Unto These Hills

 Recently, I have engaged in discussions with a "Reformed Baptist" and a Presbyterian. The two are so much alike, one can hardly tell the difference, save for the mode of baptism. Both affirm that regeneration precedes faith, and neither believe it is the duty of a church to "invite" sinners to pray a "sinner's prayer" or beseeched to come forward at the end of the service for what some call the "altar call". They say that is an Arminian practice, which produces no real converts. They detest what they call "decisional regeneration". I have a few questions for those  Reformed Calvinists.  1. Where have most of your church members come from? How can you be against a practice, that was used in the conversion of the vast majority of your members? Did you ever "decide" to trust Christ, or did you just wake up one morning trusting Him? 2. Why do you repeat falsehoods, saying Spurgeon never employed such practices? 3....

 The "takeover" of the SBC by Calvinists, Reformed Calvinists I might add, began in earnest in 1997. In that year the "Passion" movement begun by Louie Giglio, the liar, who uses the Westminster Confession as Passion City Church's statement of faith, (I guess the London Baptist Confession wasn't "Reformed" enough) boldy stated that his brand of Calvinism was going to "reach a generation for Jesus" and declared "our movement will reinvigorate the churches, and bring scores of unreached youth into our churches". Well has that happened? Let's see.  Baptisms in the SBC of those under the age of 25 are as follows for the last 25 years 1998   389,769 2003   371,850 2008   340,227 2013   246,442 2018    23,972 2020    20,902 Now do those statistics indicate that SBC churches have been "reinvigorated", or filled with young people? That is a WHOPPING 95% DROP!   In the last 15 years, the SBC has lost over 4...

 When I was a child, the church and my family told me Jesus was the Son of God, and I believed them. They told me He was sinless and I believed them. They told me He died for my sins, and I believed them. They told me He rose from the dead and I believed them. I just took everyone's word for it, but I had never taken God's word for it. Then one day, I decided to believe God instead of everybody else.    My friend Stephen Garrett responded by saying this: John 4 39 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did. 40 So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days. 41 And many more believed because of his own word; 42 And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world. In any case, "faith comes ...