Exchangedlife.com: Christianity vs. Atheism

My husband has a new sermon series up on his website studying Christianity vs. Atheism: Here is the first message. Following is a quote from the message.

"One thing I have discovered over the years is that many Christians fear the evidence because they are afraid that their faith will be disproven. Our faith is a shield, given by God, that defends us, but many try to defend their shield of faith. Rather than faith protecting us, we are trying to protect our faith. Many atheists quote Mark Twain who said, “Faith is believing what you know isn’t true”. This may apply to superstition, but it is not accurate for faith. Unfortunately many do in fact stand upon superstition rather than faith. These are the ones who will never find true victory and are in danger of falling. I have met Christians that clearly have doubts and rather than trying to answer those doubts, they suppress them and pretend that they don’t exist. They are afraid that the answers may lead them away from faith; however, I believe that all answers (if allowed to be fully explored) lead to the truth. There are many ex-evangelical preachers and former so-called Christians that grew tired of pretending and when they finally gave in to their doubts, they sought answers only from atheism. This is unfortunate for when that same evidence is examined fully, we find that atheism is shored up by assumptions and the exclusion of evidence."

My husband's sermon series on Predestination: exchangedlife.com

My husband recently wrote a four-part sermon series studying predestination and how understanding the biblical teaching on this subject can help us in our christian life. Here are the links to the four parts: http://www.exchangedlife.com/Sermons/topical/christianity/UnderstandingPredestination.htm
http://www.exchangedlife.com/Sermons/topical/christianity/UnderstandingPredestination2.htm
http://www.exchangedlife.com/Sermons/topical/christianity/UnderstandingPredestination3.htm
http://www.exchangedlife.com/Sermons/topical/christianity/UnderstandingPredestination4.htm

A not-so-funny thing about Mary

This is the second time I have read an article by a catholic apologist using 1 Kings 2:13-25 to validate the Catholic practice of asking Mary to intercede for them. The reasoning is that Mary is the Queen Mother of Jesus the King, and she intercedes for those who ask for her help just as Bathsheba interceded for Adonijah with her son King Solomon.
When I told my husband about the article and gave the reference for the proof text the author used in 1 Kings, He laughed, just as I had when I went and read the whole passage, because my husband was very familiar with the story and knew the ending. Actually, the story isn't funny, nor is the the deduction of what happens to people who make the 'Queen Mother' their hope instead of the King himself. What's funny is that anyone would use this as a proof-text. Read it for yourself and see what I mean, if you don't know. It's as if, since the Lord knew this would happen, He put it in His Word for a warning to those who would listen.

Mary as the ark of the covenant

The following post is taken from a comment I made on Elena's blog, Visits to Candyland, several months ago. I thought it was an interesting subject, so I am posting it here. The subject was the Catholic teaching that Mary is foreshadowed by the Ark of the Covenant, because she carried the presence of God within her as the Ark did. She is called 'the Ark of the Covenant' as one of her Catholic titles. The idea comes partly from comparing the passages of 2 Samuel 6 about David and the Ark of the Covenant and Luke 1:39-56 in which Mary visits Elizabeth. I had read an article about the subject that someone on Elena's blog had suggested. Here is the article I read. Below is my comment, slightly edited for clarity:

The most interesting thing I found was the comparison of Mary to the Ark of the Covenant, which article also equates her with the woman in Revelation 12 that gives birth to the Man Child.
I'm very interested in types and foreshadowing in the Bible, but have never heard this comparison before. I see there is a correlation between the passage in 2 Samuel 6 and the one in Luke about Mary.
The woman clothed with the sun in Revelation 12 I have been used to thinking of as Israel(which includes spiritual Israel, who is the Church, as well as physical Israel) and I believe that is what she represents.
The comparison of Mary with the Ark of the covenant has clarified something, put in a missing piece of a puzzle. Mary can represent both Israel (Israel is called the bride of Jehovah in the O.T.) and the church (The church is called the bride of Christ). Mary is not THE bride, but she as a believer is part of the church which is the bride. Mary is not Israel but she represents Israel because she is the member of the race that produced the Messiah. She is a connection to both, the very point where Christ entered the world and began to unite the two parts of his bride: Israel and the Church.
Here is a passage in Ephesians 2 which explains this:
11 Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands— 12 that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ
14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, 15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, 16 and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. 17 And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. 18 For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.
19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Abraham was the father of Israel, and he and Isaac were a foreshadowing of the Father offering up His Son. We honor him as a spiritual father as well as a fellow believer.
Joseph and Joshua are types of Christ and their stories foreshadow Him also. So do others.
Mary is to be honored as Christ's mother and as a fellow believer. She represents us all: Israel bringing forth her own savior (God With Us), and the Church becoming the part of the Body of Christ by faith. But Mary is not herself the Woman clothed with the sun or the Shining Bride coming down from heaven. All of those in Christ are that bride.
If we lift Mary up too high we are in essence lifting ourselves up too high, as she is one of us and represents us (represents us not in the sense of mediating for us, but as a symbol, picture, or type).
This may be why Mary is not mentioned again in scripture after the beginning of Acts. She has fulfilled her purpose and must 'become less that Christ may become more' as John the baptist also said.
To summarize and clarify, Mary is the Ark in the sense that she bore the Christ, but also she is representing something greater than herself: the united Church consisting of Israel and the Gentile church finally brought together at the end of time to be the united Bride of Christ.
The Iraelites did not worship the Ark itself, but God's presence in it. The Ark was made by human hands and so was able to be touched until God's presence came to it. God's presence departed from Israel when they were judged for rejecting the Messiah, and, comparatively God was not present in Mary's womb after Jesus was born, therefore I think Joseph had no qualms about taking her as his wife after the birth: Matt 1:24-25 24 Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, 25 and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son.

