Poster Video, Extended Remix

For those who just want to see all the amazing posters that TeamPyro has put together you can watch them all here.

Halo 3 Bible Study and Evangelism Methodolgy?

I originally saw this on Little Leaven, this idea of using Halo 3 for a Bible Study..... guess what the joke became reality. However it is still an obnoxious idea of being "relevant" by being more like the culture that you are trying to witness to. The website dare2share.org trys to convince you that Halo 3 is some type of representation of Spiritual Warfare. They use some proof texting and verses out of context to get you to believe it is not only ok for you to spend hours in line and in front of this game but that it is also ok because you can use it as an Evangelism tool. ARGH! Here is a notable quote from their site

"Master Chief John 117 is back - bruised and battered, but ready to give humanity hope that the Covenant can be defeated and survival is possible. (Side note - John 1:17 in the Bible is a reference to Jesus Christ...coincidence? I think not!)"

Are they sure it wasn't John 11:7? Then he said to his disciples "Let us go back to Judea" This verse has nothing to do with a game and frankly neither does John 1:17. It is just a way for people to justify being part of the world?

This game has nothing to do with God, Jesus, Sin, Judgement, Grace, Salvation, or Christian Behavior, yet somehow these guys have the capability of missing what the Bible has said in place for some man-made game that earns money on violence, killing, fear, destruction, evolution, aliens, blasphemy, etc. Now I have played the original Halo so I know what this game entails and what the series is about and there is no doubt about it, there is nothing Godly in this game. Lastly I will say I am not opposed to all video games nor do I have a vendetta against Halo. The issue is trying to make something Godly or creating a Bible Study from anything that is NOT the Bible. Instead of using Halo 3 as an evangelism opportunity, get in the Word, pray and go share your faith with your friends and show them how relevant the Gospel is by how different you are than the world

Different Gospels and argument in the Emergent Movements

Are there different Gospels? Is there a right and a wrong or is the relativism that has completely taken over our culture also taken over the Church? Where do we draw the line? I asked myself these questions over the last few days. I came across an incredible article by the one and only Phil Johnson over at Pyromanics. You should check it out. We posted a link on the MacArthur vs. Pagitt debate and that has really continued with Pagitt having a discussion that was recorded after the CNN. Ok all this in consideration is there really multiple Gospels? I believe many folks would have you believe that there is. There is not, there is only one Gospel and Bell, Pagitt, Maclaren are definitely not preaching the Biblical Gospel of Christ. So where then do they get their information? I believe the Yoga CNN video is tells us, from pragmatic and emotional viewpoints. Does it not surprise you that feelings and pragmatism drive these ministries. I pray that they get on the Biblical Program and start preaching the Gospel of Christ and Him Crucified.
However their is this third much more abstract group the "missional relational" folks. They oppose much of apologists and they usually "stand with" Bell and the Emergent's. What Gospel do they preach. Well I have yet to hear the Gospel they preach if there is any, so we usually do not hear the Gospel from them as they try be relational, contextual, missional and some other big $3 words. I have labeled these folks "deceptive-relational." They deceive people into being "friends" with the purpose of relationship.
There is much more to expand on here but the bottom line is there is one Gospel, I would say there are many ways to approach someone, to share with someone, and even timing would vary. The Gospel will not vary, it is the same Gospel that has always been and will always be relevant to a perishing world.

Christianity Taught by an Atheist -Interview with an atheist

I thought I would revisit this interview. I think it is amazing that as an Atheist he has a good understanding of why we should share our faith. I know the guy who did this interview, and the reason this Atheist has not repented and put his trust in Christ is because he says if Christians really believed what they said they would then more of them would be doing and living as Christians.

John MacArthur and Doug Pagitt interview about Yoga on Headlinenews

Ok rather than discussing Yoga only because I think that it is obvious Hindu worship, What I found interesting about this video is the differences between these two Pastor's. Seriously MacArthur did a great job of presenting truth and the Gospel. BTW as a poll do you think that Pagitt took that verse out of context?

