Religion

by

Mormon prophet lends credibility to a wild claim.

Mormonism is known for its tall tales: Claims of Quaker-like people living on the moon, people living on the sun, God living on the planet Kolob, spiritual vegetables, black skin being a sign that you’re cursed of God, or Joseph Smith’s claim that he was visited by two members of the Trinity in the secluded woods (depending, of course, on which version of his vision you actually believe).  

Then there’s this doosey from Spencer W. Kimball, the twelfth president, prophet, seer, and revelator of the Mormon church writing in his book The Miracle of Forgiveness (pages 127-128) about an encounter a fellow Mormon had with a still-living biblical character.

Meet 6,000+ year-old Cain:

On the sad character Cain, an interesting story comes to us from Lycurgus A. Wilson’s book on the life of David W. Patten. From the book I quote an extract from a letter by Abraham O. Smoot giving his recollection of David Patten’s account of meeting “a very remarkable person who had represented himself as being Cain.”

“‘As I was riding along the road on my mule I suddenly noticed a very strange personage walking beside me—. His head was about even with my shoulders as I sat in my saddle. He wore no clothing, but was covered with hair. His skin was very dark. I asked him where he dwelt and he replied that he had no home, that he was a wanderer in the earth and traveled to and fro. He said he was a very miserable creature, that he had earnestly sought death during his sojourn upon the earth, but that he could not die, and his mission was to destroy the souls of men. About the time he expressed himself thus, I rebuked him in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by virtue of the Holy Priesthood, and commanded him to go hence, and he immediately departed out of my sight . . . .”

by

Quotes (873)

 Tragically, the many warnings given in the New Testament about spiritual deception are not taken seriously. People are so comfortable in their church or religion that they have no hunger for spiritual truth. Deluded by arrogance, they deny their ignorance of God’s Word. Many Christians have only a superficial knowledge of the Gospel. They know Jesus died for the sins of the world, but they don’t know why He had to, or why it pleased the Father to crush Him (Isa. 53:10).

– Mike Gendron

by

How an LDS faction is born.

In light of the question posed in Coram Deo’s recent post, and in light of this fictional article about a Mississippi farm boy claiming revelation that the LDS church is apostate, I offer for your listening pleasure an audio piece that you can stream (for free) or download (for a small fee) from the podcast This American Life about how a real faction/split from Mormonism occurs with all sides claiming inspiration, revelation, and heavenly visitations (just like Joseph Smith).

You can find the podcast here. (The part of interest is the first 22 minutes of the hour-long podcast.)

The reason this piece is relevant is because we so often hear the mantra from the Mormon camp that Christianity is false as evidenced by its denominations, while Mormonism is true because they’re one and united, without any splits, divisions, or denominations.

This, like so many other LDS claims, is simply not true. Mormonism is rife with splits and divisions. You can see them chronicled here: The Lie of LDS Unity.

by

Sermon of the week: “The Deity of Christ – An Examination of the Verses the Cults Use” by Charlie Campbell.

Your sermon of the week is one that defenders of the faith are going to love. The Deity of Christ – An Examination of the Verses the Cults Use by Charlie Campbell examines the eight most commonly used verses that Jehovah’s Witnesses employ to attack Christ’s deity. Campbell does a fantastic job of presenting the texts as the Jehovah’s Witnesses do (twisted and out of context), then he goes point by point as he dismantles each of their misrepresentations using the light of Scripture.

HT: The Atlantic Baptist

by

Quotes (871)

It is easier to hate than to love–and some of us may often find ourselves dangerously close to creating our own Ninevah. Perhaps the people that inhabit our “Ninevah” are abortionists, homosexuals, political enemies, cultists, or an ethnic group we are uncomfortable with. The question we must honestly consider is this: will our prejudice cause us, like Jonah, to be guilty of silence, or will we intentionally express the heart of God? Jonah chose silence and hate rather than obedience and love.

– David Sper

by

Samaritan Ministries endorsement.

I wanted to share with the readers of DefCon how thoroughly thrilled my wife and I are about Samaritan Ministries. As an alternative to the high cost of secular insurance companies (many of which fund practices opposed to Christianity), Samaritan Ministries helps Christian families cover medical expenses by use of a network of contributors (members).

Instead of paying a monthly insurance fee, your monthly contribution goes directly to an actual family in need. You receive the name, address, and need of the family assigned to you, then you send your designated share amount directly to that family (along with a card or note of encouragement if you wish). Other needs that are not publishable (meaning they are not covered by Samaritan Ministries) are advertised in the monthly newsletter and members can give to those needs if they choose.

