Please spread the word!
"The Golden Compass" movie is set to premier on December 7, during the Christmas season, and will probably be heavily advertised. This movie is based on the first book of a trilogy by atheist Philip Pullman. In the final book a boy and girl kill God so they can do as they please. Pullman left little doubt about his intentions when he said in a 2003 interview that "My books are about killing God."
The movie is a watered down version of the first book and is designed to be very attractive in the hope unsuspecting parents will take their children to see the movie and that the children will want the books for Christmas.
The movie has a well known cast, including Nicole Kidman, Kevin Bacon, and Sam Elliott. It will probably be advertised extensively, so it is crucial that we get the word out to warn parents to avoid this movie.
Please consider a boycott of the movie and the books. Also, pass this information along t o everyone you know. This will help to educate parents, so that they will know the agenda of the movie.
You can research this for yourself. I thought you might find the following article from snopes.com interesting: http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/compass.asp
(Read the snopes.com article. This is definitely worth passing around. It's very disturbing.)
Here's MORE DETAILS:
The movie has been described as "atheism for kids" and is based on the first book of a trilogy entitled "His Dark Materials" that was written by Phillip Pullman. Pullman is a militant a! theist a nd secular humanist who despises C. S. Lewis and the "Chronicles of Narnia". His motivation for writing this trilogy was specifically to counteract Lewis' symbolisms of Christ that are portrayed in the Narnia series.
Clearly, Pullman's main objective is to bash Christianity and promote atheism. Pullman left little doubt about his intentions when he said in a 2003 interview that "my books are about killing God." He has even stated that he wants to "kill God in the minds of children". It has been said of Pullman that he is "the writer the atheists would be praying for, if atheists prayed."
Please pass this on to everyone you know! Families, (particularly children) are in great danger of this twisted mindset!
Friday, December 07, 2007
Thursday, March 08, 2007
"The Lost Tomb of Jesus" Claims Are Nonsense
The president of Answers in Genesis, Ken Ham, says there's no new information in a documentary that chronicles claims by archaeologists that they have found a coffin containing the bones of Christ. Ham says the recent documentary is the latest example in a string of increasing attacks on the Bible.
The documentary, The Lost Tomb of Jesus, premiered this weekend on the Discovery Channel. Produced by Oscar-winning filmmaker James Cameron, the documentary claims forensic tests support the view that six of the ten ossuaries, or coffins, found in the tomb in 1980 bear inscriptions linking them to Jesus.
But Ham says the claims are nonsense. "Anyone can take a documentary and take certain evidence they find and then, because of their own anti-Christian bias or whatever it is, put their own particular interpretation on that and make it sound so good in a movie," he says.
Ham says people have tried unsuccessfully to debunk the Bible for thousands of years, and notes there has been an increase in attacks of the Bible from the secular world. But he points out that eyewitness accounts from God's Word support the fact that Christ rose from the dead.
"When it comes to interpreting the past -- of course you weren't there in the past; you weren't there to see the things happen -- that's why it's so important to trust God's Word, who's always been there, who knows everything, who tells us what happened in the past to help us correctly interpret the present," says Ham. "And of course we know from Scripture that you don't find the bones of Jesus because he was raised from the dead -- and it's an empty tomb."
Ham points out that Christians must be ready to give answers to such claims. "Christians need to be equipped; they need to be ready for these things."
For more information, you can read this article, “Jesus’ tomb found” claim as empty as Jesus’ [real] tomb
The documentary, The Lost Tomb of Jesus, premiered this weekend on the Discovery Channel. Produced by Oscar-winning filmmaker James Cameron, the documentary claims forensic tests support the view that six of the ten ossuaries, or coffins, found in the tomb in 1980 bear inscriptions linking them to Jesus.
But Ham says the claims are nonsense. "Anyone can take a documentary and take certain evidence they find and then, because of their own anti-Christian bias or whatever it is, put their own particular interpretation on that and make it sound so good in a movie," he says.
