Calvinism DVD Viewing Party

Please excuse my delay with this announcement, but after discussing an ideal date with Isaiah and Lloyd, we wanted to extend an invitation to everyone on the blog (and spouses) to watch the epic production Amazing Grace: The History & Theology of Calvinism.

The viewing party will take place at Isaiah Ruffner's house on Saturday morning, May 17. Running appoximately four hours and 15 minutes, we look to start the DVD around 10 a.m. We encourage all who can to be there. I can almost guarantee you will not be disappointed with the quality and thoroughness of Amazing Grace. The DVD will be a source of tremendous encouragement during a trying time as our home church faces such an assault on the truth.

Plan to spend your morning and afternoon at Zai's. With the DVD not only being long, we are hoping for an adequate amount of time for discussion (if that's possible when discussing the Doctrines of Grace) following the viewing. When talking with Lloyd and Zai, I did hear the suggestion to order pizza.

Please RSVP by leaving a comment on this post. And remember, only those who are willing and able to come will be there, but whosoever is welcome. Well, consult Zai first should it begin to look like too much of a crowd (Zai, feel free to provide any further information or instruction).

Produced by the Apologetics Group (now The Nicene Council), Amazing Grace consists of three parts: the history of the debate, the Scriptures on TULIP, and evangelism in light of God's sovereign purpose to save the elect. Here's an excerpt from the product description:

Rich in graphics, dramatic vignettes, and biblical analogies, Amazing Grace — The History and Theology of Calvinism also features many of the finest reformed thinkers and pastors of our time: Dr. R.C. Sproul, Dr. D. James Kennedy, Dr. George Grant, Dr. Stephen Mansfield, Dr. Thomas Ascol, Dr. Thomas Nettles, Dr. Roger Schultz, Pastor Walt Chantry, Dr. Joe Morecraft, Dr. Ken Talbot, Pastor Walter Bowie and Dr. R.C. Sproul, Jr.

Come learn what the great Baptist preacher C.H. Spurgeon meant when he said, “…to deny Calvinism is to deny the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

A Calvinist's Conversion

The following lines are from Charles Spurgeon's autobiographical account of his conversion. I have retained all the original grammar, spellings, and uniqueness that make up Spurgeon's style. Pay particular attention to the last sentence.

"If I had listened to the Arminian theory, I should never have been converted, for it never had any charms to me. A Saviour who casts away His people, a God who leaves His children to perish, is not worthy of my worship, and a salvation which does not save outright is neither worth preaching nor worth listening to.

I recollect the time when I was afraid that Jesus would never save me, but I used to feel in my heart that, even if He did not, I must love Him for what He had done for other poor sinners. It seemed to me, as I read the wondrous story of His life and death, that if He refused me, I would still lie at His feet and say, 'Thou mayest spurn me, but Thou art a blessed Christ for all that; and if Thou dost curse me, yet I can only say to Thee that I well deserve it at Thy hands. Do what Thou wilt with me; but Thou didst save the dying thief, and Thou didst save her out of whom Thou didst cast seven devils, and if Thou doest not deign to save me, yet Thou art a blessed Christ, and I cannot rail at Thee or find fault with Thee, but I lie down at Thy feet, and worship Thee.' I could not help saying, once, that, even if He damned me, I would love God because He was so gracious to others. One text of Scripture especially cheered me; I lived upon it for months. I felt the weight of sin, and I did not know the Saviour; I feared God would blast me with His wrath, and smite me with His hot displeasure! From chapel to chapel I went to hear the word preached, but never a gospel sentence did I hear, but this one text preserved me from what I believe I should have been driven to--the commission of suicide through grief and sorrow. It was this sweet word, 'Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.'"

Facing Hardship while Praising God

Facing hardship and opposition to our faith is difficult. It is especially hard when we face enormous trials like so many of us have here of late.

While driving to work yesterday morning I was pondering the circumstances and difficulties we are facing in our church. I found myself lost in thought and given to prayer. I had the radio on tuned into the local Christian radio station, 90.1 "The Bridge", but I wasn't paying attention and used it for white noise if anything. But while I was thinking about our current troubles the song "Praise You in this Storm" by Casting Crowns came on. I had heard this song a thousand times before, but God was using it this time to speak to me about how we are to praise Him even in the midst of our problems.

Tonight, I looked up the liner notes from the cd and found the Scriptures used with the song. I would like to share them with you. They will bless your heart as they did mine:

Romans 8:28: "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."

2 Corinthians 4:16 - 18: "Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal."

Psalm 42:5: "Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him For the help of His countenance."

Job 1:20 - 21: "Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped. 21 And he said: “ Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD.”

