Todd Bentley event....very sad.....

While there, the good people of Reformed Evangelist preached outside a Todd Bentley event and you can see how the people reacted. He even put up a sound bite of one of the people who came up to talk to him.

Here's a pic of some of the people's responses


Here's a few excerpts:
One-by-one, the hecklers left the line to engage me and the others on my team. Some were reasonable and kind. Others, like the “event staff” person in my face, in the above photo, ranted and raved like so many of the “unbelievers” we face every day on the streets.

The hecklers for my second open-air were every bit as angry as the first group, and as angry as any group of “unbelievers” I have ever faced.

The angry man in the above photo rebuked me as if he were attempting to cast a demon from me. Imagine: a professing Christian thinking that a man preaching the Law and the Gospel is demon-possessed.

Also listen to the audio clip he posted along with his article.

Obama the Unknown

We may know what people are for or against and what they say. As important as these things are, we must also take a look at what they've done. An op-ed piece from today's Washington Post by columnist Richard Cohen gives us some insight as to why that is.

Obama the Unknown
By Richard Cohen
Tuesday, July 29, 2008; Page A17

"Just tell me one thing Barack Obama has done that you admire," I asked a prominent Democrat. He paused and then said that he admired Obama's speech to the Democratic convention in 2004. I agreed. It was a hell of a speech, but it was just a speech.

On the other hand, I continued, I could cite four or five actions -- not speeches -- that John McCain has taken that elicit my admiration, even my awe. First, of course, is his decision as a Vietnam prisoner of war to refuse freedom out of concern that he would be exploited for propaganda purposes. To paraphrase what Kipling said about Gunga Din, John McCain is a better man than most.

But I would not stop there. I would include campaign finance reform, which infuriated so many in his own party; opposition to earmarks, which won him no friends; his politically imprudent opposition to the Medicare prescription drug bill (Medicare has about $35 trillion in unfunded obligations); and, last but not least, his very early call for additional troops in Iraq. His was a lonely position -- virtually suicidal for an all-but-certain presidential candidate and no help when his campaign nearly expired last summer. In all these cases, McCain stuck to his guns.

Obama argues that he himself stuck to the biggest gun of all: opposition to the war. He took that position when the war was enormously popular, the president who initiated it was even more popular and critics of both were slandered as unpatriotic. But at the time, Obama was a mere Illinois state senator, representing the (very) liberal Hyde Park area of Chicago. He either voiced his conscience or his district's leanings or (lucky fella) both. We will never know.
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And we will never know, either, how Obama might have conducted himself had he served in Congress as long as McCain has. Possibly he would have earned a reputation for furious, maybe even sanctimonious, integrity of the sort that often drove McCain's colleagues to dark thoughts of senatorcide, but the record -- scant as it is -- suggests otherwise. Obama is not noted for sticking to a position or a person once that position or person becomes a political liability. (Names available upon request.)

All politicians change their positions, sometimes even because they have changed their minds. McCain must have suffered excruciating whiplash from totally reversing himself on George Bush's tax cuts. He has denounced preachers he later embraced and then, to his chagrin, has had to denounce them all over again. This plasticity has a label: pandering. McCain knows how it's done.

But Obama has shown that in this area, youth is no handicap. He has been for and against gun control, against and for the recent domestic surveillance legislation and, in almost a single day, for a united Jerusalem under Israeli control and then, when apprised of U.S. policy and Palestinian chagrin, against it. He is an accomplished pol -- a statement of both admiration and a bit of regret.

Obama is often likened to John F. Kennedy. The comparison makes sense. He has the requisite physical qualities -- handsome, lean, etc. -- plus wit, intelligence, awesome speaking abilities and a literary bent. He also might be compared to Franklin D. Roosevelt for many of those same qualities. Both FDR and JFK were disparaged early on by their contemporaries for, I think, doing the difficult and making it look easy. Eleanor Roosevelt, playing off the title of Kennedy's Pulitzer Prize-winning book, airily dismissed him as more profile than courage. Similarly, it was Walter Lippmann's enduring misfortune to size up FDR and belittle him: Roosevelt, he wrote, was "a pleasant man who, without any important qualifications for office, would very much like to be president." Lippmann later recognized that he had underestimated Roosevelt.

