What do you get when a heretic and a not-so-good apologist duke it out on the topic of Hell’s existence? You get a debate that leaves you feeling a little empty . . . like a fantastic opportunity was lost.
The one defending the truth of the doctrine of Hell tries with all his might, but I think he was a poor choice to represent the case for Hell. What do you think?
Debate Part One
Debate Part Two
In this documentary two explorers take you to the real location of Mt. Sinai and they have photographic and video proof that this is where the Israelites camped, where Moses ascended the mountain, and where God gave him the Ten Commandments.
This is an amazing documentary that challenges the traditional theory of Mt. Sinai’s location. I highly recommend this video (I’ve watched it more than once). It is a must-see, and it will increase your faith in the authenticity of the Biblical account of Moses’ encounter with God.
Here’s the trailer:
Below is a video excerpt:
See also, the related video: The Mystery of the Ark of the Covenant.
Your sermon of the week is The Present Effects of Trembling at the Wrath of God preached only as John Piper can. You can also watch the video or read the transcript by clicking here.
This sermon is actually part two of his teaching on God’s wrath (part one can be found here).
Shameful. Utterly shameful.
When discipline leaves the church, Christ goes with it.
– John Dagg
1794 – 1884
The unregenerate do not really believe in the holiness of God. Their concept of His character is altogether one-sided. They fondly hope that His mercy will override everything else. . . . They think only of a god patterned after their own evil hearts, hence their continuance in a course of mad folly.
– A.W. Pink
1886 – 1952
After hearing about the recent tragedy (caused by the evil of man’s wicked heart) at a U.U. gathering in Tennessee (and FourPointer’s post on the incident found here), I did a little looking into what this group is about and thought I’d share my discoveries with you. The following information was obtained here.
What do the Unitarian Universalists reject?
The One true God
We do not have a defined doctrine of God. Members are free to develop individual concepts of God that are meaningful to them. They are also free to reject the term and concept altogether. Most of us do not believe in a supernatural, supreme being who can directly intervene in and alter human life or the mechanism of the natural world. Many believe in a spirit of life or a power within themselves, which some choose to call God.
Jesus Christ
We do not believe that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, performed miracles and was resurrected from death. We do admire and respect the way he lived, the power of his love, the force of his example and his system of values. Most UUs regard Jesus as one of several important moral and ethical teachers who have shown humans how to live a life of love, service and compassion. Though some of us may question whether Jesus was an actual historical figure, we believe his teachings are of significant moral value.
A primary way we differ [from Christians] is that we do not regard Jesus as a unique revelation of God. Most UUs (even UU Christians) would reject a literal interpretation of accepted Christian beliefs such as the Virgin Birth, the miracles of Jesus and the Resurrection. While UU Christians would accept a symbolic interpretation of these events, most UUs view Jesus as a moral and ethical teacher and no more than that.
The Bible
We regard the Bible as one of many important religious texts but do not consider it unique or exclusive in any way. We do not interpret it literally. We think some parts of it offer more truth and relevance than other parts. Although UUs respect the Bible and regard some of its content as great literature, it is not a central document in our religion.
Life after death, and Heaven & Hell
Very few UUs believe in a continuing, individualized existence after physical death. Even fewer believe in the physical existence of places called heaven or hell where one goes after dying. Since there is no way to know for sure if we go any place when we die, very few, if any of us believe in the physical existence of a place called heaven or hell.
Sin
We do not believe that a person is born and enslaved in the manner that the doctrine of Original Sin teaches. You could attend a UU church for years and seldom hear the word sin.
Salvation and the need for a redeemer
Salvation is not a word we use frequently. We do not believe people are born into a state of sin from which they must be saved in order to avoid spending an eternity suffering in hell. Since we believe in neither original sin nor hell, we do not feel a need to be saved from either. No. We believe we should be judged by how well we live our lives and serve others, not in what a redeemer will do for us. We respect religious and spiritual leaders such as Jesus, Moses and Buddha for what they can teach us about living, not as redeemers in the traditional sense.
So, what do the Unitarian Universalists believe, accept, and affirm?
Evolution
We believe that more complex life forms have evolved from less complex life forms.
The wholesale slaughter of the unborn
As an institution, we are strongly pro-choice, as are most individual UUs.
