Repost

This quote from John Bunyan (1628-1688) is so good, I just had to repost it, even though I posted it on September 27th.

It just makes me want to say, "HALLELUJAH, WHAT A SAVIOR!"

"He cannot, after he has come to the soul as a Spirit of adoption, come again as a Spirit of bondage, to put the soul into its first fear, to wit, a fear of eternal damnation, because he cannot say and unsay, do and undo. As a Spirit of adoption he told me that my sins were forgiven me, that I was included in the covenant of grace, that God was my Father through Christ, that I was under the promise of salvation, and that this calling and gift of God to me is permanent, and without repentance. And do you think, that after he has told me this, and sealed up the truth of it to my precious soul, that he will come to me, and tell me that I am yet in my sins, under the curse of the law and the eternal wrath of God? No, no; the word of the gospel is not yea, yea; nay, nay; it is only yea, and amen; it is so, as God is true (2 Cor.1:17, 20)."

FEAR OF GOD VS. FEAR OF ETERNAL DAMNATION

Romans 8:15

For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

2 Timothy 1:7

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

John Buyan says of these 2 verses:

"He cannot, after he has come to the soul as a Spirit of adoption, come again as a Spirit of bondage, to put the soul into its first fear, to wit, a fear of eternal damnation, because he cannot say and unsay, do and undo. As a Spirit of adoption he told me that my sins were forgiven me, that I was included in the covenant of grace, that God was my Father through Christ, that I was under the promise of salvation, and that this calling and gift of God to me is permanent, and without repentance. And do you think, that after he has told me this, and sealed up the truth of it to my precious soul, that he will come to me, and tell me that I am yet in my sins, under the curse of the law and the eternal wrath of God? No, no; the word of the gospel is not yea, yea; nay, nay; it is only yea, and amen; it is so, as God is true (2 Cor.1:17, 20)."

So that is what those verses mean! Wow!

Now that I am a child of God (the Spirit of adoption, salvation), I am no longer to fear the wrath of God (John 3:36) and eternal damnation.

It also tells me that I am washed whiter than snow (Isaiah 1:8)! Even from the sins that seem so unpardonable to some people.

For I was truly a great sinner before God's saving grace, as all mankind are.

Everything I did before I was saved, was sin, not just one certain indiscretion was sin, but everything.

Romans 3:10-12,20,23,24

¹⁰As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

¹¹There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.

¹²They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

²⁰Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

²³For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

²⁴Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

AMEN!

JESUS CHRIST DOES NOT SHARE HIS GLORY WITH ANOTHER

Exodus 20:3-6

³Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

⁴Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

⁵Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

⁶And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

John 14:6

⁶Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

John 10:25-30

²⁵Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me.

²⁶But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.

²⁷My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

²⁸And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

²⁹My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.

³⁰I and my Father are one.

Acts 4:12

¹²Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

Acts 19:17-19

¹⁷And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.

¹⁸And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds.

¹⁹Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.

Revelation 20:15

¹⁵And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. (Seems that more than books are burned here)

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DOES JESUS RESPECT ISLAM?

By Coach Dave Daubenmire
September 16, 2010

Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.Exodus 20:5-6

I have watched with a great deal of curiosity the feeding frenzy created by the White House regarding the burning of the Quran by a pastor in Florida. I am always leery of where it is the media is trying to take me.

First of all, they want us to know that Pastor Terry Jones shepherds a “small congregation” in Gainesville, Florida, as if behavior is validated by the number of followers that one has. Evidently Joel Osteen’s version of the Gospel is better than Pastor Jones’ because he has such a large following. I’m sure that Pastor Osteen would never do such a “hateful” thing.

You certainly realize that this whole event was driven by the White House, don’t you? Don’t you find it troubling that the President, Hillary, Eric Holder, General Petreaus, and Robert Gates weighed in on this insignificant Pastor’s behavior? Why would they choose to blow oxygen on that small pyre? The President ignores appeals for his birth certificate but speaks out on a small-potatoes pastor? Tell me you are not that stupid.

It didn’t happen by accident. I would say that there is a direct connection to the Ground Zero Mosque and the White House’s attempt to show us how intolerant Christianity is.

“You see now don’t you? Christians can be radical too…but they don’t represent all of Christianity. It is a “fringe” group. Most Christians are moderate and tolerant.”

Do me a favor. Reread that last sentence and substitute “Muslim” everywhere you see “Christian.” That is the agenda. Except they fail to point out that a radical Christian is willing to die for his faith, while a radial Muslim wants to kill for his. The actions of radical Christians and the actions of radical Muslims bear no resemblance.

And of course the “ moderate” Christians always jump into the media trap. They fall all over each other to let the world know that “lunatic” Pastor Terry Jones does not represent “their” Christianity. Whatever that means…

But that is the heart of the problem…”their” Christianity. Too many have remade God in their image. Sadly, there are many different versions of Christianity in the world today, and each one claims to speak for God…most a figment of their imagination of Jesus.

