Nate Pickowicz's Blog, page 7

The Daily Discovery (October 25, 2016)

ARTICLES I LIKE FROM AROUND THE WEB:

(Click title to go to full article)

That’s Not Jesus Calling – “By now it is unlikely that you have not heard of Jesus Calling. That book—a daily devotional by Sarah Young—has sold more than 15 million copies, along with several sequels, children’s storybooks, and mobile apps. Today the Christian world is thoroughly saturated with Young’s writing, as her little devotional has exploded into a phenomenal success. However, I wouldn’t call it unprecedented success. Christian publishers excel at creating these types of fads. Like its predecessors The Prayer of Jabez and The Purpose-Driven Life, Jesus Calling has managed to find the sweet spot of mass appeal: man-centeredness.”

Is the Pope Catholic – “You’ve got to admire Pope Benedict XVI for knowing how to quit while you’re ahead. As far as climbing the corporate ladder goes, getting the keys to the kingdom and the company Popemobile is a sign you’ve maxed out your promotability. An ironic flavor or the ‘Peter principle.’ The responsibility of being infallible is a burden no octogenarian should have to bear for long. When you’re getting on in years, and noticing an increased frequency in “senior moments” you don’t want to have to invoke St Anthony to help locate your misplaced keys.”

Ecclesiology and Missiology – Why The Whole Church Should Study Missions – “Yesterday, our church began a series of messages entitled “Missions and the Church.” Our church is in its third year and we are continually trying to lay a solid foundation. We aim to shape the direction of our ministry by biblical principles at the outset of the church, and then review these same principles regularly so long as we are able. With that in mind, and with a little prompting from Romans 10:14-17 in our ongoing study of Romans, our leadership decided to spend some time teaching the church from the Scriptures about the crucial subject of missions.”

3 warnings from a pastor leaving the ministry – “I was in seminary, and had never been a pastor before. But I knew God was preparing me to become one, and my desire was to church plant. So I was overjoyed when a pastor asked me to join him in a new church close to where I lived. This was exactly what I wanted to do, and seemed like the perfect opportunity.”

Kids Can Find Jesus in Proverbs – “Proverbs can be a fun book to explore with your children. The short sentences, funny images, and blunt statements resonate with kids and quickly impart real-life wisdom. But there’s a vast difference between moralism and saving wisdom. Jesus noted this difference when he announced to the Pharisees that though the Queen of Sheba traveled to hear Solomon’s great wisdom, “now something greater than Solomon is here” (Matthew 12:42).”

SERMON:

RC Sproul – Holiness of God

VIDEOS:

There’s Power In Our Words?

Talking to Mormon Missionaries On The Street

“All death can do to the believer is deliver him to Jesus.  It brings us into the eternal presence of our Savior.” – John MacArthur

The post The Daily Discovery (October 25, 2016) appeared first on Entreating Favor.

The Daily Discovery (October 24, 2016)

ARTICLES I LIKE FROM AROUND THE WEB:

(Click title to go to full article)

Do You Set an Example in Your Conduct? – “Today I want to scare you a little. At the very least I want to intimidate you. Actually, I want the Bible to scare and intimidate you, to set a challenge so difficult that you’ll know you can’t possibly meet it on your own. This is a challenge for any Christian, but I’m directing it particularly at younger Christians, at people in their teens or twenties.”

Twitter 101 – “Twitter is a powerful tool that helps me stay in contact with my friends, and simultaneously helps me be influenced by Christians leaders whom I respect. It has been around long enough that it is awkward to ask how to use it if you don’t already know, because after all, doesn’t everybody already know? Nevertheless, I’ve been asked recently by a few people how (and why) to use Twitter. So today I lay out the basics of how to join, and tomorrow I’ll lay out some advice on how to get more out of it.”

If God Is Speaking to You, Don’t Listen… – “As God’s people, we must allow God to speak into our lives. However, there is a subtle and subversive danger to listening for the voice of God. You see, God has already spoken to us in the Bible. God spoke with soul-piercing clarity and inerrant purity. Every word of Scripture reflects the pure glory of God through its utter perfection and, at the same time, exposes the hidden recesses of man’s heart. The pristine efficacy of God’s Word is a precious gift from God to His people. As the Psalmist lauds, ‘How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them’ (Psalm 139:17, ESV). We do not need another word from God, we need to heed the Word we already have from Him.”

