Christian Husbands and Fathers Will Be Held Accountable for Leading Their Families in Calvinism’s False Gospel
I see a significant laxness towards doctrinal issues in regard to where one goes to church, especially from husbands, and fathers. “But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD (Joshua 24…
“Godly” Philosophy
Originally published March 14, 2015
I used to be in the camp that views “philosophy” as “worldly”, “man-centered”, “evil”; all of those things as juxtaposed with “Biblical wisdom”, or “scriptural”, or “God’s Wisdom”. After all, it seemed to be a reasonable conclusion when confronted with verses of scripture like:
“Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:” ~ 1 Corinthians 1:20-28
What you choose to believe is a philosophical statement about what you believe about reality. Everyone has a philosophy whether they realize it or not. You cannot escape it. So to say that “philosophy is evil” is really a philosophy itself. It therefore unwittingly becomes its own metaphysical statement about man. If philosophy is evil, then man is evil because man has no relevance apart from his beliefs about reality. It should come as no surprise then that reformed theology holds such a metaphysical view of man with regard to its doctrine of total depravity. But that’s another topic altogether.
It is ironic that I had to get out of the church before I finally began to better understand just what the apostle Paul was addressing here with the Corinthians. Religious despots don’t see themselves as having “worldly wisdom”, but yet they are the very ones that Paul is criticizing. Religious orthodoxy is the epitome of “man’s wisdom”; crafted by the scholars and academics and elites who spend their years in seminary and other institutes of religious training for the so-called “right” that they think they have purchased for themselves in order to rule over the unenlightened.
I have come to realize that the notion of philosophy being evil is nothing more that organized religion’s attempt to keep man beholden to it; to keep him enslaved; to keep him from thinking. Those of us who call ourselves “Christians” must begin to shed this false notion of philosophy. Philosophy deals with things such as reality and the nature of existence. To believe God and what He tells us in His word is our own philosophical statement. It stems from our rational, thinking mind; a mind that is part of a creature made in the very image of God, made for the purpose of thinking and reasoning and coming to rational conclusions. I implore believers everywhere to consider what God Himself has told us: “Come, let us reason together.”
Andy
John Piper’s Vine and Branches Conference: A Synopsis of its Heresy
Originally posted December 14, 2013 “Take note that Calvin is also confirming the Reformed belief that sins in the Christian life separate us from salvation. Therefore, the same repentance and fait…
Source: John Piper’s Vine and Branches Conference: A Synopsis of its Heresy
An Open letter to Roger Goodell from a Former NFL Fan
To Roger Goodell, NFL Commissioner:
I think our culture is losing its mind. In your interview with Matt Lauer, you stated:
“Listen, I support our players speaking out on issues that they think need to be changed in our society. We don’t live in a perfect society, Matt. Our players have strong views about things. So I support our players speaking out against that. But that’s what the focus should be on, the changes he wants to see in our society.”
As commissioner of the NFL, are you really this clueless? I am not sure I am really here right now, but I just want to point out an egregiously obvious reality that is somehow being missed…
…the fans pay your salary. The fans pay for the stadiums. The fans pay the coaches and the trainers. The fans pay the players VERY well. Most fans pay the players more money than they themselves will ever see in their entire lifetimes. And that would be for only one year.
So, you say, “I support our players speaking out on issues…” Um, excuse me; you need to support the fans that pay everybody with their hard-earned money. Have you lost your mind? Consumerism pays the bills for the NFL, not you. Get a grip.
Let me explain a word to you; it’s the word, “venue.” According to the MacMillan dictionary, “The place where an activity or event happens.” And, the activity serves the people who pay the bills and in this case for e-n-t-e-r-t-a-i-n-m-e-n-t.
You see, there is a reason the fans pay to be at a stadium instead of being at home watching Fox News or CNN. NFL TV/Cable royalties come from people tuning in to watch football, not Wolf Blitzer. Let me put it in another context because apparently, this is really complicated. When I go to the Olive Garden restaurant with my wife, I do not expect political commentary from the waiter or waitress. I am paying for a meal, not political commentary—especially political commentary I might disagree with. I am going there to pay for a meal, not political debate.
Furthermore, when someone pays for something specific and gets ambushed with something else, that is a breach of trust and contract. Whatever these self-important individuals want to do on their own time is their own business. If Kaepernick wants to donate money to BLM and participate in their marches etc., more power to him—it’s a free country and that is the proper venue for such. But he doesn’t have the freedom to participate in a breach of contract and still get paid for it. The fans come expecting football, and get ambushed with political commentary.
Why is that ok?
And why is it ok to accuse paying fans of being, for all practical purposes, “good Germans,” and what makes Kaepernick the conscience of a nation? We don’t pay him to be our conscience, we pay him to play football. Because something is wrong with America he doesn’t stand up. Why can’t he do what he is paid to do and stand up because something is right with America? By default, he is accusing paying fans of deliberately ignoring the fact that America isn’t perfect, and deems it his calling to confront them about it in a venue paid for by them.
Why then will he not be a real idealist and simply boycott the venue? Ah, because then he wouldn’t be paid what amounts to the GNP of some countries. Mr. Goodell, why are you allowing yourself to be manipulated by these self-important ideologues?
