Tag: gospel

cultural · evangelism · gospel · Uncategorized

Preach the gospel at all times. Use words if necessary?

Bob SnyderLeave a comment

George Whitefield Revivalism

The great commission is a clear and direct command from God. We are to preach the gospel of Christ to all the earth, and make disciples of all men. Every Christian is an evangelist, if they are a Christian. No Christian can in good conscience sit idly by while people walk out of time into eternity without Christ. It is the most unloving, selfish thing a person can do. St. Francis was falsely attributed with the saying, “Preach the gospel at all times. Use words if necessary.” This concept is no where to be found in the Bible. I guess if you don’t care that people are going to die and suffer in hell for all eternity you can just be a nice person, and hope that the people in your life convert before they get hit by a buss, and end up in hell, but why would you when eternity is on the line? Simply being nice to people does not give them the gospel. The good news of Christ is the penal substitutiary atonement that He accomplished on the cross of His suffering. He who knew no sin, became sin, for us. He was imputed with sin that was not His, and suffered for it. He paid the price that we could not pay, and makes the repentant sinner just to God by faith. His righteousness is imputed to the humbled sinner. They are saved by grace through faith. “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Eph 2:8-9. If any of you have not repented of your sins, and trusted in Christ alone for your salvation, do not wait, or put it off. “And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain—
2for He says,
“AT THE ACCEPTABLE TIME I LISTENED TO YOU,
AND ON THE DAY OF SALVATION I HELPED YOU.”
Behold, now is “THE ACCEPTABLE TIME,” behold, now is “THE DAY OF SALVATION”—” 2 Cor 6:1-2.

Romans 10:14-15 (NASB)  How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who  bring good news of good things!”

cultural · firearms · gospel · government · Uncategorized

Where does murder come from?

Bob SnyderLeave a comment

pe9s_utah_pickup_gun_rack

With recent events in America, one wonders, “Why?  Why are people killing others?”  Meanwhile the left is using these tragedies as an excuse to shift the blame to an inanimate object.  This of course makes the right angry enough to commit murder of the heart, while the left is angry enough to actually commit murder.  Their pundits are encouraging it on the nightly news, if that is what you call it.  Of course on the right we’ve taken to calling if fake news, because we are tired of all the lies, half truths, and godless, communist, propaganda.  Before you run off, assuming this is a political rant, I urge you to keep reading.

Murder is nothing new.  Mankind has been killing since the beginning.  The agnostic, or atheist left would have you believe it is a matter of education.  They assume that people are naturally good intentioned, and if they grow up to be hateful, bigots, evil conservatives, or murderers, it is simply because they were given wrong, or inadequate education.  As a Christian, a Father of 4, and a Corrections Officer of 24 years, I can assure you that is not the case.

We are born with one thing on our minds, our own individual pleasure.  Our flesh is the most important thing to us.  We learn to love our parents, because they take care of us.  It still boils down to self.  Without them, I would have nobody to feed me, clean me, comfort me.  We don’t wonder why they do those things at first.  We just accept it.  We must have some quality about us that is worthy of that kind of affection, but then the lessons begin.  Punishment for doing bad things.  Rewards for doing good things.  Well the nature of a child loves rewards.  The flesh loves goodies, and compliments, but it hates spankings, physical pain, removal of fun things.

Being selfish, and evil is our nature.  We have to be taught to be good.  We want to be comfortable, and enjoy pleasurable things.  That is not necessarily sinful, but when it involves committing a sin, or sins of omission to achieve that comfort, or pleasure, then we are guilty.  Read what God has to say about it in His word,

James 4:1-10 (NASB) Things to Avoid
​  What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: “He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us”? But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”  Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.  Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.  Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom.  Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.

It is pretty clear that we murder because we are selfish, sinners at heart.  We don’t rightly fear God, nor do we heed his laws.  We make up our own to please our flesh.  We make up our own gods as well.  Some depressed teen surmises that nobody loves him, or they don’t live up to his unrealistic expectations of how they should behave towards him, which further drives him to hate those who don’t participate in his self-pity, so he decides to teach the world a lesson.  This by the way is the result of all the self-esteem nonsense pushed down our throats for the last 40 years.  People don’t need to feel better about themselves, or esteem themselves more, especially if that esteem is misplaced.  We need to see ourselves as God sees us.  We need the truth.

