Random Selections

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The silence is deafening.

A couple weeks ago I found this short film on Youtube and–even though I have reservations about a few parts–felt compelled to share it with the DefCon readers.

I didn’t quite get the ending at first but after playing the ending a second time it hit me: Wow! What a devastating video. It moved me greatly.

I then put it away until tonight when I watched it again. This time it moved me to tears. I encourage you to watch this short film, it definitely puts things into perspective regarding the issue of abortion.

Three unborn babies give an account of their time within the confines of the womb. Starting from the point of conception, they chart their development, voicing delight at the discoveries that come with each new week. However, as the thirteenth week approaches the excitement for one soon vanishes. A voice formally brimming with an expectation of life out in the real world is silenced when it meets a murderous fate, one that will ensure it never leaves the womb alive.

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24 Questions for Charismatics and followers of Todd Bentley.

This post is for Todd Bentley supporters and all Charismatics. I have 24 questions for you and would like serious answers only. If you should choose to take up this challenge I have only one condition; that you don’t just pick and choose the questions you want to answer (much like many do with verses of Scripture) but if you want to answer one, I request that you take a stab at them all.

These questions will require the use of your Bible and some will only seek your opinion. Are you up to the task? If so, let’s begin:

1). If a modern-day prophet says one thing and the Bible says another (opposing/opposite) which do you follow?

2). Why if God spoke “long ago” through prophets, but now in the last days speaks to us through His Son (Hebrews 1:1) do we still chase after men like Todd Bentley?

3). If the temple veil was ripped in two (Matthew 27:51) and God is not to be found in any one particular place on earth (Acts 7:48), but is now available to any true believer anywhere, why must we go to a certain church, event or venue in order to “come get some?”

4). God sent prophets to the Jews up until the 400 years of silence preceding Jesus Christ, (whom to this day the Jews still reject). Why don’t those who know the standard of prophets best (the Jewish people) continue to “raise up” and chase after prophets like the Charismatics do continually? Why do the Jews continue to patiently wait for their Messiah (which they missed 2,000 years ago) while the Charismatics keep chasing after the next big prophet? What do the Jews understand about a true prophet of God that Charismatics seem to keep missing?

5). Why if the Church is instructed in 1 Corinthians 14:40 to conduct itself “properly and in an orderly manner” do Charismatics refuse to accept this and instead we see the antics, shenanigans, and circus-like atmosphere in these self-proclaimed movements of God?

6). When Charismatics use the “my God is the same yesterday, today and forever” argument in the context that they commonly use it, why do they then no longer stone false prophets to death?

7). Why do Charismatics keep proclaiming the coming of a great revival in these last days when this is in direct opposition to the revealed Word of God which says that a great falling away will occur in the last days (2 Thessalonians 2:3)? Where does it say that the return of Christ is preceded by a great healing revival?

8). Pharisees and Sadducees tested Jesus asking Him to show them a sign (Matthew 16:1, Luke 11:16, John 2:18, John 6:30). Do you think this is a good thing or a bad thing?

9). Why do those seeking a sign in Mark 8:11-12 cause Jesus to “sigh deeply in His Spirit”?

10). Why are those seeking signs and wonders (Matthew 12:38-39, Matthew 16:4, Luke 11:29) referred to by Jesus as evil, wicked, and adulterous?

11). Was Jesus saying the need to see signs and wonders was a good thing in John 4:48?

12). Was Paul implying the need to see signs was a good thing in 1 Corinthians 1:22?

13). Why do Charismatics always use Peter’s sermon in Acts chapter 2 (quoting Joel) to justify the tongues and prophecies they perform while excluding the other events like the sun turning dark and the moon turning to blood (v. 20)?

14). If it is God’s will that we should be healthy and wealthy, why did Paul suffer so much (2 Corinthians 11:23-27, 12:7-10)?

15). Isn’t seeking to be healthy, wealthy, and comfortable in this life a direct contradiction to God’s way of testing the faith of a believer and producing endurance in the life of a believer (James 1:2-4)?

16). Jesus addressed the fact that we are not greater than He, and since He suffered, we (true Christians) should expect the same (John 15:20, Matthew 10:24-25). Why do Charismatics ignore this and cling to the false notion that any suffering is of the Devil?