My guess is that Obama will make a fool of anyone who issues such a judgment about him. Still, the record now, while tissue thin, is troubling. The next president will have to be something of a political Superman, a man of steel who can tell the American people that they will have to pay more for less -- higher taxes, lower benefits of all kinds -- and deal in an ugly way when nuclear weapons seize the imagination of madmen.

The question I posed to that prominent Democrat was just my way of thinking out loud. I know that Barack Obama is a near-perfect political package. I'm still not sure, though, what's in it.

More Todd Bently and Jim Carrey!

see this video and can't help but think of


THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


We laugh. But notice that in the first video the gentleman pulls out his bible to see where we could ever find an instance of anyone doing such things to heal someone. Yep, I dare say the reason people go to these places is because they have not opened their Bible to get informed on what real revival is and when and how healing does or doesn't happen. I lay the blame on Pastors who have not done their duty to be discerning. I also blame these guys that stalk on people's hopes that maybe they can get out of their pain and suffering. My prayers go out to them.

Cool Website: Mygazines

Well, as many of you know I am an info junkie. Too much for my own good really. However, when I find something interesting I do like to share it with you. A very cool (though possibly legally shaky) web-site called mygazines has emerged. Mygazines is a page where you can browse online through todays most recent magazines. Want to read Entertainment Weekly without having to stand in line at the check out counter? Look for it here. The coolest thing is that it has archives of Time magazine. You can browse through old articles. The sad part is that as I searched, I could find no theology or Christian magazines. Well, I'm going to write a strongly worded email to them about it. Pick a magazine, and zoom in to read. I had fun browsing through Mad magazine while I was on. Fun stuff. Enjoy.

Prayer Requests

From time to time there are things that I feel the need to ask for you my viewers prayer for.
1. My friend Jonathan (and his big head)
He's on his way back froma month long missions trip in Taiwan. Here's the vid he made.
He has said that coming back might be hard tommorow because of a typhoon. So pray he and his team make it back ok.


2. My health. After my trip I've noticed I will have to get used to sleeping on a bed. My back is somewhat sore from sleeping on a hard wood floor. Also my voice is kind of hoarse from all the interpreting I did this week. I had to raise my voice for the crowds to hear me.

3. Glenn. My pal (link is on the side) is going through a tough time and you can read about it at his blog if you wish.

4. FCC. Many things are being reported. Not sure what to make of it, but I love those guys and thin its one of my favorite churches ever. Pray for the whole pastoral staff and the members.
5. The BOOK! Ok, It is still in limbo, but I think something is salvageable and will be talking about it to my boss.


Praise Reports
On another note I have some praise reports.
1. The trip went well and I made some new friends. I also got some pretty cool perspective on my life and I almost feel like someone (we know who don't we?) hit the reset button.
2. My friend Mig is working on a comic book. Yay!
3. My mom got a car, so now my sister may be able to drive herself around sooner. Yay!
4. I'm alive and doing well.

Our respectable heresies.....

OK class, what's wrong with this?

Back from Mexico!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm rather tired, so I won't be long here, but it went well. Don't get me wrong, it was hard, but it was worth it. I got tanned and had to eat Korean food when I wasn't used to it. The schedule was strict and my voice is hoarse from all the interpreting I had to do, but it was worth it. I got to help preach the gospel to a lot of little kids and their parents. Some days were crazier than others. The last two days went surprisingly well. God moved in wonderful ways and on the last day something fascinating did happen. We finished our VBS lesson and handed out burgers to the neighborhood people, and one of the ladies came up to me and asked for prayer for 4 year old son. He had gone through chemotherapy and had a huge scar on his head where the tumor was removed. This week hes going to be checked on to see how he's doing. We were all moved and we prayed for him. The most quiet of us was moved. Our doctor happened to be a neurosurgeon in Los Angeles. He's offered to help if the prognosis is bad. She was so relieved. Coincidence? I think not. God truly moves in mysterious ways. Do I get a lot of what I saw? The poverty, the lack of hygiene? No, but I was truly made aware of the simple pleasures of life and the gratefulness we should show for this country and it's well working sewer system and warm water. I'll add more about this in the future.