All religions have truth
We believe there is wisdom in most, if not all, of the world’s religions. We feel each is valuable for what it can tell us about ourselves and our world, and how its members find religious meaning and direction.
Social issues
Recent issues include: clean sources of energy, fossil fuels, energy conservation, pollution, abortion, gun control, immigration, hunger, the homeless, racism, nuclear arms proliferation, and health care.
I also found out what a U.U. “church service” is like.
Our typical service follows a Protestant structure: hymns, readings, meditation, singing by the choir, organ music and a sermon. Although the service’s format is similar to a Protestant church, the content is quite different. God or Jesus is hardly ever mentioned and rarely are there Bible readings. Though the words prior to the meditation might sound like a prayer, they are not addressed to and do not request the support, inspiration, help or blessing of a supernatural deity.
And finally, the following videos should also prove to be very informative as to what this group believes:
TV Commercial
The puppet show explanation
The deliberate twisting of the Biblical account of Adam and Eve
The Church in contemporary America does not need more strategies, steps, or keys to the Christian life. The Church needs truth, and more specifically, the great foundational truths of historical Christianity.
– Paul Washer
It’s amazing what you’ll find in a dumpster in America . . . and we still have the audacity to ask God to bless America. You might as well take all those “God Bless America” bumper stickers off your cars because God will never continue to bless a nation that does what we do.
On Slice of Laodicea, Ingrid quoted Dr. Monica Miller in her article on what was found in their local abortion clinic dumpster. Here are two excerpts from Dr. Miller’s comments as quoted on Slice:
It may be that a certain profession of religion has become so fashionable and comparatively easy in the present age that the streams which were once narrow and deep have become wide and shallow, and what we have gained in outward show we have lost in quality. It may be that the vast increase of wealth in the last twenty-five years has insensibly introduced a plague of worldliness, and self-indulgence, and love of ease into social life. What were once called luxuries are now comforts and necessaries, and self-denial and “enduring hardness” are consequently little known.
– J.C. Ryle
1816 – 1900
I discovered the following comparison chart on the blog End Times Deception.
|
Toronto/Brownsville/Lakeland Manifestations |
Kundalini Yoga Manifestations |
| Uncontrollable laughter | Laughing and weeping are as unintentional and uncontrollable as hiccoughs |
| Jerking, tremors, shaking | Jerking, tremors, shaking |
| Involuntary body movements | Postures or moving one’s body in unusual ways |
| Spontaneous trance states | Spontaneous trance states |
| Making animal noises, roaring, barking, mooing | Spontaneous vocalizations |
| Muscle twitches or spasms | Muscle twitches or spasms |
| Guidance through inner voice falsely thought to be God. False visions and dreams | Guidance through inner voices, visions, dreams |
| Being “drunk in the spirit” | Mental confusion, difficulty concentrating |
| Feeling rushes, heat, electricity | Energy rushes, electricity circulating in the body |
| Many fleshly sensations | Vibrating, tingling sensations |
| Supernatural smelling of scents | Experiencing the smell of flowers, incense |
| Out-of-body experiences | Out-of-body experiences |
| How one receives this “blessing” Impartation through the laying on of hands |
How one receives Kundalini Awakening Through the laying on of hands during “Shakti-pat” initiation |
| Who can administer this “blessing”? Anyone who has received the false anointing |
Who can give Shakti-pat? Anyone who has received the ability from the Guru or one of his disciples |
Read more about it here.
And for those who want to see a video comparison, I found the following videos on YouTube:
Can anyone tell the difference between the things being done in the next video by this charismatic, energetic, Alex P. Keaton look-a-like named Dr. Richard Bartlett who’s peddling the New Age, and what Todd Bentley and other Word of Faith, self-proclaimed prophets of God are doing? The similarities are striking.
I suppose I shouldn’t “touch” this guy because he’s obviously performing “signs and wonders,” and to millions of biblically illiterate experience-chasers, this proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that he’s anointed.
Dr. Bartlett even has testimonials like faith healers have.
Here is some additional material.
What we are afraid to speak before men, we should be afraid to think before God.
