Pride Humility and Servanthood

by Mike Ratliff

And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.” (Mark 10:42-44 ESV)

Humility for the Christian is not optional. That is, if a Christian is going to walk before the face of God as one who brings Him glory while growing in Christlikeness and shedding all vestiges of worldliness, then the part of that that is both container and major ingredient of it all is genuine biblical humility. The enemy of humility is pride, which in no way ever can be the basis for godly preaching or teaching or in walking in repentance as a way of life. In fact, those who walk according to the flesh, the proud, are shunned by God for they see themselves as having a form of righteousness outside of His that will be acceptable for entrance into the Kingdom of God. Also, the true servants of God cannot be so or serve Him from any basis other than humility. 

Biblical Humility What It Is and What It Is Not

by Mike Ratliff

Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. (Philippians 2:3 ESV)

One of the main contentions of the Emergents is that it is an arrogant thing to teach from the Bible as if it is absolute truth. They say that the truly humble are those who confess to know nothing precisely, but only in a nebulous sort of way. This is primarily an attempt to appear humble to the world by seeking common ground with everyone, which is only possible if truth is held loosely so there is room for compromise. In the world’s eyes this does appear to be humble, but is this biblical humility? In my time off over the last several days I discussed this with several of those very close to me. In response to my reiteration of the Emergent position on truth and humility my daughter responded almost instantaneously with the following passage (the part in the bold, which is John 8:32).

As he was saying these things, many believed in him. So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:30-32 ESV)

Down Time

Since my two seizures and the travel restrictions associated with my condition, the death of my nephew, and my grandson becoming ill with a double ear infection, my family has been struggling a great deal because we are so spread out. I will be traveling to visit my son-in-law, daughter, grandson as well as my parents who are in assisted living over the next several days. My Neurologist has given me clearance to travel now that my medications are stabilized. I will try to get back to writing sometime early next week. Please be in prayer for us, but especially for God’s Truth to become manifest as such in His Church.

Soli Deo Gloria!

By Grace Through Faith

by Mike Ratliff

Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3 ESV)

The more I deal with those who are adamantly against the fact that God’s Word is absolute truth as they claim the correct way to understand the gospel is as if it is some sort of smorgasbord or rotating buffet in which the sound doctrines taught to us from the Bible are simply one of untold numbers of various ways to God, the more amazed I become at the abject spiritual blindness exhibited by them. These same people want an understanding of the Bible that is loose and easy to hedge. Why? It is so they can include every person on planet earth as on “a” path to God regardless of status as a Christian or not. This multi-path concept to God is a perfect seedbed for the apostate authors such as Brian McLaren who wrote A Generous Orthodoxy. McLaren and those like him are rethinking “Christianity” so that it becomes the all-inclusive container for all religions as seen is this fine post by Pastor Ken Silva. This is the fifth post in the series. I highly recommend that you read all five. The end-product of this rethinking of Christianity is not Christianity at all. It is an open-ended, man-made false religion that has as its foundation the philosophies of men, not the Word of God. 

Alive in Christ

by Mike Ratliff

Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. (1 Timothy 4:7-8 ESV)

In the passage above (1 Timothy 4:7-8) the Apostle Paul used the Greek word ευσεβεια in v8, which is translated here as “godliness.” What is godliness? The word ευσεβεια in this context describes the condition of devotion and piety toward God. Godliness is a good translation, though it could also have been rendered as “holiness.” Godliness is a word which encapsulates the whole of true religion and is is called “godliness” because piety toward God is the foundation and the principal part of it. In the Greek, when this word is used to describe a devout worshipper of God, it also carries with it the general sense of a pious life or a life which is morally good. My brethren, this is the description of those who are truly alive in Christ because this is also the description of Christlikeness when it is applied to to genuine believers belonging to the Lord Jesus.

The Call to Sound Doctrine

by Mike Ratliff

The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions. Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted. (1 Timothy 1:5-11 ESV)

Carefully read the passage I placed at the top of this post. What is the aim of the charge of a true discipler? It is to produce the good fruit of of love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. That is the good fruit of genuine prophet of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. On the other hand, our Lord Himself told us in His Sermon on the Mount how to discern whether a prophet was false or not.

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. (Matthew 7:15-20 ESV)

The Two-Stage Christian Life

by Mike Ratliff

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, (Romans 1:1-5 ESV)

In last night’s post, What the Gospel Is and What the Gospel Does, I made the following statement about Romans 1:1-5 (above), “This is a summary of the two-stage life of our Lord Jesus Christ. The first stage leads up to His death on the Cross then the second stage is a second life when He was raised up in glory by God’s Spirit.” In this post I would like to show how those effectually called unto Christ by the Father are also called to parallel our Lord’s two-stage life. He was incarnate as a human even though He is the second person in the Holy Trinity. In John 1:1-3 we learn, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.” This is referring to our Lord Jesus Christ. Even though He is God, He came to earth as one of us, though sinless. From that moment of His incarnation, He lived in the first stage in this sin-sick, and fallen world. He was tempted in every way that we are. He grieved, wept, was rejected, was tortured and was executed though He was innocent. He died and was buried. This ended the first stage of His life as the God-Man. Three days later He was ressrecrecterd from the dead, this began the second stage of His life in glory by God’s Spirit.

What the Gospel Is and What the Gospel Does

by Mike Ratliff

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you–unless you believed in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:1-2 ESV)

I had a retort this morning concerning my last post., Emergent Fallacies and the Dummying Down of the Church, which sent me back to my own time of God drawing me out of the darkness into the truth. The person attempted to derail the content or focus of that article by implying that God could save people any way He wanted so why should we be so narrow and judgmental. The one complaining insisted that he knew of many people that were “emergent,” but who loved the Lord and were excited about serving him, et cetera. However, they would not fit the mold of what I would define as Christian. The reason that sent me back to my own time of renewal in 2004 was that I remember that very statement coming across my lips in my excitement of what God was doing in me. I remember it like it was just the other day proclaiming to my wife that God could save any one any way He chose and we were wrong in placing limits in our theology on this. However, I did not hold to that fallacy very long. In fact, it was less than six months later that I went through an intensive study of theology and from that I gained a more precise understanding of the Gospel, what it is and what it does, and why this is the one and only way God has designed to save His people. 

Emergent Fallacies and The Dummying Down of the Church

by Mike Ratliff

I listened to a fantastic interview today on Crosstalk Radio from the 17^th. It featured Ingrid Schlueter interviewing Chris Rosebrough. The title of the show was “Emergent Heresy – A Warning.” One of the most difficult things for me over the last few years has been in addressing the heretical things that the emergents were saying, but it seemed that there was absolutely no foundation or structure to their confusing attacks on the truth while using some of the same doctrinal words that we us in Christian Orthodoxy. This interview tied much of the confusion together for me so that I now understand that simply addressing a salient heretical point here and there with them is like trying to kill a swam of mosquitos with an ice pick. This issue really isn’t that these Emergents are messed up theologically, but that they are not Christians at all. Their religion is not Christianity, it is some other hashed together conglomeration of philosophies that have become anchored in our churches because the source of their followers are coming from our youth groups who are easily duped into their lies because they have grown up in churches in which there is no solid Biblical training. Their local church has been fed a dummied down theology that is void of biblical truth. 

Are You Following Jesus Christ or That Other Jesus?

by Mike Ratliff

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel– not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. (Galatians 1:6-7 ESV)

When we go through trials and tests I believe we need to do a great deal of self-examination. We should seek the face of our Saviour and as the Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 12:2, “And be not conformed to this eon, but be transformed in the renewal of your mind, in the trying of yourselves, in what is the good and well-pleasing and perfect will of God! (Apostolic Bible Polyglot) In our tough times we are humbled by our God and as we turn more and more to Him, He changes our entire mind-set. He transforms us according to His perfect will as we respond in obedience and repentance. It is through this that God prepares us to be His servants who can help others who are suffering. However, there is another aspect of this. He also cleanses us of the pollution of compromise. Our spiritual senses become razor sharp. Yes, we do take on more of our Saviour’s character and in this we also are given a level of spiritual perception that can easily spot the counterfeit that is leading so many professing Christians into apostasy.

