christian
A DefCon milestone: Our one millionth visitor.
It was two years ago that DefCon entered the blogoshphere and today we’re celebrating our one millionth visitor. We’re marking the occasion with a whole new look, and I’ll be tweaking it over the week to come till it’s perfect.
We’ve seen a lot, been through a lot, learned a lot, and grown a lot. What keeps us going is the myriad of comments and e-mails from those whose lives have been changed, strengthened, and encouraged by this blog. We truly appreciate our readers and would not be where we’re at today if it weren’t for you.
We also know that this will not last forever. Like many things in life, there is a season for everything, and seasons come and go. The handwriting is already on the wall, and sites like this will be labeled “illegal” and “subversive” in the near future as attacks and persecution continue to increase worldwide against Christians who preach and hold to the exclusivity of Christ.
We appreciate your continued support as we work while there’s still light, for the darkness is fast approaching when we will no longer be able to labor for the Kingdom. Again, thank you all for your readership and encouragement.
Three years ago today.
It was three years ago today that I sat through my last Sunday at a seeker-sensitive, man-centered social club operating under the guise of a church. Prior to that liberating Sunday I had begun reading the Bible through; not just selected parts here and there, but book by book, chapter by chapter, line by line, verse by verse.
As I was doing this, God began working on my heart and I began to notice a striking disconnect between the Church in the New Testament and the church I was sitting in (and the various others I had gravitated to in my life). I began to slowly see that something was terribly wrong.
I arranged to meet with the pastor to discuss some of the many issues that I simply couldn’t ignore. One of these issues happened to be the pastor’s proclivity to treat the pulpit as a venue to tell jokes and quaint little stories. When I urged him to stop telling so many jokes and instead preach the Word, his response was that God made him funny and that’s how he was going to be.
Our two-hour conversation ended on a promising note, but that quickly vaporized and it was apparent that it was time for me and my family to separate from that church amidst the scowling gossip that I was a “judgmental Pharisee” (not a surprising ad hominem attack—without any foundation in truth—from a congregation woefully ignorant of Scripture as they nursed on watered down milk year after year from the “funny” pastor).
After we left we began participating in a home church with a few other couples who had also left since there were no other churches in the area that we knew of where we could go to hear the preaching of the Word without compromise.
Shortly after we began our home church a couple that were friends with another couple already in our home church joined. This new couple had not been attending any church for quite some time as they were disenchanted with things that were happening in the local churches, yet they were fans of Joel Osteen.
We were meeting regularly for almost a year, during which time we also fed on sermons downloaded from the internet from great Bible teachers and we regularly went street witnessing. Everything was going good and during that time there was an incredible amount of growth among all of us, unlike anything we ever experienced in the lukewarm churches we had been attending. It wasn’t until later that I discovered the last couple to join us (the Osteen fans) were actually there to infiltrate the group to report back to the pastor what it was that we were doing and what I was “teaching.” The reason for this was that the pastor’s own son had defected from his father’s teachings and church and was meeting with us. After seeing that I was not a “Pharisee” as initially alleged, the couple sent in as spies remained with us . . . for a while.
Sermon of the week: “The Coming Final Persecution” by Steve Lawson.
As a follow-up to last week’s post on the coming persecution (found here), we bring you DefCon’s sermon of the week.
Steve Lawson discusses the uncomfortable subject of Christian persecution in the message The Coming Final Persecution. This message is not just about persecution in general, but is more specifically about the coming final persecution that Jesus warned us about.
What is man?
What is man that You are mindful of him? (Psalm 8:4)
Here’s the information behind this spectacular photograph of a “three-light-year-tall pillar of gas and dust“ from the Hubble space telescope.
NASA is releasing today a brand new Hubble photo of a small portion of one of the largest seen star-birth regions in the galaxy, the Carina Nebula. Towers of cool hydrogen laced with dust rise from the wall of the nebula. The scene is reminiscent of Hubble’s classic “Pillars of Creation” photo from 1995, but is even more striking in appearance. The image captures the top of a three-light-year-tall pillar of gas and dust that is being eaten away by the brilliant light from nearby bright stars. The pillar is also being pushed apart from within, as infant stars buried inside it fire off jets of gas that can be seen streaming from towering peaks like arrows sailing through the air.
