Reformed Blogging

I am amazed at how it's very easy to misinterpret Matthew 16:18 by Roman Catholics. I thought about this context which really annoying. Let's just think of how the context goes: And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (King James) Even the Good News Translation for Roman Catholics already presents this timeless truth in a way that's supposedly easier to understand: 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. Why do people still choose to purposely misinterpret it  even when the meaning is spelled out clearly? I could start with the obvious truths that Peter or Cephas means rock but not petras or rock foundation. Peter is told he is a rock and not the Rock foundation where the Church will be built. It's just like when the engineer tells the person, "

There's really one thing I can always tell myself is this truth: the world isn't going to get better in the long run . How do I know that? The Bible says in Matthew 24 that the world will get worse. When I try to tell people about it, all they tell me people like me are why the world is getting worse. Why do they say it's people like me who are making the world worse? I find these people nitpick on my faults never mind   that they hypocritically embrace all the worst sinners who've done worse. My faults are so big to them never mind that their religious con men have deceived people too many times. They still praise a popular person who's a habitual adulterer as praiseworthy while my shortcomings are so big to them. They think that my intolerance for other religions makes the world worse never mind radical Christianity and radical Islam have a more different mindset on how to spread the faith. For them, I'm just another hypocrite never mind that they're

There's this statement I love to emphasize: you can't love a holy God and hate holiness and everything to do with holiness. I'm sorry but the Bible says if you love sin then you're a servant of sin. If you really want to be saved only from the penalty of sin then not from sin itself that's absolutely 100% unbiblical. Here's what the Bible says about it: Romans 6:16-18 - Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?  But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness . God never offers salvation just for the sake of delivering people from eternal damnation without saving them from sin which is what caused it in the first place. The very idea that a person can get saved and remain the sam

When I was newly saved, I gave a thought to why is Christianity illegal and why is it not considered politically correct to preach the Gospel. Then I started opening up the Bible and these verses gave me an answer I accept without hesitation: John 15:18-20 - If the world hate you, ye know that it hated Me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. 2 Corinthians 4:4 - In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. 1 John 2:15-16 - Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world,

I remembered I was told that there are two kinds of sins: mortal sins which make you lose your salvation and venial sins which won't make you lose your salvation. If I can remember it correctly, they say that venial sins will still get you into Purgatory since that non-existent place was supposedly made to purify saved souls who have died in the state of grace. Sorry to say but the Bible has a much different idea than that. Works salvation usually says you're perfectly fine if you keep most of the Ten Commandments. But that is not what the Bible says. The Bible says in James 2:10-11 that if you ever break even one of God's rules, you've broken the perfect standard of the Law. Let's take the illustration of the sinner tied by a ten knotted string. It doesn't matter which knot you cut, the sinner falls down to Hell . Romans 3:10-19 shows the heavy price of sin. All have sinned and there's none righteous. Before a holy and righteous God, no one can say th

I figured out that it's very easy for me to criticize the Roman Catholic apologists for their unprofessional behavior in defending their faith. But there's always the statement that Jesus said about taking the beam from your eye before taking the speck from another person's eye. Matthew 7:2-5 - For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?" Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye . The best thing for any Christian do to is to first judge themselves before others. They're called to reprove sin but they must first reprove themselves first. I figur

Every time I read any news on the Vatican, it's almost impossible to read something about the Vatican without linking it to ecumenism. When I was newly saved and hungered for Christian doctrine, I trashed Trinity Broadcasting Network and its associates because it was unequally yoked with Rome. I even stopped supporting Billy Graham when I learned that he was unequally yoked with the Vatican.  The whole Vatican II Council was set after Pope Pius XII. We have John XIII, Paul VI, John Paul I, John Paul II, the retired Benedict XVI and Pope incumbent Francis. All these men claimed to be successors of Peter but their actions prove otherwise. I can't imagine Peter himself saying all religions lead to God, that the Jews don't need Jesus, that atheists may go to Heaven. If those Roman Catholics still insist that the Popes continue the legacy of Peter, they better analyze all of the Scripture concerning Peter because Matthew 16:16-18 doesn't point to Peter as the Rock. Th

The Christian hymn called, "This World is Not My Home" is easy to sing but hard to apply. The reason is that outside the grace of God one cannot combat one's carnal desires. Even if Christians may not live like the rest of the world but they can still fall into carnal desires. They're not 100% sinless either. There's always that tendency to forget that this world isn't our home.  There are two eternal destines for everyone: one is Heaven and the other is Hell . Most people today feel at home with the world without realizing this world isn't going to last. I've observed how anyone can be a fool by trying to fit in the world. Christians don't belong to the world. I tend to remember John 15:18-19 but I tend to forget about it. It's easier remembered than applied in certain times because the struggle against sin is every real. John Bunyan's fictional novel called "The Pilgrim's Progress" talks about how Christians are ju