Let me ask you a troubling question that perhaps you haven’t had the courage to ask yourself.

What if God really did tell Pastor Jones to burn the Quran? (Pardon me while I borrow a question from the leftists) “Who are you to judge Pastor Jones?” Hmm?

Certainly you can see that all of this media manipulation is an attempt to herd the sheep towards the gospel of John Lennon.

Imagine there’s no heaven. It’s easy if you try. No Hell below us. Above us only sky. Imagine all the people, living life in peace. You may say that I am a dreamer. But I’m not the only one. I hope some day you will join us. And the world can live as one.

As I listened to a “moderate Christian” talk show host this morning speak for Christianity and its virtues, (among the most important was “respect” and “tolerance” for “other religions” and especially their “holy books”) I couldn’t help but ask myself a piecing question.

Does Jesus respect and tolerate other religions?

In fact, this self-identified Methodist talker informed his listeners that a follower of Jesus would never show such disrespect to another person’s religion. I couldn’t help but wonder what he thought Jesus had died for. Vain philosophies.

Did Jesus die to merely share the platform with the other religious headliners? Are His followers supposed to put Muhammad, Buddha and the boys on equal footing with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords?

Does Jesus respect Islam? Would a follower of Jesus every burn a book? The talk-show host said no. Most Christians say no. Ever wonder what the Bible says?

Randall Terry recently wrote:

Throughout the Old and New Testaments, fire is a sign of the judgment of God. Fire came down on Sodom and Gomorrah; Moses burned the golden calf; Joshua burned cities in Canaan; God ordered enemy chariots and “sacred” pagan idols to be burned in fire; Elijah called fire down to consume military men who came to capture him; when Israel forsook God, God brought the Babylonians to burn Jerusalem – including its palaces and Solomon’s temple – to the ground.

Christ said, “Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire….” (Matt. 3:10) and "I came to cast fire upon the earth; and would that it were already kindled!”(Luke 12:49)

In Acts 19, Paul orchestrated the burning of books on witchcraft which “mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.”

I guess, as followers of Jesus, the issue we are going to have to come to grips with is whether or not Jesus was who He said He was. If the Bible is true, then Islam is a lie. If the Bible is true, Darwin was a fool. If the Bible is true, there are no other “holy” books. If the Bible is true…

Would you object to the burning of the Satanic Bible, or are Christians supposed to “respect” and “tolerate” it as well? Which “holy” book has led more people to hell...the Satanic Bible or the Quran? Sorry…please don’t cut off my head…just asking.

Would Jesus respect the Satanic Bible? Does Jesus respect the Quran?

Secularism has crept into our churches. Most Christians judge behavior by secular standards.

Standing up for Jesus in the public square has become “intolerant” and certainly no “good Christian” would want to violate that most important of all secular-commandments.

WWJT…What Would Jesus Tolerate…that is the question Christians should be asking ourselves.

“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14:6

I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Exodus 20

No other gods…I guess there are other gods beside Jesus…and He made His position on them very clear.

Here is the point. If “religion” is merely to be used as a set of values by which we live our lives, then I suppose it doesn’t matter which one you choose. But if heaven and hell are real, and there really is life beyond this world, then “religion” takes on a whole new perspective. Christianity is not a popularity contest and it is certainly more than a life-enhancing philosophy.

If the Bible is true, then all other roads lead to hell. Christianity has a cross at one end and an empty tomb at the other.

Jesus was very intolerant…I AM THE WAY…NO OTHER GODS. Would Jesus burn a Quran? I don’t know…but He does promise to burn souls.

I think it is time Christians stopped worrying so much about being nice and started being honest.

And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Rev. 20.

Does Jesus respect Islam or is He jealous? It would behoove us to know the correct answer.

Coach Dave Daubenmire, founder and President of Pass The Salt Ministries www.ptsalt.com and Minutemen Unitedwww.minutemenunited.org, is host of the high octane Pass The Salt radio show heard in Columbus, Ohio.

In 1999 Coach Daubenmire was sued by the ACLU for praying with his teams while coaching high school in Ohio. He now spends his energy fighting for Christian principles in the public domain.

SALVATION

If I may steal this quote from Monergism Books:

The doctrine of election does not save anyone, the gospel does. Divine election is a blueprint by the Father to save a particular people for Himself by the redemptive work of Jesus Christ (in time) when applied by the Holy Spirit to the same, through the preaching of the gospel. The gospel seed is cast forth indiscriminately by the church, but natural men will not respond unless the Holy Spirit germinates the seed (so to speak) on those the Father have given the Son from eternity (John 6:63-65, 37, 44; John 17; Eph 1:4,5)

TRUE FREEDOM COMES FROM THE LORD JESUS CHRIST

PSALM 24:1-3
The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.
Who shall ascend inot the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place?

