Author: Pilgrim

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The Gospel is supposed to be the stumbling block and offense, not our behavior.

Welcome to Western Christianity! Whenever someone does something (no matter how juvenile, disrespectful, offensive, or crass it may be) as long as they slap the label “Christian” on it, it magically becomes acceptable, in spite of the standard of conduct representative of God’s elect as found throughout the Scriptures. And worse, there’s also an endless supply of professing Christians who will defend and support even the most irreverent and offensive pragmatic acts. I know, I used to be one of them.

The person in the following video unnecessarily causes himself to vomit during his “testimony,” I suppose for the purpose of illustration. Try pulling this stunt in a kindergarten, at a convalescent home, or in front of a family and see the reaction you get. I expect this behavior from the world, not from a professing Christian who is giving a testimony. This is appalling and is an offense to any reasonable thinking person. It makes a mockery of Christianity and is a reproach to the name of Christ.

And when this childish behavior (from someone who claims to have been converted two years earlier) is questioned, the relevant, everything-goes crowd rushes to defend it.

Those who would generally support and defend this behavior are usually found in support and defense of similar behaviors such as those found in this post, this post, this post, this post, this post, this post, this post, this post, this post, this post, this post, this post, this post, this post, this post, this post, and this post. Ironically those same people who smile approvingly at the antics in these posts are the first to condemn what we do here on DefCon.

Case in point:

I left the following comment on A Little leaven after I came across the video featured in this post (see here).

What came out of his mouth was awful! And I’m not talking about the corn flakes, I am talking about his “theology.” – The Pilgrim

It didn’t take long for the defenders of disgusting, innapropriate, juvenile behavior–all in the name of Christ, of course–to come rushing to his defense. The first challenge came from “Barb” who obviously took offense to my comment. Granted, she did not approve of his puking during his testimony, but it was obvious she took more offense at anyone who dared question him:

Defending/Contending: Please read my comment on this post if you haven’t already (it’s at the very top), and then, in light of those considerations, explain just what is so very wrong with this young brother’s “theology.”

I give Barb the benefit of the doubt that her inquiry was serious (in spite of her preemptive log-in-the-eye remark), however, then came condescending “Chadm” who arrogantly snubbed his nose at anyone who would dare question the guy in the video, and left this pompous comment (among others):

Barb- I seriously doubt we will get a response from Chris or defending contending….Theres much to say until its time to defend and contend……..<‘}}}><

The strongest opposition against striving to live a life of decency and holiness comes not from the world (they’re anxiously waiting to meet a Christian who actually practices what he preaches), but it comes from the very ones who claim to be Christians.

Now, I have no idea if the guy in this video is saved. If he truly has been regenerated, then the Holy Spirit will begin to work in his life (even though he claims God came into his life two years ago) and he’ll curtail his behavior that most reasonable people (saved and unsaved) find appalling.

However, if he has not been regenerated and he is just another victim of a false conversion, then those who defend, promote, and encourage him to continue in this type of behavior all the while directly or indirectly assuring him that everything’s ok, when it’s not, will have his blood on their hands come the day of judgment.

And finally, in regards to Barb’s inquiry, here is what I meant in regards to his theology:

1). This guy’s current condition came about after he felt there was more to life, not because he recognized the sinfulness of his sin, his hopeless situation, and his total dependence on the shed blood of Christ. It’s the old “add Jesus to your life as an accessory to make it better” doctrine.

2). He wrested Revelation 3:20 (not Revelation 13:20) from its original context and intended use, (it is a message to the churches).

3). He attempts to place our salvation into our hands, as if we have any power to save ourselves and thus portrays our sovereign God as helpless.

4). He claims God can’t/won’t do anything and won’t “come in” until we do something first. Again, he’s putting salvation into man’s hands as he claims that God wants you to stand up and open the door.

