Friday, February 27, 2009

CHRIS LARSON: THE HOLINESS OF GOD

.
MP3 Available Here

CHRIS LARSON, executive vice president of Ligonier Ministries (see www.ligonier.org), will address the theme: "THE HOLINESS OF GOD".

Today's broadcast is being conducted in promotion of
Ligonier's National Conference from March 19-21, 2009 on the same theme). This is an expanded conference with more speakers than ever (Thabiti Anyabwile, Alistair Begg, D. A. Carson, Ligon Duncan III, Sinclair Ferguson, Robert Godfrey, Steven Lawson, Albert Mohler, R. C. Sproul Jr., R. C. Sproul, Derek Thomas). Holiness is the characteristic of God’s nature that is at the very core of His being. Without a proper grasp of God’s holiness we do not understand who He truly is, nor do we understand who we truly are. In their pre-conference seminar, the 500th birthday of John Calvin will be celebrated.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Saturday, February 21, 2009

ISI Mailbox

Here are some highlights from a letter written to Chris Arnzen, host of Iron Sharpens Iron:



Chris, Your show is fabulous. Praise God! I listen on the internet from Ohio. I am new to the Reformed Faith and found your show to be a real blessing. Along with James White's show (The Dividing Line) your show is very helpful to me. Please keep being faithful to our Lord. May God bless you! In His service, Kirk


Dear Kirk, Thank you for your very encouraging words. I hope "Iron Sharpens Iron" continues to be a blessing to you. I am especially delighted that you are new to the Reformed Faith. Where do you worship & fellowship? Please spread the word about the program in Ohio. Grace & peace! In His grip, Chris Arnzen

.
.

Friday, February 20, 2009

.
MP3 Available Here



THE PASTORS' ROUNDTABLE

Thursday, February 19, 2009

KEN JONES: THE WORD OF FAITH MOVEMENT Examined & Refuted (Encore Presentation)

.
MP3 Available Here

KEN JONES, pastor of Greater Union Baptist Church in Compton, CA , a Reformed Baptist congregation adhering to the Biblical Summary of Doctrine known as the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith and regular panel member on Michael Horton's theologically Reformed, nationally syndicated talk radio broadcast "The White Horse Inn," featuring a regular roundtable discussion of Christian theology and apologetics, will address the theme: "THE WORD OF FAITH MOVEMENT Examined & Refuted".

"You don't have a god in you, you are one." "Pray to yourself, because I'm in your self and you're in Myself. We are one Spirit, saith the Lord." "I say this with all respect so that it don't upset you too bad, but I say it anyway. When I read in the Bible where he [Jesus] says, 'I Am,' I just smile and say, 'Yes, I Am, too!'" Who would have the audacity to dare utter such blasphemous remarks? Kenneth Copeland, one of the recognized leaders of what has become known as "The Word of Faith Movement" (the sources of these statements are: "The Force Of Love" tape # 02-0028, "Believer's Voice of Victory", Feb. 1987, p.9, "Believer's Voice of Victory" broadcast on TBN, recorded 7/9/87).

Other very recognizable names of leaders in this cultic movement include Kenneth Hagin, Paul Crouch, John Avanzini, Robert Tilton, Fred Price, and Benny Hinn.

Whereas many, if not the majority, within the Evangelical church would strongly reject these and other peddlers of the "Word of Faith" heresy whose outlandish sermons are more easily recognized as being totally foreign to the biblical Gospel message of Jesus Christ, our guest Ken Jones warns that the infinitely more subtle tactics of a new breed of "Word of Faith" teachers has enabled them to smuggle dangerous heresies, including the "Prosperity Gospel", into mainstream Evangelical churches, schools and homes undetected.

Our discussion today will draw heavily from research that Ken Jones has conducted while preparing for the chapter he was invited to write in the soon to be published book now under the working title: "I Know a Place: Bill Cosby & the Social Consciousness of America's New Black Religious Leadership", a new project in the making with
Crossway Books, edited by Anthony B. Bradley, Assistant Professor of Apologetics & Systematic Theology at Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, MO (see ). This work is a theological response to renowned comedian Bill Cosby's book: "Come on, People: On the Path from Victims to Victors".

