Faith by Hearing
Sanctifying the MP3 RevolutionArchive for Conversion
Piper’s series that spawned ‘Finally Alive’
Last year John Piper published the book ‘Finally Alive’. This book was spawned by a 16 part message series he preached in 2007 titled ‘You Must Be Born Again’. This is a marvelous book and series that looks closely at conversion, the new birth, what it is, what man does in it, and what it produces in man.
This is a very good series and certainly worthy to have in book form.
Paul Washer’s Shocking Sermon
Here’s the sermon that often doesn’t get Paul Washer invited back. And no, it’s not because he’s boring. Washer preaches with clarity and passion. The reason Washer has caused such an uproar in some places is because he makes a frontal attack on some of Evangelicalism’s most sacred cows: Assurance of Salvation, and sincerity in “making a decision” for Christ.
Washer pulls no punches. Nor does he just attack for the sake of attack. He attacks these forms of Evangelical religion like a surgeon attacking a cancer. He dissects and explains.
Washer rails against how Evangelicals are so quick to proclaim people ‘believers’. One of the most damnable practices in the church is when a person doubts their salvation, they are usually taken back to that day when they “made a decision” for Christ and “asked Jesus into their hearts”, neither of which are statements found in Scripture (apart from a poor hermeneutic). We are often guilty of giving people a false assurance that is based more on the ’sincerity’ of their decision than on the presence of a transformed life. Washer claims this tactic sends countless people to hell. At the very point that a person may be coming to Christ with a legitimate doubt about salvation, we kill off that work with a sloppy proclaimation of false salvation.
Washer broadsides contemporary evangelistic practices, including child evangelism and Sunday School programs. He says he would not put his children in 80% of the Sunday school programs, because the gospel presentations we give to children are so seriously distorted they border on heresy.
This message needs to be preached to every church in America. The congregations response would serve as a good litmus test of spiritual health.
R.C. Sproul and James White discussion
R.C. Sproul joined James White on his webcast The Dividing Line on August 7. They discuss the subject of God’s sovereignty and man’s free will, which is Sprouls subject for the upcoming Ligonier Conference.
They also discuss briefly how Christian’s are bombarded today with all kinds of worldly ideas and concepts that are on a crash course with Biblical thinking, and we need to be proactive in developing the mind of Christ so that we can guard against this onslaught. One of the casualties of this worldly onslaught is the gospel itself.
White comments on the reality that 16,000 pastors leave the ministry every year is partially due to the fact that they are trying to lead a flock of unregenerate people who are not true believers, but are false professors of faith. The pressure on pastors to ‘perform’ and gain converts is very strong, but the numbers standard isn’t the standard that pastors should strive for. Rather the standard is what he brings before the throne of God.
Sproul suggests that many pastors are conflicted because they are forced by churches to be CEO’s and guidance counselors rather than shepherds of the Word, which is what Scripture calls them to.
This is a lively and timely discussion that covers some very important information for the church today.
Doctrine of Conversion & Regeneration: Grudem Systematic Theology
Grudem helpfully examines the mysterious process of regeneration, which is like the wind which you can’t see, but you can see it’s effect. In his look at conversion, Grudem breaks down this summary category into faith and repentence.