5). He tells us that we should make that choice, because “it’s worth it.” Again, this puts salvation into the hands of man and also trivializes the gravity of the need of salvation by saying “it’s worth it.” This is a very man-centered, self-centered “Jesus-will-make-your-life-better” message, (although this guy never mentions Jesus in his testimony) and it’s not a “gospel” you’ll find preached anywhere in Scripture.

6). And finally, he says that God wants to reach out to you but you have to start running toward him. Again, here he portrays God as helpless and that the price Christ paid to redeem His elect wasn’t enough because God still requires man to do his part. This is classic Mormonism.

Now if your theology lines up pretty well with his then I don’t expect you to see the error, nor do I expect you to agree with me, so wrangling over your Arminian and Pelagian leanings will be pointless as will any wrangling done on my part.

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Quotes (359)

ryle.jpg The Spirit is compared to the wind, and, like the wind, He cannot be seen by our bodily eyes. But just as we know there is a wind by the effect it produces on waves, and trees, and smoke, so we may know the Spirit is in a man by the effects he produces in the man’s conduct. . . . We may depend on it as a positive certainty that where there is no holy living, there is no Holy Ghost.

– J. C. Ryle

1816 – 1900

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Public school: Be afraid, be very afraid.

“Let me control the textbooks and I will control the state.”

– Adolf Hitler

“Education is the most powerful ally of Humanism, and every American public school is a school of Humanism. What can the theistic Sunday school, meeting for an hour once a week, and teaching only a fraction of the children do to stem the tide of a five-day program of humanistic teaching?”

– Charles F. Potter, Humanism: A New Religion 1930 p.128

“I am convinced that the battle for humankind’s future must be waged and won in the public school classroom by teachers that correctly perceive their role as proselytizers of a new faith: a religion of humanity that recognizes and respects the spark of what theologians call divinity in every human being… The classroom must and will become an arena of conflict between the old and new — the rotting corpse of Christianity, together with all its adjacent evils and misery, and the new faith of humanism, resplendent with the promise of a world in which the never-realized Christian ideal of ‘love thy neighbor’ will finally be achieved.”

– John J. Dunphy, The Humanist, Jan. 1983 p.26

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How do you read Romans 1:16?

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes . . . Romans 1:16

How you read Romans 1:16 tells a lot about you. Which of the following best resembles how you interpret the text?

For I am not ashamed of the gospel (the death burial and resurrection of our Lord and Savior), for it (the preaching of that gospel and absolutely nothing else) is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (not a superficial shallow mental ascent, but a complete dependence and trust upon Christ) . . .

– Christian

For I am not ashamed of the gifts of the spirit, for they are proof of the power of God and proof of your salvation to everyone who believes . . .

-Charismaniac

For I am not ashamed of pleading for money, for sowing your faith seed offering is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes . . .

-Word of Faith Charismaniac

For I am not ashamed of Mary, the Pope, and the Mother Church, for they are the power of God and the only way to salvation to everyone who believes and receives the sacraments, attends meritorious masses, is baptized, keeps the law, does good works, purchases indulgences, endures purgatory, etc. . . .

– Roman Catholic

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of the New Earth that we peddle door to door, for the Watchtower is the only ones who speak for God and is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes and exhaustively works their tails off for the Watchtower almost every waking hour of the day for their entire life to obtain Jehovah’s favor, which is not guaranteed . . .