Ken has also contributed to such books as "
Experiencing the Truth: Bringing the Reformation to the African-American Church".

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Monday, February 16, 2009

JAMES WHITE: Review of the "Did the Bible Misquote Jesus" Debate (Encore Presentation)

.
MP3 Available Here

JAMES R. WHITE, founder & director of Alpha & Omega Ministries , a theologically Reformed Christian apologetics ministry based in Phoenix, AZ, will review his recent debate with BART D. EHRMAN on the theme: "DID THE BIBLE MISQUOTE JESUS?"

On January 21st, 2009, in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, our guest Dr. James R. White participated in a public, moderated debate with Bart D. Ehrman, the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and author of "Misquoting Jesus" (an overview of the changes found in the surviving copies of the New Testament and of the scribes who produced them), on the above mentioned theme. Ehrman believes that if God had put forth the effort to inspire the words of the Bible, then he would have surely preserved those words. According to Ehrman, God simply would not have allowed any textual variation to exist in the transmission of the New Testament if He had inspired it in the first place.Dr. James R. White's goal in this recent debate was to do the following:

Demonstrate that one who holds to the highest view of Scripture and its inspiration can look at the very same data and still present a strong, compelling case for the preservation of the text of Scripture over time.

Expose the presuppositional nature of Ehrman’s insistence that we must possess the originals for inspiration to be true. This would include making sure it is clear that when Ehrman says “We don’t know what the NT said” he means “We do not have photographic reproductions of the originals.” I desired to make sure the listener would see that the NT manuscript tradition is more than sufficient to provide the original readings, even in the toughest of variants.

Reverse Ehrman’s “spin” on the state of the text, which involved putting a context to his constant repetition of the claim, “There are more variants than there are words in the New Testament.”

Present a strong case for the providential preservation of the text through the explosion of early manuscripts and the lack of editorial “control” in contrast with the Islamic theory of preservation. Given that the majority of attacks upon the NT today come from those alleging some kind of controlled editing of the text, this element is vital.

Finally, expose the radical skepticism of Bart Ehrman’s position, which leads to an abandonment of any meaningful knowledge of history itself. I needed to contrast Ehrman’s post-modernism with the viewpoints of the past, including contrasting his position with the great names in the field of the past like Tischendorf or Aland.

During today's broadcast, Dr. White will provide an assessment of how adequately he believes he succeeded in his mission.

In addition to his labors for the furtherance of the Kingdom of Christ with Alpha & Omega Ministries, Dr. James R. White is a professor, having taught Greek, Systematic Theology, and various topics in the field of apologetics. He has authored or contributed to more than twenty books, including "The King James Only Controversy", "The Forgotten Trinity", "The Potter's Freedom: A Defense of the Reformation & A Rebuttal of Norman Geisler's 'Chosen But Free'", "Dangerous Airwaves: Harold Camping Refuted & Christ's Church Defended" and "The God Who Justifies" (
see a complete list of Dr. White's books here ).He is an accomplished debater, having engaged in more than fifty moderated, public debates with leading proponents of Roman Catholicism, Liberal Protestantism, Homosexual Activism, Oneness Pentecostalism, Islam, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Mormonism, in addition to having collegial, "in-house" debates with friends & brothers in Christ over issues ranging from the biblical subjects of baptism to the doctrines of Calvinism.

He is an elder of the Phoenix
Reformed Baptist Church, has been married to Kelli for more than twenty-two years, and has two children, Joshua and Summer. Listen to Dr. White's live, call-in Internet program "The Dividing Line" at http://www.aomin.org/.

The audio MP3 of the debate (including a Quicktime video that contains Dr. White's overhead presentation) may be purchased here:
http://www.aomin.org/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=868

Our co-host during today's interview with Dr. White is Pastor Jim Capo of the
Massapequa Church of God on Long Island, NY.