17). Why do the only two prophets directly referred to in Scripture in the last days (Revelation 11) perform no healings? Instead they do exactly the opposite of what all the “prophets” of today do; the very things most Charismatics would say is from the Devil. Why is that?

18). Why does the Bible repeatedly identify the existence of and warn us about false prophets (Matthew 7:15, 24:11, 24:24, Mark 13:22, Luke 6:26, Acts 13:6, 2 Peter 2:1-3, 1 John 4:1, etc.)?

19). In the end many false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders to mislead many (Matthew 24:24, Mark 13:22). Why do most Charismatics refuse to accept this, and if they do accept it, they never accept that this could be referring to their favorite prophet?

20). Is there any “sign and wonder” that you can point to that is false/counterfeit from Satan? Or do all “signs and wonders” come from God only?

21). Can Satan and his servants appear as “good” or do they always come to us as easily identifiable “bad” spirits (2 Corinthians 11:13-15)?

22). Is the great and visible sign performed in Revelation 13:13 a good thing from God or a counterfeit from Satan?

23). Can Satan and those in accord with his activity perform signs and wonders and exhibit power (Exodus 7:11-12, 2 Thessalonians 2:9)?

24). What is the more common theme of the Bible regarding the prophets with accompanying signs and wonders?

A). The presence of signs and wonders are proof of them being true prophets of God.

B). That false prophets will mislead many and they will use signs and wonders.

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4 Simpsons–“Aspiring” abortion doctors

Found this over at 4 Simpsons Blog. Apparently, there is a new breed of “doctors” coming out of med school whose sole ambition is to dismember, mutilate, maim, and kill. In other words, they want to go into the abortion racket (article text in italics, Neil’s commentary in bold green):

Denver – FOURTH-year medical student Megan Lederer recently helped deliver a premature baby at barely six months gestation. The newborn was tiny, unimaginably fragile, but she survived.

Caught up in the moment, Lederer didn’t think about the implication for her chosen career. Later, though, she wondered: Could I have aborted that pregnancy?

She could have, she decided. She would have felt an obligation.

Please pause here for a moment. She delivered a live baby and says she would have felt obligated to abort her had the mother not wanted the child. Everybody got that? No twisted philosophical reasoning about when the unborn become human, just a plain, old choice of whether to kill a viable human being or let her live.

Lederer, 30, can’t relate to the images that drew an older generation of physicians into abortion work. She can barely picture it when they talk about life before legal abortion: the blood-spattered apartments, the women racked with infection from stabbing sticks into their wombs.

This emotional ploy still seems to work. The truth is that most pre-Roe v Wade abortions were done in doctors’ offices (”Uh, you’re late this month . . . better do a D&C to get things back on track.”) And note how she can “barely picture” those gruesome images but ignores the gruesome images of abortions noted below.

But she and other young doctors-in-training have found their own motivation to enter a field that they know will put them at risk of isolation, harassment and hatred. For them, doing abortions is an act of defiance – a way of pushing back against mounting restrictions on a right they’ve taken for granted all their lives.

“It’s like when your big brother says you can’t do something,” Lederer said. “That just makes you want to do it even more.”

Your big brother says not to kill innocent human beings, so it makes you want to do it more. Check.

Rebellion is alive and well in the human heart.

So they think that opposition to dismembering living human beings “makes them want to do it even more.” Tells us a little bit about the unregenerate human condition, doesn’t it? This is where I have to stop people who go around crowing about how we have “free will” (can someone please show me where the Bible says anything about that, BTW?). When we are born, from the minute we open the matrix and the doctor cuts the cord, we are slaves to sin. We don’t know God, we don’t want to know God, we could not care less about God. And neither can anyone who thinks that abortion is simply a “woman’s choice.” She may make a “choice” but it costs her child his/her life.

Genesis 8:21–Then the LORD said in His heart, “I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth”
Jeremiah 17:9–The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?
Ecclesiastes 11:5–As you do not know what is the way of the wind, or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child, So you do not know the works of God who makes everything.

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Sermon of the Week: “Father, Where Are You?” by Paul Washer.

Your Sermon of the Week is part four of the four-part family series by Paul Washer. This one is entitled Father, Where Are You? Listen to it here or download it here. Paul Washer delivers a profound sermon on the family that should be heard by everyone.

This series changed my view pertaining to the family and I highly encourage you to check it out for yourself. I also recommend you check out part one, two, and three.

