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Another sad day.

It is so sad to watch pastor after pastor, and ministry after ministry acquiesce to or downright endorse Mark Driscoll.

It is with a heavy heart that I bring your attention to yet two more examples–two websites that I have long respected for their work, but now I can no longer endorse on DefCon.

The first one is Monergism. I have greatly enjoyed their Reformed resources but I have discovered that they endorse Mark Driscoll (as evidenced by their 163 links about him found on their website).

The other Driscoll endorsement was brought to my attention by DavidW, a regular reader and commenter on this blog. He pointed out this article from apologetics ministry C.A.R.M. in which the following quote was found:

Would I recommend anybody go to Mark Driscoll’s Mars Hill Church?  Absolutely yes.  Not only will you get good teaching, but you’ll encounter a vibrant community of believers in the midst of a very unchurched society.  Keep up the good work Mark.

It is so discouraging that there seems to be so little discernment within the Church today, even from those who in the past have exhibited great discernment. Times are getting grim.

At this time I have removed both of these ministries from DefCon’s category links and I will be contacting both of them. If my contacts are ignored or I’m told they’re going to continue in their endorsement of Driscoll, then you will see that their sites remain absent from DefCon. However, if they do change their stance on this man I will welcome them back with open arms and even announce DefCon’s endorsement of them in a future post.

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Quotes (703)

A W Pink When a man has really been convicted by the supernatural operation of the Holy Spirit, the first effect on him is complete and abject despair. His case appears to be utterly hopeless. He now sees he has sinned so grievously that it appears impossible for a righteous God to do anything but damn him for eternity. He sees what a fool he has been in heeding the voice of temptation, fighting against the Most High, and in losing his own soul. He recalls how often God has spoken to him in the past—as a child, as a youth, as an adult, upon a bed of sickness, in the death of a loved one, in adversities—and how he refused to listen and deliberately turned a deaf ear. He now feels he has sinned away his day of grace. But the ground must be plowed and harrowed before it is receptive to seed. So the heart must be prepared by these harrowing experiences, the stubborn will broken, before it is ready for the healing of the Gospel.

– A.W. Pink

1886 – 1952

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Quotes (700)

voddie-baucham So many of our children have little idea what they believe or why they believe it. Couple this with the fact that they are fallen human beings whose natural bent is to sin, and it is not difficult to see their dilemma. Failing to catechize our children is tantamount to surrendering to the culture. . . . Failing to catechize our children only makes it that much easier for the Secular Humanism with which they are constantly bombarded in school, on television, and through friends, neighbors, and coaches to take root and become the guiding principle by which they live.

– Voddie Baucham

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Quotes (696)

When was the last time you heard of a church rebuking members for gossip, admonishing men for the immodest dress of their wives and daughters, or excommunicating a member for adultery? Today’s evangelical church may take a strong stand on fundamental doctrines like the divine nature of Christ and the inspiration of Scripture, but it too often denies this Christ and this inspired Word by not practicing a true Christian lifestyle. The pattern of life of most Christians is so much like the world around them that they blend right in and cannot serve as salt and light.

– Philip Lancaster

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The epitome of “oxymoronic” – Christian fight clubs.

Just when you think you’ve seen it all, the pied pipers of the mile-wide, inch-deep church in America drop one rung lower on the ladder as they continue to lead the masses of goats down the broad path of destruction.

I thought the pragmatism of Laodicean evangelism techniques couldn’t shock me anymore but this article from the New York Times has left me speechless. Here are a few quotes form the article:

Recruitment efforts at the churches, which are predominantly white, involve fight night television viewing parties and lecture series that use ultimate fighting to explain how Christ fought for what he believed in. Other ministers go further, hosting or participating in live events. The goal, these pastors say, is to inject some machismo into their ministries — and into the image of Jesus — in the hope of making Christianity more appealing. “Compassion and love — we agree with all that stuff, too,” said Brandon Beals, 37, the lead pastor at Canyon Creek Church outside of Seattle. “But what led me to find Christ was that Jesus was a fighter.”

The sport is seen as a legitimate outreach tool by the youth ministry affiliate of the National Association of Evangelicals, which represents more than 45,000 churches.

Nondenominational evangelical churches have a long history of using popular culture — rock music, skateboarding and even yoga — to reach new followers. Yet even among more experimental sects, mixed martial arts has critics.

