I try to keep my blog posting to the M’Cheyne Bible Reading content this year. But every once in a while there are a few things worth noting from other Bloggers.

Here is a list of the few of their latest summary posts, which are really collections of other blog posts they have read. As always use discernment in reading these blogs, the ones I look at regularly often have good information, but neither they or I would have the time to investigate all of the information posted on the sites they link to for an article. So be careful not to blindly accept everything that is posted.

We do today, have some lack of discernment, especially in regards to ignoring what might seem to be obvious error in various parts of the “Visible” church. An attitude of tolerance of different ways to worship seems to rule today, but I would contend that the Bible although speak often towards living peacefully, does in fact have a pretty clear teaching about “biblical” discernment of truth and judgment.

Mike Ratliff over at Possessing the Treasure has a number of articles that can be found when searching on truth and judgment, which is a good start for reading.

Here are some summary news posts:

Erin writes: 09 November 2018 This ‘n’ That

Doug writes: FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2018 Random Bits

Glenn write: Saturday, November 3, 2018 Good, Bad, and Ugly

He will probably have another update soon.

And women can find many good posts over at:

Michelle Lesley ~ Discipleship for Christian Women

BTW, I had my own experience at church on Sunday. Our assistant pastor gave a sermon on Exodus 32 and pretty much covered the entire chapter. A woman read the chapter first. The staff seem to pick women to read the Bible from the Pulpit Area, since we don’t actually have any women Pastors. The EPC denomination seems to have a somewhat split view and some toleration on the ordaining of women issue, and in our church it’s not talked about much. But that is another subject.

After generally teaching about the passage, the focus of the sermon generally was around the question ” Whom do you serve?” And ended with a quick discussion about today’s common idols.

From my perspective (and other than posting this here, I’ve managed to hold my tongue and avoided writing directly to the pastor and music director}. A lot more could have been said about false ways to worship God. It’s too long to post all here, but we can begin with Satan tempting Eve in the garden, Cain and Abel, the golden calf/calves, high places and groves…and any other perversions of truth worship.

Exodus 20:23  Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold.

Exodus 32:24  And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.

2Ki 10:29  Howbeit from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, Jehu departed not from after them, to wit, the golden calves that were in Bethel, and that were in Dan.

2Ch 13:8  And now ye think to withstand the kingdom of the LORD in the hand of the sons of David; and ye be a great multitude, and there are with you golden calves, which Jeroboam made you for gods.

It would have been a great time to introduce the doctrines of the Regulative Principle of Worship. Regulative Principle 

Curious? For a simple statement with some wiggle room in it check out this site:

Question and Answer

Regulative Principle of Worship

Question:

I came across the OPC church website today and was extremely interested, and encouraged that there are other churches out there which appear to adhere to the Word of God. From what I have read on the website, the church appears to have almost exactly similar beliefs to the church of which I am a member (The Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland).

I would, however, be interested to learn more about what the OPC believes regarding the regulative principle.

Of course there is a lot more in the doctrinal statements they mention.

One of the concerns is that can man not only worship false gods and idols, but can man try to worship the true God in false ways. From the Exodus text it appears that is what they are trying to do:

Exodus 32:4  And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

If you look at the underlined text, the calf was to be thy/their, god/gods (not sure why it was plural, except an obvious reference back to the many pagan gods idea), and finally the god(s) of action who saved them out of Egypt. Sort of sounds like trying to worship the God who really did this for them, but they have mix all sorts of paganism back into it, as the next verse clearly show. These are pagan practices.

Exodus 32:6  And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

Exodus 32:25  And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:)

On top of this Arron lies about making the calf…(sounds so much like what too place back in the garden).

Exodus 32:24  And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.

Compare to verse 4 above.

Anyway, the pastor did an adequate job of covering the chapter, even mentioning God’s judgment in the end. And used some useful cross references but it could have been preached with much more emphasis on how important it is.

The common politically correct idols of today were mentioned, Money, Stuff, and our selfishness, etc. But some of the really big unmentionables were not: Abortion and the “Right to Choose”; acceptance of divorce in the church; acceptance and even promotion of Sodomy and other sexual perversions; not to say anything about the tolerance of “other” can I say false religions? Idols we make of Evolution, Mother Earth (aka the environment/climate change) and even acceptance of social change in Progressive Socialism, or even Marxism).

Perhaps even the cultural change of the gospel that comes through the Prosperity gospel, or the New Apostolic Reformation(NAR) or the Social gospel/Social Justice movement. For that last one check out this good series: