How does one get into a relationship with Jesus?

Very few tapes have we enjoyed together as a family as much as this one. It’s called Irreconcilable Differences, that features host John Ankerberg and a panel comprising John MacArthur, R.C. Sproul, and James Kennedy.

The issue discussed is a document that sets out with the noble aim of bringing Roman Catholics and Evangelicals together, but falls short because it overlooks and glosses over vital differences in the doctrines of salvation of both communions, resulting in implicitly compromising the five solas, so precious to us.

• Sola scriptura (”by Scripture alone”)
• Sola fide (”by faith alone”)
• Sola gratia (”by grace alone”)
• Solus Christus (”Christ alone”)
• Soli Deo gloria (”glory to God alone”)

I have many close Roman Catholic friends; how wonderful it would be to fellowship together. But I now know that it is not as simple as saying: Let’s forget our differences and get together. Coming together is going to have to involve much study of the Bible, church history and other material, much prayer, courage, and brutal honesty.

Ha ha, strawberry guavas can be yellow

So strawberry guavas can be yellow as well.

Julia, my team leader, brought me these guavas from her garden. Both the yellow and red fruit tasted like regular guavas, only slightly lemony.

RC Sproul interviews Ben Stein about the movie Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

This is a long video of 27 minutes. R.C. Sproul is very respected in Christian circles as a preacher and author who with his gift for lucid explanation has driven many a truth home to the hearts of his listeners and readers. This interview adds to the credibility and integrity of Ben Stein and this movie.

Click here for an earlier post about Expelled:No Intelligence Allowed

If any one knows whether or when this movie is to be screened in New Zealand, please let me know.

Seeraga Chicken Fry

Seeraga chicken fry uses garlic and cumin seeds for flavour. Seeragam is Tamil for cumin.

So you do not grieve as the rest who have no hope

Not far from where we live is a Christian college (’College’ in New Zealand is actually ‘high school’). On Monday, six students and a teacher from that school died in a flash flood during what was a week-long outdoor education course. The kids who died were 16 years old, the same age as our son Tim.

The students were at the Sir Edmund Hillary Outdoor Pursuits Centre in central North Island. As part of the course, 10 students with their teacher and instructor went canyoning on the Mangatepopo River. Now canyoning is an activity where you scramble, climb, jump, abseil and swim to travel through a canyon or gorge. When this little party entered the gorge, the water was at a very low level, and they were unaware that heavy rain was predicted.

The water level rose suddenly because of a flash flood. The group waited on a rocky ledge for the water level to go down, but it just kept increasing.

Outside my kitchen window

My younger daughter Lydia is camera crazy. Here are four pictures she took on different occasions.

Strawberry Guava

Last week our cousins in Henderson gave us some little red fruit that tasted like guavas but had no resemblance to them. Julia, my team leader at work, identified them as strawberry guavas.

They are pictured next to some apples to give you an idea of how tiny they are.

Pineapple Kesari

Kesari is a South Indian sweet that might start off a full meal. Traditional South Indian meals start with a sweet! Kesari also goes with a tiffin-type meal consisting of items such as idly, dosai, and vadai. The tiffin meals are usually had for breakfast or dinner.

Sometimes kesari is served as a scoop on a plate. Other times, the hot kesari is allowed to set in a tray and is cut into pieces.

W.E. Best on “Depravity of the will”

There is a proverbial statement that sin is a child which no one wants to claim. No person in his state of depravity wants to admit that the child is his own. Men are anxious to commit sin, but they are reluctant to acknowledge that they either conceived or gave birth to it.

Everything decreed does come to pass in time, but God’s foreknowledge of an action does not necessitate the action. Whatever man does, good or bad, he does with as much willingness as though his will were really free. Foreknowledge of an action does not actively influence the action itself. God remains omniscient, and He knows every deed that every man will perform. Nevertheless, we must distinguish between God’s foreknowledge of a thing and the activity of the foreknown thing.

Reformed and Brethren?

I have often looked back at the Brethren influences in my spiritual life and felt sad that I have been led to a spiritual place that is doctrinally far away from Brethren churches. Browsing the net today, I found churches, movements, and blogs that bring the ideas of ‘Reformed’ and ‘Brethren’ together.

• A church in Davis, California, called Grace Valley Christian Centre: Their home page says “We believe in the “solas” of the Reformed tradition (sola gratia, sola fide, solo Christo, and sola Scriptura) and are in fellowship with Christian Brethren assemblies throughout the world.” This church has a statement of faith written by Rev P.G. Matthew using, as his sources, Westminster Confession of Faith, 1647, Baptist Confession of Faith, 1689, Dr. John Owen, 1654, 16 Articles as listed in The Puritans by D. M. Lloyd-Jones (P. 235), and a document prepared by the churches own elders in 1993.
• The Brethren Reformed Church, formed near Dayton, Ohio, in 2007. Their website provides details about their worship timings and so on, but some vital pages are still under construction. However, Wikipedia describes their doctrine thus: “It bases its doctrine of salvation on the Biblical expression that God has sovereignly called people to Himself and, had He not done so, no man would ever be disposed to seek God. Accordingly, the church teaches that the Father alone graciously elected to provide salvation; that salvation is made available through Jesus Christ alone; and that salvation is appropriated through faith alone bestowed by the Holy Spirit alone. According to the theology taught by the Brethren Reformed Church, no man can be reconciled to God by his own works, merit, or effort.”
• Shawn McGrath’s blog: You can also read his earlier posts at The Brethren Calvinist. About himself he writes: “The term “Brethren Calvinist” comes from my association with the so-called “Plymouth Brethren” and the open assemblies. The difference between myself and the general consensus among the assemblies is that I would hold to the doctrines of Grace . . . much like the original Brethren in Plymouth and elsewhere, while they would hold to a watered down version of this belief.”

Maybe I am sticking my head out again to be chopped off, but I do not feel inclined to worry about what groups of God’s people call themselves. It is God who is working among us, and though we strive to help people come to a ‘more accurate’ understanding of the scriptures, obviously, we can overstep the boundaries and bind on others what are but the traditions of man. Thank God, His purposes are bigger than what we can comprehend. Let each of us carry out our little roles now. We will see the big picture soon.