The King's Invitation - a critique

On March 17, 2008, a thread was started on Sharper Iron: Voice of the Evangelists. The thread provided a link to a website of the same name.

I visited the website and found MP3 sermons available for free download. Of the more than 70 evangelists listed on the website, I only recognized the names of two. I am sure that I heard both men preach during the days I spent at Tennessee Temple University.

In 2008, my work required me to travel extensively, and I enjoy listening to sermons while I travel. I downloaded the first sermon in the Gospel Messages category - Tom Farrell: The King's Invitation. I do not know Tom Farrell, nor had I ever heard him preach prior to listening to this sermon. On the whole I was disappointed with the sermon and offer a critique of it here.

01:30 - anybody that wants to be saved, anybody that wants to go to heaven, anybody that wants to live with Almighty God forever, can go to heaven.

I agree whole-heartedly with this statement, but as we will see Farrell believes that everyone has the capacity to WANT TO. I believe the Scripture teaches that only those whom God has regenerated have the capacity to WANT TO, and thus there is a vast difference between his belief and mine.

02:00 - Jesus has opened heaven to everybody.

This is a logical step from the previous statement. If everyone has the capacity of belief, it logically follows that God has opened heaven for everyone. The reverse of this statement is also logical. If God has opened heaven for everyone, then everyone must have the capacity of belief. I believe the Scripture teaches that heaven is reserved only for the elect, and that the elect is a fixed number that were chosen before the foundation of the world, and whose names were written in the Lamb's Book of Life at that time.

02:30 - you know the truth of the matter is I can get into heaven easier than I can get into the Augusta International.

Farrell is sharing a story about wanting to visit the golf course where the Masters is played. His host informs him that since he is not a member he cannot enter the club. But is heaven really that easy to get into? I think not!

03:10 - God is one hundred percent for receiving those who come to Him by faith...

I totally agree. God accepts all those who come to Him by faith.

…there are some people who teach that God wants some to go to heaven and some to go to hell and He's elected some to go up and some to go down...

This is a very common misrepresentation of Calvinism, so let me attempt to clear up the misrepresentation. God has not elected "some to go up and some to go down." All humanity, as a result of the sin of Adam, is on the wide road down. God's justice is shown in the eternal wrath that is poured out on those who inhabit hell. While Adam's sin does not in any way obligate God to provide a remedy, because of His mercy, he provided Christ as the remedy. In addition to providing Christ, He elected representatives from every tribe, tongue, and nation to go up. On those He bestows His mercy instead of His wrath. Those in hell get what they deserve; those in heaven do not get what they deserve but rather experience mercy and grace. Since He was not obligated to offer mercy to any, we should rejoice in the fact that He offers mercy to many.

...that's absolute nonsense...

I agree. His misrepresentation of Calvinism is nonsense.

...in First Timothy chapter two and verse three, the Bible says "this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our savior who will have all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth...

I totally agree with his quotation of Scripture.

...you see if you don't get saved, it won't be God's fault, because God wants you to be saved and He wants you to be one of the whosoevers.

I agree with the first half of the sentence. It is not God's fault that people don't get saved, it's because they are enemies of God and willfully reject Christ, preferring to trust in themselves or in the god of their own imaginings for salvation.

I disagree with the last half of the sentence. Since no one but God knows whom the elect are, it is presumptive to state to anyone that "God wants YOU to be saved and He wants YOU to be one of the whosoevers." It would be more accurate to say that "God wants YOU to repent."

05:10 - don't leave here tonight and think God is playing favorites. He wants you in His heaven; He wants to give you the opportunity to be saved.

Paul, addressing the Areopagus as recorded in Acts 17, states the message clearly in verse 17: "Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent."

07:00 - you will never call on somebody until you realize you have a problem. What's the problem? The problem is sin.

Amen! I believe the Scripture teaches that only those who have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit, through the preaching of the Gospel, are capable of realizing that they have a problem. That realization leads to repentance and faith.

At 08:40 in the sermon, he begins an illustration about a plumber, which leads into an illustration about a case of strep throat he had while preaching in Nassau, Bahamas, and his trip to a doctor. The point of both illustrations is that we only call on someone when we realize we have a need. The illustrations together consume about four minutes of sermon time.

