Romans 4:3-7, “For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.”
I went walking along the ocean at sunrise this morning, and then went to do my laundry at the local A-1 laundromat on route 8. After the load of laundry finished 20 minutes later, I opened the door and a $10 bill fell out of the machine into my laundry bucket. I was amazed that the $10 was still wholly in tact, without a tear. You'd think after 20 minutes of being drowned in detergent and water, and tumbling, and then spinning dry, that the $10 would have turned to mush like oatmeal. But it was like new. Am I guilty of laundering money? That's a joke.
While I had been waiting for my clothes to wash, as I always do I read a hardcopy that I keep in my vehicle of Michael Bowen's classic book titled: “I NEVER KNEW YOU.” It is one of my favorite books to read, over and over. I read the following passage today exposing the counterfeit gospel of Pastor Rick Warren of the fake Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California. Rick Warren is not a born-again Christian, he is a fraud in the pulpit...
As children, most of us were told the tale of the Pied Piper, a story about a man who played a type of flute who led little children away from the care of their families and ended up drowning in the river. Like the Pied Piper, Warren plays an irresistible tune that no one can ignore. Once people hear what he has to say, they are hooked. Warren digs down into the cores of our individual beings, down into our deepest desires of wanting to forget our pasts, our mistakes and failures, of wanting to make our present lives the best that they can be, and by telling us that if we invite Christ into our hearts and give ourselves to Him that we will go to heaven; however, like the fictional Pied Piper, Warren leads every mesmerized believer of this false gospel to a place of drowning, but not in a river of water; instead, it is the eternal lake of fire, according to the bible. Jesus Christ offers a very different plan of salvation.
Jesus said that the will of the Father was for everyone to recognize Christ as the Messiah and to believe on Him alone for the gift of everlasting life. “And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:40). To make it ever more succinct, Jesus then said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life” (John 6:47).
The gospel message is the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. When we believe that Jesus died for us and came back to life three days later, He knows it — He knows all of your thoughts — and He knows the very instant that you believe His gospel message. The instant you believe His message, Jesus saves you. Time and time again we see in the bible that when people heard this message, they “believed.” When they believed, they were saved that very same instant. They did not pray prayers of salvation asking Jesus into their hearts. They did not commit their lives to the Lordship of Christ. They did not determine to follow Him all the days of their lives in obedience to His Lordship or to the practice of discipleship. They simply believed on Christ alone as their savior.
It doesn’t matter how successful a ministry is, or how beautiful and satisfying their particular plan of salvation may be. If what they say about salvation does not match with what Christ said about salvation, their plan is counterfeit and falls under the label of an “accursed message.” Galatians 1:8-9 says, “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.” SOURCE: Michael P. Bowen, “I NEVER KNEW YOU,” pp. 57-59
What a beautiful passage! I hope you read those words carefully and let them sink in. If you did dear friend, then you read a very simple presentation of the Gospel. Let me repeat some of the preceding quote, that is my favorite part:
The gospel message is the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. When we believe that Jesus died for us and came back to life three days later, He knows it — He knows all of your thoughts — and He knows the very instant that you believe His gospel message. The instant you believe His message, Jesus saves you. Time and time again we see in the bible that when people heard this message, they “believed.” SOURCE: Michael P. Bowen, “I NEVER KNEW YOU,” pp. 57-59
Folks, that is a beautiful explanation of the Gospel. We are all guilty sinners (Romans 3:10-23). As such we are needy sinners too, we all need redemption! We all need a Savior!!! Thankfully, God the Father in His incredible love sent His only begotten Son into the world to die on the cross for our sins. Jesus paid a debt He did not owe, because we owed a debt of sin we could not pay. JESUS PAID IT ALL!!!
