Christmas, Christ, and the Cross

First let me say sorry to my brother Gary. I have to repost the GoFish youtube. There is no song I know of that better expresses what Christmas is about.

As you wake up tomorrow and look at the tree with all the gifts underneath it, THINK! The gifts, the tree, and all this snow is not what Christmas is about. We are sinful people. We always seem to try and mess up everything. God has done a gracious and glorious thing by sending His Son to redeem wretched sinners. What do we do, but turn the celebration of the birth of Christ into a greedy celebration focused on ourselves and what we can get from others. May God open are eyes, for He will not be robbed of His glory. So before you open up your gifts tomorrow, praise God for Christ. Praise Him that He has been so gracious to us who deserve hell. Repent and Trust in Christ, and celebrate His birth tomorrow. Give Him the glory. Thank you Lord Jesus. Amen.




Isaiah 53
The Suffering Servant
1Who has believed our message?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,
And like a root out of parched ground;
He has no stately form or majesty
That we should look upon Him,
Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.
3He was despised and forsaken of men,
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
And like one from whom men hide their face
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
4Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
5But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.
6All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him.
7He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He did not open His mouth;
Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,
And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
So He did not open His mouth.
8By oppression and judgment He was taken away;
And as for His generation, who considered
That He was cut off out of the land of the living
For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?
9His grave was assigned with wicked men,
Yet He was with a rich man in His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.
10But the LORD was pleased
To crush Him, putting Him to grief;
If He would render Himself as a guilt offering,
He will see His offspring,
He will prolong His days,
And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.
11As a result of the anguish of His soul,
He will see it and be satisfied;
By His knowledge the Righteous One,
My Servant, will justify the many,
As He will bear their iniquities.
12Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great,
And He will divide the booty with the strong;
Because He poured out Himself to death,
And was numbered with the transgressors;
Yet He Himself bore the sin of many,
And interceded for the transgressors.

The New Testament Project

Hey all... Starting in January we will be doing a Bible study of the whole New Testament. This is the basic concept. We will begin in the gospel of Matthew. We will be reading the first seven chapters every night for the month of January. Then in February we will be moving on to the next seven chapters. We will continue to do this until we complete the whole New Testament. This excursion should take us about 2 1/2 years, and it will be well worth it. Repetition is one of the best ways for us to retain stuff. Knowing God's Word is the Christian's best defense. So join us. Go to aneartlysanctuary.blogspot.com to sign up. We will have a blog site set up for accountability and discussion. This site is thenewtestamentproject.wordpress.com
So let us study together to show ourselves approved. God bless!!

What Happened to Preaching Like This?

Thank you Lord. Thank You for Your righteousness, for Your holiness, for Your goodness. You and You alone are good. We thank You for Your grace to still send laborers out into the harvest. We thank You for the revelation of Your Word. May it continue to break people, and we know it shall accomplish what You set it forth to do. Thank You Father for sending Christ. Amen.



Psalm 53:1b-3

1b. There is none who does good.
2.God looks down from heaven upon the children of men,
To see if there are any who understand, who seek God.
3.Every one of them has turned aside;
They have together become corrupt;
There is none who does good,
No, not one.

Don't Forget to Celebrate Merry Tossmas

These videos are great. Do you get any catalogs wishing you a happy holiday, well then you should celebrate Merry Tossmas!! The first video is last years version, the second video is this years updated version. God bless and Merry Christmas!!

The Shack

I'm reposting this from a friends blog (Diakoneo). It's a video clip of Michael Youssef on the heresies of the book The Shack. If you attend church you've heard about this book, either people warning you about it, or people telling you how great a book it is and how you should read it. LISTEN TO THOSE WHO ARE WARNING YOU!! Pray for discernment, this is one of the things that must be in the Christian's prayers. There is so much deceiving stuff out there, and the Bible is clear that Satan can come as an angel of light. So don't be deceived, The Shack is heretical and very deceptive.

A Psalm For Thanksgiving

PSALM 100
1 Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Serve the LORD with gladness;
Come before Him with joyful singing.
3Know that the LORD Himself is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
4Enter His gates with thanksgiving
And His courts with praise
Give thanks to Him, bless His name.
5For the LORD is good;
His lovingkindness is everlasting
And His faithfulness to all generations.

How to Defeat Calvinism

The Gospel Proclaimed by Shai Linne

Christ In Our Place

For when we were still withouth strength, in due time CHRIST died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But GOD demonstates HIS own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, CHRIST DIED for us. Much more then having now been justified by HIS BLOOD, we shall be SAVED FROM WRATH through HIM.