William Dembski on Todd Bently and faith healing

One of my more thoughtful readers (and I appreciate those) asked me about the fact there are other faiths that have faith healers. Does this mean that we don't pray for healing at church anymore? And I have to agree that she makes a point. I think we should be careful. However, it is because we are called to call on God and God alone to perform mighty deeds, that we must be careful when someone doing (and saying) some pretty wacky stuff (like Mr. Bentley does HERE and HERE) in the name of Christ. It's called discernment. Keep in mind in that in the Old Testament we are warned against being false witnesses, Jesus warns of false Christs, Paul warns of false brothers and flase gospels and the book of Revelation warns of false signs wonders and false prophets. That is the danger we are warned to avoid. Evidence of this is in the following story from Intelligent Design proponent and mathematician William Dembski. He went to Florida and took his autistic son. His insights are not surprising, and yet saddening. Here's what he had to say:

FORT WORTH, Texas (BP)--Todd Bentley's healing ministry has gained national attention. His daily meetings for the past three months in Lakeland, Fla., have attracted hundreds of thousands from all over the world. The press has begun to question Bentley's legitimacy -- Is his financial accounting above board? Are miracles really happening? I want to raise some more personal concerns.

On July 3, my wife, three children and I attended Bentley's "impartation service" in Denton, Texas, north of Dallas. Why? We have twin 7-year-old boys, one of whom is autistic (largely nonverbal, still not fully toilet trained, serious developmental delays). Friends urged that we attend the meeting for his miraculous healing.

Call us stubborn, but my wife and I are unimpressed with doctors who see our son's condition as hopeless. We believe that God still heals and that His means of healing include conventional medicine, alternative medicine, prayer, fasting, love and, yes, miracles. In any case, we haven't given up on our son's recovery (we still remember the day when he was developmentally on track). So if God wanted to use Todd Bentley, we were open to it.

As faith healers go, Bentley is unconventional. Exhibiting black shirt, baggy jeans, tattoos and piercings, he prefers grunge to Gucci. But his appearance wasn't a problem for my wife or me. God in the Bible used many unconventional people. The problem for us was the manipulation, hype and agenda that seemed to pervade the meeting.

It was a 130-mile drive for my family to get to the meeting. When we called the organizers, they urged us to get there by 3 p.m. even though the meeting didn't start till 7 p.m. The venue (a basketball arena) seated 8,500 people, yet the organizers told us to expect 14,000 people to show up. So the only way to be sure of getting a seat was to get there early.

We therefore piled the kids into the minivan early afternoon, arriving around 4:30. At 6:30, after sitting for two hours, the arena was about three-quarters full. One of the organizers then announced that traffic was backed up for miles around Denton and that several thousand were trying to get into the meeting, most of whom would have to be turned away. This was sheer hype. A significant block of seats (at least 20 percent) were cordoned off and never used throughout the whole night. We could have arrived anytime and still gotten seats. (emphasis mine)

At 7, Keith Miller (the chief organizer, www.sfwm.org) started things off. After prompting the audience to perform ritualistic acts of worship (stand up, raise your hands, say after me ...), he passed the baton to a young woman singer and her backup band. The sound system was terrible -- sounds were loud and distorted. The music was repetitive in the extreme. In almost two hours of this "music ministry," only a handful of songs were sung, and many of them seemed to consist of only one or two phrases. (emphasis mine)

Finally, around 9 p.m. Bentley began to speak. He devoted much of his message to the visions he has received and the miracles he claims have happened in his ministry. Then, almost as an afterthought, he spent a few minutes preaching from the Bible (John 5). In fact, he admitted that he was having us open the Bible simply so that it couldn't be said that he didn't preach from the Bible. So much for reverencing the Scriptures. (ditto)

Nowhere in Bentley's message did I see an emphasis on the love and compassion of God -- that healing is an expression of God's goodness and care for humanity. Rather, the emphasis throughout was on power -- the power to heal and be healed.

