Christianity

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A Roman Catholic with univeralist leanings vs. an Atheist on the topic of Christmas.

I found this short and interesting video debate between a Roman Catholic (who includes Evangelicals, Catholics, and Mormons under the umbrella of “Christian”) and an Atheist on the subject of Christmas.

The Roman Catholic is a Foxnews anchor, and the Atheist is from the Freedom From Religion Foundation. Yes, the same Freedom From Religion Foundation that honors the bloodthirsty racist Margaret Sanger as a great “Free Thinker.”

All in all, a very entertaining video.


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Christmas Perspectives.

Similar to the previous post Thanksgiving Perspectives, I wanted to take the opportunity to recommend that you keep the Christmas holiday in perspective. I offer the following two things I believe will help you to do this: Download and listen to this sobering message by Bill Wilson and view the video on this post.


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Straw men should not play with fire.

There’s a new purveyor of false doctrine in town, and they’re using the same argument often used by Atheists to deny God’s justice and punishment of the wicked. The New Covenant Group argues against Hell using a famous but woefully ignorant line of argumentation commonly employed by those who deny God’s existence. Before I address this and show you not only the absurdity of the argument but how to easily dismantle it, I want you to watch the following video from NCG to better understand the problem:

I originally found the above video on The Museum of Idolatry and the following was Chris Rosebrough’s commentary:

Here’s a nifty trick used by almost ALL false teachers. Ignore the clear teaching of the Bible and build a straw man argument based upon a distorted view of the evidence (in this case via suppression of clear Biblical data). Then beat up on the straw man that you’ve constructed (that shouldn’t be because hard [sic] straw men don’t fight back).  Once the straw man is good and dead then assert your own position as if it were the truth.

That’s precisely what’s happening in this video put out by the “New Covenant Group” that claims there is no hell.  Pay REAL CLOSE attention to the fact that NONE of the passages where Jesus teaches the doctrines of God’s wrath and eternal punishment are discussed. Instead, there is only an appeal to an artificially constructed Jesus that was built using only partial data and warped human reasoning.

Chris certainly hit the nail on the head and now  I would like to explore this straw man that the thespian and his pastor in the above video concocted.

First of all I want to make it clear that the sovereign, glorious, majestic, holy God of all creation isn’t a grovelling middle-aged, balding man like the theatrical blasphemer in the above video. Secondly, God begs and grovels for no man! Until you begin to understand the infinite holiness and unparalleled awesomeness of God you won’t begin to understand the fallacy of their argument.

The proposition that God wants us to love Him but if we don’t He will then send us to Hell for all eternity is a misrepresentation of the Gospel and is the product of this very poorly constructed straw man.

It’s not a matter of if we don’t love Him then He’ll cast us into Hell, mankind is already going there. There is no neutrality in the issue of man standing before God. God is not wringing His hands hoping someone, somewhere, will love Him. We are born into iniquity, there is no good in us, we are always doing evil, and we do not seek after God (Ecclesiastes 7:20, Romans 3:11, 23).

Secondly, we are already in judgment. The Bible is clear that the wrath of God already abides on sinners (John 3:36) and that those who do not believe in the Son of God are already judged (John 3:18). We are not floating around this life in a state of neutrality and after our death we’ll then find out if we are going to receive Heaven or Hell.  No, we are drudging around this life with the fetters of sin constantly about us. We are tethered to the abyss of Hell from birth because we are born unregenerate and hostile to God; it is our very nature.

Thirdly, their argument is absolutely fallacious because God knows that unless He calls us, we aren’t going to love Him anyway (John 6:44, John 17:2). And every one of us who are His elect, His chosen, His children were on that same road. It wasn’t until God in His infinite grace, mercy, and love toward us (while we were yet still sinners) rescued us from our rebellious and hostile stance against Him.

The concept that God wants us to love Him or He’ll throw us into Hell is a concept absolutely foreign to Scripture and any serious Bible student should know that. This warped depiction of the holy Triune God of all creation by these mockers in the above video is based solely on their blatant misrepresentation of Scripture (or more specifically a total absence of Scripture). And the furtherance of their lie is wholly dependent upon the biblical illiteracy of their church members.

We are not saved by our act of choosing to love God, and conversely we don’t have to refuse to love God to be found guilty and thus be cast into Hell. Without Christ we already stand condemned!

