Around the Blogosphere

Welcome to Around the Blogosphere for the week of February 11th, 2010. We hope you take the time to check out these helpful and interesting posts on the world wide web. - Bro Pat



1.) Spurgeon's Conversion in His Own Words
Have you ever read about C.H. Spurgeon's conversion? Over at the Puritan Fellowship blog they have posted an excerpt from Iain Murray book on Spurgeon's life. Spurgeon says of his conversion, "I saw at once the way of salvation. I know not what else he said—I did not take much notice of it—I was so possessed with that one thought . . . . I had been waiting to do fifty things, but when I heard that word, "Look!" what a charming word it seemed to me. Oh! I looked until I could almost have looked my eyes away." You can read the testimony in it's entirety here.

2.) The Authority of Preaching
Over at the Nine Marks Blog, Thabiti Anyabwile, has written a post on the Authority of Preaching. This is a very important aspect of church life, and the man of God must understand the true authority of preaching . In the post Anyabwile writes, "But sometimes, those who love preaching most may abuse its authority most. That is, we may abuse the authority of preaching by forgetting or failing to make clear where that authority comes from." You can read the post here.

3.) Imperfect Men
The Thoughts Along the Way blog has posted another great quote from Mack Tomlinson. Here is a short excerpt from the quote, "Christians, especially new believers, often idolize their favorite preacher and become candidates for disillusionment when he disappoints them; to idolize men--to look to men inordinately--to follow men too closely, is to prepare oneself for disappointment and even possible spiritual shipwreck." You can read the entire quote here.

4.) Metamorphosis
Anyone who is interested in the history and impact of the shift from Modernism to Post Modernism should read these post from John MacArthur. In the first of three post at the Grace to You Blog, MacArthur writes, "By the early ‘90s American evangelicalism was shamelessly imitating virtually every worldly fad. Church leaders and church-growth strategists openly described the gospel as a commodity to be sold at market, and the predictable result was a frantic attempt to make the gospel into the kind of product most buyers wanted. The conventional wisdom was that sophisticated marketing strategies were far more effective than gospel proclamation for reaching the “un-churched” multitudes. No one, it seemed, wanted to challenge that notion, which was buttressed with countless opinion polls. And who could argue with the obvious “success” of several entertainment-oriented mega churches?"
Your can read Part One here, Part Two Here, Part Three Here.

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Around the Blogosphere

Around the Blogosphere for January 14, 2010. We hope you take the time to look at each one of these interesting post from the world wide web.


Village Idiots
1) Phil Johnson has written a post about the collapse of the Emergent Village. In this article Johnson writes, "Meanwhile, Emergent Village's best-known celebrity voices have likewise fallen silent—mostly. Andrew Jones and Tony Jones, both living icons of "emergence," had a little back-and-forth exchange last week, which culminated in Andrew's public, formal separation from the organization. I'll give a link to that exchange in a moment." If you are half way interested in the adverse effects the Emergent Church has on the Real Church, you should read this article. You can read it here.

The Wonder of Words
2) The Nine Marks blog has posted an article by Thabiti Anyabwile about the importance of words. Anyabwile writes, "Have you ever thought about how important and mysterious words are? I don't simply mean have you ever thought about choosing the right words, or the effect of words. I mean, have you stopped to ponder the existence of words, and the meaning of the existence of words? " You can read the whole article here.

Are You Resolved?
3) Steve Lawson has written an article about Jonathan Edwards and his life Resolutions. Lawson writes, "Edwards began his Resolutions with what he desired to be the driving force of his life — an all-absorbing passion to pursue the glory of God. “Resolved: that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God’s glory and to my own good, profit, and pleasure, in the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time, whether now or never so many myriads of ages hence. Resolved: to do whatever I think to be my duty, and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general. Resolved: to do this whatever difficulties I meet with, how ever so many and how ever so great.” You can continue reading here.

Are You Easily Offended?
4) Kevin Deyoung has posted an article on Christians being offened. In his article titled, "Why are We so Offended All the Time", Deyoung writes, "For starters, being hurt is easier than being right. To prove you’re offended you just have to rustle up moral indignation and tell the world about it. To prove you’re right you actually have to make arguments and use logic and marshal evidence. Why debate theology or politics or economics if you can win your audience by making the other guys look like meanies?" You can read the post here.

Shack Attack
5) Many of us have encountered friends and family who have read (and loved) the book, "The Shack". In a review of the book, an article titled, "I am Not Who You Think I am", the author writes, "The point of The Shack is to prompt Christian readers, among others, to question, with Mack, their understanding of God—indeed, to "change the way we think about God forever." Young himself, in his actual rather than fictional voice, ends his acknowledgments with a benediction "that the abiding presence of Papa, Jesus and Sarayu will fill up your inside emptiness with joy unspeakable and full of glory." This, along with the promotional machine one encounters in the book's "Missy Project," should, I think, make any Christian uncomfortable. It should, in fact, convince us that The Shack is anything but "just a novel." After reading this review of the book, I am reminded again of how prevalent the post modern influence is in the "church" today. You can read the review here.

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Around the Blogosphere

Welcome to Around the Blogosphere! We hope you take time to check out these links from the world wide web.

Are Mormon's True Christians?
1.) Phil Johnson writes about the most recent developments in evangelicalism in his post titled, "Latter-Day Ecumenism". In the post Johnson writes, "This is neither mine nor John MacArthur's first attempt to set the record straight. (I'll be posting some past correspondence on the issue in the next few days.) John MacArthur has repeatedly attempted to make his position absolutely clear: He does not regard Mormonism as legitimate Christianity—not even close. But you might get the opposite impression from some of Millet's publicity, and especially from his Internet groupies' postings". You can read the rest of the article here.

Prophets of Heresy
2.) "Unholy Trinity", is the title of John MacArthur's new post over at the Pulpit Magazine blog. In the Article MacArthur writes about the false teaching and heresy of the health, wealth, and prosperity group that is thriving today. MacArthur comments, "On program after program people are urged to "plant a seed" by sending "the largest bill you have or the biggest check you can write" with the promise that God will miraculously make them rich in return. That same message dominates all of TBN's major fundraising drives. It's known as the "seed faith" plan, so-called by Oral Roberts, who set the pattern for most of the charismatic televangelists who have followed the trail he blazed. Paul Crouch, founder, chairman, and commander-in-chief of TBN, is one of the doctrine's staunchest defenders. You can read the article in it's entirety here.

Are you going to church to minister?
3.) Over at Thoughts Along the Way blog, they have posted an article by Mack Tomlinson, on how each person should come to church prepared to serve. Tomlinson comments, "Do you think your pastor or the elder who is preaching today has probably prepared at all for the service? Do you think his heart and mind have done some preparation and that he is going to show up at the meeting, having a heart to minister to others, and will specifically offer the congregation something he has prepared? Will he consciously bring something that they he hopes, by God's grace, will be used by the Lord to edify the body? I want to encourage you to do exactly that today. Don't just go to receive something, though God does want you to receive today. Don't just go to get, though we do need to get benefit. Do not go empty-handed or with an unprepared heart. You can read the rest of the article here.

Are we really to rejoice in the Lord always?
4.) The CCW blog has posted an article by Daryl Wingerd about rejoicing in the Lord always. In his post titled, "Sorrowful Yet Always rejoicing, Wingerd challenges the true believer to rejoice NO matter what your circumstance is. In the article Wingerd comments, "Recently he was being wheeled out of the hospital, with little or no hope of physical improvement, let alone recovery. One of his three daughters was at his side when the nurse pushing the wheelchair said, "I hope you have a good day today." He looked up at her and said, in a weak but confident voice, "This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it." The nurse said she knew a song with those words, one she learned while at a summer camp as a teenager. The three of them began to sing as they walked, "This is the day, this is the day that the Lord has made, that the Lord has made. I will rejoice, I will rejoice and be glad in it, and be glad in it." You can read the whole article here.
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Around the Blogoshere

Welcome to Around the Blogoshere for Friday October 9, 2009. We hope you take the time to check out these interesting blog post on the world wide web.

Spending Time with our Lord
1.) Jim Eliff has an encouraging post on spending time with The Lord. In the post titled, "An Intimate Hour with God", Eliff writes, "It is sometimes good to kneel or to lie down before the Lord. "Come let us bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our God, our Maker." (Ps. 95: 6) Walking while praying can also be helpful, or sitting in a comfortable chair so that all the focus can be on God. Be sure and find a quiet place." You can read the whole post here.

