Is It the Church's Fault?

A conversation with Mike Horton and R.C. Sproul. The conversation centers on what is wrong with the Church. The conversation is deep and I know that prior to being saved I wouldn't have been able to make heads or tails out of it, it requires the Spirit of God. I would simply have scoffed "ridiculous nonsense" to excuse myself...and there is the difference. Anyone can talk like a parrot without having a foundational understanding, like copying words of a foreign language without understanding the words meaning. I think that the deterioration of the Church is a symptom of our time, one of many signs of how close to the end we are. 

October in September

All of September has been feeling like October...fall is early this year and I'm hearing that we are in for a bitterly cold and long winter. Oh well, nature needs a reboot. At least I've had a very nice summer...

Last weekend we were able to get away and visit Bolt Castle

 this is actually the children's castle, 

the main caste is much larger

this is the gateway for boats coming in, 

the whole castle is so beautiful, and the story is very sad

 You just have to see it for yourself

this is the world's shortest international bridge

it crosses the St. Lawrence from the U.S. to Canada

The U.S. flag is washed out, can barely see it on right,

Canadian flag is to the left

Don't know why the Dutch flag is in the middle...?

but being Dutch, I think it's cool :)

Look at all those pickled beets!

A local market had beets on sale: a ten pound bag was only $3!!! That picture is of 30 lbs of pickled beets canned to enjoy during the cold winter when I don't feel like running to the market! As long as I have a freezer and canned foods and potatoes/rice I can hibernate and not come back out til spring! 

Hope you are having a blessed fall as well.

When a "Believer" Stops Believing

I enjoy listening to John MacArthur and Phil Johnson. I do not always agree with every word, I do agree with most of what they share and approve of the fact that they back up what they say with where to find what they are talking about in the Bible so one can read these things in the proper context and thereby form one's own opinions on the things discussed.

This morning I found an audio broadcast on the topic of apostasy given by both Pastor Johnson and Pastor MacArthur in an interview style, Pastor MacArthur being the interviewee with Pastor Johnson asking the questions.

The topic of the falling away or apostasy was a topic that I viewed with slight interest in an academic sort of way. I was aware that people that said they believed in Jesus were (and are currently) falling away from their faith, but in my immediate circles people either believed in Jesus or they didn't. They either do or they don't...and it made it easy to feel that I had a handle on it...the falling away is something that happened "out there" somewhere and had nothing to do with me or anyone I was directly involved with. When it did involve someone that I knew directly (through the internet community that is), the apostasy became more relevant to me. It no longer hovered "out there" far away from me, a topic for research and detached discussions which involved statistics and involved knowing the Bible verses that spoke on the topic. It used to be safe.

When it finally did touch someone that I knew, someone who I discussed Jesus with as a fellow believer, someone I trusted and enjoyed fellowship with, it involved me in such a way that it immersed me into the problem. It was no longer just about knowing the Bible verses and the statistics and the reality of it "out there somewhere". It involved me and now it had a face and a person that I knew, or thought I knew.

Pastor Johnson and Pastor MacArthur explore this phenomenon in light of people they were acquainted with and explore the questions that I had, discuss the same scriptures that I sought out regarding this issue, and came to the same conclusions about this as I had come to see. I tell about it in "A True Story" in the tabbed page next to my testimony at the top of my blog. Their discussion again reiterates the fact that Jesus knows what is going on with these persons more than we know, and more than those persons (like Judas) know about themselves. Their discussion digs a little deeper, giving their own insights from their having handled the scriptures faithfully for many many years. They discuss the difference between the person who struggles with moments of doubt and the person who rejects Jesus and the Bible...and if there is any hope for the person that rejects Jesus while having a full understanding of what and Who he/she is rejecting.

It is a discussion that is important and needed for this time...many changes are taking place these days, we need to be awake, aware and in prayer, and we need to know what it is we need to be in prayer about. Please take the time to listen, and if you wish to comment on this, know that I would love to know your thoughts regarding the topic at hand, however be mindful of the commenting guidelines. Thank you.

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=111510129269