We get grace from the sacraments?

I will never understand Roman Catholicism. Centuries of corruption, torture and persecution, subdued through the Reformation and centuries of people reading the Bible and refuting catholic errors, then finally relegated to fringe cult (like Mormonism) but yet it still lingers on. I've yet to hear Trent refuted, so apparently genuine faith and repentance are still not enough... I'm still accursed by Rome.

 Yet I've still yet to hear where in Scriptures the distorted teaching of Rome comes from, such as praying to Saints, worshiping Mary, and killing those who disagree with you (the later being the most heinous of catholic Scriptural perversions. Wonder where and how they get the idea of using the sword to kill others from Jesus and the new covenant?) In any case, this ad has me puzzled. How does one get grace from the sacraments, exactly? And where exactly in Scripture doe we even find the word "Sacrament" anyhow?
Or is it, much like infant baptism, a non-Scriptural distortion made up by bad theologians over time?

 In any case, the RCC misses the point: you don't go "home" to Rome, but rather, you make room for the Holy Spirit to have a home in your heart, through regeneration through Christ. I pray for Rome, that the wicked distortions they propagate will clear like a black fog, giving way to the true light of the gospel...
 

Things I learned from the 2012 election...

This last election was all about Obama vs. a lesser version of Obama
Mitt wasn't really all that different from Obama.  He wouldn't have come into office and radically cut back government and spending.  It would have just been more of the same.  Honestly, I don't care for Obama's platform or his grizzly, unborn-child-hating policies, but I find I care just as less for Mormon-cult-following Romney.  Yeah, I voted for Romney, but only as a protest against the incumbent, and not to support the cultist (in fact, from a religious standpoint, I'd rather have a nominal-Muslim like Obama in office than a Mormon and a Roman Catholic.  The idea of a Roman Catholic president is the stuff of nightmares, as it's a much worse cult than Mormonism that teaches a grotesque, satanic blending of church and state, with a long bloody history of burning baptists like me.

The mainstream media is a joke
The MSM is just a giant Obama hype machine and...

You know what... I'm ending this post before I even get going, because a giant lightning bolt of realization just hit me:  I really don't care.  No more politics tags for me.  I'm sick of it all, and I'd rather write about something else.

Happy Reformation Day!

Martin Luther, pounding the 95 Theses into the Wittenberg door.... with his FIST!  Shortly thereafter, the corrupt Roman Catholic empire crumbled.

Happy Reformation Day!  

Shame on all you pastors that starved your flocks today and didn't host a Reformation Evening service, to celebrate with worship and praise our risen savior Jesus Christ on this wonderful, eventful holiday.  Greater shame on you pastors if you went out demonically "trick or treating", while neglecting to give your congregations good spiritual Hebrews 5 food, as today, of all days, is the day to celebrate and appreciate the glorious Reformation freedom of the church today - freedom to own Bibles in English, freedom to correctly observe the ordinances, freedom from the satanic papist grip, freedom from the perverse and devilish fusion of church and state.  Tonight was the night to celebrate the Reformation... and did you?

The more you neglect it, the more easier it will be for the papists to steal it all away someday.  With Roman Catholics there is no such thing as ecumenicism - there is only the cold, cruel will of the Mother church, enforced through inquisition.  You do her will or you die by fire.  History over and over again cries out with the blood of the martyrs... don't forget them in an ocean of candy that you let your children beg from the strangers of the neighborhood tonight.

Don't forget the Reformation.  It has never ended.

Another year, another absence of Reformation Day Parties

You'd think that a google search for something like "Reformation Day Party Houston Texas" would bring back something... anything.... but it doesn't.  I just don't get it.  EVERY PROTESTANT CHURCH IN THIS COUNTRY should be celebrating on the the 31st - celebrating that the church of Jesus Christ is no longer under the oppressive, satanic grip of the Papists.  EVERY CHURCH should mark the 31st as an evening for families to gather at the church, to celebrate their freedom, to worship with singing, to read from Bibles that we are FREE to own, that the satanic forces of Roman Catholicism can no longer prevent us from owning.  But instead it seems like most evangelical Christians just get caught up in the nonsense of Halloween, and sending their children off, dressed as monsters, to beg neighbors and strangers for candies filled with dyes and deadly chemicals.  WHY?

The Reformation is one of the single-most important events in the history of the church - so why isn't it celebrated globally in evangelical churches?

I think that pastors do far more HARM than good by avoiding a formal celebration of the Reformation on Oct. 31st, and do even more harm by participating in trick or treating, as they are basically telling their congregation, "hey folks, forget that whole Reformation thing, and just go out and beg strangers for candy."

That isn't shepherding.

That isn't leading a flock.

That's condescending to the spirit of the age.

How can I find a local Reformation Day party?

Every year around this time I'm searching around the web for a local church offering any sort of Reformation Day party on Halloween, and, sadly, finding nothing.