– Jehovah’ Witness

For I am not ashamed of the restored gospel, even though I am ashamed and embarrassed about our church history and the things our church prophets have said (that was just their opinion and they were not speaking for God when they said all those awful things) for the Melchizadek Priesthood which only we have is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes and follows the following conditions as outlined in Gospel Principles pages 303-304 (1997 edition): 1.) We must be baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ. 2.) We must receive the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. 3.) We must receive the temple endowment. 4.) We must be married for time and eternity.In addition to receiving the required ordinances, the Lord commands all of us to– 1. Love and worship God. 2. Love our neighbor. 3. Repent of our wrongdoings. 4. Live the law of chastity. 5. Pay honest tithes and offerings. 6. Be honest in our dealings with others and with the Lord. 7. Speak the truth always. 8. Obey the Word of Wisdom. 9. Search out our kindred dead and perform the saving ordinances of the gospel for them. 10. Keep the Sabbath day holy. 11. Attend our Church meetings as regularly as possible so we can renew our baptismal covenants by partaking of the sacrament. 12. Love our family members and strengthen them in the ways of the Lord. 13. Have family and individual prayers every day. 14. Honor our parents. 15. Teach the gospel to others by word and example. 16. Study the scriptures. 17. Listen to and obey the inspired words of the prophets of the Lord. Finally, each of us needs to receive the Holy Ghost and learn to follow his direction in our individual lives.

– Mormon

For I am not ashamed of the value found in all religions regardless of whether or not they conflict with one another on core issues , for whatever truth is for you, it is the power of God, gods, goddess, no god, or whatever you believe for a better world to everyone who believes or chooses not to believe . . .

– Universalist Unitarian

For I am not ashamed of shameless church marketing, for the end justifies the means and pragmatism is the power of God for filling seats on Sundays to watch our awesome worship rock band followed by our hip and and oh, so cool pastor and we’re also giving away free gas cards to everyone who attends our local campus . . .

– Seeker-Friendly

For I am not ashamed of supporting any socialist cause or liberal issue, for a woman’s right to choose and a homosexual’s right to marry is the power of self–empowerment for salvation from the oppressive chains that the white, Anglo-Saxon, Capitalist, fascists have placed on the backs of everyone in this nation . . .

– Liberal

Romans? Is that in the Bible?

– Emergent / Emerging

** Update ** This post was picked up by Todd Friel and featured on Way of the Master Radio. To find out more, click here.

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Sola Scriptura (54)

bible-page.jpg Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.

– 1 John 3:4-10

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Crosstalk: Ken Silva on Richard Abanes.

On this CrossTalk episode, Free Speech for Bloggers, Ingrid interviews Ken Silva on the Richard Abanes controversy.

From Crosstalk’s show description:

Pastor Ken Silva is founder of Apprising Ministries, which states as its purpose, “to provide sound reasons to believe in Jesus, the Christ as well as to defend the faith once delivered unto the saints from enemy attacks within the Church and from without.” Ken’s ministry seeks to aid local churches to be faithful to sound doctrine and to contend for the faith. Ken is author of a number of articles critiquing many of the disturbing trends of the modern church. The articles are posted at http://apprising.org/. Ken also contributes columns at Christian World Network and is editor of the Christian Research Network.

Free speech is increasingly being threatened on the Internet, as the exploding number of blog sites that provide an outlet for opinions and interaction with readers has caused some to try to silence those with whom they disagree.

Traditionally, blog sites that invite comments often create a lively exchange that if not administered properly, can get out of hand, in language, innuendo, and even vicious attacks. Many blogs allow this to continue, while others try to maintain more civility.

But in this case, the response by one individual, Richard Abanes, who is a strong supporter of Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven ministry, took the battle to a whole new level. Instead of simply stating his disagreement with statements by Ken Silva, he accused him of slander in an article written by Ken three years ago. Wiithout trying to work directly with Ken Silva, Abanes contacted the hosting company to demand that the article be removed. The web host, IPower, sent Ken an email demanding that the article be taken down within 48 hours or his site would be taken down. Due to the troubling precedent this sets in the blog world, this incident has also become a hot topic of conversation online.

Free speech is coming under increasing attack, and the “Wild West” environment of the Internet is now becoming the target of those would would want to control it–from individuals, to government regulators. Many more details are included in this program.

http://apprising.org/ is now back online, and is a good place to start to learn what Ken Silva is all about, and what has been happening to him and his site.

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The White Horse Inn: American Pelagianism.

On this edition of The White Horse Inn the hosts discuss the topic of American Pelagianism.

