I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock . . . – Acts 20:29
Source: Africa Center for Apologetics Research
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See related posts:
Charismania unrestrained: Africa’s witch children
The Hell-bound false prophetess Helen Ukpabio of Liberty Gospel Church in Nigeria
Have a blessed Lord’s Day.
The Duggar’s have just welcomed their 18th child. If you do not know who the Duggar family is, I encourage you to check out their website. They are an encouragement to all Christian households and an example of God’s plan and design for the Christian family.
And for those of you Christians who look down on large families with contempt, I highly recommend that you first listen to Voddie Baucham’s sermon The Centrality of the Home before leaving any disparaging and discouraging comments on this post.
A beautiful rendition.
DefCon deals with defending the Christian faith from a virtual cornucopia of heresy, damnable lies, false teaching, cults, and the lukewarm status quo which is running rampant throughout most American churches. But I wanted to take a moment to not only recognize those pastors out there who have refused to compromise, but I wanted to also encourage them to continue to remain faithful.
So in the same spirit as Ingrid Schuleter’s Wanted: An Old Fashioned Church, I’ve decided to post my own open letter. I’d like to address mine to all the faithful pastors out there; these pastors know who they are.
Dear faithful pastors:
While every other church in your town has gone “purpose-driven,” you refuse to allow this poison to infect your congregation; blocking it at the door. Thank you.
When the goats and wolves among the flock urge you to change what you’re doing or they’ll leave, you refuse; remaining steadfast to the truth and preaching the whole counsel of God. Thank you.
When the wolves secreted among the sheep try everything they can to get you to capitulate and compromise in this or that matter, you stand firm to protect your flock and drive out the wolves from among them. Thank you.
When the goats among the sheep defend the wolves you’re resisting and demand you compromise to accommodate the wolves, you continue to stand firm. Thank you.
When every other pastor in your town has refused to teach sound Biblical doctrine in favor of tickling ears with myths, fables, and upbeat, positive self-help messages, you remain true to preaching the whole counsel of God, including the not-so-seeker-friendly parts. Thank you.
When the other pastors are too busy courting friendship with the world (i.e. being enemies of God) in order to be seen as “hip” and “relevant,” you have resisted and stood firm on the matter of holiness. Thank you.
When many of the other churches in your area are offering “sermons” on the Beatles, Elvis, sex, Hollywood movies, and every other lust of the eye, lust of the flesh, and pride of life, you continue to faithfully, systematically, and fearfully teach the words of life from the holy Scriptures. Thank you.
When other pastors are spending their time immersed in the culture, setting wickedness before their eyes by spending countless hours rotting on the couch in front of their televisions and sitting in darkened theaters, you spend countless hours in prayer and studying the Word of God to not only show yourself an approved workman of God, but a faithful shepherd of your flock. Thank you.
When it seems that no one in your local assembly wants to sacrifice but they all want to reap rewards, you don’t let it discourage you; you keep on fighting the good fight. Thank you.
In spite of pressure to compromise Biblical truths for the sake of “unity” and “tolerance,” you stay the course, preaching the exclusivity of Christ and Him crucified. Thank you.
You endure those middle-of-the-night phone calls. You give so much of yourself in endless counseling sessions to those who refuse to simply open the Bible and follow its directions. You make great sacrifices in ways that no one will ever know and almost all of which go completely unnoticed. Thank you.
No matter how much the world pulls at you to compromise, you know that you will stand before God one day and give an account and that you have many people counting on you to persevere till the end. Thank you.
On behalf of those who sit under your preaching week after week, we stand up and applaud, thanking God for your faithfulness as shepherds of His Church, tirelessly counseling, teaching, preaching, and protecting the flock that He’s entrusted you with in the face of a world (and church) full of relentless opposition.
Thank you for your faithfulness to Jesus Christ, to His gospel, to His Church, and to His truth. You are few. You are a minority. Many times you feel as if you stand alone, but know that you are never alone and great will be your reward in Heaven.
Stay the course and never compromise!
Sincerely,
– The Pilgrim
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Please see: A Sobering Call to Pastors, Preachers, and Teachers
Thou art my hope in the day of evil (Jeremiah 17:17)
The path of the Christian is not always bright with sunshine; he has his seasons of darkness and of storm. True, it is written in God’s Word, “Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace;” and it is a great truth, that religion is calculated to give a man happiness below as well as bliss above; but experience tells us that if the course of the just be “As the shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day,” yet sometimes that light is eclipsed. At certain periods clouds cover the believer’s sun, and he walks in darkness and sees no light. There are many who have rejoiced in the presence of God for a season; they have basked in the sunshine in the earlier stages of their Christian career; they have walked along the “green pastures” by the side of the “still waters”, but suddenly they find the glorious sky is clouded; instead of the Land of Goshen they have to tread the sandy desert; in the place of sweet waters, they find troubled streams, bitter to their taste, and they say, “Surely, if I were a child of God, this would not happen.” Oh! Say not so, thou who are walking in darkness. The best of God’s saints must drink the wormwood; the dearest of His children must bear the cross. No Christian has enjoyed perpetual prosperity; no believer can always keep his harp from the willows. Perhaps the Lord allotted you at first a smooth and unclouded path, because you were weak and timid. He tempered the wind to the shorn lamb, but now that you are stronger in the spiritual life, you must enter upon the riper and rougher experience of God’s full-grown children. We need winds and tempests to exercise our faith, to tear off the rotton bough of self-dependence, and to root us more firmly in Christ. The day of evil reveals to us the value of our glorious hope.
