What is the definition of sin? – Got Questions
Matthew Henry on Matthew 1:18-25
Thirty Days of Jesus series
Category: Uncategorized
Was this devoted Catholic man swept to heaven upon his death as the obituary states?
Here is the opening of an obituary that was publicly posted online.
On Monday night, May 18, 2015, the Lord swept Marcell “John” Moore, the dearly loved patriarch of our family, to Heaven, after he’d overcome enormous health challenges for years, valiantly cheating death again and again.
That is a sweet and loving opening sentence honoring a man who was obviously dearly loved by his family.
Who are swept to heaven upon death? We know from the Bible that those who go to heaven are people who do the will of the Father, repenting of sins and believing in the Son, in faith alone by grace alone. The obituary continues:
Alongside his wife, John was a devoted Catholic and his faith in Jesus Christ grew dearer and dearer to him. They were members of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church in Houston for many years then, after moving to the country beside their son and daughter-in-law, they became members of Saint Anne Catholic Church in Tomball, Texas.
Uh-oh. If a person believes in the dogmas of Rome, they are believing in a very different Jesus. The Roman Catholic beliefs are heretical, and aberrant.
This obituary is now so sad! It states that his wife is also Catholic, and I know that the man’s adult son is Catholic and so is/was an elderly aunt. Being a devoted Catholic for all one’s life does not bode well for the man’s eternity!
I hope and pray that someone is sharing the true Gospel of Jesus with this family, so they can repent and believe. Catholic men and women are a mission field, and should be treated with respect but told the truth. Their dangerous state should not be whitewashed over, nor hidden from them. Confident declarations about their entrance to heaven must definitely not be part of their spiritual landscape nor codified forever in a widely read blog obit.
Witnessing to family is the hardest mission, I personally believe. I’ve had most of my own trials with family, who range from Jewish to Episcopalian/Catholic to atheist to Unitarian etc. I know it must be hard to face a family member and share the Gospel with them as their growing realization dawns that the sharer is telling them the Gospel because they think he isn’t part of the family of faith. Truthful discussions with Catholic family members about Mary as co-redemptrix, purgatory, baptismal regeneration and the like will likely spark tension, if not fury. Anger ensues, heartache, perhaps even a family rift. No one likes that. But the alternative, an eternity possibly in hell if the Catholic does not repent and believe, is worse.
No I take that back. Just as bad is the family member who claims to be a Southern Baptist Bible teacher, writing an obituary that confidently asserts that the staunch Catholic loved one who passed is now being swept into heaven. That’s bad.
The Moore family being spoken of here is Beth Moore’s. Her beloved father-in-law John Moore, husband Keith’s father, passed away two years ago and the above obit was posted on Moore’s Living Proof blog.
Beth Moore’s assertions gloss over the hard truth that people who hold to heretical beliefs about Jesus and His Church are under His wrath, not His love. Their destination, if they do not repent, is eternal darkness. Do we ignore an entire mission field? Are the other Moore family members now assured of their own eternal destination because of the confident but sadly erroneous assertions of the wayward daughter-in-law, who, after all, holds an honorary Doctorate and has spent the last thirty years teaching the Bible?
The truth of the matter is that Beth Moore married into a situation where she is spiritually mismatched. She is unequally yoked. (2 Corinthians 6:14). Her husband Keith is a Catholic. Inevitably when one is spiritually mismatched one begins to compromise. This is one reason it says in the Bible not to do it. Believers and unbelievers (and Catholics are unbelievers if they hold to the doctrines of Rome) are opposites, just as light and darkness are opposites. They have nothing in common and indeed cannot become “one flesh” as Jesus said that married partners do become. Unless both partners are unbelievers. Then of course they are one flesh. Sadly, many think they are saved but they are not, as Jesus said will be revealed on His day (Matthew 7:21).
Regarding the unequally yoked,
Paul is drawing his analogy from the Old Testament prohibition against yoking an ox with a donkey (Deuteronomy 22:10). Related to this verse is Leviticus 19:19 which warns of breeding differing kinds of livestock. Animals that were yoked had a piece of wood used to connect them, each with their own collar, so that their combined abilities could more easily perform a particular task. Oxen, horses, donkeys, and mules paired in this fashion were good for pulling a load, plowing a field and so on. Farmers knew that it was not wise to unequally yoke animals together.
When people like Moore compromise, glossing over the drastic differences of the belief systems of believers and Catholics, it destroys hope. Here is John MacArthur at Ligonier:
Compromised truth has no hope of rescuing the eternal souls of men and women who have been unwittingly ensnared by the trap of devilish deception. … Furthermore, embracing those heretical systems falsely reassures their followers that all is well between them and God, when actually they are headed for eternal damnation. Partnering in a spiritual enterprise with unbelievers helps Satan muddy the doctrinal waters, and it cripples our ability to preach the need for repentance.
