Author: Pilgrim

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Islam: The religion of “peace” is at it again.

In this news article with accompanying video, a school teacher is in a Sudanese jail facing 40 lashes for allowing children in her class to name a teddy bear Mohammed.

As I shake my head at the barbaric behavior in which Islam constantly finds itself, I have to wonder if we harnessed just 10% of their fanaticism and applied it to our faith how much Christianity would be different than it is today in the West. I’m not talking about violence, cruelty, and terrorism. I’m talking a reverence for God, not watching movies where His name is blasphemed, not allowing an Elvis impersonator to lead worship, not depicting our Lord as a duck, not preaching sermons on the topic of God Loves Sex, not glorifying Las Vegas and poker in church, not inviting someone who’s opposed to everything our faith holds dear to speak at your church, not mocking the very Word of God with heretical versions of the Bible, not having scantly clad girls dancing on stage at a “Christian” Christmas concert, and the list goes on and on.

Maranatha!

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Another test from Reformation Nation.

Here’s your test for the day: If I showed you a picture (see below) of two men; one dressed as Batman and the other as Superman, with the caption:

“This Halloween, Batman and Superman came to the costume party as homosexuals.”

Where would you think this came from?

A. A gay bar.

B. A gay pride parade.

C. A “Christian” Church.

batman-superman.gif

Sadly, (but not unexpectedly) we have strayed so far from holiness and the Word of God that the answer is C.

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How many light bulbs?

I found this gem on Symphony of Scripture.

Q: How many charismatics does it take to change a light bulb?
A: One, since his hands are in the air anyway.
A: Three, one to cast it out and two to catch it when it falls!
A: Twenty one, one to change it, and twenty to share the experience!

Q: How many Calvinists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: None. God has predestined when the lights will be on.

Q: How many hyper-Calvinists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: None. If God wants the light bulb changed He will do it Himself!

Q: How many liberals does it take to change a light bulb?
A: 10, as they need to hold a debate into whether or not the light bulb exists. Even if they can agree upon the existence of the light bulb they may not go ahead and change it for fear of alienating those who use fluorescent tubes.

These were all good, but one was missing so I thought I’d add my own:

Q: How many evolutionists does it take to change a light bulb?

A. None. They figure it will change itself in a billion years.

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Quotes (79)

tozer.jpg   How tragic that we in this dark day have had our seeking done for us by our teachers. Everything is made to center upon the initial act of “accepting” Christ (a term, incidentally, which is not found in the Bible) and we are not expected thereafter to crave any further revelation of God to our souls. We have been snared in the coils of a spurious logic which insists that if we have found Him we need no more to seek Him.

– A.W. Tozer

1897 – 1963

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Quotes (78)

yahannan.jpg Besides books, 8,000 Christian magazines and newspapers flourish. More than 1,600 Christian radio stations broadcast the Gospel full-time, while many countries don’t even have their first Christian radio station. A tiny 0.1 percent of all Christian radio and television programming is directed toward the unevangelized world. The saddest observation I can make about most of the religious communication activity of the Western world is this: Little, if any, of this media is designed to reach unbelievers. Almost all is entertainment for the saints.
– K.P. Yohannan

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Quotes (77)

washerpic.jpg  What are most youth groups like? You get a real personable young leader who’s usually not married and a lot of mousse in his hair. And then he gets a lot of young people around him, and what do they become? According to Proverbs they become companions of fools. When you put young people with young people in this atmosphere of adolescence you have no growth to adulthood, you have no maturity, no elders are involved, no parents are involved. It can’t work because it’s not Biblical.

– Paul Washer

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A cup of Starbucks coffee, an epiphany, and a new leaf.

coffebrain.jpg Recently, while enjoying a tall, hazelnut, decaf, non-fat, with-whip latte at Starbucks, I read something that caused an epiphany. On the cup was one of their The Way I See It (#290) quotes. This particular quote was from former House Speaker Newt Gingrich:

“On the battlefield of ideas, winning requires moving toward the sound of the guns.”

It took me no time at all to realize that this is not only my nature, but it’s exactly what this blog exists for. There’s a battle for the hearts and minds of mankind.

There is only one way to Heaven, and not only is that way narrow, (Matthew 7:13-14), but few find it; this in spite of what most popular preachers are telling you (which contributes to their popularity).

This blog runs to those gunshots where the battle rages between what is false and damns a man’s soul to Hell, and what is truth and sets a man free. Whether it’s the deception perpetrated by the cults like the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons, or the apostasy of modern social Christianity, DefCon is committed to fighting error with truth.

Now with all that said, I have also decided to turn over a new leaf. I’ve decided to strictly limit my comments on a post once I’ve published that post. I’ve come to this conclusion based on:

1). TIME: I find that I spend countless hours debating with Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Catholics, Atheists, and even professing Christians (who should know better), while other life-duties and responsibilities become neglected.

2). SUFFICIENCY: Anyone who spends time checking out this blog will see all my views over time as I continue to publish posts. Any arguments, insights, and thoughts that I have, will eventually be addressed over time.

3). ARGUMENTATIVE: I find that, more often than not, these debates turn to arguments. There is nothing productive in that. I can’t convince anyone of their error and lead them to the truth, only the Holy Spirit can do that. So I will continue to post and leave the matter at that.

