San Diego Demands No King But Caesar

Why not just ignore the First Amendment altogether?

San Diego County Trying To Stop Home Bible Studies

See Video here

Happy Memorial Day

I stand before you all today
But not one eye can see my way

My time arrived, to leave this earth
A fact so planned, to every birth

It happened where I had to go
My torch for life was so aglow

I transferred while in uniform
Protecting freedom, through a storm

Should I recent I died for you
Not on my life, red white and blue

Please help my family through each day
Tell all my friends, try not to stray

And of the country I did love
Do think of me, through God above

Your memories, brought forth this day
Send love to us, who could not stay

2001 – Roger J. Robicheau (Former SP5 US Army)

We honor the service of James Sumner Kessler, as well as all those who fought to protect our freedom.

What Does It Mean To Believe?

"…Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." (Acts 16:31)

Errors concerning belief

There are many errors among Christian concerning “faith” and “belief”. In the broad evangelical world, true Christian belief is often associated with anti-intellectualism, or as Mark Twain’s schoolboy resounds, “Faith is believing what you know ain't so.” In Arminian/Pelagian thought, belief is something that we obtain through our own virtuous resources, or an act of our “free will”. If we exercise our “seed faith” the correct way, we can be saved. The Rhema/Word Faith movement uses “belief” as the means by which one can force God to submit to our every desire.

What is belief?

The term “believe” has a variety of meanings, not only in biblical Greek, but in everyday English usage as well. One could say, “I believe in Santa Claus”. In this case, “believe” refers to mental assent, acknowledging a statement of fact as valid or true. The Bible uses the term this way as well, such as in James 2:19. It is this mere assent to knowledge that the Cheap Grace (No Lordship) movement relies on for salvation. However, this form of belief is less profitable than the belief devils have, for at least the belief of devils causes them to tremble. Simon Magus believed (Acts 8:13), yet his belief was apparently no more than mental assent, since he was not saved (Acts 8:18-23). While assent to the facts of the gospel are necessary for salvation, mere assent is not saving faith.

In terms of salvation, the word “believe” requires one to completely entrust himself to the matter. In fact, the Greek word πιστεύω (pisteuō) is often translated “to entrust”.

“If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will “entrust” (πιστεύω) to you the true riches?” (Luke 16:11)

“but just as we have been approved by God to be “entrusted” (πιστεύω) with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.” (1 Thessalonians 2:4)

In both cases, we can see that πιστεύω refers to more than just mental assent. It requires a heartfelt trust in the work of Christ alone for salvation (Psalm 78:22). We often here of a sports superstar who finally wins a championship because he “believed” in his teammates. Obviously, the term does not mean that he simple acknowledged the existence of his teammates, but that he actually entrusted his hope of winning to their work. It is one thing to believe that a person can scale Niagara Falls in a barrel. It is quite another thing to climb into the barrel. Saving faith requires one to entrust their eternal salvation to the finished work of Christ.

What are we to believe?

We are to believe that God exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (Hebrews 11:6). We must believe in Christ's divinity, "...for unless you believe that I AM you will die in your sins" (John 8:24). We must believe the truth, having no pleasure in unrighteousness, lest we be condemned (2 Thessalonians 2:12). We must believe in Christ’s resurrection (Romans 10:9) and our own coming resurrection (1 Thessalonians 4:14). We must believe in the signs and wonders recorded in Scripture (John 20:31). We must believe God’s Word, and have it abiding in us (John 5:38). We must believe in the grace of God (Acts 15:11), which not only redeems us from the penalty of sin, but it’s dominion as well (Romans 6:14). Christ is both your savior and your Lord, or He is neither, for “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord AND (καί – “and also”) believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)

How is belief obtained?