Always There

by Todd Agnew

I’ve been leaning on things I’m finding unstable
I’ve been standing on things that are unsure
I’ve been surrounding myself with things I’m finding
Unable to fill me
Unable to still my trembling soul

CHORUS
But You’re always there when I turn around
Even though I’ve been running for so long
You’re always there when I cry out
Even when I’ve been silent for so long
You’re always there when I need You
I need You

I’ve been reaching for things that are no good to me
I’ve been wrestling with things that are bringing me down
I’ve been losing sleep over things that really don’t matter
I know You want better
But it’s so hard to see Your side

CHORUS
But You’re always there when I turn around
Even though I’ve been running for so long
You’re always there when I cry out
Even when I’ve been silent for so long
You’re always there when I need You
I need You

Can You hear me
Can You hear me calling
Cause it’s been so long
And I’m sorry
That it’s been so long, so long

CHORUS
But You’re always there when I turn around
Even though I’ve been running for so long
You’re always there when I cry out
Even when I’ve been silent for so long
You’re always there when I need You
I need You

CHORUS
But You’re always there when I turn around
Even though I’ve been running for so long, so long
You’re always there when I cry out
Even when I’ve been silent for so long, so long
You’re always there
When I need You
I need You

© 2005 Integrity Music

The Revelation of God’s Glory Through Believers

by Mike Ratliff

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith–more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire–may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:3-7 ESV)

On top of my own medical issues over the last few weeks our family has also suffered the death of nephew not much younger than my son. My daughter was close to him. She has been having quite a few emotional issues since the start of my problems and then with my nephew’s death right in the middle of it, her emotional strain has really concerned my wife and I. I had a long talk with my wife today about what is going on. I told her that I felt like that man whom the robbers beat and left for dead on the side of road and no one would stop and help him except a Samaritan. Well, the one who has stopped and helped me and is sustaining me through all of this is my Lord Jesus. He is not only sustaining me, He is also opening my spiritual eyes to many things that I was overlooking before. It is as if scales have been peeled away from my eyes. My spiritual orientation has changed as well. That part of me that used to look out for number one seems to have been hacked to pieces. In his place is a deep desire to do whatever my Lord wants any way He wants. This also has changed how I look at my fiery trials in light of eternity. 

Called to Be Holy

by Mike Ratliff

Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. (Luke 12:33-36 ESV)

One recurring warning throughout the New Testament is that Christians should live in such a way that they will be ready when their Lord returns. What would that life look like? How should we live in order to be ready when He comes and knocks? I doubt that it would look like the self-indulgent, pop-culture oriented, heavily marketed, so-called Christian lifestyle that waters down the gospel and breeds “Christians” who are both theologically and scripturally ignorant. They follow “another Jesus” whose creators have designed to fit the image that draws the crowd they want. The “followers” of this “other Jesus” resent any call to live lives of repentance before a Holy God who is to be feared. What does the life look like that is prepared for our Lord’s return? 

A Life Pleasing to God

by Mike Ratliff

But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:17-23 ESV)

God is Sovereign. I find it tragic that that statement can raise the ire of so many professing Christians. These same people will get just as angry when passages such as Romans 6:17-23 (above) are taken literally showing that the lost are slaves (δουλοι) of sin with no ability to become free from that slavery without the gracious breaking in by our Sovereign God who, in a supreme act of mercy, makes those dead in their trespasses and sin, alive through the washing of regeneration. These new creations who were totally incapable of knowing God and His truth and their lost condition before Him, by His grace through a faith that is now spiritually alive believes the Gospel and receives Christ as Lord and Saviour. Our God is Sovereign and we should rejoice that this is so because if it is not, then we are left to ourselves to somehow find a way to pay back the wages of sin, which is death. God is the ultimate promise keeper and He is merciful and gracious.

