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Earlier today, my pastor’s father, Charles Gardner, went home to be with the Lord.

They will have a viewing tomorrow evening from 5 to 9

The funeral service will be held at 1:00 P.M. at

Whitfield Baptist Church
2134 Dug Gap Road
Dalton, GA 30720

Please keep Pastor Gardner and his family in your prayers.

His father left a powerful testimony and legacy. Praise the Lord for the impact that he made on the world as a faithful servant of Jesus Christ.

Here’s a picture of Judson and our pastor, Austin Gardner. Praise the Lord for the impact that he has made in our lives.

Our son, Judson Elías, was born this morning at 9:28 A.M.

He weighed in at 7 pounds 8 ounces and measured 19 inches.

Everything went quickly and smoothly (easy for me to say) being delivered only three hours after we arrived at the hospital.

Judson is doing well, is in excellent health, and is incredibly alert. Praise the Lord he has a cleft lip but not a cleft palate! It doesn’t effect his eating or any other new born baby habits. In fact, he’s been eating all day with only a few naps in between just to give him enough energy to eat some more. That’s my boy!

In Matthew 24:11-24, Jesus warns us that “Many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.” Their deception will be so strong that the Lord goes on to say, “They shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were so possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” This warning is constant throughout the entire Bible.

When dealing with Muslims for any length of time it is inevitable that someone will ask you, “Do you believe that Mohammed was a prophet?” It’s usually about that direct and is meant to catch you off guard. My suggestion is to be respectful yet completely honest with them, and confidently give them an answer from the Word of God.

Thankfully, the Bible isn’t silent on this subject.

Test #1 – The Accuracy of His Prophecy (Deuteronomy 18:20-22)

Ironically enough, this is a continuation of the same passage that Muslims love to use to say that the Old Testament prophecies of Mohammed. If anyone claims to be a prophet of God, his prophecies must be 100% accurate, otherwise, he speaks presumptuously and is a liar. That means if even one prediction out of a thousand is off he doesn’t make the cut. For blundered prophecies of Mohammed check out Answering Islam’s site.

Test #2 – The Focus of His Prophecy (Deuteronomy 131-3)

This is an interesting passage which goes and in hand with the first test. It says here that if a professing prophet arises and preforms signs and wonders and his prophecies actually come to pass the believer has to examine the bottom line message of this individual. If his objective is to turn people away from God and serve other gods, he is a false prophet. 1 John 4:1 tells us to, “Try the spirits whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” The determining factor in verse 2, is again the message, and what is being said about Jesus Christ. The false prophet (an antichrist) will attempt to draw people away from God the Son to something else.

Test #3 – The Consistency of His Prophecy with Scripture (Isaiah 8:19-20; 2 Peter 1:19-21)

Finally, if someone desperately wanted to stretch the first two tests and make them apply to Mohammed, the prophet of Islam absolutely cannot meet this third prerequisite. No prophecy or commandment of the true God of Heaven will ever contradict with another. He is completely consistent from beginning to end and so is His Word.  If the Bible says one thing and a self-professing prophet says another, I cannot accept the new “revelation” as one from God. It does not matter how impressive or persuasive he appears, Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light and his prophets will appear to be messengers of the light (2 Corinthians 11:14-15). The Bible must be our final authority on this issue. There is no need for the doctrine of abrogation in Christianity, because there is no contradiction in Scripture.

When a Muslim asks me if I believe that Mohammed is a true prophet, I am compelled to tell them that I absolutely cannot accept anyone as a prophet of God if his message contradicts the Bible. Stand confident that there is an answer and that the Scripture is always our final authority, especially on this issue.

What is the true Word of God?

How can we know for sure that the Bible is the infallible truth that ought to the the final authority in all matters of faith and practice?

This has been a reoccurring topic of conversation lately. I’ve discussed it with professing Christians and Muslims both, some sincerely searching for answers and conversely others wanting to initiate a vain argument. I have no desire whatsoever to cast pearls before swine, however, it is important that we as Christians stand confidently on the belief that Bible is the perfect, inspired and preserved Word of God. Unfortunately, we often take the wrong approach on the subject.

Throughout my life, I’ve engaged in all sorts of arguments and debates on a plethora of subjects. Though I walked away from most feeling confident about having made my point, very rarely, if ever, has it proven to be an effective way to persuade anyone. My pastor, Austin Gardner, has frequently stated “Don’t argue about whether or not you have a gun, just shoot it and everyone who was in doubt will be convinced.” That needs to be our approach to this subject.

Instead of arguing about the history of ancient texts and the canon of Scriptures, our focus ought to be on the power of the Word in action. We need to take the two edged Sword off of the mantle and swing it in the battle. A sword is designed for attack. The Bible is quite capable of defending itself and is most effective when it is applied.

