Reformed Blogging

Sadly, the Internet speed hasn't been back to normal. I may blog here until I can post in WordPress again. It gets annoying because my WordPress site  is reaching different places. However, I'd like to look back at some important lessons. I was more or less that "rank Arminian". I would've preferred to stay in that "Arminian" view. Paul David Washer said, "Calvinism is not the issue!" It's all about the doctrine of regeneration . That's why I stayed at Cebu Bible Baptist Church for some time. The church was still critical of people who claimed to be saved but behaved otherwise. Cebu Bible Baptist Church is still strong in upholding the doctrine of regeneration.  Charles H. Spurgeon is a preacher admired by both non-Calvinists and Calvinists alike. Some say that we can respect preachers like Spurgeon, the Reformers, etc. However, they are just men . Calvin was just a man. Spurgeon mentioned this and I believe several fundamentalists know...

  I wanted to blog about Pope Francis' health condition. However, the Internet speed has slowed down presumably due to ongoing repairs. WordPress requires faster Internet speed than Blogger. That's why I decided to write here (for now). Hopefully, I'll be able to go back to WordPress when the speed is back. The 88-year-old Pope Francis has been diagnosed with pneumonia . I lost a mid-80s relative to pneumonia.  This reminds me of the sensationalism I got engaged in. It's basically eschatomania. I remember thinking that Pope John Paul II's successor would be the False Prophet. However, Benedict XVI ruled for more than two years, before retiring due to health reasons. Benedict XVI would be too sick to play the role of the False Prophet. Some speculated that Pope Francis may be Petrus Romanus. This is all based on the Malachy Prophecies -- not a very reliable tool for studying Revelation ! Malachy is known today for a set of prophecies, purportedly written by him in 1...

After many years of struggling between Fundamentalism and Reformed, I became Reformed during the pandemic. I opened a WordPress blog. However, WordPress turns out to be extremely heavy. It requires faster Internet speed and customizing to new themes is harder than usual. I was wondering if I should create a new blog on Blogger while leaving the WordPress blog up or not? WordPress couldn't operate on slower speeds compared to Blogger. I wanted to blog on 88-year-old Pope Francis' health condition. I don't want to engage in eschatomania like I used to. I speculated on, "Will the next Pope be the last?" I engaged in that behavior when I was in college (and Pope John Paul II was still the Pope at that time). Benedict XVI was speculated to be the final Pope but soon retired due to health reasons. Some speculated Pope Francis is Petrus Romanus because of his Italian origin. Pope Francis might be considered overstaying because 80 isn't easy to reach. People in his ti...

I don't want to deny that there are doctors and hospitals, who only want profits than to help others in need. However, the whole video "Plandemic" is nothing more than a scam. I even remembered how Andrew Wakefield made a name for himself in a fraudulent study where he linked vaccines to autism. It was proven wrong and Wakefield got his license removed. However, that didn't stop the anti-vaccine movement from making him a hero for their cause. Yet, Wakefield (from what I heard) is known for his love for money and fame. Wakefield apparently charges huge bucks to speak at events. This made me think that the anti-vaccine movement is motivated by the love of money (1 Timothy 6:10). Why do I want to link the movement to the love of money? Some people in the medical industry are guilty of profiteering. Some doctors and nurses are into their jobs not because they want to help people but to profiteer from their patients. Conspiracy theories also make a huge lot of money. For ...

I remembered 9/11 or the fall of the World Trade Center (WTC) happened 20 years ago. The death of Osama bin Ladin happened 10 years ago. Now, I think about how I got engrossed in conspiracy theories from reading Chick Publications, Jesus-is-Savior, and Conspiracy Planet to name a few of the many. 9/11 was certainly a big event that shook the world. The genocide caused by two suicide bombers and the deaths caused by those trapped in the building was no joke. Then it invited discussion for conspiracy theorists (such as Cutting Edge Ministries and End Times Updates) to discuss about it. Not surprisingly, many of them supported the "testimony" of the late Alberto R. Rivera as a genuine man of God. Back then, I still supported Rivera as a hero of the faith and dismissed any accusation against him as "Jesuit-manufactured". I could remember the time when I was trapped in the nightmare world of Chick Publications. The "Alberto" comic book series was very fascinati...

I remembered a few years after I received Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior - I got into a Christian bookstore. There was some excitement. Before I got saved, I was able to read the "Alberto" series (in which the late Alberto R. Rivera was really a fraud ). I used to believe the "Alberto" series with all its creative artistic licenses (such as certain scenes in "Double Cross". I didn't use my critical thinking cap and thought of Chick Publications as a reliable source. Unfortunately, most people didn't see that Chick Publications is toxic . The late Roy Livesey was right to criticize Chick Publications as a huge obstacle in soulwinning. Too many Roman Catholics are too angry to listen especially if you show them the "Alberto" comics. There's bound to be more defensiveness by a Roman Catholic with the "Alberto" comics than they would if you shared to them "Catholicism: Crisis of Faith" and "Truth Encounter...

One of the doctrinal footnotes that I'm stuck in with the KJV Study Bible is "Failure of Faith". Failure of faith isn't only experienced by unbelievers but also by believers. How are these failures of faith listed by the footnote? Here they are: Failure to accept the work of Christ or God's will in one's life (Mark 16:11-14) Little faith which is faith and unbelief mixed (Mark 7:26) Weak faith or expressing it as mere legalism (Romans 14:1) These are all in contrast to strong faith or to be rooted in the promises of God. I was thinking about how those three areas are where I'm guilty. I tend to lapse to them (more often than not) and I recall how often my faith was failing especially in my teenage years and adult years. It also drives me to have conflicting desires (such as having romantic interests with an unbeliever in a Christian school) or when I want to forgive someone yet I also want to get even with that person at the same time. I was thinking of ho...