A Warning to Professing Christians

by Mike Ratliff

But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) or “‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” (Romans 10:6-11 ESV)

The Truth War is an ugly thing. Those attempting to dismantle Biblical truth and reform it to their own philosophies use tactics that could best be termed as deceitful. They accuse without any substance to their attacks. Their entire focus seems to be to muddy the waters and cast doubt using verbiage designed to discourage the warriors of the truth while confusing everyone else. Now I ask you, who does that sound like? Of course, it is our enemy who is behind this. He is a liar and a murderer. Those who serve him are spiritually blind and have been deceived. Our enemy is quite clever in that he attacks the truth from every conceivable angle and platform. Some of his minions are atheists. Others are pagans. Others are professing Christians, but they are not the genuine article. There are hundreds of different forms of Christianity, but there is only one true faith. The religion of genuine Christianity teaches that Christians are saved by justification by faith alone. However, there are hundreds of false prophets who have invaded the visible Church who teach vastly different false doctrines. However, there is one common denominator in them all. They teach in one form or another that salvation belongs to them because they have done something that has earned them recognition as Christians or as the emergents say these days, “followers of Jesus.” 

No Easy Peace

by Mike Ratliff

“For from the least to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for unjust gain; and from prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely. They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace. Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown,” says the LORD. (Jeremiah 6:13-15 ESV)

Genuine Christians are regenerate. They are new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17). This means a great deal, but what it does not mean is that Christians have instantaneous and complete victory over our enemy within, which is the flesh. The Puritans understood this very well. John Owen’s masterpieces The Mortification of Sin and Indwelling Sin in Believers show Christians why they have trouble with the sin which clings so close. In our day there is a great deal of false teaching going around to the effect that God doesn’t really care about the sin in professing Christians. After all it was all paid for at the Cross, right? The problem is that that argument is totally unbiblical. Repentance is part of the true Christian walk. The other extreme is the false teaching that it is possible for Christians to become perfect in this life even to the point of never sinning. That too is a totally unbiblical teaching. The truth is in the middle. All true Christians are forgiven and are viewed by God as righteous in His eyes. This is possible because He has imputed Christ’s righteousness to their account. However, as John makes very clear in 1 John 1:9-10, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”

The Hatred of the World

by Mike Ratliff

Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. (1 John 3:13 ESV)

My pastor and I and a good friend at church had a very good discussion this last Sunday about the vast difference between the wisdom of the world and that of the Spirit. What I mean is that no matter how profound or emphatic or pious sounding an enemy of the truth is, it is almost laughable how easy it is to spot their error and observe their self-importance as they attempt to belittle those who stand firm in the midst of God’s truth. I have a set of rules for governing comments on my blog. I had to implement them because there are certain people who think it is their job to disrupt or shout down God’s truth. The rules are really quite simple. If anyone desires to dispute what I have taught or what a commenter has said then they must do so by using the Word of God alone as the source of their proof. It was amazing, and still is, how many comments never make it through moderation because the commenter was attacking what I had taught or what someone else and said, but their point of contention contained no truth. All they could come up with is innuendo or accusation, but no grounds for complaint. I can understand that coming from atheists or people from another religion, but these are professing Christians who have a huge problem with the literal interpretation of Sacred Scripture. 

About the Few Who Are Saved

by Mike Ratliff

And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went about among the villages teaching. (Mark 6:5-6 ESV)

Some say that the number of true Christians is determined by how many are members of a certain religious group. Others say that this number is determined by how many have met a certain checklist of religious requirements. These and many other Christian apologists come up with their own requirements. Wouldn’t it make a lot more sense to go by what our Lord taught instead? The issue with all of these determining lists of requirements is that they are based on human merit in one way or another. However the Word of God tells us clearly that NO ONE is saved according to this. 

Spiritual Blessings in Christ

by Mike Ratliff

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. (2 Corinthians 1:2-4 ESV)

When we doubt or despair (or both) in the midst of fiery trials it is because we have removed our focus from God and are now consumed with a vision of our circumstances that is temporal and is then no different than that of the godless people all around us who literally have no hope. However, we must never forget that God uses these fiery trials in the lives of His people to do eternal work in their hearts. These trials may seem about to consume us, but we must never forget the promises from God to His people about these things. For instance, in Romans 8, the Apostle Paul puts things in proper perspective for true believers. Yes, we may suffer in terrible ways in the temporal, but no matter how severe these circumstances, they are not able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:39). God’s desire for us is that we have this biblical perspective no matter how good or bad our circumstances are. The key to resting in Christ our Lord during these fiery trials is to be assured in the sovereignty of our Merciful, Gracious, and Just God. 