You never know when it is someone's last moment

Sunday morning our Pastor started off his fantastic sermon by sharing a story that happened just this week . The message was powerful and I am going to take a shot at summing up the story he shared before he did an exegesis of 2 Corinthians 5 .... A few folks were down in our Pastor's basement having a conversation and fellowshipping (playing pool). One young man (Seth) asked Pastor Hurlbutt some questions regarding the urgency of Evangelism. The Pastor replied with a great answer that included the urgency that you never know when someone will take their last breath. Seth then decided that he would be intentional starting this week to share his faith. He was going to meet his friend Ben for some outdoor recreational activities. Ben brought along a friend of his Christopher, but Seth was determined to share the Gospel with Ben. Seth had been sharing the Gospel for a good part of the evening with Ben before they decided to go up in the canyon to enjoy the view.

As Ben and Seth were sitting on a boulder, Ben had already begun that turn of faith in Christ and asked Seth in their conversation.....How he could get right with God. Seth then shared how Ben could profess that to...God. As they continued they heard the other friend behind them say something about a bear. Before they had much chance to react Ben was struck by Christopher in the head by a metal pole. Christopher then attacked Seth, Seth was struck in the side but managed to run away. Seth made it away to safety. Unfortunately he found out later that Ben was dead. This was a premeditated attack from Christopher. We still do not yet know the motives. The real story here is that Seth shared the Gospel with this young man just moments before his last breath. Seth was asked to speak at Ben's funeral and share what he and Ben had been talking about on the boulder. It seems like Ben made a good profession of faith just moments if not seconds before he was struck dead by Christopher.
The News Story can be found here

This story is so striking to me as it reminds me that we must be intentional, persistent and have a sense of urgency when we share our faith. It is a very blunt reminder of the real status of man. The additional light to this story is that Seth got to share the Gospel at the funeral and that Seth has shared the Gospel with a few other friends and in just a few weeks two of them have put their trust in the Lord! Ultimately I am reminded again of the Sovereignty of God as through a conversation, question and a tragedy ..... eternity is now forever changed. To God be the Glory forever!

Pyromaniacs: Banner graphics for our friends

Love this! From Pyromaniacs!

Banner graphics for our friends

by Phil Johnson

o you've seen sidebar badges like these:

"Friend of Emergent"	"Friend of Discernment"
"Friend of Detergent"	Friend of Missional"

. . . and whatnot.

None of those really quite summed up the perspective our blog represents (and we suspect that's true for some of our readers as well), so Frank created a banner ad for the rest of us. After tweaking it ever-so-slightly, we're turning it loose on the blogosphere and inviting our readers and fellow friends-of-sinners to add it to their sidebars:


©2007 by Frank Turk and the PyroManiacs

The image in the center is a scene from Pilgrim's Progress. Evangelist is pointing the way for Pilgrim, who still has his heavy burden lashed to his back and is carrying a document upon which is written "The Wrath to Come." The image is adapted from a famous series of stained-glass windows in the Bunyan Meeting Free Church in Bedford, England, where Bunyan himself preached.

Feel free to download and use your choice of those images in the sidebar of your blog. (If you prefer, you can simply use the URLs where those images currently reside, and thus take advantage of our bandwidth.) We only ask that you not modify the images without first asking permission, and that you not put them on Websites with blatantly unwholesome material or use it as a link to anything you know we might find offensive. We're not going to try to police how it's used, but if we do find someone linking it to something we think is blatantly unwholesome, we reserve the right to withdraw permission for it to be used for that purpose. If you want to make it into a link back to this blog, we would be honored by that.

The Gospel is not complicated or over Contextualized

So many people want to make the Gospel relevant by over contextualizing it. I long for the deceptive-relational folks to examine the History of our Church Fathers, rather than coming up with new means to share what has not changed. I have heard this from a few people lately and it is very logical....."We are relevant to a culture the more we look different than that culture, otherwise we are just another person in that culture." That does not mean we are ignorant of the culture, but separate as we belong to God. Thank you to Aaron Shaf for the video, I thank God for John Piper as well.