What's The Big Harry Deal

I’ve got some great ideas for a new series of children’s books. Let me share some of them with you:

1) Perry Hotter and the Dirty Crack Pipe- A young boy is shipped off to live in an inner-city crack house. In this crack house, the boy is trained in the ways of illicit drug production, use, and distribution. Perry has wonderful adventures learning about creating more effective highs, outwitting the bad crack dealers, and teaching other young kids about the joys of drug use.

2) Perry Hotter and the Jihadist’s Bomb-belt- A young boy is shipped off to an Al Qaeda training camp. At this training camp, the boy is trained in the covert practices of subverting American laws, developing dirty bombs, and using a sword to cut off an infidel’s head. Perry’s amazing exploits include evading U.S. spy planes, purchasing nuclear materials from Chechen rebels, and developing jihadist literature to share with his friends at school.

3) Perry Hotter and the Prostitutes of Pleasure- A young boy is shipped off to a secretive brothel in Eastern Europe. While living in this brothel, the boy is taught all of the most effective pimping techniques. Perry’s feats include seducing poor Russian girls with offers of employment in the west, bribing dirty police officers to look the other way, and exposing other children to the pleasures of earning a living by selling their bodies.

What do you think? You’re shocked?! You’re outraged?! How could I even suggest a book series for children containing such vile and filthy material?

To be sure, I think that these are all commonsense and appropriate responses to the evil subject matter detailed in my imaginary book series. How could anyone, yet alone a Bible believing Christian, think that this is appropriate subject matter for a series of children’s books? You don’t have to look very far into scripture to find that illegal drug abuse, terrorism, and sexual exploitation are all topics that break the heart of God.

However, while my imaginary series of children’s books, featuring these demonic evils, would be condemned outright by any God-fearing person, there is currently a real children’s book series on the market, filled with equally dangerous and unbiblical evils, that is being bought by the millions, even by Christian families. This is the Harry Potter series, which has recently released a new book, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. In its first day of sales alone, this newest addition to the Harry Potter series sold almost 7 million copies; and will probably sell upwards of 15 million+ by the time it’s all said and done. While this reality should shock and disturb our society, what we find instead is widespread praise for the “magic” of Harry Potter and how he has “enchanted” millions of kids into reading. What’s even more disturbing is the vast number of Christian children and parents flocking into bookstores to buy their family a copy, while our pastors remain silent about the dangers found within Harry Potter’s pages.

The Harry Potter series is wholly based on the dark arts of witchcraft, sorcery, and spiritism. These are all Satanic practices that are absolutely condemned by God throughout the Bible. In Deuteronomy 18:9-14, God tells us that these practices are an “abomination” in God’s sight. In Galatians 5:19-21, God says that sorcery is a “work of the flesh” and that those who practice sorcery “will not inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.” And Revelation 22:15 tells us that sorcerers will not be present in the glorious city of the New Jerusalem.

Christian brothers and sisters, if God condemns the activities glorified in the Harry Potter series, and if by God’s standards Harry Potter himself will spend eternity separated from God, how can we as believers ever justify the purchasing of any Harry Potter book? How can we justify allowing our children, the children God calls us to raise “in the training and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4), to read books that revel in such clearly unbiblical practices? We would never allow our children to read stories that glorify illegal drug abuse, murder, or sexual exploitation, so why do we lower the standards when it comes to witchcraft and sorcery?

Being “salt and light” to the world (Matthew 5:13-16) sometimes requires that we as believers take a stand against things that the world defines as popular, cool, and even beneficial. No matter how many Harry Potter books are sold, no matter how much acclaim Harry Potter receives, and no matter how great people think it is that Harry Potter has caused kids to put down their video games to read a book, sorcery will always be an “abomination” in God’s eyes. And if God views the subject matter of Harry Potter as an abomination, then we as Christians have no choice but to do likewise.

Ligonier's Reformation Day Sale

Ligonier is commemorating Reformation Day this Wednesday by offering their Reformation Study Bible for $15.17.

PAUL WASHER : A CHALLENGE FOR PASTORS

Trick or Retreat?

