Free PDF and Review: True Prayer True Power by Charles Spurgeon

Note: For fans of Spurgeon have you checked out my Review: Charles Spurgeon Framed Art Print?

Charles Spurgeon. The Holy Spirit Glorifying Christ.  Pensacola, FL: Chapel Library, May 26, 2020. 24 pp.

4 out of 5

Free: Chapel Library

Purchase: Amazon

Want to read a short devotional to encourage praying to God? This booklet by my favorite Victorian era English preacher Charles Spurgeon provide some spiritual thoughts and reflection and practical pointers about praying to God.  This is based upon a sermon on Jesus’ words in Mark 11:24 that Spurgeon preached on August 12^th, 1860 in England.  Though it is over 160 years since he preached it and when I read this nevertheless I think what Spurgeon has to say is timeless and spiritually edifying.

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Legalism as Prison and License to sin as false freedom

I made a meme:

I think it captures the point that legalism and license to sin are both enslaving and how license to sin is a false freedom.

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This Sunday at Church: Praying with those who are graduating and anxious with the future

For this Sunday here’s what you can do: Praying with those who are graduating and anxious with the future.

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Review: Marine! The Life of Chesty Puller

A special Memorial Day weekend reading review.

Mark Galeotti. Marine! The Life of Chesty Puller.  New York, NY: Open Road Intergrated Media, March 29, 2016. 371 pp.

5 out of 5

Purchase: Amazon

One of the most celebrated legendary Marine is Chesty Puller; the most decorated US Marine in history, even today every Marine would know of his name after being drilled information about him starting in the days of boot camp; do you know who he was and what he has done?  Though I’m a Marine veteran who love Marine Corps history I am ashamed to realize that I have never read any books about Chesty Puller until recently and I don’t know much about him as much I should compared to other military leaders in the other services!  For those that don’t know anything about him Chesty Puller is literally the guy that you want to be around taking charge when the enemies have surrounded you and outnumbered against you; and he’s literally saved men’s lives during such a scenario too.  So I am glad I saw they have an electronic format of this book available.  Originally published in 1962 this book was written when Puller was still alive.  This book actually made me want to read more works on Chesty Puller especially more recent works evaluating his life, legacy and contribution.

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Bible Contradiction? Is it OK to make images?

For today’s post we will tackle the question the Skeptic Annotated Bible asked: Is it OK to make images?

Here are the answers which the skeptic believes indicate a Bible contradiction:

Yes, at least when they are designed and commissioned by God.

“Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying…You shall make two cherubim of gold; make them of hammered work at the two ends of the atoning cover. 19 Make one cherub at one end and one cherub at the other end; you shall make the cherubim of one piece with the atoning cover at its two ends. 20 And the cherubim shall have their wings spread upward, covering the atoning cover with their wings and facing one another; the faces of the cherubim are to be turned toward the atoning cover.” (Exodus 25:1; Exodus 25:18-20)

“Moreover, you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twisted linen and violet, purple, and scarlet material; you shall make them with cherubim, the work of a skilled embroiderer.” (Exodus 26:1)

“Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and put it on a flag pole; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, and looks at it, will live.”” (Numbers 21:8)

No, graven images are abominations to God.

“You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth.” (Exodus 20:4)

“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.” (Deuteronomy 5:8)

“so that you do not act corruptly and make a carved image for yourselves in the form of any figure, a representation of male or female, 17 a representation of any animal that is on the earth, a representation of any winged bird that flies in the sky, 18 a representation of anything that crawls on the ground, or a representation of any fish that is in the water below the earth.” (Deuteronomy 4:16-18)

“So be careful yourselves, that you do not forget the covenant of the Lord your God which He made with you, and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of anything against which the Lord your God has commanded you.” (Deuteronomy 4:23)

“‘Cursed is the person who makes a carved image or cast metal image, an abomination to the Lord, the work of the hands of a craftsman, and sets it up in secret.’ And all the people shall reply and say, ‘Amen.’” (Deuteronomy 27:15)

“He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, in accordance with everything that his father David had done. 4 He removed the high places and smashed the memorial stones to pieces, and cut down the Asherah. He also crushed to pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel had been burning incense to it; and it was called Nehushtan.” (2 Kings 18:3-4)

(All Scriptural quotation comes from the New American Standard Bible)

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Question: How do we answer a skeptic who radically doubt reality?

Someone asked:

where do you guys usually start when dealing with someone who doubts reality? For example, when they say “how do I know anything is real”.

Here’s my quick take:

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Free Documentary: A Storm Comes Rolling Down the Plain

I saw this documentary on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning

It is a documentary on the Church’s response to abortion.

Here’s the film:

Here are my thoughts:

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Outrage at Shooting Uvalde, Texas

It is such a tragedy to hear the news of the elementary shooting at Uvalde, Texas.

