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This past weekend during the Keryx weekend at Newberry Correctional, I encountered a prisoner who gave rise to this post.  This man takes his faith quite seriously.  He is also a King James Version Only (KJVO) man, referring to “The Authorized Version” whenever he mentions the Bible, which leads to the issue at hand.

He, as many KJVO advocates are wont to do, maintains that contemporary translations have “deleted” words from the Bible, resulting in heresy.  Of course, this man’s starting point as the authoritative source is not the Greek/Hebrew text, but the “1611 King James Bible.”  He cited John 4:24 as proof of this matter.

The King James reads:

God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

The ESV (which I had in my hand as we talked) reads:

God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Here was his argument (honest):

PREMISE: God is spirit.

PREMISE: Satan is spirit.

CONCLUSION: God is Satan.

He followed up by saying, “See what happens by just removing one word?!?!?”

Well, pointing out the flawed logic was of no use.  Just because A is C and B is C, it does not necessarily follow that A is B.  In addition, his argument would fall apart if the ESV had left the “a” in the passage, because then we could say:

PREMISE: God is a spirit.

PREMISE: Satan is a spirit.

CONCLUSION: God is Satan.

By the same logic, we could reach the following conclusion:

PREMISE: I am human.

PREMISE: Barack Obama is human.

CONCLUSION: I am Barack Obama.

The flawed logic should be rather clear.  Plus, if my friend were as attentive to his KJV as he says he is, he would know the “is” in John 4:24 in the KJV is italicized, which means that it did not appear in the original documents and was added by the translators.

True premises do not always lead to a particular conclusion and my new friend has given us a perfect example.

My location for most of March 11-March 14.  Approximately 40 volunteers (of whom I am privileged to serve with) filled with grace and truth, in humility will be proclaiming a message of hope, reconciliation and redemption through Jesus Christ.  Prayers appreciated.

Shortly after we were asked to start a bible study at what was then Straits Correctional Facility (now Chippewa Correctional Facility-West), we encountered a man named Richard Joiner.  He was called, as many prisoners are, by a nickname, and in his case, it was “Red.”  Being African-American, he had reddish hair and hence the nickname.  Red was on of those prisoners whom all the other prisoners looked up to – and in a good way.  He was honest, forthright and very concerned about the welfare of his fellow prisoners.  Being approximately 6′4″ or 6′5″ and because of his resemblance to Detroit Pistons player Tayshaun Prince, my mentor would frequently refer to him as “Tayshaun.”  Red attended a Keryx weekend in 2003 and continued his leadership within the Christian community the prison before receiving word that he had received his parole and would be heading home, and that was the last contact we had with him.

That is one of the trials of prison ministry – you form relationships with prisoners and then one day they are gone, transferred to another prison, in most cases never to be seen again (at least here on earth).  As a volunteer, you learn to handle this, but I always wonder how the guys are doing when they move on.  My most fond memory of Red was the night where we were discussing Job 38.  We took almost a year working through Job and chapter 38 begins with this in verses 1-3:

1 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: 2 “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? 3 Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me.

Other bible versions use the phrase “gird up your loins” in verse 3, so I posed the question as to what was meant there and Red raised his hand and said, “It means you ‘man up,’” to which I responded, “And tell everybody what you mean by that so we’re all on the same page,” and he did a very good job of doing such.

Today I learned about what’s happening with Red Joiner in 2010.  Red Joiner was shot and killed recently while withdrawing money at an ATM in Detroit and the story of his murder is given by WXYZ-TV in Detroit.  His brother, interviewed in the accompanying video, does indeed resemble Red.  One of my volunteer friends received a call from one of the former prisoners who was in that bible study notifying him of the murder last night, and I was told today.  Another former prisoner was at our Keryx team formation meeting today and he was aware of what had happened and he was torn up by it as I was, as was yet another former prisoner who was at the meeting.

