I prophesied as I was commanded. –Ezekiel 37:7 (NIV)–
Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake. –Exodus 7:10 (NIV)–
The Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. –John 5:19 (NIV)–
“You unbelieving and perverse generation!” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” –Matthew 17:17 (NIV)–
He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. –Mark 6:5 (NIV)–
Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. –Exodus 14:16 (NIV)–
I left Trophimus sick in Miletus. –2 Timothy 4:20 (NIV)–
THIS PICTURE SHOULD HELP TO ILLUSTRATE JUST WHAT THE CESSATIONIST “SIGN GIFTS” ARGUMENT REALLY MEANS.
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Cessationists often define a miracle as an instantaneous, total, public display of divine power–something that must look like a cinematic spectacle to count. But Biblical miracles range from gradual healings and partial restorations to symbolic acts and prophetic insights. When miracles are required to look like Marvelmovies, it becomes easy to declare that they no longer happen…Cessationism’s “sign gifts” argument falters not because Scripture is unclear, but because the argument begins with the wrong picture–miracles as omnipotent powers rather than divine gifts. The Biblical narrative portrays not superheroes, but servants. The Spirit’s work has always been relational, situational, and sovereign–a power made perfect in weakness, not a spectacle made for proof. –J.B.
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Dr. Herbert Lockyer, All the Miracles of the Bible (Zondervan, 1988).
See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. –Colossians 2:8 (ESV)–
Russell Kirk, The Conservative Mind (Regnery, 1995). This used to be the Christian conservative manifesto in 1953 before Ayn Rand’s godless capitalist philosophy took over American politics. In this book, he preaches against the type of ideology of Rand espoused. Kirk was Catholic.
Dr. Dustin J. Byrd, A Critique of Ayn Rand’s Philosophy of Religion: The Gospel According to John Galt (Bloomsbury, 2019). This appears to be the most thorough Christian academic critique of Rand. But it might come from a liberal Christian perspective.
David Chilton, Productive Christians In an Age of Guilt-Manipulators (Institute for Christian Economics, 1981), p. 220. “Autonomous capitalism is a washout. It is an attempt to grab the blessings of God by secularist methods. The fact that Robert J. Ringer’s Restoring the American Dream spent five months on the New York Times Best Seller List should be no cause of rejoicing to those who desire a return to Biblical free enterprise. His book should be retitled Anarchist Nightmare. It is a libertarian lawlessness. Its basic thrust can be guessed from the titles of his other hits: Looking Out for #1 and Winning Through Intimidation. That kind of capitalism can produce only cultural disintegration. Nothing will change a spiritually enslaved culture apart from freedom in Christ.”
Jeff Farnham, The Octopus of Humanism (Sword of the Lord, 2009).
Here is a vision God gave me last Wednesday, 29th October 2025.
I saw a woman in a city, and she was running away from all the demonic activity and evil in the world, and I saw her run into a church to hide, and she quickly closed the doors behind her. She turned around and everyone inside was standing there looking at her. The people in the church all appeared to shine, they were so beautiful and friendly, but then when the people turned around they all had demon tails coming out from behind them! Then I noticed the church floor and it was covered in bones. Immediately the verse Matthew 23:27 came to me: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.” God said to me: “This is where Christians come to die,” and instantly in my mind I questioned this with God and thought, “No, those words are way too harsh.” God instantly rebuked me: “Do not soften My words!”
I remember one time, a few years ago, a well-known atheist in the US was interviewing me in my office concerning the creation/evolution issue and the book of Genesis.
The conversation went something like this: “So you admit that you start with the Bible?” she asked me.
“Yes, of course,” I replied.
“And you are not prepared to change anything the Bible states, are you?” she asked.
“No,” I said.
“The Bible’s statements concerning creation, the flood, and so on are not subject to change—God’s Word cannot be altered. Models based on the Bible are subject to change, but what the Bible clearly states is not subject to change.”
“Ah,” she then responded, “That’s why creationists like you can never be real scientists. You see, real scientists like myself start with evidence and develop our theories. Then, as new evidence comes along, we modify our theories accordingly. You start with the Bible, not evidence, and you are not prepared to change your views. I start with evidence and am prepared to change or modify theories as new evidence comes along. That is real science.”
I then responded by asking, “You are an atheist, correct?”
“Yes,” she responded.
“And you don’t believe in God and don’t believe the Bible’s account of Genesis has any part in science and in discussing the origins issue—is that right?”
“Yes,” she again responded.
“Are you prepared to change that?” I asked.
