Can We Do Anything to Deserve God's Blessings?

By Matt Slick (Anglicized)

The answer depends on how you define "Blessing" and in what context it is used. One on hand, we can do nothing to earn God's grace. Grace is the undeserved blessing of God. On the other end, God rewards us for being faithful to Him and this could be called a blessing as well. So, the answer very much depends on how the word is used, and in what context.

All the blessings that any of us receive from God are ultimately and only the result of the cross of Christ. There is nothing we can do to earn the favour of God in any way. God loves us and blesses us not because of who we are or what we can do, but because of who He is and how great His love is for us.

Once we are redeemed, we can honour God by being faithful to His word and by preaching the gospel. We are blessed by God in doing this, but the blessing is not a contributing factor towards salvation. Instead, this blessing is a result of our salvation and can also be a result of simply obeying God.


Resource: carm.org

Answers in Genesis - Dinosaurs "For Kids"

The following is copied from the AiG Youtube Channel

The Biggest Question

United Church of Canada Forces Civil Recognition of Same-Sex Marriage

Of Love and Justice: Toward the Civil Recognition of Same-Sex Marriage is a book developed by The United Church of Canada.

Of Love and Justice was developed by The United Church of Canada in response to resolutions passed by the 37th General Council that called on the church to affirm lesbian and gay partnerships, to work for their civil recognition, and to recognize them in church documentation and services of blessing. This resource offers four workshops to help a congregation or a group within the congregation to explore civil recognition of same-sex relationships from a faith and justice perspective. In addition, the resource offers a process for congregational decision making on same-sex covenanting.
- united-church.ca

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary (The Errors of Roman Catholic Theology)

by Mike Abendroth at NoCompromiseRadio.com

For False-Friday, Pastor Mike continues in the series continues on what Roman Catholics believe and how what they believe is incongruous with Scriptural truth. Today Mike focuses on Mary (the mother of Jesus) and how the 2 views of her vary radically.

The Roman Catholic church believes that Mary is a co-mediatrix/co-advocate with Christ. This is patent heresy - scripture clearly teaches that Christ is the sole mediator/advocate before God for believers:

1. Romans 8:34 - Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
2. 1 John 2:1 - My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
3. 1 Timothy 2:5 - For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus
4. Hebrews 9:15 - Therefore he [Christ] is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.
5. listen in for other verses...

Study carefully what the Bible says - no matter what your religious beliefs are, you would be wise to adhere to 1 Thessalonians 5:21 "examine everything carefully". Don't trust what you've learned growing up. Trust in the truth found in God's Word.

Click here to listen

(you may also listen to part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4)

Does God Love His Enemies?

Wednesday, July 06, 2011
Tommy Clayton
Content Developer and Broadcast Editor, GTY.org/Blog

I can still remember the chair I was sitting in years ago when I read a life-changing page in John MacArthur’s book The God Who Loves. In an economy of words, John exposed, confronted, and changed my thinking on one of the most critical areas of theology, the nature of God. My understanding of God’s love—specifically His love for the non-elect—was never the same.

For months, I had been wrestling with the question of whether God’s love extends beyond those He chose for salvation. “Does God love all humanity, even the Judas Iscariots and Adolf Hitlers of the world?” At the time, I couldn’t answer that question with any degree of certainty. And although I was sitting under sound biblical teaching, I had begun entertaining the idea that God’s elect have a monopoly on His love. I couldn't reconcile the idea of God loving His enemies with the following texts:

• Psalm 5:5, “You hate all workers of iniquity.”
• Psalm 7:11, “God is angry with the wicked every day.”
• Psalm 26:5, “I have hated the assembly of evil doers.”

Beyond those troubling texts, I was grappling with God’s explicit statements about hating Esau found in Romans 9 and Malachi 1. “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.” You have to admit, that’s a hard verse to refute. God’s hatred was unrelated to Esau’s conduct or character. It was rooted in His eternal, sovereign purposes.

Read more


Resource: www.gty.org/Blog/

Is Amway a Cult?

Written by Hoagland at cocs.com

The "cult of confession" refers to the idea that by confessing your sins you will become a stronger (or more spiritual) person. By confessing it, all of the "badness" inside you will be released. If you are a leader, this confession becomes a delivered, well-rehearsed, and well-practiced speech designed specifically to make you more relate-able to your audience. You are not really sharing a "dirty secret," but the audience believes you are. The more you "confess," the more "human" you become to the audience. Soon the audience begins to believe that, since the leader was once a "lowly person" like them, they too can achieve his position. On the other hand, when a new person is first introduced to the group, his confession "can and will be used against him" later. He will be shown that there is only one way to achieve his dreams and goals: becoming an active member of the group. "After all," the members say, "how have you achieved your goals so far? Our way is so much better than what you have."