Who can observe the invitation system today and not see that many are in danger of confusing this practice with coming to faith in Christ? . . . While I was a pastor in New England, our church participated in two [Billy] Graham crusades. We received the names of ten converts from one crusade and six from the other. In our follow-up, not one was interested in church, the Bible, or even talking about his “new-found faith in Christ.” Other pastors reported the same results.
Faith
Are women who pastor churches sinning against God?
Lyn, from the blog Saved By Grace, asks the question, “Are women who pastor churches sinning against God?” in her article of the same name.
“This is a subject that isn’t very popular within the realm of Christianity, it is hotly debated with more and more women taking what they believe is their rightful place in the pulpit. I believe it goes back to one of the five solas, sola scriptura. Do we really believe God’s word is the sole authority and are we submissive to it? If you believe women have a right to preach, you do not adhere to sola scriptura.”
Continue reading here.
Quotes (927)
It is not your hold on Christ that saves you; it is Christ. It is not your joy in Christ that saves you; it is Christ. It is not even your faith in Christ, though that be the instrument; it is Christ’s blood and merit.
– Charles Spurgeon
1834 – 1892
Quotes (926)
Not, how much of my money will I give to God, but how much of God’s money will I keep for myself.
– John Wesley
1703 – 1791
How to think like a Roman Catholic.
The following is an illustrated lesson to help you understand how the average Roman Catholic thinks on the matter of idolatry. I have provided several images which will allow you to better understand how a Romanist processes information.
But before we begin, and so you can fully grasp this lesson, you must carefully read the following passages from Leviticus 26:1 and Exodus 20:4-5 (respectively):
“You shall not make for yourselves idols, nor shall you set up for yourselves an image or a sacred pillar, nor shall you place a figured stone in your land to bow down to it; for I am the LORD your God.”
“You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,”
Now, let’s begin.
To see if you think like a Roman Catholic, what is your response to each of the the following pictures (the “proper” Romanist responses are indicated below each image).
Pagan idol worship condemned by scripture.
_______________________________
Veneration.
_______________________________
Pagan idol worship condemned by scripture.
_______________________________
Veneration.
_______________________________
Pagan idol worship condemned by scripture.
_______________________________
Veneration.
_______________________________
Pagan idol worship condemned by scripture.
_______________________________
Veneration.
_______________________________
Pagan idol worship condemned by scripture.
_______________________________
Veneration.
_______________________________
Pagan idol worship condemned by scripture.
_______________________________
Veneration.
_______________________________
Pagan idol worship condemned by scripture.
_______________________________
Veneration.
_______________________________
Pagan idol worship condemned by scripture.
_______________________________
Veneration.
_______________________________
Pagan idol worship condemned by scripture.
_______________________________
Veneration.
_______________________________
Pagan idol worship condemned by scripture.
_______________________________
Veneration.
_______________________________
Pagan idol worship condemned by scripture.
_______________________________
Veneration.
_______________________________
To see if you’ve been successfully conditioned to think like a Roman Catholic, we’ll conclude with one last picture.
Examine the following photograph carefully. The worshipers in the picture are from India, a country dominated with the worship of countless idols of Hindu gods made from stone and wood. So, are the people in this picture merely offering veneration, or are they pagan idol worshipers violating God’s prohibition of such activity found in Leviticus 26:1 and Exodus 20:4-5?
The answer: They are Roman Catholics, so therefore, their actions are only that of veneration.
If you answered this correctly, you are thinking like a Romanist, if you answered incorrectly you either need to start again at the beginning of this post, or you’re simply one of those fundamentalists who takes God’s prohibition against idolatry literally and seriously.
But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. Revelation 21:8
Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11
The blasphemy of Rome’s priesthood.
“The priest speaks, and Christ, the eternal and omnipotent God, bows his head in humble obedience to the priest’s command.”
– “Father” John O’Brien
The Faith of Millions
“Jesus died to institute the priesthood. Had he not died, where should we find the victim that the priests now offer? It was not necessary for the Redeemer to die in order to save the world; a drop of his blood, a single tear, or prayer, was sufficient to procure salvation for all . . . but to institute the priesthood, the death of Jesus Christ was necessary.”
