Authentic Word

"Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near" Isaiah 55:6

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Sleepwalking to disaster: an appraisal of modern progressive teaching methods and their effects on children

A denial of the past is an exercise in self-deception. It assumes that what we are today is so fixedly determined by our past that if we get rid of it we are rid too of our present woes. We need to experience some kind of spiritual regression therapy, to re-enter the womb and make a new start. It is blaming the past for the faults of present. The ‘moderniser’s’ perspective also assumes that change is irresistible and wholly necessary, that a self-sustaining historical process always carries us forward to better things. Evangelicals and fundamentalists of all colours in trying to ‘drag the Gospel into the 21^st century’, in trying to make it ‘relevant’, have forgotten that the sin of man is the same as it ever was and the Gospel provides the same answer as it ever did. What is really happening under the cloak of such slogans is that the message of the Gospel is being manipulated, its emphasis moved, its fundamentals modified.

Some of John Wesley's impressions of George Whitfield (From John Wesley's Journal)

"I breakfasted with Mr Whitefield, who seemed to be an old, old man, being fairly worn out in his Master's service, though he has hardly seen fifty years..." Monday, 28th December, 1765

"Mr Whitefield called upon me. He breathes nothing but peace and love. Bigotry cannot stand before him, but hides its head wherever he comes." Friday 31st January, 1766

"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!" (Psalm 133:1)

goals of a godly education contrasted with the proclaimed aims of secular ‘progressive’ educationalists

Secular humanism despite its continued appearance of virility has shown itself to be an ignominious failure in all that it undertakes. Nowhere is this more apparent than in state school systems. Surprisingly, few seem to have recognised this and so the tampering and reforms continue. Nothing can be done to breathe life into this decaying body; the stench of death is already upon it. Complete collapse must come at some point.

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A biblical consideration of the children of Christian families and the goals of humanistic state education

We ought not to be at all surprised, if after having sent our children to be given an education in godless surroundings, an education specifically designed to prejudice them against the Gospel, that they eventually turn their backs on all that we as parents have sought to instil in them of the truth of God. In this and other articles to follow, it is our intention to expose what is really going on in government schools and educational establishments – from the kindergarten to the university. >read more

God did not create man merely to see him destroy himself and for the rest of creation to go down with him

The words of the poet William Cowper will find a sure echo in the hearts of all right-thinking people when reflecting on what is going on around us. The barrage of news coverage twenty-four hours a day can be more than overwhelming.

Let us begin at the beginning. It is always convenient to place the blame for everything that goes wrong a step or two away from us. We constantly depersonalise the world and all that goes on in it. We abstract ourselves from it as though what goes on out there has little to do with us. All the problems lie with the state, with youngsters out of control, with the abuse of drugs and alcohol, lack of moral teaching, schools, parents, immigration, you name it, the list goes on and on. But who makes up this nation of ours? People do, we do. Our nation is us and what goes on in our land today is a clear reflection of the kind of people we have become. If those who sit in government are in any sense sleazy or corrupt, this can only be an indication of what is going on in the rest of the nation. If there are more bad apples in the police, in parliament, in the judiciary, then this reflects on us all and we ought to be somewhat careful. If there is more divorce, then there are more of our marriages breaking down, and presumably more of us committing adultery. If there is more violence and murder, then there must be more of us taking to violence as an outlet for our frustration and hatred. If there is an increase in such misdeeds, this can only mean that a greater portion of our people is now engaging in these evils. Who is responsible for the current state of affairs? The answer to that question is easy. We are. These are the depths to which we as a nation, of which we each make up an individual part for better or worse, have sunk.

The world outside us is a macrocosm of what is present in the human heart. There is really little point is seeking change in the wider world, if we are not prepared to countenance change in our own lives. God calls upon all men everywhere to repent, turn from their former ways and seek Christ. "God … commandeth all men every where to repent” (Acts 17:30).

“Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.”

Ever since Emile Zola uttered the words, “Families I hate you!” the attack on families has continued unabated. Arguments from those who support the family will often be simply pragmatic ones – it is the basic unit of society and has always worked well. However convincing this line of argument may be, ultimately the family can only be adequately defended as a creation ordinance, as something given of God and binding upon us all. Read the now completed article here >

"We must remember, that there is an inseparable relation between faith and the word, and that these can no more be disconnected from each other than rays of light from the sun (Isaiah 55:3; John 20:31) ...So long as your mind entertains any misgivings as to the certainty of the word, its authority will be weak and dubious, or rather it will have no authority at all. Nor is it sufficient to believe that God is true, and cannot lie or deceive, unless you feel firmly persuaded that every word which proceeds from him is sacred, inviolable truth." John Calvin (Institutes 3:2:5-6)

I read these extracts recently as part of my father's funeral service on 12th October 2007. I would encourage anyone to do the same. THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS, next to the Scriptures, is an important and powerful Gospel tool. I heartily recommend the reading of this book in its entirety. Try to read it in its beautiful and moving original English language. > read more

All modern bible translations, but especially those translated by ‘dynamic equivalence’, are largely designed for ‘dynamic’ reading. The reader is not recovering a communication given by God once-for-all-time in the past, but listening for the voice of God from a string of words that have no fixed meaning. They may say one thing to one person and something quite different to someone else, depending upon the circumstances. The same words may even say something different to the same person on different occasions. Truth is in the end what the reader makes it. There is no underlying fixed meaning. No single reading of this bible is right or wrong, just different. The reader is not a passive recipient but an active co-creator to whom the bible text provides reading ‘cues’. Any translation methodology, such as that used for the New International Version and most modern versions, that is based on this view of language cannot give us access to the unchangeable Word of God, ‘for ever settled in heaven’. > read more

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