But the good news is that God loved us so much that He offered His only Son as a propitiation for our sins. Jesus Christ took on human form and willingly gave up His life as a perfect substitute to save us from the wrath of God and from the Hell that we so justly deserve. The condition of escaping Hell is not based on our loving God, it is based on the finished work of Christ at Calvary.


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See also Denying Hell: The bandwagon is getting quite full and Hell is necessary




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Catholic Apologists and Excommunication

The deeper you dig into the mire of Catholicism the more gems you discover.  Here is one I would like to share with you about how all the “layman” Catholic apologists of YouTube fame, the Web and elsewhere should be “bound in the fetters of excommunication” as they are violating one of their papal decrees.  A decree that is still on the books that forbids public and private disputatations (i.e. debates) with heretics on the Catholic faith.  This law of the Catholic land being given by decree of Alexander IV (1254-1261) in “Sextus Decretalium”, Lib. V, c. ii.  We read:

We furthermore forbid any lay person to engage in dispute, either private or public, concerning the Catholic Faith. Whosoever shall act contrary to this decree, let him be bound in the fetters of excommunication. [Online source]

So, the next time you are earnestly contending for the faith once delivered unto the saints with a Roman Catholic, you might want to point this little tidbit out to them and see how they react. 

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Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible

Text from YouTube:

“Dr. Patton is the staff Geologist for the Qumran Plateu excavation in Israel, the site that produced the Dead Sea Scrolls some 2,000 years ago. These scrolls, perhaps the most significant archeological discovery of all time, have changed the way we view the Bible.

Many have been led to believe that the original text of the Bible has deteriorated over years of copying and recopying. The Dead Sea Schrolls provide a test of that hypothesis, allowing us to compare modern versions with recently discovered manuscripts written over 2,000 years ago.

Dr. Patton will take you to the same scene of the original caves where the scrolls were discovered with one of the Bedouins who made the discovery. This is a fascinating story with eternal implications.

Dr. Patton has a broad educational background; four years at Florida College, Temple Terrace, FL (Bible); two years at Austin Peay State University, Clarksville, TN (Geology); two years at Indiana Univ./Purdue Univ., Indianapolis, IN (Geology); two years, Pacific School of Graduate Studies. He has worked as Geologist in US, Canada, Australia, England, Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, Cambodia, Israel, and Jordan. Dr. Patton has participated in dinosaur excavations in Colorado, Texas, Utah, Wyoming and Canada. He is credited with excavating the longest consecutive dinosaur trail in North America, totaling 157 tracks, extending over 500 feet. He is a member of the Geological Society of America and was a speaker at their 1997 annual convention. Dr. Patton lectures at universities across the United States. He has conducted up to twelve Creation/Evolution Seminaries a year for twenty five years. He has participated in numerous public debates on creation/evolution including radio and TV debates. He has testified three times before Texas State Textbook Committee, Austin, TX. Presently, Dr. Patton is consulting geologist & partner in Mazada Corporation, Dallas, TX. He is a staff geologist of the Creation Evidence Museum, Glen Rose, TX, staff geologist for the Qumran Plateau excavation in Israel, an area supervisor at the City of David excavation in Jerusalem and chairman of the Metroplex Institute of Origon Science. He preaches for the Melrose church of Christ in Richardson, Texas.”

 

 

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Quotes (672)

Paganism was a system of deceivableness. It was the worship of a false god, under the pretence of being the worship of the true God. But popery [Roman Catholicism] is a deceivableness on a scale far beyond that of paganism. The one was a counterfeit of the religion of the Gospel. Popery has … a saviour of its own -the Church, to wit. It has a sacrifice of it own -the Mass. It has a mediator of its own -the Priesthood. It has a sanctifier of its own -the Sacrament. It has a justification of its own -that even of infused righteousness. It has a pardon of its own -the pardon of the Confessional; and it has in the heavens an infallible, all-prevailing advocate unknown to the Gospel -the “Mother of God.” It thus presents to the world a spiritual and saving apparatus for the salvation of men, and yet it neither sanctifies nor saves anyone. It looks like a church; it professes to have all that a church ought to have; and yet, it is not a church. It is a grand deception -“the all-deceivableness of unrighteousness.”