Expository Preaching and the Use of Commentaries – “As a political science minor in college, one of my favorite classes was an upper-level course on Constitutional Law. Throughout the semester we read and interacted with hundreds of judicial opinions in which Supreme Court justices explained their interpretation of the Constitution and their application of its principles to the various cases brought before them. But amazingly, there’s one thing we never read throughout the entire semester—the U.S. Constitution!”

Death to Clickbait! – “I hate clickbait. I absolutely despise it. Clickbait is lazy. It’s manipulative. It’s distracting and disappointing. It’s an abomination. Death to clickbait! What is clickbait? ‘Clickbaiting is the intentional act of over-promising or otherwise misrepresenting—in a headline, on social media, in an image, or some combination—what you’re going to find when you read a story on the web.’ It uses headlines with provocative adjectives—stunning, amazing, unbelievable,shocking. It promises that it will blow your mind, that you won’t believe what you see, that it will change your life. You know clickbait when you see it. It’s made to be alluring, made to be so compelling that you click before you think.”

SERMON:

Nate Pickowicz – Discerning the Spirits: Part 1 (1 John 4:1-3)

VIDEOS:

Top ten things I wish worship leaders would stop saying.

The pitiful and damning doctrines of Joyce Meyer and Kenneth Copeland.

“All death can do to the believer is deliver him to Jesus.  It brings us into the eternal presence of our Savior.” – John MacArthur

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The Daily Discovery (October 21, 2016)

ARTICLES I LIKE FROM AROUND THE WEB:

(Click title to go to full article)

Driscoll vs. Calvin, Doctrine vs. the Spirit – “A few days ago, a short YouTube came out called, ‘Don’t Elevate Doctrine above the Holy Spirit.’ It’s a clip from Mark Driscoll’s sermon on Revelation 2:1-7 preached at the ancient Celsus Library in Ephesus. Apart from the excerpt on youtube, there are some helpful things said at various points in the sermon. However, the portion in the video is a perfect example of a wider error often seen in the church today: the pitting of ‘doctrine’ (cue ominous music) against the work of the Spirit in the heart.”

The Missing Elements of Modern Worship – “I once paid a visit to one of the most mega of America’s megachurches. It’s a church whose pastor is well-known, a church known for its innovation, a church held up as a model for modern evangelicalism. I went in with as open a mind as I could muster. I left perplexed. I was perplexed not by what was said or done in the service as much as what was left unsaid and undone. Since that visit I’ve had the opportunity to attend many more churches and, as often as not, they have been similar, missing a lot of the elements that used to be hallmarks of Christian worship. Here are some of the missing elements of modern worship.”

Jesus Loves Rich People – “When our family moved to Nashville from an 850-square-foot New York City apartment, we had hoped for more living space . . . but not too much more. We had grown accustomed to smaller quarters, which drew us together and helped us live more simply. So we asked our realtor to find us a modest house within five miles of the church where I would serve as pastor. ‘Anything around 2,000 square feet will be plenty,’ we told him. But the smallest house he could find—the house where we now live—is almost twice that size. Moving day would be the first glimpse that either of our daughters would have of our new home. When we arrived, our justice-driven, sensitive-to-global-poverty daughter exclaimed that the house was too much. Way too big. Enough room to fit four families comfortably. Why do we have so much space? This standard of living seems wrong. Although we didn’t say it out loud, in some ways Patti and I felt the same.”

Politics Beyond the Presidential Election – “Many of us could schedule a tweet right now for midnight of Election Day that reads, ‘Well, this is disappointing.’ Regardless of who wins, the country loses. For active citizens, there is nothing more maddening and frustrating than the presidential election because many of us believe that the most influential political decision we will make occurs every fourth November.”

How to Care for Your Pastor – “October is pastor appreciation month. Here is something to help us consider how to love our shepherd. ‘Here are some great exhortations from Shawn Wilhite, a man who loves the Lord, the local church, and his pastor. Shawn’s exhortations are well thought out, lived out, and come from both experience and study.’ — Jason Vaughn How do you, as a congregation, care for your pastors? Pastors are tired, yet joyful; discouraged, yet constantly refreshed; and they have one of the most joyful, rewarding, and refining work. But how do and should congregational members care for their pastors—even associate pastors or staff?”

