He has Risen Indeed!

Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where helay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”

Matthew 28:1-9

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

1 Corinthians 15:1-11

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Frenetic Good Friday

Well it has been awhile since I have done a Frenetic Friday post but let’s get to it.

In case you’re living under a rock or in denial this is what is referred to as Holy Week. And today is Good Friday, and more on that later. But I hope that you did notice that as is the norm the various “shows” on Christianity has appeared on various streaming services. The newest one that I noticed is Jesus: Countdown to Calvary made in 2018 and starring Hugh Bonneville. This is playing on Netflixs. And yes I watched and as expected the idea that Jesus was the divine Son of God or the fulfillment of prophecy was completely played down or not mentioned at all. What I did notice was how it was claimed that Jesus came proclaiming a message of, wait for it, “social justice”. I am not really surprised at this an neither should you be if you’ve been keeping up with any of the “social justice” debates that have been going on in Twitter and elsewhere. Just be aware that this and other messages of the same sort will be playing this time especially since Easter or the Sunday celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus however you wish to refer to it draws near.

And speaking of heretical things have you heard about PreachersNSneakers? It is an Instagram account that has pictures of various “hipster” preachers and the expensive sneakers they are wearing. I am not talking about some $150 dollar Nikes here. No, how about $3000 for an off white pair of Jordan 1 from Europe. Or $1100 “Gucci” slippers?

I don’t mind a pastor being well dressed but I have to call into question exactly why do they need that expensive foot wear. What do you think where should this money have gone to?

And keeping with the Good Friday theme, as well as heretical notions a female Roman Catholic theologian has written a book called “Creation and the Cross: The Mercy of God for a Planet in Peril” In it Elizabeth Johnson maintains that Anselm‘s satisfaction theory of atonement was completely wrong. Johnson maintains that Anselm based it upon “the political system of the day” and that God’s mercy doesn’t call for a bloody and violent death for our sins. Basically atonement needs to be removed from what Christ did. <source>

Rather than have me bumble through why the atonement is necessary I shall point you to these resources:

And here is a list of resources from Monergism: Penal Substitutionary Atonement

And a list of resources from The Highway: TThe Atonement of Christ

Finally something from Toplady:

Goodnight.

Earworm Wednesday: Louie, Louie ~ Tom Petty

This song made famous by a Portland Oregon garage band named “The Kingsmen” has been covered by more groups than I can count. Here is Tom Petty singing about a lonely sailor wanting to get back to his love.

Faith’s Checkbook

My Choice Is His Choice
“He shall choose our inheritance for us” (Psalm 47:4).

Our enemies would allot us a very dreary portion, but we are not left in their hands. The LORD will cause us to stand in our lot, and our place is appointed by His infinite wisdom. A wiser mind than our own arranges our destiny, The ordaining of all things is with God, and we are glad to have it so; we choose that God should choose for us. If we might have our own way we would wish to let all things go in God’s way.

Being conscious of our own folly, we would not desire to rule our own destinies. We feel safer and more at ease when the LORD steers our vessel than we could possibly be if we could direct it according to our own judgment. Joyfully we leave the painful present and the unknown future with our Father, our Savior, our Comforter.

O my soul, this day lay down thy wishes at Jesus’ feet! If thou hast of late been somewhat wayward and willful, eager to be and to do after thine own mind, now dismiss thy foolish self, and place the reins in the LORD’s hands. Say, “He shall choose.” If others dispute the sovereignty of the LORD and glory in the free will of man, do thou answer them, “He shall choose for me.” It is my freest choice to let Him choose. As a free agent, I elect that He should have absolute sway.

Earworm Wednesday: Love Me Again ~ Nescafe Basement Singers

John Newman’s one hit wonder has been running through my head for a week because of a TV show I watch. And I found this cover of it. Now besides the fact that you are seeing a group of very talented young ladies let me point out the variety of different instruments. In particular I haven’t seen a sitar used in a rock song since George Harrison did it when he was in the Beatles.

Faith’s Checkbook

WITHOUT FEAR OF MAN

“And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the Lord; and they shall be afraid of thee” Deut. 28:10

Then we can have no reason to be afraid of them. This would show a mean spirit, and be a token of unbelief rather than of faith. God can make us so like Himself, that men shall be forced to see that we rightly bear His name, and truly belong to the Holy Jehovah. Oh, that we may obtain this grace, which the Lord waits to bestow!

Be assured that ungodly men have a fear of true saints. They hate them, but they also fear them. Haman trembled because of Mordecai, even when he sought the good man’s destruction. In fact, their hate often arises out of a dread which they are too proud to confess. Let us pursue the path of truth and uprightness without the slightest tremor. Fear is not for us, but for those who do ill and fight against the Lord of hosts. If indeed the name of the Eternal God is named upon us, we are secure; for, as of old, a Roman had but to say Romanus sum, I am a Roman, and he could claim the protection of all the legions of the vast empire; so every one who is a man of God has omnipotence as his guardian, and God will sooner empty Heaven of angels than leave a saint without defense. Be braver than lions for the right, for God is with you.

No Earworm

Been reading not listening to music and the stuff I have happened to hear didn’t stay with me so no Earworm Wednesday.

Faith’s Checkbook

Presence of Mind
“Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh. For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken” (Proverbs 3;25-26).

When God is abroad in judgments, He would not have His people alarmed. He has not come forth to harm but to defend the righteous.

He would have them manifest courage. We who enjoy the presence of God ought to display presence of mind. Since the LORD Himself may suddenly come, we ought not to be surprised at anything sudden. Serenity under the rush and roar of unexpected evils is a precious gift of divine love.

The LORD would have His chosen display discrimination so that they may see that the desolation of the wicked is not a real calamity to the universe. Sin alone is evil; the punishment which follows thereupon is as a preserving salt to keep society from putrefying. We should be far more shocked at the sin which deserves hell than at the hell which comes out of sin.

So, too, should the LORD’s people exhibit great quietness of spirit. Satan and his serpent seed are full of all subtlety; but those who walk with God shall not be taken in their deceitful snares. Go on, believer in Jesus, and let the LORD be thy confidence

Earworm Wednesday: Taxman ~ Joe Bonamassa

Yes it is that time once again where you try to navigate those obscure rules known as the tax codes. So with that I give you Joe Bonamassa singing a Beatle classic.

Faith’s Checkbook

Established and Kept
“But the LORD is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil” (2 Thessalonians 3:3).

Men are often as devoid of reason as of faith. There are with us still “unreasonable and wicked men.” There is no use in arguing with them or trying to be at peace with them: they are false at heart and deceitful in speech. Well, what of this? Shall we worry ourselves with them? No; let us turn to the LORD, for He is faithful. No promise from His Word will ever be broken. He is neither unreasonable in His demands upon us nor unfaithful to our claims upon Him. We have a faithful God. Be this our joy.

He will stablish us so that wicked men shall not cause our downfall, and He will keep us so that none of the evils which now assail us shall really do us damage. What a blessing for us that we need not contend with men but are allowed to shelter ourselves in the LORD Jesus, who is in truest sympathy with us. There is one true heart, one faithful mind, one never changing love; there let us repose. The LORD will fulfill the purpose of His grace to us, His servants, and we need not allow a shadow of a fear to fatal upon our spirits. Not all that men or devils can do can hinder us of the divine protection and provision. This day let us pray the LORD to stablish and keep us