Now this does not mean that I will never comment on anyone’s comments to my post, just that I will be very selective in my comments. Instead I will rely on the readers of this blog to further the discussions the issues with one another (if you’re all up to that challenge). That will afford me more time to publish new posts, and tend to my responsibilities outside of DefCon.

Thanks to everyone who visits this blog.

Sincerely,

– The Pilgrim

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Movie review: The Most

I just got the opportunity to watch the Academy Award Nominee short film entitled The Most. (Thanks Tom for blessing me with it). It was a great movie. If you haven’t seen it I recommend you do. Here’s a review from Christianity Today: People who have seen this film count it among the best and most powerful movies they have ever seen. Some say it’s been life-changing.

It has easily become one of my top five favorite films. A parable for our time.

“The Most” is Czech for the bridge. It’s the story of a bridge tender and his young son. A tragedy occurs one day at the bridge which causes the father to have to make an eternal decision: save the life of his son and allow numerous people to die, or sacrifice his son so that those people may live.

Check out more about the film and view the trailer by going to the Most website. I’ve also provided this short video below for you to view.

Vodpod videos no longer available.
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Quotes (76)

spurgeon-pic.jpg The knowledge of God is the great hope of sinners. Oh, if you knew Him better, you would fly to Him! If you understood how gracious He is, you would seek Him. If you could have any idea of His holiness, you would loathe your self-righteousness. If you knew anything of His power, you would not venture to contend with Him. If you knew anything of His grace, you would not hesitate to yield yourself to Him.

– Charles Spurgeon

1834 – 1892

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Thanks to Mormonism, discerning good from evil is as easy as a handshake or a hair color.

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“When a messenger comes, saying he has a message from God, offer him your hand, and request him to shake hands with you. If he be an angel he will do so, and you will feel his hand. If he be a spirit of a just man made perfect, he will come in his glory; for that is the only way he can appear. Ask him to shake hands with you, but he will not move, because it is contrary to the order of heaven for a just man to deceive; but he will still deliver his message. If it be the devil as an angel of light, when you ask him to shake hands he will offer you his hand, and you will not feel anything; you may there fore detect him. These are three grand keys whereby you may know whether any administration is from God.” (Joseph Smith, History of the Church, Volume 5, Page 267)

I find it interesting that with all the various visions Joseph Smith claimed to have with all sorts of “heavenly” messengers, that he never once adhered to his own standard for testing a spirit. He started this whole Mormon religion without ever offering a handshake to the visitors. What’s even more amazing is that there is absolutely no Scriptural teaching, support, or example for Joe’s new hand shake “doctrine.” It goes to show that this guy could say or do anything and he would be believed.

I was wondering . . . is a “high-five” as good as a handshake?

Joseph Smith wasn’t done. If you’re unable to offer your hand, just look for the hair color:

 

“A sister in the state of New York had a vision, who said it was told her that if she would go to a certain place in the woods, an angel would appear to her. She went at the appointed time, and saw a glorious personage descending, arrayed in white, with sandy colored hair . . . . Many true things were spoken by this personage, and many things that were false. How, it may be asked, was this known to be a bad angel? By the color of his hair; that is one of the signs that he can be known by, and by his contradicting a former revelation.” (Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Page 214)

What does the Bible say: Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that is coming, and now it is already in the world. 1 John 4:1-3

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“Christian” beads are spiritually superior than the evil, unsaved, heathen beads of the world?

Chris from A Little Leaven has featured this product and he asks some great questions:

FAITH BEADS

“Was there a problem with the secular beading market? Were young girls being lead into a life of sin by ‘worldly’ and ‘satanic’ beading supplies? Was there really a need for Christian beads to be offered in order to protect young Christian girls from the evil influences of the secular beads? Furthermore, we’d like to know what exactly makes these beads Christian?”

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Decisionism: How to give assurance of salvation without conversion.

I found this awhile ago somewhere on the internet and have finally gotten around to posting it. I can’t remember where I got it but if you know, please add it to the comments so credit can be given.

Decisionism

An Invitation to Cross-Less Christianity

How to give assurance of “salvation” without conversion

1. Focus on the “decision,” not conversion. Then they’ll remember their own “wise” choice, not Christ’s work on the cross.2. Skim over the gospel and push the prayer. The actual gospel is simply too offensive.

3. Please your listeners with positive assurances; don’t confuse them with the whole truth. Tell them what they want to hear, not what they need to hear.

4. Emphasize God’s goodness, not His justice or holiness. Talk about his love, not His legal requirement that demands sacrifice for sin. Let them think they are headed for heaven no matter what!

5. Describe Jesus as Savior, not Lord of our lives. Promise His blessing but, by all means, ignore His warning about “counting the cost!”

6. Don’t mention sin, guilt, hell or wrath. No need to offend them with the whole dreadful reason why they need the Savior.

7. Whatever you do, never mention Judgment Day. Too distasteful! You could lose both friends and financial supporters.

8. Add some humor or rousing music. Lighten things up. Don’t sound too sober or serious.

9. Don’t mention repentance until they’ve repeated a “sinner’s prayer.” Then your project won’t be aborted by sudden doubts or reservations.

10. After they pray “the prayer,” celebrate “their” achievement, not God’s grace. Be sure to praise the deceived sinner, not the God they don’t know that they don’t yet know.