One of the many things that I started to question was why God allowed man to eat meat after the flood. Were the pre-Flood people vegetarian? The Bible doesn't seem to say but some scholars believe that the pre-Flood times were vegetarian.  Apologetics Press addresses the issue in this way: To answer the question, “Were all men prior to the Flood vegetarians?,” one merely can conclude that the Bible reveals God giving instructions only regarding the eating of food made from vegetation prior to the Deluge. God’s Word is conspicuously silent regarding the eating of animals. However, just because God apparently did not authorize man to eat animal flesh before the Flood, does not mean that mankind abided by this regulation. It seems likely that there were some people who went beyond what God allowed, and ate various kinds of animals anyway . It is not difficult to imagine those living just prior to the Flood, whose every thought was evil continually (Genesis 6:5), leaning over a sacrifi...

One of the arguments that I ran into some time ago is the cosmological argument for God's existence. Cosmology is the study of the universe. The Greek word "kosmos" means "world" and "logos" means "study". That means the cosmological argument of God is based on the study of relating with the origin and development of the universe. Cosmology is a branch of astronomy relating to the study of the development of the universe. Sadly, the study of cosmology today is tainted by the false doctrine of evolution by Charles Darwin - a view that pagans freely accept but Christians don't. Christians know evolution just can't be real based on scientific evidence. For the pagans, it's more of defending their religion since almost every pagan creation story is as messy as Darwin's views. Darwin was also from a family of Freemasons too. The more I study the science of the universe - the more it can be seen that it's not a result of random ...

I remembered back when I read the book by the late R.C. Sproul Sr. called "The Holiness of God". One of the chapters talked about God's justice. One line from the book says to be careful when you ask for justice - you might get it. How many times do I find myself really singing "Amazing Justice" instead of "Amazing Grace" never mind that I was forgiven of debt I couldn't pay? How many times have I really ignored the fact that I'm just a flawed human being in the need of God's grace to do right? Genesis 18:25 has Abraham talking about the Judge of the Earth doing right. Any truly saved person wouldn't want to punish the innocent along with the guilty. Such are poor standards today like in Communist countries or in Nazi Germany - the innocent suffered along with the wicked. Yet, one can also question God's justice such as the incident with the Tower of Siloam which caused 18 bystanders to die, or Pilate's massacre during the minis...

Acts 2:42 in its context takes place during Peter's first sermon in Pentecost. After that, we read that the crowds were convicted, Peter tells them to repent and be baptized. In Acts 2:41, we read that they believed first before they were baptized. The logical order is simple - believing precedes baptism. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit had happened (Acts 2:17) and the apostles were given that power. The apostles were granted the ability to speak many languages without having to study them. In Luke 24:29, the apostles were told to tarry in Jerusalem until they were endued with the power from on high. This would be the Holy Spirit in granting them their power. It's no wonder lying to Peter caused the couple, Ananias and Sapphira, to be knocked down dead (Acts 5:1-5). We later read that they were breaking bread and in prayers. The believers continued steadfastly to hold in apostolic doctrine or the apostles' teachings. The Greek word for doctrine or teaching is didache. I r...

The KJV translation of Luke 6:16 and Acts 1:13  says "the brother of" while other variants say "the son of". Although, one must notice the italics used in the KJV. The KJV translators used italics if they had to either emphasize something or to put what words they thought were missing from the manuscript they found.  And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas [the brother] of James. Meanwhile, you may notice that other translations such as the NIV or ESV use "the son" instead of "the brother" of James in respect to Judas Thaddeus. Wait, the brother can't be the father? The Tecarta Bible footnote for the KJV says "the son of" which may say that Judas here is the son of another person named James and not James the brother of John. James the Lesser is the son of...

Critics of eternal security and Antinomians tend to misinterpret the verse. One interpretation is of loss of salvation. Another interpretation is that it means that a person simply loses rewards. 1 Corinthians 3:15 says there's saved by fire or loss of rewards. However, the way John 15:6 writes it is not about a loss of reward. Rather, it's all about fake converts or those who are considered Judas Iscariot branches. It's pretty much an acid test of true conversion against a false conversion . John 15:1-11 is the whole context of the verse. Let's try and study the verses to see the context of this verse: I am the true vine, and My Father is the Husbandman. 2 Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit . 3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no m...

It's been some time since I paid John 6:66 some attention. Try to notice that the verse is from Chapter 6 and it is verse 66. You get the number 666 which is the number of the Beast. Though Psalm 66:6 doesn't have a negative message. Isaiah 66:6 talks about the LORD's judgment on His enemies. In this case, the Apostle John wrote the verse that really seems to show the upcoming apostasy. However, take note that Stephen Langton created the chapters and verse system. Later on, John Wycliffe used the chapter pattern from Langton. This helped us find the verse so easily. Was it a deliberate attempt to link 666 in Revelation to John 6:66? It seems like it or it isn't. But what we can't deny is that John 6:66 addresses the negative message with the crowd. There were some members in the crowd who went to Jesus, not because of the miracles but because they were fed. They were shallow seekers (John 6:26-27). It's part of the Bread of Life Discourse in verses 22-59. There...

One of the many objections against the death penalty is the woman caught in adultery. They say that Jesus supposedly "abolished" the death penalty in the scenario of Jesus and the adulterous woman. We need to read the whole context and understand it before we can jump to conclusions: 8 Jesus went unto the mount of Olives. 2 And early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came unto Him; and He sat down, and taught them. 3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto Him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, 4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. 5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? 6 This they said, tempting Him, that they might have to accuse Him . But Jesus stooped down, and with His finger wrote on the ground, [as though he heard them not]. 7 So when they continued asking him, He lifted up Himself, and said unto them, He that is wi...