9am_jogger

Christ lover. Born again. Desires that all who are lost, as I was, may come to see the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

[9am_jogger @rabinonge]

@triplexdshott @HimShekpa In a sense, that's true. But we matter because God cares about us, so much that He gave His only Son that we may live. We matter. He has numbered even the hairs of your head. That much.

[9am_jogger @rabinonge]

@JoshuaBarzon Not gonna lie I'd be kinda intimidated sitting with Spurgeon.

[9am_jogger @rabinonge]

@JoshuaBarzon 1.
Then 4.

[9am_jogger @rabinonge]

@BroSpencer @JoshuaBarzon Come with tough skin. Spurgeon knew how to roast people 😂

[9am_jogger @rabinonge]

@EvanPaul05 @GalanteMat75804 No Evan. The true Calvinist, like Paul, wails for those who are not in Christ (Rom 9:1). He knows the only difference between them and himself is that he received grace and not anything good in himself. So he almost even wishes he would lose his salvation if only they be saved.

[9am_jogger @rabinonge]

@CherylSchatz "The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD." (Prov. 16:1)

[The Biblical Man @Biblicalman]

Three years ago, I was the smartest Christian in the room.

Or so I thought.

I'd discovered this teacher, won't name him, but if you're in the "hidden Bible knowledge" corners of X, you know the type. He had charts. Timelines. Greek word studies that made seminary professors look like Sunday school dropouts.

And he had a hook:

"What the modern church won't tell you about [insert doctrine]."

I was hooked.

It started innocently. A YouTube video. Then a book. Then a private Discord where the "serious students" gathered.

Within six months, I couldn't listen to my own pastor anymore.

His sermons felt... basic. Shallow. Like he was feeding us milk while I was feasting on meat.

I'd sit in the pew mentally correcting him. "If he only understood the original Greek here..."

I wasn't being sanctified.

I was being isolated.

And I didn't see it because I felt smarter than I'd ever felt in my Christian life.

My wife asked me a simple question:

"Has all this studying made you love Jesus more, or just made you love being right?"

I got defensive. Angry, even.

Because deep down, I knew the answer.

I could chart the seventy weeks of Daniel. I could debate the Nephilim.

But I hadn't prayed—really prayed—in months.

I'd become a theological collector instead of a disciple.

THE FIVE SYMPTOMS I MISSED (That You're Missing Too)

Looking back, the red flags were neon. If you're in the early stages of what I went through, here's what you're experiencing right now:

1. You're Chasing the "Secret"
The content you consume always promises "What they won't tell you." Hidden knowledge. Lost books.

The trap: God doesn't hide truth from the humble. He hides it from the proud. (Matthew 11:25)

2. You Need Extra Books to Prop It Up
My teacher loved the Book of Enoch. Not as historical context—as required reading.

The trap: "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." (Isaiah 8:20, KJV)

3. You Feel Superior to "Average Christians"
This was the most intoxicating part. I'd scroll through Christian X and think, "These people have no idea."

The trap: "Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth." (1 Corinthians 8:1, KJV)

4. You're Poisoned Against Plain Preaching
I couldn't sit under normal teaching anymore. Expository sermons felt boring.

The trap: The gospel that saves is simple enough for a child. If you need a PhD to understand your teacher's "real" message, you're learning gnosticism.

5. It Produces Charts, Not Holiness
Here's the test I failed: I could draw you a timeline of the end times. But I couldn't tell you the last time I'd wept over my sin.

The trap: "By their fruits ye shall know them." (Matthew 7:20, KJV)

THE WAY OUT

I didn't leave because I got smarter.

I left because I got desperate.

One night, after another argument with my wife about my "studies," I broke.

I prayed the most honest prayer of my life:

"God, if I'm wrong, show me. Even if it humiliates me. I don't want to be right. I want to be Yours."

Within a week, the scales fell.

I deleted the Discord. Unsubscribed from the channels. Threw out the books.

And I went back to my church and wept through an entire sermon on the prodigal son.

If you're reading this and feeling defensive, you're where I was.

Run this test: Fail two of the symptoms above, and walk away before you lose three years like I did.

I'm not writing this from a high horse. I'm writing this from the ditch.

Here's what I came back to:

Jesus. Crucified. Risen. Coming again.

Repent. Believe. Be baptized. Make disciples.

Love God. Love neighbor. Die to self.

That's it.

No secret knowledge required. No hidden books. No elite club.

Just a bloody cross and an empty tomb.

And if that feels too simple, you're already in the trap

[9am_jogger @rabinonge]

@BornAgainBalaky @NoLongerI_guy and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. (1 Peter 2:8);

[Soteriology Assistant @SoteriologyA1]

Evan, when you say “Jesus Christ died for the sins of the entire world,” everyone familiar with your position knows you are not just saying “all people groups without distinction.”

🚩 As an open anti-Calvinist, “whole world” in your system is loaded. It means “every individual without exception.” That is not coming from the text, that is coming from your Provisionist presupposition.

Here is the problem. If Jesus really died for the sins of every individual... in the same way... then you have three options, and all of them are bad for your system:

Universalism: if their sins are actually paid for, there is no just ground for punishment.

Double payment: God punishes Christ for their sins, then ALSO punishes them for the same sins in hell.

Hell is not for sin: you have to say people are tortured forever, not for the sins Jesus took away, but only because they made the wrong choice in refrence to the “well meant offer.”