The Church and the World
2.) Over at Grace to You, John MacArthur, has a pointed article on the compromise seen in many "churches" today. In a post titled, 'The Church Verses the World', MacArthur says, "The quest for the world's approval is nothing less than spiritual harlotry. In fact, that is precisely the imagery the apostle James used to describe it. He wrote: "Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God" (James 4:4)." You can read the rest of the post here.

Real Choice?
3.) John Piper, over at Desiring God, has posted an article titled, "Real Choice, Divine Sway, and the Way Paul Lived". In the post Piper writes, "So my working and willing are necessary. They are real. But they are not first or ultimately decisive. God’s willing and working is decisively under and in my willing and working. The word “for” is crucial. I work because he is working in me. I will, because he is willing in me." You can read the article here.

Lessons From Proverbs
4.) Over at the CCW Blog, Daryl Wingerd, has written a blog post titled, "Disciple of Children: Lessons From Proverbs". In the article Wingerd writes, "The writers of the New Testament display an obvious dependence on this particular Old Testament book, especially when speaking of discipline. The writer of Hebrews, for example, quotes from Proverbs 3:11-12 when describing the discipline of the Lord, likening it to the discipline of the father who delights in his son. Jesus alludes to the same text when He says, “Those whom I love I reprove and discipline” (Rev. 3:19). Two of these New Testament texts bring to mind Proverbs 29:15 where we are told that “the rod and rebuke give wisdom”—something physical and something verbal. Jesus reverses the order in Revelation 3:19, putting the verbal first and the physical second, but in Ephesians 6:4 the order of physical then verbal is preserved—“the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” You can read the post here.

The Brazen Serpent
5) One of the most encouraging things we can do, as believers, is to read Sermons of men from years gone by. One such man I really enjoy reading is C. H. Spurgeon. Over at Spurgeon Dot Org there are many of his sermons that you can read. I have pick out one such sermon. In a sermons titled, "The Mystery of the Brazen Serpent", Spurgeon says, "And now, to-day, I am about to address the mass of my congregation concerning that simple subject of faith in the Lord Jesus, whereby men are saved. And instead of addressing them in a didactic and doctrinal manner, I shall adopt the parable of my text, and endeavour to imitate the example of my Lord, in trying to make faith plain to those who are but children in grace. Allow me, then, dear friends, to describe first, the people in the wilderness—the representatives of men who are sinners. Let me describe next, the brazen serpent—the type of Jesus Christ crucified. Let me then note what was to be done with the brazen serpent—it was to be lifted up; and so was Christ to be lifted up. And then let us notice what was to be done by the people who were bitten—they were to look at the serpent; and so sinners must believe in Christ." You can read the whole sermon here.

Around the Blogosphere

Welcome again for another post of Around the Blogosphere. I hope you take the time to check these post on the world wide web. Now you can start looking out for this feature every Friday.



Loving the Unlovable
1.) In "Loving Even the Cantankerous", Jim Eliff challenges his readers to love even the unlovable. In this article Eliff writes, " First of all, love is the highest mark of maturity. Therefore, not loving the other members of the church is a sign of our immaturity. There may be problems with the other person that are inexcusable, but no problem makes love impossible." You can read the whole post here.

Lordship Salvation
2.) Over at the Camponthis Blog, Steve Camp has posted a good article on The Lordship of Jesus Christ by an unknown author. In the article the author writes, ""Lordship Salvation emphasizes that a love for Christ springs from our new nature (granted freely by God) which desires to believe the gospel as well as submit to Jesus Christ as Lord over one's life. Both faith and obedience are the result of God's invincible and indelible grace, not the cause of it." You can read the whole article here.

Gay Affirming "Pastor"
3.) Apprising Ministries has a post on "Gay Affirming", Emergent "Pastor" Jay Bakker. Bakker is the son of former "TV stars", Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker. It is amazing to see what depths those who are not saved will go to pervert the gospel of Christ! In this article, Ken Silva writes, "Jay Bakker has said, "Sexism is alive and well in the church today and it really makes me angry that some still use God/theology as an Excuse to discriminate.." You can read the whole post here.

Heretic alert! Beware of Rob Bell
4.) Phil Johnson has written an article on Emergent "Pastor" "Rob Bell, entitled Performance Artist". In the post Johnson quotes Bell as saying, "In fact, listen to Bell's own cockamamie claim about what the term properly describes: "I embrace the term evangelical, if by that we mean a belief that we together can actually work for change in the world, caring for the environment, extending to the poor generosity and kindness, a hopeful outlook. That's a beautiful sort of thing." You can click here to read the post.

