Faith

by

Caustic Calvinists.

In the recent past I’ve attempted to address some of the concerns I’ve had with those who use defending the faith as a conduit to unleash a torrent of scathing attacks in harsh-toned debates and disagreements with those whom they’re in disagreement with.  I posted two such admonitions this past year: One was a sermon on combative Calvinists and the other was a short video on pride and defensiveness.

One of the biggest challenges for those engaging in online discussions and debates while defending the Christian faith (and the Doctrines of Grace) is the temptation to be harsh and snarky, and how easy it is to fall into that mindset without even trying.

Thankfully, this detriment-to-the-gospel type of blogging is the exception and not the norm, but even so, it still needs to be addressed.  

I am publishing this post as a check for all of us who engage in online apologetics, and pray that this will help to refocus us on the purpose of our blogging.

It would also be of great benefit if we ask others to critically review what we’re writing in posts and in comment threads, and be willing to take their opinions and criticisms with an open and graceful heart.

I seriously want you to take a moment to reflect on whether or not you are one of these venomous bloggers. We must all examine ourselves, our spirit, and our motivations, and the following questions may be a good start:

– Is the vast majority of what you are producing coming from a negative attitude, inciting unnecessary argumentative debates when kinder words would have sufficed and been more effective?

– Is your writing known more for its condescending tone than its content?

– Are your words bitter and acidic, or are they kind and salted with grace?

– Is your response to people who disagree with you snarky and vitriolic, or graceful and from a heart of love?

– Do you write for the sole purpose of seeking out someone who doesn’t hold to your views so you can have an opportunity to publicly disembowel them with your superior intellect, or do you put material out there to educate, encourage, help, and edify others while simultaneously contending for the faith?

– Do you look at those deceived by false doctrine with contempt, or do you grieve for them and seek to lovingly correct them lest they should eternally perish?

If you are taking pleasure in your abrasive monologues and predictably harsh dialogues, I beg you to check your spirit and reevaluate why you do what you’re doing.

For those of you who are not sure of what I am talking about, I offer the following samples from the blogging world, including the unnecessary practice of name calling (e.g. referring to Arminians as “Armidiots”):

“Took this illiterate Armidiot flunky a full week to devise this moronic non sequitur of a ‘comeback.’ . . . ‘a 2-ton jumping, screaming elephant in a tool shed is all but invisible to an Armidiot like yourself . . .’. God help me, I really, truly DISLIKE Armidiots, and would hate to think they are bound for the same Heaven as are Bible-believers. Let them simmer evermore in their infernal ‘Freewill Paradise.'”

And

“Not sure what, if anything, he is ‘smoking,’ but Roger Olson is a loose, slutty whore (spiritually speaking).”

And

“. . . your obstinate BLINDNESS to the most BASIC and ESSENTIAL facts is nothing short of wicked perversion. And it’s exactly what one expects from today’s Armidiot. I’m curious to know, ol’ scholar, which ‘strong Calvinist Bible College’ you slept through, and how in HELL you managed to pilfer a diploma from the stack before your expulsion.”

There truly is no place for name calling in our defense of the faith. As far as I’m concerned this is completely unacceptable behavior and has gone far beyond the scope of how a Christian apologist should be corresponding with believers and unbelievers alike.

This type of exchange is in no way beneficial or instructive to the target of these angry words nor is it edifying to anyone else who happens to read it. This kind of discourse in the name of Christ and sound theology is grieving and should rightly be condemned.

I appeal to the coarse and caustic Calvinistic Christians to quit bringing reproach on the gospel with such inflammatory and pungent speech.

I recently wrote about how Christians’ behavior breeds atheism, but is your caustic Calvinism breeding Arminianism? Is it repelling people from ever considering the Doctrines of Grace?  


by

Saturday sermon series: “The Gospel Demands Radical Compassion” by David Platt.

We continue our Saturday sermon series from David Platt.  The Gospel Demands Radical Compassion is part three in this eight-part series. 

This series was the inspiration for Platt’s book, Radical.  

