BORN THIS WAY: Pastor John Macarthur's Compassionate Yet Uncompromising Response to Gay activist Chad Allen

No matter gay, straight or bi
Lesbian, transgendered life

I'm on the right track, baby

I was born to survive

I'm beautiful in my way

'Cause God makes no mistakes

I'm on the right track, baby

I was born this way

~ Lady Gaga

KING: All right, John, let me -- let me move to other members of the panel. We have four  members of the panel. I want to get everyone in. John, what do you say to those who say, What about Chad and the love of his life being together? Isn't that better than, say, the heterosexual marriage where one of the partners cheats? Who is contributing more to the moral decay of the society, the adulterous husband with the female wife or the loving gay couple who don't do that?

MACARTHUR: Yes, well, you're asking me to do something I really can't do, and make a judgment on which sin is better or worse than the other. We've suffered in this country from adultery, divorce, the abuse of children, pedophilia, you name it. I'm not going to classify those in rank. They're sins, and they destroy the family.

KING: And homosexuality is...

MACARTHUR: And homosexuality...

KING: ... a sin to you.

MACARTHUR: Yes. And...

KING: Therefore, it's a choice.

MACARTHUR: It's a choice you make. It's a sinful choice.

KING: Did you make a choice to be heterosexual?

MACARTHUR: I don't think I had to make a choice to be heterosexual. I think that's a natural thing.

KING: Wait a minute. Wait a minute. In other words, one is a choice and one is not?

MACARTHUR: Yes.

KING: So he was unlucky and you're...

MACARTHUR: Because -- because you're not talking about -- because it's natural to be heterosexual. That's built...

KING: What do you mean by natural?

MACARTHUR: Well, I mean, that's the way God made us. That's the normal...

KING: But if he doesn't feel that way, what is he, then? He's not a sinner. It wasn't his decision.

MACARTHUR: Yes, I think it was his decision.

ALLEN: I would love, absolutely love for the pastor to point out for me when in my life I made that decision because I have to tell you, it caused a lot of pain in my family. It caused a lot of pain to me. It's a very, very tough thing that I had to go through. I don't remember making that decision. If I did, maybe can you point it out, but that wasn't the case for me.

(CROSSTALK)

ALLEN: It's who I am. You also said that it was in the fabric of the human being that -- to understand that marriage was between a man and a woman and that's what family was. It must not be because it's not in the fabric of what who I am. It's not the way I see it. I think families come in all shapes, sizes and colors.

MACARTHUR: Well, let me respond this way, Chad, and say it had to be in the fabric of humanity or you wouldn't be here.

ALLEN: I believe that reproduction is. I'll give you that. I absolutely believe that reproduction is. However, I think family, the definition of family and the definition of reproduction are very, very different things.

KING: All right...

MACARTHUR: Well, what I said earlier is the DNA, the genetic structure of humanity, of civilization, of society is family. Everybody knows that. That's in the heart. That's how it works. You're coming along with others who are homosexual in their perspective and overturning what is natural to everyone.

KING: Could they also be asking to the privilege of something you have preached for years? Marriage is a healthy, wonderful thing, and they're saying, Let us in...

(CROSSTALK)

KING: Why would you deny it to them?

MACARTHUR: Let me respond to Chad, too, just on a personal basis, Chad, by saying, I don't think at some point you said, OK, I'm going to be a homosexual. I got two alternatives. You know, I'm going to go be a homosexual. But I do think whatever sin patterns show up in our lives -- and it may be different for us -- we can choose to continue down those paths of sin, whether it's adultery or whatever it is, or we can say, Look, this is sin, and I need to deal with this in my heart. If this is the way I'm being led, it's not right. It doesn't honor God. It's not according to his word. It's not going to ultimately bring blessing on life. I make the choice at that -- I can't make a choice to be a sinner, OK? I am. We all are. But once you start down the path of sin, if you recognize that  it is that, then you look to the Lord for the remedy to that.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0402/24/lkl.00.html

Recommended books written by John Macarthur:

1. ESV Macarthur Study Bible

2. The Book on Leadership

3. Safe in the Arms of God: Truth from Heaven About the Death of a Child

Recommended books on homosexuality:

1. Homosexuality: Speaking the Truth in Love (Edward Welch)

2. Same Sex Controversy (James R. White)

3. A Queer Thing Happened to America (Michael Brown)

James R. White: The Peter Syndrome

"The Peter Syndrome is a deadly disease rampant amongst modern Roman Catholic apologists. And it is a disease that makes you see every reference to Peter anywhere in an early father as somehow relevant to the bishop in Rome even if that father never makes that connection himself, never shows that he believes the bishop of Rome is the vicar of Christ on earth, never says that Peter's successor sit only on the sit in Rome, it doesn't matter as long as an early father says something nice about Peter, therefore he is in support of the bishop of Rome." ~ James R. White

for a review of the book  Jesus, Peter & the Keys, click HERE

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Suggested Books:

