Fight fire with fire.

When we went to the Wretched vacation at the creation museum, we saw this in GA. Its an adult bookstore, but the next door neighbor is some landscape company or something like that, that is owned by Christians... They decided to put a billboard up on their property that sort of makes the people who are going into the bookstore stop and think. Awesome!


God gave us a conscience and He gave us His laws (the ten commandments). We all know what NOT to do. He also gave us the free will to choose our own sins. Nothing makes us sin but our own human nature.
Have you ever heard someone say, "Boy, the devil is really working on me today"? That's not a possibility. We're not saying that the devil isn't able to lie and tempts us, but he is not omnipresent. He can't be inside of you and inside of me. However, our own depraved natural condition exists inside each and every one of us. Satan can tempt us, but it is our choice to take the bait! It doesn't matter if you are a Christian or not, we all have the ability to sin against God. We will all be held accountable for those sins (Rev 20:12). Even the secret sins of our thoughts. (Rom 2:16)
You are a sinner, and God is Holy. He is perfect and can not let anything or anyone who is not perfect into the kingdom of heaven. In order for us to be seen as righteous, God sent His Son, Jesus, to die on the cross as propitiation or payment of our sin debt. Jesus was born of a virgin, lived a perfect and sinless life; died on the cross, and arose from the dead three days later to return to the right side of God the Father. Jesus will come back to receive His bride (the church). When He does, you must be prepared. Understand this... The first coming of Jesus was prophesied about long before He came the first time. The prophecies of His second return are almost complete. Regardless, no one knows when His second coming will be. The Bible tells us that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night (1Thes 5:2, Luke 12:40). It also tells us that the servant of the Lord who is not doing the Lord's will upon His return will be placed with the unbelievers. So this is fair warning to not only the people who are non-Christians, but also to the Christians who are not doing as God has instructed us.

Its real simple. If you are a red blooded human being, then you are a sinner (Rom 3:10, 23). You must repent (turn from sin) and trust Jesus (John 3:3). His death on the cross freed you from being a slave to sin (Rom 6:18). His death for your life made you righteous in God's eyes. If you love Him, you will keep His commandments. You will love Him first and foremost, love your neighbor as yourself, and you will go to heaven. If you choose to love yourself first, continue living in sin and pretend that God will show you mercy on the day of judgment. For this, you are sadly mistaken.
Go to OneOver99.org and read "What does it mean to be saved". Then read each part of "Save yourself some pain". If you need prayer or a free Bible, email us.
From the narrow path,
Len
One Over 99 Ministries
Luke 15:7
oneover99.org
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Great church sign

It's kind of sad that there are so many different denominations, that a church would have to put a list of bullet points to get someone in the door. However, this list makes this church looks like one I would attend.
Seriously, if you are looking for a church with solid doctrine, visit 9marks.org
They have a great video and church search feature that should help you out.

Why Memoriize Scripture

WHY MEMORIZE SCRIPTURE By Pastor John Piper
First, a few testimonies: I have it third hand, that Dr. Howard Hendricks (of Dallas Seminary) once made the statement (and I paraphrase) that if it were his decision, every student graduating from Dallas Theological Seminary would be required to learn one thousand verses word perfect before they graduated.

Dallas Willard, professor of Philosophy at the University of Southern California, wrote, "Bible memorization is absolutely fundamental to spiritual formation. If I had to choose between all the disciplines of the spiritual life, I would choose Bible memorization, because it is a fundamental way of filling our minds with what it needs. This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth. That's where you need it! How does it get in your mouth? Memorization" ("Spiritual Formation in Christ for the Whole Life and Whole Person" in Vocatio, Vol. 12, no. 2, Spring, 2001, p. 7).

Chuck Swindoll wrote, "I know of no other single practice in the Christian life more rewarding, practically speaking, than memorizing Scripture... No other single exercise pays greater spiritual dividends! Your prayer life will be strengthened. Your witnessing will be sharper and much more effective. Your attitudes and outlook will begin to change. Your mind will become alert and observant. Your confidence and assurance will be enhanced. Your faith will be solidified" (Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994], p. 61).

One of the reasons Martin Luther came to his great discovery in the Bible of justification by faith alone was that in his early years in the Augustinian monastery he was influenced to love Scripture by Johann Staupitz. Luther devoured the Bible in a day when people earned doctorates in theology without even reading the Bible. Luther said that his fellow professor, Andreas Karlstadt, did not even own a Bible when he earned his doctor of theology degree, nor did he until many years later (www.orlutheran.com/html/luthbibl.html). Luther knew so much of the Bible from memory that when the Lord opened his eyes to see the truth of justification in Romans 1:17, he said, "Thereupon I ran through the Scriptures from memory," in order to confirm what he had found.

So here are a few reasons why so many have viewed Scripture memorization as so essential to the Christian life.

1. Conformity to Christ
Paul wrote that "we all... beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another." If we would be changed into Christ likeness we must steadily see him. This happens in the word. "The LORD revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the LORD" (1 Samuel 3:21). Bible memorization has the effect of making our gaze on Jesus to be steadier and clearer.