Here is the description of the series:

“In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.” With these words, Jesus turned away large crowds who were following Him. With grace and authority, He beckoned potential followers to consider the demands of discipleship. For most, the price was too high and the cost was too great. In the 2000 years since Jesus spoke these words, it begs the question: Do we in contemporary Christianity realize the high price of following Jesus? Do we understand the great cost for all who call themselves followers of Christ? Take a closer look at the words of Jesus that require us to consider the implications of the Gospel for every facet of our lives.

by

Sermon of the week: “A Praying Family” by Akash Sant Singh.

Do you pray as a benefactor or a beggar? Do you pray at all?

You won’t want to miss this Thursday’s sermon of the week by Akash Sant Singh, A Praying Family.

Pastor Akash tears down the false notion of God being our cosmic vending machine, and he cuts to the quick regarding our prayer life and the many excuses we make for the lack thereof. As always, Pastor Akash steps on toes but with love and grace, and all for the glory of the Lord.

by

Saturday sermon series: “The Gospel Demands Radical Sacrifice” by David Platt.

We continue our Saturday sermon series with the second installment from David Platt’s series Radical which inspired the book by the same name.

This week’s message is The Gospel Demands Radical Sacrifice (you can find last week’s message here).

This sermon series is one of the most sobering and deeply challenging that I’ve ever listened to. I have found it to be incredibly convicting and trust that you will too.



by

Sermon of the week: “Brokenness” by Voddie Baucham.

Your sermon of the week is Brokenness by Voddie Baucham. This is a powerful message on King David’s brokenness that you won’t want to miss (unless of course you’re a Rob Bell fan or like the book The Shack since Baucham pulls no punches on these conduits of false doctrine). This is one of Baucham’s best messages and I encourage all DefCon readers to download this one.

by

Yet another ten (very) quick questions for Jehovah’s Witnesses.

You’ve enjoyed Ten (very) quick questions for Jehovah’s Witnesses, Ten more (very) quick questions for Jehovah’s Witnesses and Another ten (very) quick questions for Jehovah’s Witnesses. DefCon presents ten more questions from Keith Walker of Evidence Ministries. Viewer discretion advised on the fourth video below.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

by

Saturday sermon series: “What the Gospel Demands” by David Platt.

Yes, I’m going to do it. Starting today I am going to post a series of sermons so weighty and so sobering that I dare say they rival any other sermon ever presented on DefCon in the area of depth of conviction. If you don’t believe me, I dare you to listen to today’s message (part one in the series) entitled What the Gospel Demands.

For the next eight Saturdays I challenge all the readers of DefCon to listen to this series. Some of you will be glad you did, but some of you may be angry with what you hear and refuse to listen to any more after today.

I expect some to be repentant due to deep conviction after listening to this message. And I even expect some to be very angry due to that same conviction after listening to this message. But I can’t fathom anyone being indifferent to this message.

I warn you, though, this series will end on Saturday, December 24th, and more than likely it will damper your current view of the upcoming self-indulgent Christmas festivities.

 

by

Sermon of the week: “The Gospel Revolution in Work” by Akash Sant Singh.

As a follow-up to last week’s two-part message on Christian work ethic by Brian Borgman (found here), DefCon is pleased to present another two-part message on this same subject by Akash Sant Singh entitled The Gospel Revolution in Work. This is a great message that every Christian should listen to whether they work in the home or outside of the home.

The Gospel Revolution in Work (Part 1)

The Gospel Revolution in Work (Part 2)

by

Has Mark Driscoll gone Charismatic?

The Sola Sisters have posted a doozey about Mark Driscoll talking to demons and giving extra-biblical advice on how to perform exorcisms.

Had I only read the transcript from the following video–not knowing who it came from–I would have never guessed it came from Mark Driscoll. I would have been sure it came from someone who frequents TBN.

Be sure to visit the Sola Sisters article (linked above) for more on this latest movement away from biblical Christianity by Mark Driscoll.

by

Quotes (912)

The gospel reveals eternal realities about God that we would sometimes rather not face. We prefer to sit back, enjoy our clichés, and picture God as a Father who might help us, all the while ignoring God as a Judge who might damn us. Maybe this is why we fill our lives with the constant drivel of entertainment in our culture—and in the church. We are afraid that if we stop and really look at God in His Word, we might discover that He evokes greater awe and demands deeper worship than we are ready to give Him.