With Halloween just a few days away, I wanted to mention that Grace to You has a helpful article on their website regarding “Christians and Halloween.” The article begins like this:

Halloween. It’s a time of year when the air gets crisper, the day gets shorter, and for many young Americans the excitement grows in anticipation of the darkest, spookiest holiday of the year. Retailers rejoice too as they warm up their cash registers to receive an average of $41.77 per household in decorations, costumes, candy, and greeting cards. Halloween will bring in approximately 3.3 billion dollars this year.

It’s a good bet retailers won’t entertain high expectations of getting $41.77 per household from the Christian market. Many Christians refuse to participate in Halloween. Some are wary of its pagan origins; others of its dark, ghoulish imagery; still others are concerned for the safety of their children. But other Christians choose to partake of the festivities, whether participating in school activities, neighborhood trick-or-treating, or a Halloween alternative at their church.

The question is, How should Christians respond to Halloween? Is it irresponsible for parents to let their children trick-or-treat? What about Christians who refuse any kind of celebration during the season — are they overreacting?

To read the rest of this article, click here.

Early Halloween treat, a little frightening...Interview With Doug Pagitt of the Emergent Church PT1

Doug Pagitt Denies the Doctrine of Hell on WOTMR

Interview With Doug Pagitt of the Emergent Church PT2

listen to Todd Friel on Yoga!!

click here to listen to Todd Friel reply to Pagitt's remarks...

Todd Friel played portions of that podcast, interspersed with his own comments, on Wednesday's first hour of Way of the Master Radio. (Click on the poster below to hear the six-minute segment from WoTM Radio where Todd replied to Pagitt's remarks.

Retirement Part 1

Bush- Muslim, Christian, or any other religion, prays to the same God.

President Bush did with a reporter from an Islamic news service. During that interview, President Bush said:

Well, first of all, I believe in an Almighty God, and I believe that all the world, whether they be Muslim, Christian, or any other religion, prays to the same God. That's what I believe. I believe that Islam is a great religion that preaches peace.

President Bush states that all people of faith pray to the same God. Well let’s see if that is true. The Bible says:

"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;" (1 Timothy 2:5)

"Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also." (1 John 2:23)

"And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." (1 John 5:11,12)

"He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." (John 3:18)

"He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." (John 3:36)

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6)

Well if I have this correct, there is only one way to get to the Father and that is through His Son the Lord Jesus Christ. No other way. So in order for all of us to be praying to the same God, all of the people of different religions would have to believe the same way. So when, not if because you are supposed to be sharing your faith as a Christian, you talk to Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Catholics, Sikhs, New Agers, etc. do they tell you that Jesus is the only way to get to the Father? Let me tell you from experience, no they do not. Why? Because they do not believe Jesus is the only way. It is mainly because they

pray to a different god and do not believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ. Can a true born again believer really believe that we all pray to the same God and that there are multiple ways to be right with that God? Since we know that is not true when you read the Bible, I wonder if there is another reason. Let’s look to the Bible and see:

"How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?" (John 5:44)

"For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ." (Galatians 1:10)

"Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue:

For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God." (John 12:42,43)

So which is it folks? Do you love the praise of men or do you love the praise of God? Are you seeking pats on the back from men or are you seeking to glorify the Lord no matter what the cost? Are you worried what friends might say about you, bosses might say about you, newspapers and TV might say about you, or are you much more focused and concerned what the God of the Bible will say about you on Judgment Day?

Later on in the article President Bush stated that he was hosting an Iftar dinner. It is the seventh one he has hosted in the seven years he has been in the White House. An Iftar dinner is the evening meal that breaks the daily fast that Muslims perform during the month of Ramadan.

You can go ahead and put me in the category of people who will not be hosting an Iftar dinner this year or any other year. I would be more than happy to go to one if I am invited, but you can be rest assured that I will be telling people the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ that will lead them to the only God that is out there when they die.

The praise of men or the praise of God, which one is it for you? A false convert or a true convert, which one are you?

Please pray for President Bush. He needs to get his spiritual house in order. All of us need to examine ourselves to make sure we are of the faith. As I tell people, Judgment Day sorts everything out. Make sure you have it all sorted out before you get to the throne of God because it will be too late to do anything about it then.