In the event that you incur a medical expense, you simply submit your need to Samaritan Ministries and you receive checks (along with cards or notes of encouragement) from other members to cover your medical expenses. 

I wholeheartedly endorse this ministry and can speak first hand about the value and effectiveness of it. We’ve been members for over a year and have benefited twice: once when one of our children was having breathing problems requiring two separate trips to the E.R. and most recently when our youngest was born, Samaritan Ministries covered the entire cost of the midwifery services and all associated tests and bloodwork. It is virtually impossible to find an insurance company willing to cover maternity unless it is through an employer. Samaritan Ministries recognizes that children are a blessing and by covering maternity needs they don’t perpetuate the idea (directly or indirectly) that children are a burden (financially or otherwise).

Notable members of Samaritan Ministries include Doug Phillips and Voddie Baucham. Baucham offered this endorsement:

Coming into the whole Samaritan Ministries thing and not knowing how it worked, not understanding anything about it, and just really wondering…was terrifying. Then I turned around and watched how Samaritan took care of that whole need [for a fellow pastor’s son]. Samaritan members came along, helped them…the doctors were happy to work with them…it was after that I signed up.

I understand better now than I did before how corrupted medicine has become because of the insurance industry. We walk in and say we’re self-pay, and immediately they take 30, 40, 50 percent off the top. That’s just because all the markup that exists because of insurance and also because of Medicare. These doctors are so happy to not have to deal with all that stuff, that they pass those savings on to you.

When you’re going to the doctor’s office and all you have to do is pay the $10 co-pay, you’ll go for any little thing. Your sense of independence, your sense of trusting in the Lord, your sense of trying to take care of things and do preventative medicine-that goes out the window if the only thing you have to think about is that $10 co-pay, not realizing at all that by participating in that system, you’re actually contributing to these escalating prices.

We love it. I enjoy sitting down, writing my check to a family, feeling that I’m just directly partnering with them, partnering with that need, praying for them. It’s wonderful, and that has been helpful to us.

I encourage readers to check out this wonderful ministry of Christians helping Christians. You can learn more by going to their website:

http://www.samaritanministries.org/

Also check out their blog:

http://www.samaritanministries.org/blog/

And you can even find them on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/samaritanministries

You can also learn more about this incredible ministry for Believers by Believers by viewing this video:

by

Slouching toward Soylent Green?

From One News Now from March 30, 2011:

According to a Florida-based pro-life organization, a biotech company is using aborted fetal cell lines to test food flavor enhancers.

Debi Vinnedge, executive director of Children of God for Life, is calling for a boycott of major food companies partnering with Senomyx, a San Diego-based firm that produces artificial flavor enhancers using aborted fetal cell lines to test their products. She explains the process.

“They take their artificial flavor enhancers, which are made using little molecules, and they put them on that aborted fetal cell line [which] elicits a response…,” says Vinnedge. “So they know whether they’re getting the right reaction, whether it’s going to produce that proper sweet taste as opposed to maybe another flavor.”

The pro-life activist argues there is no need to use aborted fetal tissue in this process, saying the truth is that Senomyx can use other cell lines, such as from animals. That, she says, raises the question of why those alternative sources are not used instead.

“…In one of their responses to us, [Nestlé] said this is such a well-established cell line that was used widely in scientific research — and so what? It doesn’t matter that it is. It’s just readily available,” she remarks.

The tissue in question comes from a baby aborted in the 1970s. Scientists create a cell line, freeze it in liquid nitrogen, and then take it out for use in their experiments.

The primary firms doing business with Senomyx are Pepsico, Kraft, Campbell Soup, and Nestlé.

A follow-up from One News Now from April 05, 2011 shows Cambell Soup is severing ties with the Senomyx, but Pepsico is standing firm:

Outrage continues over major food companies and their relationship with a firm that uses aborted fetal cells to test food flavor enhancers.

Campbell Soup, Nestlé, Solae, Pepsico and Kraft have been listed as partners with the bio-tech firm Senomyx (see earlier story). Debi Vinnedge, executive director of Children of God for Life, tells OneNewsNow one company was quick to respond.

“Campbell Soup actually met earlier and made the decision to sever all relations with Senomyx,” she reports. The firm has also been removed from the Senomyx website.