Friday, February 13, 2009

The Pastor's Roundtable: God's Sovereignty in the Crash of Continental Flight 3407

.
MP3 Available Here

PASTOR BRUCE BENNET, Grace Gospel Church, Patchogue, Long Island, NY (see http://www.gracegospelchurch.com/)

PASTOR BILL MALICK, Pursuit: A Journey of Faith, Orlando, Florida (see
http://www.pursuitorlando.org/) & church outreach representative for Ligonier Ministries, Lake Mary, Florida (see http://www.ligonier.org/)

PASTOR AL STEIN, Neighborhood Assembly of God, Bellmore, Long Island, NY (see
http://www.bellmoreag.org/)

Thursday, February 12, 2009

KIM RIDDLEBARGER: DO WE NEED ANOTHER REFORMATION? Has Evangelicalism Abandoned its Reformation Heritage?

.
MP3 Available Here


KIM RIDDLEBARGER, co-host with Michael Horton, Ken Jones & Rod Rosenbladt on "The White Horse Inn" radio program, which is broadcast weekly on more than fifty radio stations, visiting professor of systematic theology at Westminster Seminary California and senior pastor of Christ Reformed Church (URCNA) in Anaheim, California will address the theme: "DO WE NEED ANOTHER REFORMATION?: Has Evangelicalism Abandoned its Reformation Heritage?

Today, our guest will address how Modern Evangelicalism has largely departed from the Biblical truths for which our Protestant forefathers risked their lives and often endured torture and death. Some main issues to be discussed are the modern church's abandonment of:


-Biblical theology
-Biblical worship
-Biblical preaching
-A Biblical concept of God
-A Biblical concept of man
-A Biblical concept of the church

A fourth generation Californian, Kim is a graduate of California State University Fullerton (B.A.), Simon Greenleaf University (M.A.), Westminster Seminary California (M.A.R.), and Fuller Theological Seminary (Ph.D.) where he worked under Richard A. Muller.

Kim has served as a visiting lecturer in the graduate program in Reformation studies at Concordia University in Irvine, CA, and was the chairman of the Growing Reformed Churches Conference, cosponsored by First Chino URC and Westminster Seminary California, where he served as a member of the board of trustees. Kim also served as executive vice president of Christians United for Reformation (CURE), the forerunner of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals (ACE).

Dr. Riddlebarger is an ordained minister in the United Reformed Churches(URCNA), is a regular contributor to publications such as
Modern Reformation and Table Talk and has written chapters for the books Power Religion , Roman Catholicism: Evangelicals Analyze What Unites and What Divides Us , and Christ the Lord ). His first book, A Case For Amillennialism, was published by Baker Books in February 2003. His second book, The Man of Sin was published by Baker in May of 2006.

Today's broadcast will be co-hosted by Drew Eenigenburg, Interim Pastor at
West Sayville Reformed Bible Church (URCNA) on Long Island.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

JEANETTE VECCHIONE: FROM THE BASKETBALL COURT TO THE OPERA STAGE: Testimony of a Christian Athlete turned Soprano

.
MP3 Available Here

JEANETTE VECCHIONE, a 24-year-old opera singer from New York, will address the theme: "FROM THE BASKETBALL COURT TO THE OPERA STAGE: Testimony of a Christian Athlete turned Soprano".

Jeannette Vecchione, daughter of Pastor Tony & Christine Vecchione of Ridge Full Gospel Christian Church in Eastern Suffolk County, Long Island, joins host PASTOR JIM CAPO of the Massapequa Church of God on Long Island, to discuss this fascinating story of God's change in direction in the career of an extremely talented woman gifted athletically and musically.

Jeanette will make her operatic debut at the Opera Theatre of St. Louis this summer as the role of Florestine in John Corigliano's Ghosts of Versailles. In 2011, Jeanette will sing the Queen of the Night in Mozart's Magic Flute at Vienna State Opera , the Theatre des Champs Elysees , and Oper Cologne. In 2012, Jeanette will sing a new production of Mozart's Abduction of the Seraglio as the role of Constanza at Oper Cologne.

