Response to Religious pluralism

The Error of Baalam

The Way of Balaam

Peter warned against “the way of Balaam,” Jude against “the error of Balaam” and John against “the doctrine of Balaam” (II Peter 2:15; Jude 11; Revelation 2:14). God evidently considers these warnings necessary and appropriate for Christians even today.

Yet Balaam, in his day, was a genuine prophet (note II Peter 2:16), possessed great knowledge concerning God, and even received direct revelations from God. What, therefore, were his way, his error, and his doctrine?

• “The way of Balaam” was a readiness to prostitute his high spiritual gifts and privileges for “The wages of unrighteousness” (II Peter 2:14), being willing to preach something contrary to God’s Word for personal gain.
• “The error of Balaam” was evidently his willingness to compromise his own standards of morality and truth in order “greedily” to accommodate those of his pagan patrons (Jude 11).
• Finally, “the doctrine of Balaam,” which even in John’s day was already infiltrating the church, was to use his own teaching authority to persuade God’s people that it was all right for them also to compromise these standards, even “to commit fornication” (Revelation 2:14) with their idol-worshipping enemies.

No wonder Micah (the faithful prophet) urged God’s people to “remember” Balaam and his tragic end (Numbers 31:8). 

Source: https://bible.org/illustration/way-balaam

David Pawson: Micah (Unlocking the Bible Series)

Gist of Habakkuk

"Nevertheless, the unity and single authorship of Habakkuk can be demonstrated from at least three conclusive facts. First, a common theme runs throughout the prophecy, namely, that God sovereignly controls the affairs of history. Second, demonstrable points of internal dependence and relation exist between the various portions,such as Habakkuk’s patient waiting on the Lord (2: 1–3, 20; 3: 2, 16–19), his consistent portrayal of the godless (1: 4, 13; 3: 13), his reception of the Lord’s answer to his perplexities (1: 5; 2: 2; 3: 2, 16), and his confidence that the Lord will not utterly destroy his people (1: 12; 3: 1–2, 16–19). Finally, only with the closing verses of the third chapter is there a satisfactory answer to all of the prophet’s uncertainties."
The ending poetry which depicts the sufficiency of God and the joy which can be had in spite of the lack of everything else, the Lord being his strength encourages us to focus on God as the source of our strength, the one who strengthens us during difficult times and draws us higher to live by faith.

17Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, andthere shall be no herd in the stalls:

18Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.

19The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. Habakkuk 3 

Outline of the book of Habakkuk

Mercy as the lens for interpreting the Torah

"In both of these passages, Hos 6.6, with its emphasis on mercy, is put forward as a hermeneutical lens through which the Torah is to be interpreted: the Pharisees go astray in their understanding of the Law because they fail to realize that its central aim is mercy. Alongside these passages should be placed the beatitude, ‘Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy’(Matt 5.7), and Jesus’pronouncement that ‘the weightier matters of the Law’are ‘justice and mercy and faith’(Matt 23.23). In such passages the quality of mercy is not set in opposition to the Law; rather, Matthew’s Jesus discerns within scripture itself the hermeneutical principle –expressed epigrammatically in Hos 6.6 –that all the commandments are to be interpreted in such a way as to engender and promote the practice of mercy among God’s people. Thus, the story of Israel is carried forward through a particular construal of Torah within a community called to embody the mercy of God."
~~ Cambridge companion to the Gospel 

Dunamahee: The Power of I Can (Anointing)

VENGEANCE OF GOD

"Vengeance in the Old Testament is a juridical term involving the righting of wrongs that have been done. Earlier, Nineveh experienced God’s grace because they had repented. Now they will experience his vengeance. The outpouring of God’s wrath has been delayed, not because he does not care or because he was helpless to act, but because he is patient and slow to anger. The fact that Nineveh is not specifically mentioned in chapter 1, yet seems clearly to be in view, indicates that she serves as an example of the way God deals with his enemies in general. He will not leave the guilty unpunished. This is quoted from Exodus 34: 7 and forms the necessary counterpoint to God’s grace as described in Exodus 34: 6. The nation or individual who rejects God’s forgiving grace will of necessity experience the outpouring of his wrath. God will have the last word. A Jonah may be impatient with God for sparing a Nineveh for a time, but God’s people may rest confidently in his determination and power to deal with sinners in his own time and way. The awesome and irresistible power of God is displayed in nature (1: 3b–6). If the most powerful forces of nature are at God’s disposal to be used as his instrument of judgment, and if no area of creation is immune to the fierceness of God’s wrath, how will any person or kingdom be able to withstand God’s judgment?"
~~ Commentary on Nahum, Baker's Illustrated Commentary of the Bible .

