A Few Notes
Topic # 1: Friday Evangelism and my health.
Sadly, there will be no "Friday Night Notes" tonight due to yet another cold. I've been coughing non-stop for the last 3 days so I'm in no shape to brave the cold and preach the Word. I would ask all my Christian brothers and sisters to kindly remember me in prayer, that the antibiotics the doctor prescribed would do the trick.
Topic # 2: Commenting on my blog.
Some of you, my "regular" readers, have noticed that your comments aren't showing up "in real-time". The reason for the delay is that I have activitated the Comment Moderation feature of the Comment box. Why have I done this? See topic # 3.
Topic # 3: St-Stephen's University.
In my last Friday Night Notes, I mentioned my pastor's strange encounter with two graduate students from St-Stephen's University, a supposed "Christian University". Well, apparently, my humble little blog has caught the attention of the several members of the SSU's staff AND student body! Over the last 24 hours, I have been peppered with dozens upon dozens of comments and e-mails, with well over 95% of them being scornful and mocking. So I put the brakes on.
Looking at all these correspondances, one thing is absolutely crystal clear: St-Stephen's University is NOT a Christian University, it is an agnostic-forming, devil-led institution. Without a shadow of a doubt. Not one of the commentors from the SSU had anytime for the Bible, most, if not all, even go so far as claiming that the Scriptures are NOT the all encompassing Truth and Revelation from God.
So, just like the responces I have received from disgruntled Romanists, Ba'hais, Muslims and other false teachers, all of the commentors from SSU will be subject to my Commenting Rules, and that, very rigourously. I've already completely banned some of them. Things being equal, those who hate the Truth will eventually leave, and the Comment Box will get back to normal.
I appreciate your patience, dear readers.
Topic # 4: Paul Washer Video:
Thanks be to my sister Ania for sending me this LINK, it is a video presentation of missionary Paul Washer's sermon at a Youth Rally in Alabama. This is really good stuff. Everyone should see this.
(you would never get that kind of instruction as St-Stephen's University, that's for sure!)
Topic # 5: My parting shot, to the SSU.
SSU faculty and students,
You have all been real busy in writing, roaming through my blog, salivating at the opportunity to tell me off or demonstate some wickedness; now please put away the keyboards, and read, carefully. To ensure this is done, be advised that NONE OF YOUR COMMENTS WILL BE PUBLISHED. There will be NO Q/A. Read, and then go to your Bibles. If you don't want the Bible, you are so wasting your time here.
The Bible is the Word of God. The rule for all faith and practice. The Bible, plus nothing. This is the teaching of 2 Timothy 3:16-17. Not just Old Testament Scripture, but everything that is called Scripture. How do Christians know what is Scripture, and what is not? Primarily, the Second Birth. Many of you don't understand this, and the reason is simple: not only are you not born-again Christians, you don't even know what the term means.
Before one is converted in Christ Jesus, a person is SPIRITUALLY DEAD IN SIN AND TRESPASS AGAINST GOD (Ephesians 2:1-5; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 3:9-18). The term TOTALLY DEPRAVED fits here. Such a "dead" person cares nothing about God or His revelations, they are foolishness to him/her (1 Corinthians 1:18-31). When someone is converted, they are born-again... made spiritually alive (physical life = first birth; spiritual life = second birth). Everything changes then. Instead of walking in the wilderness caring nothing of the Great Shepherd, all of sudden the converted soul hears the Good Shepherd AND FOLLOWS (John 10:11-16). There is no mistaking the Good Shepherd for any other hireling, because the Holy Ghost seals and guides the born-again saint (John 14:26). God the Holy Spirit is actually inside the believer, keeping/preserving him or her (1 Corinthians 6:19).
