Christianity

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Mormonism: Making gods out of sinners since 1830.

The following quote comes from the blog Lehi’s Library:

“So in our view it doesn’t matter one bit that a person sinned at some point in their existence prior to becoming a god. It doesn’t preclude the possibility of being divine, because atonement can be made and the sin can be totally eradicated. In this sense I think we have a much more robust doctrine of atonement than mainstream Christianity. Our view of atonement is powerful enough to make gods out of sinners, theirs isn’t. . . . It doesn’t frustrate our sense of existence to speculate that God the Father was once like us.”

I wish all Mormons were that candid.

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Gin and juice missionaries.

Here’s the opening to a great little article on a matter we’ve been lamenting for years:

Many Christians tend to hang out a lot with unsaved friends for the sake of  “winning” them to Christ. (Unsaved girlfriends, boyfriends, club-buddies, former smokin’-buddies, co-workers, etc.) They often say that their plan is to “let their light shine”.

They say that’s the reason why they meet co-workers at the sports bar; That’s the reason why they share shots.

I sincerely doubt that.

In all honesty,  I’ve seen very little gospel sharing. Just a whole lot of chillin’ and jokin’ around. But, if you ask a “gin & juice missionary” to  reconsider their approach, they’ll quickly quip:

Stop being religious! Didn’t Christ eat with tax-collectors and sinners??

Read the entire article here.

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Sermon of the week: “Thou Shalt Not Covet” by Phil Johnson.

Your sermon of the week is Thou Shalt Not Covet by Phil Johnson. This is the next installment of Johnson’s series on the Ten Commandments that is being featured on DefCon every other week as your Sermon of the Week (on Thursdays).

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Quotes (891)

Holiness has a mighty influence upon others. When this appears with power in the lives of Christians, it works mightily upon the spirits of men; it stops the mouths of the ungodly . . . . I am sure we have found, by woeful experience, that in these debauched times, when religion is so bespattered with frequent scandals, yes, a general looseness of professors, it is hard to get any to come into the net of the Gospel. . . . If they were but holy and exemplary, they would be as a repetition of the preacher’s sermon to the families and neighbors among whom they converse, and would keep the sound of his doctrine continually ringing in their ears.

– William Gurnall

1617 – 1679

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Worship Songs Compared.

DefCon touches on the issue of music and the Church from time to time; thanks to a recent article from The Watchman’s Bagpipes, this is one of those times.

Yesterday in church we sang some contemporary “worship” songs at the opening of service and closed with a traditional hymn.  Our church often mixes the old and the new, the trite and the meaty.  I want to show you the difference for what passes as “worship” songs today, compared to what used to be standard fare.  I will give them in the order we sang them, and I want you to read the lyrics with a discerning eye.

Read the entire article here.

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Mother charged with a felony for spanking her child.

Unbelievable news coming out of Texas.

“You don’t spank children today,” said Judge Jose Longoria. “In the old days, maybe we got spanked, but there was a different quarrel. You don’t spank children.”

Rosalina Gonzales had pleaded guilty to a felony charge of injury to a child for what prosecutors had described as a “pretty simple, straightforward spanking case.” They noted she didn’t use a belt or leave any bruises, just some red marks.

Read the article here.

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Sermon of the week: “The Grim Reality of the Last Days” by John MacArthur.

John MacArthur Your sermon of the week is The Grim Reality of the Last Days by John MacArthur. This is not a topic Joel Osteen would dare touch, and it’s definitely not a message for the faint-hearted.

Mike Ratliff had this to say about this sermon:

John MacArthur preached something I had never heard before, which compared the eschatology of Islam with that of the Book of Revelation from our Bible. The main character in Islam’s eschatology is called the Mahdi. Also, according [to] their eschatology, Allah sends Jesus back to Earth to serve as the Mahdi’s greatest servant to convert the world to Islam. John MacArthur shows in his sermon how all of this lines up with the Antichrist and the False Prophet. Toward the end of their reign on earth, a false prophet comes to earth who opposes them and there is a great war. In Muslim eschatology, they win and this false prophet is overthrown, but as we know in the book of Revelation, This “false prophet” is the real Jesus Christ who will win that war. My summary pales in comparison to Dr. MacArthur’s fine sermon. I suggest you listen to it.

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Quotes (889)

Today’s families are suffering because the concepts of biblical family government–unknown to many in these last generations–have been replaced by humanistic and so-called “modern” ideas about child rearing that have produced anarchy in the home. Home has become simply a “crash pad”–a place to make a quick stop for food, clothes, and sleep. Each family member’s energies are focused on relationships and activities outside the home; there is little life within the family circle. The wisdom of past generations is disregarded; hence, grandma and grandpa find it best to live far away. Fathers focus all their attention on their work outside the home to supply the material needs of the crash pad and the family’s ever-increasing lust for entertainment. Mothers seek outside responsibilities in response to their discontent with life at home. Children put their trust in the wisdom of the group and seek security in peers, demanding more and more entertainment outside of the home.

– William & Colleen Dedrick

From: The Little Book of Christian Character & Manners

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They just don’t get it.

For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. Romans 10:2-4

They just don’t get it.

The false religions and cults simply cannot grasp the simplicity of the gospel message. This is evidenced anytime you have a conversation with one of them about sin, grace, faith, and justification.

You can go round and round in debate with a member of one of these organizations and you often walk away with a headache because they can’t see the forest for the trees.

They have been so indoctrinated to believe their respective organization’s interpretations of biblical texts that when someone presents them with the proper interpretation of biblical texts (using Scripture to interpret Scripture) they simply reject it.

