Reformed Blogging

I think one of the reasons why extreme KJV Onlyism has to go is with some renditions. I admit that I was shocked to find Charles H. Spurgeon was not KJV Only. Maybe, some KJV Only pastors can even acknowledge that some of their peers reject KJV Onlyism while still embracing them as family. Now, another textual criticism to think about is how the KJV renders Hosea 13:2 concerning human sacrifices and idolatry. This would be a good comparison between versions.  And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, and idols according to their own understanding, all of it the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves. (KJV) Using the Tecarta Bible, I decided to check the KJV footnotes and discovered that sacrifices refer to human sacrifices. I was thinking that these calves were probably symbolic to Moloch after getting through the footnote. Other renditions render Hosea 13:2 as follows: And now they sin more and mo...

I remembered the time I got into the KJV Only movement for many reasons. I felt that the missing verses (such as Acts 8:37) were really there. One of the big translation differences was that Daniel 3:25 in the KJV says "the fourth is like the Son of God". Meanwhile, modern translations say, "The fourth is like a son of the gods." This is one of the big reasons why I tend to lean to the KJV more often than not even when Charles H. Spurgeon was not KJV Only.  J. Vernon McGee's commentary also says the following regarding the matter: Another amazing fact was to see a fourth Man whom Nebuchadnezzar described as being in the form "like the Son of God". This should be translated "like a son of gods". Nebuchadnezzar had no knowledge of the living and true God at this time, although Daniel had spoken of Him. Having no spiritual perception, Nebuchadnezzar could only testify to His unusual appearance - He looked like one of the sons of the gods. Howeve...

The story of Amaziah, the successor, and son of Joash can be found in 2nd Kings 13-14 and 2nd Chronicles 25-26. What can be read by Amaziah in both 2nd Kings and 2nd Chronicles is that he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD but he didn't do it with his whole heart. David was called a man after God's own heart in spite of his mistakes. Solomon is referred to as half-heart. The mother of Amaziah is mentioned because she may have been a good influence. Amaziah soon had his father's murderers arrested and put to death but slew not the children. We can read much good at first but later, like his father Joash, he ended up from revival to ruin. We can read this absurd incident in 2nd Chronicles 26:14-16: 14 Now it came to pass, after that Amaziah was come from the slaughter of the Edomites, that he brought the gods of the children of Seir, and set them up to be his gods, and bowed down himself before them, and burned incense unto them. 15 Wherefore the anger of the Lord was...

The story of Jehu can be found in 2nd Kings 9-10 which describes his rise and fall. The House of Omri was now getting ripe for judgment. Ahaziah of Judah who became king at 22 on the 42nd year since the House of Omri was established was also killed later on. The whole bloody battle of Jehu also had him execute the 70 sons of Ahab in Samaria where the center of the golden calf worship was. God had anointed Jehu to be the new king of Israel, the Northern Kingdom, and was to bring judgment. God also had also commanded Elisha to anoint Hazael to be the new king of Syria. Many times, God anoints wicked rulers like Saul and Jeroboam I for His own reasons. Jezebel finally met her timely end when Jehu pushed her out of the window and she got trampled on. Unlike her husband Ahab - her body went to the dogs. Ahab's bloody death already foreshadowed Jezebel's death. Eventually, the whole House of Omri was judged by God. Though I think it was an overkill for Jehu to kill Ahaziah of Judah a...

Reading through the 1st Book of Kings shows the reign of Solomon down to Ahab. We can see how Solomon's backsliding led to severe division. We can also read of the wickedness of King Jeroboam of the Northern Kingdom. Did God purposely allow a wicked king to rule over the north because of its wickedness? Eventually, many generations later, we read of the most wicked king recorded in Israel in 1st Kings 16-22. It would be interesting when you compare both kingdoms - Ahab ruled during the time of Jehoshaphat of Judah. Jehoshaphat was a valiant reformer but failed to practice separation when he made an unholy alliance with Ahab's house. Even worse, Jehoshaphat had Athaliah for a daughter-in-law. We know where Athaliah lands into - she breaks the stereotype of a loving grandmother by finishing her own family to avoid any threat to her rule. This is where Elijah steps in as a reformer of the wickedness against his day. The House of Ahab was known for its wickedness. Before Ahab, we h...