Now you know why Moore pushes for “unity” and includes that unity with the Catholic Church. And now you know why she has ‘visions’ from some person claiming to be Jesus of the global church which contains the Catholic “denomination”. Now you know why she teaches with a host of women from many denominations on her stage, including Catholics, and calls them all sisters. Now you know why Moore teaches Catholic practices like Lectio Divina and contemplative meditation and labyrinths.
LifeWay estimates that in 2017 alone Beth Moore’s Living Proof Live conferences plus her simulcasts reached 268,000 women. This figure does not include the impact her books & studies have, and her television broadcast. Now you know where the real money is. Compare that below with LifeWay’s ministry to men. What a sad state of aberrant theological influence.
It is a serious thing for a woman with this much influence to claim with certainty that her Catholic father-in-law is swept into heaven.
I pray someone shares the true Gospel with the Moores. All of them.
Thirty Days of Jesus: Day 3
Introduction/Background
Day 1 post
Day 2 post
Challies: Five verses on adoption
Ligonier: Adoption into God’s Family by Iain Campbell
Answers In Genesis: Adopted into God’s Family
Thirty Days of Jesus, Day 2
Thirty days of exalting Jesus though selected verses with pictures representing the prophecy, life, death, resurrection, and Second Coming of our Savior.
More information and background on this series, here
Day 1: The Virgin Shall Conceive
Ligonier: A Shoot from Jesse’s Stump: Devotional
Thirty Days of Jesus: Day 1
FMI and background to this series go here.
Grace To You: Is the Virgin Birth Essential Doctrine?
Ligonier: Must Christians Believe in the Virgin Birth?
GotQuestions: Why Is the Virgin Birth so Important?
Thirty Days of Jesus
Christmas is coming. It’s a blessed time of year.
We always think of the Savior, all the year, every day. (Philippians 4:8). But the Christmas season is a time when we think more pointedly about His incarnation, life, ascension, and return. Who is this Jesus? He was born, lived, died, rose again, and promised to return, to bring eternal life to those who believe and eternal death to those who reject. He tore the veil of human history, parted it into BC and AD, and changed everything.
My contributions to the faith and fellowship of the saints is tiny, but I do my best with the resources He has given me. One thing I do is I use my photographs of God’s beautiful creation and overlay a verse on them, and post to social media each day. I organize them into weekly themes, for the saints to read and perhaps be encouraged by. Some people email or tell me in real life that they enjoy the scripture photos I put up each day. I’m always surprised by this, but in the end, that’s the point of the endeavor- to keep Jesus and His aroma of life before people, to encourage, stimulate, or convict.
Last week the theme was Hospitality, in deference to Thanksgiving and the gatherings that were sure to be held. I decided instead of a weekly theme this week, that I’d do a monthly theme: Thirty Days of Jesus. Thirty verses, thirty photos that reflect His life and ministry.
The entire Bible is about Jesus of course, and it was very hard to select verses and not feel bad about the ones I was leaving out! I chose three mini-themes for this month’s scripture photos that I believe will flow.
PROPHECY, ARRIVAL, and EARLY LIFE, 15 verses.
In this section I chose verses that reflect the prophecies that predict His coming. Prophecy warns of coming judgment but it also comforts in that it foretells the holy and wonderful resolution of all things for the believer. That resolution will be in Christ and through Christ. Then since it’s Christmas, the beautiful verses that announce His arrival on the blessed morn. The third mini-section are verses that mention Jesus as a child and boy, before He began His ministry.
PREEMINENCE OF THE SON, HIS WORKS & MINISTRY, 10 verses
THE SON, 5 verses
Beginning with verses that declare the Son, I’ll share verses that focus Him as the Second Person of the Trinity. His sonship is integral to His ministry as the subordinate Person to God the Father. These verses reflect that reality.
Christ is preeminent. Always and forever. Let us exult in these verses which proclaim a truth that should enlarge our heart and shake our soul with wonder.
MINISTRY, 10 verses
This section will present verses that detail His attributes while He was on earth; Jesus as servant, teacher, shepherd, healer, and so on.
RESURRECTION, ASCENSION, & RETURN
Christ is unique in that He is the firstfruit of resurrection. He is unique in that He descended from heaven and ascended to heaven. As GotQuestions explains of the John 3:13 verse,
Jesus explains why He is uniquely qualified to teach of the kingdom of God—namely, because He alone came down from heaven and possesses the knowledge to teach people about heaven. Jesus alone has seen the Father, and He alone is qualified to declare God and make Him known.