Ham says people have tried unsuccessfully to debunk the Bible for thousands of years, and notes there has been an increase in attacks of the Bible from the secular world. But he points out that eyewitness accounts from God's Word support the fact that Christ rose from the dead.
"When it comes to interpreting the past -- of course you weren't there in the past; you weren't there to see the things happen -- that's why it's so important to trust God's Word, who's always been there, who knows everything, who tells us what happened in the past to help us correctly interpret the present," says Ham. "And of course we know from Scripture that you don't find the bones of Jesus because he was raised from the dead -- and it's an empty tomb."
Ham points out that Christians must be ready to give answers to such claims. "Christians need to be equipped; they need to be ready for these things."
For more information, you can read this article, “Jesus’ tomb found” claim as empty as Jesus’ [real] tomb
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Removing the Veil
The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer was published in 1948. But his teaching on how to think about and deal with sin continues to be relevant for today's Christians, and for future generations. Why? Because we are all sinners (Romans 3:23), and we do not consistently seek to confess our sin, rid ourselves of it (Hebrews 12:1-4), or live the life we have been called to live, "But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do" (1 Peter 1:15).
To be holy is to be different or set apart. Is there a noticeable difference in our actions, speech, thoughts, activities, passions, and pursuits from the world around us? Or just a slight one? The battle for our allegiance is fierce (flesh vs. spirit, old man vs. new man, temporal vs. eternal), but God has given us all the resources that we need to go to war--His Word, the Holy Spirit, an open invitation to seek Him in prayer, and fellowship with other like minded believers. The problem is that we don't tap into them, at least not all the time.
Our fleshly desires, the depravity of our minds and our willingness to love the "things" of our world hinder us from growing. So what do we do? WE DIE! Die to ourselves, and live for God (Romans 6:8-14). We have to stop talking about how we want to change or would like to change and just do it. What's the key? It takes discipline, commitment and a targeted, well intentioned approach at each specific sin in our lives. With God's strength, we can do it (Philippians 4:13)!
The following are quotes taken from Tozer's book The Pursuit of God. Specifically, from chapter 3 titled Removing the Veil. I hope you will be just as encouraged and convicted as I was from the words of a man that was truly on fire for God.
--"God wills that we should push on into His presence and live our whole life there. This is to be known to us in conscious experience. It is more than a doctrine to be held; it is a life to be enjoyed every moment of every day."
--"At the heart of the Christian message is God Himself waiting for His redeemed children to push in to conscious awareness of His presence. That type of Christianity which happens now to be the vogue knows this Presence only in theory. It fails to stress the Christian's privilege of present realization. According to its teaching we are in the presence of God positionally, and nothing is said about the need to experience that Presence actually."
--"The world is perishing for lack of the knowledge of God and the church is famishing for want of His presence. The instant cure of most of our religious ills would be to enter the Presence in spiritual experience, to become suddenly aware that we are in God and that God is in us. This would lift us out of our pitiful narrowness and cause our hearts to be enlarged."
--"We sense that the call is for us, but still we fail to draw near, and the years pass and we grow old and tired in the outer courts of the tabernacle. What hinders us?...It is the veil of our fleshly, fallen nature living on, unjudged within us, uncrucified and unrepudiated. It is the close-woven veil of the self-life which we have never truly acknowledged, of which we have been secretly ashamed, and which for these reasons we have never brought to the judgment of the cross."
--"It is not too mysterious, this opaque veil, nor is it hard to identify. We have but to look into our own hearts and we shall see it there, sewn and patched and repaired it may be, but there nevertheless, an enemy to our lives and an effective block to our spiritual progress."
--"This veil is not a beautiful thing and it is not a thing about which we commonly care to talk. But I am addressing the thirsting souls who are determined to follow God, and I know they will not turn back because the way leads temporarily through the blackened hills."