 The Roman Catholic Controversy (James R. White)

 Upon This Slippery Rock (Eric Svendsen)

Church of Rome at the Bar of History (William David Webster)

7th Halo-halo Huwebes

Something in Common for Friendster and HHH

In the past, most of Halo-Halo Huwebes (HHH) were featured quotes. But with the revival of Kuwaderno ng Tinubos, HHH needs a major reformat just like the old Friendster. What does the future hold for HHH? I have no idea.

My Preferred Statue for Karol Wojtyła

My brother shared this news item on Facebook. The people of Rome does not like the first ever erected statue of their Blessed John Paul II. Public opinion is against it 9-1. As for me, I would like to see a JP2 statue with his lips on the Koran.

Tinubos and The Virginian Compared

Blogger stats report that there were more than 1,500 visitors on this blog for the month of May. If only Blogger were consistent in excluding my IP address, perhaps that figure will be cut in half. That is so small compared to the popular blogs. Yet I have a reason to rejoice.

The Virginian is the official student publication of Virgen Milagrosa University Foundation (VMUF). I was on the staff for I think two-and-a-half years. Though my theology has substantially changed through the years, I was already passionate about writing for Jesus in my campus journalism days. If my memory is functioning well, each issue of The Virginian in those days had a circulation of about 2,000 copies.

The "circulation" of Tinubos last month was still below The Virginian's. Yet blogging reaches areas where printed pages can't. Most subscribers of the student publication are residents of Pangasinan, while for Tinubos, Cluster Maps report that from the period of February 2010 to May 2011, there were 1,571 visits from the United States, 465 from Saudi Arabia, 166 from the United Kingdom, 150 from Canada, 122 from Taiwan, and 104 from the United Arab Emirates. I have not noted here visits from different parts of Luzviminda and figures below three digits. I thank God for letting my voice be heard in those places.

"Blogspotted"
Last week, I discovered that Tinubos has just been included in Triablogue's "Blogspotting" links. I don't know what is their criteria in their "Blogspotting" choices. Surely I am way below the level of the other Christian bloggers on the list. But just seeing Tinubos there gave me unspeakable joy.

Recent Posts at Kuwaderno ng Tinubos

1. John Macarthur on Work and Leisure
2. Larry Kreitzer on 1 Cor. 15:22 and Universalism
3. R.C. Sproul on Regeneration and Justification
4. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones: In Shocking Moments, Be Calm and Logical
5. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones: Why Does God Allow War?
6. John Gerstner: Is Faith a Meritorious Work?
7. Charles Bridges: Fools Rush In
8. D. James Kennedy: Evangelical Statesmanship and Confronting Error

 My Favorite Back-to-School Song

Walter Martin's "last appearance" on TBN

As the program was about to end, Walter Martin thanked Trinity Broadcasting Network president Paul Crouch and his wife Jan for having the courage for letting the concerns be discussed; he also conveyed his hope that the dialogue will continue. Yet when host Doug Clark announced that there is a scheduled replay of the program, he expressed his doubt if it will ever be replayed. Indeed, TBN did not replay it and Martin was never invited again.

Dr. Martin pulled no punches. On air, he specifically mentioned the names of Kenneth Hagin, Kenneth Copeland and Oral Roberts as  purveyors of cultic doctrines within our camp.

I thought of giving a detailed review of this program, but I think there is no need for it. I'll just embed the entire program below. I will comment on one point. The host asked Martin three questions regarding the men he's criticizing:

"Do you believe they are Christian?"

"Born-again?"

"Love the Lord?"

In all the above questions, Martin answered "YES". Yet there is also evidence that after this appearance, the original Bible Answer Man changed his mind, at least regarding Kenneth Copeland.

"For ten years I have warned- And I'm on tape and in print on this- that we were heading into the Kingdom of the Cults with the faith teachers. You are no longer heading there, baby, you are there."

~Walter Martin

Kenneth Copeland's False Prophecy

an audiotape cited in Hank Hanegraaff's Christianity in Crisis

By the way, Martin was a staunch Charismatic.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

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Buy a copy of Walter Martin's The Kingdom of the Cults 

2nd Halo-halo Huwebes

 The Problem of Information Overload

Sana may maligaw na kopya ng Amusing Ourselves to Death sa Booksale. Dalawampu't limang taon na ang nakalipas buhat nang unang ilathala ito, at hanggang ngayon ay pinag-uusapan pa rin tulad nitong panel discussion na ito na pinangunahan ni Albert Mohler. Nagpakita siya ng karunungan sa panayam na ito noong panahong bagong silang pa lamang ang Cyberspace. I think waht he said which begins at 4:48 is the highlight of the interview:

Charlayne Hunter-Gault: What images come to your mind when you think about what our lives will be like in the cyberspace?