Here's the hard truth about idolatry and idolaters. They say that they don't worship the graven images but that they are only respecting or venerating them. I decided to get some literature from Roman Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Taoism where they also say that the graven images are just like pictures of one's friends and family. But is that really the case? I have pictures of my friends and family but do I put them on top of a family altar? Do I even pray in front of them? It's really quite different. Why do so many religions have the problem of graven images for worship? It makes lots of money. Do you remember the problem when Paul got into trouble in Acts 19:23-41? The religion of Christianity was bad for the business of making idols. Try to notice a trip to a local pagan temple. You may even find a souvenir shop that sells images of their gods and goddesses. Try to go to a Roman Catholic bookstore and you find images of their saints and supposed images...

I remembered how often I hear that Satan loves Christmas because he doesn't want Jesus to grow up. But the Christmas season is over and one of the worst heresies existing is the celebration of the Sinulog. Notice that I emphasized SIN in the title because the whole festival in itself is sinful. People tell me that I'm crazy and stupid because of the Sto. Nino is still Jesus. I would like to raise my objections to their claim that the Sto. Nino is still Jesus. There's no child Jesus in Heaven. Jesus already completed everything He needed to do. The virgin birth is completed. Mary's role as His earthly mother is completed. He's already paid for the penalty of sins. All of these done when He was an adult in the flesh. Jesus is not reigning in Heaven as a child but at the right hand of the Father. John 1:1-3 says that the Word was with God and the Word was God. Jesus has always been co-eternal with the Father and it's not a child Jesus that's reigning. Th...

October is the Rosary Month, Halloween Month and Reformation Month. I still think about the time I used to pray the Rosary in hopes of attaining peace, only to find myself in a mess. Some Roman Catholics may say that when they pray to Mar,y they're asking her to pray for them. But is the Rosary totally biblical and a weapon against vice and sin? Here's something I got from  Aleteia.org  which is a Roman Catholic website on how Roman Catholics justify the Rosary: When Catholics pray the “Hail, Mary” prayer they are not praying to Mary but are asking for her prayers of intercession for us, in the same manner that you may ask friends, family, or your clergy to pray for you. Only her intercessory prayers are more powerful because she is the Mother of our Lord and sits at His side in Heaven . The Hail Mary prayer is taken straight out of the Bible, off the lips of the Archangel Gabriel, the messenger of the Lord (Luke 1:28 NAB), and from Elizabeth’s words of praise when ...

I remembered reading a pamphlet written by a Roman Catholic apologist or read some passages from Catholic Answers that says Roman Catholics don't worship statues. They also say that it's not idolatry to pray to saints, angels and Mary because they're not pagan gods. I could agree with Roman Catholics that Mary of the Bible is not Semiramis or any pagan goddess or that they're not praying to pagan gods when they pray to saints and angels. But the problem is that they deny they're actually worshiping their saints, angels and Mary without knowing it. Here's the issue of idolatry that I could point out. Pagan religions pray to various non-existent gods and angels as well as historical people they've dubbed as patron saints. I remembered how I was told not to pray to the gods in Taoist and Buddhist temples because they're all idols but it's okay to pray to the Roman Catholic saints and angels or to Mary. Later, I realized the same stupidity in the ...

