"The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit." John 3:8

The Arminians would have this Scripture read: everyone that decides to be born of the Spirit can be like the wind and blow wherever he will. But they really don't believe that which they proclaim. The Arminians refuse to go wherever they believe they are called of God to go unless they have a sound financial plan and have their itinerary prepaid.

The Calvinists embracing gospel regeneration seem to believe that if one hears the gospel they will not take it for granted but rather be born again. What would make one man hear the gospel and believe and another hear and not believe? It has nothing to do with natural man or with natural hearing. Perhaps they fault Stephen saying that it takes a more gifted preacher to convert a Saul of Tarsus? Those that heard Stephen's discourse were "cut to the heart". That cutting resulted in Stephen's stoning.  Should we believe that Calvinists believe that a preacher with only a little preaching gift should to be stoned?

If man received his rightful reward he would be found in a pressure cooker without a breeze of relief suffering for sin without hope or deliverance. Even the vessels of wrath in this world enjoy the benefit of God's dew and spring showers. They receive of the goodness of God as He gives rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling hearts with food and gladness. The vessels of wrath receive rain with murmuring. They enjoy the fruit of the earth and are glad that they have food for their stomachs. It never enters into their dark hearts that even these natural blessings are far more than they deserve, because they lack any spiritual insights.

Many believe that Jesus was a teacher come from God. That is far from seeing Jesus as the Lord's Christ and the Saviour of the elect. Many men have a following in this world but The King of the world that He came to save has a few that obey His commandments while they live in this present evil world. These are they that have a home in His Kingdom the Church. The Church is a mystery to the world. It is an in comprehensible mystery. Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God. Except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom. The God called and ordained Elders of the Lord's Church still believe and proclaim these truths. When God's grace and His Saviour is proclaimed it is as a breeze on the hottest day to the inward man with a sin sick soul in this world. The origins or the gospel is just as unperceivable as the origins of the wind. The orations that are taught in the seminaries are like turning on a fan compared to the wind. A fan is another invention of man. I would rather hear the gospel on the hottest day than the noise of man's contraptions. 5/17/2005 M. Hoogasian