Bentley told stories of remarkable healings. In fact, he claims that in his ministry 30 people have now been raised from the dead. Are these stories credible? A common pattern in his accounts of healing was an absence of specificity. Bentley claims that one man, unembalmed, had been dead for 48 hours and was in a coffin. When the family gathered around at a funeral home, the man knocked from inside the coffin to be let out.

But what are the specifics? Who was this man? What's his name? Where's the death certificate? And why not parade the man at Bentley's meetings? If I am ever raised from the dead through anyone's ministry, you can be sure I'll put in a guest appearance. Bentley claims that he is having a team investigate healings performed under his ministry and will soon go public with the evidence. I look forward to seeing it.

After preaching, Bentley took the offering. During the offering he asked "How much anointing do you want to receive?" Thus he linked the blessing we should receive with the amount of money we gave.

After the offering, Bentley said a general prayer for mass healing. People who thought they were healed then came forward. But I saw no obvious or dramatic evidence of healing. After the general prayer for mass healing, Bentley indicated that he would pray for the severest cases.

At this point, a friend who was with us urged that she and my wife take our son with autism down for prayer (I stayed with our other son and daughter). Over an hour later my son with autism was still not able to get to the main floor for prayer. Ushers twice prevented that from happening. They noted that he was not in a wheelchair. Wheelchair cases clearly had priority -- presumably they provided better opportunities for the cameras, which filmed everything. They also invoked the fire marshals, who, they claimed, prohibited too many people on the floor of the arena. But earlier in the service, during the worship time, they had packed the floor with people singing and whooping it up.

After midnight we were told that it would be an hour and a half before our son could get prayer. At that point, we got up and left. Yet the story doesn't end there. When we got to the minivan, our other son remembered that he had left his Bible in the arena. When my wife went back to retrieve it, everybody, including Bentley, had suddenly cleared out. Staying an hour and a half would not have mattered.

Our son was refused prayer twice because he didn't look the part, and he was told to wait still longer for a prayer that would never have been offered. And even those who looked the part seemed to look no better after Bentley's prayer -- the exodus from the arena of people bound in wheelchairs was poignant.

My son's situation was not unique -- a man with bone cancer and his wife traveled a long distance, were likewise refused prayer, and left in tears. People with needs were shortchanged. It seemed that power, prestige and money (in that order) were dominating motives behind the meeting. Minimal time was given to healing, though plenty was devoted to assaulting our senses with blaring insipid music and even to Bentley promoting and selling his own products (books and CDs). (emphasis mine)

Neither my wife nor I regret going. It was an education. Our kids are resilient. But the ride home raised a question. We found ourselves avoiding talking about the event until the children fell asleep. Then, as they drifted off in the early morning, we talked in hushed tones about how easily religion can be abused, in this case to exploit our family. What do we tell our children? I'm still working on that one.
--30--
William A. Dembski is research professor of philosophy at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Movie review: The Dark Knight

What can I say after seeing the movie except to say WOW! The last time I saw so many twists and turns and shocking scenes in a film M. Night was making good movies. Oh and The Departed was getting Oscar nominations. This movie truly was a crime drama that looks at the heart of a man without conscience or fear. No fear of man or God. But is the Joker really such a man? He would have to be to do the insane amount of things he does in this film. Heat h Ledger truly left a lasting performance and has wiped the cartoony Joker of my youth off the map. But is Batman also a man without fear? This is the struggle with both these men. One has rules...a method to his madness. The other doesn't. He only has madness. The story has plenty of political intrigue and raises the question: how far will you go to do the right thing? To make things "right?" Christian Bale and Heath Ledger did a great job, but so did Gary Oldman and Aaron Eckhart. As Harvey Dent, a man on a mission, Eckhart does a tremendous job. The movie doesn't go where you think it goes, and it certainly misleads with the trailers out there. A great job for Christopher Nolan. A+ go see it now! And it goes without saying that this movie is rated PG-13 for a reason.

