Unity in Diversity!

Looks like American Christianity is realizing that being diverse for the sake of diversity is not after all in God’s best interests. Lets all look for that Biblical culture that sets us all as citizens of the kingdom of God. Remember, we are in the world but not of it. So should be our culture. It is a unity in diversity but not diversity for diversity’s sake!

The Doctrine of the Devils!

Charles Stanley says on Eternal Security: “You Can Be Sure” (Part 2, Tape #4, RH190):

“When you are born again by the grace of Almighty God,…It doesn’t make any difference how wicked and how vile you act.”

Charles Stanley in his audio tape #3, MH190:

“You can sin like the devil down here and… you won’t lose your salvation.”

Here’s his position in his own words:

Covered by Grace: Free to Sin?
By Charles F. Stanley

The gospel of God’s grace–His full provision for man’s sin–is frequently perverted and attacked by nonbelievers. Most false religions deny the free gift of salvation and embrace good works instead.

Another attack on the doctrine of grace comes from within the body of Christ. Some caution that such good news can lead to a lifestyle of sin. They think grace leads people to say, “I am saved no matter what, so why does it matter how I live?”

The apostle Paul anticipates this when he asks, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?” (Rom. 6:1).

The answer is no. Paul responds to the question in the very next verse: “May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?” (Rom. 6:2). The implication is that it is unthinkable for a Christian to be comfortable continuing in sin. Sin does not stay dormant. It grows. It enslaves. For those in Christ, sin cannot destroy relationship with God, but it will surely damage their testimony and fellowship with Him.

In Romans 6:1, the prefix of the Greek word translated “increase” means super. So the verse really says, “As sin comes, grace comes in a greater way.” In other words, sin may overflow a bit, but grace is like a flood–it is always more than enough, no matter how great the transgression. Sin reached the top of Mt. Sinai, but grace reaches to heavens.

But we do not have license to sin. Abundant grace spurs us to obedience.

(Source: StudyLight Forums)

If you read Romans 6:2 more closely however, you will notice that Paul was not saying here that grace will be so great that it will snuff out any sin, as Dr. Stanley sees it. Rather, Paul sees this (repeated sinning) as an abuse of grace and is startled at the very thought of it. He sees such willful sin as something that must be “rejected with the greatest abhorrence” (Matthew Henry). We must respond to such temptation of Satan like how Jesus responded. “Go Satan!” said Jesus (Matthew 4:10). The reason being: Abused grace/mercy will beget the greatest wrath.

Of course for some, abundant grace spurs them to obedience and encourages them to be more careful hereafter. If man is asked to forgive 490 times then God will forgive us even more number of times. But there is a catch here. As God keeps forgiving us, if we begin to take his grace and discipline “lightly” or despise prophetic utterances or counsel, then that is the end of us. Our conscience begins to get “seared as with a hot iron” (1 Timothy 4:2) and we will no longer hear the promptings of the Holy Spirit. We will not only grieve (Ephesians 4:30) the Holy Spirit but also quench Him (1 Thessalonians 5:19). And it is written, “if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him” (Romans 8:9). They may have a name that they are alive, but they are dead (Revelation 3:1).

So those of you who are singing the Devil’s lullaby: “Thou shalt surely not die.” Stop it right now! Heel!

Dead in Trespasses?

John Piper quotes John Newton as saying:

If I were not a Calvinist, I think I should have no more hope in preaching to men, than to horses or cows.

Ian Bowler explains the above quote as:

I believe he means that without the efficacious call of God, man could no more respond to the Gospel than a horse or a cow. As a Calvinist, Newton believed that salvation was by the power of God and not reliant in any way on a man’s ability to, of his own accord, acquire saving faith (saving faith being a gift from God – the result of his efficacious call). Newton’s confidence was in God alone and was a result of his understanding of God’s sovereignty. If he had held a different view of God’s sovereignty, he felt that he would lack the same confidence.

Was man dead on arrival? As i explain Ephesians 2:1 in the article, “Entering and Remaining in the Kingdom of God”, Paul was merely alluding to John 3:18 (paraphrased) where our Lord Jesus says:

“He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged (or condemned to death) already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

In other words, he is on the broad road on the way to hell, but surely not dead spiritually. He is not totally depraved. There maybe some goodness in him, namely humility of trusting in a good person, which when exercised will lead to life. But that is not to discount the fact that we will die out of despair after beholding our depraved sin condition in the face of a holy God who will not tolerate sin in His presence. We will then have to be resuscitated to life by the Word/Spirit of God, which tells us of one Savior.

