Many objections have been voiced to me over my belief of irresistible grace. As I listen to the objections, I now realize that there is a complete misunderstanding on the part of my readers who object. Their arguments seem to go along the lines of “so, you believe God will drag some people kicking and screaming into heaven?” What they fail to see is the foolishness of their understanding of grace.
Grace is given to those who do not deserve it, in fact it is given to those who deserve the opposite. The Bible describes mankind as spiritually dead, blind to His glory and light. When God brings salvation to a human soul they are enlightened and see God in His glory for the first time. Their natural response is to gravitate to His glorious light. They are drawn as irresistibly to it as a moth is drawn to a light or a dog to bacon.
It isn’t that they are trying to resist and failing against their will – it is that they are so attracted to the holy pureness and love of God that they run to Him in response to His bringing of new life.
Perhaps it is because of a faulty understanding of salvation that people get confused. Humans do not decide to become “saved”. They are dead, spiritually. Dead people cannot respond to anything. I worked for some years at a funeral home. I took care of many dead people. None of them responded to any stimulus. They showed no initiative. In fact, they just laid there, staring unblinkingly at nothing. That is how the Bible describes people spiritually. Unresponsive, uncaring, unfeeling people who cannot come to God for salvation. So God comes to them and gives them a new heart. He “quickens” or makes the soul come alive. As this new life is imparted, the soul sees its Creator and responds in faith to the One who has just resurrected it. We respond just as Lazarus did. Laying in the tomb, cold, unfeeling, dead, Lazarus heard His Lord call him to life and the response was instantaneous. This is irresistible grace. This is why Scripture says we are saved by grace, through faith — not by faith through grace. Grace come first.
religion
Wednesday Book Reviews – East of Ashes, Dirty God
East of Ashes by Gideon Nieuwoudt
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Such a promising beginning. My favorite time period, a book with good, solid, believable characters, a clear Christian message – so why only three stars? Actually would be 3.5 if I could do halves. The ending for me seemed truncated, cut off too soon. Its not that I didn’t like the ending, just that there didn’t seem to be the attention to detail that there was in the rest of the story. That’s too bad because the book was well written and I was hooked from the first few pages. I would read other books from this author in a heartbeat and do recommend this as a good read, just not a great one.
It is well worth your time though and I do respect how the clear Christian message was approached and executed. That aspect of the book gets 5 stars.
Give it a chance – I believe you will enjoy it.
View all my reviews
Dirty God: Jesus in the Trenches by Johnnie Moore
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I enjoyed reading this book and how the author illustrates the grace of God. What keeps this from getting 4 or 5 stars from me is that the message seems to get muddled a lot on the way. While it didn’t seem cohesive to me – perhaps better editing would have helped – what he had to say was good. I can see this book being helpful but rarely does the author use inclusive language “we”, “our”, etc.. so it reads kind of like a pep talk and not a conversation. Very useful for those confused about grace, Jesus and salvation or for brand new Christians just exploring their faith.
Wednesday Book Reviews
Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women by Geraldine Brooks
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book lifts the veil, so to speak, on the lives of women in Islamic culture. Written by a veteran journalist, it is both fascinating and disturbing. This book is a must read for anyone wanting to understand more about a culture that is still seen as mysterious and exotic by many in the West. Since it is a secular book, this book avoids religious biases and gives a clear picture of what the lives of Muslim women are like in different parts of the Arab world. I highly recommend this as a good read for any who seek to truly understand what goes on in a world hidden from view.
C Through Marriage: Revitalizing Your Vows by Jim Hughes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book is a definite must for pastors, marriage counselors and couples. It will go on my shelf as a great resource for pre-marital counseling and yet it will also be used to counsel couples in crisis. The book covers many subjects that come up in a marriage and tackles them all with tact and solid information from a Christian viewpoint. The author has a high view of marriage and this book will help couples solidify their relationship with their spouse. This would also make a great gift for newlyweds. I know, they will most likely put it on their bookshelf and forget about it, but when the inevitable problems arise, they might just pull it down and use it to help repair their marriage. I highly recommend this a good read.
WORLD | In defense of Richard Dawkins | Marvin Olasky | March 16, 2013
Another cowardly attempt to paint Christianity as evil and never address Islam. If we beheaded those who disparaged Christ would they stop their pathetic efforts to ridicule something they cannot possibly understand?
Why is it okay to slander Judaism and Christianity but not Islam? Dawkins is not only a fool (that’s what the Bible says about those who do not worship God) but an opportunistic coward. If he truly does not believe in a God, then it doesn’t matter what religion’s god is being talked about, Dawkins must show the same lack of belief in any of them to be consistent with his claim of being an atheist.