Lessons from Apostle Paul at Lystra -Acts 14

PAUL PREACHING AT LYSTRA
8In Lystra sat a man who could not use his feet, lame from birth, who had never walked. 9This man was listening to Paul as he was speaking. When Paul stared intently at him and saw he had faith to be healed, 10he said with a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And the man leaped up and began walking. 11So when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!” 12They began to call Barnabas Zeus and Paul Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. 13The priest of the temple of Zeus, located just outside the city, brought bulls and garlands to the city gates; he and the crowds wanted to offer sacrifices to them. 14But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard about it, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting, 15“Men, why are you doing these things? We too are men, with human natures just like you! We are proclaiming the good news to you, so that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and everything that is in them. 16In past generations he allowed all the nations to go their own ways, 17yet he did not leave himself without a witness by doing good, by giving you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying you with food and your hearts with joy.” 18Even by saying these things, they scarcely persuaded the crowds not to offer sacrifice to them.

19But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and after winning the crowds over, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, presuming him to be dead. 20But after the disciples had surrounded him, he got up and went back into the city. On the next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.

COMMENTARY: The attempt to worship Paul and Barnabas (14:11–15a)
The crowd’s superstitious and even fanatical behaviour is hard to comprehend, but some local background throws light on it. About fifty years previously the Latin poet Ovid had narrated in his Metamorphoses an ancient local legend. The supreme god Jupiter (Zeus to the Greeks) and his son Mercury (Hermes) once visited the hill country of Phrygia, disguised as mortal men. In their incognito they sought hospitality but were rebuffed a thousand times. At last, however, they were offered lodging in a tiny cottage, thatched with straw and reeds from the marsh. Here lived an elderly peasant couple called Philemon and Baucis, who entertained them out of their poverty. Later the gods rewarded them, but destroyed by flood the homes which would not take then in. It is reasonable to suppose both that the Lystran people knew this story about their neighbourhood and that, if the gods were to revisit their district, they were anxious not to suffer the same fate as the inhospitable Phrygians. Apart from the literary evidence in Ovid, two inscriptions and a stone altar have been discovered near Lystra, which indicate that Zeus and Hermes were worshipped together as local patron deities.

Since it was in the Lycaonian language that the people shouted out their belief that the gods had visited them again, and named Barnabas Zeus and Paul Hermes, it is understandable that the missionaries did not at first understand what was happening (11–12). It dawned on them only when the priest of Zeus … brought bulls and wreaths, intending to offer sacrifices to them (13). At this the missionaries tore their clothes, to express their horror at the people’s blasphemy, and rushed out into the crowd, protesting against their intention, and insisting that they were human like them (14–15).

He begged them to turn from the vanity of idolatrous worship to the living and true God. He spoke of the living God as the Creator of heaven, earth and sea, and of everything in them (15). Did he gesture to the sky, to the Taurus mountains to the south, and to the Great Sea beyond them? Moreover, he who made all things has not been inactive since. Although in the past he let all nations go their own way (16), yet he has never at any time or in any place left himself without testimony. On the contrary, he has borne a consistent witness to himself by his kindness to all humankind, including Paul’s listeners. He has given them rain from heaven and crops on earth in their seasons, thus providing them with plenty of food for their bodies and filling their hearts with joy (17). Overawed by the majesty of this perspective, the crowd were restrained only with difficulty from sacrificing to them (18).

We need to learn from Paul’s flexibility. We have no liberty to edit the heart of the good news of Jesus Christ. Nor is there ever any need to do so. But we have to begin where people are, to find a point of contact with them. With secularized people today this might be what constitutes authentic humanness, the universal quest for transcendence, the hunger for love and community, the search for freedom, or the longing for personal significance. Wherever we begin, however, we shall end with Jesus Christ, who is himself the good news, and who alone can fulfil all human aspirations.

