Discernment

Discernment is the ability to perceive differences. There are times when the differences are vast and to be able to discern those differences is rather easy. There are times in life the difference between right and wrong is often blurred and we are called upon in a split second to make the right choice. What makes this choice easier is having our minds saturated with the Word of God. The Psalmist said, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” [Psalm 119:11] God told Joshua that “this book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” [Joshua 1:8] Note reason for memorizing and meditating upon the Word of God. It is that we might observe to do all that is written in the Bible. The benefit is that we will be prosperous and have good success. Not so much worldly or financial success but being able to accomplish what God gives us to do. One reason we need to be discerning is to be able to obey the Word of God.

There is a more sophisticated form of discernment that is vitally important to us. Charles Spurgeon reminds that “discernment is not a matter of simply telling the difference between what is right and wrong; rather, it is the difference between right and almost right.” The Apostle Paul’s prayer for the believers in Philippi addresses this need. He prayed “That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.” [1:10, 11] If our lives are to bring glory and praise to God this ability to discern right and almost right, good and better and things excellent is absolutely necessary. Without this ability, we will find ourselves living in a constant state of hypocrisy and causing irreparable harm to the person and work of Christ.

Discernment comes as a result of knowing the word of God, asking God for discernment and practice. Along the way wrong choices might be made but we can ask for forgiveness and learn from the mistakes made as we move on through life seeking to bring God both glory and praise.

Note earlier post on same topic: http://hopetriumphant.blogspot.com/2009/01/discernment.html

Because He Lives

Hope brings joy and peace in the midst of darkness. Below is the story followed by the words to “Because He Lives” by Gloria Gaither. May you experience the hope that brings joy and peace during the dark days of your life. Jesus Christ is alive and to know Him as your Savior changes everything.

“I am a wife and a mother. It was in the middle of the upheaval in the sixties that we were expecting our third baby. The drug culture was in full swing, existential thought had obviously saturated every area of our American thought, the cities were seething with racial tension, and the God-is-dead pronouncement had giggled its way all through our educational system.

On the personal front, Bill and I were going through one of the most difficult times in our lives. Bill had been discouraged and physically exhausted by a bout with mononucleosis, and in that weakened condition had little reserve to fight the psychological battle brought on by some external family problems. Someone whom we had cared about a great deal had hurled some accusations at us and at the Fellowship of Believers and at the whole idea of the existence of God.

It was on New Year’s Eve that I sat alone in the darkness and quiet of our living room, thinking about the world and our country and Bill’s discouragement and the family problems—and about our baby yet unborn. Who in their right mind would bring a child into a world like this? I thought, The world is so evil. Influences beyond our control are so strong. What will happen to this child?

I can’t quite explain what happened at that moment, but suddenly I felt released from it all. The panic that had begun to build inside was gently dispelled by a reassuring presence that engulfed my life and drew my attention.

Gradually, the fear left and the joy began to return. I knew I could have that baby and face the future with optimism and trust. It was the Resurrection affirming itself in our lives once again. It was LIFE conquering death in the regularity of my day.” — Gloria Gaither

Because He Lives

God sent His Son, they called Him Jesus, He came to love, heal, and forgive; He lived and died to buy my pardon, An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives.

Because He lives I can face tomorrow, Because He lives All fear is gone; because I know He holds the future. And life is worth the living just because He lives.

How sweet to hold a newborn baby, And feel the pride, and joy He gives; but greater still the calm assurance, This child can face uncertain days because He lives.

And then one day I'll cross the river, I'll fight life's final war with pain; And then as death gives way to victory, I'll see the lights of glory and I'll know he lives.

The Solid Rock

Below we have our hope expressed in song but first the background of the beloved hymn “The Solid Rock.” As you read this story of this great hymn, let me ask you “What is the basis of your hope?”

“One morn­ing it came into my mind as I went to labor, to write an hymn on the ‘Gra­cious Ex­per­i­ence of a Christ­ian.’ As I went up Hol­born I had the chor­us,

‘On Christ the solid Rock I stand, All other ground is sinking sand.’