– J.A. Wylie (from The Papacy is the Antichrist)
– 1808 – 1890

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Rick Warren’s Radicalis Conference

I want to give all of the DefCon contributors and readers enough time to get tickets for Saddleback’s latest conference, Radicalis (i.e “Radical Is” which you will find with a backward “R” on their website).  Here, in case reading your Bible, sound exposition, prayer, and a study of church history were not enough, you can now learn from the movers and shakers in Christdom about absolute surrender, sacrificial lifestyle and authentic Christianity.  All as Rick Warren and his team extend an invidation to radicals only to attend this conference that is billed as,

…a unique hands-on, comprehensive experience that will enhance each member of your team’s role in your church and build and inspire them to serve God in your community and the world. Rick Warren, the Saddleback Team and leading national pastors will challenge, develop, and expand your vision to be a moving force for God in today’s world.

They’ll help you understand the paradigm, learn the process and build relationships for expanding your ministry. They’ll enlarge your understanding of what “church” and “ministry” mean to enable you to affect positive, purposeful change for God. Imagine what would happen in your community, in your church and in our world if your church team collectively shared an experience guided by the Spirit of God in which we saw His calling and His will for your ministry.

And who will be the speakers that will teach you about “church” and “ministry”?  Well, well, I’m sure you are sitting at the edge of your seat in rapt anticipation.  Without further delay, some key speakers from the entire speaker list include:

  • Rick Warren
  • Andy Stanley
  • Mark Driscoll
  • Perry Noble
  • Dino Rizzo
  • Kerry Shook

So there you have it.   Any takers?  For a few insights, you can check out what Ken Silva has to say on his blog.

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Quotes (671)

O, the work that sin has done in the world! This is the enemy that has brought in death; that has robbed and enslaved man, that has turned the world upside down, and sown the dissensions between man and the creatures, between man and man, yea, between man and himself, setting the physical part against the rational, the will against the judgment, lust against conscience; yea, worst of all, between God and man, making the sinner both hateful to God and the hater of God. This is the traitor that thirsted for the blood of the Son of God, that sold Him, that mocked Him, that scourged Him, that spat in His face, that mangled His body . . . condemned Him, nailed Him, crucified Him. . . . This is the bloody executioner that has killed the prophets, burned the martyrs, murdered all the apostles, all the patriarchs, all the kings and potentates; that has destroyed cities, swallowed empires, and devoured whole nations. Whatever weapon it was done by, it was sin that caused the execution. Do you still think it is only a small thing? If Adam and all his children could be dug out of their graves, and their bodies piled up to heaven, and an inquest was made as to what matchless murderer was guilty of all this, it would be all found in sin.

– Joseph Alleine

1634 – 1668

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Second-grader sent home and ordered to undergo a psychological evaluation for drawing a crucifix.

After a class was instructed to sketch something that reminded them of the Christmas holiday, one student drew a crucifix. Apparently, however, according to the godless government-run public school, not only did Christ’s birth have nothing to do with His birth (like they know anything about theology anyway), but it also warranted this child’s removal from school and necessitated a psychological evaluation. Read more about this shocking story from Massachusetts.

Welcome to a brave new world.

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Sermon of the week: “Grace Conceived – Unconditional Election” by Brian Borgman.

Brian Borgman Your sermon of the week is Grace Conceived: Unconditional Election by Brian Borgman. This is a great message on the doctrine of Election. If you struggle with this doctrine or simply want to know more about it, you must listen to this sermon.

This is part five of a thirteen-part series entitled Introduction to the Reformed Faith that Pastor Borgman gave in 1998. Look for the each additional installment every couple weeks.

Listen to another great sermon on this subject by Russ Sukhia found on this previous post.

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Oral Roberts Dies

In no way rejoicing, but for those who care to know, Oral Roberts today has joined the growing list of Word Faith teachers who have died.  Where once again, a man who claimed he had the power to heal others could not, like his predecessors, heal himself.  The cause of Mr. Robert’s death was complications of pneumonia according to Melany Ethridge, his spokeswoman.  He was 91 years old.

In poking around the Web, I came across a website of one who was closely tied to the Oral Roberts ministry and was himself a Word Faith preacher and also one of Oral Robert’s bodyguards.  Here, I felt it would be profitable to share his reflections since he walked where many of us have not walked regarding the Word Faith movement.  And to God be the glory, by His grace, this brother was delivered from the Word Faith movement and is now a Southern Baptist preacher.

Speaking to Oral Roberts death on his blog, he writes:

I do not write this gladly or mockingly. I worked for Oral Roberts for two years. I was one of his bodyguards. I delivered his newspaper every morning. I watched over his family as they slept. I was a huge fan and admirer.

But Oral Roberts died sick today. Just like all of the famous Faith Healers, he has died sick. Kenneth Hagin died of heart disease although he claimed to enjoy Divine Health. He was on heart meds for years.

