Pastor Shaun Marksbury

The patterns of sin degrade the rational processes of the mind, creating a warping effect known in theology as depravity.  We all experience this to some degree, though Christians have the promise of God's grace to fight it.  The downgrade of depravity can be noted most clearly in the criminal arena. As such, John MacArthur highlights the findings of sociologists and contrasts that with a Christian worldview: In their two-volume book The Criminal Personality, Samuel Yochelson and Stanton Samenow maintain that criminal behavior is the result of warped thinking. Three entire sections (pp. 251–457) are devoted to “The thinking errors of the criminal.” By studying what criminals think, rather than trying to probe their feelings and backgrounds, these researchers use these sections to share their conclusions. “It is remarkable,” they write, “that the criminal often derives as great an impact from his activities during nonarrestable phases as he does from crime. The criminal’s...

John MacArthur notes the following on the word “grace:”  ________________________________________________________ Grace is a single-word definition of the gospel. The gospel is the good news of God’s grace to sinful mankind. The nature of grace is giving, and the Bible tells us much more about giving than getting, because God’s nature is to give. God is a God of grace because He is a God who freely gives. It has nothing to do with anything we have done or have failed to do; it can only be received. God is gracious because of who He is, not because of who or what we are. His grace is therefore unmerited, unearned, undeserved. It depends entirely on the One who gives it, not on those who receive it. Grace is God’s self-motivated, self-generated, sovereign act of giving. God’s grace has another dimension that places it still further above every other kind of giving. The greatest gift of grace is self. Grace is therefore God’s Self donation, His Self giving. He...

If you've had any interaction with the Black Hebrew Israelites (BHI), you have probably heard that the true identity of the Hebrew people is the African peoples (or some such nuance).  As evidence of this, BHI adherents will point to the blessing/cursing chapter of the Law, Deuteronomy 28, and see there a prophecy concerning Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.  Perhaps even outside of BHI, you've wondered if this chapter discusses this.   The Prescribed Truth Podcast takes on this reading:

Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Uncircumcision” by the so-called “Circumcision,” which is performed in the flesh by human hands (Eph 2:11). The Jews circumcise male infants as a sign of God's covenant.  It's obvious that such an act requires "human hands," so why does Paul point it out here?  The Faithlife Study Bible notes, “In the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation of the ot ), this word is used to refer to idols (e.g., Lev 26:1; Isa 2:18; 10:11; Dan 5:4).” [1]   Interestingly, even though God commanded circumcision, Paul uses the same terminology for idolatry.  Even that which is good and ordained by God — in this case, a mark to identify a people with God — becomes an object for pride and self-worship.  For a New Covenant application, remember that Paul had to confront those at Corinth who took pride in who baptized them (1 Cor 3).  Our hearts are idol factories, as one theologian famously...

A conference posted at  https://founders.org/events/2019/06/mature-manhood-in-an-immature-age-2019-founders-sbc-event/ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MATURE MANHOOD STARTS WITH MALENESS  | Tom Nettles MATURE MANHOOD IN THE MINISTRY  | Tom Ascol MATURE MANHOOD AND WOMEN  | Mark Coppenger MATURE MANHOOD IN THE PULPIT  | David Miller MATURE MANHOOD AND ABUSE  | Josh Buice MATURE MANHOOD AND SEXUALITY  | Owen Strachan MATURE MANHOOD | PANEL DISCUSSION SHOULD WOMEN PREACH IN OUR LORD’S DAY WORSHIP?  | Tom Ascol & Dwight McKissic

For those of you wanting some heftier reading on the subject of eschatology, consider how Greek philosophy might have impacted some of the early church fathers.  Specifically, Plato spoke of universal ideals, and that is exactly how many interpret the imagery of the Book of Revelation.  Such ideas translate into a hermeneutic of spiritualizing or allegorizing the meaning of the text. Dr. Michael Vlach wrote an academic journal article on this subject titled "Platonism's Influence on Christian Eschatology."  Below is the abstract, and you can read the PDF here . Much attention in recent years has been devoted to the influence of Greek philosophy on Christian doctrine. This has been especially true in regard to the nature and attributes of God. Some have also contended that Christian eschatology has been negatively influenced by Greek Platonic assumptions and ideas. Randy Alcorn’s book, Heaven , for instance, asserts that biblical eschatology has been largely replaced b...

"In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace" (Eph 1:7). Christ's redeems “through the blood.”  If we read this literally and in context, then we must understand it to mean that we (who Paul defined as believers) are saved through the shedding of Christ’s blood.  Other meanings fail to fit. For instance, we cannot read this verse to mean that the blood of Christ only made us savable .   In other words, it would be incorrect to read this as saying we only have the possibility of redemption in His blood, should we fulfill some other criteria.  The gospel becomes bad news if redemption, the forgiveness of sins, rests upon me as well as Christ, for I would certainly mess it up. It would also be incorrect to read this to mean that the blood of Christ was shed for every man, woman, and child to ever live.  The teaching known as universalism promotes a false hope that everyone will get...