--"To be specific, the self-sins are self-righteousness, self-pity, self-confidence, self-sufficiency, self-admiration, self-love and a host of others like them. They dwell too deep within us and are too much a part of our natures to come to our attention till the light of God is focused upon them."
--"One should suppose that proper instruction in the doctrines of man's depravity and the necessity for justification through the righteousness of Christ alone would deliver us from the power of the self-sins, but it does not work that way. Self can live unrebuked at the very altar. It can watch the bleeding Victim die and not be in the least affected by what it sees. It can fight for the faith of the reformers and preach eloquently the creed of salvation by grace, and gain strength by its efforts."
--"Self is the opaque veil that hides the face of God from us. It can be removed only in spiritual experience, never by mere instruction. We may as well try to instruct leprosy out of our system. There must be a work of God in destruction before we are free. We must invite the cross to do its deadly work within us. We must bring our self-sins to the cross for judgment. We must prepare ourselves for an ordeal of suffering in some measure like that through which our Saviour passed when He suffered under Pontius Pilate."
--"Let us beware of tinkering with our inner life, hoping ourselves to rend the veil. God must do everything for us. Our part is to yield and trust. We must confess, forsake, repudiate the self-life, and then reckon it crucified. But we must be careful to distinguish lazy "acceptance" from the real work of God."
--"Insist that the work be done in very truth and it will be done. The cross is rough and it is deadly, but it is effective. It does not keep its victim hanging there forever. There comes a moment when its work is finished and the suffering victim dies. After that is resurrection glory and power, and the pain is forgotten for joy that the veil is taken away and we have entered in actual spiritual experience the presence of the living God."
A.W. Tozer
To be holy is to be different or set apart. Is there a noticeable difference in our actions, speech, thoughts, activities, passions, and pursuits from the world around us? Or just a slight one? The battle for our allegiance is fierce (flesh vs. spirit, old man vs. new man, temporal vs. eternal), but God has given us all the resources that we need to go to war--His Word, the Holy Spirit, an open invitation to seek Him in prayer, and fellowship with other like minded believers. The problem is that we don't tap into them, at least not all the time.
Our fleshly desires, the depravity of our minds and our willingness to love the "things" of our world hinder us from growing. So what do we do? WE DIE! Die to ourselves, and live for God (Romans 6:8-14). We have to stop talking about how we want to change or would like to change and just do it. What's the key? It takes discipline, commitment and a targeted, well intentioned approach at each specific sin in our lives. With God's strength, we can do it (Philippians 4:13)!
The following are quotes taken from Tozer's book The Pursuit of God. Specifically, from chapter 3 titled Removing the Veil. I hope you will be just as encouraged and convicted as I was from the words of a man that was truly on fire for God.
--"God wills that we should push on into His presence and live our whole life there. This is to be known to us in conscious experience. It is more than a doctrine to be held; it is a life to be enjoyed every moment of every day."
--"At the heart of the Christian message is God Himself waiting for His redeemed children to push in to conscious awareness of His presence. That type of Christianity which happens now to be the vogue knows this Presence only in theory. It fails to stress the Christian's privilege of present realization. According to its teaching we are in the presence of God positionally, and nothing is said about the need to experience that Presence actually."
--"The world is perishing for lack of the knowledge of God and the church is famishing for want of His presence. The instant cure of most of our religious ills would be to enter the Presence in spiritual experience, to become suddenly aware that we are in God and that God is in us. This would lift us out of our pitiful narrowness and cause our hearts to be enlarged."
--"We sense that the call is for us, but still we fail to draw near, and the years pass and we grow old and tired in the outer courts of the tabernacle. What hinders us?...It is the veil of our fleshly, fallen nature living on, unjudged within us, uncrucified and unrepudiated. It is the close-woven veil of the self-life which we have never truly acknowledged, of which we have been secretly ashamed, and which for these reasons we have never brought to the judgment of the cross."