SERMON:

Jeff Durbin – Street-level Apologetics: Apologetics 101

VIDEOS:

If you are a Jehovah’s Witness, please watch this first

Mormonism in a Nutshell

“All death can do to the believer is deliver him to Jesus.  It brings us into the eternal presence of our Savior.” – John MacArthur

The post The Daily Discovery (October 21, 2016) appeared first on Entreating Favor.

[Fire Away! Podcast] Episode 071 – Justification by Faith

Audio
Show Notes


Summary

On today’s show Landon chats with Pastor Jimmy Caraway about this weekend’s Pillar of Truth conference.

(Click “Read More” for detailed show notes.)

[00:07:13] Interview w/ Jimmy Caraway

His story.
Justification by Faith
Pillar of Truth Conference

[00:39:10] Discussion

Updated thoughts on calling out false teachers.



 Resources Mentioned During the Show

(Click on titles for links)

[Site] Pillar of Truth conference.


 General Information

If you’d like to email regarding anything you’ve heard on this edition or previous editions of the Fire Away! podcast, you can do so at FireAway@entreatingfavor.com or subscribe on Facebook at www.facebook.com/EntreatingFavor.
If you have questions, suggestions, or hate mail for those involved with today’s show, please email at the addresses below:

Landon Chapman

Email: info@entreatingfavor.com


Nate Pickowicz

Email: info@entreatingfavor.com

Co-HostLandon Chapman Facebook Twitter Google+

Founder of Entreating Favor, writer, and host of the Fire Away! podcast. He is an architect by vocation and professes the Bible to be the infallible, inerrant, Word of God. He and his wife Holly have two children.

Co-HostNate Pickowicz Facebook Twitter

Nate Pickowicz is the pastor/planter of Harvest Bible Church in Gilmanton, New Hampshire. After being called into ministry in 2009, he led a team to plant in 2013. He and his wife Jessica have two children.

The post [Fire Away! Podcast] Episode 071 – Justification by Faith appeared first on Entreating Favor.

The Daily Discovery (October 18, 2016)

ARTICLES I LIKE FROM AROUND THE WEB:

(Click title to go to full article)

Donald Trump as King David? – “Analogies can be so convenient. They’re so flexible, fillable, moldable. Especially in this particular election season. There’s a cluster of interesting comparisons flying around Christian discussions about the upcoming election. Each time Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump proves afresh that his public moral train wreck of the past three decades is still a glowing heap of twisted metal that’s actually not climbing back onto the rails, his evangelical promoters rally with hastily constructed biblical analogies to reconvince their constituents that the character of Donald Trump really is biblically defensible.”

Donald Trump is not David, Paul, or Samson – “Donald Trump is not David or Solomon. He is not the Apostle Paul. He’s not Samson. He isn’t Nebuchadnezzar or Cyrus either. He’s Donald Trump. To try and mirror him with any of these biblical characters is nothing but eisegesis — imposing something on the text the reader wants it to say but it doesn’t actually say. The bias should be obvious. If Trump can be Nebuchadnezzar or Cyrus, why can’t Hillary? And why is Trump only comparable to someone like Kings David or Solomon, Samson or Paul, and not someone like Kings Saul or Ahaz, Balaam or Simon the Magician?”

King David’s Perspective in the Midst of Political Turmoil – “This election season has been one of the most excruciating experiences for Evangelicals. So many Christians are exasperated by all the different things to think about before they walk into the voting booth. Smarter men than me have attempted to convince you to vote for, not vote for and to keep your opinions to yourself about which candidate to support this election cycle. Christians who hate abortion and want to see it end in their lifetime are rightfully distraught over the direction the supreme court seems to be going and we all see our religious freedoms departing as well.”

Lay Aside Every Suitcase – “On August 3, 2016, Emirates airlines flight 521 crashed at Dubai International Airport. The pilots had just set down the plane when they received a warning that they had landed too late—they would run out of runway before the plane could come to a safe stop. They initiated the go-around procedure which would allow them to lift off, circle the airport, and try again. The plane rose off the runway and began to climb, but then suddenly sank back down and crashed into the ground. It skidded for 800 meters before coming to rest. The crew took immediate action and, remarkably, all 300 people safely evacuated the plane before it was consumed by flames.”