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Which Bible most accurately reflects you?

The well-read, well-studied Bible?

(Click on thumbnail to enlarge picture – Source: Fish With Trish)

The neglected Bible?

(Click on the thumbnail to watch video)


The Erasable Bible?

(Click on thumbnail to watch video)

For those who can’t afford the Erasable Bible there’s always this much cheaper alternative:

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A Few Problems With Arminianism And A Case For Calvinism

Dr. Bruce Ware puts forward the Biblical doctrine of pre-destination so well that he gets a standing ovation from me.

You can get the DVD of the entire debate here for just US$14.95.1

1 The author does not derive any benefits, financial or otherwise, from recommending the purchase of the material. Neither is he affiliated with Dr. Bruce Ware or The Apologetics Group in any manner.

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From the fine folks at Planned Parenthood

[Post edited by me 🙂 ]

I did not realize it, but I had originally posted the very same two videos Pilgrim posted back in September. So that I don’t needlessly chew up bandwidth, I’ll link to the post with the videos of Michelle Malkin and Sean Hannity PWNING Planned Parenthood. Below I’ve posted a video of Lila Rose, the girl that exposed PP as the liars that they are, as featured on Bill O’Reilly.

Ecclesiastes 11:5–As you do not know what is the way of the wind, or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child, so you do not know the works of God who makes everything.

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Why this woman works at Planned Parenthood.

This woman explains the noble reason why she contributes her time to the dismemberment (the “constitutionally protected right to privacy” which entails the ripping apart of human flesh, muscle, tissue and bone) of the most innocent class in our society . . . utterly defenseless babies.

Related posts:

Planned Parenthood’s shameless propaganda cartoon

Quotes from Planned Parenthood’s founder

Planned Parenthood’s racism

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Download your free cult flyer here.

It was the spring of 2006 and I kept seeing Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses going door to door throughout the neighborhoods of my community. It got me thinking: What are the local Christian Churches doing to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to combat the spread of false doctrine in our community? Additionally I pondered about what I could personally do.

I then came across the Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry website (www.CARM.org). They had a downloadable cult warning flyer. Eureka! This was exactly what I didn’t know I was looking for and exactly what we needed here in my town. I quickly went to work on my own version of a flyer and several months later, the new flyer was birthed.

Now, in the spring of 2008, I have updated and produced the second version of the cult flyer and am now offering it for you to download for free to distribute in your neighborhood.

Flyer: Who’s Really Knocking at Your Door?

For those who prefer a more professional look, a brother in the Lord from Australia produced a professional version of the flyer for me to make available to all of you. You can download it here.

I also encourage you to download my free tracts to insert in each of the flyers. There are three different tracts (front and back) on one sheet of paper.
Tract: 3 Things You Won’t Find in the Bible  /  Are You Self-Righteous?  /  Priceless
Simply print the cult flyer on 11 x 14 paper (front and back). Then print the tract (also front and back on 11 x 14 paper). Cut the tract into three, fold the cult flyer and insert one tract into each flyer. Then put a hole in the top with a hole punch, put a rubber band through it and it’s ready to be hung on doors.
I am currently working on six new tracts to download and insert in the cult flyer and will make them available in the near future.

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Stressed about your wedding?

Do you know someone who’s getting married? Are they torn about the life-altering decision of whether to have lillies or daffodils in the bouquet? Is the bride losing sleep and waking up with night sweats about whether her dress should be white, off-white, cream, ivory, or eggshell? Will the groom go ballistic if the guests aren’t seated just right at the reception?

Then tell them to chill out. If their marriage lasts, no one is going to sit down with them in 20 years and say, “Your marriage has lasted so long. You must have had a perfect wedding!” In fact, 5 years from now–nah, 5 months from now–no one will even remember the wedding. It’s all just a bunch of fluff. I dare say, whatever happens at your wedding, it will not even compare to what happened to these friends of Richard Wurmbrand, that he writes about in Tortured For Christ:

One of our workers in the Underground Church was a young girl. The Communist police discovered that she secretly spread Gospels and taught children about Christ. They decided to arrest her. But to make the arrest as agonizing and painful as they could, they decided to delay her arrest a few weeks, until the day she was to be married. On her wedding day, the girl was dressed as a bride—the most wonderful, joyous day in a girl’s life! Suddenly, the door burst open and the secret police rushed in.