There's the old statement that some people just never learn. The same is going on for this idolatrous feast called the "Feast of the Black Nazarene". Even after so many incidents and I remembered one of them involved an image of it breaking to pieces yet people couldn't see how powerless their god is. No, the Black Nazarene isn't Jesus and Jesus in His humanity was not born black. Jesus was born into a Jewish household in His humanity.  The idea of the Black Nazarene is a perversion of the identity of Jesus but why do so many Filipino Roman Catholics still insist in celebrating it? One of the worst things that some of its devotees adhere to the fallacy of appealing to tradition. They think that because it's been practiced then they must do it. It's just like saying that native tribes in certain regions of the world should be allowed to practice cannibalism and human sacrifice no matter how wrong it is because it's their tradition passed down f...

Idolatry is really lucrative and profitable business. But just because something is profitable and popular doesn't mean it's good or bad. The problem with idolatry is not about it being profitable and popular but because it goes against God's Law. Here's some verses about idolatry that I find to expose such stupidity: Isaiah 44:17-18 - " And the residue thereof he maketh a god , even his graven image: he falleth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou art my god. They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand." Jeremiah 10:3-5 - "For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they mu...

Many Roman Catholics tell me that I should go back to Roman Catholicism because of some Evangelicals who are becoming Roman Catholic. But as said, if those Evangelicals converted to Roman Catholicism they're false converts. 1 John 2:19 makes it evident that there's a lot of false conversions going on. Just because you used to join an Evangelical, Protestant or Baptist church before didn't make you saved. I even want to blame that phenomenon on the fact that many pastors today are wishy washy preachers. Pastor Paul David Washer addressed how sinner's prayer evangelism has become the reason why so many are false converts. While he does address that some got saved in spite of it, it was because there was a hard hitting message that brought the person to repentance. Today, many sinner's prayer evangelism churches don't even address the possibility of false conversions while preaching a watered down message. Also, just because one converted from Protestantism to R...

Roman Catholics can be divided on what born again Christians think of Mary. One group may say that born-again Christians don't hate Mary but they don't have issues with Mary but only dogmas about Mary taught by the Roman Catholic institution. Another group are rabid Marian fanatics to the point they say that born again Christians hate Mary using the logical fallacy of Nom Sequitur. What's even more disturbing is that their so-called "unity" can be disrupted when one party of Roman Catholics end up exonerating born again Christians by saying that the latter doesn't hate Mary while the other party of Roman Catholics continues to insist that born again Christians are making Mary unimportant. I would like to commend some Roman Catholic apologists who have inadvertently exonerated born again Christians from the false accusation that their fellow Roman Catholics keep on insisting as true that born again Christians hate Mary the earthly mother of Jesus. I'...

Now I don't dare deny that miracles were involved with the prophets, apostles and in Jesus' ministry. But not every miracle is from God. 2 Thessalonians 2:9 warns of signs and lying wonders. Revelation 13 warns that Satan will use signs and lying wonders to get the world to worship the Antichrist. People will not only receive the mark of the Beast just to buy and sell but because they worship the Beast. Their damnation is not simply for receiving a mark but as said, those who received the mark continued in their unrepentant state and looks like nobody who'll receive the mark will ever repent of their degeneracy but will continue to curse God resulting to their damnation. I'd like to talk about the alleged "miracles". Some Roman Catholics tend to say that born again Christians like me are "jealous" because of the signs and wonders happening in their religion. While there are some that happen as a result of the supernatural satanic force but other...

As a former Roman Catholic, I remembered the time that I was so sensitive with treating the images used for worship. After I got saved, I realized those things needed to be thrown out. The picture above has a person foolishly saying to people, "Translation: Mary is in a sorry state here. PLEASE DON'T SCROLL DOWN WITHOUT TYPING "AMEN". To all who love Mother Mary please SHARE this too. I hope that person's conscience will bother him or her for doing this to her." This situation is no different than the situation in Judges 6:28-31 when the people were mad that Gideon got rid of the image of Baal. The statement that Gideon's father whose name is Joash said is true saying which I'll quote from the Good News Version for Roman Catholics, "But Joash said to all those who confronted him, Are you arguing for Baal? Are you defending him? Anyone who argues for him will be killed before morning. If Baal is a god, let him defend himself. It is his alt...