REVISION and REPENTANCE of thoughts on Burning Korans...
Wednesday, September 08, 2010 Posted by Pastor Fred Wolfe
My most recent post about the Florida Pastor who will be burning Korans sparked a lot of controversy. During my discussions, I was admonished in many ways. I began to see that my views came out of pride-and not much prayer.
In my last post I laid out some of the positive aspects of this public Koran burning, but upon further reflection, I have decided that the harm that will come from it outweigh any benefits. Some of the following points have come from some of my discussions with others, and some have come from my own reflection.
Reasons NOT to publicly burn Korans:
1. Eyewitnesses in Gainesville have experienced death threats, and possible violence. This will assuredly transfer to the middle east, where our troops will be in greater danger. (Thanks Jen)
2. The only instance in the scripture of burning books is found in Acts 19:19, where people voluntarily did it. The point is, burning someone else's holy book will not lead them to Christ, it will lead them to anger. Our goal should be to proclaim the gospel as boldly, and have them burn their own Korans. (Thanks Seun)
3. A few Bible verses have taught my heart on this subject: (Thanks Danny)
A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger (Pr. 15:1).
A hot tempered man stirs up dissension, but a patient man calms a quarrel (Pr. 15:18).
When a man's ways are pleasing to the Lord, he makes even his enemies live at peace with him (Pr. 16:7).
Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam; so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out (Pr. 17:14).
It is to a man's honor to avoid strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel (Pr. 20:3)
4. Since David Petraeus unwisely gave this event a lot of publicity, and the pastor seems to be relishing his 15 minutes of fame, the event does not seem to have even the motivations I gave in my last post. It seems to be a selfish event. We should not support the glory of man.
5. This event in no way displays the grace, love or mercy of God. Even the most ardent of bold preachers bring their messages around to the gospel.
Therefore, I publicly repent of my latest post. I was wrong to post it in light of the fact that after prayer I was convicted of it's content. I ask my readers for their forgiveness, and join me in prayer for wisdom and guidance as we all seek our Lord in these tumultuous days.
Sincerely,
Fred
Do You Think You Are a Christian?
Saturday, September 04, 2010 Posted by Pastor Fred Wolfe
Longing After God
Friday, September 03, 2010 Posted by Pastor Fred Wolfe
Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight.... --Exodus 3:13
"Come near to the holy men and women of the past and you will soon feel the heat of their desire after God. They mourned for Him, they prayed and wrestled and sought for Him day and night, in season and out, and when they had found Him the finding was all the sweeter for the long seeking. Moses used the fact that he knew God as an argument for knowing Him better. "Now, therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight;" and from there he rose to make the daring request, "I beseech thee, show me thy glory." God was frankly pleased by this display of ardor, and the next day called Moses into the mount, and there in solemn procession made all His glory pass before him." AW Tozer, "The Pursuit of God", pg.15
"Come near to the holy men and women of the past and you will soon feel the heat of their desire after God. They mourned for Him, they prayed and wrestled and sought for Him day and night, in season and out, and when they had found Him the finding was all the sweeter for the long seeking. Moses used the fact that he knew God as an argument for knowing Him better. "Now, therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight;" and from there he rose to make the daring request, "I beseech thee, show me thy glory." God was frankly pleased by this display of ardor, and the next day called Moses into the mount, and there in solemn procession made all His glory pass before him." AW Tozer, "The Pursuit of God", pg.15
News Flash: God Did Not Create the Universe!
Thursday, September 02, 2010 Posted by Pastor Fred Wolfe
Would this face lie to you?
No one can deny that Stephen Hawking is a brilliant man. But I ask all who read these words: Did anyone have any doubt that an unregenerate man who attempts to explain the existence of the universe would come to the conclusion that God had nothing to do with it? In his new book, "The Grand Design", Hawking claims that the universe would have come about all on it's own because of gravity.
I'll give him that mathematically, you my be able to come up with a theoretical explanation of something coming from nothing if you use theoretical mathematics that don't deal in concrete numbers. And you have to defy logic. And physics. And History. And philosophy. And empiricism. And purpose. And Humans. And consciousness. And morality. And sanity. As you might have guessed, I'm not a fan of this new book. I'm not a fan not only because he denies the creative God that is responsible for the universe, but also because it bases it's premise on theory, and asserts it as fact. Too many people will read this book and not understand that theoretical mathematics is based in conjecture and not concrete empiricism, as it implies. If anyone has read this book, I would also ask that you take a look at this one:
For all of the atheists who are inevitably going to be sending me messages, I am going to give you a list compiled by my buddy in Christ Matt Slick of things to remember when debating Christians:
I would also encourage the atheist community to come to a consensus as to why God cannot exist, so that we may trounce you with more efficiency.
Mr. Spock says: Atheism is:
Will the Real Worshipers Please Stand Up?
Thursday, September 02, 2010 Posted by Pastor Fred Wolfe
Well, we have great churches and we have beautiful sanctuaries and we join in the chorus, "Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe." But there is every indication that we are in need of real worshipers.
We have a lot of men willing to sit on our church boards who have no desire for spiritual joy and radiance and who never show up for the church prayer meeting. These are the men who often make the decisions about the church budget and the church expenses and where the frills will go in the new edifice. They are the fellows who run the church, but you cannot get them to the prayer meeting because they are not worshipers.
It seems to me that it has always been a frightful incongruity that men who do not pray and do not worship are nevertheless actually running many of the churches and ultimately determining the direction they will take. It hits very close to our own situations, perhaps, but we should confess that in many "good" churches, we let the women do the praying and let the men do the voting.
Because we are not truly worshipers, we spend a lot of time in the churches just spinning our wheels, burning the gasoline, making a noise but not getting anywhere. -AW Tozer
Psalm 29:2- Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.