Jesus was raised to life and brought back to heaven, and several verses in this section will illustrate what He is doing while we wait the long centuries for the fulfillment of the end of all things, His glorious return. The last verses will present Jesus in His glory, as He is.
The flow mirrors the Revelation 1:8 verse, where it is declared,
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
This is no great project, to be sure. But I wanted to organize my thoughts ahead of the season and selecting verses that detailed the flow of Jesus’ life seemed a good way to do it. The photos are free for anyone to use and by the end, perhaps someone would like to make a bundle for their own purposes, printed out or digital.
THE PHOTOS
I enjoy using my photographs because an important-to-me aspect of His deity is Creator. Paul constantly exhorted the pagans with sermons and entreaties that distinguished his like-nature with them as man and the holy perfection of the Christ-nature Creator of all things. Paul frequently used creation as a foundation to proclaim Christ’s gospel. I came partway to Christ that way, by viewing the creation and understanding there is a God, and Romans 1 has great meaning for me. I knew there was a God, but I suppressed the truth of Jesus, just as the verse at Romans 1:18-19 says the pagans do.
Now that I’ve received grace, I’m viewing His creation through spiritual eyes and give homage to the Creator. Therefore, I enjoy photographing it with a mind of thanks for all He has made. The photos are the backdrop to this thought.
I wanted to explain a little, so that perhaps someone, somewhere might be encouraged or inspired or begin thinking along these lines too, in fellowship and joy with me throughout the month.
I also plan to allow these scripture photos to be my blog postings for most of the month.
If I write, I write. I enjoy my daily Bible readings and fill legal pads with notes, that in my excitement on learning something new, usually turn into blog essays. But I want to take a slowdown of the season and reflect on Christ without pressure of turning it all into a daily writing, so if you don’t see many essays, that’s why. I’ll decrease the pace this month and await the refreshing of the New Year. In a few weeks it will be 9 years of daily blogging. I attribute that longevity to the Holy Spirit for His illumination of biblical truths to my mind and curating in my heart the zeal I have for Christ. Lord, don’t let me stray! Writing helps me stay the course. I always want to use lots of scripture, keep things Christ-centric, and exhort with kindness wrapped in truth.
Both the illumination and the zeal are precious to me, and I dearly want to continue them both for as long as the Spirit wants me to continue this aspect of a writing ministry and not burn out. The Bible says to fulfill our ministry, and persevere over the long haul. If I die or I am raptured tomorrow, or in ten more years, I want to be found still exhorting Christ with zeal and truth.
Let’s enjoy the season. I pray that it does not become a hectic, shopping slog, frantic with focus on gifts and cleaning houses and to-do lists, though given family obligations and work colleague expectations, some of that is always inevitable. But don’t let it encroach more than it has to. Jesus is the reason for this season. If you’re a believer, this season is a gateway to a new year filled with many reasons each day to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.
All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name. (Psalm 86:9)
Your people shall all be righteous; they shall possess the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I might be glorified. (Isaiah 60:21).
For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. (Romans 11:36)
or you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. (1 Corinthians 6:20).
“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” (Revelation 4:11).
Michael did not rebuke satan
But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.” These men, however, slander what they do not understand, and like irrational animals, (Jude 1:9-10a).
V. 9. The archangel Michael was sent to bury Moses’ body, but … the devil argued with the angel about the body, apparently claiming the right to dispose of it. But Michael, though powerful and authoritative, did not dare dispute with Satan, so he left the matter in God’s hands, saying, The Lord rebuke you! The false teachers Jude spoke of had no respect for authority or for angels. The apostates’ slandering of celestial beings (v. 8) stands in arrogant contrast to the chief angelic being, Michael, who would not dare slander Satan, chief of the fallen angels.
V. 10. Whereas Michael did not dare accuse the devil, these apostates, by contrast spoke abusively against what they did not understand. This abusive speech may refer to their slandering of angels (v. 8). Their understanding was debased, for it followed only natural animal instinct. The apostates’ only “reasoning” was like that of unreasoning animals. Rather than comprehending what was above them (the angels), they really understood only what was below them (the animals).
Pentecost, E. C. (1985). Jude. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 921). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
And yet today, how daringly some make claims and slander celestial beings. People prance around, “binding” satan, calling him names, asserting power over territory, and claiming to have understandings that only show their brutishness as unreasoning animals.
We (I) should be careful not to disrespect saints, pagans, or celestial beings of God’s order. Glimpses of angels holy and unholy in books like Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and Revelation, and glimpses like this one in Jude of the archangel Michael, show how majestic and powerful they are. We don’t have the right to slander them, or each other, nor certainly Jesus. Yet we hear things all the time that impugn Jesus’ nature or His created order and His people.