2. Daily Triumph over Sin
"How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word... I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you" (Psalm 119:9, 11). Paul said that we must "by the Spirit... put to death the [sinful] deeds of the body" (Romans 8:13). The one piece of armor used to kill is the "sword of the Spirit," which is the word of God (Ephesians 6:17). As sin lures the body into sinful action, we call to mind a Christ-revealing word of Scripture and slay the temptation with the superior worth and beauty of Christ over what sin offers.

3. Daily Triumph over Satan
When Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness he recited Scripture from memory and put Satan to flight (Matthew 4:1-11).

4. Comfort and Counsel for People You Love
The times when people need you to give them comfort and counsel do not always coincide with the times you have your Bible handy. Not only that, the very word of God spoken spontaneously from your heart has unusual power. Proverbs 25:11 says, "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver." That is a beautiful way of saying, When the heart full of God's love can draw on the mind full of God's word, timely blessings flow from the mouth.

5. Communicating the Gospel to Unbelievers
Opportunities to share the gospel come when we do not have the Bible in hand. Actual verses of the Bible have their own penetrating power. And when they come from our heart, as well as from the Book, the witness is given that they are precious enough to learn. We should all be able to sum up the gospel under four main headings (1) God's holiness/law/glory; 2) man's sin/rebellion/disobedience; 3) Christ's death for sinners; 4) the free gift of life by faith. Learn a verse or two relating to each of these, and be ready in season and out of season to share them.

6. Communion with God in the Enjoyment of His Person and Ways
The way we commune with (that is, fellowship with) God is by meditating on his attributes and expressing to him our thanks and admiration and love, and seeking his help in living a life that reflects the value of these attributes. Therefore, storing texts in our minds about God helps us relate to him as he really is. For example, imagine being able to call this to mind through the day:

The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust. (Psalm 103:8-14)

I used the word "enjoyment" intentionally when I said, "communion with God in the enjoyment of his person and ways." Most of us are emotionally crippled -- all of us really. We do not experience God in the fullness of our emotional potential. How will that change? One way is to memorize the emotional expressions of the Bible and speak them to the Lord and to each other until they become part of who we are. For example, in Psalm 103:1, we say, "Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name!" That is not a natural expression for many people. But if we memorize this and other emotional expressions from the Bible, and say them often, asking the Lord to make the emotion real in our hearts, we can actually grow into that emotion and expression. It will become part of who we are. We will be less crippled emotionally and more able to render proper praise and thanks to God.

There are other reasons for memorizing Scripture. I hope you find them in the actual practice.

Still learning with you,

Pastor John

Don't Waste Your Cancer - John Piper

I write this on the eve of prostate surgery. I believe in God's power to heal--by miracle and by medicine. I believe it is right and good to pray for both kinds of healing. Cancer is not wasted when it is healed by God. He gets the glory and that is why cancer exists. So not to pray for healing may waste your cancer. But healing is not God's plan for everyone. And there are many other ways to waste your cancer. I am praying for myself and for you that we will not waste this pain.

1. You will waste your cancer if you do not believe it is designed for you by God.

It will not do to say that God only uses our cancer but does not design it. What God permits, he permits for a reason. And that reason is his design. If God foresees molecular developments becoming cancer, he can stop it or not. If he does not, he has a purpose. Since he is infinitely wise, it is right to call this purpose a design. Satan is real and causes many pleasures and pains. But he is not ultimate. So when he strikes Job with boils (Job 2:7), Job attributes it ultimately to God (2:10) and the inspired writer agrees: "They . . . comforted him for all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him" (Job 42:11). If you don't believe your cancer is designed for you by God, you will waste it.

2. You will waste your cancer if you believe it is a curse and not a gift.

"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1). "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us" (Galatians 3:13). "There is no enchantment against Jacob, no divination against Israel" (Numbers 23:23). "The LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly" (Psalm 84:11).

3. You will waste your cancer if you seek comfort from your odds rather than from God.

The design of God in your cancer is not to train you in the rationalistic, human calculation of odds. The world gets comfort from their odds. Not Christians. Some count their chariots (percentages of survival) and some count their horses (side effects of treatment), but we trust in the name of the LORD our God (Psalm 20:7). God's design is clear from 2 Corinthians 1:9, "We felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead." The aim of God in your cancer (among a thousand other good things) is to knock props out from under our hearts so that we rely utterly on him.

4. You will waste your cancer if you refuse to think about death.

We will all die, if Jesus postpones his return. Not to think about what it will be like to leave this life and meet God is folly. Ecclesiastes 7:2 says, "It is better to go to the house of mourning [a funeral] than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart." How can you lay it to heart if you won't think about it? Psalm 90:12 says, "Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom." Numbering your days means thinking about how few there are and that they will end. How will you get a heart of wisdom if you refuse to think about this? What a waste, if we do not think about death.