Jeanette graduated from The Juilliard School in May 2006 and was reaccepted into the Master’s Program on full scholarship. She studies under the tutelage of Marlena Malas. Jeanette was involved in many operas at The Juilliard School as well as the Chautauqua Institution . Some of these roles include Madame Herz in Mozart’s Impresario, Olympia in Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos, Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflote, Clorinda in Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda, Despina in Cosi fan tutte, Barbarina in Le Nozze di Figaro, and covered the role of Le Comtesse in Le Comte Ory and the title role in Le Rossignol.

Jeanette had the honors of coaching Die Zauberflote with the late Walter Toussig at The Metropolitan Opera in 2002. Jeanette sang and coached with Luciano Pavarotti in September 2005. She recently won 2nd place in the National Opera Association , 1st place in the Mario Lanza Competition of Philadelphia, an encouragement award in the Opera Index Competition and in the prestigious George London competition, 1st place in the Gerda Lissner Competition, 1st place in the National Bel Canto Competition, 4th place in the National Palm Beach Opera Competition, 2 time prize winner of the Licia-Albanese Puccini Competition, 2nd place in the International Giulio Gari Competition, a finalist in the International Mario Lanza Competition of Katia Ricciarelli in Filignano, Italy won 3rd place at the International Opera Competition of Riccardo Zandonai in Riva del Garda, Italy and also won a special prize to return to Italy to participate in the masterclasses with Riva del Garda's Music Festival Director Mietta Sighele.

Jeanette graduated from The Juilliard School in May 2008 then went off to sing at the Opera Theatre of St. Louis. She had only begun singing opera 5 months before auditioning for The Juilliard School. Alongside her singing, Jeanette, who was known at the time as “Jeanette Baxter,” was a 3 time all-league, all-county, all-tournament player and was noted as one of the best basketball players in New York State. She received letters of intent from many National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I colleges from around the country including Georgetown University, University of Pennsylvania, University of Tennessee, and many other great women’s basketball schools.

Jeanette was also a top New York State shotput and discus thrower in track and field. She was “discovered” as an opera singer by her chorus teacher, Ellen Levine who heard her joking around after class. Ms. Levine encouraged Jeanette to continue singing and so she did with auditioning and being accepted into The Juilliard School on full scholarship. This story was recognized by NBC’s "The Today Show", CBS News , and ESPN’s "Cold Pizza".

Jeanette Vecchione's personal web site is: http://www.myspace.com/jeanettevecchione

Monday, February 9, 2009

JIM ELLIFF: RESTORING THOSE WHO FALL (Encore Presentation)

.
MP3 Available Here

JIM ELLIFF, founder and president of Christian Communicators Worldwide, will address the theme: "RESTORING THOSE WHO FALL."

In the words of our guest:"Let me tell you why church discipline is important to me....

A number of years ago my minister father left my mother after an adulterous affair with his secretary. I’m telling this story with his permission...

...This turn of events jarred us. We’ve not seen divorce often in our extended family. All of us are believers, and most of us are in the ministry, for four generations. While my father was working as a denominational executive, he began to counsel his secretary about her marriage. She found in him what she could not find in her husband. Soon, compromises entered in and adultery followed. My father did what he had often told us never to do—counsel someone of the opposite sex in a closed room. What seemed impossible to him and to us actually happened. And it happened within months of his retirement...

...The four children gathered, from long distances, at my parent’s home to beg for dad’s repentance. He appeared to repent at that time, but soon backed away from it. Like Lot’s wife, his heart was gone, even though, by his own admission, there was nothing on my mother’s part to cause his sin. He did not turn around. Rather, he divorced my mother, married his secretary, and moved to another city. His retirement years, which at one time were going to be filled with ministerial activity and travel, were now an impossible dream...

...Then came my mother’s death, just two years later. She died of Alzheimer’s disease, the effects of which were not noticeable until after the divorce. She had remained godly, fervent in her prayers for her former husband, and amazingly forgiving. But, to put it mildly, she was devastated, never before imagining that this could possibly happen to her...