Today’s prayer:
Lord help me to mind the example shown to us here in Jude. I pray for your intervening help on matters involving satan, let me not rebuke him but rely on You and Your power only. Help guard my tongue, let me speak holy things, helpful things, hospitable things. In Your name I pray this.
N.A Abilgaard, L’Archange saint Michel et Satan se disputant le corps de Moïse, 1782, ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum, Danemark.
The Idlers at the Gate
This celebrated sixty-ninth psalm has been called the missionary’s psalm. It speaks of the miseries of one far from home and kindred, of one who proclaims God to those who will not heed. The unbelievers, in their rage and scorn, heap injury upon the preacher, afflict him both in body and in mind. “Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face. I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother’s children. “For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up, and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.”
Then follows the picture of this good man mocked by the idlers who even to-day, as in the psalmist’s time, gather about the gate of every Eastern city, to chat with those who pass, and comment upon them. The ridicule of these falls heavily upon the psalmist; he cries out, “Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine adversaries are all before thee. Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness; and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.”
Source: The Bible and its Story, Volume 6: Poetry–Prophets, Psalms to Isaiah
The Bible and Its Story is a massive collection of images which illuminate the story of Scripture. The images are taken from modern paintings, illustrations, and other renderings of the ancient text. Together, The Bible and its Story serves as a pictorial narrative of the entire story of the Bible—from beginning to end. It compiles the best of modern artwork to bring the Bible vividly to life.
Happy Thanksgiving 2017
I wish you all a blessed day with friends and/or family. For those who can’t be with friends or family, if you’re working as a first responder such as nurse, doctor, law enforcement, and the like, or serving in the Armed Forces, thank you!
Grace to you all.
Free vintage postcard courtesy of thegraphicsfairy.com
Prata Potpourri: Women’s discipleship, Librarians on horseback, reviving prayer time, more
A selection of links I’ve come across that you might find edifying, interesting, or amusing!
Rachelle Cox at Each Passing Phase wrote about Getting Real About Women’s Discipleship.
In his book Discipling, author Mark Dever offers a to-the-point definition of discipleship as “helping others follow Jesus”. This doesn’t seem to be the definition many women are applying in their personal lives. If Instagram is any clue, most Christian women think discipleship is limited to hosting thoughtfully curated Bible studies in tasteful homes where shrieking children and dirty dishes don’t exist. This glossy ideal sits like a yoke on many women’s shoulders rather than spurring them onward in Christ’s Great Commission.
From The Master’s Seminary we read How to Revive a Lifeless Prayer Time
I want to share with you ten practical ideas to stimulate our times in prayer. If we are honest, most admit that a consistent life of prayer can be a struggle to sustain. But it need not be that way since prayer is truly a vital aspect of our walk of faith.
From Christian Book Shop Talk On the Smell of Books, and Bookstores
If you’ve been in this business for awhile, you know there’s nothing like walking into a bookstore or book warehouse and breathing in the smell of books. Perhaps you’re one of the people who cracks open a recent arrival to the middle page and inhales deeply.
Founder’s Ministries writes about Fear and the Christian
Fear is a natural emotion common to all human beings, and it is neither inherently sinful or godly. Our fears are often connected to the things we love the most. We may fear losing something or someone we love. Or we might fear that we will fail to obtain something we desire. We may fear offending one we love. Or perhaps we feel a reverential fear of something or someone we admire. The cause of our fears is often the love or admiration of some created thing or of God Himself.
Christa Threlfall at Brown Sugar Toast writes about Sacrificing Holiness for Authenticity
It was Saturday morning. Driving home from an early morning run, I stopped by a yard sale and snagged the classic game of Battleship for the low, low price of $1. I had fond memories of playing this game in elementary school and looked forward to wowing my family with my incredible skills. Only that’s not quite what happened.
Nicholas T. Batzing at Feeding on Christ reminds us that when speaking of Jesus’ Church we speak of His Bride in this piece, When speaking about Jesus’ Bride
The visible church–in whatever shapes or forms it may take–is the bride of Christ. We must resist the urge to speak critically of her without giving her the requisite love and care that Jesus wants us to give those for whom he has shed his precious blood.
GotQuestions isn’t a static repository of articles. The authors there constantly publish new ones. Here’s a new article, answering the question, What does it mean that “to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21)?
What does it mean that “to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21)? How can I come to the point that I consider dying to be gain?
History:
Female Librarians on Horseback Delivering Books, ca. 1930s
In the 1930s, many people living in isolated communities had very little access to jobs, let alone a good education for their children. In Kentucky, they had isolated mountain communities which could only get their books and reading material from one source… librarians on horseback.
Photography:
Photos taken by helicopter reveal stunning symmetry of airports
the-end-time.org 