Foxe’s Book of Martyrs​ – A Book Review

Today I’m going to be writing a review on Foxe’s Book of Martyrs or a History of the Lives, Sufferings, and Triumphant Deaths of the Primitive Protestant Martyrs by John Foxe. Originally titled Actes and Monuments of these Latter and Perillous Days, Touching Matters of the Church, now well known by the first title, was published first published in 1554 in Latin. A revised, English version was published in 1563. I admit to not being finished with this book, but too impatient to wait the decade or so it will take me to finish it, to write a review.

Why?

This book is a historical refutation to the modern word of faith movement. The idea that God wants His people healthy and wealthy, that we should name it and claim it, flies in the face of the historical persecution the body of Christ has endured. Throughout Christ’s ministry, He warned of what following Him would cost.

John Foxe was not just a church historian but also a martyrologist. He faced his own fair share of persecution, including being abandoned by his family, fired from his job, and eventually forced to flee his hometown. He lived, and wrote, during the time of Reformation.

I recommend this book to anyone studying church history, or persecution in the church. It begins with the early church persecution and stretches through to the persecution during the Reformation. I want to highlight here that many brothers and sisters who were martyred died with scripture, praise, or a hymn on their lips.

As always friends, be good Bereans and study to show yourselves approved.

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What is a Biblical Testimony?

As I said last Wednesday I’m taking a short break from testimonies to give a quick perspective on why we testify (which I covered HERE) and what a testimony is.

So what is a testimony? This is important to define if you find yourself testifying to the unsaved, as many other religions and cults have redefined what a testimony is. Your testimony is simply the story of how and when you were saved.

2-Corinthians-1:12

It isn’t the Gospel, once we testify we shouldn’t think the job is done and the person has heard the Good News. What they’ve heard is our reaction to the Good News. This is important, but not as important as going on and sharing the Gospel with them as well.

Two last thoughts on the testimony:

1. If you can’t remember when you were saved, but can remember the general time of it, what happened to you, how things changed, then I wouldn’t let other, more specific testimonies make you feel as though you are unsaved. If, however, you believe you were saved as a child and have no testimony or evidence for a change in your life, then I hope and pray you will work through your salvation with fear and trembling.

2-Timothy-1:8

2. It will be rare, if ever, that the lost respond to your testimony the way you think they will. Do not be discouraged by this, some plant the seed and others water, while yet others harvest. Also, when you are mocked or persecuted, you will be blessed in heaven. Pray for those who wrongly misuse you.

As always, dear friends, be good Bereans and study to show yourselves approved!

Given Over to a Depraved Mind

I recently heard a video clip that made my stomach turn. Never in my life have I heard such a fulfillment of God giving man over to a depraved mind.

“The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’ Matthew 25:40

This has always been one of the most chilling scriptures for me, it’s accountability for how we treat the brethren. However, there is at least one tv evangelist who has taken this scripture so totally out of context as to squeeze and twist the entire meaning out of it.

This person is Creflo Dollar. The clip, which you can look up for reference if need be, (being fair warned that it will make you want to throw up) is of this man preaching that this scripture shows that sexual activity with a believer is sexual activity with the Lord. I do not understand the over sexualization of the Trinity, or how anyone could read such sickness into such an important verse, other than being given over to the depravity of their mind.

The warning I want to give to you all, beloved, is to avoid anyone who is sexualizing the Word, or the Lord we serve. Dollar is not the only one doing this, there is a strange delusion working in the ‘new age’ modernized churches that have a certain emphasis on promiscuity. They have thrown out sober-mindedness, and are thus taken to hyper-emotionalism. The manipulation, beginning with the rhythmic music, continues on throughout the service, is based all too often on the money. How did the idea that ‘sex sells’ find its way into the church? I have no idea, but it’s disgusting, and we need to separate from it.

I didn’t even want to write this, honestly, the lewdness is far beyond what I could stomach. This is obviously much worse than my usual Tuesday twisted scripture, out of context verses used to confuse or mislead the body. However, this blasphemy is so grievous to my spirit that I had to address it. I write this in warning, friends, to not only avoid such teachings but oppose them. Warn your brothers and sisters in Christ, and keep your family from this.

As always, beloved friends, be good Bereans and study to show yourselves approved!

The Heavens Declare

Cygnus-Loop-Nebula

For the next couple months every Monday I’m going to be discussing the solar system, each planet, and how it shows the glory of God.

One of the questions I’ve asked and heard my beautiful daughter ask as well is why God made such a vast universe. I think that we are, as man, so naturally selfish that we can not comprehend why things would be made that we can not see, feel, or experience. Until recently, most of what we’ll be discussing wasn’t even viewable.