Oh and two great trailers were presented. One for Terminator Salvation (due out next year) and the other for a movie I'm waiting for: Watchmen. The trailer was spectacular!!! Here it is. I can't wait.

My book....and my broken heart....

My boss and I have not seen eye to eye on the book. It's my fault really. It's not my book. It's his. Booklet really. However, I'm even more resolved to write a book about our faith and our culture. When...... I don't know. And that breaks my heart.

Todd bently exposed!!!

Thanks to H8n S8n for his cool post at Biblical Thought. Go check it out. Here's a clip he put up to help you think about Todd Bently and the so-called Florida revival.

The world is outside. It exists independently of us. We must be able to look at it to grasp with it is we must want to do or know. The objective world. Yet, the internal world is subjective and exists dependently on me. The subjective is rather personal. WE need it. We ponder and reflect and come up with different ideas about the world. From differing tastes in ice cream to politics. Yet is it in God that we find a difficulty. Is he really only a personal experience, or someone who lives outside of us who can't be personal. He can only be known, but not, "known". Left to ourselves we could argue forever, but if God has revealed himself, we might get a better clue. In Acts 17, facing a group of thinkers and philosophers, Paul argues his case at Mars Hill. He begins with the idea that God is independent of us! He rules the nations, and mankind. He doesn't need us! Quite the opposite, we need him! In him we live and move and have our being. BUt more so, he has a relationship he wants to establish with us. For the simple reason that he will judge said earth and all it's in habitants. Psalm 2 has som einsight into this: Kiss the son lest he be angry with you! This is where we find our personla experience of God. But we can't set the agenda, he does. And even more so, not all our experiences are the same! We may have the same starting point, but he deals with us in real time and in different ways. As a matter of fact, Jesus was rather the same. We're told he came to us. He took on a human form and used human communication and human thought processes and human culture to interact with us. But it wasn't just human. His message was more than human. It transcends time, and culture, and even time. Such a message, such a person cannot only be personal. But he is. That and more.

Giving out CD's

Instead of gospel tracts. Over at Slice of Laodicea He writes about the ease of giving a cd away to someone with a message on it. Hmmmm I think that's something to ponder. Almost all of us can burn a message onto a cd (come on most of you do it already!) and they're easy to hand out. All you would need is to put a cool label on it or something. What ways do you have to reach the unevangelized? However, it should go without saying that we must strive to spend time with people getting to know them. Two book recommendation comes to mind:

J.I. Packer on homosexuality

Mark Driscoll spent time with J.I. Packer and they ended up talking about Homosexuality. Seeing that it has become a hot button issue, it might be wise to listen to the wisdom of someone who's spent time thinking about these issues. Click HERE!

Kids Say the Smartest things.....

My Mom recently taught about ways we can contribute at church to her Sunday School kids. Here is a list of what the kids thought should be at their local church (my old church) .
1. For the people to be more honest.
2. For the people to turn off their cell phones!
3. More order during the service.
4. For a sign indicating the building is a church (and not just a place where there is also an insurance office!)

Is Google Making us Stoopid?

A great article from the Atlantic Monthly that is also part of my research. What say you?

Click Here to see responses from Between Two Worlds blog.

Virtual Insanity

As part of my research, I offer you a hit song from my High School years.

VIRTUAL INSANITY | User Video | SPIKE.com

Jamiroquai

Virtual Insanity Lyrics


Oh yeah what we're living in (let me tell ya)
It' a wonder man can eat at all
When things are big
That should be small
Who can tell what magic spells we'll be doing for us.
And I'm giving all my love to this world
Only to be told
I can't see, I can't breathe
No more will we be
And nothing's gonna change the way we live
Cuz we can always take and never give
And now that things are changing for the worse,
See, it's a crazy world we're living in
And I just can't see that half of us immersed in sin
Is all we have to give these

Futures made of virtual insanity
now always seem, to be governed by this love we have
For useless, twisting, our new technology
Oh now there is no sound for we all live underground

And I'm thinking in what a mess we're in
Hard to know when to begin
If I could slip the sickly ties that earthly man has made
And now every mother can choose the color of her child
That's not nature's way
Well that's what they said yesterday
There's nothing left to do but pray
I think it's time I found a new religion
Whoaaa it's so insane to synthesize another strain
There's something in these futures that we have to be told.