5 Truthful Sayings in Pastoral Epistles

1 Tim 115 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. 

1 Tim 3:1 Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task.

1 Tim 4:8 For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. 9 This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. 10 That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe.

2 Tim 2: 11 

Here is a trustworthy saying:

If we died with him,
    we will also live with him;
12 if we endure,
    we will also reign with him.
If we disown him,
    he will also disown us;
13 if we are faithless,
    he remains faithful,
    for he cannot disown himself.

TITUS 3

3 At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. 4 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. 8 This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good.These things are excellent and profitable for everyone

Great and Awesome day of the Lord

““Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.””

http://ref.ly/Ml4.5-6 via the Logos Bible Android app.

Above is the last verse of the Old testament.  Talks about the return of Elijah I. E in this case John the Baptist as Jesus himself says that Elijah has come and they have done what they wanted to do with him.

Gabriel announces about John the Baptist before his birth, "And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous--to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." Luke 1:17

"And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come" - Matthew 11:14

So Malachi 4:5-6 is talking about John the Baptist. So the great and awesome day of the Lord refers to the destruction of Jerusalem which happened in AD 70 and which is a consequence of Israel 's rejection of Jesus and his forerunner, John the Baptist.

That was utter destruction for Israel was reformed only in 1948 after it was destroyed by Romans in AD 70.

"Creation of Israel, 1948. On May 14, 1948, David Ben-Gurion, the head of the Jewish Agency, proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel. U.S. President Harry S. Truman recognized the new nation on the same day." -https://history.state.gov/milestones/1945-1952/creation-israel
Launching the Revolt
"The Jewish Revolt began—and met its bitter end—at Masada, a hunk of rock overlooking the Dead Sea. The Romans had built a virtually impregnable fortress there. Yet the atrocities of Florus inspired some crazy Zealots to attack Masada. Amazingly, they won, slaughtering the Roman army there.

In Jerusalem, the temple captain signified solidarity with the revolt by stopping the daily sacrifices to Caesar. Soon all Jerusalem was in an uproar, expelling or killing the Roman troops. Then all Judea was in revolt; then Galilee.
Cestius Callus, the Roman governor of the region, marched from Syria with twenty thousand soldiers. He besieged Jerusalem for six months, yet failed. He left six thousand dead Roman soldiers, not to mention weaponry that the Jewish defenders picked up and used.

Emperor Nero then sent Vespasian, a decorated general, to quell the Judean rebellion. Vespasian put down the opposition in Galilee, then in Transjordan, then in Idumea. He circled in on Jerusalem. But before the coup de grace, Nero died. Vespasian became embroiled in a leadership struggle that concluded with the eastern armies calling for him to be emperor. One of his first imperial acts was to appoint his son Titus to conduct the Jewish War.

Crushing the Revolt
By now, Jerusalem was isolated from the rest of the nation, and factions within the city fought over strategies of defense. As the siege wore on, people began dying from starvation and plague. The high priest’s wife, who once basked in luxury, scavenged for crumbs in the streets.

Meanwhile the Romans employed new war machines to hurl boulders against the city walls. Battering rams assaulted the fortifications. Jewish defenders fought all day and struggled to rebuild the walls at night. Eventually the Romans broke through the outer wall, then the second wall, and finally the third wall. Still the Jews fought, scurrying to the temple as their last line of defense.

That was the end for the valiant Jewish defenders and for the temple. Historian Josephus claimed that Titus wanted to preserve the temple, but his soldiers were so angry at their resilient opponents that they burned it. The remaining Jews were slaughtered or sold as slaves.
......
 Results of the Revolt
The Jewish Revolt marked the end of the Jewish state until modern times. The destruction of the temple also signified a change in the Jews’ worship (although that change had begun as Jews had been scattering throughout the world for at least six hundred years). The first destruction of the temple, by the Babylonians in 586 B.C., had forced the Jews to become people of the Book. The temple’s sad end slammed the door on the Jew’s sacrificial system. They adjusted, of course, creating new rituals for home and synagogue. But the Sanhedrin was dissolved, and the center of Jewish religion moved to the educational institutions of Jamnia.