It is so sad to watch the deceived continue in their deception, especially when they are leading others down the same broad path.

It’s like trying to convince a fish that it’s wet; the fish has known nothing but wet, so it cannot even fathom what dry is.

Recently the Jehovah’s Witnesses stopped by my home and dropped off an advertisement with my wife for an upcoming event. They won’t stay to talk (our house has been flagged for almost five years now) but they will occasionally still drop off literature . . . and run.

In their latest dump-and-run literature drop they gave my wife a flier for their upcoming commemoration of the anniversary of Jesus’ death. Here’s the opening line from that advertisement:

“John the Baptizer stated that Jesus ‘takes away the sin of the world.’ (John 1:29) This drew attention to Jesus’ role in saving obedient mankind.”

Jesus saved the obedient? 

See how subtle their deception is?

The obedient don’t need a Savior. Jesus Himself said He came for the sinner, not the righteous (Matthew 9:13, Mark 2:17).

This declaration by the Jehovah’s Witnesses is predicated on the erroneous assumption that our obedience is a prerequisite for Christ to be able save us. This is classic Watchtower Organization rhetoric and is essentially the doctrine of all cults and false religions: Believing you must do your part and cooperate with God to help Him or enable Him to save you.

They just don’t get it.

If the Jehovah’s Witnesses believe obedience is required as a means or requirement of salvation (which anyone who knows Watchtower doctrine can attest that this is indeed their position) then they better be obedient to all the Law without ever sinning once from cradle to grave, otherwise they will be found guilty of breaking all the Law (James 2:10):

For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.

But what’s even more damning to those seeking salvation via the conduit of obedience is the fact that they are under a curse for doing the very thing they think will save them (Galatians 3:10):

For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO DOES NOT ABIDE BY ALL THINGS WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW, TO PERFORM THEM.”

What Jehovah’s Witnesses (and Mormons, and Roman Catholics, and Muslims, etc.) fail to understand is that regeneration comes before obedience, not the other way around. Romans 8:6-8 makes our inability very clear:

For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

It’s a classic case of putting of the cart before the horse.

They just don’t get it.

It’s only after we’ve been saved, regenerated, made alive in Christ, been born again, that our works and obedience are pleasing and acceptable to God 

Our obedience is borne out of a love and desire to please the One who purchased us with His own blood, not out of us trying to appease Him and merit His favor like the pagans try do for their idols.

Our obedience, and the good works we do after being saved, come from God and are prepared beforehand for us to walk in (Ephesians 2:10). This is why our behavior should reflect our conversion (Matthew 3:8, Luke 3:8, Acts 26:20, Ephesians 4:1) and why the absence of which should cause us to question whether or not we’ve been genuinely converted.

Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you– unless indeed you fail the test?  2 Corinthians 13:5

Simply put, regeneration precedes obedience (John 14:15, John 14:21-24, 1 John 3:24).

What obedience did Abraham offer to become righteous before God (Genesis 15:6, Romans 4:3)? What obedience did John the Baptist declare to those coming to be baptized (Matthew 3:2)? What obedience did Christ declare upon the start of His earthly ministry (Matthew 4:17) or later in His ministry (Luke 13:5)? What obedience did the thief on the cross exhibit to be with Jesus that very day in paradise (Luke 23:39-43)? What obedience did Paul tell the Philippian jailer he needed to perform to be saved (Acts 16:30-31)?

The false faiths that dot the landscape of Christianity like pock marks all invalidate the word of God for the sake of their traditions (Matthew 15:6), and their works-righteousness gospel is in complete contradiction to Jesus’ teaching of the means of the free gift of God’s grace and mercy as cited in His example of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18:9-14. You cannot read those words of our Lord and still believe that your obedience (or anything for that matter) merits you any favor in God’s eyes. If you still believe otherwise, then you make Christ’s brutal, bloody, and barbaric sacrifice null and void because it was all done in vain. 

I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly. Galatians 2:21

See also: Why Don’t They Get it?

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Should Christians vote for the lesser of two evils?

The topic of whether or not Christians should vote recently came up in the comment thread of this post that originally asked the question of whether or not Christians should vote for a Mormon (i.e. Mitt Romney). However, the predominant question that emerged from the comment thread was: Should a Christian vote for the lesser of two evils?

Now, if a truly blood-bought, born-again, child of God was running for political office, the debate would be moot. But let’s face it, we will probably never be given that option (at least not on the presidential ticket). Any genuine Christian with presidential aspirations would be facing an insurmountable obstacle of opposition because the world would hate him because it hated Christ first (and no pupil or Christian presidential candidate is above His master).

The unfortunate truth is, gaining the approval of the voting populace would require compromising one’s faith and morals in order to be accepted and in order to procure the votes needed to win. The Christian candidate would have no choice but to assimilate to the world in order to garner the approval of the world. (To see how successful that pragmatic approach is just look at the result of years of pastors pandering to the world while their sheep are dying of starvation. There’s a reason why God warned us not to mix light with darkness.)

Time and time again in America Christians are relegated to having to choose between the lesser of the two evils and it doesn’t appear that the upcoming presidential election will be any different.

So, with all that said, my current position is that true Christians should not have to vote if they first have to sit down and estimate which candidate is the lesser of two evils. 

Although I cannot (and will not) dictate to others whether they should vote or not, my conscience tells me that voting for the lesser of two evils is still voting for evil.

Now, I know that there are many who will respectfully disagree with my position, and even suggest that it’s our duty as Americans and our obligation as Christians to vote for someone . . . anyone! So, for the furtherance of this discussion, I present the following four questions for your consideration:

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