Three Theological Questions Foundational to Studying God: Why Study About God?

 

This morning we begin our first installment of our Saturday series “Three Theological Questions Foundational to Studying God.”

Here in this first outline we will consider the question: “Why Study About God?”

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Book Review: No Angel

Sometimes I need to take a break from theology and read historical non-fictions or account of law enforcement.  Here’s one such book with a Christian reflection below.

Jay Dobyns. No Angel: My Harrowing Undercover Journey to the Inner Circle of the Hells Angels.  New York, NY: Crown Publishers, February 10^th, 2009. 328 pp.

The story of an undercover ATF federal agent who worked to infiltrate the Hells Angels Motorbike gang in Arizona.  It is a spellbinding account of Jay Dobyns’ work and how it affected him as a result of this undercover operation.  The background story that the book provides of Dobyns life is just as interesting as Operation Black Biscuit (the operation against the Hells Angels).  Dobyns was a college football star turned federal agent.  On his first day with the ATF he was shot in the chest while pursuing a fugitve and while most people’s brush with death would make them think twice of their career for Dobyns the adrenaline rush of surviving death made him want to stay around for more.  Not only did he stay with the ATF but Dobyns also decided to go undercover.  He was quite an experienced undercover agent when he went on assignment with the Hells Angels case.  It’s quite a read especially for the general readers since it provide a window into the world of outlaw motor bicycle gangs.   Equally interesting was the window the book provides to the world of undercover cops and how they tried to enter into the bikers scene.  These guys are incredibly smart and quick witted.

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Ultimate Collection of Free Presuppositional Apologetics Lectures

The blog True Forms (http://trueforms.wordpress.com) used to have a popular post titled “Ultimate Collection of Free Presuppositional Apologetics Lectures” that was heavily promoted on Social Media.  Unfortunately the blog owner has recently deleted his blog account.  Which is unfortunate if you are looking for great lectures on Presuppositional apologetics online.

I’ve been digging around online to reconstruct that original list.  I have also decided to post the listing with further expansion of other lectures!  This is a work in progress.

Feel free to share this on Facebook, Twitter and other social networks.

Also if there are more resources that you feel should be included on here, please let us know in the comment box.

Camden Bucey
1. Defending the Faith

Shane Kastler
1. Expositional Apologetics

Fred Butler
1. Apologetics Evangelism 101

Jonathan Harris
1. Apologetics Sunday School Class 2011

Brian Rickett
1. Presuppositional Apologetics 2014 Paschal Lectures by Brian Rickett (Videos)
2. MP3s of 2014 Paschal Lectures on Presuppositional Apologetics by Brian Rickett

Jason Lisle
1. Nuclear Strength Apologetics Lectures at Heritage Grace Community Church

2. Jason Lisle “The Ultimate Proof of Creation” Lecture at The Master’s Seminary

3. The Heavens Declare the Glory of God (Men’s Conference): Jason Lisle

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Dissertation on PDF: Preaching to Provoke a Worldview Change: Tim Keller’s Use of Presuppositional Apologetics in Preaching

Here’s a doctoral dissertation that Southern Seminary has made available titled “Preaching to Provoke a Worldview Change: Tim Keller’s Use of Presuppositional Apologetics in Preaching.”  It was written by Travis Allen Freeman in 2011.

Here’s an abstract:

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Sexuality and the Christian Faith: A Google Hangout with Rosaria Butterfield

As the world is confused with sexuality Christians need to be more clear about the Biblical view of sexuality.

Rosaria Butterfield has a wonderful testimony of God saving her.  Ligonier Ministries recently had a Google Hangout disgussion with her on sexuality and the Christian faith.

Here’s the Youtube video of the discussion:

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Evangelism at Long Beach, CA

After visiting a loved one at a hospital who is in critical condition, I decided to visit Kavika and his cousin who were near me–for some evangelism in Long Beach, CA. I had a blessed time. There were some consciences that were awakened from their stupor by the proclamation of His truths and the Gospel.

John Calvin on the conscience – “The torture of a bad conscience is the hell of a living soul…There is no greater torment than an evil conscience.”

Please pray for the hardened hearts to be softened. We also were able to carry through with a few Gospel conversations. The Lord is good.