Was Jesus Always "Nice"?
5.) Grace to You has posted a sermon by John MacArthur, titled, Was Jesus Always "Nice"? In the article MacArthur writes, "The Great Shepherd Himself was never far from open controversy with the most conspicuously religious inhabitants in all of Israel. Almost every chapter of the Gospels makes some reference to His running battle with the chief hypocrites of His day, and He made no effort whatsoever to be winsome in His encounters with them. He did not invite them to dialogue or engage in a friendly exchange of ideas." This article is from MacArthur newest book, "The Jesus You Can't Ignore. You can read the message here.

Around the Blogosphere

Around the Blogosphere for the week of September 9, 2009. We hope you will take the time to check out these interesting articles and or sermons from the world wide web.

1.) As many of you know that Brian McLaren is the self proclaimed guru of the emergent church movement. McLaren has become increasingly more out of touch with true biblical doctrine as the minutes roll by. In a post by Ken Silva, "Brian McLaren Imagining a Different God", McLaren reveals his newest approach to doing 'Christianity". Here is a brief except from the article, "Now, we are struggling to imagine a bigger God, a God who makes sense in the evolutionary universe of Darwin, Einstein, LeMaitre, Hubble, Heisenberg, and Kuhn … ". You can read the article here.

2.) Phil Johnson over at Pyromaniacs has a very interesting article on neo-evangelicalism. In the artilce titled, "The Demise of Evangelicalism", Johnson writes, "The movement was strongly influenced by the early drift of Fuller seminary, led by men who were affiliated with Christianity Today and the National Association of Evangelicals, and driven mainly (I think) by a desire for academic respectability, even at the expense of a clear and consistent testimony". You can read the entire article here.

3.) John MacArthur has posted a good article on Preaching Biblically. In the Artilce that is titled, "Biblically-Anemic Preaching: The Devastating Consequences of a Watered-Down Message", MacArthur states, "Such preaching is in short supply these days. There are plenty of gifted communicators in the modern evangelical movement, but today’s sermons tend to be short, shallow, topical homilies that massage people’s egos and focus on fairly insipid subjects like human relationships, "successful" living, emotional issues, and other practical but worldly—and not definitively biblical—themes. These messages are lightweight and without substance, cheap and synthetic, leaving little more than an ephemeral impression on the minds of the hearers". He gives 15 main points to why marginal superficial preaching is a failure. You can read the post here.

4.) One of my favorite sermons is called, "Ten Shekels and a Shirt", by Paris Reidhead. In this message, Reidhead preaches from Judges Chapter 17, exposing the modern day error of humanism in the Church. He contends that the liberals today are all about making man happy why he is alive, yet the fundamentalist of today are just trying to make man happy after he dies, i.e., in going to heaven. Reidhead came to the conclusion that both views are representative of humanism, and our only hope is to get back to biblical Christianity, i.e., "the end of all being is the glory of God". You can listen to the message here.

Around the Blogosphere

Welcome again to another edition of Around the Blogosphere. I am sorry this is a few days late, but I hope you are still blessed by these articles/sermons from the world wide web.

1). It appears that the world council of churches is looking to become more ecumenical (if that is possible), according to a post over at Crosstalk blog. In the post it states, "The Christian Post reports that the apostate World Council of Churches is seeking “broader ecumenical engagement.” You can read the rest of the article here.

2.) Over at Pyromaniacs, Dan Phillips has an interresting article titled, "All Religions really do lead to God." In the article Phillips says, "The only way to God as Father is through the Lord Jesus Christ. Born again by the sovereign grace of God (John 1:12-13), adopted as sons of God through Christ (Ephesians 1:7), blessed with the spirit of adoption whereby we can cry out "Abba! Father" (Romans 8:15), which is the Spirit of God's own Son sent into our hearts (Galatians 4:6)." You should go and read the whole article here.

3.)" Do Hurricanes Just Happen?", is the title of the most recent article at the CCWblog. In the article Jim Elliff writes, "But can we really say God did it? Most do not want to. Yet, occasionally, even among those who assume God exercises no true sovereignty over the wills of men, there is the admission that God does control the weather. He does, that is, as long as nobody is seriously hurt. God might comfort during the storm and help pick up the emotional pieces after the storm, but He would never create such ruination." You can see the whole article here.