Futures made of virtual insanity
now always seem, to be governed by this love we have
For useless, twisting of our then new technology
Oh now there is no sound for we all live underground

Now there's no sound if we all live underground
And now it's virtual insanity
Forget your virtual reality
Oh, there's nothing so bad, I know yeah
(Bridge)
Oh, this virtual insanity, we're living in,
Has got to change, yeah
Things will never be the same
And I can't go on
While we're living in oh, oh virtual insanity
Oh, this world has got to change
Cos I just, I just can't keep going on, it was virtual,
Virtual insanity that we're living in, that we're living in
That virtual insanity is what it is

Chorus x2:

Futures made of virtual insanity
now always seem to be governed by this love we have
For useless, twisting, our new technology
Oh there is no sound for we all live underground

Living - Virtual Insanity
Living - Virtual Insanity
Living - Virtual Insanity
Living - Virtual Insanity

Virtual Insanity is what we're living in

Amusing Ourselves to Death

So, I'm doing research for a ministry I'm working with. THey want me to help them write a book about computers, the gospel and contemporary culture. At least that's where I think they are headed. I'm taking a Schaefferian approach to the whole matter. That is, I began to ask myself: How would Francis Schaeffer deal with the subject matter I've been given. It's begun to produce fruit. Here are some of the books I'm reading, borrowing, buying etc... for my research.

Death in the City by Francis Schaeffer
The Dumbest Generation
Generation Me
Myspace Generation
The Cult of the Amateur
The Closing of the American Mind
The Postmodern Turn
Here Comes the Future
The God Who is There
Technopoly by Neil Postman
Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman (go read this now!)
And many more I'm sure.

Keep my in prayer as I do the research and write this book.
Frank!

Lutherans say: God a Liberal Democrat?

According to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America he is.It would seem he comes off that way. Click HERE to read the article written by FrontPage magazine. However, here are two lines I had to share with you that I hope make you think:

1. Observe that the Lutherans cite government as “an important catalyst in God’s work.” In fact, their agenda implies that government is virtually God’s only instrument. The Lutherans want government to abolish poverty, prohibit war, cleanse the environment, engineer egalitarian justice globally, and seemingly usher in The Millennium through additional regulation and taxation. If government can achieve so much, who needs God, much less the church?

2. But officials of the shrinking ELCA, in their demands to the presidential candidates, imply they have less confidence in the Gospel than they do in the healing, wonder-working powers of Big Government. (emphasis mine)


Indeed, how are we to respond to our Lutheran friends? Read the article, what say you?

You might be a Calvinist if......

From the good people at Tom in the Box. Enjoy!

You Might Be A Calvinist


Atlanta, Georgia -- Note: TBNN is pleased to have Jeff Foxworthy as Saturday Morning's guest writer.

Jeff: I'm happy to fill in to today for Brother Slawson.

You know, between Lakewood and Lynchburg, there's over 30 million people who I'd call "my people." Many of these folks are Calvinists, they just don't know it. I've designed for today a few little test questions to help you determine if there is a large likelihood that you are a Calvinist. So, if sitting in a tub full of scissors sounds more appealing to you than listening to a Sunday School class share their personal gut feelings about a Bible verse, you are a good candidate.

If you have a Martin Luther Jell-O mold, you just might be a Calvinist.

If your child’s first word was “Westminster”, you just might be a Calvinist.

Or, if you send your mother tulips on Mother’s Day,

… you might be a Calvinist.

If you still remember the 8 speakers in order from the recent T4G conference, or

If a free Bible has ever arrived in the mail to you from John McArthur, or

If you have ever purchased 100 or more copies of the same John Piper book to hand out to random people you meet,

…you just might be a Calvinist.