...Before she died, father truly repented. With tears of anguish over his actions, he asked the family’s forgiveness. He even came to the bedside of my mother to speak with her prior to her death. But the damage was done. He had lost his job, his reputation, his confidence, his family’s respect, his future ministry, his joy, and even the assurance of his own salvation. He had been a fool...

...We are now twenty-two years beyond that awful period of time. Thankfully, Dad has been restored to Christian vitality, though with scars. His repentance was real and lasting. He has attempted to help others avoid the sinful actions of his past. Recently, as an old man, he stood before the Baptist pastors of one of our states and said that “he was a testimony of failure in the ministry.” But he also spoke of God’s remarkable grace. He spoke on this subject as well at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth, Texas, where he had been a student...

... I asked my father this question: 'Dad, we tried to get your church to discipline you when you committed adultery. They would not do it. Do you think it would have stopped you from leaving mother if they had?'...

...Dad, who always takes the blame for his sin himself and would not let anyone else share in it, nonetheless, very humbly admitted, 'I think it would have.'..."
Read Jim Elliff's entire article here.

Since the beginning of Christian Communicators Worldwide (CCW) in 1985, Jim Elliff has addressed organizations, groups in educational settings, churches, and pastor's fraternals of various denominations in almost every state of the United States and in numerous foreign countries.

Jim has been privileged to address groups in all kinds of settings—everything from a witch doctor's hut to a Communist meeting hall!Jim has a passion to communicate. He is the author of four books that have been published in the US and overseas, Led by the Spirit, Pursuing God—A Seeker's Guide, Going Under: Discussions on Baptism and Wasted Faith. He has written or edited many booklets which have been published by CCW. Jim’s articles also appear in a variety of periodicals and his messages are frequently heard on radio. He was featured in a seven-part interview called How Children Come to Faith in Christ with FamilyLife Today hosted by Dennis Rainey, and in a five-part series on Revive Our Hearts with Nancy DeMoss. Jim has contributed chapters in several other books, as well as writing extensively for the web. Many of his articles may be found at
http://www.CCWToday.org/.

In addition to his writing and travel, Jim began
Christ Fellowship of Kansas City, MO. This unique church is made up of home congregations in the Kansas City metro area."Restoring Those Who Fall", a church discipline statement, may be ordered from CCW for inexpensive bulk rates. An electronic copy of "Restoring Those Who Fall" may be found online at http://www.ccwtoday.org/ or http://www.christfellowshipkc.org/.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

UPCOMING EVENT! Feb. 6th, "AN EVENING OF ELEGANCE"

Chris Arnzen will be the MC for "AN EVENING OF ELEGANCE" February 6





Bobby and Dianne Lloyd cordially invite you to an "Evening of Elegance"
Special Music Presentation

Friday , February 6, 2009
The Huntington Hilton
Hors D'oeuvres Reception 7:00 pm
Dessert Immediately Following
Musical Presentation
Theater Style Seating
Optional Black Tie

For more information, visit
http://www.liccv.com/banquetinfo.html

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

STEVE CAMP: WORLDLY CHRISTIANS: Being Salt & Light in a Pagan Society

.
MP3 Available Here

STEVE CAMP, well known Christian recording artist, writer of a Grammy Award-winning song, theologically Reformed Christian apologist and founder of audienceONE Ministries will address the theme: "WORLDLY CHRISTIANS: Being Salt & Light in a Pagan Society".

We Christians have an extremely difficult task ahead of us: to be IN the world but not OF the world. To be FRIENDS with sinners and yet SEPARATE from sinners. Today our guest Steve Camp will address our duty to be salt and light in a pagan society using Titus 3:1-8 as our guide:

1) Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed,

2) to malign no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration for all men.

3) For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.