PSALM 33:8-22
Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.
The Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of non effect.
The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.
The LORD looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men.
From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth.
He fashioneth their hearts alike; he considereth all their works.
Their is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength.
An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength.
Behold, he eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy;
To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.
Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he is our help and our shield.
For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name.
Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.

PSALM 34:19
Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.

PROVERBS 28:13
He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.

JOHN 14:6
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

EPHESIANS 2:8,9
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
No of works, lest any man should boast.

ACTS 3:19
Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out....

ACTS 16:31
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved...
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Freedom's Real Enemies
By Chuck Baldwin
June 11, 2010
This column is archived at
http://chuckbaldwinlive.com/home/?p=1708


Politicians in Washington, D.C., love to manufacture a crisis. The crisis
generates fear within the citizenry, thereby allowing the federal government
to centralize more and more power. During a crisis, the citizenry becomes
much more forgiving of federal abuses and accommodating of federal
encroachments than it otherwise would be without a crisis. Hence, we have a
federal "war on drugs," and a "war on poverty," and a "war on terror," and
an "oil crisis," and an "energy crisis," and a "domestic terrorism crisis,"
and an "education crisis," and a "border crisis," and an "economic
crisis"--Blah! Blah! Blah!

You can mark it down: every major crisis that America has faced over the
last several decades has been either manufactured or facilitated by policies
and activities originating in Washington, D.C. But at the same time that DC
is creating these crises, it categorizes any ideological group it finds
distasteful as a convenient scapegoat. These convenient scapegoats can
include "angry white guys," "tea party extremists," "a vast right-wing
conspiracy," Constitution Party or Libertarian Party "extremists," "Second
Amendment extremists" (gun owners), "pro-life extremists," ad infinitum, ad
nauseam.

Yet, while DC's elitists are plotting America's next crisis and figuring out
whom to categorize as America's next "extremist," some real enemies are
waging war against the freedoms and liberties of our once-great republic.
And, ladies and gentlemen, these enemies are much more subtle, a lot closer,
and much more dangerous than almost anything you are being told about.

Here are some of freedom's real enemies:

Big Cities

When the United States was a much smaller--much more agricultural--nation,
our freedoms were mostly intact. The mass exodus out of rural America into
urban America has been a bane of freedom--and it will continue to be so.

Thomas Jefferson addressed this issue astutely when he wrote in a letter to
James Madison, "When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in
Europe, we shall become corrupt as in Europe." (Source: The Jeffersonian
Cyclopedia, A Comprehensive Collection of the Views of Thomas Jefferson)

Jefferson spoke again of this danger in a letter to Benjamin Rush. He wrote,
"I view great cities as pestilential to the morals, the health, and the
liberties of man. True, they nourish some of the elegant arts, but the
useful ones can thrive elsewhere, and less perfection in the others, with
more health, virtue and freedom, would be my choice." (Source: Ibid.)

Big cities are most always more liberal, more socialistic, more utopian, and
more centralist. Citizens living in big cities readily submit to the
machinations and designs of Big Government with much greater regularity than
do their rural counterparts. In states where a handful of big cities
dominate State politics, Big-Government policies almost always take over the
politics of the entire State. If you doubt that, just speak with
freedom-loving citizens in New York, Illinois, or Maryland.

Consider, specifically, the freedom most necessary to preserve our
liberties: the right of the people to keep and bear arms. People in states
that are less populated enjoy much greater liberty than do people in heavily
populated states. For example, Boston's Gun Bible (BGB) ranks the states
according to the degree of gun ownership (and possession) protection in each
State. It is no coincidence that the states with sparser populations are
much freer than states with denser populations.

Here is BGB's breakdown of the most and least free gun ownership states:

Most Free States:

1. Vermont
2. Idaho and Kentucky (tie)
3. Louisiana and Alaska (tie)
4. Wyoming
5. Montana

Least Free States:

1. New Jersey
2. Illinois
3. Hawaii
4. Massachusetts
5. New York

Population density in the "most free" states is less than 50 persons per
square mile, while in the "least free" states it is more than 460 persons
per square mile. Case closed!

While big cities will typically tolerate much more in the way of
licentiousness and sexual perversion, they are also the first to tolerate
Big-Government socialism. Without a doubt, Thomas Jefferson was right: big
cities are "pestilential to the morals, the health, and the liberties of
man."

If you want to live free in the future, you will probably need to leave the
big city--and perhaps the states that are dominated by big cities.