Personally I do not like sermons that are illustration heavy, especially when the illustrations tend to elevate the speaker's prominence. When I was a child, a particular evangelist was my favorite preacher. I dearly loved to hear him preach, and he and his wife would often stay at my parents' home when he was preaching nearby. The last time I heard him speak was as an adult, and I had asked our pastor if the evangelist could preach, since he would be passing through our town. I was terribly disappointed, as his sermon consisted mostly of illustrations of places he had been and people he had met. Farrell's sermon illustration unfortunately reminded me of that.

17:16 - now here's the bottom line. If tonight you are trusting any part of your goodness to go to heaven, you're not going, and God said so. You may be zealous and work hard and give a lot of money and you be the best sinner in the neighborhood but you're still a sinner and the bottom line is no sin is going to heaven. So you've got to get God's goodness because we don't have it.

Amen!

19:08 - you see there's a time you can't be saved. Now I'm sure that some of you have grown up believing you get saved anytime you want, but let me tell you a Bible story, and tell you what Jesus said.

He then proceeds to tell the story of the guests invited to the supper recorded in Luke 14. At the conclusion of the story he states:

20:20 - when you walk out tonight on God, He could walk out forever on you.

This was the most disturbing portion of the sermon because of the contradiction of this statement with what he said earlier in the sermon. Earlier, quoting from 1 Timothy 2:3, he said that God wants all men to be saved. Here he is saying that God doesn't want all men to be saved. God is likely to make an exception in the case of those who do not respond correctly to this particular sermon. Upon hearing this, I was reminded of the vacuum cleaner salesman who came to our home years ago. He warned us that if we did not buy his vacuum cleaner that evening, we would never have another opportunity to buy that vacuum cleaner again in our entire life. In effect, Farrell reduces the sovereign God of the universe to nothing more than that vacuum cleaner salesman.

22:40 - you get saved from hopelessness
23:40 - you are delivered from habits
25:35 - you're saved from hate

Sinners are saved from their sin against a righteous God, not from hopelessness, habits, or hate. These are byproducts of salvation, not the purpose for salvation.

26:52 - But God began to fill their heart with love …they did to human beings is beyond description. But there is nothing Saddam Hussein ever did in his entire existence that is as bad as the place called hell.

There appears to be a portion of the sermon missing. Farrell is speaking about the anger of a couple toward the man who raped and murdered their daughter, and how God had worked in their hearts. Suddenly he begins talking about Saddam Hussein.

30:04 - how do you get your name in the Book of Life - call.

I believe the names in the Book of Life were added before the foundation of the world, not at the moment an individual calls upon the Lord. Furthermore, I believe the reason anyone calls upon the Lord is because their name is written in the Book of Life.

I would encourage my readers to listen to the above sermon and then listen to the sermon by Paul Washer: The True Gospel (available at www.sermonaudio.com)

Also read the post by Dan Phillips, one of the Pyromaniacs, posted on January 26, 2009: Carpe diem, preacherdude.

Disclaimer:
Links in this article are provided solely for information purposes,
and do not in any way imply full and complete endorsement.

An Historical Day in America

Today is an historical day in the history of these United States of America. For the first time in its more than 200 year history America will inaugurate a man as President who is...

...younger than I am! What's up with that?

Why is it that my doctor, my chiropractor, my mechanic, my mail man and a whole bunch of other people are all younger than I.

I even get the senior discount in places of business without asking for it (and am not about to turn it down either). I must be old.

On a more serious note, my pastor has posted an article titled, By The Content of Their Character, on his blog.

Loraine Boettner - currently reading

I am reading an excellent book by Loraine Boettner titled The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian & Reformed Pub. Co., 1932). The following paragraphs have been a particular blessing to me.

In Chapter 17, That It Makes God the Author of Sin, Boettner addresses this objection. Beginning on page 233:

Many of the divine attributes were displayed through the creation and government of the world, but the attribute of justice could be shown only to creatures deserving punishment, and the attribute of mercy or grace could be shown only to creatures in misery. Until man's fall into sin, and redemption from it, these attributes, so far as we can learn, had been unexercised and undisplayed, and consequently were unknown to any but God Himself from all eternity. Had not sin been admitted to the creation these attributes would have remained buried in an eternal night. And the universe, without the knowledge of these attributes, would be like the earth without the light of the sun. Sin, then, is permitted in order that the mercy of God may be shown in its forgiveness, and that His justice may be shown in its punishment. Its entrance is the result of a settled design which God formed in eternity, and through which He purposed to reveal Himself to His rational creatures as complete and full-orbed in all conceivable perfections.