This is why I claim that, as SSU students, none of you are Christians (it is possible some of you may actually be saints in great error... time will tell). It isn't: "Nah! Nah! Nah! You're stupid unbelievers and I'm a great saint of God!" Rather, I am declaring to you that your own words and attitudes prove you are not born-again. You are all tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine (Ephesians 4:14), you are ever learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the Truth (2 Timothy 3:7). I do not take pleasure in your lost state, rather I declare it to you in the hopes that the Lord will use my wake-up call to save some of you (Rand the preacher doesn't save anyone, God does!). The last thing a person who is about to be hit by a bus needs to hear is: "Hey man! I love you... peace!" What he needs to hear is: "Watch out, if you don't do something, you'll die!!!" That's my message to you today.
The commandment (and yes, it's a commandment, not an invitation or a suggestion) of God to every person in the wordl today is: "Repent and believe on the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ" (Mark 1:15; Acts 3:19; Acts 17:30). Obedience to this commandment can only be attained by those who are born-again. So the question on which your eternal soul hangs is:
Are you born-again?
"Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3)
(if you don't know, you're not. If you're not... don't you think it's time you dropped to your knees and asked God to do something about that?)
On that note, I'm off. I'm going to watch that Paul Washer video (again!), and then some prayer before I lay down for some serious rest.
Oh Lord, my God, if You will, save tonight through the testimony of this insignificant blog. There is no strength in me or in my words, but there is almighty power in Your Word, the Holy Bible. Will You not, this night, despite my physical infirmity, send Your Holy Spirit to revive the heart of some wanderer who has come here? Oh Lord, like your prophet Jeremiah stated, I both hope and quietly wait for your salvation. In your precious Son's Name.
Rand
At 3:53 PM, 
said…
Matt,
You do well when you say you are not a Christian, because you definitely are not. In this thing, you are more noble than the SSU students, who pretty much believe the same wickedness you believe, but they claim to be right with God.
Now, you wont like reading this, but you have to know: your parents were never saved. If you had told me that they had left a bad Baptist church (and there are more of them who are bad than good) for a better one, or even, a different denomination that at least attempts at following the Bible, then I would not have written this about your parents. But they left a church to start a Vineyard abomination? Matt, they were never saved. Vineyard is a wicked organization which emphasizes emotionalism and strange doctrines that appeal to the flesh. This has never been, or ever will be from God. Your parents may very well be sweetheart, religious people, but that has never saved anyone from their sins.
Matt, you dont believe the Bible is the pure Word of God because you are not a Christian, Matt. The Bible says that the carnal mind does not receive the things of God, for they are foolishness to him. Thats you, Matt. You can wait and wait for the Lord to speak to you, but I assure you, that will never happen. The devil will gladly fill the void, since, as a non-Christian, he is your father.
Your ideas, Matt, like the ideas of all false teachers, are an abomination both to God and to me. You need to repent and believe on the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. This isnt a philosophical game, Matt. Your eternal soul depends on it. Repent!
That my friend, is YOUR ONLY HOPE.
Rand
At 4:16 PM, said…
Hello. :) I don't expect/really want you to post this. I'm also not trying to be rude. It's just...(Rand) you come across a little bit like the Pharisee who thanks God is he not like the sinner. I know you aren't setting out to do that. I guess all you can do if you believe we're not saved is pray that we shall be.
Cute lizard pic, by the way. :) I've never seen a wild lizard in Canada either; I love lizards.
Hi Rachel,
Indeed, in our "politically correct" Canada, it is a foreign thing to have someone claim he is right, and others are wrong. It is a sad thing that this mind set has permeated the Church of God.
As you suggest, like Jeremiah I boast in nothing else, but the Lord and what I know of Him!
"Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in HIS wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in HIS might, let not the rich man glory in HIS riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD." (Jeremiah 9:23-24)
And I will include you in my prayers tonight, Rachel.
(about the lizard: my wife and I had a little stuffed toy-lizard that we kept in our car... we called it Lloyd the watch-lizard... so yes, we love them lizards too!)
Take care
At 4:18 PM, said…
It's true all we have is the Lord. Nothing else - in the end - can stay with us or will mean *anything* when the current things are passed away.
