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I’m Burning

January 6, 2012 in Current Events, Personal with 0 Comments

The following is a re-post from Patrick Hoban’s old blog, June 2009. – Admin

Yesterday I read a news report that re-emphasized the need to preach the Gospel to as many as possible and as quickly as possible.

Jesus declared that no one can get to the Father except through Him. There are some ideas floating about that those in other countries who have never heard the Gospel will somehow circumvent this process. The truth is that those who are not washed in the blood of Jesus through faith in Him will not be saved from the punishment of hell and, later, the Lake of Fire.

I wish that hell didn’t exist. I wish that everyone went to heaven. I wish the doctrine of annihilation were true. (This is the teaching that those who go to hell eventually are annihilated and will cease to exist and will not undergo the punishment of hell forever.) The awful truth is that hell is real, and those who are not born again will enter there.

In the background you can hear the question: “What about those in remote regions who never hear the Gospel?” Just because someone has never heard the Gospel doesn’t mean he should go to heaven. If he did, God’s righteousness would be questionable. The truth is that most people will not enter heaven, or partake in the glorious resurrection and be with Jesus forever. If a name are not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, he will endure the horrible eternal punishment of the Lake of Fire that was created for the devil and his angels. It is a staggering thought!

Sinking

Before I get to the article I read, I want to tell you of my own experience. Before I was saved I had a near-death experience.  Continue Reading…

Preaching that Changes Lives

December 30, 2011 in Current Events, History, Theology with 0 Comments

The following is a re-post from Patrick Hoban’s old blog, October 2006. – Admin

It is interesting to note that in the Western world we have fewer and fewer conversions in our churches. Only about 4% of those who make commitments to Christ, under the ministry of modern evangelistic methods practiced in the developed nations, remain followers of Jesus years later.

During the Welsh revival of 1904, led by Evan Roberts (pictured above), about 150,000 people were converted. Most of those who came to Christ during that revival remained committed followers until their death. Charles G. Finney’s ministry was noted for the lasting effect it had on those who professed Christ. About 80% of those converted continued long after the preacher left town.

What was the difference?

One marked difference was the way these ministers preached. The preaching was a recipe with the following main ingredients:

  • The messages revealed the total lost state of mankind.
  • They revealed that a righteous God must judge sin, and that each person stood condemned by his personal sin.
  • There was a clear presentation of the work of the cross.
  • There was a clear invitation to publicly declare faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of that sin.

Another marked difference was the prayer life of both the church and the one who preached. Many of these preachers spent hours or even days in prayer.

This time spent in prayer brought about many things. It brought the preacher into a place of surrender to the Holy Spirit so as to be used effectively by Him. It brought the power for the message to be anointed by the Spirit. It produced an atmosphere so that the hearers could receive the Word.

One more significant aspect was the heartfelt worship of the congregation. It was this kind of worship that prepared the ground for the preaching of the Word.

Most, if not all, of these elements are missing from most modern churches. The result is dying churches and whole societies succumbing to the onslaught of secularism.

In developing countries, like India and China, the preaching of the Gospel continues to be ministered in the manner of Finney, Wesley, and Evan Roberts. The results are also similar, with conversions, church growth, and societal change.

I pray that the church in America and the Western World finds its way back to preaching that makes a difference.

PJH

Universalism

November 18, 2011 in Current Events, Theology with 2 Comments

Patrick HobanPhoto Credit: Adam Dimmick

The following is a re-post from Patrick Hoban’s old blog, October 2009. – Admin

The Bible talks about a great falling away that will take place in the church before the coming of the Lord (2 Thessalonians 2:3). Just as in the early church there were many false teachers and those who harassed new believers with doctrines that took them from the apostles’ teaching, I believe that before the coming of Christ again the church will experience the same kind of turmoil.

The first 400 years of the church were filled with doctrinal turmoil.

Gnosticism (secret knowledge) reared its head very early on in the church. The apostles John and Jude wrote about it in their letters. John spoke about people the church was familiar with who once claimed to be true believers, but were not because they didn’t keep to the teachings of the apostles.

They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us (1 John 2:19).

There was a way for the believer to know that he was believing the truth: it was by adhering to the teaching of the Apostles.

We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error (1 John 4:6).

The spirit of error that John talked about is a spirit that causes people to wander from the truth. They wander from what we like to call “Orthodoxy.” Orthodoxy means having right or straight thinking. Apostasy is falling away from Orthodoxy. It’s a wrong thinking.

Most of the doctrinal issues facing the church were resolved by the First Nicene Council. The issues concerning the nature of Christ and the God-head were resolved, and from that Council we received the Nicene Creed, a creed that I truly appreciate.

Doctrinal error occurs from two main sources:  Continue Reading…

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