You didn’t see this happening in the 60’s and 70’s.  We used to drive to school with our rifles in a wrack on our pickup cab rear window.  It was common place.  Kids would come to school with their dear, or elk in the back of the pickup to show it off after a successful hunt.  The problem isn’t guns, kids, or video games.  It is the sinful heart of man, and the lies that we are telling our kids.  This is a necessary consequence of becoming a godless secular society.  You want to blame someone leftists?  Blame yourselves.

People seem so shocked by murder partially as a selfish way to virtue signal.  We also are shocked by it because we see ourselves as good, and deserving happy lives with many rewards, and pleasures.  To think that someone would not value us they way we value ourselves is a shock.  Of course there are exceptions to the rule.

There are people who are shocked for the right reasons, most of those people are Christians.  They see the value of human life according to the word of God.  They understand that we deserve death, and hell, and that every day is a blessing from God where we should seek to glorify Him.  They understand the inherent idolatry, and blasphemy of destroying an image bearer of God, and spilling the blood unjustly, the blood of His creatures who belong to him, the blood that contains the life.

What we need is for people to be taught the truth.  We are sinners.  We need for Christians, the Church, to preach the gospel of Christ.  If people come to Christ, and are changed, they won’t become mass murderers.  Do you want to see America great again?  Preach Christ!  More laws won’t do it.

 

gender dysphoria · gospel · sin · Uncategorized

The only true cure for gender dysphoria.

Bob SnyderLeave a comment

sin

If you have unbiblical preconceived notions about how you should be treated, or how your life should be going, you are not only in sin, but you will never be content, and you’ll always be angry.

If you are confused about your gender, you need the truth, not lies. If you pretend to be a man, when you are actually a woman, you will always know that you are not a man. It will be with you all the while. You will always know you are a woman pretending to be a man. You will never fit in with actual men. You don’t need people to help you lie to yourself. You need the truth. Your emotions are not tempered with knowledge that is true. This will only lead to more suffering. Accept the truth. The truth is that you have sinful feelings and thoughts. You, along with the rest of us, are perverted. We all need God to grant us repentance, and faith. Pray for God to lead you to actual truth, and free you from your sins.  Trust the finished work of Jesus Christ, on the cross for your righteousness.  He took our punishment, and satisfied the just wrath of God with His sacrifice.  We need to repent of our sins, and trust solely in Him.

Church · Uncategorized

We need Church.

Bob SnyderLeave a comment

One of the many reasons we,as hypocritical sinners, should attend Church, is so we can obey Christ, in being sanctified through learning to humbly love other hypocritical sinners. Remember, if you find the perfect Church, run because you will ruin it by joining. There is no such thing as a, “perfect Church” All local bodies are made up of wretched worms, who have gathered to worship the only true and living, good and merciful, God who saves.  If your excuse is that the Church is full of hypocrites, then it is invalid.  You yourself are also guilty of hypocritically judging.  Please take a look, and a listen to these resources available at Wretched.org

 

 

Eastern Orthodoxy · gospel · heresy · Uncategorized

Eastern Orthodox Church and the Gospel?

Bob Snyder8 Comments

Patriarch-Kirill-Orthodox-Pascha

I was looking for a Youtube video of an Eastern Orthodox Father explaining the gospel when I found the one below.  After watching it, I’m not sure they know what the gospel is.  Was it just me, or was his explanation convoluted and imprecise?  After listening to it, I’m more unsure of what they believe than when I began.  It seems to be the normative for the EOC.  It is almost like they purposely leave things unclear.  It is like buying a car from a used car salesman in a fancy outfit who says, “Come on, trust me.  I’m looking out for you.” but then he won’t let you look under the hood, or even open the car door before you buy, and when you ask him what size engine it has, he just assures you that it is wayyy better than your other car, because it is the oldest car around.

The gospel is fairly simple to explain as a Protestant.  That is because we hold the Bible, God’s Word, as our authority for our faith.  Ya know why? Because it is God’s Word…  Here it is in a nutshell, we are sinners. God is perfectly righteous. We can’t be good enough to make up for our sins. Jesus Christ, the second person of the triune God, took on human flesh, was born of the virgin Marry, lived a perfect sinless life, and was righteous. He was truly God, and truly man. He went to the cross, had the wrath of God poured out on Him that we had coming to us, and paid for our sins.  This justified us to God.  If we repent of our sins, turn from them and turn to Christ, trust in His work on the cross where He atoned for us, and believe only in Him and His work for our salvation, God considers us as righteous as Jesus.  His righteousness is imputed to us once we repent and believe.  After that moment, we are saved, and can never be lost again.  From that point on, God will conform us to His Son’s likeness, in the sense that we will begin to hate our sin, and love God and His will more.  We will submit to Him more.  We will grow in the knowledge of our own personal sins, as well as grow in holiness.  OK so maybe I didn’t make it as simple as, “Repent of your sins, believe in Christ, then you are saved.”  I could have, because in a sense, it is that simple.