4.) An alarming trend in the visible "church" today is their tolerance of sin. Ken Silva at Apprising Ministries hits one of these sins head on. In the article titled, "Protestant Churches Shifting Towards Affirming Homosexuality", Silva comments, "The genuine Church of Jesus Christ is a theocracy ruled by God; a people of God (see—1 Peter 2:10), a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession in order that we might proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called us—now watch carefully what God tells us about the world i.e. unregenerate human culture—out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9, NASB). Did you catch that; the Person of God the Holy Spirit has clearly told us through His inspired Apostle Peter that the world, concerning issues like homosexuality, is in utter darkness." You can read the whole article here.

5.) Grace to You has a small but insightful article by John MacArthur titled, "Will there be sin or sorrow in Heaven?" In the article MacArthur proclaims, "Heaven will be so dramatically different from the present world that to describe it requires the use of negatives, as well as positives. To describe what is totally beyond human understanding also requires pointing out how it differs from present experience." You can read the rest of the article here.

As things continue to deteriorate around us, may our eyes of discernment be sharpened by his two-edged sword!

Heb 4:12 - For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Bro. Pat

Around the Blogosphere

Welcome to this weeks "Around the Blogoshere". We pray that you will be encouraged and enlightened by the following articles.

1.) We start off with an article by Jim Eliff titled, "35 Reasons not to Sin." Just to give you an example of a few of the points, 1. Because a little sin leads to more sin., 19. Because sin makes light of the cross, upon which Christ died for the very purpose of taking away my sin., 33. Because my unwillingness to reject this sin now grants it an authority over me greater than I wish to believe. You can read all 35 reasons here.

2.) Phil Johnson, over at Pyromaniacs, has posted an article titled, "Does Scripture Permit Us to Regard any Truth as "Secondary"? Johnson gives some compelling insight into how we regard the different truths in scripture. Here is a little sample of what he says, " Others—equally extreme—argue, in effect, that "truth" isn't primary at all; relationships are, and therefore no proposition or point of truth is ever worth arguing about with another professing Christian. The latter position is gaining adherents at a frightening pace". You can read the whole article here.

3.) John MacArthur has an article over at GTY titled, "Making the most of Your Church, Part 1". In the article MacArthur says, "What Christ said to the church at Pergamum illustrates the danger of a co-mingling of believers and unbelievers in the church: "I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit acts of immorality" (Rev. 2:14). Christ accused that church of compromise". You can read the article in it entirety here.

4.) Over at the Contending, Defending blog, is a critique of Mark Driscoll's message that was preached at The Chrystal Cathedral. In the article the author states, "Recently, one man was given that opportunity to give a clear explanation of the gospel and the consequences of not believing the truth as proclaimed in the Word of God. That man was Mark Driscoll AND HE FAILED MISERABLY!" As our founding Pastor Mark Swan used to say (Pat's paraphrase), "I would go to preach the real gospel anywhere I was invited, once. The true test of whether or not I preached the real gospel or not would be, would they invite me back". Not that we go and preach trying to offend, but the real gospel is always offensive anywhere that the majority of the people are lost. After what I heard Driscoll "preach", I think he will be invited back and that is very sad. You can decide for yourself and read it here.

Around the Blogosphere

Welcome to Around the Blogosphere for Tuesday, August 18th. I hope you enjoy these blog post from the world wide web.

1.) Phil Johnson, over at Pyromaniacs, has posted an article called, "Jesus vs. The Pharisees". It is a short excerpt from John MacArthur's new book, "The Jesus You Can't Ignore." Here is a short line from the article, "Almost every chapter of the gospels makes some reference to His running battle with the chief hypocrites of His day, and He made no effort whatsoever to be winsome in His encounters with them. He did not invite them to dialogue or engage in a friendly exchange of ideas." You can read the article here.

2.) Over at Apprising Ministries, they have a short article about Brian Maclaren, guru of the Emergent church movement. It talks about his involvement in Ramadan, the Muslim holy month. Maclaren says, "We are not doing so in order to become Muslims: we are deeply committed Christians. But as Christians, we want to come close to our Muslim neighbors and to share this important part of life with them." There are many links to this article that tell of his further involvement in the false system Islam. You can read the whole article here.