– David Platt

by

The lady in the rose garden.

Lady in the Rose Garden

A lesson for all of us to consider from the puritan Joseph Meade:

I once walked into a garden with a lady to gather some flowers. There was one large bush whose branches were bending under the weight of the most beautiful roses. We both gazed upon it with admiration. There was one flower on it which seemed to outshine all the rest in beauty. This lady pressed forward into the thick bush, and reached far over to pluck it. As she did this, a black snake, which was hid in the bush, wrapped itself round her arm. She was alarmed beyond all description; she ran from the garden, screaming, and almost in convulsions. During all that day she suffered very much with fear. Her whole body trembled, and it was a long time before she could be calmed. That lady is still alive. Such is her hatred now of the whole serpent race, that she has never since been able to look at a snake, even a dead one. No one could ever persuade her to venture again into a cluster of bushes, even to pluck a beautiful rose.

Now this is the way the sinner acts who truly repents of his sins. He thinks of sin as the serpent that once coiled itself around him. He hates it. He dreads it. He flees from it. He fears the places where it inhabits. He does not willingly go into the haunts. He will no more play with sin than this lady would afterwards have fondled snakes.

by

The great lie: Arbeit Macht Frei.

The sign that greeted the doomed souls who entered the Auschwitz prison camp in Poland during WWII read: Arbeit Macht Frei. Translated into English it simply said, “Work Brings Freedom.”

It was a lie.

The “work” that was done by the prisoners in the infamous Nazi concentration camp only led to death. There was never a legitimate expectation of freedom even though many of them probably clung to the hope of liberation thanks to the sign that told them so. In reality, the only fate the multitudes who entered the camp faced–passing under the sign that whispered the lie–was abuse, torture, starvation, and death . . . anything but freedom.

Just as this lie preceded the physical death of thousands of Adolf Hitler’s victims, this same lie precedes the spiritual death of billions of Romanism’s victims, Joseph Smith’s victims, Charles Taze Russell’s victims, Buddha’s victims, Mary Bakker Eddy’s victims, Ellen G. White’s victims, Mohammed’s victims (and the list goes on and on).

The lie Arbeit Macht Frei was not only found displayed on a metal sign above the entrance to the death camp, this lie is also found in the pages of religious books and on the tongues of religious leaders who bid you come as they crowd the entrance to the broad path that leads to Hell.

Most people on this earth trust their eternal destiny to a religion that could rightly post this same sign above the door where they worship. Just as Work Brings Freedom was a lie to those entering Auschwitz, so it is also a lie to those entering countless churches, mosques, temples, and synagogues around the world. Just as this lie assisted in facilitating the Nazi prisoners’ temporal extermination on earth, this same lie results in man’s eternal destruction in the Lake of Fire.

And this is what sets biblical Christianity apart from all other faiths in the world that are vying for your affections, all of which promise you something they can never deliver.

What they claim you can achieve by your diligence to codes, laws, and much hard work in their respective religious systems, Jesus Christ offers as a free gift (Ephesians 2:8-9)!

In fact, Christianity is the only faith in the world that promises forgiveness of sins and right standing before God based solely on what Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross for us (1 Peter 2:24) and not what we have done for Him (Isaiah 64:6).

And Christianity is not neutral about those who try to work for their righteousness. The Bible makes it very clear that if you try to earn your salvation and God’s forgiveness by your work (following the law and performing good deeds), then you don’t have God’s grace, you are under a curse, and you are cut off from Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:10, Galatians 5:4) who is the only One who can save you (John 14:6, Acts 4:12).

If you’re going to attempt to earn your salvation then you must first believe that Christ’s sacrifice was insufficient to fully and completely save you without your contribution; otherwise you would be resting solely in His accomplished work, not His work and yours. To believe that you can become righteous, by working toward your liberation from sin and the wrath to come, is to suggest that Christ died in vain (Galatians 2:21).

It’s as if there was a man in the death camp offering a key to the gate to any of the prisoners, yet they ignored him, electing to instead work harder and harder for their own freedom (as the sign suggested). In the end the man with the key was their only hope, but they chose to attempt liberation on their own, foregoing their only means of escaping the horror to come.