The last I knew, Red was ready to meet his Creator and the implication from the story is that he was still ready when he was killed.  We never know our own ATM moment, so to speak, will happen so we need to be ready because as Paul says in 2 Cor. 6, “Today is the day of salvation.”

I have missed Red from afar for several years but my “missing him” pales in comparison to the loss his family is experiencing.  We pray for the Joiners, his son and his fiancee.  And that his alleged killer reconcile herself to the living God as well.

May we all ‘man up’ (biblically) in memory of Red.  Miss you, bro.

That was the comment made a while back in a Facebook thread, in a discussion concerning what “grace” actually accomplishes.

The brother with whom I was interacting was taking issue with the Reformed view that there is a such a thing as “Common Grace” in addition to “Saving Grace.”  His point was that “grace” that did not save – “Common Grace” – is actually no grace at all, as opposed to the non-Reformed view, which he states in his follow-up to the title of this post:

God’s whole plan and purpose through the incarnation and the gift of salvation offered by Jesus through His sacrifice on our behalf was to make available the gift of life and relationship with God.  What grace is available to the person who is not saved?  The only grace that I see is the wonderful opportunity to have my past redeemed through the blood of Jesus so that I can be rightly related to God as His child and move on from that beginning into all God has for me.

Elsewhere, he said:

Jesus blood and sacrifice are enough to save ALL (emphasis his) people from their sins.  (Then, he in effect objects to his own statement and supplies the answer to his own objection to the Reformed view in this sentence:) The grace is poured out and the salvation is freely available, but that grace is ineffective if it is not combined with repentance – changed heart that is contrite and submitted to God. (emphasis mine)

By his own admission in the paragraph above, he admits that the “grace” he is referring to does not effect salvation – in the same way “common grace” does not do so, either.  His “grace” must have something added to it – the cooperation of the sinner – in order for that grace to actually accomplish salvation.  That grace is the same grace that those who are condemned to Hell are “offered” and is a grace that does not DO anything to actually bring one to salvation.  Is that grace “saving” grace – as referenced in the title above

The biblical question is then this:  is that grace biblical grace?

And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

So says John 12:32, providing definitive proof for the non-Reformed train of thought that says Jesus draws every single person on planet Earth to Himself for salvation, if each person will only then respond with a “Yes.”

If that’s the case, how then does He draw the people of Romans 11, referred to in these passages as being prophetically hardened by God in order that they will NOT come to Him?:

7 What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, 8 as it is written,

“God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day.”

9 And David says,  “Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them; 10 let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and bend their backs forever.”

and,

25 Lest you be wise in your own sight, I want you to understand this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.

If every single person is “drawn,” what do with those who are “hardened” so that they are not “drawn?”

Just asking…..

Relevant material here.

The Sacred Sandwich has come to your rescue!

Of course, Reformed Baptist women may refer to it as “Pot Providence”…….

Keith Tacey is the son of a couple of my friends from the prison ministry.  Keith is a missionary in Vietnam and recently wrote an essay reproduced below concerning some real-life application of Scripture that many of us never need to address.  Comments would be most welcome.

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Recently, with the Lunar New Year taking place, the issue of eating food offered to idols has popped up. Yeah, that’s right. 1 Corinthians 8 & 10 are actually relevant here in Asia. Admittedly, living in America, I never gave these verses much attention. Here in Asia, they are not only important, this time of year they take center stage.

Please understand this post is me, Keith, working through the Word trying to figure out what the truth really is concerning this issue. It is a very real issue here and I would love to hear your honest, scriptural feedback.

Initial Thoughts: Without looking at scripture the seemingly obvious response is: “don’t even think about eating food sacrificed to idols” Not only does this seem like a bad idea, but it seems there would be some serious spiritual ramifications to this decision. Powers and principalities are real, and it seems that they are most real in instances such as this.

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I’m assuming they use the 911 KJV there…..

From the Mental Floss Blog.

At the Crossway site.

HT: The Domain For Truth.

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