– C.H. Spurgeon
I wanted to share with you a fantastic open letter written by Ingrid Schuleter that I encourage you all to read. I can think of a few churches that should receive this letter.
Wanted: An Old Fashioned Church
To Whom it May Concern:
I’m looking for a good Christian church. I don’t want to sing songs off a wall, the same five notes, over and over and over and over again while I am lightheaded from standing so long. There’s a record of the hymns of God’s people that spans 2000 years. Why are we so arrogant as to think we don’t need those wonderful songs any longer? Have we gone through more suffering, more affliction, more pain for Jesus than those who wrote these enduring hymns? Does a semi-secular song writer in Nashville with a multi-million dollar music contract have more to say to us about God and the Christian life than the 17th-century hymn writer who lost four children and his wife during the 30 years War?
I don’t want to have my eardrums bashed in by the three kids in the “worship band” who can’t be bothered to bathe, shave, dress or comb their hair on Sunday morning. If it’s really all about the God that Scripture describes as ineffably holy, shouldn’t that be reflected in attitude and dress for those who serve in church music?
I don’t want a vampy “praise and worship” leader who is flaunting her wares at every male within view as she does her worship moves on “stage”. If we are to worship God in spirit and in truth, as Scripture tells us, than what’s all the flesh about? Can we no longer discern the difference?
I don’t want to see people in beach attire with their backsides peeping out of their shorts because they think that God isn’t worth their best efforts at dressing. “God doesn’t care about clothes, only man”, they say. But the real reason is that it’s just plain easier to cruise into church in jeans or whatever is still lying on the floor from the night before. Dressing up for worship of the Lord would cost them something, however little, and they don’t want to pay it.
I also don’t want to see all the variations on lovers’ back rubs where Chuck and Sue take turns massaging each other’s neck and shoulders during the sermon so everyone behind them is completely distracted. Behavior affects other people. Are Christians so self-absorbed that they never think about the people behind them trying to hear the message?
I don’t want to hear announcements during “worship” about the youth group pizza blast and laser tag event next Tuesday night, the need for grills for the upcoming church fun fest or jokes about how Bill burned the wieners last summer at the church picnic. Why can this not be put at the end after our “worship” is completed?
Continue reading here.
A beautiful song of encouragement by Laura Story for you this Lord’s day.
Are you?
Be encouraged fellow pilgrims; Sunday’s coming!
The Jehovah’s Witnesses deny it, the Mormons reject it, the Gentiles are offended by it, the Jews stumble over it.
Oh, the wonderful cross.
I first heard this song On Faith Alone on the radio and quickly came to love it. I would like to take this opportunity to share it with all the readers of DefCon.
Not only is the music beautiful, but the lyrics (which I’ve included below the video) are biblically solid–not the sappy, happy, clappy, hip-hop, bubblegum pop that so fills the Christian airwaves of today.
This song ranks right up there as one of my new favorites alongside At The Crossroads. I am certain you will enjoy it and it will be a blessing to you this Lord’s day. Sola Fide!
On faith alone I stand.
There is no higher ground.
I give all I am.
for my soul will never doubt.
Though the storms they may be raging.
You have always held my hand.
To thy cross my heart will always cling.
On faith alone I stand.
On faith alone I live.
Not in what I say or do,
But the blood you freely give covers me and makes me new.
For your love is ever with me.
Lord Jehovah great I am.
O my trust grows stronger on my knees.
On faith alone I stand.
Hallelujah,
hallelujah,
hallelujah.
On faith alone I stand.
When I reach my final breath,
and I fall into your arms.
I’ll proclaim with no regret.
On faith alone,
sola fide,
sola fide,
sola fide.
On faith alone I stand.
Hallelujah,
hallelujah,
hallelujah.
On faith alone I stand.
On faith alone I stand.
I recently completed The Family Worship Book by Terry L. Johnson. I found it to be a fantastic help in providing the reasons and resources to commit to a daily family devotion time (this, of course, is not at the exclusion of living every aspect of our lives as Believers not just during Sunday mornings and family devotion time).
This book (from a Reformed slant) has many resources contained within so these numerous reference sources are at your fingertips. Some of the things it contains are the Psalter, hymns, creeds, the children’s catechism, the shorter catechism, and a yearly Bible reading plan.
The chapters of this (almost 200 page) book include:
– Introduction to Family Worship
– Making the Commitment to Family Worship
– Outline for Family Worship
– Order for Family Worship
– A Sample of Family Worship
– Family Resources
– Historical Resources
– Family Psalter/Hymnal
I really enjoyed this book and found it to be a wealth of solid resources for family worship time. I highly recommend it for those who are seeking to begin (or improve) their family devotion time.
You can purchase the book here.
In this 14 minute audio clip from Way of the Master Radio (WOTMR), Todd Friel plays an audio clip of Ray Comfort witnessing to a Jehovah’s Witness who came to his door. This was not a dramatization nor a reenactment, but the actual conversation recorded as it happened.
It was a great discourse and the gospel was shared so simply yet profoundly that this same approach could be applied to anyone else in any other false religion. I strongly encourage you to listen to this short clip.
That’s my King!
Christ Alone Wyoming 