--"It is not too mysterious, this opaque veil, nor is it hard to identify. We have but to look into our own hearts and we shall see it there, sewn and patched and repaired it may be, but there nevertheless, an enemy to our lives and an effective block to our spiritual progress."
--"This veil is not a beautiful thing and it is not a thing about which we commonly care to talk. But I am addressing the thirsting souls who are determined to follow God, and I know they will not turn back because the way leads temporarily through the blackened hills."
--"To be specific, the self-sins are self-righteousness, self-pity, self-confidence, self-sufficiency, self-admiration, self-love and a host of others like them. They dwell too deep within us and are too much a part of our natures to come to our attention till the light of God is focused upon them."
--"One should suppose that proper instruction in the doctrines of man's depravity and the necessity for justification through the righteousness of Christ alone would deliver us from the power of the self-sins, but it does not work that way. Self can live unrebuked at the very altar. It can watch the bleeding Victim die and not be in the least affected by what it sees. It can fight for the faith of the reformers and preach eloquently the creed of salvation by grace, and gain strength by its efforts."
--"Self is the opaque veil that hides the face of God from us. It can be removed only in spiritual experience, never by mere instruction. We may as well try to instruct leprosy out of our system. There must be a work of God in destruction before we are free. We must invite the cross to do its deadly work within us. We must bring our self-sins to the cross for judgment. We must prepare ourselves for an ordeal of suffering in some measure like that through which our Saviour passed when He suffered under Pontius Pilate."
--"Let us beware of tinkering with our inner life, hoping ourselves to rend the veil. God must do everything for us. Our part is to yield and trust. We must confess, forsake, repudiate the self-life, and then reckon it crucified. But we must be careful to distinguish lazy "acceptance" from the real work of God."
--"Insist that the work be done in very truth and it will be done. The cross is rough and it is deadly, but it is effective. It does not keep its victim hanging there forever. There comes a moment when its work is finished and the suffering victim dies. After that is resurrection glory and power, and the pain is forgotten for joy that the veil is taken away and we have entered in actual spiritual experience the presence of the living God."
A.W. Tozer
Monday, February 12, 2007
4 Ways to Miss Out on Heaven
Have you thought about eternal life lately? The Bible tells us that it is possible to know for sure that we have eternal life: "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life" (I John 5:13).
"Why will you die when you can live?" (question from MacArthur's sermon below), brings to my mind Jesus' teaching in Mark 8:34-38:
We can live our lives here on earth trying to enjoy every pleasurable thing known to mankind (money, power, "stuff" etc.) that we can get our hands on. But how long will that last? 50 or 75 years? Who knows when they are going to die? It could be tomorrow. If you are not sure where you are going when you die, I hope you will read on.
The following excerpts are from John MacArthur's sermon, 4 Ways to Miss Out on Heaven. The text is John 8:21-30.
4 Ways to Miss Out on Heaven
Read the entire sermon
"Why will you die when you can live?" (question from MacArthur's sermon below), brings to my mind Jesus' teaching in Mark 8:34-38:
34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? 37 Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."
We can live our lives here on earth trying to enjoy every pleasurable thing known to mankind (money, power, "stuff" etc.) that we can get our hands on. But how long will that last? 50 or 75 years? Who knows when they are going to die? It could be tomorrow. If you are not sure where you are going when you die, I hope you will read on.
The following excerpts are from John MacArthur's sermon, 4 Ways to Miss Out on Heaven. The text is John 8:21-30.
4 Ways to Miss Out on Heaven
You shall die in your sin...verse 21. How is it that that happens? Let me give you four ways to guarantee you will die in your sin and I'm going to borrow them from the words of Jesus here, four ways to guarantee you will die in your sin, four ways to guarantee that the death of Jesus Christ on the cross is meaningless to you.