I can’t even begin to imagine what will come next in the name of “evangelism.”

For more, checkout this post too.

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Quptes (693)

A W Pink The Word declares, “The carnal mind is enmity against God” (Romans 8:7). Multitudes go through the form of paying homage to God, but of a “god” of their own imagination. They hate the living God, and, were it possible, would rid the universe of Him. This is clear from their treatment of Christ, for He was none other than “God . . . manifest in the flesh” (1 Timothy 3:16). They hated and hounded Him to death, and nothing short of death by crucifixion would appease them. At Calvary the real character of man was revealed, and the desperate wickedness of his heart laid bare.

– A.W. Pink

1886 – 1952

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Quotes (692)

voddie-baucham If our homes are to reflect our position as the people of God in the midst of the opposition of a pagan culture, we, like the Israelites, must learn to love. Our homes must be rife with the aroma of love. Those who visit us should notice immediately that they have left the world of self-serving, egocentric narcissism and have entered a safe harbor where people value and esteem others above themselves. Outsiders should enter our homes and never want to leave. Our neighbors should find excuses to visit us just to get another whiff of the fragrant aroma of love. The brokenhearted should long to be near us. The downtrodden and the abused should seek us out. Families on the brink of disaster should point to us and say, “Why can’t out homes be like that?”

– Voddie Baucham

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Jonah: The Father’s sovereignty and the Son’s deity.

I was recently reading Jonah when I discovered something throughout the book: The thread of the Father’s sovereignty which leads to the Son’s deity.

You can see God’s sovereignty throughout Jonah in the following verses where He displays His majestic control over His creation.

God is sovereign over . . .

1:7 – The lots. (You didn’t really think it was coincidence it revealed Jonah, did you? See Proverbs 16:33.)

1:14, 1:15, 4:8 – The storms and the wind.

1:17, 2:10 – The fish of the sea. (Even the really, really big ones. Who did you think directed the animals onto Noah’s Ark, and who did you think directed the ravens to bring Elijah food in 1 Kings 17:6?)

2:6 – Jonah’s very life.

3:5 – The salvation of an entire city of over 120,000. (This is also known as election.)

3:9, 4:2 – His own anger.

3:10, 4:2 – Calamity. (Yes, even in places like Haiti.)

4:6 – The plants.

4:7 – The insects. (Remember that little plague of insects the Egyptians had to endure prior to the Exodus?)

In the midst of all this, two things stand out to me in these verses that should not be missed.

1). Only God can forgive sins (Psalm 79:9, Isaiah 55:7).

2). Man can’t even control the wind (Ecclesiastes 8:8) but God controls the storms (Psalm 65:7, 89:9, 107:29, 135:7).

When one compares these truths of God the Father with that of His Son we plainly see that the only person to walk this earth that not only controlled storms (Matthew 8:26-27 and Luke 8:24-25) but could forgive sins (Matthew 9:2, Mark 2:5-6, and Luke 5:20-21) was none other than the glorious Mediator between man and God, the perfect spotless Lamb of God, the eternal Son, Emmanuel, Yeshua Ha’Mashiach, God in the flesh, the Lord Jesus Christ.


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What do D.B. Cooper, Jimmy Hoffa, the Fountain of Youth, and Mormon archaeological evidence have in common?

None of them have ever been found!

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Quotes (691)

This is the thought that should be uppermost on your mind in all you do for your children. In every step you take about them, in every plan and scheme and arrangement that concerns them, do not leave out that mighty question, “How will this affect their souls?”

– J.C. Ryle

1816 – 1900

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Jay Bakker and the art of manipulation.

So what do you do when you’re preaching to a church full of people and you want to persuade them to believe that a sin (that’s clearly defined in Scripture) isn’t really a sin?

Well, if you’re Jay Bakker, you first go for the shock of it all then follow it up with making the congregation feel stupid. If that doesn’t work, make them feel guilty. And if that still doesn’t work turn on the tears to manipulate their emotions.

And what do you do if none of this works? If you’re the Sundance Channel you make a short video of the incident, insert some sentimental music at just right spot, and make it available to upload to YouTube.

HT: The Museum of Idolatry

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Sermon of the week: “Sheep Among Wolves” by John MacArthur.

