You Must Be Baptized to Receive the Lord's Supper - By Cameron Shaffer

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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The author sets out to explain his belief in an excruciatingly logical manner. We don't necessarily fault him for this, but logic always begins with premises, things that are assumed to be true. This means the author has made assumptions to build his logic upon, and unfortunately they are false assumptions. This means his resulting logic is faulty.

Premise: The Lord's Supper and baptism are church rituals

Premise: Discerning the body of Christ means self-examination for worthiness and the need for repentance

Premise: Being worthy is a matter of church discipline

These premises miss the essential message Paul was conveying in 1 Corinthians 11. The context is about the division within the Corinthian church when they gathered:

1Co. 11:18 ...I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you...

Paul was referring to them gathering to eat their meals:

1Co. 11:20 When you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat...

They were shaming and dishonoring fellow believers by eating all the food and getting drunk while these others got nothing. 

1Co. 11:22 Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing?

This is the context for Paul's instruction. We need to understand that the Lord's Supper wasn't a church ritual, it was a gathering together of the saints to share a meal. Sharing a meal was an important component of this culture. It conveyed acceptance, belonging, identity, and fellowship. When they ate together it meant that everyone present was a part, like family. So the Corinthian church was violating the central principle of what it meant to belong.

This is where we get to Paul's admonition: 

1Co. 11:29 For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.

The body and blood of the Lord, as represented by the bread and the wine, speaks of His sacrifice. This is the context for Paul's central message: The Corinthian church was under judgment for dishonoring fellow members of the body of Christ. This is not about examining ourselves for worthiness to make sure we are fully repentant, or that we fully understand and comply with the implications of salvation, it's about how we treat our brothers and sisters in Christ, particularly when sharing meal.

From this misunderstanding the author constructs an entire edifice out of presumption. Rather than a joyful potluck with a pause to honor Jesus and His church body, we have a prescribed somber ritual. And because of that, element like church discipline and determinations of inclusion and exclusion commence.

This is all very unfortunate, because the author isn't explaining the Bible, he's explaining his church tradition.

Lastly, this article is almost 2900 words. Number of words quoted from the Bible: Six. Number of Calvin's words: Fifty-six. Number of words from a confessional: Forty-one. Number of unquoted Bible references: Thirty-four.

We must deem this Bad Bible Teaching.

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The First Amendment Will Suffer Under Trump - by Nan Levinson

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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Oddly, the author will never tell us why the First Amendment will suffer under Trump. She mentions Trump's name eight times, but never tells us anything Trump has said or done that will imperil free speech. Nothing at all, except some vague fears people might have.

Very strange.

Strange also is the author fears what Trump and his supporters MIGHT do, while the Left is ALREADY imperiling free speech, and has been doing so for decades. For example, Ben Shapiro, Ann Coulter, and Charlie Kirk, who have been shut down, assaulted disinvited, or shouted into silence. And the poor cake baker in Colorado, who has been targeted multiple times. An abortion protestor was recently imprisoner for his free speech. Parents who are deemed terrorists for speaking up in a school board meeting. And of course, Trump himself being subject to a gag order regarding his prosecution in New York.

We could go on and on. Yet Trump is the problem?

Lastly, we are pretty sure the author doesn't understand what censorship is. It isn't protesting books in school libraries. It isn't Faceborg suppressing dissent about the vaxx. It isn't about what newspapers publish or don't publish. Censorship can only be accomplished by government.

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Subjectivism and Cessationism - by David de Bruyn

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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The author appears to be trying to be conciliatory. He seems to want cessationists and charismatics to get along. This is the appearance, at least. 

He attempts to define the issues (at least how he sees them) but has he ever talked to one of his theological adversaries or read anything one of them might have written? It doesn't seem so. We say this because he doesn't accurately present his opponent's positions. 

The author asks why charismatics oppose cessationism. Why do charismatics not believe what the author believes? This sort of question indicates ignorance. Of course charismatics believe something different. That is a tautology.

So if the author wants to know what a charismatic really believes, he only needs to have a conversation with one.

 

Further, he uses terminology that presumes his premise. Additional revelation. Apostolic signs. Modern-day apostolic revelation. Sign-gifts. Sufficiency of Scripture. None of these phrases are found in the Bible. All of them are derived from cessationist understanding, and the use of them makes a charismatic roll his eyes.