The EOC explanation of the difference between the EOC and Protestants gospel was kind of useless to me.  I don’t know how it could be good news to anyone.  It almost sounded like the guy was trying to say they believe you can be dead and get saved.  If that is true, then the Bible is a lie.  If the Bible, being God’s Word is a lie, then it isn’t God’s Word.  I trust the Bible and not the EOC’s man made traditions.

Apologetics · eccumenism · evangelism · gospel · sharing the gospel · Theology · Uncategorized

Why do Calvinists Evangelize?

Bob Snyder2 Comments

Spurgeonevangelism

  1.  God commands it in His word. Mark 16:15 (NASB) 15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
  2.  He ordains the ends and the means.
  3.  At that moment in time, it is not apparent to us who is among the elect.  If we share the gospel with a person who is among the elect, but it is not their due time to be regenerated, then they will reject the gospel.  If it is their time, they will respond with repentance and faith, that are also granted by God.  If we share the gospel with a person who is not among the elect, no matter when in their life they hear it, they will never respond with true repentance and faith.  Even a person who is not among the elect could affirm the gospel intellectually, but never be truly converted.

If people would look into the history of modern evangelism, they would see that many of the memorable evangelists have been Calvinists.

Calvinist Evangelists

  1.   The Apostle Paul 🙂
  2.   George Whitefield
  3.   David Brainerd
  4.   William Carey
  5.   Charles Spurgeon
  6.   C.T. Studd
  7.   Jonathan Edwards
  8.   Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones
  9.   Francis Schaeffer
  10.   Francis Chan

Just to name a few.  Oh, and before you get all persnickety and claim that some of the people on the list were Pastors, or theologians, remember they also evangelized.  Spurgeon said, “Every Christian is either a missionary or an imposter.”  While we are at it, we all are sinners.  We have broken God’s laws and are guilty.  Repent from your sins.  Turn from them and obey God’s word.  Believe on the work of Jesus Christ on the cross, where He atoned for your sin.  Don’t put your faith in your own efforts or works to save you.  You can never satisfy the requirements of God’s righteousness, but Jesus did.  His righteousness can be credited to you if you will repent and trust in Him.

God · gospel · government · politics · prophecy · Repentance · sharing the gospel · Sovereign choice · Uncategorized

Something from Habakkuk to Remember.

Bob Snyder1 Comment

habakkuk

Here is Habakkuk’s cry to God,

“Habakkuk 1:1-4 NASB The oracle which Habakkuk the prophet saw. (2) How long, O LORD, will I call for help, And You will not hear? I cry out to You, “Violence!” Yet You do not save. (3) Why do You make me see iniquity, And cause me to look on wickedness? Yes, destruction and violence are before me; Strife exists and contention arises. (4) Therefore the law is ignored And justice is never upheld. For the wicked surround the righteous; Therefore justice comes out perverted.”

Notice, his cry to God could be our cry today in the midst of a godless, secular, America.  Now look at God’s reply,

“Habakkuk 1:5-11 NASB “Look among the nations! Observe! Be astonished! Wonder! Because I am doing something in your days– You would not believe if you were told. (6) “For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, That fierce and impetuous people Who march throughout the earth To seize dwelling places which are not theirs. (7) “They are dreaded and feared; Their justice and authority originate with themselves. (8) “Their horses are swifter than leopards And keener than wolves in the evening. Their horsemen come galloping, Their horsemen come from afar; They fly like an eagle swooping down to devour. (9) “All of them come for violence. Their horde of faces moves forward. They collect captives like sand. (10) “They mock at kings And rulers are a laughing matter to them. They laugh at every fortress And heap up rubble to capture it. (11) “Then they will sweep through like the wind and pass on. But they will be held guilty, They whose strength is their god.”