Where were the Christians? Out of town, basically. Many had been driven out of Jerusalem by persecution decades earlier. Eusebius wrote that when the revolt began, in A.D. 66, some of the remaining Jewish Christians fled to Pella, a city across the Jordan River.

It could be said that these events threw the young church’s balance of power toward the Gentiles. Missionaries like Paul had originally dealt with a strong (and conservative) Jewish church, based in Jerusalem. But the Christian Jews’ non-involvement in the revolt drove an obvious wedge between them and their traditional counterparts. After A.D. 70, Christians were not permitted in the synagogues.

The fall of Jerusalem, then, made the Christians even more distinct from the Jews and impelled the church to develop among the Gentiles."

http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/issues/issue-28/ad-70-titus-destroys-jerusalem.html


Elijah/ John the Baptist was given to Israel to save them from judgement.
 But they did not listen to him and Christ whom he preached. So judgement came. So this great and awesome day of the Lord refers to the judgement of Israel and not to the final judgement.

EternaL Life - Source, means and certainty

5:11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 5:12 The one who has the Son has this eternal life; the one who does not have the Son of God does not have this eternal life.5:13 I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. 1 John

32tn The ὅτι (Joti) clause in 5:11 is epexegetical (explanatory) to the phrase καὶ αὕτη ἐστίν (kai Jauth estin) at the beginning of the verse and gives the content of the testimony for the first time: “And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.”

33sn In understanding how “God’s testimony” (added to the three witnesses of 5:8) can consist of eternal life it is important to remember the debate between the author and the opponents. It is not the reality of eternal life (whether it exists at all or not) that is being debated here, but rather which side in the debate (the author and his readers or the opponents) possesses it (this is a key point). The letter began with a testimony that “the eternal life” has been revealed (1:2), and it is consummated here with the reception or acknowledgment of that eternal life as the final testimony. This testimony (which is God’s testimony) consists in eternal life itself, which the author and the readers possess, but the opponents do not. This, for the author, constitutes the final apologetic in his case against the opponents.
34sn The one who has the Son. The expression “to have the Son” in 5:12 means to “possess” him in the sense that he is present in the individual’s life (see 1 John 2:23 for the use of the Greek verb “to have” to indicate possession of a divine reality). From the parallel statement in 5:10a it is clear that believing in the Son and thus having God’s testimony in one’s self is the same as “having” the Son here in 5:12a. This is essentially identical to John 3:16: “that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” In contrast, the negative statement in 5:12b reflects the author’s evaluation of the opponents: “the one who does not have the Son does not have (eternal) life.” The opponents, in spite of their claims to know God, do not possess (nor have they at any time possessed, cf. 2:19) eternal life

Source: NETBIBLE

What is an Arminian? By Rev. John Wesley

What is an Arminian? By Rev. John Wesley

The errors charged upon these (usually termed Arminians) by their opponents, are five: (1.) That they deny original sin; (2.) That they deny justification by faith; (3.) That they deny absolute predestination; (4.) That they deny the grace of God to be irresistible; and, (5.) That they affirm, a believer may fall from grace.
With regard to the two first of these charges, they plead, Not Guilty. They are entirely false. No man that ever lived, not John Calvin himself, ever asserted either original sin, or justification by faith, in more strong, more clear and express terms, than Arminius has done. These two points, therefore, are to be set out of the question: In these both parties agree. In this respect, there is not a hair's breadth difference between Mr. Wesley and Mr. Whitefield.

But there is an undeniable difference between the Calvinists and Arminians, with regard to the three other questions. Here they divide; the former believe absolute, the latter only conditional, predestination. The Calvinists hold, (1.) God has absolutely decreed, from all eternity, to save such and such persons, and no others; and that Christ died for these, and none else. The Arminians hold, God has decreed, from all eternity, touching all that have the written word, "He that believeth shall be saved: He that believeth not, shall be condemned:" And in order to this, "Christ died for all, all that were dead in trespasses and sins;" that is, for every child of Adam, since "in Adam all died."