When the bride saw the secret police, she held out her arms toward them to be handcuffed. They roughly put the manacles on her wrists. She looked toward her beloved, then kissed the chains and said, “I thank my heavenly Bridegroom for this jewel He has presented to me on my marriage day. I thank Him that I am worthy to suffer for Him.” She was dragged off, with weeping Christians and a weeping bridegroom left be­hind. They knew what happens to young Chris­tian girls in the hands of Communist guards. Her bridegroom faithfully waited for her. After five years she was released—a destroyed, broken woman, looking thirty years older. She said it was the least she could do for her Christ.

So, still stressed over flowers and dresses?

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Indulgences granted to those who practice idolatry and “work” for their own salvation, negating Christ’s once-and-for-all sacrifice.

mary-statue-worship.jpg According to this story from the Catholic News Agency the Pope has granted indulgences to those who break the first and second Commandments. Below are excerpts from the article which explains the works based, unbiblical hoops one has to jump through to obtain forgiveness:

The first way to obtain the indulgence is to visit the following places in Lourdes between December 8, 2007 and December 8, 2008, preferably in the order suggested: (1) the parish baptistery used for the Baptism of Bernadette, (2) the Soubirous family home, known as the ‘cachot,’ (3) the Grotto of Massabielle, (4) the chapel of the hospice where Bernadette received First Communion, and on each occasion they pause for an appropriate length of time in prayer and with pious meditations, concluding with the recital of the Our Father, the Profession of Faith, … and the jubilee prayer or other Marian invocation.

If the faithful are not in Lourdes, but wish to receive the plenary indulgence, then during the week of the anniversary of the first apparition, which is the week of February 2, 2008 through February 11, 2008, and they must visit “in any church, grotto or decorous place, the blessed image of that same Virgin of Lourdes, solemnly exposed for public veneration, and before the image participate in a pious exercise of Marian devotion, or at least pause for an appropriate space of time in prayer and with pious meditations, concluding with the recital of the Our Father, the Profession of Faith, … and the invocation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.”

There is also a provision for those who are unable to fulfill the previous two ways of obtaining the indulgence. Those who “through sickness, old age or other legitimate reason are unable to leave their homes, may still obtain the Plenary Indulgence … if, with the soul completely removed from attachment to any form of sin and with the intention of observing, as soon as they can, the usual three conditions, on the days February 2 to 11, 2008, in their hearts they spiritually visit the above-mentioned places and recite those prayers, trustingly offering to God, through Mary, the sickness and discomforts of their lives.”

Where is all that in the Bible?

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9

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Yes, you should believe in the Trinity

From Tower To Truth Ministries, they show us a couple of ways to answer the Jehovah’s Witnesses and their booklet Should You Believe In The Trinity? In this dialogue, Chris is the Christian, John is the Jehovah’s Witness. Here is an excerpt from the full article:

Chris: In fact, I found [the booklet] to be full of so many interesting quotations that I decided to go down to the library to locate some of the source material. Maybe you can help me, John. I’d like to run a few things by you that I discovered concerning this magazine.

John: Go ahead.

Chris: On page 4 of the Trinity booklet, it says that “The Encyclopedia Americana notes that the doctrine of the Trinity is considered to be ‘beyond the grasp of human reason”.

John: And it really is, Chris. I mean, who can comprehend a three- headed god?

Chris: I’d like you to take a look at this photocopy of the actual page from where the Watchtower quoted volume 27 of The Encyclopedia Americana. I’d like you to read this quote in the context of the original article. It’s right here on page 116.

John: Okay. It says, “It is held that although the doctrine is beyond the grasp of human reason, it is, like many of the formulations of physical science, not contrary to reason, and may be apprehended (though it may not be comprehended) by the human mind”. (underline ours)

Chris: Did you see that, John? It said that the doctrine of the Trinity is “….not contrary to reason and may be apprehended….by the human mind”. John, after reading the full statement from the encyclopedia, has the Watchtower quoted this article in context?

John: Well, sure. The Watchtower did use the exact words right from the article.

Chris: Yes, but has the Watchtower left out words that change the author’s viewpoint?

John: Chris, there are a hundred quotes in this magazine that prove the Trinity is false. Why are you making a fuss over this one? Didn’t you look at any others?