Number one, be self-righteous...be self-righteous. That will do it. The first guaranteed way to die in your sins is to be completely content with your own ability to please God. Believe that you can be good enough, or religious enough, or pray enough, or go to church enough, or be moral enough, or have good deeds that outweigh on some imaginary scale the weight of your bad deeds, just be self-righteous.
Then He says this (verse 23), "You are of this world, I am not of this world." And here's the second way to guarantee that you will die in your sins and that is be worldly, be earthbound, another guarantee, be preoccupied with the world, live for the world, live for the temporal system, live for the ideologies of this world system.
and thirdly, verse 24, "I said, therefore, to you that you shall die in your sins for unless you believe that I am He, you shall die in your sins." Here's the third guarantee way to be certain you will die in your sin, be unbelieving, be self-righteous, be earthbound and be unbelieving. That's really all it takes. Be unbelieving.
fourthly, be willfully ignorant or obstinately ignorant. Verse 25, this is so amazing. So they were saying to Him, "Who are You?" This is absolutely unbelievable that they would say that, after all they had seen, after all He had done, after they had heard....Why are they willfully ignorant? John 3 makes it clear, "Men love darkness rather than...what?..." It was dark because they wanted it that way. It's always dark when you love your sin. It was a willful darkness....
You want to die in your sins? Just continue in your course, just believe you're good enough the way you are. Just carry on with your love affair with human ideologies. Just refuse to believe the great truths concerning Christ. Love your sin so much that you choose the darkness and are willfully ignorant. But to do this you're going to have to stumble over the cross. That's right, you're going to have heartlessly, irreverently trample Christ's blood because you know the gospel. So you're going to have to stumble across the cross. Even this morning as we come to the Lord's table the cross is going to be demonstrated again and you're going to have to reject it again to continue the course you're in. Inconceivable, really, why will you die when you can live? Why will you not be like those many who believed and didn't want to die in their sin? Why will you not accept an atonement for your sin? That's the all encompassing question. And the answer is your self-righteous, you're good enough the way you are, you love the world too much, you refuse to believe or you love your sin and you cherish the darkness and the ignorance that comes with it. In any case, the price is eternal.
Read the entire sermon
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Welcome!
Greetings to all!
My name is Kevin and I am writing to you from Clinton Township (just outside of Detroit), Michigan. To my family and friends, thanks for visiting my new blog. Leave a comment! I have wanted to start a blog for awhile now, but I never seem to have the time. I still might not have the time, but I will see how it goes:) Life can get busy and hectic as most of you know.
I work full time in sales, which involves some traveling, and I go to school one night a week. I have been blessed with a wonderful family! My lovely wife Danielle and I have been married for six years, and we have a precious little girl named Alayna, who is 20 months old. We are expecting a new addition to the family in May! We are very thankful for God's blessing of children, and we both have enjoyed the "on the job training" of parenting.
When I was a young boy, I went to church, and I understand now that going to church did not make me a Christian. I eventually understood (only because of God's grace, Ephesians 2:8-9) that being a Christian meant being a follower of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I now have a personal relationship with God (through His Son, John 3:16), which is mind blowing to me (He is the Creator of the Universe, Genesis 1:1)! I have been a Christian for over 10 years, and I thank God everyday for His salvation. If you would like to read my testimony, you can click on the following link:
new-testament-christian.com/kevinhaagtestimony.html
Through Bible study and prayer I have come to realize that having a relationship with God is not for Sundays only, but everyday of my life (Luke 9:23). God is always with me (Jeremiah 23:24), and wants to deepen His relationship with me. I have a desire to grow closer to Him, but at times, things like pride or what I call "everyday life meaningless distractions" (like watching too much TV) cause me to lose focus. That is spiritual growth; and it will last my entire life here on Earth.
The biblical doctrines of salvation and sanctification (spiritual growth) are two of many topics I plan to discuss on this blog. For now, if you would like more information, please read the following articles:
God's Plan of Salvation
Spiritual Growth - A Biblical Perspective
So what is the Sermon Excerpts blog all about?