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Dorcas: Serving Others and the Resurrection

Serving Others and the Resurrection

 

Read Acts 2:36-43

 

Have you ever met someone in your church who was a huge servant?  They did everything out of selfless love and generosity.  They did it to serve the LORD.  Ultimately it was for an audience of One.  They were very humble about their ministry.  Yet everyone knew about their service to the Lord despite how they quietly served.  Sometimes one only find out the extent of their service to the church after they had passed away.  So when such a servant depart, it is a great loss to the church.  Yet they also leave behind a great example of service to the Lord.

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Announcement: Three Theological Questions Foundational to Studying God

This is an announcement for a Saturday Series in which we will address three key questions that is foundational in order to study about God.

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Those exposed to God’s Word but don’t change don’t merely become hypocrites. Worst, they can become Monsters

When church people are exposed to more truths from the Bible and don’t apply it, it’s not that they only become hypocrites but I fear they can become something worst: They become monsters.  At first it begin innocent enough in most people’s eyes:  Whatever you tell tell them they say “I know.”  But over time they become monsters who feel secure that their pride of knowledge makes them superior to others.  They are great at manipulation: when confronted concerning their life they know enough to turn it into a theological debate with a learned tone but they don’t know enough to see how ridiculous it looks.  It might even be an opportunity to show others how much they know or have thought about a certain issue!  They become one-sided, they emphasize certain truths that don’t threaten their ways and the more unpopular the truth the better since they can hide it under the righteous guise of “standing for truth.”   It’s easier on their conscience to see those who raise concern for them as attacking the faith instead.  But being one-sided of God’s truth, whether it’s popular or unpopular is not what God wants, it’s what the demons wants.  Truly we can say its monstrous since it’s demonic.  Over time those who are less biblically literate will see these people as wise and thus in the church or on social media they can become a de facto leader.  Then in that role their poison is spread.  But since they are not morifying their flesh with Biblical truths, soon biblical truths are twisted as a means to an end of gratifying their desires.  The fruit of this will manifest itself as all sorts of abuses that the monsters can connive according to their wicked imagination.

We must always ourselves this question:  How faithful are we as stewards in applying and being transformed by the truth of God’s Word that we have been given?

The more we know the more we need to ask that question constantly.  God is gracious if we confess our sins and repent.   He will change our hearts to love God’s truth so much we actually want it to transform us!

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Review: What is Justification by Faith Alone?

J.V. Fesko. What is Justification by Faith Alone?  Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing, February 15^th, 2008. 32 pp.

This is a booklet in the Basics of the Reformed Faith series.  I picked it up out of the curiosity of wanting to see what an example of a short theological summary of the doctrine of justification looks like and also for my spiritual edification and whether this booklet is something I can recommend to others.  This booklet is divided into five parts.  The first part surveys how God intended to create and judge Adam and His creation.  The second part looks at God pointing to His Son as the one who will justify us in the Old Testament with the third looking at how Jesus’ life death and resurrection is the building blocks of the doctrine of justification by faith alone.  The fourth survey how this doctrine was expressed historically within the Reformed tradition and lastly the fifth part answers some common questions.

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Teenager Pressured to Abort Her Child

Saints,

My heart is grieving. The young girl who is 16 years of age that was pressured by her mom, was sobbing uncontrollably. I asked her if she was getting an abortion. She appeared to have lied by shaking her head.  But her mother confessed by saying, “We cannot keep the child because we have no money.” The suppression of truth is real here folks. People know it is wrong to abort babies. This evil mother who was holding another baby in her arms had the audacity to place a price tag on the babies head in order to satisfy the god of convenience. I offered the young 16 year old teenager help, but her mother pressured her to go inside Planned Murderhood. It was a tense moment. I then resorted to preaching. In less than 5 minutes into the message, they left PP and said they were going to get lunch. I am not sure if they will return. I continued pleading and admonishing the mother near her car by indicating that she will stand before God to be judged. She said, “I know.” She is suppressing her conscience (Rom. 2:15-16). While speaking to a young man who was in PP concerning the reason why I plead with people at PP, a young woman interrupted my conversation and said my mother should of aborted me. Apparently, she was angry because prior to that, I told her she had murder in her heart. She continued shouting expletives. However the conversation with the young man that seemed to be going nowhere at first ended well. He seemed more understanding as the conversation progressed. I showed him Scripture, shared the Gospel, and ended in prayer. Please pray for his soul. And please pray that the young 16 year old will not abort her baby. All glory to Christ!