Do you see what God was doing there?  He was giving the prophet Habakkuk His word that He is using the pagan Chaldeans for His purposes.  He was raising them up to use as judgment against His people.  Israel had rebelled and neglected God’s word as revealed through the prophets.  Make sure to read the last part of verse 11, “But they will be held guilty, They whose strength is their god.”  The Chaldeans were going to be held accountable by God in His justice.

Habakkuk’s reply to God,

“Habakkuk 1:12-17 NASB Are You not from everlasting, O LORD, my God, my Holy One? We will not die. You, O LORD, have appointed them to judge; And You, O Rock, have established them to correct. (13) Your eyes are too pure to approve evil, And You can not look on wickedness with favor. Why do You look with favor On those who deal treacherously? Why are You silent when the wicked swallow up Those more righteous than they? (14) Why have You made men like the fish of the sea, Like creeping things without a ruler over them? (15) The Chaldeans bring all of them up with a hook, Drag them away with their net, And gather them together in their fishing net. Therefore they rejoice and are glad. (16) Therefore they offer a sacrifice to their net And burn incense to their fishing net; Because through these things their catch is large, And their food is plentiful. (17) Will they therefore empty their net And continually slay nations without sparing?”

At first it seems that Habakkuk understands why God is going to punish Israel, but then he goes on pleading with God.  His questions seem to call for God to not allow this to happen.  Sometimes we can be like that.  We live in a great land.  Many of us are like the Chaldeans.  We put our faith in the strength of our military, or our wealth.  We trust a nationalistic ideology called America.  We offer our sacrifices to it.  We neglect God and His word.  We rebel against Him.  We kill our young and call it a woman’s right to choose.  We make legal all types of perverse abominations and call it progress, and liberty.  Just because we legislate it and make it legal does not make it moral.  Just because a secular majority deems something to be good doesn’t make it so.

As Christians we have an external moral authority Who is immutable.  He never changes and is eternal.  His decrees of good and evil stand for ever, no matter what human government makes legal.  The political candidates we have to choose from, the debased minds that many of our fellow Americans have, the perversions that are abounding, are all punishments from God.  We are under judgement.  We need to be outside of our Churches, evangelizing so that people might be saved and come in.  We need to repent of our personal sins.  We need to repent of the attractional model of Church.  We need to stop begging goats to come in to our Churches.  We need to go out to them and preach the gospel of Jesus, which is repentance from sin and faith in Christ’s work on the cross.

When people are miraculously changed by God they will become sheep.  They  will come to Church without the need of the gimmicks of silly centers.  They will hunger for the preaching of God’s word, fellowship with brothers and sisters, praising God with hymns, prayer, and the glory of God will be their aim.  Don’t be bashful, now is not the time.  Be bold for Christ and His gospel to go forth!  Are you saddened by the damage and hurt you see being done by sin in the lives of your friends and neighbors?  Do you think that you love them?  If you do, then you must give to them the only cure for their brokenness.  You must give them the only thing that will heal them and make them whole!  Give them the gospel of Jesus!  It is truth and love!

So if you find yourself crying out to God much like Habakkuk did, ask yourself why God is doing what He is doing.  Ask yourself what the proper response is to what He is doing.  Then I think you will come to the same conclusion.

evangelism · gospel · Uncategorized

Tired of getting fake friends requests, that are obviously spam?

Bob SnyderLeave a comment

Tired of getting fake friends requests, that are obviously spam? I mean, seriously… Why would anyone take a half naked picture of themselves, use it as a facebook profile picture, and then ask people with no obvious connections to be their friend? Have I got a solution for you! Just copy the following gospel presentation, open your favorite word processing app, paste it, and save it. The next time you get a spammy request, just copy and paste the text into a message to that person. If genuine request, they will get the gospel. If it is a spammy request, they will get the gospel. It is a win all the way around. ***begin copying here***
You have sent me a friends request. I don’t know you. Why should I accept your request? Did you know that all people are sinners. We have all sinned against God, by breaking His laws. By nature we are His enemies. The Bible says that none are good, and we are all storing up wrath against us for the day of judgment. Do you know how to be forgiven? Do you want to be right with God so that He will know you and you will know Him? You must repent of your sins, and trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the eternal Son of God. God made for Himself a body in the womb of the virgin. He came into His creation as fully God and fully Man. Jesus lived a perfectly righteous life. He went to the cross without guilt. He bore our sins on the cross. He took our punishment there. For all who would be saved, He paid their penalty, and justified them to God. He did this for the glory of God, and because He loved us. He atoned for our sins. We must repent, or turn from our sins, and trust in the righteous work of Jesus on the cross to atone for us. We must not trust in our own works. The Bible tells us that God sees our best works of righteousness as, “filthy rags.” Instead we trust in the perfect work of Jesus on the cross. When we do that, the Holy Spirit will come into us and bring us to new life spiritually. We will be born again, and He will start conforming us to the word and likeness of Jesus. Have you repented and trusted the Savior? www.needgod.com

