God

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Is this you?

You look at a beautiful painting and you say to yourself, “There must have been a painter.”

You look at a motor vehicle of great workmanship and you say to yourself, “There must have been a manufacturer.”

You look at a meticulously detailed statue and you say to yourself, “There must have been a sculptor.”

You look at a massive bridge spanning a large body of water and you say to yourself, “There must have been an engineer.”

You look at a tall building and you say to yourself, “There must have been a builder.”

You look at a complex computer program and you say to yourself, “There must have been a programmer.“

You look at a well-written best-selling novel and you say to yourself, “There must have been an author.”

You look at the human body and say to yourself, “This must have been the product of an accident. A long time ago absolutely nothing from absolutely nowhere exploded and not only created absolutely everything, but also created order and it all occurred as a random accident.“

 

If this is you, then these are for you:

– The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God” (Psalm 14:1).

– Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words (Proverbs 23:9).

– A scoffer seeks wisdom and finds none, but knowledge is easy to one who has understanding (Proverbs 14:6).

– The way of a fool is right in his own eyes (Proverbs 12:15).

– The foolishness of God is wiser than men (1 Corinthians 1:25).

– God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise (1 Corinthians 1:27).

– The wisdom of this world is foolishness before God (1 Corinthians 3:19).

– A natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them (1 Corinthians 2:14).

– The word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18).

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
(Psalm 150:6)
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Sermon of the week: “The Judiazers” by Phil Johnson.

Your sermon of the week is the first in a five-part series entitled A Survey of Heresies. Every two weeks DefCon will be bringing you the next installment in this series from Phil Johnson on the top five major heresies that have plagued the church since its inception, and continues to rear its ugly head in the form of the cults and false Christian religions of today.

We begin this series with The Judiazers.

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How to brainwash a nation and a people.

Very interesting video clip, on so many levels; especially when you realize how many Christians have been seduced–thinking “conservative” politicians are somehow the answer to this nation’s dilemmas. We’re headed to one conclusion, regardless of who’s in power . . . one will just get us there faster than the other.

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The poorest man in the world.

The following sobering piece comes from the Fruin family currently serving as missionaries in Mexico:
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The Meeting
It was dusk on Friday evening as we were driving up the dirt road that we call the short-cut to our home that sits in the middle of a ranch in northern Mexico. We were on an uphill, curving section that is very stony and rutted. The combination of road conditions and deep shadows required my undivided focus. “Watch out,” cried my wife, “I think that’s a man!” I had not seen anything but, directed by her gaze, I saw what did indeed appear to be a man just beside the right front corner of our full sized van. His dingy clothing served as camouflage on the unpaved road. I had just missed putting our wheel directly through his body lengthwise. He did not jump up. He did not dodge. “He must be passed out,” I thought to myself. He had moved ever so slightly assuring me he was not dead. The terror of nearly accidentally killing someone began to fade and, as will happen at times like these, was replaced by anger and indignation. “Some fool had become so inebriated that he passed out in the middle of the road,” I reasoned.
Continue reading here.
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Quotes (815)

Modern Roman Catholicism is the monstrous tree that sprang from the acorn of the Judiazers.

– Phil Johnson

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Was Jonah a false prophet?

What’s one of the first things a Mormon or Jehovah’s Witness says when you point out the plethora of false prophecies uttered by their leaders?

“Well, Jonah was a false prophet!”

As if Jonah being a false prophet would somehow  give their leaders license to make as many false prophecies as they desire.

But did Jonah prophesy falsely? Or is this just one more example of an attack on God’s word by those lacking even the basic understanding of proper biblical hermeneutics in an effort to drive your attention away from their respective men behind the curtains?

The following piece by Hank Hanegraaf (regardless how you feel about him) quickly, succinctly, and conclusively destroys the shallow argument that Jonah was a false prophet, and it sends those wishing to trample on Scripture (in their pursuit to justify their false leaders) back to the drawing board to search for better proof texts.

From CRI:

THE PROPHET JONAH- Introduction
You wouldn’t normally expect Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, and skeptics to agree on much of anything. Yet all three share a similar opinion regarding, of all things, the Book of Jonah. Can you guess what it is? The CRI Perspective in a moment.

THE PROPHET JONAH- False Prophet?
Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, and skeptics all agree that Jonah uttered a false prophecy when he proclaimed, “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown” (Jonah 3:4). But, of course, Nineveh repented and was therefore not overthrown. Skeptics often refer to this as a clear example of false prophecy in the Bible. Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons claim this unfulfilled prophecy provides biblical precedent for the unfulfilled predictions of their own religious leaders. These arguments, however, are seriously flawed. Let me tell you why.