Daniel 3:16 - 18: "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”

In looking at the "big picture", we will never come to grips with why we face what we face in life, good or bad, until we reach eternity. It is glorious to remember sometimes that we serve a God who can be (and should be) praised during the good times and the bad times. Because in His Sovereignty, they are for His glory.

May we learn from our trials, may we praise God for our trials, and may we grow spiritually because of our trials.

Spiritual Value vs. Economic Value

I have to admit that I was not surprised when I found this article concerning the Franklin Graham Festival recently held in Knoxville. While they do mention the amount of professions, the spiritual aspects of the festival were downplayed to the "more important" issue of economic success for the city.

http://www.volunteertv.com/home/headlines/18343889.html

While I don't agree with all of the Graham's theology (Billy or Franklin), one cannot deny the impact for the kingdom that they have had. My prayer is that the 1,200 professions mentioned in the article are true repentance and pleading God for forgiveness.

It still saddens me that a news organization would focus more on the economic impact of this event. (Saddens, but doesn't surprise as I stated previously).

Tearing Pages From Bible

I just came across this and thought you might find it interresting.

A Southern Seminary professor stated in one of his classes that: "when we destroy creation, which is God's revelation, it is no different than tearing a page out of the Bible."

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=58808

Obviously he is dead wrong. The Bible is God's inspired, inerrant Word and God's creation is sin cursed. We are commanded in Genesis to be good stewards of God's creation but not to worship it.

We know God's creation is a light to mankind. (Rom. 1-20; Ps 19:1-6) But nowhere likens creation to the Bible or alludes to destroying creation would be like ripping pages out of the Bible.

The student that wrote the article would have us buy into this global warming frenzy.

Elijah may know more about this and it may not be as bad as it sounds.

Kent

ID Column No Longer Expelled from Print

Appropriately on the release date of Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, the Crossville Chronicle published my latest Seeing through the Hayes column, "Speaking heresy in a Darwinian culture," in the Friday, April 18, edition. The entire article can be found here.

The Darwinists have yet to flood my inbox with hate mail, but there's still the entire weekend for the article to reach them via the Web. I attempt to address some of their objections to my last column's brief critiques of Darwinian evolution.

In the opinion-editorial piece, I draw attention to the prior philosophical commitments to materialism and naturalistic reasoning that Darwinian proponents impose upon the scientific field. Through doing this, they are able to disregard any arguments or evidence that might point to design and yet seem justified in doing so. After affirming that Charles Darwin himself did not write much pertaining to the origin of life, I make note that his ideas would be taken further by his followers. From the article:

Still, Darwin held that natural selection left out the need for God. “The view that each variation has been providentially arranged seems to make Natural Selection entirely superfluous, and indeed takes the whole case of the appearance of new species out of the range of science” (Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, vol. 2, 6-7, 28, emphasis mine). With this statement, Darwin planted the seeds for the driving principle that would rule science in the following generations—propositions that aren’t naturalistic or materialistic should not be considered.

Looking at verbatim statements from several evolutionary authorities such as Richard Dawkins, I make this conclusion: "Evolutionary authorities forthrightly demonstrate evolutionary theory is not a scientific issue but a philosophical one."

The article goes on to distinguish between Darwinism as a worldview and evolution as a theory. I then transition to a positive affirmation of Intelligent Design theory, as stated in Nancy Pearcey's monumental book Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity.

As the Expelled film calls for the knocking down of the Berlin wall of naturalistic prejudice currently erected in science, I call for reform in a Darwinist-minded culture the same way Martin Luther called out the Catholic culture of the sixteenth century. Like that generation put blind trust in its clergymen, today's generation puts an unfounded confidence in our scientists and academics.

Southern Seminary-Kurt Wise

For those of you who are already attending Southern Seminary or who are preparing to attend-

If you get a chance to take a class with Dr Kurt Wise, do so. He is a brilliant educator and staunch Creationist.

He is Professor of Science and Theology and Director of Center for Science and Theology.

He used to be at Bryan College where I met him when they were holding the Origins Conferences. He and I spent an entire day together one Saturday, walking thru the woods with him showing me evidence of Noah’s flood in plain sight that I would never have seen otherwise. I now know more of what to look for.

I have wanted to go back to Dayton and see the wood fossils in the rock croppings he showed me again. I was amazed at all the evidence in this small area. I forget the name of the area but it used to be an old railroad bed and coal mine. A small creek runs thru a dump site of coal and you can find fossils in small pieces of coal. You can also find live scorpions.

He also has an interresting testimony of his experience at Harvard and witnessing to Dr. Stephen J. Gould. Who until his death a few years ago was the world's leading evolutionist.

BigDog