There is another sign that could be hung over the doorway of Hell that would greet all those entering its abyss from the various paths of false religion: Vernichtung Durch Arbeit. In English it simply means “Destruction Through Work.”

“You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.” Galatians 5:4

by

Quotes (911)

   Children are seen as complications, or even obstacles, in the perpetual quest for fun, excitement, and fulfillment. To see this attitude among the ungodly is to be expected. . . . What should alarm us, however, is that Christians are making the same complaint. In reality, these complaints by frazzled mothers worn out by “hyperactive” or “strong-willed” children (an earlier generation would have called them unruly) are merely symptoms of a disease. The root cause of this disease is the rejection of the commands of God: Christian families have brought this affliction upon themselves by following the “empty and deceitful” philosophies of the world. Although most evangelicals pride themselves that they are–unlike the “liberal churches”–true to the Bible, many of these evangelical leaders and authors adhere to the same philosophy of child training as the non-Christian educators and psychologists.

– William & Colleen Dedrick

From: The Little Book of Christian Character & Manners

by

Sola Scriptura (70)

bible page But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

– Hebrews 9:11-14

by

Billy talks to his pastor

This is a priceless, funny conversation between a humble, inquisitive child (the sort of which Christ tells us His kingdom is made of) and his falsely assured pastor who has – no doubt – been trained at a Southern Baptist seminary.

Enjoy 🙂  From: http://thelightheartedcalvinist.com/

Billy Talks to His Pastor about God

John Pedersen

from The Trinity Review, July 1997

Billy: “Pastor, does God love everybody?”

Pastor: “Yes, Billy” (smiles, pats him on the head).

Billy: “How come it says in Romans 9 that he hated Esau?”

Pastor: “Been reading your Bible, huh, Billy?” (still smiles). “Well, the Bible also says that God hates, but that only is talking about God’s secret decree, and as far as we are concerned, he loves everybody.”

Billy: “Pastor?”

Pastor: “Yes, Billy.”

Billy: “If God tells us about his secret decree, is it still a secret?”

Pastor: “Er, well, I guess . . . not, Billy, but I meant that we should realize that there is a way the Bible talks about God’s love for everybody, and that’s what we should think about, not the one or two places where it says God hates.”

Billy: “Oh. How is it that God loves everybody?”

 

Pastor: “Well, he gives everybody rain and sunshine, and he blesses the people of the Earth with a conscience so they know right from wrong, and he has given them many gifts which they use to make the world a better and safer place to live.”

Billy: “Then he sends most of them to Hell?”

Pastor: “Yes, Billy.”

Billy: “Pastor?”

Pastor: “Yes, Billy.”

Billy: “Is it love for God to give people good things for a few years to make them feel comfortable and worthwhile, and then send them to Hell?”

Pastor: “Well, I . . . yes, it . . . is, I think because it would have been worse if, I mean it would be, um, well, it is, I guess, because he did not send them directly to Hell, but he allowed them to experience his goodness and his provision for his creatures. . . .”

Billy: “Is it love to let someone experience something good they will remember forever and always hate God for, because that good thing they loved more than forgiveness?”

Pastor: “Could we change the subject, Billy? I am not sure my answers are satisfying you.”

Billy: “O.K., Pastor. Did Jesus die for everybody?”

Pastor: “Why, sure, Billy.”

Billy: “Pastor?”

Pastor: “Yes, Billy.”

Billy: “If Jesus died for everybody, why isn’t everybody going to Heaven?”

Pastor: “Well, Billy, it’s because not everybody will accept him.”

Billy: “But, Pastor, I thought Jesus saved us. You are telling me that we save Jesus.”

Pastor (laughing nervously): “Of course not, Billy! I believe that Jesus saves us completely! However would you get the idea that I believed we save Jesus?”

