LIVING IN THE LAST DAYS – Parts 9 & 10

by A. M. Kisly

 A FEW WORDS ABOUT CHARACTER...

Philippians 2:12-16 (KJV)

^"Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.  Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;  Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain."

Carnality is described by GotQuestions as being translated from a Greek word that means “worldly” or “fleshly.” In other words, carnality involves worldliness and a giving in to fleshly appetites.

When we put our faith in Jesus Christ we become born again of the Spirit of God.  Old things are passed away, behold all things become new.  We are a new creation in Christ...given a new nature, the nature of God.


Romans 13:14 tells us, "But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof."  In fact the entire chapter of Romans 13 instructs the believer how they ought to be living daily...and especially in the last days!

If Godly character is the result of the Holy Spirit’s work of sanctification in our lives, why is it that we can hardly tell the Church from the world today? 

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"THE FOUR HORSEMEN of NEW ATHEISM"

by A.M. Kisly

Introduction:   Who are they, what are they up to and what is the Christian response?

Romans 1:19-20 declares plainly that all men do know God exists because God has clearly revealed that knowledge to them through the evidence of creation. Those that deny God are doing so out of the rebellion of a darkened heart (Romans 1:21). Rather than the intellectual the self-described atheist imagines himself to be, God has pronounced, “The fool says in his heart ‘there is no god’” (Psalm 14:1, 53:1).

Introducing the Main Players:

Richard Dawkins is the world’s chief apostle for atheism and has been Professor of the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University since 1996, and author of the book, God Delusion.  Belief in God, says Dawkins, subverts science and knowledge, breeds ignorance, foments bigotry, and abuses children. All this happens for the simple reason that God is a delusion. Not only are “fundamentalists” unintelligent for “know[ing] they are right because they have read the truth in a holy book,” but even moderation in faith, says Dawkins, “fosters fanaticism.”

Sam Harris is an American author, philosopher, public intellectual, and neuroscientist, as well as the co-founder and CEO of Project Reason.  Harris believes that a valid alternative to moral nihilism exists, and that science provides the answers that human beings desire where issues of morality are concerned.

Daniel Dennett is an American philosopher, writer and cognitive scientist whose research centers on the philosophy of mind, philosophy of science and philosophy of biology, particularly as those fields relate to evolutionary biology and cognitive science. Dennett is referred to as one of the "Four Horsemen of New Atheism", along with Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and the late Christopher Hitchens.

Christopher Hitchens the late British-American author, journalist, and atheist intellectual.  Hitchens authored the book, God is Not Great.  Just another book ranting against religion as being the cause of all the world's problems.  It is so high on emotion and extreme language and so low on accuracy that it is hardly worth reading, say some critics. Taken from Hitchens own words, “The Bible may, indeed does, contain a warrant for trafficking in humans, for ethnic cleansing, for slavery, for bride-price, and for indiscriminate massacre, but we are not bound by any of it because it was put together by crude, uncultured human mammals.” 

By now, many of us have heard of, or have been confronted by those claiming to be “New Atheists.”  If you’re not familiar with them, perhaps the names Dawkins, Dennett, Harris and Hitchens ring a bell.  They are modern day atheist writers who claim that "religion should not simply be tolerated but should be countered, criticized, and exposed by ‘rational’ argument wherever its influence arises”.  -- Simon Hooper for CNN

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A Study in Paul’s Epistle to the Romans – “On the Road of Righteousness” Chapter Fourteen

~  By James Fire

Chapter Fourteen: "He Ain’t Heavy . . ."

In the entire canon of Scripture, there are those doctrines that are crystal clear with no margin for misunderstanding or misinterpretation. When Scripture speaks on the issue of adultery, or idol worship, or drunkenness; on the issues of salvation, sanctification and the nature and character of God – there are no gray areas nor the slightest hint of ‘wiggle room’ that would affect the perception of any honest student of the Bible.

There are however certain areas that are not so clear cut and precise, but allows for some leeway and this chapter is just such a chapter. It deals with conscience and convictions on different issues that largely depends on the level of spiritual development of the individual disciple. Since we are all growing at different rates of maturity in the LORD, what one may allow into their lives, another would not.

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EMERGENT is REGURGITANT – Part Three:

By James Fire 

Scanning Mark Sandrette and his article, “Growing Pains”

1 CORINTHIANS 2:12-14  
¹²Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. ¹³Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. ¹⁴But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

As mentioned previously, proponents of the ECM seek to dialogue and communicate with others within this movement (and with those of all the world religions) and by mutual consensus, it would seem, seek to discover spiritual wisdom in their ‘horizontal relationship’ rather than seeking that wisdom which is from God above (JAMES 3:14-18).

We know as biblical Christians what the source of ‘worldly wisdom’ is, and no doubt this source is integral to the very spirit of the Emergent Church Movement.

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