THE PROPHET JONAH- First…
First of all, Jonah did not make a mistake; he said exactly what God told him to say (Jonah 3:1). The Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons, on the other hand, do not claim that their predictions were exactly what God wanted said. Even they agree that any error is the fault of men, and not God. Therefore, Jonah is irrelevant to their case. Yet they want their teachings to be regarded with the same authority as that of biblical prophets!

THE PROPHET JONAH- Second…
Second, Jonah’s prophecy was not in error, because implied in the prophecy was a condition under which the predicted judgment would not take place. The Ninevites clearly understood what Jonah meant — namely, that their city would be overthrown unless they repented (Jonah 3:5-9). Since God spared Nineveh, obviously He meant the prophecy to be understood that way (Jonah 3:10). Even Jonah understood it that way, since he admitted in prayer that he knew God wanted to show mercy to the Ninevites (Jonah 4:1-2). So all of the parties involved — God, Jonah, and the Ninevites — understood that the prophecy was conditional.

THE PROPHET JONAH- Finally…
The same cannot be said for the erroneous predictions made by the Jehovah’s Witnesses or by the Mormon prophets. Their predictions were never understood to be conditional at all. Thus, Jonah’s prophecy gives no comfort to the false prophets of today. Nor was it a false prediction, as the skeptics wrongly claim. In fact, I like what the Bible says: “No prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet. 1:21 NIV).

On Jonah’s prophecy, that’s the CRI Perspective. I’m Hank Hanegraaff.

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Sermon of the week: “A Tale of Two Sons” by John MacArthur.

John MacArthur Your sermon of the week is a wonderful exposition of the parable of the prodigal son like you’ve never heard before, entitled A Tale of Two Sons. This sermon by John MacArthur was delivered at the 2006 Resolved Conference.

I found this to be a delightfully fresh teaching on this well-known parable, an insight that will make you look at this parable in a whole new–and much deeper–light.


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Does the Book of Mormon really contain the “fullness of the gospel?”

The following is from Rocky of Mormon Outreach as found on Facebook:

If the Book of Mormon contains the “Fulness [sic] of the Gospel” why aren’t these Mormon Doctrine essentials listed in the Book of Mormon?

1. Church organization
2. Plurality of Gods
3. Plurality of wives doctrine
4. Word of Wisdom
5. God is an exalted man
6. Celestial marriage
7. Men may become Gods
8. Three degrees of glory
9. Baptism for the dead
10. Eternal progression
11. The Aaronic Priesthood
12. Temple works of washings, anointing, endowments, sealing.

If I took these 12 Mormon doctrinal points away, would I have Mormonism? Answer: No!

So, answer the question: “If the Book of Mormon contains the ‘Fulness [sic] of the Gospel’ where are these Mormon Doctrine Essentials?”

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It’s better for Timmy.

Thanks to Revival And Reformation for posting this sobering piece:

This fictitious “letter” was taken from the book ‘Facts of the Matter, Daily Devotions for the Marketplace‘, by Dwight Hill.

“‘Dear Mom:

‘Gosh, can you believe it’s 2023 already?…It seems just yesterday I was sitting in first grade celebrating the century change. I know we really haven’t chatted since Christmas. Sorry. Anyway, I have some difficult news and I really didn’t want to call and talk face-to-face. Ted’s had a promotion and I should be up for a hefty raise this year if I keep putting in those crazy hours. You know how I work at it. Yes, we’re still struggling with the bills.

‘Timmy’s been ‘okay’ at kindergarten although he complains about going. But then, he wasn’t happy about daycare either, so what I can I do? He’s been a real problem, Mom. He’s a good kid, but quite honestly, he’s an unfair burden at this time in our lives. Ted and I have talked this through and through and finally made a choice. Plenty of other families have made it and are much better off.

‘Our pastor is supportive and says hard decisions are necessary. The family is a ‘system’, and the demands of one member shouldn’t be allowed to ruin the whole. he told us to be prayerful, consider all the factors, and do what is right to make the family work. He says that even though he probably wouldn’t do it himself, the decision is really ours. He was kind enough to refer us to a children’s clinic near here, so at least that part’s easy.