– Alphonsus Ligouri
The Dignity and Duties of the Priest
Sermon of the week: “Sovereign Election, Israel & Eschatology (a.k.a. Why Every Self-Respecting Calvinist is a Premillennialist)” by John MacArthur.
Your sermon of the week is Sovereign Election, Israel & Eschatology (a.k.a. Why Every Self-Respecting Calvinist is a Premillennialist) by John MacArthur. This is the message that caused a stir a few years ago when MacArthur delivered it at the Shepherd’s Conference.
Not all the contributors on this blog agree with MacArthur on this subject, but I wanted to make it available here for those who have not listened to it yet.
You may also want to hear the opposition’s position to the Premil view posted last week by ATG.
For a more in-depth examination of this subject, I highly recommend MacArthur’s six -part series found on this previous post. (I actually prefer MacArthur’s six-part series as he has more time to unpack his points, and makes a more convincing argument for the Premil position, than he does in today’s single message.)
You can download this week’s message by MacArthur by going to the page found on this link, or just right-click and save this link.
Imagine no atheism.
Image from StormBringer
The more things change, the more they stay the same at the Crystal Cathedral.
From the Christian Post:
The Rev. Robert H. Schuller, founder of the historic Crystal Cathedral Ministries in Garden Grove, Calif., has spoken out about the sale of the church to a Roman Catholic diocese, reassuring concerned observers that the church’s beliefs are not going to suddenly change.
“The Roman Catholic Church isn’t going to change its theologies,” Schuller said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times published Sunday. “I trust them.”
The ministry’s decision to sell the famous building to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange County raised some controversy at first. In the Sunday interview, the 85-year-old minister said he has always respected the Roman Catholic faith and considers it the “mother church.”
Read the rest of the article, Robert Schuller Trusts Catholic Church With Crystal Cathedral, here.
A gospel test for Jehovah’s Witnesses.
The following five questions for Jehovah’s Witnesses, from a tract sold by Personal Freedom Outreach, is a perfect companion to Paul Washer’s witnessing technique to Jehovah’s Witnesses (found here).
Atheist hypocrisy (Part 1)
I often hear the lament from anti-theists about Christian hypocrisy as the impetus behind their rejection of God, but rarely is atheist hypocrisy ever mentioned. So let’s look at two glaring hypocrisies of atheism, part one today, and part two coming soon.
________________________________
I recall a time a few years ago when I posted a gospel tract on the community bulletin board of a local coffee shop.
Shortly thereafter, as I sat sipping my hot beverage, a woman in her thirties entered the shop and made her way over to the bulletin board. Upon seeing the tract, she quickly removed it and promptly found a table where she sat and thumbed through the little booklet. Her behavior led me to speculate that she was familiar with what she held in her hands, and I watched from a distance.
Then this woman took out a pen and began to write on the tract (both the front and rear covers). This greatly piqued my interest of course, and I continued to observe.
A short while later another woman entered the establishment and approached the table where the first woman sat. The second woman greeted the first and the first woman gleefully showed the second woman the cover of the tract. The second woman gave a smirk while the first had a grin ear to ear. She then promptly returned the tract to the bulletin board.
My party and I left at the same time as the two women did but my curiosity got the best of me so I returned to the bulletin board inside the business and retrieved the tract. And there I read what the woman in all her giddy-like-a-school-girl excitement had written on the tract.
On the front:
“There is no God!”
On the back:
“Shame on God!”
There you have it . . . classic anti-theist hypocrisy: “Shame on the very thing I believe doesn’t exist.”
How can someone say on one hand, “There is no God!” then on the other hand say, “Shame on God!”? That is either blatant hypocrisy or a mild case of schizophrenia.
You can’t claim that someone or something doesn’t exist, then offer an opinion on that someone or something. Let me offer an example.
If I said that the Loch Ness Monster does not exist, but then warned you that you should be careful while swimming in Loch Ness because the Monster might get you, would you not be justified in questioning the truthfulness of my original claim that Nessie doesn’t exist?
So I came to the realization that most self-proclaimed atheists aren’t atheists because they disbelieve the existence of God, but it’s simply because they hate Him. They don’t want to be limited or prohibited in their lifestyle choices, nor be confronted with their sin, so they self-inflict a seared conscience upon themselves.