Solae has responded by saying it does not have an active relationship with Senomyx, but it is still listed as a partner on the latter’s website. Nestlé points out the fetal cell line being used worldwide is from a baby aborted in the 1970s, and it would be difficult to stop using them. The response from Vinnedge?

“Well, that’s ridiculous. Of course they can do it,” says the spokeswoman. “There’s no reason to use aborted fetal cell lines to test food additives.”

She adds that Pepsi was “very, very evasive” in its response. “Pepsi simply talked about how great it was going to make their beverages taste,” she states, “and that their goal was to reduce sugar and MSG in products.”

Vinnedge says the boycott continues against the remaining firms.

You can read the original alert to boycott these companies here, and you can read the e-mails to these companies (and their responses) here.

HT: RevivalAndReformation

by

Quotes (870)

The most terrifying words any professing Christian could ever hear would be the Lord Jesus declaring: “I never knew you, depart from me” (Mat. 7:23). On judgment day those words will be heard by many who once made professions of faith and claimed to be followers of Jesus. Yet very few evangelical leaders appear to be concerned.

– Mike Gendron

by

Morality without God?

The following article is from World Magazine:

Confirmation of biblical wisdom came earlier this fall from an unlikely source: an Ivy League savant who says it’s wrong to depend on the Bible.

The prestigious Oxford University Press sent me the new book Morality Without God by Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, a Dartmouth professor. (I’m going to quote him a lot, so I’ll use his initials.) WSA begins by complaining that his students quote to him Dostoevsky’s favorite line, “If God is dead, everything is permitted.” WSA then argues that we don’t need God: We all should simply agree not to harm others—cause death, pain, or disability—unless there is “adequate reason.”

Wondering if WSA is one of those exceedingly rare secular professors with the courage to be pro-life, I emailed him to ask. He responded that there is no “simple solution to this complex problem . . . the moral problem of abortion cannot be solved by citing religious texts or religious leaders.”

Hmm . . . How can it be solved? WSA wrote, “What matters is the present and future harm to the fetus and others. This does not solve the problem, but it tells us where to focus our discussions. I hope this helps.”

Hmm . . . It helps only if WSA can tell us how to compare “harm to the fetus” (death) to other harms, so I emailed him again. He responded, “The bottom line is that I think some moral problems are insoluble. . . . They are just too difficult for us to figure out. . . . The answer, ‘I do not know,’ should become common.”

Read the entire article here.

by

Sermon of the week: “Why Every Calvinist Should be a Premillennialist” by John MacArthur.

John MacArthur I was tempted to replace the image for this week’s speaker to that of a can of worms. Judging by the title of the sermon, you can imagine why.  Your sermon of the week (in six parts) is Why Every Calvinist Should Be a Premillennialist by John MacArthur.

I expect that this sermon will cause a stir in the comment thread, but based on MacArthur’s teaching in this series (backed up by copious amounts of Scripture), I don’t see how a postmill or amill position can stand. But, with that said, I am anxious to read the comments and will gladly check out any sermons or lectures that our postmill and amill readers wish to link to in an effort to learn more about this intriguing subject that, until just a few years ago, I never knew existed.

Why Every Calvinist Should Be a Premillennialist (Part 1)

Why Every Calvinist Should Be a Premillennialist (Part 2)

Why Every Calvinist Should Be a Premillennialist (Part 3)

Why Every Calvinist Should Be a Premillennialist (Part 4)

Why Every Calvinist Should Be a Premillennialist (Part 5)

Why Every Calvinist Should Be a Premillennialist (Part 6)
by

“Can we warn about a ravening wolf spiritually while simultaneously throwing an arm around him?”

That’s a fantastic question from a fantastic article recently posted by Worldview Weekend entitled:

Rick Warren’s Infiltration of the Reformed Faith

This is a must-read for everyone who’s concerned with what’s been happening lately in Reformed circles.

Here’s a quote from the article to whet your whistle:

“Rick Warren desires credibility and influence more than anything else, and he has been able to accomplish both over much of the religious landscape in America over the last decade. Some important holdouts have been the celebrity pastors of the Reformed book/conference circuit who were in stated opposition to him for his handling of Scripture and his man-centered, false gospel. All of that is changing quickly. What Rick Warren needed was to win over a leader whose status was great enough among Reformed evangelicals who could deliver the holdouts into his arms. He found such a man in John Piper. . . . Warren’s photo ops with Reformed leaders do nothing for the truth, and they do everything for Rick Warren’s relentless campaign for credibility and influence among those who should know better.”

