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The Most Potent One-Sentence Gospel Message

The Most Potent, One-Sentence Gospel Message

Before we get to the question that the title immediately arouses, which is “What is this one-sentence gospel message that is so potent?,” let’s talk about the typical statements used by preachers & see where they fail. When I discuss the following statements, I’m assuming that there’s nothing else said. It’s possible to recover something of value from the following statements, if we spend the time & energy to do so. But I want to find that ideal statement, that is, the one that expresses the truth of the gospel in the most complete, effective, & concise way. Continue reading “The Most Potent One-Sentence Gospel Message”

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Clash of the Titans – 2d post

Clash of the Titans – Arminian Theology Undercut

One aspect of this movie that completely undercuts it theologically is the idea that men’s prayers fuel the gods. Maybe men can fuel demons, but God is totally self-sufficient, aseity as the theologians call it. It means His Self alone is all He needs. This aspect of the true Creator God is one reason man should fall on his face before Him and acknowledge their utter and complete dependence upon Him. Another reason is man’s uncleanness, which the movie (and the ancient mythologies) does not deal with at all.

At the end of it all and despite all his attempts to avoid it, Perseus becomes like “them,” i.e., the gods. He uses their power, and he ends up defending one god, Zeus, from another god, Hades. It’s like being on the side of the “white” witches against the “black” witches. You merely end up defending witchcraft, which represents a rebellion against the sovereign God’s order. Likewise, Perseus, as Zeus aptly put it at the end, will end up being worshipped as a god.

So, what about Christian denominations that teach that man is capable of reaching God? They often teach that the Calvinistic doctrine of the sovereign and gracious choice of God in saving individuals is wrong? Do they not accomplish a similar futility, while claiming to teach Christianity? Teaching humanism instead of the true faith?

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Clash of the Titans

Clash of the Titans

Yes, I know it’s a movie about ancient gods, but for some reason, among all the legends of those ancient gods, it has endured within the Christian world. There’s a reason for that. Other than the fact that it’s a great adventure story, it displays, in quirky, confused, and disjointed ways, mixed with error, the gospel. It’s as if the desire throughout history of man for release, for liberty, for meaning, is tracking the purpose of God, which is to bring that liberty to man through a man. But not just any man. The movie demonstrates how it must be some other kind of man, “born to kill the Kracken.”

Notice how the Titans are more like demonic powers. And the bible tells that the heathen worshipped devils, not mere stone images. The rising of man Continue reading “Clash of the Titans”

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Criminal Justice 1

Criminal Justice 1

Interestingly, the first reference in the law of Moses to the eye-for-an-eye principle is with respect to a law that could apply to abortion.

“If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman’s husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.” Exodus 21:22-25.

This passage combines God’s concern for the protection of innocent human life, created in His image, as well as the Dominion Covenant’s (Gen. 1:28) concern for the propagation of humanity, & the protection of the helpless. The Continue reading “Criminal Justice 1”