4) But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared,

5) He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,

6) whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,

7) so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

8) This is a trustworthy statement; and concerning these things I want you to speak confidently, so that those who have believed God will be careful to engage in good deeds. These things are good and profitable for men.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Monday, February 2, 2009

JAMES WHITE: Review of the "Did the Bible Misquote Jesus" Debate

.
MP3 Available Here

JAMES R. WHITE, founder & director of Alpha & Omega Ministries , a theologically Reformed Christian apologetics ministry based in Phoenix, AZ, will review his recent debate with BART D. EHRMAN on the theme: "DID THE BIBLE MISQUOTE JESUS?"

On January 21st, 2009, in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, our guest Dr. James R. White participated in a public, moderated debate with Bart D. Ehrman, the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and author of "Misquoting Jesus" (an overview of the changes found in the surviving copies of the New Testament and of the scribes who produced them), on the above mentioned theme. Ehrman believes that if God had put forth the effort to inspire the words of the Bible, then he would have surely preserved those words. According to Ehrman, God simply would not have allowed any textual variation to exist in the transmission of the New Testament if He had inspired it in the first place.Dr. James R. White's goal in this recent debate was to do the following:

Demonstrate that one who holds to the highest view of Scripture and its inspiration can look at the very same data and still present a strong, compelling case for the preservation of the text of Scripture over time.

Expose the presuppositional nature of Ehrman’s insistence that we must possess the originals for inspiration to be true. This would include making sure it is clear that when Ehrman says “We don’t know what the NT said” he means “We do not have photographic reproductions of the originals.” I desired to make sure the listener would see that the NT manuscript tradition is more than sufficient to provide the original readings, even in the toughest of variants.

Reverse Ehrman’s “spin” on the state of the text, which involved putting a context to his constant repetition of the claim, “There are more variants than there are words in the New Testament.”

Present a strong case for the providential preservation of the text through the explosion of early manuscripts and the lack of editorial “control” in contrast with the Islamic theory of preservation. Given that the majority of attacks upon the NT today come from those alleging some kind of controlled editing of the text, this element is vital.

Finally, expose the radical skepticism of Bart Ehrman’s position, which leads to an abandonment of any meaningful knowledge of history itself. I needed to contrast Ehrman’s post-modernism with the viewpoints of the past, including contrasting his position with the great names in the field of the past like Tischendorf or Aland.

During today's broadcast, Dr. White will provide an assessment of how adequately he believes he succeeded in his mission.

In addition to his labors for the furtherance of the Kingdom of Christ with Alpha & Omega Ministries, Dr. James R. White is a professor, having taught Greek, Systematic Theology, and various topics in the field of apologetics. He has authored or contributed to more than twenty books, including "The King James Only Controversy", "The Forgotten Trinity", "The Potter's Freedom: A Defense of the Reformation & A Rebuttal of Norman Geisler's 'Chosen But Free'", "Dangerous Airwaves: Harold Camping Refuted & Christ's Church Defended" and "The God Who Justifies" (
see a complete list of Dr. White's books here ).He is an accomplished debater, having engaged in more than fifty moderated, public debates with leading proponents of Roman Catholicism, Liberal Protestantism, Homosexual Activism, Oneness Pentecostalism, Islam, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Mormonism, in addition to having collegial, "in-house" debates with friends & brothers in Christ over issues ranging from the biblical subjects of baptism to the doctrines of Calvinism.

He is an elder of the Phoenix
Reformed Baptist Church, has been married to Kelli for more than twenty-two years, and has two children, Joshua and Summer. Listen to Dr. White's live, call-in Internet program "The Dividing Line" at http://www.aomin.org/.

The audio MP3 of the debate (including a Quicktime video that contains Dr. White's overhead presentation) may be purchased here:
http://www.aomin.org/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=868

Our co-host during today's interview with Dr. White is Pastor Jim Capo of the
Massapequa Church of God on Long Island, NY.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Greetings ISI listeners!

Chris Arnzen would like to hear from you, so the comments section on the blog have been enabled.
Iron Sharpens Iron 30 Day Archive

"As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend"- Proverbs 27:17