The National News Media

For the most part, the national news media is no friend of freedom. About
all most of them know of the US Constitution is the part about the "freedom
of the press" (from the First Amendment, of course). Watch any of the Big
Three television network newscasts on any weekday evening, and what will you
see? You will see the exact same stories regurgitated over and over
again--even with the exact same spin! And that spin is most always tilted
toward bigger and bigger government. This goes on night after night, week
after week, month after month, and year after year. But this is all just
coincidental, right? Get real!

The cable news networks are not much better. About the only difference
between cable networks is that CNN will provide cover for Big Government
Democrats while viciously attacking all things Republican, and FOX NEWS will
provide cover for Big Government Republicans while viciously attacking all
things Democrat.

Face it: the national news media is intoxicated with Two Party Politics.
They really don't care nearly as much about the fundamental tenets and
principles of liberty as they do about whether a Democrat or Republican wins
office. Washington's media elite are wined and dined by the same party
politicians that they cover on television or in the newspaper. (What a
racket!) Do you really think any major media news personality is going to
risk losing his or her job (which is exactly what would happen) by asking
too many questions, or boring too deeply, or straying too far off the
reservation? Once again, get real! All of these guys and gals know exactly
where the line--and the "third rail"--is located. And they all will stay
clear of both! It's not about reporting the news, or defending liberty, or
anything of the sort. It is about pleasing their big corporate
sponsors--corporate sponsors who are in bed with the elites from both major
political parties, by the way!

As long as the American people continue to allow the national news media to
manipulate and spin the news, our liberties will continue to erode.

Big Business

In fact, Big Anything can be freedom's enemy: Big Business, Big Labor, Big
Media, Big Cities, and Big Religion. Big Anything!

However, the rate and degree to which Big Business has been able to advance
during the last half of the twentieth century--and now into the twenty-first
century--is especially problematic for the survival of liberty. Dear friend,
it is a mistake to equate Big Business with freedom. Big Business has little
to do with capitalism and free enterprise and much to do with monopolism and
globalism. Big Business does not want to compete with private enterprise; it
wants to crush it! Big Business sees Big Government as a friend and partner.
In fact, Big Business and Big Government are conjoined twins. They grow and
live as one.

Accordingly, it is no accident that when the Bilderbergers got together a
few days ago at the Hotel Dolce in Sitges, Spain, for their super-secret
meeting, the list of attendees included the cabal of super-elites from Big
Government, Big Business, Big Academia, and Big Media. People such as Bill
Gates (Microsoft), Roger Altman (former Deputy Secretary of the US
Treasury), Martin Feldstein (Harvard University), Niall Ferguson (Harvard
University), Philip Gordon (Assistant Secretary of State for European and
Eurasian Affairs), Donald Graham (The Washington Post), Richard Holbrooke
(Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan), Robert Hormats (Under
Secretary for Economic, Energy and Agricultural Affairs), Henry Kissinger
(former Secretary of State), Klaus Kleinfeld (Chairman and CEO, Alcoa),
Craig Mundie (Microsoft), Peter Orszag (Director, Office of Management and
Budget), Charlie Rose (Producer, Rose Communications), Robert Rubin
(Co-Chairman, Council on Foreign Relations; former Secretary of the
Treasury), Eric Schmidt (CEO and Chairman of the Board, Google), James
Steinberg (Deputy Secretary of State), Lawrence Summers (Director, National
Economic Council), Christine Varney (Assistant Attorney General for
Antitrust), and Paul Volcker (Chairman, Economic Recovery Advisory Board).
And please remember that these are only the names of those that were
published. The complete list of attendees is top secret and never released.
For example, was Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner there? He is a
Bilderberg (and CFR) member.

But of course, this meeting--complete with the tightest security and secrecy
possible--is only for the purpose of social fellowship and clubmanship,
right? That the world's most interconnected business, governmental, and
media elites would meet outside the viewing and listening of everyone is
supposed to be dismissed as irrelevant and insignificant, right? Well, if
you get your news from ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, or FOX NEWS, that is exactly what
you are being led to believe.

Yet, Big Business has been conspiring with Big Government for the purpose of
personal aggrandizement (at the cost of liberty, of course) for
decades--probably centuries. Remember, it took an act of Congress to stop
old Prescott Bush (George H.W. Bush's father and G.W. Bush's grandfather)
from sending financial assistance to Nazi Germany. Know, too, that
international bankers today are supporting governments (some that are openly
hostile to the United States) in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Again,
Big Business and Big Government are conjoined twins--an interconnected body
that grows in unison at the expense of our liberties.

Freedom has many more real enemies that could be added to this list, of
course; and maybe in the future we can talk more about them. For now,
recognize that our liberties are hanging by a thread in this country. And
the next time you hear someone in Washington, D.C., or the national news
media railing against the latest "crisis" that requires Big Government to
fix, please remember who the real enemy is.