EW Kenyon, the founder of the Word of Faith Religion and author of the confession brings possesion [sp] message, died from a malignant tumor.

The Word of Faith Message is a false one. It does not work, even for the most famous preachers.

Most assuredly their message is a false one regardless of what the deceivers like Jesse Duplantis continue to spout forth.  The only option for those trapped in this movement and in bondage to its damning legalism is that you leave this movement even as Junker Jorge did.  And that you come to understand and believe the true gospel where Jesus came not to deliver us from sickness, pain and suffering nor to give us wealth and richers, but the one where he came to set us free from sin and give unto us the gift of eternal life.

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The Shoe-Box Baby (Johnny Mark Paz)

From: House of Happiness:  “Weighing only 2.5 pounds, Johnny was found in the trash by garbage men on the streets of Quito (the capital of Ecuador, South America). wrapped in a filthy rag, he was taken to the president’s wife, who was overseeing the orphanages of the nation at that time. Henry Davis (the orphanage founder) came to visit her around the same time, and she asked if Henry would take this abandoned little baby to the Happiness Orphanage. He took the baby home to Dorothy, still wrapped in the dirty rags and told her he had a surprise for her. As he began to set the baby down on their kitchen counter top, Dorothy turned around and said, “Don’t set those dirty rags on my counter, Henry!” Before she could get upset, he told her to open the rags and see what was inside. As she opened the rags, she was startled to find a baby. The baby was unnamed, so they began calling him John Mark Peace (“Juan Marco Paz” in Spanish). Johnny was so small and malnourished that they thought he was a newborn. After a visit to the doctor they found out he was one month old. He was so small that Johnny slept in a shoe box. Dorothy cared for him until he was four months old and in good health — then he went to the orphanage to live. He grew up at the orphanage, having no other family. Johnny is now married and has a family of his own. The Lord has blessed him with a charming smile and a natural musical talent.”

I have been researching orphanages and came across this story which I thought I would post to encourage us to be wise stewards with our time and money and to show what a difference one can make.  In America and other industralized nations, we often have so much abundance that we do not have enough room to store all of our goods and need bigger houses, taller attics, and rented storage space.  And even now so many are preparing to increase their coffers with more goods as we approach the holiday season. 

I pray we all might examine our lives and take an accounting of our time, resources and finances to assess how we are using them.  And that we might reach out to more of the disadvantaged, downtrodden and despised and share with them the love of Christ, not only in word, but in deed and truth.  For it is written:

Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

And elsewhere, the Psalmist wrote:

Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble. The LORD will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies.

If any do know of any reputable orphanges, I would be more than interested in learning about them. 

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NewSpring, Perry Noble, and Dr. James Duncan.

As a follow-up to Fourpointer’s post from two days ago, I want to direct your attention to a situation that has arisen between Perry Noble’s church and Dr. James Duncan, a vocal critic of Noble.

I will not attempt to rehash the ugly situation here, but will direct you to the following piece written by Dr. Duncan on the matter: Holy Rage at the Spring

I also highly recommend a fantastic two-part podcast from Pirate Christian Radio on this situation. In the first half of part one of this podcast Chris Rosebrough interviews Dr. Duncan regarding the character assassination and wholly unbiblical and non-Christian acts perpetrated against Dr. Duncan by staff of NewsSpring in retaliation to his vocal opposition to Noble. The second half of part one concludes with Rosebrough’s critique of a Perry Noble sermon. Part two of the podcast is Rosebrough’s continuation of this critique.

You can download the podcasts here:

Perry Noble’s employees assassinate the character of a critic: Part One

Perry Noble’s employees assassinate the character of a critic: Part Two

Frankly, I am not surprised that this whole awful situation has transpired. The current culture that’s being fostered in such churches as NewSpring is that the leader is not to be questioned. When the cults act this way it’s identified as a sign of conditioning and thought-control, but when mega-churches act this way we’re supposed to shut up because Noble’s god told him that those outside of his church who criticize him are jackasses and are to be ignored.

The intolerance and anger that comes from Noble is nothing that his critics should be surprised at. After all, this is the guy, if you’ll recall, who gave a tongue-lashing to his own congregation for expecting their pastor to . . . . well, be a pastor.

Welcome to Laodicea, where peace is defined as the absence of all opposition.

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A stark contrast between two worldviews.

In the news: The Duggar’s welcome child number 19 and a feminist who wants the planet to adopt China’s limited child policy (video).