Did God make the other galaxies as a sign for our time, since we’re the first ones to see them? Does that suggest this generation is truly entering into the last days, and are thus without excuse? We’ll go over this in more detail throughout the series, but we must first start within our own solar system.

 

The-Sun-By-NASA

I have to admit, this is one of my absolute favorite topics! Next week we’ll begin with the sun, and the recent research being done on the subject. We’ll follow through the solar system after that in order and eventually make our way further out.

Before we go further, however, it’s important that we mark the difference between astrology and astronomy. Christians should, at all cost, stay away from astrology and any type of divination. The heavens declare His glory, not what type of personality we’ll be born with.

Astronomy is defined as a branch of science dealing with the universe as a whole, space and celestial objects within it.

Astrology is defined as the study of movements of said celestial objects and their interpreted influence on human affairs.

The study of astronomy is a noble field of science which peers into the very creation of God. Astrology is not a science, but a form of paganism with which Christians should separate us from. We should have nothing to do with any pagan practice, whether it’s the zodiac or palm readers, separate yourself from these things.

Deuteronomy-18-10

I will be writing on astronomy only, I pray that if any of you have had something to do with astrology that you repent friends. Join me, friends, on this journey every Monday through the creation of the great Creator! As always, be good Bereans beloved, and study to show yourselves approved.

Hymns from the Past

Who would true valour see, Let him come hither;

One here will constant be,

Come wind, come weather.

There’s no discouragement

Shall make him once relent

His first avowed intent

To be a pilgrim.
Whoso beset him round

With dismal stories

Do but themselves confound;

His strength the more is.

No lion can him fright,

He’ll with a giant fight,

He will have a right

To be a pilgrim.
Hobgoblin nor foul fiend

Can daunt his spirit,

He knows he at the end

Shall life inherit.

Then fancies fly away,

He’ll fear not what men say,

He’ll labour night and day

To be a pilgrim.

John Bunyan 

Fossil Friday – Polystrate Fossils

These are my favorite types of evidence for creation, the ones that make for gorgeous pictures! When you drive past great ridges of every color you get the feeling that the God we love is an artist of tremendous magnitude.

What evidence am I referring to? The fossilized trees found standing upright in the middle of layers of rocks. These rock layers should have taken millions of years to be laid down. How is it possible for a tree to withstand millions of years all while lying upright? No geologists question the impossibility of this. Yet, they see no reason to change their theory, they have faith in evolution despite evidence otherwise.

What do these trees really show? Quickly laid down layers from a great flood. Why do so many both within the church and without want to refute the validity of Noah’s flood? To those unsaved Noah’s flood relates Gods judgement on the wicked, and their own complete inability to stand in the face of His wrath. To the saved, or those claiming to be saved, Noah’s flood seems as though we serve an angry God so they choose to ignore it, or in more serious cases, refute it.

There are two questions then, did the flood happen? And, do we serve an angry God?

As a believer we must accept the truth, Jesus Christ Himself spoke of the flood as a true event. Even if there were not massive evidences all over the world got a global deluge, the Messiahs testimony would be all I needed to believe.

Are we serving an angry God? This question is confused by mankinds seemingly endless ways to misunderstand God Himself. God is not sometimes omniscient, He is always omniscient. He is not sometimes loving, His loving kindness knows no end. Psalms 7:11 says God is angry with the wicked everyday. God is always all the things He is, He is not man that changes emotions like they were going out of style. He is always loving, always just, always merciful, and always angry with the wicked.

How can that be? Let me ask you this, friends, why do you find murder so deeply disturbing? When someone abuses a young child, why does that make you righteously indignant? Because you love Gods creation, the young innocent particularly. If you had no love for humanity you would find no angry in the murder of innocents. Gods love for His creation is the very evidence for His anger against the sin which corrupts them.

Beloved, Gods Word is true. We can stand on it firmly.

Why Testify?

For the past couple months, I have posted a testimony every Wednesday, and I intend to continue that pattern so long as I have testimonies to write about. However, I wanted to take a couple weeks to divert from that, just to give a simple explanation of why we testify, what a testimony is, and what makes it so powerful.

Why should we give our testimonies? I’m not a Greek scholar by any means, and although I thoroughly enjoy word studies, I’m simply not knowledgeable enough to give you a well laid out explanation of the different words in the New Testament for testifying. What I can tell you is that a testimony is very important, we read in John chapter 3 that no man received the Messiahs testimony. Paul speaks of the testimony of Christ in 1 Corinthians. Christ told His disciples to dust off the dirt from unbelieving towns from their feet, as a testimony against them.