Church Discipline: Mission Accomplished – “Try mentioning the subject of church discipline among fellow Christians in a mixed evangelical audience at a local coffee shop and you’re bound to receive mixed reviews.  The overwhelming majority of churches in my town do not practice church discipline.  If asked to review a history of their membership meetings (business conferences), you would not find one instance of public church discipline on their records for the last 50-100 years—if you found a single record to begin with. What is the goal of church discipline?  Is it punitive?  Is it revenge?  Is it to demonstrate authority over people in a spiritual manner?  What is the ultimate goal of church discipline and how do you know when you’ve become successful?”

SERMON:

Voddie Baucham/Mark Dever – Is the Pulpit Political?

VIDEOS:

The Christian and Politics

How does God change nations?

“All death can do to the believer is deliver him to Jesus.  It brings us into the eternal presence of our Savior.” – John MacArthur

The post The Daily Discovery (October 18, 2016) appeared first on Entreating Favor.

The Daily Discovery (October 17, 2016)

ARTICLES I LIKE FROM AROUND THE WEB:

(Click title to go to full article)

The Nation and the Kingdom: Re-enchanting the Political Mind – “When an idol begins dissolving in your hands, do you clench tighter, or do you let go, look up, and grasp something truly stable? American Christians are facing a watershed moment. Any presidential clout we hoped to regain in this election is slowly proving to be a mirage. Elect Hillary Clinton, and we sanction a proven liar and contribute to the erosion of a bevy of values and principles we hold dear. Elect Donald Trump, and we affirm a predatory demagogue, trust a proven charlatan, and dilute our Christian witness in the public square and beyond. Vote third-party, and we nobly raise the flag of principle on a sinking ship whose mast is already at the waterline.”

The Writing Is On the Wall – “In election season there are always many candidates who announce their intention to run for office. But inevitably, many of them come to realize that they stand no chance. They see the writing on the wall and drop out. In the fall, television networks debut many new shows. Some of them attract few viewers, little buzz, poor reviews. The actors see the writing on the wall and are not surprised to learn their show has been canceled. We all know this idiom, but do we know where it came from? It is yet another one that has entered the English language via the Bible and especially the King James Version of the Bible.”

3 Awful Features of Roman Sexual Morality – “Whatever else you know about the Bible, I’m sure you know this: It lays out a sexual ethic that displays God’s intent in creating sexuality and that challenges humanity to live in ways consistent with it. Yet today we are experiencing a sexual revolution that has seen society deliberately throwing off the Christian sexual ethic. Things that were once forbidden are now celebrated. Things that were once considered unthinkable are now deemed natural and good. Christians are increasingly seen as backward, living out an ancient, repressive, irrelevant morality.”

Absolute Uncertainty – “For postmodern philosophers and theologians, searching for truth is like chasing a rainbow—a journey with no real destination. They believe ‘the truth is out there’ but they’re comfortable keeping it that way—perpetually beyond reach. Yet there’s nothing actually new or innovative about their pseudo-quest. They merely echo what Pontius Pilate said two thousand years earlier: ‘What is truth?’ (John 18:38).”

What is the New Birth? – “Yesterday I preached from Ephesians 2:1-6Open in Logos Bible Software (if available) on the subject of the new birth. What exactly does it mean to be born again? Paul answers this question with precision in the second chapter of Ephesians. As we look at the first ten verses of chapter two, it’s apparent that Paul defines the new birth in verses 1-6 and he points out the purpose of the new birth in verses 7-10.”

SERMON:

Nate Pickowicz – Love & Hate (1 John 3:11-18)

VIDEOS:

Advanced Biblical Counseling (Part 1)

Advanced Biblical Counseling (Part 2)

“All death can do to the believer is deliver him to Jesus.  It brings us into the eternal presence of our Savior.” – John MacArthur

The post The Daily Discovery (October 17, 2016) appeared first on Entreating Favor.