3.) Albert Mohler, President of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, has an interesting article on the Health, Wealth and Prosperity Gospel. In the article Mohler writes, "A significant number of these preachers have departed from Christian orthodoxy altogether, adopting Trinitarian and Christological heresies. The entire movement presents the Gospel as a message that is primarily about earthly rewards -- a theology that turns God into a heavenly banker who is obligated to invest His people with material riches if they possess adequate faith and claim these blessings for their own." You can read the article in it's entirety here.

4.) Jim Eliff of Christian Communicators Worldwide, has a very good article titled, "A Really Funny Gospel for Kids". He takes the position that humor and entertainment are more detrimental then good for kids. Here is a short snippet from the article, "The use of such means may deaden the child's ability and appetite to receive truth in a more conventional spoken or written form. In other words, entertainment becomes to the listener the preferred medium of receiving his information about God." You can read all of the article here.

Thanks for checking out these helpful articles, in Around the Blogosphere.

1Jo 4:1 - Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

Bro. Pat

Around the Blogosphere

Welcome to our weekly feature Around the Blogosphere. I hope you take time to look into each link available this week. We have a variety of post and or sermons for your edification.

1.) We start off on a negative note from news within the church. Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church has banned six members from the property of the Church, including the current Pastor, W. Tullian Tchividjian. Please pray for the true believers in this Church, they will need it! You can read a short article about what is going on here.

2.) Tim Challies has been featuring an interview with Burk Parsons, Associate Pastor with R. C. Sproul at Saint Andrew’s Chapel . The interesting thing about Burk is, he was an original member of the boy band, Backstreet Boys. In the interview he gives his personal testimony and how the Lord keep him from getting to deep into the music industry. You can read part one here. Part two here. Part three here.

3.) Over at Grace to You, John MacArthur has an encouraging article, How God Uses Suffering. He uses Paul's thorn in the flesh, to speak about suffering and God's plan for it in our lives. A couple of the questions he asks in the article are, "What does God accomplish in the life of His own through suffering? Why did God allow this? Why would God allow a demon-inspired group of false teachers to go in and tear up a church? Why would God allow that?" You can read the article here.

4.) Steve Camp at his blog, Camponthis, has posted an article, "Thoughts for Young Men". He uses an excerpt from JC Ryle's book written to young men. Here is a little sample of the article, "Most men are like sheep, they follow a leader. If it was the fashion of the day to be Roman Catholics, they would be Roman Catholics, if it was to be Islamic, they would be Islamic." You can read the article here.

5.) Here is a good message entitled, "Do Not Love the World". It is preached by C. J Mahaney, of Sovereign Grace Ministries. He uses the scripture in 1 John 2:12-17. This message was preached at the New Attitude Conference in 2002. He talks about how the church is in grave danger of being seduced by the world. You can watch it here.

Bro. Pat

Around the Blogosphere

Welcome again to another addition of Around the Blogosphere. I hope you will take the time to check out these encouraging post/sermons.

1.) The Desiring God blog has an article based on Luke Chapter seven. The article is titled, "Seeing our Shame: The Fuel of True Love for God", it is about the women who washes Jesus' feet in Simon' s house. You can read it here.

2.) Sermon Index has a wonderful message by K. P. Yohannan, the director of Gospel for Asia. The message is titled, "To Live is Christ", K. P. gives many testimonies about the persecuted church in India. He also challenges us to be faithful to God's call , "to preach the gospel to every creature". You can listen to it here.

3.) Worship Matters has an interesting article about the story behind the Hymn, Great is Thy Faithfulness. The post gives a brief history of the Hymn's writer, Thomas Chisholm, and how he came about writing this popular Hymn. You can read about it here.

4.) Camponthis, has an expose on one of the newest fads in evangelicalism, The I Love Lucy Bible Study. Steve Camp does an excellent job of calling all back to the word of God. He asks, "What ever happened to loving His Word, reading it, obeying it, teaching it, sharing it, meditating on it, craving it, hiding deep within our hearts, etc..?" Amen! You can read it here.

I hope you enjoy these articles and or sermons. May we continue to take up our cross daily and follow Him. Praise God!

Bro. Pat

Around the Blogosphere

Welcome again to another installment of Around the Blogosphere. Here are some insightful and interesting Blog post and or sermons to check out this week.