The Calvinists hold, Secondly, that the saving grace of God is absolutely irresistible; that no man is any more able to resist it, than to resist the stroke of lightning. The Arminians hold, that although there may be some moments wherein the grace of God acts irresistibly, yet, in general, any man may resist, and that to his eternal ruin, the grace whereby it was the will of God he should have been eternally saved.
The Calvinists hold, Thirdly, that a true believer in Christ cannot possibly fall from grace. The Arminians hold, that a true believer may "make shipwreck of faith and a good conscience;" that he may fall, not only foully, but finally, so as to perish for ever.

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Resurrection of Jesus (1)

Click Here: Resurrection of Jesus (1): Are we in line with God's values, vision, mission and plan for our lives? In this podcast we discuss this important topic and how we can partake of the victory available for us in Christ....

Where Did Rapture Theology Come From? Ben Witherington III

Craig Keener: Are the Spiritual Gifts for Today?

Have Some Gifts Ceased: Seven Minute Seminary

Darren Sammy Testimony

How big a role does religion play in your life and in your cricket? I heard you wanted to become a priest?
I wanted to be a pastor. One of my favourite lines is, "The almighty never gives you more than you can bear." So I see it as: whatever comes my way I can face it.

"Everybody goes through a bad patch. It's not how you fall, it's about how you get up, and how quickly you do" © Associated Press

Do you read the bible every day or pray regularly?
I have so many people praying for me. The more prayers go up, the more blessings come down. I have so many people praying for me.

Who do you pray for?
Yes, I pray for my team-mates. I pray for us to go out there and put in a good performance. I pray for guidance, leadership, I pray for me to make the right decisions and I pray for me to go out there and perform. I ask God for a lot of things. We are a praying team. We pray every session and before every session. At the start of every day, first thing before the warm-up. Everyone. Together.

Do you only pray, or even preach?
I used to preach when I was a little boy. Preach around the neighbourhood and the community. But I guess God had a better plan for me. I wouldn't say better plan, but cricket came in and I could still minister in a different way. There is life after cricket. When I am home, I make sure I go to church.

For more :  http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/522853.html

ATONEMENT YOUTUBE DICTIONARY OF THEOLOGY 1

CHRISTOLOGY PART1 (YOUTUBE DICTONARY OF THEOLOGY)

A Challenging Bible Reading Plan

I installed You Version Bible software about two months ago and discovered Bible Reading plans, some of which are topical and others full bible ones. Initially I did a few topical reading plans and finally in December I started a 90 day bible reading plan. I includes reading at least 10 chapters daily, some days 12 and some days even up to 20. It is of great blessing as it gave a broad picture of how the bible progresses.It also retained me in the word and thus filled my head with scripture and it's concerns and it's focus, which is actually God and his concern for us, wayward humans.

It also helped me to finish the book of Leviticus, the only book which I had started multiple times but was unable to complete. Completing Leviticus was also as good as completing the whole bible for me. Unlike the previous times when it was boring and dry, this time around, the book of Leviticus was one of the interesting reads with lot of medical, legal and social information about the ordering of society in that day and age. The sacrificial system itself, pointing to the ultimate sacrifice of Christ on the Cross and the fulfillment for humans of the requirement of a Holy God to relate and enjoy his presence.

One of the reasons these laws were given, as Paul elaborates in the Epistle to the Galatians is so that people can become conscious of sin and go to God through the sacrifices. They need God, they need his sacrifice as foreshadowed in Leviticus, to be cleansed and atoned for so that they can enter into a relationship with God and also enter eternal life. Christ our sacrificial paska lamb has been sacrificed and the whole of humanity is invited to come to God through Christ cleansed, spotless and clean.

There is much I can go on ranting, but the point I want to make is that a Challenging full Bible reading plan will stretch you and bless you.

Predestination, Holiness, and Science: Seven Minute Seminary

Ministry Update Feb 2016

I am continuing my track distribution ministry in PIMS by God's grace.
The chaplaincy has newly received a package of gospel tracks in Tamil, which are good and which I am distributing at regular intervals to patients mainly in the out-patient department.
The Pastors in the Chaplaincy department distribute tracks and pray with the sick in-patients in the different wards.

I am into a challenging Bible reading plan, so just soaking up the WORD.