I would prefer if these professing atheists would be upfront and honest about their beliefs and come to terms with the fact that they simply hate God and His laws, instead of hiding behind a pretentious facade of pseudo-intellectualism in their declaration that the very thing they hate does not exist.
A little honesty and candor is all I’m seeking. Is that too much to ask for?
Sermon of the week: “Audacious Grace” by Akash Sant Singh.
Does God’s lavish, unexplainable grace offend you? Does it bother you that His grace can be extended to a wretch such as a serial killer, or is it only good for you?
I am happy to present another powerful and convicting message by Akash Sant Singh as your sermon of the week: God’s Audacious Grace.
Sermon of the week: “Payday Someday” by R.G. Lee.
Your sermon of the week is an old-fashioned, southern-style preaching experience by R.G. Lee (1886-1978) entitled, Payday Someday.
I can’t think of a better way to begin 2012 than with this powerful sermon given many years ago, the likes of which are hard to find nowadays coming from pulpits across America.
Quotes (922)
Many unbelievers have threatened or prophesied the destruction of the Bible. Few people know the names of the skeptics. Everyone knows the names of Moses and Isaiah and Luke and Paul.
–Will Houghton
1887 – 1947
Quotes (921)
Does any Christian reader imagine for a moment that when he or she shall stand before their holy Lord, that they will regret having lived “too strictly” on earth? Is there the slightest danger of His reproving any of His own because they were “too extreme” in “abstaining from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul” (1 Peter 2:11)? We may gain the good will and good works of worldly religionists today, by our compromising on “little points,” but shall we receive His smile and approval on that day? Oh to be more concerned about what He thinks, and less concerned about what perishing mortals think.
– A.W. Pink
1886 – 1952
Quotes (920)
We speak with disdain of politicians not limiting their spending to available revenues. But our national debt is an extension of the same irresponsible mentality many of us demonstrate in our own lives. Home mortgages, auto loans, and credit cards all seem normal to us . . . . We drive our bank-financed cars, running on credit card gas, to open a department store charge account so we can fill our savings and loan-funded homes with installment-purchased furniture. We’re living a lie and hocking the future to finance it.
– Randy Alcorn
Saturday sermon series: “The Gospel Demands Radical Abandonment (C)” by David Platt.
We conclude our eight-week series on the radical demands of the gospel by David Platt with the final message, The Gospel Demands Radical Abandonment (C).
To obtain the entire series (or watch the videos of these sermons) visit Disciple Making International.
Quotes (919)
The Puritan/Presbyterian wing of the Reformation accomplished a purity in worship not seen since the apostolic church. This purity was attained by making the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments the only infallible standard and authority in determining worship ordinances. Any ordinances solely based on church tradition or man’s authority were discarded. However, this purity attained by our spiritual forefathers has, with the passage of time, been cast aside. Pragmatism, tradition and human opinion are exalted in determining how God’s people are to worship Him. The attitude among many in church leadership positions is to give the people what they want, rather than to submit to God’s divine revelation. . . . . God has set down in Scripture how He is to be worshiped. Man is not to add to or detract from what God says. . . . .
Sermon of the week: “How to Recognize True Repentance” by Don Green.
It has been awhile (too long) since DefCon last featured Don Green, but now we break that drought with today’s sermon of the week, How to Recognize True Repentance.
Here is an excerpt from this sermon:
“I fear that the strong opposition that you see in the Christian church sometimes to the opposition of society’s sins comes at the expense of real personal concern about our own sins, and that needs to be said. Jesus isn’t calling you to mourn over someone else’s sin, He’s calling you to mourn over your sin.”
I have really benefited from Don Green’s teaching over the years and am happy to feature him again.
Thabiti Anyabwile on multi-site churches.
Something for you to consider (and discuss) from the article, Multi-Site Churches Are from the Devil:
“. . . I think the kind of multi-site churches (realizing there are a few different approaches) that feature one pastor being beamed into several sites around a region—and in some cases around the country or world—is simply idolatry. It’s certainly cult of personality multiplied and digitized for a consumer audience. As a brilliant young man remarked to me this morning, ‘The pastor now becomes the new icon in the midst of the Protestant worship service.’ I think that’s well said. Video multi-site tends to idolatry, pride, and self-promotion—even where the ambition of spreading the gospel is genuine.”
Read the entire article from Thabiti Anyabwile here.
Christ Alone Wyoming 