‘I’m not an uncaring mother. I do fell sorry for the little guy. I think he overheard Ted and me talking about ‘it’ the other night. I turned around and saw him standing at the bottom of the steps in his PJ’s with the little bear you gave him under his arm and his eyes sort of welling up. Mom, the way he looked at me just about broke my heart. But honestly, I believe this is better for Timmy, too.

‘It’s not fair to force him to live in a family that can’t give him the time and attention he deserves. And please don’t give me the kind of grief Grandma gave you over your abortions. It is the same thing, you know. We’ve told him he’s just going in for a vaccination. Anyway, they say it’s painless. I guess it’s just as well you haven’t seen that much of him.

Love to Dad:

Jane’”

“You shall not murder.” (Exodus 20.13)

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Quotes (810)

Knowledge of the truth will bring division. Those who follow Jesus by abiding in his Word will be divided from those who do not. . . . Doctrine divides believers from unbelievers. Without doctrine there will be no division.

–          Mike Gendron

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For your information.

Aside from our new look, here are three things I wanted to notify DefCon readers about:

1). We’ve updated our  Rules of Engagement page. The revisions were performed solely for the purpose of clarity.

2). For those who are new to DefCon you can also find us on FaceBook.

3). WordPress has recently provided a new feature on blogposts in which you can “Like” it. If you like a certain post, all you have to do is click on the comments link and between the post and the thread of comments you will see a button that says, “Like.” Just click on that button and it will register that you liked that particular post. However, you must be logged in to WordPress in order to use this feature. Creating a WordPress account only takes a moment of your time, is free, and does not require you to manage a blog of your own. Plus, once you have a WordPress account, you can upload a cool little avatar to appear alongside all your comments instead of the standard generic avatar automatically generated by WordPress.

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Quotes (809)

Let us never doubt for a moment, that the preaching of Christ crucified – the old story of His blood, righteousness, and substitution – is enough for all the spiritual necessities of all mankind. It is not worn out. It is not obsolete. It has not lost its power. We need nothing new – nothing more broad and kind – nothing more intellectual – nothing more effectual. We need nothing but the true bread of life, distributed faithfully among starving souls. Let men sneer or ridicule as they will. Nothing else can do good in this sinful world. No other teaching can fill hungry consciences, and give them peace. We are all in a wilderness. We must feed on Christ crucified, and the atonement made by His death, or we shall die in our sins.

– J.C. Ryle

1816 – 1900

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Mormon missionaries caught (once again) revealing their disdain for other beliefs.

If you’ve ever tried sharing the truth of the Gospel with a Mormon, if you’ve ever challenged them on their doctrine, or if you’ve ever quoted one of their prophets on such morsels as the Adam is God doctrine, the Blood Atonement doctrine, the racism issues, the false prophecies of their prophets, etc., then it’s inevitable that you’ve been responded to with some canned retort similar to this:

“Why spend so much time attacking other people’s religion? Mormonism never does that.”

At first glance it appears that the Mormon who says this is taking the morally superior high ground, but in reality, anyone who knows anything about Mormon history knows that this regurgitated platitude is tantamount to a bald-faced lie.

The very idea that a Mormon will flat out lie about such a disprovable notion is astounding when you consider that the very origin of their organization is based on the ideal that all other religions are false and that they’re the one true church.

You can’t claim to represent a religion that was founded on attacking all other religions while simultaneously claiming that neither you nor your organization ever attack or speak critically of other religions.

In the past Defcon has chronicled Mormon Missionaries mocking a black Baptist preacher (the video has since been removed from Youtube), as well as posting quotes from their own materials of Mormon founders, leaders, and prophets attacking Christians and Roman Catholics.

Then there’s even the controversy of Mormon Elder Nate T. Nelson who even mocked those without a clear religious persuasion as seen in here and here.

The latest example of Mormons showing their true colors about other religions can be seen in their damaging and defacing of the property of a Romish church as reported in this news video.

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Sermon of the week: “Fine Sounding Arguments” by Thabiti Anyyabwile.

Your sermon of the week is a fine message by Thabiti Anyabwile entitled Fine Sounding Arguments. The subtitle of this message is How Wrongly ‘Engaging the Culture’ Adjusts the Gospel.

Anyabwile deals with the propensity of so many Christians to “engage the culture” in ways that are not biblical, and he examines not only what “engaging the culture” should be, but he shows how current culture-engaging methods may actually be counter-productive to the message of the cross.

A very well formulated and delivered sermon; it will make you rethink what you’ve been conditioned to believe about our role as believers in relation to how we are to engage the culture.