5. You will waste your cancer if you think that "beating" cancer means staying alive rather than cherishing Christ.

Satan's and God's designs in your cancer are not the same. Satan designs to destroy your love for Christ. God designs to deepen your love for Christ. Cancer does not win if you die. It wins if you fail to cherish Christ. God's design is to wean you off the breast of the world and feast you on the sufficiency of Christ. It is meant to help you say and feel, "I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord." And to know that therefore, "To live is Christ, and to die is gain" (Philippians 3:8; 1:21).

6. You will waste your cancer if you spend too much time reading about cancer and not enough time reading about God.

It is not wrong to know about cancer. Ignorance is not a virtue. But the lure to know more and more and the lack of zeal to know God more and more is symptomatic of unbelief. Cancer is meant to waken us to the reality of God. It is meant to put feeling and force behind the command, "Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD" (Hosea 6:3). It is meant to waken us to the truth of Daniel 11:32, "The people who know their God shall stand firm and take action." It is meant to make unshakable, indestructible oak trees out of us: "His delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers" (Psalm 1:2). What a waste of cancer if we read day and night about cancer and not about God.

7. You will waste your cancer if you let it drive you into solitude instead of deepen your relationships with manifest affection.

When Epaphroditus brought the gifts to Paul sent by the Philippian church he became ill and almost died. Paul tells the Philippians, "He has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill" (Philippians 2:26-27). What an amazing response! It does not say they were distressed that he was ill, but that he was distressed because they heard he was ill. That is the kind of heart God is aiming to create with cancer: a deeply affectionate, caring heart for people. Don't waste your cancer by retreating into yourself.

8. You will waste your cancer if you grieve as those who have no hope.

Paul used this phrase in relation to those whose loved ones had died: "We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope" (1 Thessalonians 4:13). There is a grief at death. Even for the believer who dies, there is temporary loss--loss of body, and loss of loved ones here, and loss of earthly ministry. But the grief is different--it is permeated with hope. "We would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord" (2 Corinthians 5:8). Don't waste your cancer grieving as those who don't have this hope.

9. You will waste your cancer if you treat sin as casually as before.

Are your besetting sins as attractive as they were before you had cancer? If so you are wasting your cancer. Cancer is designed to destroy the appetite for sin. Pride, greed, lust, hatred, unforgiveness, impatience, laziness, procrastination--all these are the adversaries that cancer is meant to attack. Don't just think of battling against cancer. Also think of battling with cancer. All these things are worse enemies than cancer. Don't waste the power of cancer to crush these foes. Let the presence of eternity make the sins of time look as futile as they really are. "What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?" (Luke 9:25).

10. You will waste your cancer if you fail to use it as a means of witness to the truth and glory of Christ.

Christians are never anywhere by divine accident. There are reasons for why we wind up where we do. Consider what Jesus said about painful, unplanned circumstances: "They will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name's sake. This will be your opportunity to bear witness" (Luke 21:12 -13). So it is with cancer. This will be an opportunity to bear witness. Christ is infinitely worthy. Here is a golden opportunity to show that he is worth more than life. Don't waste it.

Remember you are not left alone. You will have the help you need. "My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19).

WOULD YOU DIE FOR THE FAITH?

Are you wheat or tare?

It's another awesome sermon jam production and as usual, MacArthur tells it like it is.

Before you click play...
A message to the surprised Pastors, church goers, and stay at home fans of the 'church of the tares' mentioned in the video... I'm sure it must be sad if you just found out that your favorite church and/or pastor is part of the 'Laodicean typical', watered down gospel preaching, seeker friendly -"I love the world and am an enmity against God", church of the tares group. But before you deny it, or go away mad...
Do the due diligence as scripture commands you: "We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone." (1Thes 5:14) and "But examine everything {carefully;} hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil." (1Thes 5:21&22) AND ALWAYS "Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?--unless indeed you fail to meet the test!" (1Cor 13:5)
If you have doubt and believe you may have failed the SAT (Salvation Assurance Test), then you indeed have failed. **If you do not know the SAT test, find it below the video**
If you have failed the SAT or if you or someone you know and trust to be doctrinally sound is in the video below, read Mark 1:15 and visit 9 Marks to locate a Bible teaching Reformed church near you.
Enjoy the Sermon Jam!



SAT (Salvation Assurance Test) - This biblical test doesn't get you saved or get you into heaven. But if you are a believer (Repented for your sins against God and trust in Jesus. Saved by grace, through faith) then these verses should describe your behavior. The Apostle John wrote the SAT's to us as well as 1John 5:13 "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life." This epistle (letter) was written to the believer not to the unbeliever. Here are your SAT's: All 10 verses are in 1John, 1:7, 1:8, 2:3, 2:15, 2:23, 3:2, 3:9, 3:14, 4:6 4:15. For a good sermon on this subject, please listen to my friend Todd Friel's sermon on MP3.

From the narrow path,
Len
One Over 99 Ministries
Luke 15:7

Oh-steen! This guy is amazing.

Listen close. This is live with Larry on CNN. Joel doesn't have a script. When do you think he will wise up and quit his Larry King appearances? "I don't know".