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Third Week of October 2015 Presuppositional Apologetics Links

Here are links on Presuppositional apologetics from around the world wide web!  They are gathered from October 15th-21st, 2015.

1.) Proof

2.) Living with vampires

3.) The Story of Philosophy

4.) TWO TYPES OF IGNORANCE

5.) Proverbs 26:4-5 and Presuppositional Apologetics

6.) Intro to Apologetics

Missed the last round up?Check out the re-blogged post from a friend

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November 3, 2015 Los Angeles County Christian Conservative Voter’s Guide

I’m addressing Los Angeles County Christians in this post.  2015 is not necessarily a big election year like next year (President, Congress, various Senators, etc).  Still it’s important if a Christian vote, they vote according to what aligns to Christian principles.  The following is an election guide from Election Forum for Southern California.  You should check out their website.

Remember also to pray for our leaders and their policies.

Candidate Ratings:

Every candidate is considered after thorough research; we also have a questionnaire for candidates to complete.

• : Strongest endorsement for values voters
• : Above average
• : Better than opponent. Some races are between candidates that you will disagree with. You may not want to vote for any of them, but at least a 1 thumbs up makes one candidate as better than the other. It’s the lesser of the two evils. 1 thumbs up is not really an endorsement.
• No Endorsement: We either oppose the candidates or have found no reason to support a candidate. If you don’t vote for a candidate or issue, all your other votes you make for other offices still count.

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My Time at Family Planning Associates

What a blessing to help lead and encourage saints from Community Faith Bible Church and students from The Master’s College at a murder mill in Downey, CA. There were opportunities to proclaim the Gospel openly, one-on-one, and hold signs in front of the public in order to bring awareness of the halocaust before us. Some of the students from the college asked me questions concerning evangelism at abortion mills. They wanted to learn. Some expressed that they were thankful that they came. Pray that the students use what they saw to bring awareness concerning the silent halocaust in our country. They are the future of the church. Unlike the unbelievers of the future, my heart was grieved when a teenage boy gave me the finger. His future looks dim if he is not born-again. I asked them what are you guys doing here and his girlfriend responded, “It’s none of your business.” I said, “Your soul is my business.” Yes, folks, their souls are our business. We care for them.

Glory be to God concerning yesterday. Brother Josh and the saints from CFBC and the college were encouraged by the outreach. Please pray for them concerning their future outreach plans. The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. On another note, as I had my eyes upon FPA (Family Murder Associates), I noticed how deceptively FPA appears. The building is bland and the sign is faded. They have been butchering babies for decades with their surgical weapons and chemically killing them with the pills. As the sign fades, I could not help but to the think of the faded memories of people towards the babies and their apathy towards the most innocent of all image bearers. You see as memories fade, evil grows. We must agitate and boldly confront evil (Eph. 5:11). While the babies silently scream (can’t hear them due to amniotic fluid in their vocal cords) because their arms and legs are being ripped apart, many people are resting well and enjoying life. This gives more of reason to expose this hideous organization. This organization is known as one of the biggest abortion providers in the U.S. They are volume driven. Not too long ago, a woman reportedly died after a botched abortion at FPA in Mirarmar, CA while being transported from FPA to the emergency room. May God’s people expose evil and proclaim the saving power of Christ. Please pray God will raise up more fearless evangels.

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Another bad Planned Parenthood Tweet: People seek abortion even if they are illegal

I saw this tweet from Planned Parenthood’s account:

FACT: People seek abortion — even if they are illegal. Here's one woman's pre-Roe abortion story. http://t.co/yuINIealxT

— Planned Parenthood Action (@PPact) October 18, 2015

Just in case the tweet disappears here is what it says:

FACT: People seek abortion — even if they are illegal. Here’s one woman’s pre-Roe abortion story. http://buff.ly/1LpEVEd 

If you talk to pro-abortionists, you often hear this argument: People are going to get an abortion anyways, mind as well make it legal.  At least it provide a safe place for those seeking services.

So if someone is going to do something illegal anyways…that is an argument for it to be legalized?

How many crime in the law books are done by criminals anyways?  Should we legalize them all just because people are going to do them anyways?  It’s a terrible argument.  Faulty reasoning.

For more rebuttals to Planned Parenthood’s arguments check out our Collection of Posts Responding to Planned Parenthood.

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