🔑That third move is exactly where your hidden presupposition shows. On your own view, the cross has removed the judicial problem for... every person... including those in hell... so the only thing left is one final “correct choice.” The decisive line is no longer, “Were your sins borne by Christ or not,” but “Did you respond correctly to the proposal.” Which turns hell into infinite retaliation for declining an offer, and salvation into a reward for better decision making.

So when you quote “world” texts, you are secretly importing a meaning (every individual without exception) that creates a massive contradiction with your other claims about justice, atonement, and hell. If you want to keep that definition, you either lose true substitution, or you lose any coherent basis for judgment. The text of Scripture has not forced you into that corner, your anti-Calvinist system has.

[Oliver Burdick @oliverburdick]

Why did Jesus never say, “I am God” directly?

Because he figured healing diseases, forgiving sins, controlling the weather, and resurrecting himself after three days of being dead would be sufficient enough to get his point across.

[9am_jogger @rabinonge]

@JoshuaBarzon ESV, NASB, BSB

[Mike Riccardi @MikeRiccardi_]

“Worldliness has the potential to de-church the church. It is the nullification of truth, holiness, and zeal for God, the opposite of everything the Lord’s people are called to be.

“If the church continues on the path of worldliness, it will one day wake up to find that it has made its existence meaningless, having removed all distinction between it and the unbelievers it was trying to win.

“Still, the church of today careens down this futile road, attempting to convert people to what they already believe, bring them where they already belong, give them what they already love, and make them what they already are. It is an exercise in vanity.”

— John MacArthur

https://t.co/f136xu7JX9

[9am_jogger @rabinonge]

@EvanPaul05 @ocelleachair Is there anything in them worthy of God's hatred? Yes. Sin. A holy God must hate sinners.

[9am_jogger @rabinonge]

@EvanPaul05 @jocassity @quickened2him Is there anything in them worthy of his hatred? The answer...yes. For in Adam all sinned.

[Travis Fooks @travis_fooks]

We are commanded to believe in Christ.

👉“Believe in the Lord Jesus,👈 and you will be saved, you and your household.”
Acts 16: 31

Yet, belief is granted.

"For 👉it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in Him👈 but also suffer for His sake..."
Philippians 1: 29

We are commanded to repent.

👉"Repent therefore,👈 and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out..."
Acts 3: 19

Yet, repentance is granted.

"...God may perhaps 👉grant them repentance👈 leading to a knowledge of the truth..."
2 Timothy 2: 25

We are commanded to love the Lord our God.

👉"You shall love the Lord your
God👈 with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might."
Deuteronomy 6:5

Yet, that love is provided to us.

"....hope does not put us to shame, because 👉God’s love has been poured into our hearts👈 through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."
Romans 5: 5

We are commanded to be obedient.

“If you love Me, you will 👉keep My commandments."👈
John 14: 15

Yet obedience is caused.

"And I will put My Spirit within you, and 👉cause you to walk in My statutes👈 and be careful to obey My rules."
Ezekiel 36: 27

We are commanded to do good works.

"So then, as we have opportunity, 👉let us do good to everyone,👈 and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
Galatians 6: 10

Yet, good works are provided.

"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for 👉good works, which God prepared beforehand,👈 that we should walk in them."
Ephesians 2: 10

We are commanded to fear the Lord.

“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but 👉to fear the Lord your God,👈 to walk in all His ways, to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul..."
Deuteronomy 10: 12

Yet, that fear is given to us.

"I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And 👉I will put the fear of Me in their hearts,👈 that they may not turn from me."
Jeremiah 32: 40

We are commanded to pursue wisdom.

👉"...Get wisdom,👈 and whatever you get, get insight."
Proverbs 4: 7

Yet, that wisdom is given.

"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him 👉ask God, who gives
generously👈 to all without reproach, and it will be given him."
James 1: 5

We are commanded to persevere.

"But the one who endures to the end will be saved."
Matthew 24: 13

Yet, that perseverance is provided.

"...so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our 👉Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end,👈 guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ."
1 Corinthians 1: 7-8

Have I given you enough evidence yet? Because I can provide so many more examples of God giving us the very things which He commands from us.

"His divine power has 👉granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness,👈 through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence..."
2 Peter 1: 3

👉"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above,👈 coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change."
James 1: 17

How you can't see it is beyond me. I mean, it isn't, but it is.

[9am_jogger @rabinonge]

@JCRyle I wanna say John Owen cause I'm currently struggling through his "The Glory of Christ," perhaps he would be easier to understand in person 😆.

[9am_jogger @rabinonge]

@Rebel4YHWH76 @JCRyle Paul clearing things up would lead you to the next level of questions...😅

[9am_jogger @rabinonge]

@EvanPaul05 @Giu2022 @marksbury When you believed, what led you to it? Did you weigh out your options and choose Jesus as the way? Was it your intellect? Was it your sharp analysis? How did you settle on Christ as the ultimate option?

[9am_jogger @rabinonge]

@Soteriology101 What about "By grace you have been saved (made alive, as per the context)-through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God" (Eph 2:8)

[9am_jogger @rabinonge]

I've been impacted by many. But nothing compares to how God has grown me and continues to do so through the ministry of Pastor @JohnPiper .

[J.C. Ryle @JCRyle]

What is one "online minister/ministry" that has impacted your Christian walk immeasurably?