Reformed Blogging

Here's a meme that I could share for many people. People tell me I'm "judgmental" then they point out to me, "Judge not and you will not be judged." As the month ends, my troubles don't end and I don't expect them to end either. I know I'll get furious, stressed out, I'm tempted to get even but I know God is telling me to leave everything to Him. Deuteronomy 32:35 says, "To me belongeth vengeance and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste." Here's a commentary video by Dr. John F. MacArthur to explain what "judge not" means. Christians are NOT told to be the final judge. If they just understand it in context, judge not means that Jesus told that you're not to be the final judge of people. Do they even read what judge not means? Here's the whole context of Matthew 7:1 for a bunch of people who keep t

The quote above by Charles H. Spurgeon reminds me of what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:10, "But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." It's the grace of God at work in me. Ephesians 2:8-10 and Titus 2:11-14 states that it's by God's grace that good works happen in the believer. That means I have zero right to even credit myself for any changes that happen. In every Christian, the grace of God means that even the inevitable changed life is the result of God's grace.  Many people in the world today think too highly of themselves. Do they do their works for God or for themselves? When people do works for themselves or for image then it's a dead work. The good works of the believer is because of God's ever perfect grace. Philippians 2:12-13 states that it's God's work that makes the beli

People will do ANYTHING to reject Sola Scriptura even take Scriptures out of context. Some even dare to slam Mark 7:8-9 on my face saying that I'm rejecting God's Word whenever I say Scripture is sufficient to be the rule in moral and spiritual matters. No, they're the ones who're rejecting God's Word if they refuse to use it as a standard. Then there's always their excuse that "Well Bible alone is faulty!" and says that certain evils were "approved" by the Bible. What's worse is that I'm even hearing it from Roman Catholics who not only claim that their religion gave us the Bible. The problem of theological jello is that those who make it take parts of God's Word, takes them straight out of context and add their own views. It's just like how pseudo-Christian organizations take certain verses out of context and insert their own doctrine. Anybody can claim to be a prophet by misquoting certain verses. The Pope claims to

Some amateur Roman Catholic "faith defenders" tend to suggest that Sola Scriptura isn't Scriptural and that it was just an "evil invention" by Martin Luther. After reading Luther's biography from Dr. John F. MacArthur's book "The Gospel According to Jesus", I still can't forget the tower experience he had where he did an analysis on the Book of Romans. Luther could only see himself as what the Bible says all men are: unrighteous men in need of Christ's righteousness. Luther went against compromise by saying, "Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason, my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to go against conscience would be neither right nor safe. God help me. Here I stand, I can do no other."  It's unbelievable (or not) that the Roman Catholic institution claimed that they gave us the Bible to read when they banned it from the public. But if they did give u

Back then, I was told that the Roman Catholic's use of images in worship are just like pictures of your friends and family. Major polytheistic religions also say the same thing that the images in their heathen places of worship were also meant to be reminders of the gods and goddesses they worshiped. Roman Catholics and major polytheists say they don't worship the image but the one portrayed by the image. Like a Buddhist can say they're not praying to the image but the god or goddess portrayed by the image. Roman Catholics say they're not praying to the image of Jesus but to Jesus. I used to be much careful in handling Roman Catholic images and items not because they cost money or because they were a work of art. Instead, I handled them with so much care because I was told that breaking them could unleash a curse. But the more I started reading the Bible, the more I started to see something is dead wrong about the use of images for worship. While the Ark of the Coven

I noticed many Roman Catholic apologists tend to tell me that Bible alone will get you into a load of error. The real issue is that the Bible contradicts the sinner. The Roman Catholic institution BANNED Bible reading to favor their own tradition. What's even funnier is that some Roman Catholic apologists are already using Mark 7:8-9 to tell me that I'm rejecting God's Word to "keep my tradition".  Does the Bible go against tradition in general? The answer is only if such traditions goes against the Word of God. 2 Thessalonians 2:15 that that the only tradition to be followed is from the apostolic writings. Nowhere in the apostolic writings is it required that priests must be celibate. Ephesians 4:11 in fact mentions NO PRIEST as part of the New Testament. You have apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers but no priests. Both Douay and Good News Translation (both approved versions for Roman Catholics) mention pastors in Ephesians 4:11 and not p

I remembered some few months ago, Pope Francis had called death penalty as "unbiblical". Even when Roman Catholics say they're discerning but many of them don't discern. Many of them act like when a priest says something they do it without discerning. That's very different from born again Christians who are told to discern everything FROM THE SCRIPTURE because you might be misled by a wicked pastor. But most Roman Catholics may just be willing to commit suicide at the mere command of a priest. I'm also talking about some Roman Catholics who oppose certain economic or political policies that may improve a nation's well-being all because the priest told them so. When it comes to conversing with Roman Catholic apologists, I'm not surprised at how often they take Scriptures out of context, they don't bother reading the verses in context, they tend to be very emotional, they react before the other party's finished or reading the posts so I'

While I was still a Roman Catholic, studying the Old Testament gave me a lot of headaches. One of the most important issues was the priesthood. So I have read Roman Catholics who say, "Well look at the Old Testament, we have the priesthood." while hypocritically changing their stance anytime like saying, "Well that's just Old Testament." They're really double-minded like they say born again Christians teach a "license to sin" in one moment but in another moment they say born again Christians are legalistic people who don't know how to have fun. I'd like to talk about the Roman Catholic priesthood form an approved Roman Catholic translation. I'll be using verses from the Good News Translation (GNT) throughout this entry unless specified.  So they justify their wearing of robes from the Old Testament. I'd like to point them out that true the Old Testament priests wore robes and miters. After reading through Leviticus, the more I se

When I was newly saved, I remembered facing several trials and I just didn't understand why. It wasn't until I started reading more of the Bible. I remembered the details of Job and just didn't understand it. Back then, I still thought if you're in a good state then you're good and if you're in a bad state, you're bad. But after that, I started reading Psalm 73 one can see that the wicked are indeed allowed to prosper. It feels unfair, I remembered singing "Amazing Justice" instead of "Amazing Grace" never mind that I didn't deserve forgiveness and salvation. Being saved doesn't mean you're instantly sinless. Instead, being saved means entering the sanctified life. To be sanctified, God will humble the person no matter how many times it takes. Job's trials were meant to remind him that he had some problems with self-righteousness. Job was given all the trials to test and purify him. If God tested Job then He will cert

Here's a picture of what Roman Catholics put to justify that Peter is the Rock and the Pope. The whole context is written in very simple English yet what's their problem? The Scriptures are spiritually discerned. Sad to say many people today would rather twist the meaning even if it's spelled out clearly for their convenience rather than get the truth. Let's analyze the context. In the Good News Translation of Matthew 16:18, it even differentiates Peter a rock from the Rock as it says, "And so I tell you, Peter: you are a rock, and on this Rock foundation I will build My church, and not even death will ever be able to overcome it." It shows that Peter is a rock (small rock) but the other rock is a rock foundation. When we say rocks either we think of big rocks which are not rock foundations or we think of rock foundations. The difference is that Peter (petros) is a small rock while the rock foundation is not Peter. Peter is a small rock and nobody bui

Here's an acronym I found used by Roman Catholics to vilify born again Christians. They have continued to attack born again Christianity because it doesn't agree with their system of self-righteousness and hypocrisy. I'm not surprised because  John 16:23 says, "They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea the time cometh that  whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God's service. And these things will they do unto you because they have not known the Father nor Me. " The history of Roman Catholicism has always been a bloody one. They have killed people out of their beastly behavior, upholding occultic practices (like talking to the dead via prayers to saints and Mary, transubstantiation, signs and lying wonders), constant rebellion against God's Word (ex. perverting the meaning of Scriptures for their own convenience), talking nonsense, they have their anti-Christ attitude by actually upholding Mary above Jesus and claiming the Pope is the "

I've seen this video of Paul Washer's preaching so many times. I always felt, "God give me the grace to be as angry as he is!" Why is he angry? How often is it that worldly prosperity is taught over the Gospel according to Jesus? After reading "Hard to Believe" by John F. MacArthur and watching "Hell's Best Kept Secret", it's no secret that my anger against the "Easy Christianity" crowd hasn't quieted down. Do you think that I'm any less angry daily? No. Time has only made me angrier against those idiots who continue to teach "Easy Christianity", "Prosperity Christianity" or any perversions because salvation doesn't keep people stagnant nor is good works necessary to keep salvation! True faith is not dead. Faith without works is dead. If you're saved good works will be the evidence not the root of earning salvation or maintaining it. It's if you're saved you're going to persevere

Aside from Roman Catholics who are making fun of baptism by immersion saying "It's just manmade" (They might as well tell that to John the Baptist and the apostles whom they claim the papacy and priesthood came from.) then they're also making fun of the Lord's supper. I was told that the bread and wine had actually become the Body and Blood of Christ in the literal sense with the doctrine called transubstantiation.  They misquote John 6:53-55 which says in the Good News Translation, "Jesus said to them, “I am telling you the truth: if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you will not have life in yourselves. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them to life on the last day. For my flesh is the real food; my blood is the real drink." Aside from not really understanding that it's a figure of speech of accepting Jesus Christ for His entirety and not just in parts, it's time t