Of course, a true Muslim would be offended by his slander of the God of the Hebrews anyway – that is, if they read their Qur’an. So how about it Muslim world — any takers on defending God’s name?
WORLD | In defense of Richard Dawkins | Marvin Olasky | March 16, 2013.
MPACT Montana
Ta Ethne attended the MPACT Montana Conference in Great Falls Montana, March 7-8. Many classes were offered on various subjects and Ta Ethne spent many hours networking with leaders and pastors about the need for training leaders worldwide. One of our highlights was time spent talking with Dr. Fred Luter, president of the Southern Baptist Convention. He was gracious and kind, and accepted a gift from us. We gave him a gift bag filled with our books in the hopes that he will read them and understand our work here. Please pray for God to bless him in his role and also that God blesses us in our work. Who knows – partnerships may arise from this opportunity.
Dr. Fred Luter meets Ta Ethne
Weekly Photo Challenge – Lost in the Details
Prayers are written and hung high above Swallow Cave in Yunnan, China. I watched as brave climbers scaled the cave wall to hang the prayers. How different than how I offer prayers to my God.
Prayers hung high in the air above Swallow Cave
Continuing the Mission
Times are tough for many people today. Economies are bad all over the world, especially for many of our brothers and sisters serving God in countries hostile to the gospel. This is why we try to provide as many free or low cost resources as we can. This month alone, we have given away 725 copies of A Heart Hungry to Worship both in print and electronic form. We mean it when we say we are not in it for the money. All of us here at Ta Ethne volunteer and all profits are redistributed to national leaders in churches across the globe. Each month we will continue to provide free resources, as well as posting new podcasts and bible study materials on our site. Let others build up their ministries, we will continue building up the Kingdom of God. Looking forward into March, we have some new ideas to help us do just that. Keep us in your prayers as we seek out new ways to help resource God’s church.
Disturbing Trends
Here at Ta Ethne we are very bothered by recent trends in our country. In the past week alone, we have had rulings in different states that undermine basic biblical and moral values. Sadly, these decisions are being applauded. One such ruling is that by Massachusetts on allowing students at school to pick whatever gender they want to be identified as and catering to their every whim. You can read more here: http://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarnes/top-stories/students-who-refuse-to-affirm-transgender-classmates-face-punishment.html
Another is the ruling by the New Jersey Supreme Court who refused to allow prosecution of a mother who abused cocaine while pregnant and gave birth to an addicted child. Here at Ta Ethne, we have adopted such a child, one born in California hooked on so many drugs at birth a tox screen only turned up 3 NOT in her system. Such a ruling is absurdity at its highest point.
Even more upsetting, the fact that the current presidential administration is even considering helping overturn a California law describing marriage as between a man and a woman is beyond comprehension.
Our country is so far post-Christian that I believe God is going to judge her soon. The Church fell asleep decades ago and now has compromised to the point that the majority of her members are lost. Her influence has waned to the point where most Americans think of both the Church and her God as completely irrelevant. They are not atheists in the sense that they do not believe in a God, they simply have never even considered seriously whether there is or isn’t one.
The time has come for the remaining disciples of Jesus Christ to stand up, speak up and seek to overcome darkness with the light of truth. When we begin to fear God and His holiness more than the ridicule and persecution of unbelievers we might start to have an impact on our society. When we stop coddling fence straddlers and confront people with the need for repentance and holy living we might have a church Jesus is not ashamed to call His own. That is Ta Ethne’s stance — what’s yours?
Help Build Our Donor List
Recently we have had a flood of requests from all parts of the globe to come and train pastors and other Christian leaders. Those requests have come from Central Asia, Southeast Asia, South America and other parts of the USA. Right now there are too many needs for us to meet at our current funding level. Will you be in prayer that God raises up some monthly donors to help us? Now through the end of February we will try a campaign to find new donors. For every person who gives a $5 donation or more, we will send a copy of our book, Is Jesus Enough to them. Just click on the donate button and securely donate through paypal. If this seems to go well, we will try and do a monthly giveaway of books or other resources to those who donate. Would you pass the word along to those who may benefit from our website? Would you pray about partnering with us to help train Christian leaders and pastors? Thank you, in advance, from Ta Ethne.
Jude Commentary Chapter 2 Available
The next chapter of the resource Dominoes: A Dynamic Commentary on the Epistle of Jude with Study Guide is now available. Simply click on the Bible study tabs to the right or jump to this link: https://taethne.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/jude-chapter-2.pdf
As always, feel free to use these resources as you see fit. Leave comments or suggestions. When finished, it will collected and put into paperback, Kindle and audio formats
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