If you don’t respond to this message I will report this as a spam account.

cultural · politics · Uncategorized

Trump Won’t Make America Great Again! We Need Repentance and God.

Bob SnyderLeave a comment


Trump won’t make our country great again. Tocqueville had it right when he said, “In the United States, the sovereign authority is religious…there is no country in the world where the Christian religion retains a greater influence over the souls of men than in America, and there can be no greater proof of its utility and of its conformity to human nature than that its influence is powerfully felt over the most enlightened and free nation of the earth.

In the United States, the influence of religion is not confined to the manners, but it extends to the intelligence of the people…

Christianity, therefore, reigns without obstacle, by universal consent…

I sought for the key to the greatness and genius of America in her harbors…; in her fertile fields and boundless forests; in her rich mines and vast world commerce; in her public school system and institutions of learning. I sought for it in her democratic Congress and in her matchless Constitution.

Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power.

America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.

The safeguard of morality is religion, and morality is the best security of law as well as the surest pledge of freedom.

The Americans combine the notions of Christianity and of liberty so intimately in their minds, that it is impossible to make them conceive the one without the other

Christianity is the companion of liberty in all its conflicts — the cradle of its infancy, and the divine source of its claims.”

It is pretty clear what made us great was God.  Now we are a wicked nation in rebellion to God.  Then, we were a Christian nation devoted to God.  Preachers stopped preaching, the salt lost its saltiness, and the light faded away.  The cancer grew unimpeded and hidden from sight.  Now we are terminal.  It will take a miracle from God, not a politician or more government.

cultural · gospel · Uncategorized

Is Your Hope in Politics, or God’s Gospel?

Bob SnyderLeave a comment

Years ago I was a Fox News Christian.  My political ideology took precedence over my theology.  In other words, I cared more about being conservative, than I did about Christ, and the will of God.  I also saw conspiracies all over the place.  It seemed to me that there was a world government that controlled all of the governments of the civilized world.  I thought that the world government was comprised of the ultra-rich and influential.  I haven’t really changed my mind about that.  I do think that the enemy has his minions running a satanic plan.  What has changed is that I no longer think it is possible to fix the problems via politics.  I also think that the enemy can only do what sovereign God allows.  I believe with all my heart, all that matters now, is to preach the gospel to the lost and perishing world.  I read something from Isaiah today that brought this to mind.  

 

Isa 8:11 — Isa 8:16
For thus the Lord spoke to me with mighty power and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people, saying,
“You are not to say, ‘It is a conspiracy!’
In regard to all that this people call a conspiracy,
And you are not to fear what they fear or be in dread of it.
“It is the Lord of hosts whom you should regard as holy.
And He shall be your fear,
And He shall be your dread.
“Then He shall become a sanctuary;
But to both the houses of Israel, a stone to strike and a rock to stumble over,
And a snare and a trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
“Many will stumble over them,
Then they will fall and be broken;
They will even be snared and caught.”
Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.

 

Of course, I’m not encouraging you to take this section out of context.  It is obviously a prophecy from God to Israel, through Isaiah.  I get that.  The Israelites were suspicious of the true prophets of God.  They didn’t like the warnings they gave them.  They were relying on their allegiances with pagan nations, they were hoping on pragmatic security and not God.  Relying on our own feeble abilities and righteousness keeps us from God the same way that it kept many of the Israelites from Jesus when he came.  This also reminds me that living in fear of what could happen, and what the government will do to us, is not honoring to God.  God is the one who we should fear.  He is the one who we should concern ourselves with.  We should seek his glory.  The true hope of the world is not electing the right politicians, it is the wonderful gospel of Jesus.  Only the transforming work of God can change the hearts of sinful men, and reform the reprobate heart.  So we preach repentance of sins, and faith in the work of Christ on the cross, to justify men to God, and save their souls from the flames of Hell.