It's very easy to forget at times that when I got saved that I'm left on my own. No, I'm not left on my own to produce fruit on my own. The Christian growth has always been God working in the believer and the believer working out in godly fear and trembling (Philippians 2:13-14). There's always the issue that when I fail, it's because I didn't really pray hard for guidance. Stuff that I find hard to do is like not losing my temper when things go wrong and dealing with mean people here and there. There's always mean people to deal with and it's no surprise. I really want to get even. I want to really say, "Lord what's the use of praying for that person? That person's always hurting me! I can't take it!"  True I can't take it but God can take it. God gives the Christian the grace to do what they can't do. I felt that the more I spent time with God, the more I find myself able to do what I normally wouldn't do becau

It's a problem today that many people can't tell the difference between sound judgment and being judgmental. Being judgmental is to make any unsound judgment based on feelings, biases and not to mention one's own self-righteousness. To judge means to simply evaluate someone as right and wrong. The Lord Jesus wasn't against judgment itself but against unsound judgment. So I thought that picture with a judge and the verses which the Bible actually tells Christians to make RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT should be my respond to people. 

I remembered how I used to love singing "I Did It My Way" before I got saved. After I got saved, that song was just really, REALLY repulsive to my ears. The reason is because Proverbs 14:12 and 15:25 warn us that there's a way that seems right to you but it leads to death. How many people these days end up DEAD because they follow what seems right to them rather than what's right for them? Worse, it happens more than once and yet people still refuse to repent even if after they've seen the awful consequences of sin.  It's a huge problem people can be like this man in the photo. You preach to them, you invite them for church and they hear the salvation message but they refuse to get saved. You tell them that they're in need for salvation and what do they say? They go ahead and dump it, they think they can make it on their own only to find out that they were NEVER good enough for Heaven. If my own merit could save me from my sin then Christ died f

There's always my tendency to think God's not in control when divine justice takes too slow, when the wicked prosper and when I'm being smeared at by wicked men. It's easy for me to take things into my hands believing everything is "going too slow" but who am I in the place of God to be the final judge of the person? Christians are called to judge and condemn sin as it should be. But it's not in their hands to ever judge the person when it comes to what's happening.  God has His reasons to let things as they happen. If God was to just execute raw justice, everyone would go to Hell. God's justice is far greater than civil justice. One sin sends you to Hell. Hatred violates His standard for murder. Lust violates His standard for adultery. The very justice of God is a terrifying thing to sinful man. His mercy and grace are indeed very amazing because God has given people all the chances to be saved. Am I asking for God to vindicate me immediate

One of the worst things that my ears hate to hear is when somebody says, "Sir, I'm the most righteous guy around!" When I think of what it means to be self-righteous, it means you're righteous in your own eyes and not by God's standards. Many people think they're righteous people even when their lifestyles suggest otherwise. You have homosexuals who think they're righteous, you have thieves who think they're righteous, you have extortioners who think they're righteous... and you name it insert type of bad persons who think they're righteous. It's really that annoying! I remembered how many Roman Catholics can answer something like, "Look preacher, I'm getting annoyed at you attacking me, calling me a sinner. Who are you to judge? Why are you without sin? Look, the parish priest loves me. The nun who instructs the choir loves me. My parishioners think I'm a good man. So what if I'm having an affair and an illegitimate c

The term "Once Saved Always Saved" can be easily confused with the Antinomian view of eternal security. How should the fact that you can't lose your salvation be reconciled with the fact that those who are saved endure to the end? I'd probably call that statement as, "Once saved, will endure." While there's no question that Christians aren't 100% sinless but one truth can remain that the saved will certainly endure. If you're saved you're destined to endure and you will endure. Now am I claiming that I'm sinless? No. But I can go ahead and claim that by the grace of God I will definitely endure to the end. God doesn't just save people. He saves them from their sins and His grace empowers them. Ephesians 2:8-10, Philippians 1:6-7 and Titus 2:11-14 emphasize that what God starts, He finishes and that the grace of God equips Christians to good works. Anybody who says you can get saved and still remain the same is turning the grace of Go

Forgiveness can easily be confused with, "I forgive that person? That means I have to condone to all the wrong that person did! I'd better beat him up!" So many times it's easy for me to confuse justice with revenge and forgiveness with impunity.  In this video, a Hindu extremist starts beating up a young pastor several times. The pastor just kept praying for the Hindu extremist. Later this same person who beat up the pastor got saved and became a follower of Jesus. Would have the pastor had his revenge against the Hindu extremist, I don't think that the latter would have become a Christian.  What's the lesson for me to learn? I owed the Father I debt I could not pay. I don't deserve forgiveness so why should I say so and so doesn't deserve it. It hurts to be insulted. It hurts to be persecuted. I want to really get even and cause bodily harm to people who reject the Gospel. God give me the strength to be like this pastor!