Why have the doctrines of grace been so difficult to take root in the American soil? What is it about the way we think and act as a people that makes Pelagianism so common, if not our very “default setting?” On this edition of the White Horse Inn, the hosts will continue their discussion of Pelagianism, with a particular focus on its influence in American religion and practice.

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Quotes (355)

John MacArthur The campaign to make Christianity seem “contemporary” and sophisticated in the world’s eyes is proving especially disastrous right now. As postmodern culture becomes more and more hostile to authority, clarity, and authoritative proclamations of truth, evangelicalism is blithely drifting more and more into postmodern ways of thinking about truth, imagining that this is the way to “reach” the culture. Consequently, Christians are less and less willing to fight for truth.

– John MacArthur

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Quotes (354)

The movement which Dr. Harold Ockenga christened neo-evangelism in 1948, has become an explosion . . . . It has been like a cluster bomb streaking in every direction. . . . It is amazing how innocuous the disease has been to liberals and how virulent it has been to fundamentalists. Wherever the explosion has reverberated, it has destroyed sound doctrine, reverent worship and holy living among the Lord’s people.

– John Ashbrook

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Five things I learned from watching this video.

I want to share with you the five things I learned from watching the following video.

1). I learned how not to share the Gospel with Muslims (or anyone else for that matter).

2). I learned that there’s a time, place, and context in which to discuss the sordid, wicked, and scandalous origins and history of Islam (and Catholicism, and Mormonism, and Jehovah’s Witnesses, etc.) and that this wasn’t that proper time, place, or context.

3). I learned that it’s acceptable to insult, revile, mock, and distort the truth of Christianity and our Lord Jesus Christ, but bringing up the skeletons in the closet of those who started false religions will get you punched.

4). I learned how quickly people resort to violence and the “N”-word when angered.

5). I learned just how peaceful “Islam” truly is in practice.

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Quotes (353)

We must never let doctrinal error go unabated because it dishonors God and deceives the unsuspecting. It defiles the conscience, corrupts the heart, and destroys the soul. According to Scripture, that which flows from the lips of false teachers includes: “strange doctrines,” “commandments of men,” “doctrines of devils,” “damnable heresies,” “traditions of men,” “lies,” “falsehood,” “vain deceit,” and “deceptive philosophy.” Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord at all times and in all cases (Prov. 12:22). Knowing the fruit of false teachers, we must earnestly contend against them.

– Mike Gendron

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Happy 100,000th.

Today DefCon received its 100,000th hit since its inception on April 15th, (three and a half months ago). I want to thank all the faithful readers who have helped us reach this milestone, and I want to thank the contributors that have been faithful to the cause of defending truth and contending for the faith.

To mark this celebration I’ve changed the appearance of DefCon. I think the new look is clearer and a little crisper to the eyes. I trust that if you don’t immediately fall in love with it, it will eventually grow on you.

Thanks to all of you for all of your support.

– The Pilgrim


P.S. As you can see, I’m still working on the perfect header. So the header you see now may not be the header you see tomorrow . . . or even ten minutes from now.

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How can you tell when professing “Christians” are following the Gospel according to Todd Bentley instead of the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

By observing their reaction to someone preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

In this actions-speak-louder-than-words and the-proof-is-in-the-pudding post from Tony Miano, you can check out for yourself the way Bentley-ites react to the preaching of the Gospel.

It’s very revealing; the Gospel is an obvious stumbling block to them. Read all about what happened when Tony Miano tried sharing the Gospel to Bentley-ites (including pictures and audio) in his post here.

Here’s an excerpt:

So, people go to Lakeland and the Galen Center, and other places around the world to “get some” of what Bentley and others are offering. They “repent and believe,” so to speak, and then Jesus is quickly brushed aside for what they really came to receive–manifestations, spirits, angels, healing, predictions about a better life, and a spiritual shot in the arm.

Thanks to Loretta Heiden for making me aware of this (and by the way, I love the new header on your blog).