For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to GOD through the death of HIS SON, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by HIS LIFE. And not only that, but we also rejoice in GOD through our LORD JESUS CHRIST, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

ROMANS 5:6-11

RUN, and Come and He will set you free!

These are two great videos. The first (RUN!) is a clip of a sermon by Pastor Carter Conlon. This sermon was preached a week after September 11, 2001 at a Manhattan Church. Will we run toward the fire and pull them out of the fire.



The second video is a clip of a sermon by Paris Reidhead. A great and powerful preacher by God's grace. Christian, always remember you have been paid for with a tremendous price and you are now free! Will you now lay your life down and become a slave for the Lord Jesus Christ? God bless!!

Does the 501 (c)at (3) got the church's tongue.

This is something that has been on my mind a lot lately. Many Christians nowadays continue to complain how this government is taking our rights away. We can no longer have prayer in schools, no nativity scenes on public property, and pastors can't promote political candidates from the pulpit. The pulpit is for one use and one use only, to preach the Word. But to say that a pastor cannot speak his mind on a political issue when it needs a Biblical response is ludicrous. Here is the question though. Are our rights being taken from us or did we give them away. I believe that when the church agreed to take a 501 (c)(3) tax exempt status, we gave our rights away. This was a compromise with the world. We keep our mouth shuts in the public square, and we get a tax break. I think this was not only a bad move on the church's part, but also I believe it is unbiblical.

First we are not to compromise the Word and it's demands, for financial comfort. In Matthew 22:15-22 we see the pharisees asking Jesus a question. "Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?". Jesus asked them to show them a coin and tell him whose image was on the coin(Caesars). He told them to render on to Caesar what is Caesar and to God what is God's. Jesus told us to pay the tax and continue to serve God. He didn't tell them to make a compromise with Caesar, and to keep quiet. Also in Matthew 17:24-27. Jesus explains to Peter why we should pay the temple tax. He tells Peter lest we offend them, we will pay them the tax. Church our job is to preach the gospel in the public square. The gospel is offensive to those who are perishing. We need not any other thing to offend the lost, and get in the way of the gospel. Are we so worried about money? Do we not know that if we are doing the will of the Father He will provide? His will is for us to go and preach the gospel. If you read Matthew 17:24-27 you will find that Jesus provided the coin to pay the temple tax. He told Peter to go out and fish and take the first one that comes up and there will be a coin in the fish's mouth. We need to go and be fishers of men and Jesus will provide what we need. Stop relying on the government church and start relying on the Lord. Click Here for a great sermon by R.C. Sproul that touches on this.

A Vote for Obama will lead to innocent babies being killed.

You can continue to cover your eyes and act as if your blind, or plug your ears and act as if your deaf. If you cast your vote on Tuesday for Obama, you are voting for someone who thinks the killing of innocent babies is okay. God sees all things. Open your eyes America!! This is the greatest genocide to ever happen on our planet. The holocaust has nothing on the genocide going on in America. We have killed over 50 million babies since the late 60's. Abortions are now up to over 6000 a day. May God have mercy on this country.



There is hope, and it can only be found in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We need to look at ourselves in truth. Look at the Ten Commandments. Have you ever lied(the Bible says all liars will have their part in the lake of fire), have you ever stolen anything, have you ever looked at a person with lust(sexual desire) Jesus said this would be committing adultery in your heart. Have you ever used God's name in vain? This is called blaspheme and it is when we take God's name, the one who gave us life and everything we have, and we use His name as a four letter filth word. Have you ever murdered someone? Jesus said if you hate your brother then you've committed murder in your heart. Abortion is murder, no matter if we want to make it sound better by calling it Pro-choice, it is the choice to murder an innocent child or not too. The Bible says that no theif, adulterer, blasphemer, or murderer will inherit the kingdom of God. If we are guilty of breaking the law, this would make us law breakers. The Bible makes it clear that the penalty for being a law breaker(sinner) is Hell for eternity, where there will be weeping, knashing of teeth, and forever torment. That's the bad news, but there is good news. Gospel actually means good news. 2000 years ago God stepped off His throne and became a man, born from a virgin. He lived a perfect sinless life like no one ever has. His name was Jesus Christ. He then went on the cross willingly. The Bible says that God showed His love towards us in while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Then three days later He rose from the grave defeating death. He who knew no sin became sin so that we may become righteous before God. A civil transaction was taking place on the cross. You broke the law, but Jesus stepped in and paid your fine. The Bible says you must REPENT(turn from you sin) and TRUST in JESUS ALONE for your eternal salvation. There is nothing more important. The Gospel of Christ is the only hope. Get a Bible and read and obey it. God bless!!