The Bible changes lives when it is read and applied. The only way for it to be ineffective is for the reader to ignore it and refuse to put what it says into action (James 1:23). Anyone who has been born again can testify to the supernatural power that it has in bringing the spiritually dead to life. It completely revolutionized my life the day I was saved. I was completely changed from within and given a new nature (2 Corinthians 5:17). I am no longer the person I once was. No other book on earth has that kind of power.

Every aspect of the Christian life should be controlled by faith. We are saved by faith (Ephesians 2:8, 1 Timothy 2:15), we live by faith (Romans 1:17; Galatians 2:20, 3:11; Hebrews 10:38), and we can only please God through our faith (Hebrews 11:6). Faith goes beyond logic, but it does not necessarily contradict logic. There is often a great deal of evidence to back up our faith according to Hebrews 11:1. That rings true when it comes to the Bible being the word of God. We accept it by faith and the evidence strongly supports that belief.

The only way to increase in faith is by hearing the word of God. Romans 10:17 tells us, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” My challenge to those who question the Bible is read it yourself with an open mind, and let the Bible speak for itself.

Peter audibly heard the voice of God when he was with Jesus on the mount of transfiguration. When he recounts the story in his second epistle, he finishes by telling us, “we have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place.” He goes on to say, “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” The apostle Peter is making an extremely bold statement here that even though he heard the voice of God on a mountain, the Scripture is much more reliable than our personal experiences. We can be more sure that God is speaking to us through the Bible than if He spoke with us face to face.

My response to those who question its authority is let’s sit down and read it together. The Bible does us no good when it sits on a shelf. Pick it up and start reading. Hide its words in your heart, and apply what it says. I promise that will change more than your opinion, it will change your life.

Here are some pictures that a friend of ours, Kathy Fies, took for us.

Norah will be two years old on the 14th! It’s hard to believe.

My pastor, Austin Gardner, put together several short missions messages made for a devotional called “World Evangelism Today.”

Yesterday he posted one of them entitled “Heavenly Vision?” on his blog.

Click here to listed to the challenge from the Word of God. I know that it will be a blessing.

Here are some books that I’ve read in past two years or so. I will probably write a review on a couple of them, but I wanted to get a list of my favorites out there for you. These aren’t all of the books I’ve read on the following subjects, they’re just the ones that stood out to me or have impacted my life recently for one reason or another. I hope it’s a blessing.

Missions and Discipleship
The Disciple-Making Pastor by Hull
The Lost Art of Disciple Making by Eims
Mentoring for Missions by Krallmann
The Challenge of Missions by Oswald J. Smith
The Key to the Missionary Problem by Murray and Choy
The Master Plan of Discipleship by Coleman
Thinking Outside the Box by Keen
The Creation of a Student Volunteer Movement to Evangelize the World by Wallstrom
Culture Shock by Loss
Foreign to Familiar by Lanier
Psychology of Missionary Adjustment by Jones and Jones

Islam
Islam and the Cross by Zwemer and Greenway
Unveiling Islam by Caner and Caner
Encountering the World of Islam by Swartley
Building Bridges by Accad
Call to Prayer for The Moslem World by Zwemer
Out of the Crescent Shadows by Caner and Caner

Practical Life and Ministry
Lectures to My Students by Spurgeon
Cat and Dog Theology by Sjogren and Robinson
Chazown by Groeschel
7 Practices of Effective Ministry by Stanley

Communication
Artful Persuasion by Mills
The Tipping Point by Gladwell
Communicating for a Change by Stanley
Refining Your Style by Stone

Business and Organization
Trust by Csorba
The Purple Cow by Godin
The Dip by Godin

Miscellaneous
The Art of War by Tzu
Leadership by Giuliani

There is a peculiar doctrine in Islam that is rarely discussed and little know even in the general Muslim community. Mohammed had many revelations in his lifetime, several of which contradicted previous prophecies. In the end, the final revelation is superior and cancels out the prior. I’m sure it makes sense to somebody out there.

The following article is taken from Way of Life’s blog. Click here to read the article in it’s entirety.

“Gurganus explains the doctrine of “abrogation” in the Islamic religion. According to this doctrine, Allah cause some parts of the Koran to be abrogated or abolished by later commandments. “The practice application of this principle is that when there is a contradiction between two verses in the Koran, the newer revelation overrides the previous revelation. Then the new cancels the old. You can still read the words, ‘There is no compulsion in religion’ in the Koran, but they no longer have authority because Surah 2:193 says, “And fight with them until there is no persecution, and religion should be only for Allah, but if they desist, then there should be no hostility except against oppressors.” So the ‘no compulsion in religion’ verse has been mansookh (canceled) by revelations that came later.” Professor Gabriel helps us understand how the Muslims interpret the Koran in this way: ‘This principle of abrogation is known in Arabic as nasikh. It means that Allah led Muhammad in a progressive revelation. Many copies of the Quran have a table that shows whether a surah is from Mecca or Medina in order to help readers known which is a newer revelation’” (Peril of Islam, p. 69).”