Faith is not obtained by raising hands, altar calls, or vain repetition of a “sinner’s prayer”. Neither may it obtained by baptism, confirmation, or any other work. If one desires saving faith, let him seek salvation in the Word of God. Let the Word convict him of his sinfulness, and make him tremble at God’s wrath upon that sinfulness. Let the Word convince him of his hopelessness sans Jesus Christ. It is the foolishness of preaching by which true belief is obtained. Let the sinner read God’s Word, meditate on it, and find a church where it is faithfully preached, since “…faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:14-17). “And many more believed because of his word” (John 4:41). And do not be deceived into thinking that one may be saved by mere assent to the truths of this Word, being no better off than the devils who believe, but rather fully entrust your soul to Christ, not relying on your own flesh. We aren’t merely to acknowledge the truth of God's Word, but we are to live “…by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).

More on Ida: overblown claims and a worrying precedent

Well that didn't last long...

Mark Henderson, the Science Editor of The Times, has written an excellent piece examining the fanciful claims surrounding Ida. Unfortunately, I don't expect to see any retractions from the History Channel anytime soon.

"Darwinius masillae is not a direct ancestor of both lemurs/lorises and apes/monkeys. It seems to lie on the ape/monkey branch, after the last common ancestor of both groups, and it may well be a direct ancestor of nothing at all that exists today."

Next???

Controversial Quote for May 18, 2009

"the horrid doubt always arises whether the convictions of man's mind, which has been developed from the mind of the lower animals, are of any value or at all trustworthy. Would any one trust in the convictions of a monkey's mind, if there are any convictions in such a mind?" (Charles Darwin's letter to W. Graham, July 3, 1881, in The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, ed. Francis Darwin (1897; repr., Boston: Elibron, 2005), 1:285.)

Discuss below. If you have a quote that you would like to submit, send it to puritan_lad@hotmail.com and entitle the message "Controversial Quote". Please provide the source for the quote, including a link if it is online.

Controversial Quote for May 11, 2009

“A true God chaser is not happy with just past truth; he must have present truth. God chasers don’t want to just study from the moldy pages of what God has done; they’re anxious to see what God is doing.” (Tommy Tenney: Introduction to “The God Chasers”)

Discuss below. If you have a quote that you would like to submit, send it to puritan_lad@hotmail.com and entitle the message "Controversial Quote". Please provide the source for the quote, including a link if it is online.

Controversial Quote for May 4, 2009

David Chilton on the "Age of Accountability"

"This idea is so ridiculous that the Bible doesn’t even take the time to refute it directly (although the passages already listed demonstrate that it is pure poppycock, to put it nicely). Where in Scripture is there a shred of evidence for an “age of accountability”? Where does the Bible give any support whatsoever to the following little gem from a well-known Christian scholar?

“Since Christ died for the sin inherent in every person conceived, a child who dies before becoming a deliberate and conscious sinner does not need to be “saved” from sin, since he has never sinned, and since Christ has made propitiation for his innate sin.”

There are at least five theological errors in that one sentence, but let’s zero in on the main point: the notion that children are basically sinless, or without “deliberate” sin, when they are born, and remain in that condition until they reach the mystical “age of accountability.” In the first place, the true age of accountability is reached at the moment of conception: All men, at all times, are accountable to God (see Ps. 51:5; Rom. 3:23).

Second, all men are under the sentence of condemnation already; apart from the saving grace of God, they are condemned from the moment they exist (see John 3:18, 36; Rom. 5:12-19). Why else do babies die (Rom. 6:23)? Third, infants are deliberate sinners: “Even from birth the wicked go astray; from the womb they are wayward and speak lies” (Ps. 58:3; cf. Ps. 53:2-3; Rom. 3:10-12, 23; Eph. 2:1-3). Now, either the “age of accountability” doctrine is in error, or the Bible is wrong. Which are we to believe? The fact is that the idea of the essential sinlessness of infants is a pagan notion, unsupported by the Bible. It is merely antichristian sentimentalism, which refuses to hear the Word of God and attempts to replace it with the word of man – or, more likely, with the word of effeminate poets scribbling mushy greeting cards. It is right on the same level with the sentiment that every time a fairy blows its wee nose a baby is born." (David Chilton, Days Of Vengence: An Exposition on the Book of Revelation, pp. 124-125)

Discuss below. If you have a quote that you would like to submit, send it to puritan_lad@hotmail.com and entitle the message "Controversial Quote". Please provide the source for the quote, including a link if it is online.