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Vol. 15 / Issue 41 / April 19 2012

Contents of this issue

Editorial

John MacArthur is Wrong! - A Bogus Invitation! - Part 33

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News Items (Common to all issues) :

Standing in the Gap - Fasting prayer on 8th Dec.. 2015

Download Articles in Handheld Computers

Please Join us in "Peace Prayer Room"

Your Spam Folder

Hindi / Malayalam/Tamil Bible Online

Through the Valley of Death

Free Tutorials for your Kids!

Allah and Elohim - Are they the same God? Book

Free E-Cards

Online Games for you!



Editorial

By Sherly Isaac

David became king of Israel and when he settled down a bit, he remembered his friend Jonathan. In 2 Samuel 9:1 we read, Now David said, "Is there still anyone who is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?"

Jonathan was David's fast friend. Though David hated invalid people Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan found favor in his sight because of Jonathan.

Here is a story that tells us why David showed kindness to someone who hated with all his heart. What a great fortune that was stored for Mephibosheth just because of his father who was close friend of David. When David showed kindness to Mephibosheth some great things happened to him as we read in 2 Sam 9:7 So David said to him, "Do not fear, for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father's sake, and will restore to you all the land of Saul your grandfather; and you shall eat bread at my table continually."

David promised to restore the land of his grandfather to him. Now David was not obligated to restore that land to him. If Jonathan was not in his mind he could have easily ignored him.

In the same way because of our sins, we are separated from God. But when we befriend with Jesus confessing our sins, He shows great favor in our lives. He restores our lives to the original condition in which we were made that is without sin. And He gives us access in the presence of God.

David allowed a lame man to dine with him all the days of his life at his own table. What an honor and what a privilege it was for Mephibosheth who deserved nothing. But when he got the favor of the king, he could remain daily in the presence of the king.

My friend the same thing happens when we invite Jesus in our lives as our Lord and Savior. We can be in the presence of the King of kings and Lord of lords. We can enjoy His fellowship and we can sit in His presence.

There is no greater joy than to be in the presence of God all the days of our lives and have fellowship with the King of kings and Lord of lords. Jesus said in Rev 3:20, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me."

Today Jesus is knocking at the door of your heart. Would you open the door and let Him come in? If you do so, He will gladly come in and dine with you and will have fellowship with you. Invite Him in your heart, in your life, in your family and I am sure that you will never be the same again. Savior is knocking at your door, if you open the door for Him, He will wipe away all your sins and give you a new life.



John MacArthur is Wrong! - A Bogus Invitation! - Part 33

By Sherly Isaac

To read previous or next parts please click on these links:

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17, Part 18, Part 19, Part 20, Part 21, Part 22, Part 23, Part 24, Part 25, Part 26, Part 27, Part 28, Part 29, Part 30, Part 31, Part 32, Part 33, Part 34

John MacArthur writes in his book titled, "Hard to Believe: The High Cost and Infinite Value of Following Jesus" (Chapter 5, page 81, Title "Highway to Heaven" under subtitle, "Narrow minded action", that "You can't stand outside and admire the narrow gates you've got to drop everything and walk through it. There's that self-denial again. You come through, stripped of everything. But isn't that narrow-minded?"

As I have discussed in previous issues, "self-denial is not the way to heaven." It is true that we need to enter through the narrow gate but self-denial is not that way but Jesus is that way to heaven. When a person is born again as written in John 3rd chapter then only he/she can enter in heaven. All other ways are man-made and does not lead to heaven. To enter through narrow gate, you have nothing to do except to humble yourself and come to the shelter of Jesus instead of doing self-denial and stripping everything of you. No, just come to Jesus and accept Him as your Lord and Savior. It is that simple. Apostle Paul says in Romans 10:9-10, "that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."

So you can see that Bible never tells us that we can attain salvation through self-denial.

Further John MacArthur says in Page 83, under subtitle,"A Bogus Invitation", "I know this shocks some people, because we hear all the time that getting saved is easy. "Just sign this little card!" "Just raise your hand!" "Just walk down that aisle while the choir sings one more stanza!" "Just recite this prayer." "Just ask Jesus into your heart." It all sounds simple. The only problem is that none of those actions has anything to do with real salvation and getting through the narrow gate. That sort of invitationalism implies that Jesus is some poor pitiful Savior; waiting for us to make the first move to allow Him His way. It implies that salvation hinges on a human decision, as if the power that saves us were the power of human "free will."

Again MacArthur is wrong because God has given us free will to choose our destination. When God created Adam and Eve, He gave them free will to choose from good and evil and they chose evil by disobeying God. Bible clearly tells us that we need to take a decision to come back to God and get eternal life. Jesus said in Rev 3:20, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me." In this verse also we read the same message of Jesus that we need to take initiative to open the door for the knocking Savior. Unless we take a decision to open the door for Him, it is not possible for Him to come in. He is not going to force open the door to enter in your life.