– The 1777 New England Primer
And lest you think that your sins do not deserve this kind of wrath, ponder these four things:
– John Piper
I am sure some of the people in the following two videos sincerely believe that they are participating in a form of “worship” that is acceptable to God. I grieve for them, especially the young, because I was there not too long ago myself. With very limited Biblical literacy and understanding, I too was swept up in all the emotion that these kinds of “shows” are designed to create. I was front and center to the wolves in the pulpits and the snakes with the guitars who were drumming up false fire and false excitement because the Holy Spirit was not in it.
VIDEO 1
The deep doctrinal truths found in the lyrics of Rick Pino’s worship music reflects the deep doctrinal truths found in Todd Bentley’s messages.
If you can get through the first 4 minutes of annoyingly juvenile repetitious “worship,” you get even more annoyingly juvenile repetitious “worship.”
HT: Dale McAlpine
See another, more deeply disturbing, Bentley “worship” service here on this previous post.
VIDEO 2
And if the first video isn’t bad enough, Mr. Pino caters to the lusts of the flesh as he takes an 80’s secular song and interjects the name Jesus into it.
“Jesus spins you ’round like a record” (where’s that in Scripture?). But it’s what he makes the people do with their socks–in the name of Jesus–that’s really disturbing.
See more foolishness from Rick Pino here.
Apostasy can have far-reaching and disastrous effects on an entire congregation’s spiritual health. When false teaching goes unchallenged, it breeds more confusion and draws still more shallow and insincere people into the fold. If not vigorously resisted, apostasy will spread like leaven through seminaries, denominations, missions agencies, and other Christian institutions. False teaching thus attacks the church like a parasite, affecting our corporate testimony, inoculating people against the real truth of the gospel, proliferating false and halfhearted “disciples,” and filling the church with people who are actually unbelievers. By such means, entire churches and denominations have been taken over by apostasy.
– John MacArthur
Jim Bublitz of Old Truth has published his last post (for at least a long time) due to his health taking a serious turn for the worst. You can read his last post here. Please keep Jim in prayer as he suffers daily and still has to face incredible struggles in the future.
I fondly remember stumbling upon Jim’s discernment/reformed blog Old Truth just over a year ago, and it encouraged me tremendously. At the time God was doing a work on my heart and was calling me to come out of the circus church. However, I was beginning to think there was something wrong with me because I was surrounded by lukewarm professing Christians who did not hunger and thirst for holiness. Instead, these people only wanted to have their ears tickled by the oh-so-funny pastor and they would get a glazed look in their eyes when I spoke of anything other than superficial trivialities around the pastry table after service. I truly had no one to “fellowship” with.
It was refreshing to come across Jim’s blog and it assured me that–although I was physically without other iron to sharpen iron–the work God was doing in me was real and there were (and are) many others in the Body out there who God has also called out of Churchianity, and we can encourage each other even if we’re on the other side of the world.
Old Truth, along with some other blogs, inspired me to start Reformation Nation and eventually this blog, Defending. Contending. Thanks for all you’ve done Jim!
Just wait long enough and the arrogance of a false prophet eventually always come out. From out of the abundance of his heart, his mouth speaks.
The CrossTalk episode you’ve all been waiting for on Ray Comfort, Word of Faith False Teachings, is here!
Ingrid spends a good portion of the show discussing the night she attended this gathering of wolves in Armani suits in which John Avenzini spoke about his new doctrine of “reverse entrapment” that “God” just revealed to him. He also passed out lucky, talking, rubbing stones that will get you through tough times. In order for these stones to work, however, they have to be activated with a $500 or more “seed” donation to his “ministry.”
Only the most selfish individuals, seasoned with the charismatic foolishness of Word of Faith, and who are suffer from astounding amounts of Biblical illiteracy, will pay an already boastfully wealthy man $500 or more for a rock.
Ingrid also discusses the Ray Comfort issue and reads a short letter she received from him. I am certain this will only continue the controversy and cause battle lines to be drawn. But in the war on Truth, the battle lines must be clearly distinguished!
I am interested in getting the audio (or video) of Ray Comfort’s two sermons at this heresy-fest. If anyone knows where I can obtain them, please provide a link. I have not weighed in on this issue on DefCon yet, but I am beginning to lean toward Ingrid’s side on this.
Christ Alone Wyoming 