Another black cloud moving in from the horizon.
As a follow-up to The Brewing Storm and the Coming Demise of DefCon, Another Clap of Thunder, and I Feel Raindrops, I now submit for your consideration more proof of the coming storm of persecution against true Biblical Christianity.
Although I don’t agree with everything he says (i.e. what appears to be his Dominionist view), this article from Chuck Baldwin entitled Army Report Says Christians Threaten US Foreign Policy should raise the hair on the back of every Christian’s neck.
Here’s what Ingrid Schlueter had to say about it:
Islam may be sending its warriors to fly planes into US buildings, bomb our subway systems and plan[t] dirty bombs in major cities, but the threat that gets the attention of the US military is Christians and their end-times beliefs. This is a very disturbing column from Chuck Baldwin who tells about the army report that fingers American Christians as a threat because of their eschatology. Please see how your tax dollars are being spent and how you, as Christians, are being once again promoted as a “threat.”
With the terrorist shooting by a Muslim soldier at base on American soil recently, you’d think the Army would have a better grasp on the real threat from within.
The plight of Paul and Zabeth Bayne.
I wanted to share with the readers of DefCon a sad story concerning a Christian family in Canada. This was brought to my attention by a faithful reader of DefCon, Paul Bayne, and this is his story.
A Surrey family that had their three children seized by the government of British Columbia in October of 2007 is still desperately trying to get them back more than 26 months later. Their children were taken by the province after Child Services believed that the parents had shaken their then two-month-old baby girl, Bethany, even though those allegations now seem to be false, and government workers even advised their boys be returned as early as November of 2007.
The children have been in foster care ever since. The two boys who are aged five and four, respectively, and Bethany, now two, were taken by the Ministry of Child and Family Development when Paul and Zabeth Bayne were suspected of shaking their baby girl causing a head injury. The accusation is commonly known as “Shaken Baby Syndrome.” The Bayne’s insisted the injury occurred when their younger son tripped and fell on their daughter, but those pleas fell on deaf ears.
But the case has been fraught with concern about the power that government authorities have to seize children from their parents on slim evidence, and the lengthy time it has taken to restore the children to their parents again. Worse yet, evidence has surfaced which indicates the province had numerous opportunities to return their children, but for some reason did not. (Source: http://communities.canada.com/vancouversun/blogs/communityofinterest/archive/2009/12/28/a-family-in-need-of-reunification.aspx)
The lawyer representing the children’s ministry had suggested the return of the two older boys to the parents because there was no evidence of harm done on the boys, according to documents obtained by CBC News on Friday.
Government lawyer Finn Jensen believed the case for holding the two boys would not hold up in court, and John Fitzsimmons, a community services manager, was aware of the lawyer’s position, according to a ministry correspondence dated July 14, 2008.
“[A] medical report of November 2007, completed shortly after the two older children came into care, indicates that there was no evidence of harm of injury to the children,” the correspondence said.
“No new evidence has come to light, which would indicate a risk to these children,” it said.
Jensen’s opinion on the case was that “the director should consider a return of the two children to the parents.”
The couple consulted more than a dozen experts in Canada and the U.S. — including pediatricians and pathologists — who all concluded there was no evidence of inflicted injury, abuse and injury from shaking on the girl.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2009/03/05/bc-child-seizure-protest.html#ixzz0l6KqALBF
The Baynes have posted ten experts reports on their website which confirm that no abuse occured and the history of their son falling on their baby was consistent with the injuries seen. Some of the experts involved include the chief neuroradiologist from Stanford University Dr. Patrick Barnes, child forensic expert Dr. John Plunkett, biomechanics, Dr. Chris Van Ee and Dr. Kenneth Monson. You can view these reports online here: http://apleaforjustice.org/Reports.aspx
In May of 2008 the Baynes attended a mediation in which the Ministry of Child and Family Development returned their two oldest children to them. Unfortunately prior to the mediation Global TV had interviewed them and following mediation aired their story. You can view this interview here: http://paulandzabethbayne.wordpress.com/2010/01/24/global-tv-bayne-family/ In response to this the Ministry canceled their agreement with the Baynes.
The Surrey couple, Paul and Zabeth Bayne, also obtained internal documents from the Ministry of Children and Family Development that suggest their daughter likely suffers glutaric aciduria, a rare disease often mistaken for child abuse.