Why I Can't Vote for Obama by Huntley Brown

I am reposting this blog from Ray Comforts blog. This is very truth telling, and these are reason why I can't vote for Obama. God bless.

Why I Can't Vote For Obama
By Huntley Brown

First I must say whoever wins the election will have my prayer support. Obama needs to be commended for his accomplishments but I need to explain why I will not be voting for him.


Many of my friends process their identity through their blackness. I process my identity through Christ. Being a Christian (a Christ follower) means He leads I follow. I can't dictate the terms He does because He is the leader.


I can't vote black because I am black; I have to vote Christian because that's who I am. Christian first, black second. Neither should anyone from the other ethnic groups vote because of ethnicity. 200 years from now I won't be asked if I was black or white. I will be asked if I knew Jesus and accepted Him as Lord and Savior.


In an election there are many issues to consider but when a society gets abortion, same-sex marriage, embryonic stem-cell research, human cloning to name a few, wrong economic concerns will soon not matter.


We need to follow Martin Luther King's words, don't judge someone by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I don't know

Obama so all I can go off is his voting record. His voting record earned him the title of the most liberal senator in the US Senate in 2007.


NATIONAL JOURNAL: Obama: Most Liberal Senator in 2007 (01/31/2008)

To beat Ted Kennedy and Hillary Clinton as the most liberal senator, takes some doing. Obama accomplished this feat in 2 short years. I wonder what would happen to America if he had four years to work with.


There is a reason Planned Parenthood gives him a 100% rating. There is a reason the homosexual community supports him. There is a reason Ahmadinejad, Chavez, Castro, Hamas etc. love him. There is a reason he said he would nominate liberal judges to the Supreme Court. There is a reason he voted against the infanticide bill. There is a reason he voted No on the constitutional ban of same-sex marriage. There is a reason he voted No on banning partial birth abortion. There is a reason he voted No on confirming Justices Roberts and Alito. These two judges are conservatives and they have since overturned partial birth abortion. The same practice Obama wanted to continue.


Let's take a look at the practice he wanted to continue

The 5 Step Partial Birth Abortion procedures:

A. Guided by ultrasound, the abortionist grabs the baby's leg with forceps.
(Remember this is a live baby)
B. The baby's leg is pulled out into the birth canal.

C. The abortionist delivers the baby's entire body, except for the head.

D. The abortionist jams scissors into the baby's skull. The scissors are then opened to enlarge the hole.

E. The scissors are removed and a suction catheter is inserted. The child's brains are sucked out, causing the skull to collapse. The dead baby is then removed.


God help him. There is a reason Obama opposed the parental notification law.


Think about this: You can't give a kid an aspirin without parental notification but that same kid can have an abortion without parental notification. This is insane.


There is a reason he went to Jeremiah Wright's church for 20 years.


Obama tells us he has good judgment but he sat under Jeremiah Wright teaching for 20 years. Now he is condemning Wright's sermons.
I wonder why now?

Obama said Jeremiah Wright led him to the Lord and discipled him. A disciple is one in training. Jesus told us in Matthew 28:19 - 20 "Go and make disciples of all nations." This means reproduce yourself. Teach people to think like you, walk like you; talk like you believe what you believe etc.
The question I have is what did Jeremiah Wright teach him?

Would you support a White President who went to a church which has tenets that said they have a ...

1.
Commitment to the White Community
2.
Commitment to the White Family
3.
Adherence to the White Work Ethic
4. Pledge to make the fruits of all developing and acquired skills available to the White Community.

5.
Pledge to Allocate Regularly, a Portion of Personal Resources for Strengthening and Supporting White Institutions
6.
Pledge allegiance to all White leadership who espouse and embrace the White Value System
7. Personal commitment to embracement of the White Value System.


Would you support a President who went to a church like that?

Just change the word from white to black and you have the tenets of Obama's former church. If President Bush was a member of a church like this, he would be called a racist. Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton would have been marching outside.


This kind of church is a racist church. Obama did not wake up after 20 years and just discovered he went to a racist church. The church can't be about race. Jesus did not come for any particular race. He came for the whole world.


