Pastoral Musings

Hmmm…I thought we went into Iraq to give them some freedom and democracy. Why can’t the soldier give out coins that witness to his faith? It seems that the champions of freedom do not hold that all are equal…or that all are equal, but some are more equal than others.

On another note, I see that the Iraqis, who are supposed to be grateful for our liberating them, don’t want us there.

Read it here.

It seems that Singer operates from a presuppositional standpoint.

His standpoint is that Christians are wrong.

A Consideration of Two Texts That Seem to Support The Doctrine of The Second Blessing

See part one here.

The following passages seem to support the doctrine of the second blessing. The question we must ask is, “Do they indeed support the doctrine of the second blessing?” The first thing we must note is the fact that it has already been determined from the Scriptures that the Baptism with the Holy Spirit is not a second blessing. At the same time, we must do justice to hard texts that seem to point in the other direction. They cannot be dismissed. Let us now examine these two texts.

Acts 8:14-17 Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost. (KJV) As we study this passage we must first understand the context. The disciples had stayed in Jerusalem until persecution caused many of them to flee to other places. As they fled, they preached. As they preached, people were converted. In Samaria folks believed on Jesus. Let us not forget that the Samaritans and Jews were not friendly to one another. We must also recall that the Jewish people had a very strong spirit of nationalism, and especially was it strong in relation to their religious views. The Scriptures show us evidence that it was difficult for the early church to accept that there were those who were not of Jewish descent who could be saved. It is no wonder that, when the church at Jerusalem heard of converts at Samaria, they sent some down to look into the matter. When Peter and John arrived in Samaria, they prayed for the new converts and laid their hands upon them. When this was done, the Samaritan believers received the gift of the Spirit.

Why did this happen in this manner, and what did it signify? First of all, this happening demonstrated to the Samaritans their acceptance into the body of Christ. They were received as true Christians by the apostles who were chosen by Christ to be His witnesses. There should be no doubt that this caused them much comfort. Not only so, but this action demonstrated that the apostles and the Jerusalem church were willing to share the honor of the gifts of the Spirit with the Samaritans. The laying on of hands signified their willingness to share with the Samaritans the blessings that they had enjoyed because of Jesus (compare Num 27:18-23). This happening was not something that was normal. In other words, we need not expect the coming of the Spirit to happen in this manner as a matter of course. These events happened in this manner because God was working through this to emphasize the unity that is in the body of Christ. This unity was taught by Paul when he said, “ As the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.” (1 Cor 12:12,13) KJV

Acts 19:1-7 And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John’s baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied. And all the men were about twelve. (KJV) What happened here? First of all, we must see that these disciples were ignorant of the Holy Ghost. How could that be? If there baptized with John’s baptism, or unto John’s baptism, they should have heard of the Holy Spirit. John preached and told men that they should believe on Jesus, who would baptize them with the Holy Ghost (Matt 3:11,12). The preaching of John was calculated to lead men to faith in Jesus. It is obvious that these people had not heard the gospel message correctly. Because of this, they did not receive Jesus as their savior. They were not true disciples of Christ. Having heard the truth, they evidently embraced it, as they were baptized into Christ. After that, Paul laid hands on them and they received the Spirit. This happening can easily be explained by the fact that the laying on of hands and the receiving of the Spirit happened for the purpose of giving these people the assurance that they needed that their faith was indeed genuine and was honored by God.

While these may not be what some would call “water tight” explanations, we can at least say that they are as plausible as any other we know of. These explanations also seem to fit well with the facts that we know. What we must realize is that passages such as these do not change the fact that the baptism with the Holy Spirit is not a second blessing, but occurs when one is converted. The occasional obscure passage must never be used to negate that which is plain and easily understood.

Barbara Walther delays implementing the return of the FLDS children to their parents.

She should be held in contempt by the TX Supreme Court and left in jail for two weeks.

She may not be CPS, but I did warn that there would be retaliation for the order to return the children.

If only more of us would graciously do as this lady did.

At best, evidence of vestigial organs in man demonstrates deterioration and loss of information since the Fall. They are evolutionary relics of common ancestors with animals only if you begin with evolutionary presuppositions.

Dr. David DeWitt

Granted, freedom of expression has limitations.

The problem is this: once internet speech becomes regulated, all speech will be regulated to such a degree that we will have a “thought crimes” tribunal who will judge us based upon what they perceive to be our intent in our speech.

Let us stand up for our freedoms!

Can you imagine playing host to a homeless woman who lives in your closet for a year, but you don’t even know it?

Disney’s “Gay Days” coming up soon.

Will the oil market correct (drop) soon?

From a debate between two evolutionists. Lanier is a computer scientist; Dawkins is a professor at Oxford and an ardent atheist.

Jaron Lanier: ‘There’s a large group of people who simply are uncomfortable with accepting evolution because it leads to what they perceive as a moral vacuum, in which their best impulses have no basis in nature.’

Richard Dawkins: ‘All I can say is, That’s just tough. We have to face up to the truth.’

‘Evolution: The dissent of Darwin,’ Psychology Today, January/February 1997, p. 62.

Texas’s high court rules that CPS was wrong in removing children from YFZ Ranch. They claim that there was not enough evidence to merit the removal.

This is not the end of the story, however.

There is a great likelihood that CPS workers will fabricate, or “find” even more evidence of abuse in retaliation.  That would not surprise me at all.