If you purchased an MP3 player with the sole purpose of downloading sermons, or

If you were shocked to just discover that some people download MP3 files that are not sermons, or

If you have adjusted the default passage setting at www.biblegateway.org from “NIV” to “ESV”

… you might be a Calvinist.

If your preacher says to turn to Obadiah and you do not use the index, or

If you think a 50-minute sermon is too short, or

If you’ve ever heard a wave of groans sweep through Sunday School when you refer to Romans 9,

…you just might be a Calvinist.

If you find yourself talking to the Lord Jesus more than to your family, and

If you find yourself wanting to read your Bible instead of watching television, and

If quotes from Pink, Spurgeon, Luther, Piper, and McArthur pop into your head at random times during the day

…you might be a Calvinist.

If you are confused when someone uses the term “my Bible” as if they only have one, and

If your Bibles must be replaced in less than a year due to pages separating from the spine, and

If you smile, nod and hold your tongue with your teeth after a lively church service when someone says, “God showed up today”

…you might be a Calvinist.

If you’ve ever shouted “YES!” when the pastor says to turn to 1st Thessalonians, and

If you see 6:37 on a digital clock and think of the Lord Jesus’ words in John, and

If you’ve muted a Thanksgiving football game because it’s interfering with your family discussion of Ephesians 1

…you might be a Calvinist.

If you have bookmarked three or more preachers’ scripture index webpages, and

If you’ve ever been banned from a Sunday School class for quoting scripture, and

If you have ever purposefully sung a different word in a hymn to conform to scripture,

… you might be a Calvinist.

If your kids own more Bibles than televisions, and

If your children never ask you “Where are we going?” on Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night, and

If you’ve ever read parts of “The Bondage of the Will” to children under ten and prayed that it would change their lives

…you just might be a Calvinist.

If your child received detention at his Christian school after shouting, “But I am a Hedonist Pyromaniac!” or

If your children argue and you require them to listen to a Piper Sermon as punishment, or

If you visit pyromaniacs, tominthebox, spurgeon.org, desiringgod.org, and gty.org, more than once a day, yes…

You just might…. I say you just might…. Yes… you just might be a Calvinist

************************

And if you look at 3:16 on a digital clock and feel the same sense of gratitude, you might be a Calvinist no longer in the cage stage!

If you are in the doctor's waiting room and your friend says, "Hey, why don't we read your Checkbook?"

If you ever have found yourself thinking "My pastor's sermon was particularly Spurgeonesque this morning"

If eating pork reminds you of Acts 10 and then leads to contemplating the glories of the New Covenant in Christ

If you read your books' Table of Contents for edification and conviction

If you purposefully read a book to be convicted

If you wonder how many people will scratch their heads when you go out witnessing and tell them you are from the "REFORMED Baptist Church"

If you are trying to reserve the term "awesome" for God and His deeds alone, and you have accountability partners to help you with it

If the psalter selection "How Shall the Young Direct Thy Way" is precious to you

If you find yourself whistling "Wondrous King All Glorious" as you walk down the street

If you feel the urge to start whistling "A Mighty Fortress" as you walk past the local Catholic high-school

If you comment on a blog knowing that somehow that your pastor will run across it

If you are scratching your head wondering which one of the men you call "my pastor" will read it

...you might be a Calvinist.
If your library is worth more than your car - and none of your books are sold at LifeWay - you might be a Calvinist.

If you actually see all the members of your church every week, you might be a Calvinist.

If you've ever taught a Sunday School class on 'who really killed Jesus' you might be a Calvinist.

Update: A book I'm writing and a new Blog!

OK really quick, I'm helping a ministry write a book. I have no idea what I'm doing but I trust God will help me on this. I'm also going to be contributing to a blog my friend started. No details yet. Oh and I will have some new movie and book reviews up soon. Oh and I will finally deal with something my friend Josh and I started talking about a while back. Anyway, there you go. Oh and you can now find me on Facebook. Find me under Frank Recinos in Los Angeles.