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“There’s a wideness in God’s mercy,
Like the wideness of the sea; There’s a kindness in His justice, Which is more than liberty. There’s a welcome for the sinner, And more graces for the good; There is mercy with the Savior; There is healing in His blood.” These words, written by Frederick Faber in 1862, are the opening verses to the hymn There’s a Witness in God’s Mercy. These two verses speak of the truth of God’s mercifulness. As I remind my students, mercy is not receiving what one deserves. When caught speeding or brought before a judge, most parties will appeal to the authority’s mercy, even if the party is in the wrong. If the cop is feeling merciful, he may let the speeder off with a warning. If the judge is not feeling merciful, he rules in accordance with the law. The error with too many Christians today is assuming God must be merciful.
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Here in America it’s a common expression to say “There’s a church on every corner.” In most communities, this is true. Some churches may be right down the road for each other, some many be down the block, and others are right next to one another. This article is about my experience with the latter.
I’ve heard it said by too many professing Christians that the God they worship hates no one. I’ve also heard it said by too many professing Christians that God just hates the sin but not the sinner. To these I respond, if the God you worship does not match up with the God of the Bible, then you are worshiping an idol; and God doesn’t send sins to hell, but sinners.
One of the most perpetuated lies of the 21st century is the mantra “be your best self.” Self-help and power of positive thinking has corrupted many in my generation, in the generation before, and—unfortunately—in the generation to come. The heart of this teaching is creative power that is in you can be released in words to create a better you. John MacArthur describes it as “words with supernatural energy to literally create the world you want.” This teaching draws on Eastern, pagan, religious beliefs, specifically the “law of attraction,” which, according to Wikipedia, holds that “positive or negative thoughts bring positive or negative experiences into a person’s life.”
If you are a member of the Presbyterian Church (USA) or are familiar with that denomination, you likely have heard of the Matthew 25 initiative being pushed by all the major councils of the church. Using cleverly devised language and a thin veneer of orthodoxy, this initiative is nothing more than Marxist propaganda.
I don’t know how I came across it, but a few days ago I saw an advertisement for a new Disney/Pixar film called Luca. Normally, I don’t give these ads a second glance; but this one caught my attention. The image was of the two main characters, Luca and his friend Alberto, riding awfully close to one another on a Vespa. What initially jumped into my mind was, “is Disney making a homosexual main character?”
I recently received an email from the PC(USA) store that was advertising an updated curriculum for children’s Bible study. I usually delete those emails because I can’t trust what comes from the denominational structure, but on this day was curious. The curriculum in question is called “Growing in God’s Love.” I won’t link it here because I can’t, in good conscience, direct anyone to their website. But if you are curious, you can just Google it. The samples that were attached in this email are dripping with false teaching, specifically the teaching of secular humanism.
Growing up in the South meant a constant barrage of country music. There isn’t anything inherently wrong with county music; it just wasn’t my go-to genre when growing up. However, as the years have changed and I've matured in my faith and life, I find myself listening to country music more and more. Theologically speaking, I do prefer the wholesomeness of the Christian music genre, but even there a radio station without a biblical foundation might play Christian music that doesn't proclaim a Scriptural message. Many of my nominal Christian associates consider country music to be wholesome and overall Christian. They couldn't be further from the truth.
At the beginning of 2021, I resolved to read not only through the Bible but also through Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion. A month and a half in and I came across my favorite section thus far. Book I, chapter xiv, section 4 has the subject heading “we should not indulge in speculations concerning the angels, but search out the witness of Scripture.” Though this section falls within the angelology heading of systematic theology, there is much that can be gleaned from it and is indeed a precious gem in the doctrine of sola scriptura.
“Let us not take it into our heads either to seek out God anywhere else than in his Sacred Word, or to think anything about him that is not prompted by his Word, or to speak anything that is not taken from that Word... Men’s minds, when they indulge their curiosity, enter into a labyrinth.” John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, I.xiii.21
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