And please don't miss Michael Bowen's wise words based upon the inspired Word of God, refuting the many false teachings perverting salvation in churches today:
When they believed, they were saved that very same instant. They did not pray prayers of salvation asking Jesus into their hearts. They did not commit their lives to the Lordship of Christ. They did not determine to follow Him all the days of their lives in obedience to His Lordship or to the practice of discipleship. They simply believed on Christ alone as their savior. SOURCE: Michael P. Bowen, “I NEVER KNEW YOU,” pp. 57-59
Now you see why I love this book so much, because Michael Bowen is a rare find nowadays. Brother Bowen credits Pastor Hank Lindstrom (1940-2008) with opening his eyes about the true Gospel, in Dr. Lindstrom's sermon called: 'HOW PERMANENT IS YOUR SALVATION.' I hope you also friend will take the time, as did Michael Bowen, to listen to this powerful sermon. On page 16 of “I NEVER KNEW YOU,” Michael says that it was Pastor Hank Lindstrom's sermon titled: “How Permanent Is Your Salvation?,” that showed him Christ's plan of salvation and led him to Jesus Christ, when he saw in the Bible for himself what Christ had said about it. Michael writes on page 16:
Again, here is that precious sermon: “HOW PERMANENT IS YOUR SALVATION?”...“One night, in late 2005, I found some articles written by Dr. Hank Lindstrom that freed me from so much of the bondage of counterfeit salvation. I then listened to Dr. Lindstrom’s sermon “How Permanent Is Your Salvation?” After hearing him preach Christ’s plan of salvation and after seeing in the bible for myself what Christ had said about it, I trusted Jesus alone, as my only hope of heaven.” SOURCE: “I NEVER KNEW YOU,” by Michael P. Bowen; by Barbour Books, © 2009; page 16
YouTube: HOW PERMANENT IS YOUR SALVATION?
MP3: HOW PERMANENT IS YOUR SALVATION?
I truly care about you dear reader. Unlike today's plethora of Neo-evangelical parasite pastors and Bible colleges, who make millions of dollars from their religious businesses, I don't make a penny and never have from serving God. I just want to help you! I do what I do because I love Jesus, because I love the truth, and because I love you with God's unconditional love. The Gospel is the key to eternal life. The information I have shared with you on this blog page is so vital and life changing, if you will simply take it to heart friend.
The Bob Jones University (BJU) crowd are corrupt today! Kindly said, Steve Pettit, John MacArthur, Marty Herron, Gary Walton, Sam Horn, Charles Phelps, Daniel Phelps, Harvest Baptist Church on Guam, and anyone connected with BJU today, are preaching ANOTHER GOSPEL (Galatians 1:6-9; 2nd Corinthians 11:3-4). It is a serious crime against Heaven! Our Baptist churches today have been corrupted by Satan. Instead of preaching the simplicity of the Gospel as Michael Bowen preaches in his helpful book, Neo-evangelicals preach a different message entirely. The perverse Lordship Salvation gang ADD praying to be saved, committing your life to Christ, following Jesus as “Lord,” faithfully running the race, exchanging all that you are for all that Christ is, turning away from your sinful bad habits, et cetera. Brother Bowens wisely states:
They did not pray prayers of salvation asking Jesus into their hearts. They did not commit their lives to the Lordship of Christ. They did not determine to follow Him all the days of their lives in obedience to His Lordship or to the practice of discipleship. They simply believed on Christ alone as their savior. SOURCE: Michael P. Bowen, “I NEVER KNEW YOU,” pp. 57-59
Dear reader, and you are dear to me, I want you to go to Heaven. I want you to live forever and ever with Jesus. I want you to KNOW 100%, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that you are saved and your name is written in Heaven. I know what I am talking about as a born-again Christian for 41 years now! Here are some very disturbing words from Evangelist Paul Washer:
Paul Washer speaks a half-truth. I agree that praying a prayer is not the way to be saved, but simply believing on the name of Jesus is! Pastor Washer criticizes the practice of encouraging new converts to write down the date they are saved. This is because Calvinists do not believe you can KNOW you're saved in an instant, they believe that you must live a sanctified life to prove the genuineness of your faith. That is not the free gift of God. A gift CAN be accepted freely and on the spot, and you CAN know immediately that it is forever you, without any strings attached or further obligations to keep it.“We talk about the Germans of the 20th centuries that brought on their higher criticism. It is not near as dangerous as conservative Baptists with their gospel reductionism. How dare we, all these stupid evangelists walking around telling men after they've made some little prayer that they need to write their name in the back of their Bible, and put the date and if the Devil ever comes to them, they need to show him that. That is Roman superstition, it is not the gospel of Jesus Christ. You see we've turned the gospel into a flu-shot.” [emphasis added] SOURCE: Paul Washer Sermonette
“In great contests [battles], each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God—both may be, but one must be, wrong—God cannot be for and against the same thing at the same time!” —President Abraham Lincoln
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.