I'm still between churches now, so don't have a local pastor to bug with this idea, but honestly I shouldn't need to. EVERY protestant church should be celebrating the Reformation on Oct. 31st! Everywhere I look online, there are no Reformation Day parties or events. I've exhausted Google with all of my searching, but alas, there are absolutely no churches doing anything on October 31st to celebrate the Reformation around my area. What's wrong with you pastors!!! The only thing I've been able to find are "pumpkin patches" at some area churches, but what good is that theologically? How is that celebrating the gallant efforts of the reformers? (then again, these are Methodist churches hosting these events, so no surprise they are lacking in doctrine and substance.)

Some Baptist churches have "Festivals" going on, but these are just games and candy. Don't people want to read about the reformers to their congregation, or do they just want to poison their kids with processed white sugar and dyes? What's the point, if all you're doing is having a candy party? I mean, if the Reformation is that meaningless to you, pastors, then why not just give your congregation instructions to go and trick-or-treat with their kids? Are there ANY pastors in the world that actually practice Richard Baxter-direction for their congregations? Why not just line up to go and apologize to the Pope?

Speaking of the papists, even the local catholic churches don't do anything to celebrate the Reformation and.... oh, yeah, I forgot, the Reformation is when the catholic church got stomped by the sola scriptura super-heroes, so I guess they don't think too favorably of Oct. 31st (to them it's just another "let's pray to some dead saints" holiday or something...) Don't forget the Reformation. If you do, don't be surprised if we lapse back into history of the Bible and the church suppressed and the papists burning Christians all over again...

The REAL Halloween Danger... forgetting the Reformation

I have fun sometimes surfing around SermonAudio to find some of the more unusual messages from time to time. Don't get me wrong: SermonAudio is a wealth of solid, expository teaching. But there is the occasional bit of loopiness (particularly regarding the patently ridiculous 'King James Only' messages that make their way onto the site.) Here's an entertaining message: not heavy on Scripture, but rich in the dangers of Halloween:



What's disappointing is that the message just goes through the superficial trappings and generalitites of halloween (and the dangers of Harry Potter, of course) but doesn't go as heavy as I'd like to into the Christian response - or, even into the alternatives to Halloween, which would be Christian remembrance of the Reformation, also on Oct. 31st, but an event far more impactful to the lives of believers (KJVO'ers like to get hung up on the double-inspiration of those amazing Anglican translators of King James court, but they lose sight of the history behind the reformation that, had it never happened, we'd all be polishing the Pope's shoes under a continuing wicked tyranical and ungodly fusion of church and state. Priorities, pastors, priorities.  Rome used to burn men like us just for teaching something other than their own false doctrines...)

This time of year, I generally lament how there are NO churches that do anything to remember the reformation at all: Oct. 31st evening speakers to teach the congregation about some of the reformational powerhouses like Luther, Huss, Wycliffe, Calvin, etc.) Instead, pastors either get onto the trick-or-treating bandwagon, or they just host equally enane Halloween alternatives at the church, giving out the same unhealthy candy but without all of the demonic constuming. Pastors, please, don't forget that it was the Reformation that freed us from the yoke of Rome, and remind your parisheners this time of year. And beyond.

Martyrdom and Blood Donation

I've been reading a lot lately about the Christian martyrs of history, particularly the Anabaptists who were viciously persecuted by the Roman Catholic papists. Again and again, the historical record shows that Rome had this wickedly-satanic hatred of people who preferred a different mode of baptism as understood from Scripture, and Rome lashed out in a horrific and violent manner and would endlessly burn baptists alive. It's no wonder that the protestant confessions of the 17th century refer to the papists as antichrist, as their actions reflect that darkened designation.

Anyhow, this had me thinking about what I'd do in the same situation. Thankfully, Rome seems to have lost most of it's luster globally and has been relegated to the false, withered cult that it truly is, but what, I wonder, if true-Christian-burning Roman Catholics ever ruled the land again, and perverted the church/state line with their wickedness? What if *I* had to die by the fires of Rome, simply because I follow what the Bible teaches and practice the mode of baptism that says a person MUST BELIEVE first before receiving the ordinance?

So driving back from the city today, I was thinking about this. Being burned alive would really stink: physically and literally. But it's also horrifically wasteful of a perfectly good body. I think what I'd ask the Pope would be this: "Look, I don't intend to recant, or in any way ever acknowledge the episcopacy of the cultish Roman Catholic church, so, obviously, your wicked satanic practices direct that I need to be destroyed by burning. But instead of just burning me, how about this: just quickly lop off my head, and then collect the 2 gallons of blood in my body and give it to Gulf Coast Regional so they can use it for someone else. Then muy pronto, put my body on ice, ship it off to the lab and donate every bit and piece of me that you can to help others: be it eyes, spleen, heart, lungs, tonsils, whatever. Burning me up would be a waste, as I'm in pretty good shape, and I'm willing to be a martyr, but at least help some other people out in the process."

The papal magistrates might comply with this, and at least it would be a semi-useful termination. I mean, it would still stink to be martyred by the grotesque, bloated, corrupted perversion of Rome, but at least the medical industry could put my blood and organs to use somewhere.