Chris: As a matter of fact, I did. On page 6 of the Trinity booklet it says, “Jesuit Fortman states: ‘The New Testament writers. . . give us no formal or formulated doctrine of the Trinity, no explicit teaching that in one God there are three co-equal divine persons…”. Here is a photocopy of the introduction of The Triune God, 1972, where this quote was taken from. The Watchtower quotes four words from page 15; “The New Testament writers”. They then pick up the next sentence of the quote from page 16. But read some of the highlighted text that falls between the two quotes.

John: “They call Jesus the Son of God. Messiah. Lord. Savior, Word. Wisdom. They assign Him the divine functions of creation, salvation, judgment. Sometimes they call Him God explicitly. They do not speak as fully and clearly of the Holy Spirit as they do of the Son, but at times they coordinate Him with the Father and the Son and put Him on a level with them as far as divinity and personality are concerned. (underline ours)

See how tricky and selective the Watchtower Society is with their quotes? Do not be fooled by their tactics.

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“Rivers of water run from my eyes…”

Psalm 119:136—Rivers of water run down from my eyes, because men do not keep Your law.

I’ve been reading through the Psalms lately, and just started on Psalm 119 a couple days ago. I am about halfway through it, and it did not take long to realize something: The writer of this Psalm does not see God’s laws as an undue burden for a man to carry. He sees God’s law for what it is: perfect. See, the Law of God was not given to show us how good and upright and righteous we could be. Paul lets us know that in no uncertain terms in Galatians 3:19. The Law was given, rather, to show the perfection of God, and to point us to the man who would be Christ. The man who knew the Law–the spirit of the Law, that is, not the letter–would know the Christ when He came.

However, there were many who knew the Law of God, and treated it with flippancy. They knew God, they had seen or heard or heard tell of the glory of God, and the salvation He brought to Israel. Yet they turned their back on that Law, and went and served other Gods. And the Psalmist shows us that this is an insult to God, and a thing that should be mourned over.

Let’s bring that verse into today’s conversation (The real one, not the “Emerging” one). Do we pour out rivers of water from our eyes because men kill and steal and blaspheme? I confess I have not done so much. But perhaps we should. After all, did not the Master implore us to do so? “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:4). Daniel, a man who served God from his youth, even in the pagan empire of the Babylonians, cried out to God thus: “O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. We have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets.” (Daniel 9:8-10).

Yet there are those who call themselves “the church” who–not only do they not mourn and weep over the sins of men against God–they rather celebrate the desecration of God’s laws by those who would serve their flesh and its lusts. They give a wink and a nod to homosexuality and cursing and the worship of other gods, and the blasphemy against the written word of God, and the worship of that grand humanistic idea of “inclusiveness.” They welcome into their midst those who would cast doubt on God’s word, and would claim that we can get to Heaven by following whatever path we want to, and bring in music and ideas from heathens and pagans like Oprah Winfrey and the Beatles.

If only there would pour forth rivers from the eyes of the church of our Lord Jesus Christ for those who spit upon and ignore the Law that God gave us–a Law that does not keep one under bondage, but one that was given so that we may know Him–that we would see that we are not greater than the Law, that we are not worthy of God’s mercy because we have transgressed that Law. We are no longer under the curse of the Law, praise God (Galatians 3:13)! But may we always look to that perfect Law of God, to see it as a constant reminder of the grace of God given to us sinners, and love the LORD our God by keeping His commandments!

As Spurgeon once wrote,

He wept in sympathy with God to see the holy law despised and broken. He wept in pity for men who were thus drawing down upon themselves the fiery wrath of God. His grief was such that he could scarcely give it vent; his tears were not mere drops of sorrow, but torrents of woe. In this he became like the Lord Jesus, who beheld the city, and wept over it; and like unto Jehovah himself, who hath no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, but that be turn unto him and live. The experience of this verse indicates a great advance upon anything we have had before: the psalm and the Psalmist are both growing. That man is a ripe believer who sorrows because of the sins of others. In Psalms 119:120 his flesh trembled at the presence of God, and here it seems to melt and flow away in floods of tears. None are so affected by heavenly things as those who are much in the study of the word, and are thereby taught the truth and essence of things. Carnal men are afraid of brute force, and weep over losses and crosses; but spiritual men feel a holy fear of the Lord himself, and most of all lament when they see dishonour cast upon his holy name.

–Charles Spurgeon, from The Treasury of David, Psalm 119:136