I used to have a green iguana, her name was Nomie. Have you ever seen a Mangrove Basilisk in a pet store? They're really beautiful, I'd love one of those next time I can own a lizard. It's cute you kept Lloyd in your car. :P Was he in the back window?
Study the Word, Rachel. Don't look to the left, or to the right. Give no attention or regard to the words of men... hey... ignore my posts... just whatever you do... know the Scriptures! They are able to "make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." (2 Timothy 3:15b)
As for Lloyd, we actually had a small space on the front dashboard for him. He was a good traveling companion... though he was kind of quiet...
:-p
At 4:22 PM, said…
Rand,
In these posts, you have generously and assertively quoted from Scripture. I have a question or two for you.
What Scriptures, precisely (translation, canonical books, etc) do you use? More importantly, why?
When you are studying Scripture, by what process do you yourself find meaning in it? What do you think you, as an individual, need to know or do in order to correctly understand Scripture?
These questions are neither a challenge or an expression of doubt. I'm honestly interested in your answer.
"What Scriptures, precisely (translation, canonical books, etc) do you use? More importantly, why?"
I use the Hebrew Masoretic Texts for the O.T. and Received Texts for the N.T.. They are the texts that were found all over local churches in Asia minor. It makes sense that the Lord would have preserved His Word, as He promised, in multiple copies throughout His local churches.
In English, that means I use the KJV. However, I am not a KJV-only type. Why? Because even the Revised Texts do not offer signigicant enough differences to make it a "false Bible". I do however take a stand against "made-up" translation such as the WatchTower's New World translation.
As far as the canon, I recognize the same books that saints have recognized since the early church, that is the 39 books of the O.T. (which true Jewish believers recognized as Canon since before the first coming of Christ), and the 27 books of the N.T.. Why do I put my faith in these? Simple:
1- All these books have stood the test of time and the scrutiny of saints for at least 2000 years. All of them authenticated one way or another by God's people, and miraculously preserved by the Lord.
2- As a saint of God, I recognize God's voice when I hear it (so to speak): "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." (John 10:27)
There are other reasons, but I think these suffice.
"When you are studying Scripture, by what process do you yourself find meaning in it?
1- I study the Bible by reading carefully, sometimes with Strong's Concordance which helps me go back to the original Greek/Hebrew, if anything is unclear.
2- Scripture interprets Scripture is the # 1 way to find out what any particular portion of the Bible means.
"What do you think you, as an individual, need to know or do in order to correctly understand Scripture?"
Excellent question. Simple answer:
"But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Corinthians 2:14)
"Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come." (John 16:13)
"But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him." (1 John 2:27)
Hope this helps, RJB.
Permalink
I've followed both Pete and Rand's blogs from the beginning. I don't
go to school at SSU, and I am in no way associated with Pete or Rand,
I do however wish to now comment.
My father was a Baptist minister when parents
had me. We stayed in the Baptist church till I was 5, we then left to
start a new Vineyard church. When we left the Baptist church a lot of
what you two have been saying to the posters from SSU is what the
church said to my parents. It was hard on my mom mostly, but my dad,
I think, suffered the worst of it. He never talked about it, he
didn't repeat the stuff said to him about his faith. He also never
said a bad word about the Baptist church. He just went about the
Lords business as he, and the Lord, saw fit. Now to get to the point.
I'm not a Christian. I don't believe the Bible is the pure word of
God because the Bible was written by the hand of man, albeit probably
inspired by God. The only pure word of God is that which He speaks to
us personally, and honestly He hasn't spoken to me in a while. Most
of the things the Pete and Rand are saying is biblically true, as far
as I understand. The problem I have is with what was written in the
first place. It is undoubtably a good resource for philosophies on
how to live life. It was not ever meant to be used as a tool to
attack another person, (with the possible exception of deliverances)
but as a way to encourage one another and to better ourselves and
those around us. I won't leave you with a question, but I would like
you to respond to my ideas as a whole. They are conflicting with
yours and I would be interested to hear you refute them.
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