In the day I had four first vers­es com­plete, and wrote them off. On the Sab­bath fol­low­ing I met bro­ther King as I came out of Lisle Street Meet­ing…who in­formed me that his wife was ve­ry ill, and asked me to call and see her. I had an ear­ly tea, and called af­ter­wards. He said that it was his usu­al custom to sing a hymn, read a por­tion, and en­gage in pray­er, be­fore he went to meet­ing. He looked for his hymnbook but could find it no­where. I said, ‘I have some vers­es in my pock­et; if he liked, we would sing them.’ We did, and his wife en­joyed them so much, that af­ter ser­vice he asked me, as a favor, to leave a co­py of them for his wife. I went home, and by the fire­side com­posed the last two vers­es, wrote the whole off, and took them to sis­ter King…As these vers­es so met the dy­ing wo­man’s case, my at­ten­tion to them was the more ar­rest­ed, and I had a thou­sand print­ed for dis­tr­ibu­tion. I sent one to the Spir­it­u­al Mag­a­zine, with­out my ini­tials, which ap­peared some time af­ter this. Bro­ther Rees, of Crown Street, So­ho, brought out an edi­tion of hymns [1836], and this hymn was in it. Da­vid Den­ham in­tro­duced it [1837] with Rees’ name, and others af­ter…Your in­sert­ing this brief out­line may in fu­ture shield me from the charge of stealth, and be a vin­di­ca­tion of truth­ful­ness in my con­nect­ion with the Church of God.” Edward Mote, Let­ter to the Gos­pel Her­ald

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name.

Refrain

On Christ the solid Rock I stand, All other ground is sinking sand; All other ground is sinking sand.


When darkness seems to hide His face, I rest on His unchanging grace. In every high and stormy gale, My anchor holds within the veil.

Refrain

His oath, His covenant, His blood, Support me in the whelming flood. When all around my soul gives way, He then is all my Hope and Stay.

Refrain

When He shall come with trumpet sound, Oh may I then in Him be found.Dressed in His righteousness alone, Faultless to stand before the throne.

Refrain

False Religion and Terror

Scientology is false religion that uses terror tactics to silence its critics. First let us deal with the accusation it is a false religion. On its web site is listed some of their core beliefs. One of those beliefs is that man is basically good. This claim directly contradicts the Scripture. The Scripture says, “The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one” [Psalm 14:2, 3] and “…No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulcher; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes.” [Romans 3:10 -18] Our life experiences verify the truth of these scripture statements.

Scientology makes a false claim when it says that it is “compatible with all other religious beliefs. It cannot be and is not compatible with ANY religious belief since it clearly teaches that all religion is an implanted false reality. In fact, any other religious belief by a Scientologist is not even tolerated.” [www.holysmoke.org/cos/scientology-lies-and-deceives.htm]

The terrorist tactics of Scientology are revealed on the above web site. I quote. “We are all well aware that Hubbard wrote all the policies used by Scientology management today which are at the heart of the entire war that Scientology has declared on its critics. Hubbard wrote the Manual of Dissemination, for example, in which he instructed his followers that the purpose of a lawsuit is to harass, not to win. He also wrote the Manual of Justice, in which he says that a reporter who dares to write anything critical about Scientology should be harassed and intimidated until he shudders into silence. He also wrote Attacks on Scientology, Additional Policy Letter, in which he details how to destroy the reputation of anyone who is critical of Scientology. There are many, many others, including the most vile of Hubbard's policies, the "Fair Game" policy which has been in continuous use by Scientology since it was written in 1967. Current management is revising these Hubbard policies for the reprints of the OEC and Tech volumes for legal and PR reasons, because Miscavige and his lawyers don't want the public to know how rabidly insane and vindictive Hubbard really was.”

For a wealth of information visit Operation Clambake at http://www.xenu.net/.

We expose Scientology false teaching and deceitful ways but firmly believe they have the right to teach what they will. It is our belief that the truth will set you free. Jesus said, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” [John 8:32] We seek not to silence our critics because in light of the truth they will be exposed for what they are. We oppose the terror tactics Scientology uses. The use of terror tactics exposes the bankruptcy of their belief system that cannot stand up to the light of the Word of God. They obviously do not want fair minded journalist exposing their practices. Why? What are they hiding?

Teaching or Terrorizing

“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” Matthew 28:18 – 20

It is in the words of Jesus that we find the greatest difference between the Christian faith and Islam. Jesus commissioned us to a ministry of teaching, not a ministry of terror. We are called to make willing not unwilling disciples of Jesus Christ. Nowhere in Scripture does Jesus tell His followers to kill, mutilate or intimidate other Christians who wish to deny their faith.

We are to make disciples by preaching of the message of the cross. It is through the preaching of the cross that men and women respond to the promptings of the Holy Spirit by confessing their sins and believing on Jesus Christ as their Savior. There have been in history excesses by overzealous men who in the name of Christ have use force but their authority to do so has never been the Word of God or the teachings of Jesus Christ. Jesus told His disciples to make disciples through the preaching and teaching of the Gospel message. A person made a disciple against his will is no disciple at all. A religion that makes converts by force is bankrupt – totally devoid of truth and offer no real hope to their followers.