This aspect of dying is not for God to execute but we need to die ourselves. In other words we need to become so humble or so small by our own self will that it is like becoming a nothing…a zero…dead. See “Be Born Again!” No doubt this can happen only after the Good News is presented to us by the minister of the Spirit–Word of God.

We will then get a hope of a tomorrow (life), but the burial as well as the resuscitation itself is carried out in the Waters of Baptism, which is administered by a duly appointed member of a church characterized by agape love. It is only then that we get the assurance of salvation (moksha).

China’s methods of subverting USA and INDIA

China made Toy GunThere is an insidious attack by the Chinese–it appears–to subvert India and other non-communist states. A case in point is how the Chinese toy industry is used to sabotage Gun-Control that states like India enjoy today.

I was shocked when i saw this gun in my son’s possession. He bought it by himself in a nearby shop for INR 30 (USD 0.75). It turned out to be a toy gun. I had to explain to him at length how when someone sees this in his possession, they might act in self defense and hurt him. My blood brother Sudeep Motupalli Rao from San Francisco was also with us on a conference to tell him that it is a slippery slope to the real thing. Very soon he would want to use the real guns to get back at someone he does not like. He told him how guns are designed to not merely hurt a person but to kill a life which has survived fifty, seventy years through the world system.

In the United States, it is mandated now to make Toy Guns with a color to reveal that they are toys.  But China, he said, has other ways that are also “insidious.” For instance, jewelery used to contain Lead but when the government banned import of Lead based Jewelery, China is exporting Jewelery that contains Cadmium, which is more dangerous than Lead. Sudeep holds a Masters in Chemical Engineering with a PhD in Environmental Engineering.

Coupled with this insidious attack through the toy industry, China through the Olympic committee  gave India the only Gold medal. Now every kid should imitate Bindra–the sole model for them.

Whether China is deliberately doing this sort of thing is everyone’s guess. China could very well be a puppet in the hands of a much greater force, namely the MNCs. What remains however, is that we are battling against principalities in the heavenly realms to safeguard our neighborhoods.

The first world where most of the MNCs have their headquarters know very well that it is the Standard of Living that determines free flow of human capital back to its roots. They saw the devaluation of the American Dream in the World Trade Center attack. They now want to rub off the same thing on other countries as well especially on vulnerable countries like India where the person who has a voice at all, wears merely handloom clothing, which in their eyes lacks sophistication and therefore an easy target. Khadi served to make India self-reliant during freedom struggle. But in the global economy which is dominated by services, India has to show its clout. I recommend Sherwanis for the Indian political figures and IFS officers rather than the demoted handloom dress code.

Calvinism Debunked!

“Proponents who deny that salvation can never be lost, reason on the subject in a marvelous way. They tell us …..

That no virgin’s lamp can go out; (Matt. 25:8)
That no promising harvest be chocked with thorns; (Matt. 13:22)
That no branch in Christ can ever be cut off from fruitfulness; (John 15:6)
That no name can be blotted out of God’s book! (Rev. 3:5)
That no salt can ever lose its savor; (Mat 5:13)
That nobody can ever “receive the grace of God in vain”; (2 Cor. 6:1)
That no one can “look back” after putting his hand to the plow. (Luke 9:62)
That Nobody can “grieve the Spirit” (Eph 4:30) till He is “quenched,” (1 Thess. 5:19) nor
That Nobody, or body of believers, can ever get so lukewarm that Jesus will spew them out of His mouth. Rev 3:16
They use reams of paper to argue that …
If one ever got lost he was never found;
That if one falls, he never stood.
If one was ever cast forth, he was never in
If one ever withered, (John 15:6) he was never green.
If one draws back, (Heb 10:38) he never had anything to draw back from.
That if one ever falls into spiritual darkness, he was never enlightened;
That if you again get entangled in the pollutions of the world, (2 Pet. 2:20-22) it shows that you never escaped.
That if you put salvation away, you never had it to put away,
That if you make shipwreck of your faith, (1 Tim. 1:19-20) there was no ship of faith there.
In short they say:
If you get it, you can’t lose it: and if you lose it you never had it. May God save us from accepting a doctrine, that must be defended by such fallacious reasoning. (John Wesley)