1.) Phil Johnson has posted what he calls, a vintage post, from years past. It was originally posted in 2005. It is about whether we should play nice in defending for the faith, according to the postmodernist rules of engagement. You can read it here.

2.) In one of Tim Challies post this week, he has included a brief exert form the book by Kevin Deyoung, "Why Were Not Emergent (By Two Guys Who Should Be)". In the post there are many questions for you to test yourself on whether you are emergent or not. I hope none of you fail this test. You can read it here.

3.) Over at Grace to You, there is a thought provoking interview of John MacArthur on the subject, When Believers Stop Believing: Portrait of an Apostate. He gives some good insight and biblical teaching on this most important subject. You can read it here.

4.) On of the greatest missions stories I have ever heard was given by Harmon Schmelzenbach. It is the story of an African warrior, who is born again and becomes an indigenous missionary himself. This is a wonderful testimony to the grace and power of God. You can listen to it here.

I hope that you take time to enjoy these articles and or sermons.

Bro Pat

Around the Blogosphere

Welcome to another addition of Around the Blogosphere. I hope these links and articles are helpful to you, as you follow after the Lord Jesus Christ.

1. One of my favorite modern time preachers is Martyn Lloyd-Jones. I have been blessed by his writing ministry as well as by his preaching ministry. You can listen to his sermons online or download them as MP3's. You can find them at oneplace.com, click here.

2. Over at Deyoung, Restless, and Reformed, Kevin Deyoung asks some very thought provoking questions, when it comes to the area of missions and how a local church should support them. You can read the article here.

3. Christian Research Network has a small article and a link to Christian Pirate Radio. The program talks about Rob Bell and his rank heresy, and others that "preach" from his pulpit. You can here the program here.

4. Are we "Original Thinkers" or Witnesses? by, C H Spurgeon, is a great quote that puts all of this postmodern, cloudy, fuzzy thinking in the light of the word of God. You can read it here.

5. John Piper has an interesting article on free will. He makes a wonderful point, and gives plenty of scriptures, to point out how God draws us by his irresistible grace. You can read it here.

I hope you enjoy going to each one of these links. May we continue to walk even as Jesus walked.

2Jo 1:6 - And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.


Bro. Pat

Around the Blogosphere

Welcome to Around the Blogoshpere for Tuesday July 14, 2009. I hope you enjoy these post and articles.

Pyromaniacs has posted a wonderful C. H. Spurgeon quote, you can read it here.

Camp on This has put forth this encouraging article by Ichabod Spencer. Spencer had written several books about how to deal with people and the obstacles they face in coming to Christ. You can read it here.

Slice of Laodicea has a interesting article on Rick Warren. This article is about Warren's continual attempts to join Christians and Muslims. You can read it here.

Many here at Reproving the Darkness are familiar with the Revival Hymn, if you have not seen it you should take the time to watch it, it is over on the side bar of this blog. However there is a website set up about this hymn that has other audio resources on the subject of revival. You can view the site here.

You have seen many of Paul Washer's video's here at Reproving the Darkness. Please take time to go to his website and become more acquainted with what they are doing in the department of missions. You can see the website here.

Thanks, and we will see you again next Tuesday, for another installment, of Around the Blogoshpere.

Bro. Pat

Around the Blogosphere

Welcome to this new weekly update about what is going on around the blogosphere. Look for this new feature every Tuesday!

Here a few blog post and or article's that I found encouraging and uplifting this week. I know if you take time to view these you will be blessed!

1. Tim Challies has a wonderful review of Ligon Duncan’s book - Does Grace Grow Best in Winter? This is a great little post on suffering and how it effects everyone in the body. Click Here!

2. Here is an interesting post on how we should dress as Christian's, over at Slice of Laodicea. I like how the the author, Sam Guzman, approaches this subject with balance from the Word of God. Click Here!

3. Over at Team Pyro, there is a helpful article on man's responsibility and God's Sovereignty, by Phil Johnson. Click Here!

4. Grace to You has a very informative article called What is wrong with User Friendly? John MacArthur includes a right on quote by C.H. Spurgeon. Click Here!

5. Death is not Dying is a video testimony given by a women, named Rachel Barkey, who at the time was dying of cancer. She has since went on to be with the Lord. Click Here!

I hope these things encourage and strengthen you as you walk with our Lord Jesus Christ.

Bro Pat