We have discussed many of these deceptive and unbiblical terms elsewhere in our blog. Here is a gateway to many of these explanations. Our 18 part series on cessationism begins here. 

And we note that he lays the problem at the feet of charismatics. It is they who misunderstand, it is they who lack information, and ultimately it is they who are the heretics. In fact, he has only one piece of advice, and of course it's directed at charismatics. He writes, 

"On the (alleged) continuationist side, it would clarify matters if proponents used terms like 'led,' 'showed,' 'taught,' 'spoke' with the clarifying phrase 'through His Word.'"

The arrogance of this is clearly evident. He wants charismatics to "clarify" their language by forfeiting their actual beliefs. Charismatics believe that the Holy Spirit speaks in ways other than "through His Word," so to make such a demand is egregious and condescending. 

So if the author wants cessationists and charismatics to stop talking past each other, then he should stop talking past charismatics.

 Lastly, this article is completely absent Scripture.

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"Hush money" - details about how the conviction worked (retitled) - by John C. Wright

Found here. This is very good information about the crazy way Trump was convicted.

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A kangaroo New York judge on Friday granted Donald Trump permission to seek dismissal of his paperwork misfiling criminal case, in which he was found guilty earlier this year, in light of his victory in the Nov. 5 U.S. presidential election.

He had been scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 26. The case must be dismissed because having it pending while president would cause unconstitutional impediment to his ability to govern.

A clerk working for Trump issued money to a Trump lawyer to pay for a nondisclosure agreement — hush money — a Stormy Daniels, a woman bringing scandalous allegations against Trump she has since, more than once, retracted.

The payment was duly recorded by clerk as a legal fee, as required by the New York business records law, violation of which is a misdemeanor.

The statute of limitations for this misdemeanor has run.

Rich's proverbs, book eight - updated 12/16/24

Book nine here.

Book eight here.

Book seven here.

Book six here.

Book five here.

Book four here.

Book three here.

Book two here.

Book one here.

This is a continuation of my practice to take notes on what I prayed.

Chapter One

1. Rev 19:10 Worship God, because the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

• ​Jesus is the origin for all true prophecy.
• ​Jesus is where all true prophecy points. Jesus, release Your Spirit of prophecy in our church.

Rev 3:22 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

2. Prayer does not need validation. Answers are not required. Recognition is irrelevant. A person can pray in a complete vacuum for years or decades. The fact that You hear our prayers and do what You want with them is enough.

Nevertheless, Your pressing call to us as a church is to pray together.

3. I realize that we need to be "prayed up" entering the fast.

4. It's a mark of revival when a church dedicates to passionate prayer.

1967 Pontiac Lemans #2 - budget build - episode six, rust repair installment three, Driver fender, tail light, inner fender **updated 12/16/24

October 5th, 2024:

October 6th, 2024:

Episode one, introduction, here.

Episode two, disassembly and assessment, here.

Episode three, rough body work, here.

Episode four, rust repair, installment one, here.

Episode five, rust repair, installment two, here.

Episode six, rust repair, installment three, here.

Episode seven, the doors, found here.

**************

This episode will focus on the driver's tail light rust and the inner fender rust.

10 Theories of the Atonement - by: Kevin DeYoung

Found here. Our comments in bold.
-----------------------------

The author seems fixated on the legal perspective, that somehow the atonement has legal implications for the sinner. Calvinists tend to believe this, but it is false. Jesus' death was sacrificial, not legal. Neither was it like a financial transaction in that no one got paid. Jesus' death was efficacious solely because His blood completely washed us of sin (Rev. 7:14). 

The use of the word atonement misleads us. The KJV translation of the word is propitiation, not atonement. We think this more correctly represents the effect of Jesus' sacrifice. 

Propitiation [hilasmos] is the satisfaction or turning away of wrath. However, atonement is an OT concept, it is the covering over of sin, not the forgiving of it. 

None of the theories provided, including the author's preferred one, account for the biblical reality that Jesus' sacrifice was the fulfillment of what is represented in the OT: A sacrificial death where the spilled blood of the spotless lamb was the sufficient agent of cleansing.

Despite the author's Calvinistic claims, Jesus' propitiation is not limited: 

1Jn. 2:2 He is the atoning sacrifice [hilasmos] for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

Further, Jesus was not our substitute. The OT sacrifices were not substitutes. Jesus was not punished by the Father. The OT sacrifices were not punished by the priest. Jesus did not pay for our sin, He paid for us:

1Co. 7:23 You were bought at a price...