After watching college football on Saturday I tuned into some Sunday football for the first time this year. It really struck me; it’s just not fun anymore. I watch football to have some fun, some relaxation to balance out the duties I partake in throughout the rest of the week. And, indeed, it is a duty to be politically informed and stand for what is right. But, that is not what defines a life in totality; life is NOT 100% duty. That’s not how we are wired. When the average Joe partakes in entertainment and rest, he does so for purposes of a balanced life.
So, I ask you, what gives these guys the right to invade our respite time with their sanctimonious attitudes? See, when they are done breaching their contract with us and lecturing us about what cowards we are, and accusing us of putting no value on black lives, they go back to their $2,000,000 homes, trophy girlfriends, and fine dining where waiters and waitresses do the job they pay for…with our money.
But don’t make any changes for my sake, I am done with the NFL, it’s just not fun anymore. It is now duty just like everything else in my life while being judged by people who don’t even know me. IF, for example, I am a Donald Trump supporter, I fully expect that I might be called a “deplorable” when I tune into CNN to be informed. Fair enough, that’s the venue. That comes with doing our duty to be informed. But, when I tune into a football game, I don’t expect to be told that everyone who stands for the National Anthem has their head in the sand…that’s just not fun. When I tune in to watch football players play, and instead they tell me they care about people and I don’t because I stand for the National Anthem…that’s just no fun.
I am still a college football fan. Saturday night, I watched the OSU/Oklahoma game. That was a bunch of fun. I got what I expected in that venue.
The NFL is no longer any fun…it’s just more duty, and man does not live by duty alone.
paul
Why The Slandering of My Character Gives Me So Much Joy
Really, I have much to do this morning but another correspondence came in, one of many this week (and the week is yet young), that goes something like this: “I was talking to someone who is warning me about you. What really happened at Clearcreek Chapel? Why did they bring you up on church discipline? Did you commit adultery or something like that? It’s alright if you did, just tell me so I will be ready when people discuss you.”
This is the game played by the Protestant Resurgent Church. Many of the congregants are not fully boiled yet so they can’t be told the elders have God’s very authority and can excommunicate someone for anything deemed sin by them—the cardinal one being; questioning their authority. So, they just excommunicate someone publically for say, not loving his wife like Christ loves the church, whisper: the standard is the perfection of the law, not love.
Therefore, EVERYONE under the condemnation of the law (see, “Protestant”) is guilty of everything under the law all of the time. This is why Mark Dever et al say that you are technically in the discipline batter’s box the day you join the church. You are fodder for discipline at all times, so keep your mouth shut and put your temple tax in the plate. Verily, ahhhhmen.
Hence, this actually makes the elders look gracious as the parishioners are left to their assumptions that the husband did something not even named among the Gentiles. Pretty slick: they look above the fray of gossip while avoiding the truth about the authority they claim and leaving the congregation to their own imaginations resulting in the ultimate character assassination. That’s a lot of heavy work accomplished in one sitting. Perhaps we should complement their efficiency.
But this is all good news for me, and I write this post full of joy. Please, if you have heard something bad about me, do share. I know that it goes on a lot behind closed doors, but how is one to be encouraged if you only talk of him secretly? Look, I know that your bundle of encouragement probably pales to what is out there, viz, I tried to murder the Clearcreek elders, I committed adultery, I moved to Indiana to hide from the IRS (this accusation was presented by an elder that owed the IRS over $100,000 and had his assets frozen), I am a drunkard, I abandoned my family, presumably with my mistress and left no forwarding address or money to live on, etc., etc., etc., but do tell anyway. Just ask the guy who shared last week by telephone how hard I was laughing.
The Bible states plainly that laughter is good for the bones. Why deprive me of such joy? When I began this ministry, it was founded on my first morsel of truth obtained as a recovering Protestant: the Spirit only uses truth, and eventually, the hammer of truth will start making a dent. Seek truth, truth, truth, and leave the results to the Spirit. This is what kept me going when only 20 people were coming to my blog per day. The standard was one, so 20 was pretty good to me. Since then, views range from 150 to 800, and we have hit 2000 on at least one day. We still haven’t figured out what the trends are, but the higher numbers used to be event-driven, but that is no longer the case. BUT…NOTHING spells e-f-f-e-c-t-i-v-e-n-e-s-s like slander. I will take the slander over numbers any day.
Nevertheless, let me make the vetting of these various and sundry accusations very simple. Several formidable evangelicals who know the Clearcreek Chapel elders personally not only fellowshipped with me after the fact, but invited me to participate in their ministries. Why? They know the discipline was totally bogus. One of these men, a former associate pastor at Clearcreek Chapel, even tried to get Peacemaker Ministries involved in the situation. In addition, and again, after the fact, some of these ministries shared very sensitive inside information with me concerning ACBC (Association of Certified Biblical Counselors) that would be gut-wrenching if made public. That clearly speaks to trust.
So obviously, it doesn’t add up. But, I can go public with this stuff at any given time. However, again, this wouldn’t be nearly as satisfying as the slander.
Slander is confirmation that truth is a big problem for them. Nothing is more satisfying than to see the wild animals of falsehood cornered with the truth and lashing out in desperation.
paul
Paul's Passing Thoughts 
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