She changed the subject. Yes, this atheist (like all of them) started with beliefs that she was not prepared to change. And those beliefs determined how she approached evidence in regards to the origins issue. No one ever starts with just evidence. We all have presuppositions that determine how we approach evidence.
Yesterday I was just a boy In days of youthful hero worship My kind have been molded by images on the screen Brought up to emulate the big guns
Just another guest on death’s best show The influence cuts deeper than mom’s Those electric waves The demons fly
Now could we just be Bred to kill or die
There must be somethin’ else For the blame I place on myself Behind the tired eyes The tears go uncried
In the box Doin’ time In the box Just like doin’ time In the box Doin’ time In the box
Now that I’m grown Abandoned childhood toys But still what danger Have I retained To grab the brass ring To go in for the kill And covet the good you know ‘dem got for murder
It’s just another guest on death’s best show The influence cuts deeper than mom’s Those electric waves The demons fly
Now could we just be Bred to kill or die
There’s got to be somethin’ else For the blame I place on myself Behind tired eyes The demons stir The tears go uncried
In the box Doin’ time In the box Just like doin’ time In the box Doin’ time In the box
Minds are locked down
–Snot, “The Box”–
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The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. –Galatians 5:22-23 (KJV)–
To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the Lord is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it.Therefore I am full of the fury of the Lord; I am weary with holding in: I will pour it out upon the children abroad, and upon the assembly of young men together. –Jeremiah 6:10-11 (KJV)–
Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the descendants of Jacob their sins…Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? –Isaiah 58:1, 6 (NIV)–
While Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was greatly angered when he saw that the city was full of idols. –Acts 17:16 (AMP)–
Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice. –Ephesians 4:31 (KJV)–
Note that “blessed are the meek” (Matthew 5:5) is not about nor a teaching against expressing anger or indignation against injustice–like sexual perversion and abuse for example, preaching sermons against sin, preaching repentance, or about preaching sermons against injustice, as is required in evangelistic ministry. This is about the way we carry ourselves in relation to others in the church, in business, in family, etc. There is a sense of self-control there. This is more related to people in pastoral ministry, because of their constant interaction with people acting annoying with petty irritations and nuisances. Not being easily provoked by people’s comments or crazy behavior. To say that Matthew 5:5 is a teaching against the whole idea of preaching with anger against flagrant societal sin, would be to condemn John the Baptist, Jesus Christ himself, Stephen, Peter, and Paul (Matt. 3:7; 23:13-39; Acts 7:51; 8:20; 13:10).
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Watchman Nee, The Spiritual Man. (Teaches Quietism; all emotions are called “soulish”).
Augustin Poulain, The Graces of Interior Prayer, pp. 491-492, 495. “This is the principle that stands out from the writings of this sect. Given that some practical resolution is to be made, action will be taken solely when we are urged thereto by God. As long as the Holy Spirit has not set the soul in motion, she will wait without doing anything whatever…abandonment, exaggerated to the point of reducing oneself to a passive state of expectation…in this way desires and abandonment were falsely considered as two dispositions incompatible with one another…Let us not think of God as a jealous, intractable, sullen king who will not tolerate any initiative and who wishes to reduce us to a slave’s mute obedience.”
Richard J. Foster, Streams of Living Water, ch. 5. (On Social Justice).
Dr. John R. Rice, Why Preach Against Sin? (Sword of the Lord, 1946, 1985), p. 6. “I preached so hard against sin that some pastors of the city criticized me severely.”
—. What Is Wrong With the Movies? (Sword of the Lord, 1938).
—. Adultery and Sex Perversion (Sword of the Lord, 1978).
Leonard Ravenhill, Revival Praying (Bethany House, 1962), ch. 14: “Be Ye Angry.”
Miguel de Molinos, author of The Spiritual Guide, and father of Quietism. He taught mental passivity, emotional stoicism, and self-annihilation. To mortify the flesh and allow the spirit to find its place in perfect contemplation on God. His anti-emotional teaching was condemned by the Catholic Church in 1687. The Spock-like expression in the painting is clear. You can almost hear him calmly say, “Don’t be angry, just look at the candle.”
These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. –Deuteronomy 6:6-7 (NIV)–
Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. –Proverbs 22:6 (NKJV)–
Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. –Colossians 3:21 (NKJV)–
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. –Joshua 24:15 (NKJV)–
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I’m tired of your open mouth Crawling inside my skin Endless pain we never quit The fight within that pride’s begun
Saying it’s too late What a man’s got, he’ll learn to hate
Forget the time I said I would Replace that with I never will Beyond the facts held in your face Ignore the facts beyond your nose
Saying it’s too late What a man’s got, he’ll learn to hate