the things that entails. How about Rules of Engagement? This sitcom is about a young enagaged couple who live together down the hall from a married couple. Even on Everybody Loves Raymond reruns you can find Robert living in the same apartment with his girlfriend Amy before they are married.

My point is this. It seems that the more we see this type of behavior in front of us on television or know people who are our friends who live this way that seem to be decent people, the more we come to accept that this is just a normal part of life. The message being sent to our children is that there really is no need to rush into marriage. Just find someone and live with them and eventually you can get married if you want.

What I am not saying is that we should make this an issue for the next election. I was listening to Alistair Begg on the way to work yesterday as he preached on the Kingdom of God. He was discussing the difference between the World and The Kingdom. He kept reminding me that it is not our job as Christians to make the World into a paradise on earth. It is not our job to find what unites us to other religions in morality--issues like marriage and abortion--and then to come together in some false unity. He reminded me that my citizenship is of God's Kingdom and I am just a visitor here. It is my job to ceaslesly point out the difference between the Kingdom and the World--Jesus Christ. My point is to encourage others with membership in the Kingdom of God to fix their eyes on heavenly things--I am now talking to myself. It is time to turn off the television and stop letting the way the world believes and lives infiltrate my mind as normal or right. Any thoughts?

New Name, New Design

So, it has been way to long since my last post and way to long between posts. I have revamped the blog a tad with a new name. Sorry if it makes no sense. My brother is joining me on the blog--or so I hope--in order to add a little more content and our last name is Wall. I used the word "wall" from Ephesians 2:14 to come up with the title.

I will try to post at least twice a week from now on, but I can't promise these will be worth anything. I just moved up to teaching 12th grade English and an introduction to Drama. I will be trying to put a curriculum plan together for the next week. On top of that, I am an assistant coach for football this year and we are already reporting for practice. So, I will do my best.

For those who care--insert cricket noise here--I am a reformed baptist and you can expect the same viewpoints on reformed doctrine from my brother. We are by no means experts, but why not contribute to the blogosphog of meaningless noise.

Thoughts on Carlin's Passing

I had my own thoughts about the death of comedian George Carlin yesterday, but reading this post by Dan Phillips over at the Pyromaniacs blog made me want to put it in writing.

Needless to say, if you are older than 20 or so, you know who George Carlin is. If you have ever listened to any of his material, then you know that he liked to observe the world. Unfortunately, his observations were all too often filled with profanity and the obscenely vulgar. I know. I know. We live in a world that says, "so what." We live in a world that would rather hear the F bomb dropped into a conversation. Somehow it seems funnier that way. Sadly, in the wake of Tim Russert's death and beatification in the media, it seems that Carlin is next. This man that saw little good in the world and always the bad was touted on every news channel I came across--from ABC to ESPN. I couldn't even find out who won the CWS game last night without first hearing what an impact Carlin had on sports. Really? What did this man do to earn so noble a gesture upon his death? I can think of very little. What does this say about what we have become as a society? I digress.

Conviction in two minutes

I watched this video from Desiring God (John Piper) this morning and was convicted. I think there are things I have placed above Christ and it is time I take stock. You?