Lastly, the author doesn't quote a single Scripture or even provide a reference to Scripture. We must deem this Bad Bible Teaching. 

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Letter to the editor: How could this man possibly become president again? - letter to the editor by Gary Peterson

Found here. Our comments in bold.

----------------------------

Let's answer the author's question. Democracy. That's how Trump became president again.

The author apparently really believes the leftist narrative. For nearly ten years the Left has unrelentingly attacked Trump. Invented dossiers, fake controversies, endless name-calling, malicious prosecutions, and repeated false claims that Trump would be a dictator... This has been the war waged against Trump, an onslaught of regurgitated talking points, bumper sticker slogans, and outrageous rhetoric designed for a single purpose: Destroy the man. 

No, not get him out of office or keep him from being re-elected. Destroy the man. Make him destitute. Strip from him his reputation, his freedom, his wealth, his family. This is not a political strategy, it is a hate campaign, very personal, that justifies any statement, any action, any behavior, that hurts Trump. Including assassination. 

No limits.

The foundation of the violent offensive against Trump is raw, unrestrained, vindictive, irrational hate. Interestingly, that's partly why Trump ended up being elected: the sheer magnitude of increasingly ridiculous rhetoric used against him. At some point a sane person comes to the conclusion that a man being called Hitler needs to at some point do or say something Hitler-like. Such a thing never happened. It didn't happen when he was last president. It hasn't happened since he's left office. 

That's when peoples' opinions start turning,  when politics as a rough sport turns into something way beyond that.

The fact that the author believes so much that isn't true doesn't speak well for his thinking skills.

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Can someone's dream save them? "Hearing through the word of Christ?" - Romans 10:17

Recently we've been reconsidering many of the things we thought we understood regarding doctrine and faith. We have begun to question certain beliefs, church structures, and practices of the western church. Too often we have discovered unbiblical doctrines and activities. This causes us concern. We have deemed this our “Rethink.”

Our questions include, how did we arrive at our doctrines? Does the Bible really teach what we think it teaches? Why do churches do what they do? What is the biblical basis of church leadership structure? Why do certain traditions get entrenched?

It's easy to be spoon fed the conventional wisdom, but it's an entirely separate thing to search these things out for one's self. In the past we have read the Bible with these unexamined understandings and interpreted what we read through those lenses. We were lazy about our Bible study, assuming that pastors and theologians were telling us the truth, but we rarely checked it out for ourselves.

Therefore, these Rethinks are our attempt to remedy the situation.

We should note that we are not Bible scholars, but we believe that one doesn't need to be in order to understand the Word of God.
---------------

Bad worship songs - Glory and Wonder, by Mosaic MSC

From time to to we examine the lyrics of worship songs. Our desire is not to mock or humiliate, but rather to honestly examine content with a view to calling forth a better worship expression.

With the great volume and variety of worship music available, none of us should have to settle for bad worship songs. We should be able to select hundreds or even thousands of top notch songs very easily.

What makes a song a worship song? Is it enough to contain words like God or holy? How about vaguely spiritual sounding phrases? Should Jesus be mentioned?

We think an excellent worship song should contain the following elements:

• A direct expression of adoration (God, you are...)
• A progression of ideas that culminates in a coherent story
• A focus on God, not us
• Lyrics that do not create uncertainty or cause confusion
• A certain amount of profundity
• A singable, interesting melody
• Allusions to Scripture
• Doctrinal soundness
• Not excessively metaphorical
• Not excessively repetitive
• Jesus is not your boyfriend

It's worth noting the most worship songs contain at least something good. That is, there might be a musical idea or a lyric that has merit. Such is the case with this song, Glory and Wonder.

Video link.

1967 Pontiac Lemans #2 - budget build - episode five, rust repair installment two, toe panel and rocker **updated 12/16/24

October 5th, 2024:

October 6th, 2024:

Episode one, introduction, here.

Episode two, disassembly and assessment, here.

Episode three, rough body work, here.

Episode four, rust repair, installment one, here.

Episode five, rust repair, installment two, here.

Episode six, rust repair, installment three, here.

Episode seven, the doors, found here.