I am starting this blog to share with others the joy of God's salvation, how it has changed my life, and how God is working in me each day. I would also like to discuss biblical doctrines with the hope of encouraging others to grow in their faith and knowledge of Jesus Christ while seeking to grow myself. Besides reading God's Word, I enjoy reading Christian books from respected pastors and theologians like MacArthur, Sproul, Piper, and many others. In addition, I like reading and listening to sermons from preachers past (i.e. Spurgeon, Edwards) and present. I hope to encourage discussion by highlighting the main points (sermon excerpts!) of a sermon, then sharing my thoughts on how I was encouraged, challenged, convicted, or whatever God puts on my heart.
If you happen to come across this site, I welcome your comments with the hope we can be an encouragement to each other. Hebrews 10:24, "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds." We can all learn from each other. So if you already know it all, please move on to the know-it-all blog:)
Who knows, if I post often enough, you may even read about a birth announcement in the coming months or why the Detroit Tigers will be back in the World Series this year, only to win it!
To God be the glory!
My name is Kevin and I am writing to you from Clinton Township (just outside of Detroit), Michigan. To my family and friends, thanks for visiting my new blog. Leave a comment! I have wanted to start a blog for awhile now, but I never seem to have the time. I still might not have the time, but I will see how it goes:) Life can get busy and hectic as most of you know.
I work full time in sales, which involves some traveling, and I go to school one night a week. I have been blessed with a wonderful family! My lovely wife Danielle and I have been married for six years, and we have a precious little girl named Alayna, who is 20 months old. We are expecting a new addition to the family in May! We are very thankful for God's blessing of children, and we both have enjoyed the "on the job training" of parenting.
When I was a young boy, I went to church, and I understand now that going to church did not make me a Christian. I eventually understood (only because of God's grace, Ephesians 2:8-9) that being a Christian meant being a follower of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I now have a personal relationship with God (through His Son, John 3:16), which is mind blowing to me (He is the Creator of the Universe, Genesis 1:1)! I have been a Christian for over 10 years, and I thank God everyday for His salvation. If you would like to read my testimony, you can click on the following link:
new-testament-christian.com/kevinhaagtestimony.html
Through Bible study and prayer I have come to realize that having a relationship with God is not for Sundays only, but everyday of my life (Luke 9:23). God is always with me (Jeremiah 23:24), and wants to deepen His relationship with me. I have a desire to grow closer to Him, but at times, things like pride or what I call "everyday life meaningless distractions" (like watching too much TV) cause me to lose focus. That is spiritual growth; and it will last my entire life here on Earth.
The biblical doctrines of salvation and sanctification (spiritual growth) are two of many topics I plan to discuss on this blog. For now, if you would like more information, please read the following articles:
God's Plan of Salvation
Spiritual Growth - A Biblical Perspective
So what is the Sermon Excerpts blog all about?
I am starting this blog to share with others the joy of God's salvation, how it has changed my life, and how God is working in me each day. I would also like to discuss biblical doctrines with the hope of encouraging others to grow in their faith and knowledge of Jesus Christ while seeking to grow myself. Besides reading God's Word, I enjoy reading Christian books from respected pastors and theologians like MacArthur, Sproul, Piper, and many others. In addition, I like reading and listening to sermons from preachers past (i.e. Spurgeon, Edwards) and present. I hope to encourage discussion by highlighting the main points (sermon excerpts!) of a sermon, then sharing my thoughts on how I was encouraged, challenged, convicted, or whatever God puts on my heart.
If you happen to come across this site, I welcome your comments with the hope we can be an encouragement to each other. Hebrews 10:24, "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds." We can all learn from each other. So if you already know it all, please move on to the know-it-all blog:)
Who knows, if I post often enough, you may even read about a birth announcement in the coming months or why the Detroit Tigers will be back in the World Series this year, only to win it!
To God be the glory!
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