It is not a bogus invitation but this invitation is given by the Creator Himself. How could it be a bogus invitation when Jesus Himself is inviting us to take eternal life? These types of statements clearly show that John MacArthur does not believe in the words of Jesus but relies in his own ability to achieve salvation through self-denial.

Further John MacArthur says in page 83 that, "This emphasis is a peculiarly Americans phenomenon that started in the nineteenth century with a New York Lawyer-turned-evangelist named Charles Finney. He was the most formidable American anti Calvinist, and he insisted that people get saved by and act of sheer willpower. "

I am not sure why John MacArthur brought this idea that "Charles Finney was anti Calvinist." Does Calvinism bring salvation in one's life or in fact does any religion lead to salvation? No, salvation is not through any religion but only through Jesus alone. Unless a person accepts the invitation of Jesus and come to Him, he/she cannot get forgiveness of their sins nor could they go to heaven. So if John MacArthur thinks that Calvinism will save him then he is simply mistaken. Calvinism came through John Calvin in 16th century. But Bible is the ultimate authority and we need to trust in the words written in Bible instead of trusting in some people who brought their own ideas. We need to look at those ideas whether they line up with Bible or not.

And Alter call is not a new concept as John MacArthur thinks. Moses gave an alter call to choose from life and death in Deuteronomy 30:19, "I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;"

Moses also went before Pharaoh, put destruction and peaceful departure before Pharaoh to choose from yet he chose destruction for him and his people.

Joshua gave alter call and the result is in Josua 24:22, "So Joshua said to the people, "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the LORD for yourselves, to serve Him." And they said, "We are witnesses!"

There are many cases where people chose for themselves either to walk with God or to walk away from God. Even today it is our own choice to choose Jesus or the world, eternal life or eternal death, blessings or curse... it is purely our choice to go to heaven or not. Jesus also said in John 8:24 "Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins."

Jesus Himself gave alter call often and told people to repent from their sins as we read in Mark 1:15 saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel." and in Luke 13:3, "I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish."

So you can see that alter call was an important part in the whole Bible. Even today God is calling us to repent and turn from our sins. We need to repent from our sins and turn to Him so that our sins must be forgiven if we have to go to heaven.



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Standing in the Gap - Fasting prayer on 8th Dec.. 2015

As the Bible says in Ezekiel 22:30 "So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it." And also the Bible says in Numbers 16:48, "And he (Aaron) stood between the dead and the living; so the plague was stopped." We have fasting prayer every second Tuesday of each month. Our next fasting prayer meeting will be conducted on 16th Nov. 2015

Download Articles in Handheld Computers

You can now download articles in Palm Doc format for your palm handheld computer. It will work with any devise that has Palm OS and Palm Doc Reader installed. To download click on the link named "Palm Doc Format" i.e. at the top of this page by the side of each articles.

Please Join us in "Peace Prayer Room"

If you have any prayer request please join us any time at our New Chat Room at http://insearchofpeace.org/prayer If any of us available in prayer room, we will be praying online otherwise you can email your prayer request to feedback@insearchofpeace.org

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Hindi / Malayalam/Tamil Bible Online

Now you can read Bible in Hindi online at http://www.hindibible.org
in Malayalam online at http://www.malayalambible.org
in Tamil online at http://www.hindibible.org?ver=tamil

Through the Valley of Death

As many of you know that in the year 2005, our dad was very sick even unto death. God miraculously healed him. We have compiled it in a book form. I sure believe that it will inspire you and encourage you greatly.

This book is available for purchase at JasmineCorp Store

Free Tutorials for your Kids!

Now you can learn Graphics and web designing online. These tutorials are free but you may need to get login ID by registering yourslef. Currently tutorials for Paint Shop Pro, HTML and Dreamweaver/Fireworks are available but in future more tutorials will be added.

Check the tutorials at:http://jasminecorp.net/tutorial

Allah and Elohim - Are they the same God? Book

Now available "Allah and Elohim - Are they the same God" Available at JasmineCorp Store, and "Is Jesus God?" Available at JasmineCorp Store,

Both books compares the Bible and the Quran and read eye opening facts about Jesus, God of the Bible, Allah and Islamic faith. I am sure that you want to read this.

Also read:
Book Title: Is Jesus God?
Author: Sherly Isaac
ISBN: 0759628092
http://insearchofpeace.org/books.htm

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Send free E-Cards (Greeting Cards) to your friends and family. Its an easy way to stay in touch with friends and family. The website address is:
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