**************

This episode will focus on the toe panel, the passenger door skin, and the rocker.

I've been moving around the car, doing work here and there but not finishing anything (Well, except, the toe panel is completely done). I'm basically roughing out the car and getting every repair ready for the tedious finish work. For me, this sort of quantifies the scope of the whole car. I can grasp the magnitude of work and also tell myself that these are all of the repairs. No surprises.

Well, one surprise.

I thought the rockers were totally solid, but as mentioned in Episode 2, the passenger side was rusty. I'll cover that repair below.

Can we invite the presence of the Holy Spirit? - Rethink

Recently we've been reconsidering many of the things we thought we understood regarding doctrine and faith. We have begun to question certain beliefs, church structures, and practices of the western church. Too often we have discovered unbiblical doctrines and activities. This causes us concern. We have deemed this our “Rethink.”

Our questions include, how did we arrive at our doctrines? Does the Bible really teach what we think it teaches? Why do churches do what they do? What is the biblical basis of church leadership structure? Why do certain traditions get entrenched?

It's easy to be spoon fed the conventional wisdom, but it's an entirely separate thing to search these things out for one's self. In the past we have read the Bible with these unexamined understandings and interpreted what we read through those lenses. We were lazy about our Bible study, assuming that pastors and theologians were telling us the truth, but we rarely checked it out for ourselves.

Therefore, these Rethinks are our attempt to remedy the situation.

We should note that we are not Bible scholars, but we believe that one doesn't need to be in order to understand the Word of God.
---------------

We are chosen by God - By Elizabeth Prata

Found here. Our comments in bold.
--------------------

Ms. Prata attempts to teach about the Calvinistic doctrine of Election, that Christians are chosen and predestined to be saved. She relies on a couple of go-to verses, but these verses don't teach what Calvinists say they teach.

We will explain.

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How to root out Trumpism What happened and what must be done - by Robert Reich

Found here. Our comments in bold.
----------------------

Dr. Reich is up to his usual shenanigans. He rails against big business and billionaires, but gets confused as to who advocates for what and who is the bad guy.

As usual, Dr. Reich is reinforcing The Narrative in service to The Agenda. But this time he argues himself into a corner, unable to articulate why Trump is bad for doing the same things Bernie Sanders was advocating for.

It's really a incoherent mess. This is worse than usual for Dr. Reich.

------------------------

The Ten Non-Commandments - Faceborg meme

Found on Faceborg:



Morality really bothers atheists and God-haters. They will do everything they can to avoid moral imperatives. Further, they are entirely convinced of their intellectual superiority but are unable to see past their own colossal irony. They bristle at the idea of absolute truth and having morality imposed upon them yet write their own list of do nots. The very same people who don't want religion telling them what's moral are perfectly fine authoritatively telling us what's moral.

Our question is this: In a world without objective morality, on what basis do these these folks offer us (non) commandments about anything? If truth is relative, then each person chooses for himself what to believe, and there can be no imperative. However, each of these "non-commandments" is a moral principle, offered as self-evident truth to be embraced and promulgated. Each assumes the moral stature to apply universally.

And of course, each statement is a commandment, not a non-commandment. They must have forgotten their premise.

So let's take the above statements one by one.

Bad Worship Songs: With Everything - Joel Houston, Hillsongs

From time to to we examine the lyrics of worship songs. Our desire is not to mock or humiliate, but rather to honestly examine content with a view to calling forth a better worship expression.

With the great volume and variety of worship music available, none of us should have to settle for bad worship songs. We should be able to select hundreds or even thousands of top notch songs very easily.

What makes a song a worship song? Is it enough to contain words like God or holy? How about vaguely spiritual sounding phrases? Should Jesus be mentioned?

We think an excellent worship song should contain the following elements:

• A direct expression of adoration (God, you are...)
• A progression of ideas that culminates in a coherent story
• A focus on God, not us
• Lyrics that do not create uncertainty or cause confusion
• A certain amount of profundity
• A singable, interesting melody
• Allusions to Scripture
• Doctrinal soundness
• Not excessively metaphorical
• Not excessively repetitive
• Jesus is not your boyfriend

It's worth noting the most worship songs contain at least something good. That is, there might be a musical idea or a lyric that has merit. Such is the case with this song, With Everything.