Once a person is a convert to the Christian faith, they are to give public testimony by being baptized. Once a convert is baptized he/she is to be taught to obey the commands of Jesus and if he/she chooses not to obey the commands, there is no “Gestapo” to force them to comply. The reason is simple. Obedience is a sign of one’s love for Jesus and love cannot be coerced. It must be expressed by a willing heart.

Ultimately the goal of the Christian is to glorify God through his willing obedience to the commands of Jesus. How tragic it is to see people being terrorized by people wanting to force them to be converts or trying to hold them under the sway of their religious teachings. The greater tragedy is that these religious terrorist are gaining no real converts and keeping people from finding the truth!

They are afraid of the truth. Why? Jesus said, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” [John 8:32]

Christian or Atheist?

Once a person denies the resurrection of Jesus Christ and that Jesus was sinless, the next denial is the totality of the gospel. This leaves only one door open for the liberal to open, the door of atheism.

German theologian Gerd LÜdemann a few years ago declared “I no longer consider myself a Christian.” He later stated that liberal theologians try to reformulate Christian doctrine into something that they can believe, and still claim to be Christian and now describes liberal theology as “contemptible.”

There are certain fundamentals of the faith that a person must believe in order to be considered a Christian. He must affirm the inspiration of the Scripture, the deity of Jesus Christ, His virgin birth, His substitutionary death on the cross, His physical resurrection, salvation by faith alone and His future return. One cannot deny any one of these doctrines without denying them all. If one denies these doctrines can one really be called a Christian?

Again German theologian Gerd LÜdemann is able to clarify the picture for us. He stated, “I don’t think Christians know what they mean when they proclaim Jesus a Lord of the world. That is a massive claim. If you took that seriously, you would probably have to be a fundamentalist. If you can’t be a fundamentalist, then you should give up Christianity for the sake of honesty.” [Theologian Abandons Christianity, Christian Century, June 17-24, 1998]

Christians do not blindly proclaim that Jesus is the Lord of the universe. Christians only repeat what the Scriptures proclaim - Jesus is Lord of Lords. For Christians not to take the proclamation of Scripture seriously makes them no better than the self-proclaimed liberal turned atheist. Where do you stand? Are you a true believer or a closet atheist?

Does Anybody Still Believe in Hell?

What was once standard theological truth is slowly but efficiently being removed from the theological lexicons of orthodoxy. The question is why? Over the years I have come across many reasons for the diminishing belief in and teaching about Hell. Recently I have been reading “The Disappearance of God” by R. Albert Mohler, Jr. in which he asks, “Is evangelical theology about marketing God to our contemporary culture, or is it our task to stand in continuity with orthodox biblical conviction –whatever the cost?"


In our modern day attempt to market our Christian faith, we have down played and then removing all truth that is offensive to the world. One result is that much of what was orthodox Christian faith has been diluted to the detriment of the unsaved. What is left for them to believe? Is the message we have left able to produce a life changing experience? The second result is what we now believe has robbed the church of its missionary spirit and left the lost world on its path to eternal damnation.


No longer do many evangelical believe in eternal damnation in hell for the unsaved. In our attempt to make Christianity marketable, we have dumbed down our teaching on hell and called Jesus Christ a liar. Today evangelicals teach things like universalism, annihilationism and post mortem evangelism in an attempt to make Christianity marketable and acceptable to a lost world. In so doing they have undermined the holiness, righteousness and justice of God by their isolated emphasis on the love of God. They also have either called Jesus a liar or robbed themselves of their own eternal hope of eternal life. Jesus said, “And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal” [Matthew 25:46]. The same Greek word “aionios” is used for both everlasting and eternal in this verse. Either there is eternal life for the righteous and eternal punishment for the unrighteous or there is NO eternal life for the righteous and NO eternal punishment for the unrighteous. To say there is eternal life for the unrighteous and NO eternal punishment for the unrighteous is to call Jesus a liar. If Jesus is a liar then our Christian faith is a fraud.


In the attempt to isolate the doctrine of Hell and the love of God from all other aspects of our faith, you undermine the whole teaching of God’s Word. The Bible teaches us that there is a real literal Hell. If not, we do not have a viable faith to live or preach having robbed it of the biblical teachings on the holiness, righteousness and justice of God and the deity of Jesus. The Bible teaches there is literal Hell, I still believe it and it’s time modern day Christianity stood in continuity with orthodox biblical convictions. To abandon orthodox convictions is to abandon Christianity.