A church can't have a value system based on race. The churches value system has to be based on biblical mandate. It does not matter if itʼs a white church or a black church it's still wrong. Anyone from either race that attends a church like this would never get my vote.


Obama's former Pastor Jeremiah Wright is a disciple of liberal theologian James Cone, author of the 1970 book A Black Theology of Liberation. Cone once wrote: "Black theology refuses to accept a God who is not identified totally with the goals of the black community. If God is not for us and against white people, then he is a murderer, and we had better kill him.


Cone is the man Obama's mentor looks up to.
Does Obama believe this?

So what does all this mean for the nation?

In the past when the Lord brought someone with the beliefs of Obama to lead a nation it meant one thing - judgment.


Read 1 Samuel 8 when Israel asked for a king. First God says in 1 Samuel 1:9 "Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do.
"

Then God says

1 Samuel 1:18 " When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day." 19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. "No!" they said. "We want a king over us. 20 Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles." 21 When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD. 22 The LORD answered, "Listen to them and give them a king.
"

Here is what we know for sure.


God is not schizophrenic

He would not tell one person to vote for Obama and one to vote for McCain. As the scripture says, a city divided against itself cannot stand, so obviously many people are not hearing from God.


Maybe I am the one not hearing but I know God does not change and Obama contradicts many things I read in scripture so I doubt it.


For all my friends who are voting for Obama can you really look God in the face and say; Father based on your word, I am voting for Obama even though I know he will continue the genocidal practice of partial birth abortion. He might have to nominate three or four Supreme Court justices, and I am sure he will be nominating liberal judges who will be making laws that are against you. I also know he will continue to push for homosexual rights, even though you destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for this. I know I can look the other way because of the economy.


I could not see Jesus agreeing with many of Obama's positions. Finally I have two questions for all my liberal friends.


Since we know someone's value system has to be placed on the nation,

1. Whose value system should be placed on the nation.


2.
Who should determine that this is the right value system for the nation?

Blessings, Huntley Brown

Happy Reformation Day!!

Well most people know October 31 as halloween, but those who know anything of church history know that this is the day that Martin Luther nailed the 95 thesis to a door starting the reformation. This is the day the protestant church started. It is called the protestant church because it was a protest against the catholic church. Martin Luther rediscovered the doctrine of justification by faith. Then devoted his life to preaching the Gospel. Well it has now been turned into a holiday where kids go from door to door asking for candy. Usually it would be my job as a christian to go to people and preach the Gospel, but this is the one reason I love halloween. People come to me. I pass out candy to the kids, but also every kid gets a Gospel tract. They love it. A lot of the kids this year were pulling out there million dollar bill tract as they walked away, looking at it with amazement. So if you've never done this before, be prepared next year. Get some candy and get some tracts and pray to God that many seeds would be planted. May He receive all the glory.

How Do You Know Your Saved?

This is a very important question. I would say this is the most important question you could ever ask yourself. Most people who would profess to be christians would say because they believe, or that they asked Jesus to come into their heart. Do you have to have some kind of feeling to know your saved? Is salvation based on some sort of emotion? Did you know that you can find nowhere in scripture where it tells you to accept Jesus into your heart? Scripture says in 2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourself as to wheter you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Are you trusting in a prayer you said or something you did, or are you trusting in Christ's finished work on the cross? Scirpture says in 1John 5:13 that you may know that you have eternal life. Do you have assurance? Do you know your saved? Please watch this video clip, Paul Washer will ask you to examine yourself.

So Be it Lord

Jeremiah 11:1-6
1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 2 “Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem; 3 and say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD God of Israel: “Cursed is the man who does not obey the words of this covenant 4 which I commanded your fathers in the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and do according to all that I command you; so shall you be My people, and I will be your God,’ 5 that I may establish the oath which I have sworn to your fathers, to give them ‘a land flowing with milk and honey,’ as it is this day.”And I answered and said, “So be it, LORD.” 6 Then the LORD said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying: ‘Hear the words of this covenant and do them.

The question is will be like Jeremiah? The Lord has told us to go to all the world and to proclaim the gospel to every creature. We need ask the Lord for boldness to be like Jeremiah to go into the cities and the streets to reach people. There are so many people in the world who will never walk into a church. That is why the Lord told us to go, He didn't tell us to stay and to wait for them to come. Do what ever you can. Pass out tracts, talk to people, or open air preach. Whatever you do make sure your doing something for the Kingdom of God. Be like Jeremiah and answer His call with "So be it Lord."