John MacArthur Your sermon of the week is a two part message by John MacArthur entitled Sheep Among Wolves. MacArthur identifies how to spot the wolves, what methods they will use to kill the sheep, and how the sheep should respond to the presence of wolves. I highly recommend this to the readers of DefCon.

Sheep Among Wolves 1

Sheep Among Wolves 2

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See the DefCon post: Are We Supposed To Pray For The Wolves?

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Quotes (688)

Instead of the Bible’s masculine doctrine of salvation in which an initiating God acts with efficacious love to subdue His chosen people to Himself, much of the church now proclaims a passive God who offers His love but would not think of imposing His love on His bride. The pallid Jesus stands at the door and knocks, hoping we’ll let Him in. God is no longer presented as the very archetype of masculine power and love. This kind of feminized doctrine has contributed to the proliferation of feminized men who stand fearful even before their wives. If God is feminized, what chance do Christian men have?

– Philip Lancaster

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DefCon introduces our latest resource for fellow pilgrims.

Over the past couple years DefCon has compiled a large cache of sermons available for free to download, and every Thursday we feature a new message for our Sermon of the week. So our repository of over 160 sermons continues to grow. Because of this DefCon now features a Sermons Page at the top of this blog for an easy way to get to the many sermons DefCon features.

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As if we needed more proof that Joel Osteen is one of those false teachers the Bible warns us about.

Recently Joel Osteen “blessed” Annise Parker, the new mayor of Houston, Texas who is openly homosexual. (See articles here, here, and here.)

“… We ask that everything we do would bring honor to you … and we just lift up especially Mayor Annise Parker. … Lord, we thank you just for raising her up and just for your goodness, your mercy in her life, and just for supernatural wisdom, Father. We honor her today and our other officials, and Lord, we count it a joy and honor to be here in your presence with all of our friends and we just thank you for this day. In Jesus name, amen.”

This is as mind boggling as the wolf who “blessed” an abortion mill, calling it “sacred ground.”

Ingrid Schlueter hits the nail on the head regarding Joel Osteen with this excerpt from her commentary:

We bring honor to God by asking Him to bless a woman who is living in conduct that He calls an “abomination”? Does Joel Osteen even possess a Bible?



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Quotes (685)

A W PinkThe Law speaks of what man must do for God; grace tells of what Christ has done for men. The Law demanded righteousness from men; grace brings righteousness to men. The Law brought out God to men; grace brings in men to God. The Law sentenced a living man to death; grace brings a dead man to life. The Law never had a missionary; the Gospel is to be preached to every creature. The Law makes known the will of God; grace reveals the heart of God!

– A.W. Pink

1886 – 1952

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On this Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Mormon church wishes to remind you that they’ve been racism-free for 31 years.

Mormon Racism

Isn’t “new revelation” about doctrine just grand? It’s like silly putty: so pliable in the hands of the “prophets” that they can overturn years of racist LDS traditions and teachings (including the prohibition against blacks in the priesthood) with one simple claim: God has changed His mind.

And since this “new revelation” in June of 1978, the LDS spin doctors have worked tirelessly to cover up the racist teachings of their prophets, even going so far as to change the Book of Mormon–the very book they claim not only contains the fullness of the gospel, but is the most correct book on earth (minus those 3,913 changes and corrections made to it of course).

So on this Martin Luther King Jr. Day, let us embark on a leisurely stroll down the halls of Mormonism’s history to see what this organization’s stance on race was until the summer of 1978.

And the gospel of Jesus Christ shall be declared among them [Lamanites]; wherefore, they shall be restored unto the knowledge of their fathers, and also to the knowledge of Jesus Christ . . . . and their scales of darkness shall begin to fall from their eyes; and many generations shall not pass away among them, save they shall be a white and delightsome people. – Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 30:5-6, (Changed in 1981 to read “pure and delightsome“)

And it came to pass that I beheld, after they had dwindled in unbelief they became a dark, and loathsome, and a filthy people, full of idleness and all manner of abominations. – Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi 12:23

And their curse was taken from them, and their skin became white like unto the Nephites; And their young men and their daughters became exceedingly fair . . . – Book of Mormon, 3 Nephi 2:15-16

For behold, the Lord shall curse the land with much heat, and the barrenness thereof shall go forth forever; and there was a blackness came upon all the children of Canaan, that they were despised among all people. – Pearl of Great Price, Moses 7:8