-----------------------

What Is Sin? - by R.C. Sproul

Found here. Our comments in bold.
-------------------

We are often surprised by Dr. Sproul, in that he has a reputation as a stellar Bible teacher. However, we have examined many of his teachings in this blog and found them to be wanting. This is mostly because he actually doesn't teach the Bible, he teaches what his Reformed/Calvinism doctrine has to say about the Bible. We have never read him explain anything apart from his Reformed/Calvinism.

In the below article he explains Jesus' death for our sins in financial, transactional terms. But there was no financial transaction. No exchange. It was not a legal proceeding. 

Jesus' death and spilled blood was sacrificial. He died as the perfect Lamb of God, and His blood washed us clean. That was all that was necessary. The Father's wrath was not transferred to Jesus because His blood was enough to propitiate (turn away wrath). 

Lastly, we are happy that Dr. Sproul provides some Bible quotes. But he makes so many undocumented claims about the Bible that we must deem this Bad Bible Teaching.

------------------------------

Why We Won’t Spend Eternity in Heaven - by Benjamin L. Gladd

Found here. Interesting article and a different angle.

---------------------------

On March 19, 2021, my father passed away. He was larger than life. Nobody who met him ever forgot him. And since his passing, I’ve thought more deeply about death and the afterlife.

One pervasive misconception is that we’ll spend eternity in heaven, gathered around God’s throne with the angels. Of course, this is a present reality—deceased saints are indeed worshiping God in heaven. Scripture is clear on this point (e.g., 2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23; Rev. 6:9–10). But the church is often ignorant about what will transpire in the future after Christ’s second coming.

For the last hundred years or so, evangelicals have expended more energy on what precedes the eternal state—the nature of the tribulation, the millennial kingdom, and so on—than on the eternal state itself. Let’s examine what Scripture says about the new heavens and earth and consider a few points of encouragement.

Walsch, Young, and Beth Moore: ungodly channelers producing ungodly books. Part 1- Neale Donald Walsch and his alleged ‘conversations with God’ - By Elizabeth Prata

Excerpted from here. Our comments in bold.
*******************

We have no intention of defending Mr. Walsch, we are here to examine Ms. Prata's incoherent and largely Scriptureless presentation.

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Is Double Predestination Fair? - by Kevin DeYoung

Found here. Our comments in bold.
------------------

The author has appeared in our blog several times before. In these times we've analyzed him we've discovered he has a marked aversion to quoting Scripture. Today's article is no exception. Thus the author attempts to teach about his doctrines but without hardly a quote of the document from which those doctrines are derived. 

We must deem this Bad Bible Teaching.

In fact, the author doesn't even teach the Bible, he teaches Calvinism. We have yet to observe him teaching the Bible apart from specific Calvinistic doctrines.

Lastly, this is nothing more than an exercise in futility. There is no benefit to knowing the things the author writes about. "Double predestination" is nonsensical.

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The Faulty Paths of The Final Quest - by lovesickscribe

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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This is an assemblage of undocumented claims, ill-informed opinions, and scriptural misrepresentations. The author doesn't get a single thing biblically correct.

Now, we should note that we are not here to defend Rick Joyner or his writings. We have read The Final Quest and found it challenging, interesting, and at times, odd. We do not ascribe to it the status of Scripture, nor should we or anyone else. 

Speaking of Scripture, the author writes almost 1500 words without quoting a single Scripture. 

We must consider this Bad Bible Teaching.)

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What does it mean to quench the Holy Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19)? - gotquestions

Found here. Considering how often we find fault with gotquestions' poor doctrine and faulty teaching, the below article is astonishingly good.

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Answer

The apostle Paul’s closing instructions to the Thessalonian church stresses the believer’s responsibility for guarding his or her own spiritual integrity with this command: “Do not quench the Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 5:19–21).

In the original text, the verb for “quench” used here speaks of suppressing fire or stifling a flame. The Holy Spirit is like a fire dwelling in each believer. When Paul writes, “Do not quench the Holy Spirit,” he is cautioning Christians not to suppress the fire of God’s Spirit that burns within us. This command to the Thessalonians is similar to reminders Paul gave Timothy “to keep ablaze the gift of God that is in you” (2 Timothy 1:6, HCSB) and “do not neglect the spiritual gift you received through the prophecy spoken over you when the elders of the church laid their hands on you” (1 Timothy 4:14, NLT).