Glutaric aciduria is a genetic disorder with varied symptoms, sometimes including bleeding and swelling of the brain.
Several doctors told CBC News on Thursday that the disorder has been mistaken for child abuse in other cases, and children suffering from it can die.
The Baynes, who hadn’t heard of the condition until they obtained the ministry documents, said they want their daughter assessed and treated immediately: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2009/04/02/bc-surrey-parents-children.html
Surrey councillor Marvin Hunt is personally stepping into the fight of a former Hope couple to regain custody of their children seized more than two years ago by the B.C. Children’s Ministry.
And Hunt is not alone among the doctors, social workers and others imploring the ministry to follow its own rules and return the three children.
Quotes (731)
In the creation, man was made in God’s image; in the incarnation God was made in man’s image. . . . He took our flesh that He might take our sins, and so appease God’s wrath. . . . Christ’s taking our flesh was one of the lowest steps of His humiliation. . . . For Christ to be made flesh was more humility than for the angels to be made worms. . . . He stripped Himself of the robes of His glory, and covered Himself with the rags of our humanity.
– Thomas Watson
1620 – 1686
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The loathsome carcass does not more hatefully swarm with crawling maggots, than an unsanctified soul with filthy lusts. Look backward; where was ever the place, what was ever the time, in which you did not sin? Look inward; what part or power can you find in your soul or body which is not poisoned with sin? . . . Call to mind your omissions and commissions; the sins of your thoughts, words, and actions; the sins of your youth, and the sins of your riper years. Do not be like a desperate bankrupt that is afraid to look over his books. Read the records of conscience carefully. These books must be opened sooner or later.
– Joseph Alleine
1634 – 1668
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So much of the music invading the churches today seems little more than a carnal imitation of the world. There is very little difference between that which is presented on the church platform and that which is presented on the television or the worldly floor show—except of course, that “religious” words are uttered rather than “secular” ones. But the spirit is of the world; the appeal is to the flesh. This we abhor and reject as having no place in the worship of God. That which is sacred ought not to be prostituted and used as entertainment. If men want to be entertained let them be honest enough to go to some secular hall of amusement and be entertained; let them not pretend to be worshiping or in a service when entertainment is the order of the day. No! When we gather to worship, we want to keep the world out; we want to appeal not to the flesh but to the spirit; we want not the sophistication of the world but the simplicity of Christ.
– William Payne
1938 – 1997
The Church of No Offense
[This article by Paul Proctor really speaks to so much of what we see in the church today. The church that uses pragmatic and carnal means and foolishly believes that these flesly tools are going to do a spiritual work. Sadly, this betrays a complete ignorance of the truth that faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. The word of God that likewise must be quickened or made alive by the Holy Spirit else it will fall upon deaf ears.
But such truths are not believed by countless preachers who would rather employ gimmicks, rock and roll, skits, dramas and the like, instead of faithfully preaching the whole counsel of God’s word. And why not because you cannot grow a successful money-making business unless you have a product that will appeal to a mass market. Peter Drucker taught his church growth disciples well and they are doing their utmost to give the people what they want.
Enjoy the article…brother Michael]
By Paul Proctor
April 7, 2010
NewsWithViews.com
From compromise to capitulation
There was a time during Jesus’ earthly ministry when the crowds that followed him grew quite large. He had become what we would call today, a “celebrity” and, by those same societal standards, a “success,” even though He had not yet faced the cross for which He came.
The Gospel of John tells about “a great multitude that followed Him because they saw His miracles.” When Jesus looked up one day and surveyed the enormous crowd before Him, He knew they needed to eat. So, taking “five barley loaves and two small fishes” that were found among them, He fed His followers. The men alone numbered five thousand.
Considering the seductive tactics many churches use to draw crowds these days, it is important to note that Jesus did not use food or the promise of it to bribe people into following Him. More…
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Some think that because God made them, surely He will not damn them. This is true, if they had continued good, as He made them. God made the devil good, yes an excellent creature, yet we know that He shall be damned (Matt. 25:41). If God spared not His holy angels (Jude 6), after they became sinful, shall man think that God will spare him? A sinful man shall be judged at the last day, not according to what he was by God’s first making; but as he shall be found defiled and corrupted by the devil, and by his own lusts.