It's really gets that annoying to discuss eternal security with people who misquote Scriptures to "prove" that you can "lose" your salvation. Now it also gets really annoying to also discuss eternal security with people who teach it as a license to sin. Worse, they misquote several Scriptures to teach that you have a "license" to sin. I get certain false accusations that I'm "adding works to salvation", that I'm a "Pharisee", that I'm "self-righteous" and that I'm "demonic" and a "son of Satan".  My challenge to those who say that they have a license to sin is that can they show me anywhere from the Bible that you can be saved and sin all you want? They misquote Ephesians 2:8-9 but fail to read verse 10. They misquote Romans 4:5 but fail to read Romans 3:31. While salvation is indeed not gained by works but it results to true works. No true conversion ever leaves Christians as barr

There's always that struggle in me in how I share the truth. I can't forget how people say that I'm always using the Bible to debate about religion. I remembered how I harshly rebuked somebody on Ash Wednesday about them getting their cross marks, when I smashed an idol of Mama Mary in front of a Marian fanatic, name calling, using curse words when I hit somebody across the face with the Bible or do whatever it takes to insist the rightness of the Bible. I took time to gather knowledge on church history, the misdeeds of the Roman Catholic institution and the Bible but all that means nothing if it's not done in love. The call for Christians has always been to witness with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control against mean people. I admit that it's very difficult to be kind and loving to such people. I really feel like saying, "What's the use of being kind and loving to them. That woman is such a hag! I want

I have my confidence in the Word of God. Many people tell me, "You're just reading a book of fables, go back to nursery! You're too old for fairy tales." Others say, "Man just wrote the Bible." but they have no problem with buying atheist writers as "truth". They can go ahead and say the Bible was written by drunkards but a lot of atheist writers are heavy drinkers, drug addicts and who's not thinking clearly now? The confidence I have in the Bible is that history testifies to it. The facts and figures show the Bible is no mere book of fables. History has verified the Bible's claims and has not contradicted it. A lot of people who hated the Bible ended up fulfilling it. One good example is how Julian the Apostate ended up fulfilling Jeremiah 50:13-29 without realizing that he ended up fulfilling the very words that he sought to destroy. Others tried to stop the fulfillment of prophecies only to realize that God's word is 100% absolut

I really have my tendency to say, "God why can't it be smooth-sailing?" Then I end up getting the conviction in an inaudible voice saying, "Can you point anywhere in my Word that I'll make your life a smooth-sailing one?" I couldn't answer because there is NOTHING in God's Word that promises smooth sailing. If Jesus never had it smooth sailing then neither will His followers. Jesus was rejected and so will His followers. Jesus was accepted by the repentant and so will His followers.  So what's with disappointments? I always felt like God is calling my attention. Whenever something bad happens, I really feel like, "God what's wrong with me?" I can't expect to be perfect this instant even if I'm already saved. I may not live like the rest of the world because I'm saved but there's still lots of works to do. The more I think of my disappointments, the more I realize God is really calling my attention because some

After getting into an argument with somebody who keeps throwing mud at Reformed preachers like John F. MacArthur, Paul Washer and even the great Charles H. Spurgeon saying that their theology makes salvation too complicated, this quote by John Calvin jumped into me. The reality is that many churches today have that easy believism heresy or the Once Prayed Assuming Saved heresy. Many just say that "simple prayer" without really understanding what salvation is about. It's a diluted presentation of the Gospel. Now I agree that people need to affirm they're sinners but they must be show why they're sinners. I guess "Easy Christians" hate Reformed Theology is because it requires true humility. Romans 3:10-19 shows that no one is righteous and by God's Law, all must be silenced before God. James 2:10-11 shows we can't keep the perfect standard of God. Galatians 3:24 shows that the Law is our schoolmaster that brings us to Christ. I don't th