The day of the Lamanites is nigh. For years they have been growing delightsome, and they are now becoming white and delightsome, as they were promised. . . . The children [Indian children in the LDS] home placement program in Utah are often shades lighter than their brothers and sisters in the hogans on the reservations . . . . These young members of the Church are changing to whiteness and to delightsomeness. One white elder jokingly said that he and his companion were donating blood regularly to the hospital in the hope that the process might be accelerated. – Spencer Kimball, Improvement Era, Pags 922-923, December 1960

Shall I tell you the law of God in regard to the African race? If the white man who belongs to the chosen seed mixes his blood with the seed of Cain, the penalty, under the law of God, is death on the spot. This will always be so. – Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Volume 10, Page 110, 1863

You can see men and women who are sixty or seventy years of age looking young and handsome; but let them apostatize, and they will become grayhaired, wrinkled, and black, just like the Devil. – Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Volume 5, Page 332, 1857

Why are so many of the inhabitants of the earth cursed with a sin of blackness? It comes in consequence of their fathers rejecting the power of the Holy Priesthood, and the law of God. They will go down to death. And when all the rest of the children have received their blessings in the Holy Priesthood, then that curse will be removed from the seed of Cain, and they will then come up and possess the priesthood, and receive all the blessings which we now are entitled to. The volition of the creature is free; this is a law of their existence, and the Lord cannot violate his own law; were he to do that, he would cease to be God. – Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Volume 11, Page 272, 1866

Suppose we summons them to appear here, and here declare that it is right to mingle our seed, with the black race of Cain, that they shall come in with us and be pertakers [sic] with us of all the blessings God has given to us. On that very day, and hour we should do so, the priesthood is taken from this Church and kingdom and God leaves us to our fate. The moment we consent to mingle with the seed of Cain and Church must go to desstruction [sic], — we should receive the curse which has been placed upon the seed of Cain . . . . Therefore I will not consent for one moment to have an african [sic] dictate me or any Bren. with regard to Church or State Government. . . . If the Affricans [sic] cannot bear rule in the Church of God, what business have they to bear rule in the State Government affairs of this Territory or any others? – Brigham Young Address, Ms d 1234, Box 48, Folder 3, LDS Church Historical Department, February 05, 1852

Not only was Cain called upon to suffer, but because of his wickedness he became the father of an inferior race. A curse was placed upon him and that curse has been continued through his lineage and must do so while time endures. Millions of souls have come into this world cursed with a black skin and have been denied the privilege of Priesthood and the fulness [sic] of the blessings of the Gospel. These are the descendants of Cain. Moreover, they have been made to feel their inferiority and have been separated from the rest of mankind from the beginning. – Joseph Fielding Smith, Way to Perfection, Page 101

It was well understood by the early elders of the Church that the mark which was placed on Cain and which his posterity inherited was the black skin. The Book of Moses informs us that Cain and his descendants were black. – Joseph Fielding Smith, Way to Perfection, Page 107

There is a reason why one man is born black and with other disadvantages, while another is born white with great advantages. The reason is that we once had an estate before we came here, and were obedient, more or less, to the laws that were given us there. Those who were faithful in all things there received greater blessings here, and those who were not faithful received less. – Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrine and Covenants, Volume 1, Page 61

The negroes are not equal with other races where the receipt of certain spiritual blessings are concerned . . . but this inequality is not of man’s origin. It is the Lord’s doing, is based on his eternal laws of justice, and grows out of the lack of spiritual valiance of those concerned in their first estate. – Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, Pages 527-528, 1966 Edition

“I don’t know, I don’t know, I can only say that.”

The late Mormon prophet, seer, and revelator, Gordon B. Hinckley



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Quotes (682)

The church is in a sad state today. Never mind the mainline denominations that have long-since abandoned biblical faith; we’re talking about the bible-believing church. Here, too often, we see much ado about nothing. There is talk of revival without the reality. The church today measures its success by the numbers on its rolls, the size of its offerings, or the volume of its worship bands—rather than by the holiness of its members.

– Philip Lancaster

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Sermon of the week: “No Lie is of the Truth” by Phil Johnson.

Phil Johnson carefully handles the issue of lying in the sermon No Lie is of the Truth. He even tackles the much debated lie of Rahab. This is a good sermon to digest on the whole issue of lying and deception.