The Daily Discovery (October 14, 2016)

ARTICLES I LIKE FROM AROUND THE WEB:

(Click title to go to full article)

Why I’m Willing to “Waste” My Vote – “I hear it all the time. ‘Not voting for Donald Trump is the same as voting for Hillary!’ ‘You are wasting your vote!’ I understand the argument. There’s already a high probability Hillary is going to win the election, and unless everyone throws their support behind Donald, the presidency will go to Hillary. If Hillary is elected, she will appoint liberal Supreme Court justices who will strengthen Roe v. Wade, further gay rights, and take the United States on a crash course with destruction. She is another Obama (or worse) who will ruin everything good about this country and promote wickedness.”

Portraits of Superstition: Kismet Kate and Karma Counterfeit (The Devious Twins) – “Kismet Kate and Karma Counterfeit are the millennial flower children of the New Age Movement. They don’t want to judge anyone because what goes around comes around. They possess superstitious beliefs in fate and destiny, and they try to be good in order to stay on the right side of Karma. They believe their soul mates are out their somewhere, just waiting to be found. These two sistas’ don’t let anyone dull their sparkle because they were made for greatness! So what is all this? It’s muddy and confusing, and sadly, this is the muck and mire in which most millennials (I would argue even Christian millennials) are stuck right now.”

You, Me, and the ESV – “You probably heard what happened recently with the ESV, the English Standard Version of the Bible. In August, Crossway, the ministry that publishes the ESV, announced that ‘the text of the ESV Bible will remain unchanged in all future editions printed and published by Crossway.’ In other words, the text had become permanent and would undergo no further changes for the rest of time. Controversy ensued and on September 28, Crossway reversed their decision. President and CEO Lane Dennis wrote, ‘We have become convinced that this decision was a mistake. We apologize for this and for any concern this has caused for readers of the ESV.’ Though I’m sure there were difficult meetings and tough decisions along the way, I believe Crossway should be pleased with the outcry. Here’s why: The ESV controversy shows that the ESV is not their Bible but our Bible.”

Do Good Works Require Good Doctrine? – “We live in a day when far too many Christians are conscientious objectors in the war for God’s truth. Rather than contending for the ‘faith which was once for all handed down’ (Jude 1:3), theological pacifism is now the preferred approach. Instead of viewing doctrine as a stronghold around which to unify and defend, it is considered too divisive to be worth defending. Today, good deeds are embraced as the best way to foster unity and advance God’s kingdom. And who’s going to argue against charitable works? Nobody objects to feeding the hungry and sheltering the homeless. For that reason, many Christians now argue that doing is more important than believing.”

Manfishers – “manfishers, strengthen feeble hands and tighten loosened cords for we must throw these nets wide n’ long n’ our ropes must hold strong as we hold on ’till every catch has been caught ’till every cast has been fought ’till our deck is filled with all the fish that we got…”

SERMON:

Dan Hurt – Obedience from the Heart

VIDEOS:

My Thoughts on the State of our Culture and the 2016 Election

Anyone Can Be Saved?

“All death can do to the believer is deliver him to Jesus.  It brings us into the eternal presence of our Savior.” – John MacArthur

The post The Daily Discovery (October 14, 2016) appeared first on Entreating Favor.

The Daily Discovery (October 12, 2016)

ARTICLES I LIKE FROM AROUND THE WEB:

(Click title to go to full article)

Inerrancy Is Not Enough – “I’m old enough to remember the good fight for the doctrine of the inerrancy of Scripture in the Southern Baptist Convention. The battle was needed and waged on a front larger than just that convention, but the reclamation of Southern Baptist seminaries infected with heterodox positions on Scripture was truly remarkable and historic.”

Theologian Wayne Grudem Un-Endorses Trump After 2005 Sex Talk Video Scandal – “Renowned theologian Wayne Grudem, who had earlier backed Donald Trump, says he was wrong in doing so as he announced he is now un-endorsing the Republican nominee due to his ‘vulgar comments in 2005 about his sexual aggression and assaults against women. I previously called Donald Trump a ‘good candidate with flaws’ and a ‘flawed candidate’ but I now regret that I did not more strongly condemn his moral character,’ the professor of theology and biblical studies at Phoenix Seminary, wrote in an article on Townhall on Sunday, referring to a leaked video published by The Washington Post on Friday which carries Trump’s 2005 remarks while talking with Billy Bush, then host of the ‘Access Hollywood’ show.'”