Chapter 27 is titled The Practical Importance of the Doctrine. Beginning on page 332:

He will be only a very imperfect Christian who does not know these deeper truths which are brought to light by the doctrine of Predestination. He can have no adequate appreciation of the glory of God, nor of the riches of grace which are given him through redemption in Christ; for nowhere else as brightly as in the predestination of the elect to life does the glory of God shine out in its full-orbed splendor, undimmed and unsullied by human works of any kind. It shows us that all that we are and all that we have that is desirable we owe to His grace. It rebukes human pride and exalts Divine mercy. It makes man to be nothing and God to be everything, and thus preserves the proper relation between the creature and the infinitely exalted Creator. It exalts one absolute Sovereign, who is the universal Ruler, and humbles all other sovereigns before Him, thus showing that all men in themselves and apart from God's special favor are on the same level. It has championed the rights of mankind wherever it has gone, in the State as well as in the Church.

The doctrine of Predestination emphasizes the Divine side of salvation while its rival system emphasizes the human side. It impresses upon us the fact that our salvation is purely of grace, and that we are no better than those who are left to suffer for their sins. It thus leads us to be more charitable and tolerant toward the unsaved and to be eternally thankful that God has saved us. It shows us that in our fallen state our wisdom is folly, our strength weakness, and our righteousness of no account. It teaches us that our hope is in God, and that from Him must come all our help. It teaches us that lesson of which so many are fatally ignorant, the blessed lesson of self-despair. Luther tell us that he "used frequently to be much offended at this doctrine," because it drove him to self-despair; but that he afterward found this kind of despair was profitable and near of kin to divine grace.

Nyam some Yam

Nyam is the Jamaican Patois word for eat. When we were living in Kingston in the 70's, there was a fast food chain that sold nyamburgers instead of hamburgers.

In the just completed Olympics, Usain Bolt's father credited his son's outstanding performance in track and field to yellow yam, which, along with boiled green bananas, is one of my favorite foods.

I googled the words yam bolt and was fascinated to get 395,000 hits. I also googled the words yam bolt father and got 102,000 hits.

Reuters has an article from August 16, titled Bolt's gold down to yam power, father says.

The Jamaica Gleaner has an article from August 25, titled Yellow Yam - Worth its weight in gold.

My sister Marianne sent me the following in an email, titled Suspected PEDs Mailed to JA's Olympic Camp in Beijing/Ja only.

A 200 kilo shipment of suspected Performance Enhancing Drugs (PED) addressed to the Jamaican track team at the Olympic Village was seized by authorities at the Wong Hung Lo docks in Beijing early this morning. Coming on the heels of the disclosure that a member of the JA team has tested positive for a banned substance, the news has rocked the JAAA and cast an even greater pall over the team's preparations for the Games.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior customs inspector told Reuters that suspicions were aroused by the bulky and lumpy shipment which was wrapped in rough, dirty burlap. Stenciled in bold letters on the bag was the address of the Jamaican team at the Village and also the words:

DELIVER TO ASAFA, USAIN, VERONICA and KERRON ... DEM CYAAN RUN GOOD WITHOUT IT.

Upon opening the package, dozens and dozens of a dirty, tubular product was discovered and immediately sent to the WADA lab in Beijing for testing. Chinese customs are certain that they have intercepted a shipment of pure, unprocessed steroids and have put the IAAF and the JAAA on notice that severe action will be taken as soon as WADA confirms their findings.

The picture below is of one of the mystery 'products' from the shipment and was taken at the lab just before testing commenced. We will update this story as soon as there is more to report as indeed the entire world of track and field anxiously awaits WADA's report.

The moral of the story is that if you want to run like lightning you will have to nyam some yam.

Tributes to my dad

On August 7th, my dad will celebrate his 88th birthday. At the church my folks attend their pastor asked members to write tributes to either their fathers or their husbands. He intended to read the tributes on Father's Day in the morning service. My mother wrote a tribute to my dad, but had "cold feet" and didn't hand it in. Her neighbor gave it to the pastor later and he read it in the Wednesday night service.