– Henry Scudder
1585 – 1659
Quiz: What points sinners to Christ?
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A case could be made that some of the derisive criticisms leveled at the Puritans were due to a smoldering resentment at their God-fearing and Christ-honoring lives. This trait in the Puritan makeup seems to disturb and agitate a society given over to pleasing “the world, the flesh, and the devil.”
– I.D.E. Thomas
“The Roman Road to Wrath” by Brannon Howse.
Back in June of 2008 I published a piece on the downward spiral of sin entitled The Evolution of Sin. In similar fashion I recently discovered the following piece by Brannon Howse from May of 2009 entitled The Roman Road to Wrath: Five Consequences for a Nation that Rejects God. The parallels between Paul’s admonitions and America’s current condition (as described in both posts) are inescapable.
The Roman Road to Wrath
Five Consequences for a Nation that Rejects God
By Brannon Howse
Ideas-and the actions they produce-have consequences, and the Bible is very specific about what a nation will reap when it rejects God. America is already experiencing the results of the ideological path it has been wandering. Lawlessness and disorder have their roots in our continually snubbing the God of the Bible.
Chapter 1 of Romans delineates five specific national consequences for denying God. To be sure, there are others outlined in Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and elsewhere in the Old Testament, but in this article I will focus just on Paul’s warnings because they are so explicit and frighteningly relevant to what is happening in America today.
1. The nation that continually rejects God becomes a nation of fools.
Romans 1:21-22:
Because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools.
According to verse 21, people become futile, vain, and useless. Their hearts become darkened, allowing them to be seduced into accepting spiritual lies.
Verse 22 points out that even though they profess to be wise, they actually become fools. This refers specifically to the extremes men will go to in order to justify their sin and false beliefs about God. Situational ethics, moral relativism, and postmodernism are all methods used to justify rebellion against the character and nature of God. (And remember Psalm 14:1? It tells us that it’s the fool that says in his heart there is no God. America has denied God and the need for His existence in every area of life.)
2. The nation that continually rejects God accepts pagan spirituality.
Romans 1:25:
Who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
Pagan spirituality centers on the worship of nature, yet its ultimate goal is to sidestep feeling guilt-for anything. Our world has moved from theism to atheism to pantheism, the belief that “god is all and all is god and all is one.” The Denver Post in June 2008 reported that pagan spirituality is doubling in America every 18 months.
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For one, I care little for the government which presides at Washington, in comparison with the government which rules the millions of American homes. No administration can seriously harm us if our home life is pure, frugal, and godly. No statesmanship or legislation can save us, if once our homes become the abode of profligacy. The home rules the nation. If the home is demoralized, it will ruin it. The real seed corn whence our Republic sprang was the Christian households represented in the Mayflower, or the family alter of the Hollander and the Huguenot. All the best characters, best legislation, best institutions, and best church life were cradled in those early homes. They were the taproot of the Republic, and of the American churches.
– Theodore L. Cuyler
1822 – 1909
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If you go out of time unfitted for eternity, better you had never been in time.
– Thomas Doolittle
1630 – 1707
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The millstone which turns about all day, grinding corn for others and not for itself, at night it stands in the same place where it was in the morning. After a great volume of grain has passed by, it is now emptied of all, having received nothing in the bargain but wearing itself out for the profit of others. In the same way, worldly men engrossed in the pursuit of earthly vanities toil throughout the day, and when the night of death comes they are in the same position as they were when they began. All they have is the labor for their pains; they retain nothing of the things which passed through their hands . . . . If we would have our thirst slaked and abated, it must not be by larger drinking of these unsatisfying drinks, which will only increase our appetite, but by purging away worldly lust and concupiscence, which are the true cause of our insatiableness.
– George Downame
1560 – 1634
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Till men are weary and heavy laden, and pricked at the heart, and quite sick of sin, they will not come to Christ for cure, nor sincerely enquire, “What shall we do?” They must see themselves as dead men, before they will come to Christ that they may live.
– Joseph Alleine
1634 – 1668
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We have a tragic situation today when men in the pulpits say that they believe the doctrines of grace but they refuse to preach and teach them to their people.
– William Payne
1938 – 1997
Christ Alone Wyoming 