I remembered back then when I was hungry for Christian preaching, I stared reading books by Billy Graham and Rick Warren. What later upset me was when I found out that Warren himself was allied with the Vatican by his own actions. The book "Purpose Driven Life" too easily fits into the Roman Catholic bookstores. At first, I thought it was an opportunity to soulwinning. But after I started reading the book, I've found a lot of stuff wrong with it aside from the seeker friendly message it contained. What really pains and bothers me to think is how Warren's message is just so easily accepted by the unbelieving audience. Roman Catholics easily buy his book. The reason was because the book also honors several Roman Catholic figures like Teresa of Calcutta (pp. 125 and 131) or the Benedictine monks (p. 89) which already sounded a red alert on my head. New Age leader Bernie Siegel (p. 31) was even made a positive role model which makes me think the book is an effectiv

I remembered when I started telling Roman Catholics the sad truth that they're not Christians, that they're on their way to Hell and that they're living a lie. The reaction from them is usually unpleasant and it's expected. I could imagine the wolf is either the Roman Catholic priesthood, the Roman Catholic system, sin or Satan himself. The sheep in the picture are the Roman Catholic faithful. The man in the picture is any born again Christian who loves Roman Catholics enough to tell them that they're about to be devoured into an eternity without the Lord Jesus Christ. Many Roman Catholics today are just PLAIN STUBBORN even when the truth of Scripture is already as bright as day. Even if the they were given the Gospel and discussed with nothing but the Gospel according to Jesus. You give them any warning that they're headed for Hell, that they're in the wrong and that they can know how their sins can be forgiven but they act like the ungrateful shee

In the last days, people just care about being politically correct where what's right and wrong changes according to man's wants. I even dare speculate that abortion has become legal because men and women alike want the easy way out and enjoy the pleasures of sex outside marriage at the same time. Same sex marriage became legal in several states across the United States of America because of an increasing number of people who want to be "tolerant". Then you have several people falling into sin because certain sins are made legal. What is legal can be either ethical or unethical. The problem with mankind is that it seeks to legalize certain sins they feel should be acceptable. Political correctness may also mean that it becomes a sin to warn sinners of the CONSEQUENCES of their sins. It reminds me of how Elijah was outlawed by Ahab for speaking against the idolatry of Baal worship. Jeremiah's entire book can be very frustrating and encouraging at the same ti

There's one truth that I can't deny that I do suffer from stress. I do feel the urge to get even, the urge to give up and I really can't cope up with the flesh. The Holy Spirit would then guide me the pages of the Scriptures to read the Word of God. There's a truth that if you're complaining you don't get messages from friends if you don't check your email or your mobile phone, you're even dumber to say you don't get God's message for you and you don't open the Bible. When I fail to open the Bible, I always feel like the problems come in. I find myself more easily faithful to reading God's Word when I'm hammered with the frustrations of the world. There's always opposition. It just reminded me how the men of the Old Testament always referred back to the Book of the Law whenever they were frustrated. The Scriptures are not only there to condemn sin but to also comfort the genuinely repentant sinner. The Law doesn't only c

While I may not be a Roman Catholic, I don't believe Mary is the spiritual mother of all Christians but she still deserves honor like every good child of God. She herself is an example of what every mother should be with these words, "Behold the handmaid of the LORD, be it done according to your Word." So how do I think of Mary as a good example as a mother? Mary herself had the special privilege of becoming the mother of Jesus in His humanity. She also came form a special line that according to Luke 3:23-38 we read the lineage of Mary. Heli is the father-in-law of Joseph. Joseph came from the line of Solomon. Mary on the other hand came from the line of Nathan, another son of David and Bathsheba. I remembered the sermon of Pastor Kent Jesalva on Bathsheba: A Mother to Model. While Bathsheba started out as a bad mother because of her affair with David, the repentance led to turn the tables around. Bathsheba's firstborn with David died soon after as a result of the

I'll admit it's very tempting to lose my cool. Many times I feel that reaching out the lost can be a very tiresome task. I can end up asking myself what has being kind, loving and reaching out the lost done for me and that it's only making my life harder. I even feel like that I really want to lose my cool again after many years I haven't heckled or insult anybody for not taking the Gospel seriously. I feel like that I wanted to make sure that the message was given by every means possible. I wanted to get God's Word to them but all they did was laugh at me. I remembered the time I lost my cool and actually hit somebody out of anger. There's always doing the right thing the wrong way. When I remembered I was getting mad, screaming inside the pastor's office that I wanted to choke a staunch Roman Catholic to death for persecuting me, he really had to open the Bible to John 18:9-11. He said, "Look, Peter wanted to fight for Christ. Look at what Jesus sa