America's Ugly Exported "Gospel"

John Piper on worship

"In true worship, there is always understanding with the mind and there is always feeling with the heart. Understanding must always be the foundation of feeling, or all we have is baseless emotionalism. But understanding of God that doesn't give rise to feeling for God becomes mere intellectualism and deadness. This is why the Bible continually calls us to think and consider and meditate, on the one hand, and to rejoice and fear and mourn and delight and hope and be glad, on the other hand. Both are essential for worship.

Is yoga Biblical?

I finally found out how to add videos, wooh

"Proof that ungodliness is rampant in evangelical circles is evident in megachurches that purposely cater to the preferences of the ungodly---furnishing entertainment and amusements in place of authentic worship and Bible teaching. More proof is found in a popular doctrinal system that deliberately removes the lordship of Christ from the Gospel proclamation to give a theological justification for 'carnal Christians'--- people who profess to believe in Christ but live ungodly lives."
-John MacArthur, The Truth War

Money For Something

Quote of the day

"It is partly because sin does not provoke our own wrath that we do not believe that sin provokes the wrath of God."
-R.W. Dale

Christian Yoga...What !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24r1LV93IXg&mode=related&search=

“Yoga purists are bent out of shape”. This was the headline of a recent article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper. The article explained that traditional Yoga “experts contend that Hindu religious elements are being profaned by fad versions of the ancient practice.”

So, what are these “fad versions” of yoga that are upsetting the Hindu yogis? The article cites as an example the “millions of Americans… practicing yoga to improve flexibility, strengthen muscles and relieve stress.” These 16.5 million American yoga enthusiasts “spend nearly $3 billion annually on classes and products”.

The problem with this, according to the Hindu yogis quoted in the article, is that yoga was never designed to be an exercise, yet alone an exercise “fad”. Rather, yoga is an ancient Hindu religious practice, intended to unite a person’s soul with the impersonal, universal force Hindus call “god”. The Hindu Sanskrit word “yoga” literally means to be yoked or joined in union. And the goal of every Hindu yogi is to use the religious practice of yoga to lose their personality and individuality and to become one with the monistic-pantheistic spiritual force of Hinduism. This is done through Hatha Yoga (the physical disciplines), where one seeks to call up what Hindus say is the Kundalini or spiritual force described as a “coiled white serpent of light” to aid them in their transcendence to impersonal spiritual monism. There should be no doubt about it; yoga is a 2,000 year old Hindu religious practice designed for very specific spiritual and occult purposes.

This Star Tribune article should be a wake-up call to the thousands, if not millions, of Christians who are regularly practicing yoga. And it should be a wake-up call to the hundreds, if not thousands, of Christian churches that have embraced yoga as a regular part of their weekly worship. Too many Christians have erroneously strayed into participating in various forms of this Hindu religious practice. The common claim is that they’re only doing yoga “for its exercise benefits”; or for those aware of its Hindu religious origins, that their yoga meditation is “directed towards Jesus Christ and not the gods of Hinduism”. The fact of the matter is this, God strictly forbids his people from dabbling in the false religious activities of the world.

As you read through Scripture, you will not find one example of God tolerating His people’s participation in pagan religious activities. Rather, over and over again God explicitly condemns this. So, why should we think that just because yoga has some exercise benefits, that God’s standards have now changed? Why should we think that a pagan religious practice, even one that may work, is suddenly acceptable in God’s eyes? Think about it, there are a lot of pagan religious practices that work (witchcraft, sorcery, spiritism, ouija boards, etc.), but we don’t recommend that our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ participate in them. So, why should yoga be any different?

Christians who have mistakenly gotten involved in the practice of yoga need to stop now; there is no excuse for staying involved in a pagan religious activity. And Christian churches that have embraced yoga as a regular part of their worship need to put an end to this and repent; God will not tolerate His people’s participation in pagan religious practices. God calls His people to be set-apart, to be salt and light to the world. How are we being faithful to this calling if we are participating in the rituals of pagan religions?