Read the entire article from Worldview Weekend here.

by

Film Recommendation: “Divided.”

I admit that, although passionate about the subject of the dividing of the family in the church (and the damage it has caused), I was not moved by the trailer for the new documentary on the subject entitled Divided when I first watched it a couple months ago.

It wasn’t until my wife ordered the DVD and we watched it that I realized the documentary was much better than the trailer (seen below) led on.

Here is the description of the documentary:

There is a crisis. Christian youth are rapidly leaving evangelical churches for the world. This well-recognized disaster has been the topic of significant discussion in recent years for both church leaders and modern news media. DIVIDED follows young Christian filmmaker Philip LeClerc on a revealing journey as he seeks answers to what has led his generation away from the church.

Traveling across the country conducting research and interviewing church kids, youth ministry experts, evangelists, statisticians, social commentators, and pastors, Philip discovers the shockingly sinister roots of modern, age-segregated church programs, and equally shocking evidence that the pattern in the Bible for training future generations is at odds with modern church practices.

He also discovers a growing number of churches that are abandoning age-segregated Sunday school and youth ministry to embrace the discipleship model that God prescribes in His Word.

This division in our churches goes beyond just dividing the youth from their parents. The body of Christ is described as one body, yet we see an ever increasing pressure within churches to segregate and divide the body of Christ in all different directions and it’s all being done without any Scriptural instruction, example or precedence to support these divisions.

A kingdom divided against itself will not stand and we see the modern American church being divided into singles groups, women’s groups, men’s groups, seniors groups, services for contemporary music preference groups, services for traditional music preference groups, married couples groups, 20-something groups, 30-something groups, and the list goes on and on.

With all these divisions being promoted within the Western church is it any wonder why we find the bride of Christ in the condition she’s currently in?

This division within our churches is most disappointing when it comes to the youth. What message are we giving our children when they are ushered from the service as soon as the pastor is about to deliver the life giving words of holy Scripture?

This documentary (featuring interviews from such notables as Paul Washer, Voddie Baucham, Ken Ham, and Doug Phillips) is a must-see for everyone who’s in a church that’s currently dividing the children from their parents and from the preaching of the Word.

Listen to Brian Borgman’s message to his congregation in which he dismissed the children from service for the last time in Children in Worship.

See also:

Peanut Butter Salvation and Other Stupid Church Tricks.

Youth Ministry: a 50-year Failed Experiment.

Who’s Pastoring the Youth Pastors?

by

Quotes (868)

There has never been a time in this dispensation of grace when the enemies of the gospel have so actively sought the support of the Lord’s people. The doctrine-free, false prophets of ecumenism are the respected apostles of our age. They turn to us with invitations to cooperate, share pulpits, join campaigns, reach communities, and support good causes. The new evangelicals have heeded these siren songs and gone over to dialogue. The fundamentalist, as the prophet of old, must see them as the Devil’s invitations.

– John Ashbrook

by

John Piper, Rick Warren redux.

A few years ago those who observed that John Piper was heading down a bad road when he began validating Mark Driscoll were all but crucified by those who thought the ones raising the concern were jumping to conclusions.

But then the next shoe dropped: Piper invited Rick Warren to speak at last year’s Desiring God conference (and I noticed there were a lot less voices being raised from the defend-Piper-at-all-costs crowd). Rick Warren was unable to make it to that conference but this year Piper is traveling to Warren’s church.

This link contains the video (and other information) for John Piper’s upcoming Desiring God regional conference on “Meditations of a Christian Hedonist” being held at Rick Warren’s Saddleback church.

It appears that the slippery slope some of us were talking about over the past few years is rapidly turning into a cliff.

Will Piper surprise us and preach a non-compromising sermon on Christ and Him crucified to those who’ve been nursing on Warren’s  messages for years (we can only hope and pray), or will things only get worse as the years go by and perhaps next year we’ll see an endorsement of Thomas S. Monson? I guess time will only tell.

Nasty, snarky, condescending, and vitriolic comments will not be approved.

by

Quotes (867)

voddie-baucham Whether God smites us immediately as He did Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5) or appears to let it slide, we can rest assured that every sin receives just recompense (Romans 3:21-26). Thus, in the economy of God every act of disobedience is ultimately punished whether we see it immediately or not. That is why it is important to teach our children that every instruction is to be obeyed right away. As they get older, they may be allowed to enter into discussion about our instructions, but that discussion should follow an act of obedience, not determine whether or not they are convinced of our position.

– Voddie Baucham