Postman: Well the worst images are of people who are overloaded with information which they don't know what to do with, have no sense of what is relevant and what is irrelevant, people who become information junkies

Hunter-Gault: What do you mean?

Postman: Well the problem in the 19th century with information was that we live in a culture of information scarcity. And so humanity addressed that problem beginning with photography and telegraphy in the 1840's. We tried to solve the problem of overcoming the limitations of space, time and form. And for about a hundred years we worked on this problem and we solved it in a spectacular way. And now by solving that problem, we created a new problem that people have never exprienced before: information glut-- information meaninglessness-- information incoherence.

The Cry of Helpless Children

We cry 'Abba, Father' 

"Paul speaks here about Christian crying  'Abba, Father!'  The verb he uses is krazein, and in the New Testament it denotes a loud cry, often a cry or shriek of anguish (cf. Mk. 15:39, our Lord's cry on the cross; Rev. 12:2. a woman in childbirth). The picture is not that of a believer resting quietly in his Father's arms in childlike faith, but of the child who has tripped and fallen crying out in pain, 'Daddy, Daddy'. That cry is the mark of the presence of the Spirit of adoption, not least because it shows that in time of need it is towards our Father in heaven that we look."

Sinclair B. Ferguson

The Christian Life, page 100

"By their books we shall know them.

And by our books we shall be known."

"To a great extent, our personal libraries betray our true identities and interests. A minister’s library, taken as a whole, will likely reveal a portrait of theological conviction and vision. Whose works have front place on the shelves, Martyn Lloyd-Jones or John Shelby Spong? Charles Spurgeon or Harry Emerson Fosdick? Karl Barth or Carl Henry? John MacArthur or Joel Osteen?

"How serious a Bible scholar is this preacher? The books will likely tell. Are the books all old or all new? If so, the reader is probably too contemporary or too antiquarian in focus. Are the books read? If so, the marginalia of an eager and intelligent mind adds value to the book. It becomes more a part of us.

Is this person a Christian intellectual, feeding the mind and soul by reading? For too many pastors, the personal library announces, “I stopped reading when I graduated from seminary.”

When I think of my closest friends, I realize that I am most at home with them in their libraries, and they are most at home with me in mine. Why? Because the books invite and represent the kind of conversation and sharing of heart, soul, and mind that drew us together in the first place.

By their books we shall know them. And by our books we shall be known."

R. Albert Mohler, Jr.

read the whole post here

Akanunot ya Man-Reunion Iray Mamasiken

May bagong bandang nabuo! (click here) It seems there's a bright future ahead for these young musicians... LOL! 

The report is that they have re-recorded the old songs, largely from the Greg X. Volz era. Nang ako'y magsimulang makinig sa Petra, panahon na ni John Schlitt kaya hindi ako pamilyar sa mga awit ni Volz. Sinusubukan kong makinig sa kanya at mahusay naman talaga si Lolo Greg.

Bukod sa album ay may tour pa sila ngayong 2010-2011. Siya nga pala, may live show pa sila sa TBN sa Nobyembre 20.

The Bridgemaster Illustration Missed the Essentials of the Penal Substitution

"The story of the railway switchman illustrates the substitutionary nature of Christ's death, but gives a distorted portrayal of God's will and God's law. The switchman (representing God the Father) is compelled to make a choice between two distinctly unpalatable options, and the decision is forced upon him by the pressure of unforeseen circumstances. His son is an unfortunate, passive victim who has landed himself and his father in this dreadful situation by sheer carelessness, and he does not willingly consent to die. This contrasts starkly with the biblical picture of the cross as part of God's eternal plan, devised before the creation of the world to glorify the Son; of the Father as the one who deliberately chose to send his Son into the world; of the Son as the willing, determined, self-giving Savior of his people".

Pierced for Our Transgressions:

Rediscovering the Glory of Penal Substitution (page 332-333)

Steve Jeffery, Mike Ovey and Andrew Sach

My musings about Cindy Jacobs' prophecy on Eddie Villanueva's presidency

I think this is a good follow-up to my earlier post relating to Bill Hamon's prophecy. I have long ceased watching Eddie Villanueva's programs so I was not familiar with the recent prophecy uttered by Cindy Jacobs. Today, I watched it for the first time on Youtube. I transcribed a portion of it and I will state my musings below the video clip.