Here is what my mother wrote:

When he was young he had a dream of going to Bible College but I was such a backward farm girl that I knew I could never cope with that kind of life. When he got his call to the army I was happy to get married because that other life was now set aside.

What happened is history. But what if we had not gone to Jamaica? We would not have all these wonderful children. They all have sand in their shoes. Barbie and Kieron are going there on a Mission trip in July. Brian has been there a number of times. He and daughter Sarah were there two years ago. Marianne and girls were there recently for camp and Billy and Sharon are just about there. So praise the Lord for John McKillop and his dream.

My sister Barbara, and her husband Kieron along with a team from their church, leave for Jamaica tomorrow. She also wrote a tribute.

Hi Dad,

I wanted to write a tribute to you for Father’s Day and this is a little late so will write in honor of your upcoming 88th birthday. Anyway, I think every day should be Father’s Day! I just want you to know how much I love and appreciate you. I know so many young people who have never had the privilege of having a father who cared for them or who takes an active interest in their lives. I am so thankful that you took the leadership role in our home and loved us. It was not difficult for me as a child to understand the love of our Heavenly Father when you demonstrated His love by your earthly example.

I have so many wonderful memories of very special times together and one of the most treasured memories I have is of hiking up St. Catherine’s Peak starting with a very filling breakfast of eggs, bacon and hardo bread that you cooked for us at the little park in the Blue Mountains before beginning the hike. I also remember hiking across the old farm in Canada and stopping for our most favorite treats of chocolate bars and grapes. Must be why I enjoy walking outdoors so much. Another great memory is of the early morning swim times at Doctor’s Cave and stopping by the bread truck for fresh warm, “bula cakes.”

I have always enjoyed your stories of life experiences from childhood to adulthood, courtship of Mom and especially Army life. I love the way you always sit with your Bible first thing in the morning and will never forget your admonition to make it the first reading material for the day.

Not too many girls can have their father give them away at their wedding and officiate as the pastor also and I count it a privilege that you were there for such a special day. You have been right there through all of my married life to this point, helping with grandbabies and now grand ladies, fixing whatever needed to be repaired and helping out with multitudes of chores, especially the lawn mowing. It has been such a privilege having you and Mom spend the winter months with us in Florida and I look forward to your return next year. This is just a tiny bit of a heart full of gratitude to you for your Godly example, your love, your wisdom and your care for me.

I love you,

Barbie

My daughter Charity also wrote a tribute to her grandpa.

I believe that our family's strength comes from the leadership of Grandpa. I have so many good memories of being with him. I always loved riding the 4 wheeler at the Acres, listening to stories, hearing him pray, and watching him laugh. I remember one time he told me if I didn't help pick tomatoes from the garden, I wouldn't get to eat any. That was a great application from the classic Bible story. I love tomatoes so I helped. When I was little and they were visiting us in Chattanooga, a thunderstorm woke me up. Grandpa held me while I cried and shared his ice cream with me. A photograph of that event is one of my favorites. My own father has followed that example numerous times as I cried over boys and being a teenager, life decisions, etc. As the heavenly Father does, he held me until I stopped crying and helped me figure out the best solution or told me it would be okay. My beloved husband does that for me also.

I've always loved Grandpa's poetry, especially the poems he wrote for Raj and Caleb. And we had so much fun especially last summer watching Grandpa joke with us about that purple camouflage hat!!!

I love you Grandpa and I look forward to many more family times with you!

~Char

Google Reader Redux

On October 30, 2007 I wrote an article about Google Reader.

Abraham Piper, at Desiring God, wrote an article about the same thing today. His article goes into more detail than mine did, and has step-by-step instructions on setting up Google Reader, including screenshots.

If you want to use Google Reader to keep up with posts on the blogs you enjoy reading, Abraham's article will be very helpful.

Good article

Kevin T. Bauder is the President of Central Baptist Theological Seminary in Minneapolis, MN. He writes occasional essays for In The Nick of Time.

His article from last Friday is Calvinism, Arminianism, Biblicism.

You may read the article here or download a PDF of the article here.