As I read through all the scriptures in both the New and Old Testament on testimony I recognized the double-edged sword that it is. In one hand a testimony is proclaiming truth to the believers, on the other hand, it’s proclaiming judgment on the lost.  Why testify? Because Jesus Christ didn’t come to this earth to create peace but to divide. The goats from the sheep, the wheat from the tares, good fruit from bad fruit. Without this understanding, I never would have seen I was lost and in desperate need to be saved.

It was a man’s testimony against sin, and for Christ, that revealed my own depravity. Until I had heard the testimony of Christ, I believed I had saved myself through the sinner’s prayer. I was in bondage to sin until the day the Lord saved me and freed me. There is the idea in our current culture that if we love someone we will not correct them. Don’t make them feel bad, don’t offend anyone, no one is going to want to go to church with you if you’re telling them a list of rules to follow! So everyone keeps their testimony to themselves, for fear of offending anyone. But is this really love?

I believe it is love, but not love for others, love for self. Becuase we desire for the world to like us, we want to be accepted, we want our friends and family to respect us, we keep our testimony to ourselves. I pray that God will give you, and I, a desire to love the lost more than we love our own reputation. Beloved, do not be ashamed of the Gospel, proclaim to anyone who will listen to the testimony of what God has done!

There are many preachers and teachers that will not warn their congregation of hell, they do not seek the glory of God, but rather desire to be worshiped themselves. Jesus Christ, Himself warned about hell more than any other man in the Bible. How can we, being His followers, not do the same? How can we give the lost the Good News without first telling them the bad news?

If you have a testimony I would be blessed to hear it, please feel free to write them in the comments. The lost who stumble onto this humble blog might read it, and believe. For my own personal testimony, click here. As always, friends, be good Bereans and study to show yourselves approved!

 

Back From Vacation

I’m back from vacation now, refreshed, renewed, and ready to proclaim the Good News!

It’s amazing to me what a blessing fellowship with other believers can be. To speak to someone else about Christ who loves Him as genuinely as you do is edifying to the soul. The world is a dark place, however, there are lamps lit in the heart of true believers, what an encouragement that is!

I want to speak briefly today about uniformitarianism, the idea that things go on as they always have. It’s surprizing how much the Bible actually has to say about this subject. The strongest scripture I have read in regards to it is 2 Peter 3:3-7. 

This scripture is talking about the last days, scoffers come saying that things have always gone on the same way. They deny God’s creation week and Noah’s flood willingly ignoring the evidence for it. 

James Hutton famously said ‘The present is the key to the past.’ This, of course, is utter nonsense. However, it is held by most secular scientists that things remain the same, with slow, gradual, change that can hardly be noticed for its slow movement. What have we actually seen in recent years? Mount St. Helens eruption eviscerated the idea that layers of the rock are laid down over millions of years, and that terrain is carved by deep time.

This was not new, volcanoes had erupted time and time again. Earthquakes, and other natural disasters shaped and reshaped the world around them. Uniformitarianism is not a logical, well thought out, scientific conclusion to come to. It is, rather, willfully remaining ignorant of facts to uphold a world view.

Seeing they do not perceive, hearing they do not understand. As in the days of Noah, they will be taken completely off guard by the judgment to come. Not because they were unearned because they scoffed at the warnings.

Do not let that stop you from proclaiming the Good News, rejoice when you are hated among men for they first hated our Master. Be good Bereans beloved, study to show yourselves approved!

Travels

Today our travels have taken us to South Dakota into the beautiful black hills. 

Here we met up with Meme and Papa for the first time in a few months. Which is a few too many! 

Fellowship and witnessing the majesty and beauty of Gods creation, what could be better? I hope you are all also having blessed weekends, friends! 

A Book Review of Buried Alive

Cover-by-Farewell-Communications

 

This is a book review of Jack Cuozzo’s book Buried Alive the Startling, Untold Story About Neanderthal Man.

Jack Cuozzo is an orthodontist that went on the adventure of a life time in this true story. He took his wife and five children along for the ride, and it was a wild ride. There is intrigue, suspense, science, creationism, skepticism, and car chases. What more could you ask for? Out of all the educationally focused books I’ve ever read this must be the most exciting. It’s filled with Jack’s personal walk in faith, providential breakthroughs, and original x-rays of the Neanderthal man.

If you’re skeptical then I would highly recommend this book. If you’re a long time creationist and want to see it from another view point, I highly recommend this book.