Another thought about Mary and Joseph is that it may have been a mercy and a blessing to Mary to be an ordinary wife and mother after being so honored to carry her God and Savior, to help her remain the humble and faithful person she was as a girl.
In a wider sense, I believe the Ark can represent all believers, who are filled with God's presence after being covered by the mercy of Christ (the Mercy Seat that covered the Ark).
Another thought is that, while Mary is the vessel where Israel and the Gentile church begin to become one, Christ is the one who is given the honor of uniting them by His blood, as the passage in Ephesians I quoted above states.

Thy Word is Truth

John 17:17
Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.


I read this post at historicalchristian.com today, in which Aimee Cooper posted a news article about her class, Understanding the Catholic Gospel, where she is quoted comparing the catholic gospel to what she calls 'the protestant gospel.' Again, she horribly misrepresents the 'protestant gospel.' She seems deliberately to be using the worst caricatured stereotypes about protestant teaching, which completely misses the richness and simplicity and beauty of the biblical gospel, which bible-believers teach and love.
She states the falsehood that believers are sanctified by the sacrament of the eucharist, instead of by the Holy Spirit working through the truth of God's word as we abide in Christ (See John 15):

“The Catholic Gospel is based on sacramental theology,” explained Cooper. “In the Eucharist, which we believe is the body and blood of Christ … we experience union with God here on earth, which is both physical and spiritual. It’s sacramental theology—it’s infused grace, which is different from Protestant imputed grace, which is only external.”

See my post on 'I Am The Bread of Life' for more on why believing in Jesus is how we 'eat His flesh and drink His blood', not taking the eucharist, which is a symbol and a remembrance of His sacrfice for us.
Aimee says that the Eucharist is what sanctifies catholics:

“He actually lives and grows in us. We are meant to be changed into Christ in our lifetimes,” Cooper said. “It’s what the early Christians believed in the beginning and what the Church has always believed. The Eucharist was the center of life for the early Christians—they protected it, they celebrated it. It’s what changed them and gave them power to witness, to evangelize, to suffer and be martyrs.”

The verse I quoted at the top of this post, John 17:17, gives God's version of the story as Jesus prays to the Father: Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.
As born-again believers abide in Christ through His word and prayer, we are sanctified within and truly made holy, not just 'dunghills covered in snow' as Aimee quoted from Martn Luther (who was talking about justification, not sanctification; and I don't think I agree with him on this anyway). For born-again christians being justified or made right with God through Christ's imputed righteousness is only the beginning. How are we made holy? See Romans 12:1-2:

1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

How are our minds renewed? See Psalm 119:9-11:

9 How can a young man cleanse his way?
By taking heed according to Your word.
10 With my whole heart I have sought You;
Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments!
11 Your word I have hidden in my heart,
That I might not sin against You.

Jesus is the Word and the Bread of Life, and we abide in Him in His word:

Matthew 4:4
4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”

The Gospel

Romans 4:3-8
3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” 4 Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.
5 But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, 6 just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:
7 “ Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
And whose sins are covered;
8 Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin.”

The Blessed Virgin and an Irish Family

Here is a link to chapters 11 and 12 of a book called "The Blessed Virgin and an Irish Family" written by Dick Keogh of Cherith Gospel Outreach.
I am posting this because it is the testimony of a man who was raised from childhood to think of Mary the mother of Jesus as Co-redemptix with her Son: as one who participated with Jesus in bringing salvation to the world. Here is his story of how he learned the true gospel of scripture, that Jesus alone is our Savior and Mediator and Redeemer.

If you would like to read the entire book, click on the link at the end of the chapters to go to the index. Then you can click on each section to read the book online.

To learn more about Dick Keogh's ministry, click on the link to go to the main menu.

The Trinity in the Old Testament

Isaiah 48:16 (New King James Version)
“ Come near to Me, hear this:
I have not spoken in secret from the beginning;
From the time that it was, I was there.
And now the Lord GOD and His Spirit
Have sent Me.”