It's a common theme today to, "Just follow your heart." My answer is no thanks . Do you know why I hate the idea of following my own heart? There's one thing that I can guarantee: apart from Christ I have no power over sin, no direction from sin and I'm just wayward without Him. I don't get saved just so I could be left alone and I have to do everything myself. When  person gets saved they are bound to have the Holy Spirit to guide them and convict them of sin.  What do I trust instead of my own heart which was long corrupted by sin? Here's what the Bible says: Proverbs 3:5-6 - Trust in the L ORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths. I don't trust my heart. Instead, I decide to trust in the L ORD with all my heart. The heart of sinful humanity is sinful and destructive. I'm thankful that God doesn't just call people but He also qualifies them.

Every time I end up reading and studying Jeremiah, it seems to be that the theme of the book has already been said in Jeremiah 5:31 which says, "The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so : and what will ye do in the end thereof?" Just reading the statement, "and my people love to have it so" is so discouraging, it makes me want to tear my hair off because it means there's going to be a lot and I mean a lot of problems to expect when the truth is uncompromised. As much as my flesh wants to be popular but I can't be both popular with the world and faithful to Christ. I can't be right with sinful mankind and be right with God at the same time. In short, I must take my pick . Christians may first think they can have both but later, they'll just end up choosing to drop everything out of love for the L ORD. The situation is no different in today's world. Let's imagine this ill

I can't deny this fact that it's hard for me to love my enemies. I want to love them because I want to please the L ORD, I pray for them but it's not easy to do so humanly speaking. While it's possible to have a certain degree of being forgiving from an unsaved person but it's not genuine. That forgiveness was more likely a repression of one's hate rather than giving it up to God, forgiving the opponent afraid you won't make to to Heaven rather than forgiving because God has already forgiven you.  I won't even consider genuine forgiveness an intellectual exercise for this reason. I tried to forgive many people based on intellectual exercise and it only grew into a massive grudge. The reason can be found in this timeless truth: John 15:5 - "I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. " Outside the power of Christ, I can do nothing. Befo

It's a common problem that today, many people just have a watered down presentation of the Gospel. Since the Gospel can't be destroyed so Satan seeks to distort it like adding works to it or destroying the marks of any genuine convert. What I could start to emphasize now is why do some people get saved in spite of a sinner's prayer evangelism.  Allow me to take some words by Dr. John F. MacArthur from page 56 of "Hard to Believe" as he "lends me a hand" in this matter: There's nothing wrong with raising our hands or saying a little prayer, but those things do not bring true salvation apart from authentic faith in Christ. Jesus called for a narrow, difficult, radical, dramatic admission of sinfulness; an acknowledgement that we are nothing and have nothing with which to commend ourselves to God. Faith begins when we throw ourselves on His mercy for forgiveness. So why are some people getting saved in spite of the raising of hands and saying

When it comes to false accusations, I've noticed that it's usually for one's own convenience than a result of unverified information. I remembered I was told that I became a born again Christian because I wanted a license to sin. After I started getting particular about sin and what to do and what not to do, I got accused of being a legalisic Pharisee after that! I was called as an Antinomian because I uphold the biblical truth that salvation is by faith alone in Jesus Christ. While it's true there are people who use Sola Fide as a license to sin but I uphold that true faith results to good works. The doctrine of eternal security is so perverted and attacked by two parties. One party believes you can get saved and remain the same which teaches Antinomianism directly or indirectly. The other perverts eternal security and distorts it that it immediately teaches a license to sin in a series of Nom Sequitur arguments. What I emphasize is that salvation can't be lost bu

People keep telling me that I should be more like Jesus but which Jesus are they referring to? It's really annoying when people say that I should be more kind and caring. True I need to be kind and caring but at the same time, I also need to learn how to throw stones when need be. Here's what... Jesus called people names. By today's politically correct standards, it would be "un-Christlike" but they're only having another "Jesus" which is a false gospel. Whenever I read through the four Gospel accounts according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John I don't see a Jesus who backed off when it came to dangerous false teachers or the deception of Herod Antipas. Herod Antipas was called a sly fox. The Pharisees had every name that they deserved because they were the most dangerous enemies of the Jewish people's welfare. While the Romans can't be denied to be oppressors but the Pharisees were worse. They supposedly looked like men of God but t

It's a common mistake that people say that you must follow the world. People tell me that I must follow the world. But that's not what the Bible says. What does the Bible say about following the world?  Here's what the Bible says about following the world: John 15:18-19 -  If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Romans 12:1-2 - I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. James 4:4 -  Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever

As a former Roman Catholic now a Christian, I can't really help but pull my hair with all the "valid reasons" that Roman Catholics give in order to stay in their system. They still claim to be the true church that was founded on 33 A.D. Wait... didn't some of them just say that Peter was the founder of the Church? I'm really still ticked off by how the Roman Catholic institution still has people misled. But after I started reading the Bible for myself, I found out that I was stuck in a sinister system. I thought I could reform it but when I found out I couldn't then I left it. How are Roman Catholics misled by their religious leaders? It's simple with four easy steps: add something to Scripture, subtract from the person and work of Christ, multiply the requirements of salvation and divide attention from the people. It's a real problem many Roman Catholics still insist that the Pope is the successorof Peter, the rock and that if we reject the Pop

It's no secret that Muslim terrorists are causing worldwide problems. It made me upset to think that Pope Francis just wants people to accept Islam as "non-violent". I would like to talk about Islamic infiltration and how it works. What's even worse is that the average Muslim today doesn't know that they're all part of some grand scheme or that Muhammad was a really violent man. Ever since we have that problem of political correctness  then it has become easier for Islam to infiltrate the nations of the world. They move in, they populate both by procreation and Islamic evangelism, they can start to demand or request for political correctness to be Islamic friendly then they slowly take over. It's been the same formula used by Muhammad and his successors. Think Islam had nothing to do with 9/11 fifteen years ago? Don't you believe it!   It saddens me to think how people think that nothing's wrong with Islam then a couple of politically correct

There was a time I thought John F. MacArthur taught "works salvation" because a lot of stuff were taken out of context and misrepresented. It's a very common practice to take things out of context. A lot of people have done that to the Bible which is God's Word so the can also do it to just anyone. But I thought of one thing that after reading some of MacArthur's books (and I started with "Fool's Gold"), I felt like I was drinking water from a fire hydrant because I drank a lot of spiritual truths I needed to know all at once after I spent several years reading conspiracy theories so I missed a lot of stuff. I felt like I missed a lot in my Christian growth and now the time has come for me to really catch it up. The one book I felt I needed to read was "The Gospel According to Jesus". So I finished "Fool's Gold" and "The Jesus You Can't Ignore". I needed to read "The Gospel According to Jesus" an

Many people today can brag that a pastor has a whole lot of followers. They can say that one mark that God mightily moves is that a lot of people join it but is it really the case? After watching Ray Comfort's two videos "True and False Conversion" and "Hell's Best Kept Secret", nothing has been more horrifying to learn that a lot of massive conversions weren't massive conversions. In truth, you can get many to sign a decision card, to walk the isle, say the sinner's prayer but they never get saved. That conversion was a sham to begin with (1 John 2:19). A church can have a lot of attendants but one must ask whether or not the members are truly converted. The problem of bragging about numbers is that Matthew 7:13-14 says that more people are wrong than are they in the right. The whole world is wrong and only God can make things right. You can go ahead and think that the more attendants a church has the better but one needs to consider that t

This degenerate didn't lose his salvation... the person was NEVER saved to start with and the evidence was in one's own DEAD WORKS! While I simply won't spend time naming names of the followers of "Easy Christianity" and attacking them one by one because they expose themselves, I simply want to focus my thoughts on why I believe in the truth that a faith without works is not real faith to start with. Many will start to say that I'm teaching works salvation, that I'm a closet Roman Catholic agent or that I never left it (don't make me laugh) or whatever false accusations (with very loose evidence) that they can think of. There's one truth in Scripture we need to face that faith without works is dead. I didn't teach it but the Bible did. Get mad at me all you want but you can't change the truth that faith that doesn't result to works is as good as dead. These people can go ahead and say that Romans 4:5 says that faith is not

I really find it stressful to argue with foolish people. Foolish has the same meaning withs stupid. Do you know how stupid should be defined? Stupid means marked by or resulting from unreasonable thinking or acting or it's also very vexatious and exasperating. So what's the point with stupid people? I'm not talking about people with lower intelligence but I'm talking about this one truth that we can get from the Bible about stupid people that makes them very stressful to argue with as with these verses: Proverbs 12:15 - The way of a fool is right in his own eyes : but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.  Proverbs 26:12- Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit ? There is more hope of a fool than of him. It's a problem that the more stupid people are the wiser they think the are. Let's just face it that why don't they listen to advice? It's because they think they're so smart that they don't even need it. They can easily react to an

There's a huge difference between Christianity or pure religion against manmade religion or false religion. Religion means to tie back the ties to God. The problem of most manmade religion is that no matter how hard it tries to establish its ties back to God that it's pretty much cut short. We need to take this warning from James 1:26-27:  If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. Many people today are religious but lost. It's time to check out how the Devil actually causes people to be lost and how he establishes false religion. This chart shows what's really wrong with the Devil's religion. Let's take time to analyze how Satan perverts everything. If we try to analyze the Devil's Math we see