The Desires of the Flesh vs the Fruit of the Spirit

by Mike Ratliff

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. (Romans 8:1-8 ESV)

Any attempt to please God by rule keeping or law keeping in order to “earn” right standing with Him is fruitless effort. Not only is it impossible, failure is inevitable. Also, for Christians to “evangelize” through legalism is a total waste of time. These well-meaning people tell unbelievers to stop sinning instead of preaching Jesus to them. I find this a ludicrous mind-set since no one who still lives in the temporal can be sinless. On the other hand, as we see in the passage above (Romans 8:1-8), those in Christ are in right standing before God because the law of the Spirit of life has set them free in their Saviour from the law of sin and death. However, this does not mean they are free to live this live as antinomians, that is, taking the grace of God for granted and living any way they choose. How can we live this life as we should my brethren? As we see in Romans 8:1-8 (above) those who walk correctly before the face of God do so according to the Spirit. 

Come to Me and I Will Give You Rest

by Mike Ratliff

For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. (1 John 5:3 ESV)

Christians should view this life in the temporal as the preparation or training that will develop Christ’s character in them prior to them going home to be with Him forever. However, many false prophets lead their followers into just the opposite. To them, it is all about the here and now. Instead of viewing hardship and sickness as implements or tools in the hands God to shape and form His children, these are seen as things out of His control that we suffer because we don’t have enough faith. Perhaps God is using our sickness or hardship to bring others together in prayer for their spiritual growth. Perhaps He is allowing these things to drive things out of our lives that separate us from Him and keep us from obedience. Our Lord said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (John 14:15 ESV) 

The Enemy Within

by Mike Ratliff

For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? (Romans 7:22-24 ESV)

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing. (2 Timothy 4:7-8 ESV)

Both passages above were written by the Apostle Paul. The former was written early in his ministry while the latter was written as he prepared to be executed by the Romans. This spiritual maturity should be our goal as Christians. To mature this radically requires a lifelong process of knowing and defeating the enemy each of has within. As many of you know, I am a big fan of Puritan John Owen and his works Indwelling Sin and The Mortification of Sin. I have recommended these works to many of those reading this right now. However, there is a problem. John Owen, unlike John Bunyan of the same era, wrote in a form of Seventeenth Century English that could best be described as ponderous. However, God is good to His people. In 1998 Kris Lundgaard was given the task of writing a comparable teaching volume to these great works, but in modern day English. That work is titled The Enemy Within. It has a subtitle of “Straight Talk About The Power And Defeat of Sin.”

Testing of Your Faith

by Mike Ratliff

The LORD is in his holy temple; the LORD’s throne is in heaven; his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man. The LORD tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence. (Psalms 11:4-5 ESV)

According to some professing Christians, if anything unpleasant comes into their lives then it proves that God is displeased with them. They say it proves that God is punishing them. Also, they proclaim that the ones suffering are simply victims in the ongoing battle between God and Satan. Is there another explanation? Let’s see!

Seizures

I got up this morning at 5:30AM to go to work. I prepared my coffee and then got ready to walk down into my basement to spend time in prayer and devotion. Just as I turned to head that way I remember becoming very light-headed. I had a very strange feeling that I could no longer bring any thought into sharp focus. The next thing I remember was coming-to in an ambulance with para-medics working on me and trying to get me say things that made sense. It was very confusing. We arrived at our local hospital a few minutes later and they took me into the ER. There they continued to ask me tough questions like, “What is your wife’s name?” I kept asking for water and for them to do something about very sharp pains in my shoulder and back. 

Over the next several hours, I began to comprehend more as the paramedics turned me over to the Emergency Medicine doctors and nurses. They ran every blood test there was, x-rayed my shoulder and back, ran a C-Scan on my head, and finally an MRI on my brain. They finally released me around 2:30 PM. I have a prescription for some ant-seizure medicine and am not allowed to drive a car or operate heavy machinery. 

The toughest part for me today is talking with my family about what is going on. We are close and all of us understand that we are completely in God’s hands. I will be taking a few days off from writing and posting. Please pray for me and my family.

Soli Deo Gloria!