Evangelical Trump Defenders Are Destroying the Church’s Witness – “I never thought I’d see the day when leading evangelicals would publicly espouse that character doesn’t matter — and that promoting sexual assault is simply ‘bad boy talk.’ Yet, that’s precisely what’s happening in the wake of a newly released video showing Donald Trump gloating over his sexual exploits with married women. I honestly don’t know what makes me more sick. Listening to Trump brag about groping women or listening to my fellow evangelicals defend him. Don’t get me wrong. I get how disastrous a Clinton presidency would be.”

12 Theses on a Christian Understanding of Economics – “Regrettably, many American Christians know little about economics. Furthermore, many Christians assume that the Bible has nothing at all to say about economics. But a biblical worldview actually has a great deal to teach us on economic matters. The meaning of work, the value of labor, and other economic issues are all part of the biblical worldview. At the same time we must recognize that the Christian worldview does not demand or promote a particular economic system. Because this is the case, Christians must allow the economic principles found in Scripture to shape our thinking while simultaneously recognizing that we can act in light of those principles in any economic, cultural, or generational setting.”

You’re Using It Wrong: Ephesians 5:16 & Time – “If you have been around Christian circles for any length of time you have no doubt been admonished at some point ‘you have to redeem the time’ meaning that you need to quit loafing and get busy. The days are evil, in other words, time is short and life is fleeting, so get to work. You may have read this, you may have heard this from the pulpit, you may have had someone tell you this in private, you may even have said it to yourself (or someone else). But I’m sorry to say, if you think Ephesians 5:16 is about industriousness and time management, You’re Using It Wrong!”

SERMON:

Kevin DeYoung – Can We Be Glorified Without Being Sanctified?

VIDEOS:

He Became Sin Who Knew No Sin?

Black Lives Matter, But Not To this Man

“All death can do to the believer is deliver him to Jesus.  It brings us into the eternal presence of our Savior.” – John MacArthur

The post The Daily Discovery (October 12, 2016) appeared first on Entreating Favor.

The Daily Discovery (October 11, 2016)

ARTICLES I LIKE FROM AROUND THE WEB:

(Click title to go to full article)

Survey Finds Most American Christians Are Actually Heretics – “Evangelical writer Eric Metaxas remarked on BreakPoint last week that if Americans took a theology exam, their only hope of passing would be if God graded on a curve. He’s right. In knowing both the content of the Bible and the doctrinal foundations of Christianity, we Americans aren’t just at the bottom of our class. We are, as Ross Douthat argues in his book, “Bad Religion,” a nation of heretics.”

A Fight in the Leper Colony – “It is easy to treat the spectacle that is presidential politics in 2016 as though we were dismayed spectators, but we are not spectators at all. We are all participants. We are not watching a movie that contains a food fight in a junior high cafeteria; we are in the cafeteria. And if it is not too jarring to use the phrase casus belli about such a fracas, the causes for all of this lie deep within ourselves. To change my metaphor, this whole thing is a three-layer hypocrite cake.”

The Call to Preach the Word – “For the biblical expositor, 2 Timothy 4:2 majestically stands out as sacred ground. It is precious territory for every pastor who, following in the footsteps of Paul, desires to faithfully proclaim the Word of God. In this single verse, the apostle defined the primary mandate for God-honoring church ministry, not only for Timothy, but for all who would come after him. The minister of the Gospel is called to ‘Preach the Word!'”

R.C. Sproul’s Warning Concerning Prayer – “I need to sound a warning. In our day, many people have rediscovered the power of prayer. This is a good thing; there’s nothing more thrilling in the Christian life than to pray specifically, to express a desire, to make a request or a petition to God, and then see Him answer that request specifically and clearly. It’s nice to receive what we pray for, but the added benefit is the assurance we gain that God hears our prayers and answers them. However, some carry this to an extreme and jump to the conclusion that prayer is something of a magic wand, that if we do prayer with the right sound, in the right manner, with the right phrases, and in the right posture, God is obligated to answer. The idea seems to be that we have the capacity to coerce God Almighty into doing for us whatever it is we want Him to do, but God is not a celestial bellhop who is on call every time we press the button, just waiting to serve us our every request.”