Billy: “Well, Pastor, you told me that Jesus died for everybody, and that only those who accept him will be saved. So, this means Jesus’ death and resurrection, what Jesus does, cannot save us of itself, but something more is needed, and that something more is what we do by accepting him. For those who do not accept Jesus, they will perish. That means that Jesus’ dying for them cannot help them. In fact, it means that Jesus’ work for them was a miserable failure. On the other hand, those who accept him make his work effective by their acceptance—they save his work from being a failure. Without us, Jesus and his work of salvation would be doomed! If Jesus cannot save us without the permission we give of our own free will, then we are the real saviors, and Jesus is the one we save! Wow! What would he ever do without us?!”

Pastor: “Er . . . uh . . . that’s not what I mean. I mean if, it is , I said . . . no, I believe Jesus is the one who does the saving, Billy, it’s just that . . . God has made it so that we . . . are free to acc . . . meaning, we are, are . . . Billy, the Bible is mysterious. It seems to mean certain things, but it doesn’t really, like it says . . . you are using logic, Billy. The Bible is not logical and the truths are not something we can fit into our human minds.”

Billy: “Pastor?”

Pastor (now showing a slight frown): “Yes, Billy.”

Billy: “When you say the Bible is not logical, does that mean the Bible does not make sense? ‘Cause you made sense when you said the Bible wasn’t logical. I think it was because you used logic that you made sense.”

Pastor (now glowering at Billy): “No, Billy, I didn’t mean the Bible does not make sense. It does make sense, but just not our kind of sense.”

Billy: “Pastor?”

Pastor: “Yes, Billy.”

Billy: “Why would God give a Bible to us that did not make our kind of sense?”

Pastor: “Well, Billy, it’s not that . . . I think it’s . . . it makes sense, just does not give us the answers we like to hear, and says things that seem contradictory but really are not, to keep us from asking smart-aleck questions.”

Billy: “So, God doesn’t make our kind of sense to keep us humble?”

Pastor: “That’s right, Billy. God wants to keep us humble, so he does not let us think we can be absolutely certain about the things some proud people are certain about.”

Billy: “Pastor?”

Pastor: “Yes, Billy.”

Billy: “Are you certain about what you just said to me?”

Pastor (showing obvious irritation): “What do you think, Billy?”

Billy: “I think you just called yourself a proud person, but I don’t know why, ’cause you are so smart and know so much about God, and how much he needs us.”

Pastor: “Billy, why don’t you go out and play, like the other children?”

Billy: “Why should I go out and play, when I can stay in here with you and learn how to save God?”

Pastor: “You need to be careful, Billy. I never said we save God. You are the one who said that, remember. I simply believe our choices are significant, and God does not treat us like robots. He created us to have true human responsibility.”

Billy: “Pastor?”

Pastor (now looking quite angry): “This will have to be the last question, young man! I have important things to do and you should be outside playing.”

Billy: “When God put Abraham to sleep, was he telling him what he thought of his ‘human responsibility’?”

Pastor (seething): “I have a bad headache, Billy, and I can’t answer any more of your questions, but I can tell you this. Whoever has been teaching you has been telling you things a boy your age should not even be thinking about. It sounds like you have been learning some kind of hyper-Calvinism! You better be careful, young man!”

Billy: “I don’t know about hyper-Calintisim, but I have been reading these things in the Bible. Thanks for straightening me out. I will try to cut these bad parts out. Can I borrow some scissors?”

Pastor (rising from his chair): “Get out of here, you, you, you . . . !”

Billy: “That’s O.K., Pastor. I’ll ask Joey. He was using some good scissors when we were cutting out our ‘friends with Jesus’ pictures for Sunday school. Good-bye.”

The Trinity Foundation hereby grants permission to all readers to download, print, and distribute on paper or electronically any of its Reviews, provided that each reprint bear our copyright notice, current addresses, and telephone numbers, and provided that all such reproductions are distributed to the public without charge. The Reviews may not be sold or issued in book form, CD-ROM form, or microfiche.

© 1999-2006 Trinity Foundation
Post Office 68 — Unicoi, Tennessee 37692
Phone: 423.743.0199  Fax: 423.743.2005

by

Sermon of the week: “Atonement and Justification – The Pharisee and the Tax Collector” by John MacArthur.

Your sermon of the week is Atonement and Justification: The Pharisee and the Tax Collector by John MacArthur.

A great message from a great portion of Scripture.