Starting at 5:34, Jacobs says: "There's a lot of things God wants to make happen in the earth. He wants his will done on the earth as it is in heaven. But his will will always be done but sometimes it can be delayed to another generation because people will not stand up and fight. In 2006, I was at Los Angeles, California in a hotel. I had not seen Bro. Eddie and Sis. Dory for a few years. I came up and asked if I could pray for him. I don't really understand the political climate of the Philippines at that time. And I said to him, "Bro. Eddie God showed me its his will for you to be the president of the Philippines. That is God's will. But when whether.. listen to me. Its not fate. Its going to take a nation of Davids that says we no longer stand for a corrupt nation... Bro. Eddie, you will always love your sheep but God is calling you to go from the priestly anointing to the kingly anointing."

My musings:

1. Cindy Jacobs is playing it safe. If Villanueva fails again, she will put the blame on us because we did not stand up and fight.

2.  There is a possibility that for the third time, Villanueva will run again in 2016. Jacobs says that unfulfilled prophecies are not frustrated, just delayed. 

3.  I now understand why calls for Bro. Eddie to stay with his flock and be faithful to his calling as an evangelist fell on deaf ears. Its because he believes he has received a "kingly anointing" as opposed to "priestly anointing"-- whatever those terms mean.

4.  Some Pro-Eddie Christians are so militant in supporting their candidate because they see themselves as a "nation of Davids".

5.  When other evangelical Christians support other candidates (perhaps Pro-Noynoy or Pro-Villar), some Pro-Eddie Christians see them outside the "nation of Davids". They refuse to say "No" to a corrupt nation. (In effect, they are saying "YES" to corruption).

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How John Piper uses Twitter

I hope you'll see principles of Twitter use that could also be applied to others such as blogging, Friendster, Facebook, fora (or should I say forums), etc. He calls these technologies as "gifts that God has given us" yet at the same time he recognizes the dangers that go with them, so we should be careful on how we use them.



You may also want to check out an article Piper wrote seven months ago: Why and How I Am Tweeting. You can follow Piper's tweets here.
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The Cancer Within

After the six-part series on discernment, I think it is fitting to culminate this month with this video clip from the original Bible Answer Man, Dr. Walter Martin.



"The danger to the church today... is the person who wears the cloth of Christ. The person who wears the white collar or the cross and who stands behind the sacred desk and who is unfaithful to the word of God. That is the ultimate danger to the church. The corrupt and apostate shepherds who infest our theological seminaries and colleges and fill our pulpits across the United States and Canada who know not God, do not believe the gospel of Jesus Christ and will stand in the way of anybody that wants to preach it. That is the ultimate danger to the church because it is inside the church. The cancer is within and it eats away and we don't recognize it. Or when we do recognize it, we don't do anything about it because we are afraid that people will be offended.We are afraid that people will call us narrow, bigoted fundamentalists." (Dr. Walter Martin)
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 Walter Martin Books

The Kingdom of the Cults

The Kingdom of the Occult

 Through the Windows of Heaven

Mohler vs. Gay Pastors on Larry King Live!

Habang wala pa akong naisusulat para sa buwan ng Hunyo, manood muna tayo ng isang lumang video clip. Ito ay isinahimpapawid noon pang Hunyo 15, 2006. Sa bahaging ito, una nating mapapakinggan ang pahayag ni Jo Hudson, pastor ng isang predominantly gay church sa Dallas. Buong pagmamalaki niyang ihahayag na masaya siya sa kanyang homosexual lifestlye. Ang sagot ni Albert Mohler (Pangulo ng Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) ay isang matapang na paninindigan para sa ebanghelyo ni Kristo. Panoorin po natin:

HUDSON: How is he defining natural, natural relationship? My relationship is wholly and completely natural to me. It is exactly who I believe God has created me to be. And I have a wonderful, living, dynamic relationship with God. And I know, in the core of my being, that the most natural way for me to be, is exactly who I am.

KING: Reverend Mohler, don't you sympathize with that?

MOHLER: I sympathize with every single human heart wishing to know the one true and living God, but I believe there is only one way that can happen through Jesus Christ and the gospel is about repenting of sin, not celebrating it. A church that buys into the logic of Bishop Griswold is a church that's obligated to ordain homosexuals openly and unrepentant or anyone else because it's moved away from the clear authority of scripture.

A church that worships diversity is a church that's destined to accept a death null because the church itself is grounded in truth. The true church always celebrates the truth. I'm thankful there are many conservative, orthodox Episcopalians who celebrate that truth and want to obey the truth. In the main, the big truth is not the interpretation of scripture but whether we obey it or not.

You can read the full transcript here
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