Last night’s debate and my burden going forward – “The measure of last night’s disgrace is measured by the lengths I had to go to to conceal it from my children. When there is a presidential debate, our usual routine is to turn it on in the family room and to watch it. The kids may be in and out of the room if they are not in bed already. But it is a conspicuous viewing in the middle of our home if it is anything else.”

SERMON:

Paul Washer – When God Breaks You For Ministry

VIDEOS:

Can The God of the Bible, do the illogical?

Sermon For The Hurting Christian

“All death can do to the believer is deliver him to Jesus.  It brings us into the eternal presence of our Savior.” – John MacArthur

The post The Daily Discovery (October 11, 2016) appeared first on Entreating Favor.

The Daily Discovery (October 10, 2016)

ARTICLES I LIKE FROM AROUND THE WEB:

(Click title to go to full article)

Can We Enjoy Heaven Knowing Loved Ones Are in Hell? – “Heaven is far too perfect, far too sinless, far too other for us to imagine in our fallen minds. Our attempts to put brush to canvas have led to depictions of cherubs on clouds, idyllic colors of dawn, Christ as a blinding light, a faceless adoring throng. Some of these attempts to capture heaven’s splendors are beautiful and even captivating, yet we know they are also incomplete. They are, at best, the barest reflection of what awaits. Our imaginations must always fall short of heaven’s glorious perfections.”

The Consequences of an Easy Gospel – “A common strategy in sales (or at least a stereotype of the sales world) is to present a product to someone while maximizing the benefits but minimizing the drawbacks. After all, who wants to highlight why a product you are buying is not necessarily exactly what you want? Unfortunately, this mentality is not limited to the business world, as it is easy for the church to do the same in its gospel presentations.”

God Is Not the Author of Uncertainty – “Atheists love to discredit the Bible. Those who are truly committed to their cause invest a lot of time and effort looking for confusion and contradictions in God’s Word, hoping to vindicate their unbelief. They also love to claim that there are simply too many different interpretations of Scripture to come to a clear understanding of it. But there’s no such thing as an atheist according to God. Everyone knows that He exists. Deniers just prefer to ‘suppress [that] truth in unrighteousness’ (Romans 1:18). In other words, the problem is never a lack of evidence for God, but rather a consuming love of sin.”

Please Christians, Read and Answer This One Question – “I have so many thoughts about the latest contemptible Donald Trump revelation – thoughts on the media handling of it, thoughts on the Republican response, thoughts on Mike Pence’s reaction, thoughts on the left’s absurd attempt to claim the moral high ground.  And there will be time for all of that, I suppose, at some point.  But my biggest concern is the way the church of Jesus Christ is responding to it here in America. I (and others) have long lamented the failure of the church of Jesus to make inroads in a culture we once largely shaped and defined.  While the Gospel is spreading like wildfire in the non-white parts of the world (South America, Africa, China), it is waning in the West.  There are a multitude of reasons for this: our pride, our self-assurance, our permissiveness, our idolatry, each of which is exemplified in the “sophisticated” parts of our culture (government, media, academia). But there’s another reality that we can’t ignore.  James R. White puts it this way…”

A Recipe for Humble Pie – “In elementary school I was really bad at playing soccer. But my school tried to be inclusive and didn’t want any kid to feel left out, so they had as many teams as there were players. The coveted “A team” was kitted out in glamorous, white, satin shirts and shorts with golden trim, while the rest of us had itchy yellow and brown shirts. But at least we got to play. I was too maladroit to qualify for the talented B or promising C team, or even the undaunted D team. No, I was cast down to the freakish menagerie of hopeless misfits known as the E team. We seldom actually played games since few other schools even had an E team, but when we did, we played our uncoordinated hearts out!

SERMON:

Matt Chandler – Hospitality and the Greatest Story Ever Told (Part 3)

VIDEOS:

Do you believe the bible?

Victoria Osteen Said Worship Is for Yourself?

“All death can do to the believer is deliver him to Jesus.  It brings us into the eternal presence of our Savior.” – John MacArthur

The post The Daily Discovery (October 10, 2016) appeared first on Entreating Favor.