How anyone can shoot elementary school age kids is beyond my comprehension.

It is so sad and so infuriating.

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Apologetics Sermon Illustration #78: Blindfold Ear-Plugged Pig Catching and Epistemic Virtue

GO TO PART 77

Point: Presuppositional Apologetics makes the point that without God there will not be the possibility of knowledge.  I would also add without God there would not be the possibility of epistemic virtues being intellgible and meaningful.  By epistemic virtue I mean things that involves character and skills a knower possess that is involve with acquiring knowledge.  And if there is no such thing as epistemic virtues and epistemic skills then the foundation for education is destroyed.

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Presuppositional Apologetic’s Links: Third Week of May 2022

 

These are links concerning Presuppositional apologetics gathered from May 15th-21st, 2022. 

Limited time free e-book offer

1.) Cave to the Cross’ The Resurrection Explained! – Ep.176 – What About Evil? – The Cosmic Redeemer – Part 1

2.) Bible Contradiction? Will God destroy those that intermarry?

3.) Scientific Elitism and Critical Thinking By Cowboy 

4.) Apologetics Session 8: Evil and the problem of Atheism

5.) Presuppositionalism in the Dock

6.) Apologetics Sermon Illustration #77: Flamethrowers and Refuting Presuppositions

7.) A Response to: “Theology’s Epistemological Dilemma”

8.) Book Review: Redeeming Our Thinking about History: A God-Centered Approach” By Vern Poythress

9.) The Intellectual Challenge of the Gospel by Van Til (Part 2)

10.) Apologetics Meme

 

Missed the last round up?  Check out the re-blogged post from a friend here and other reblogs here and here

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This Sunday at Church: Listen to Someone who lost a loved one in war

For this Sunday here’s what you can do: Listen to someone who lost a loved one in war.

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Unbelievers Suppression of Memory

A few days ago I wrote “Question: Unbelievers spiritually blinded and also knows there is a God?”

It made me think tangent to the possibility of not only suppression of truth by nonbelievers but also the suppression of the memory of the act of suppression of truth.

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Bible Contradiction? Will God destroy those that intermarry?

For today’s post we will tackle the question the Skeptic Annotated Bible asked: Will God destroy those that intermarry?

Here are the answers which the skeptic believes indicate a Bible contradiction:

Yes.

“Furthermore, you shall not intermarry with them: you shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor shall you take their daughters for your sons. 4 For they will turn your sons away from following Me, and they will serve other gods; then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you and He will quickly destroy you.” (Deuteronomy 7:3-4)

No, some of God’s favorite people had foreign wives and he didn’t seem to mind.

“Now to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore to him.” (Genesis 46:20)= The Skeptic Annotated Bible commented on Genesis 46:20 saying “Joseph married an Egyptian woman, from whom were born of two of the patriarchs of Israel, Manasseh and Ephraim.”

“Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married (for he had married a Cushite woman);” ( Numbers 12:1)

“And the anger of the Lord burned against them and He departed. 10 But when the cloud had withdrawn from above the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow. As Aaron turned toward Miriam, behold, she was leprous.” (Numbers 12:9-10)= And Moses married an Egyptian woman. When Aaron and Miriam complained about it, God gave Miriam leprosy as a punishment.

(All Scriptural quotation comes from the New American Standard Bible)

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Book Review: Redeeming Our Thinking about History: A God-Centered Approach” By Vern Poythress

Vern Poythress. Redeeming Our Thinking about History: A God-Centered Approach.  Wheaton, IL: Crossway, March 15, 2022.  256 pp.

4 out of 5

Purchase: Amazon

How should Christians think about the study of history?  In this book author Vern Poythress explores the biblical worldview as the foundation for history.  Poythress has written on a biblical worldview for other areas of academic discipline such as philosophy, science, sociology and linguistics.  Similar to his other works in this book Poythress draws out implications from the contents of Scripture to discuss about the method of history. Arguing in the way of Cornelius Van Til’s Presuppositional Apologetics, Poythress also advocate that only the Triune Christian worldview can give an account of history in a way that makes it intelligible and meaningful.

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Apologetics Session 8: Evil and the problem of Atheism

Establish the need: Why is this session important? We often hear discussion about God and the problem of evil.  However we must not downplay or neglect the issue of evil and the problem of atheism.

Purpose: In this session we shall discuss four points to help us think about evil and the problem of atheism to realize that in wrestling with the problem of evil there is a problem with atheism.

• All worldviews have the burden of proof of explaining how evil exists
• Atheism undermine the existence of evil: What atheist have to say
• If God is the basis for determining good and evil then there is no problem of evil
  God uses evil to bring about good

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