It is a crime against lost humanity to go in the name of Christ and missions just to do social work yet neglect calling men to repent—to give up their idols and rebellion—and follow Christ with all their hearts.
– K.P. Yohannan
Tired of hearing what critics say family integrated churches believe? Dissuaded by the mischaracterization of what others claim family integrated churches teach? Want to hear what those in family integrated churches actually believe?
Then you will want to listen to what Scott Brown of The National Center for Family Integrated Churches (NCFIC) has to say in his message entitled What is a family-integrated Church?
Whenever a Church keeps back Christ crucified, or puts anything whatsoever in that foremost place which Christ crucified should always have, from that moment a Church ceases to be useful. Without Christ crucified in her pulpits, a Church is little better than a dead carcass, a well without water, a barren fig-tree, a sleeping watchman, a silent trumpet, a dumb witness, an ambassador without terms of peace, a messenger without tidings, a lighthouse without fire, a stumbling-block to weak believers, a comfort to unbelievers, a hot-bed for formalism, a joy to the devil, and an offense to God.
– J. C. Ryle
1816 – 1900
I recently read an article about cults in Mexico that I found absolutely fascinating. It seems that the Roman Catholic organization is experiencing some competition in one of their stronghold nations.
Here’s a quote from the article about the growing worship of fictional drug-trafficking saint, Jesús Malverde:
“The emotional pressures, the tensions of living in a time of crisis lead people to look for symbolic figures that can help them face danger,” says José Luis González, a professor at Mexico’s National School of Anthropology and History who specializes in popular religions. Among the helper figures are Afro-Cuban deities that have recently found their way to new shores and outlaws that have been transformed into miracle workers, like a mythical bandit from northern Mexico called Jesús Malverde. There are even saints from the New Testament repurposed for achieving not salvation but success. In this expanding spiritual universe, the worship of a skeleton dressed in long robes and carrying a scythe—La Santa Muerte—is possibly the fastest growing and, at first glance at least, the most extravagant of the new cults.
There’s a reason for God’s prohibition against graven images and the bowing down to them. Our hearts are truly idol factories and here’s an example of how one such idol was created:
Eligio had been working as a driver in 1976 when he was knifed and shot in a holdup and left for dead. He prayed to Malverde, whose only monument at the time was a pile of rocks where his grave was said to be, promising to erect a proper shrine in Malverde’s honor if the saintly bandit saved his life. When he survived, he kept his word. González appears to have understood that people would grasp Malverde’s real importance only if there were an image of him they could worship, but unfortunately no photograph of Malverde existed—and, in fact, no evidence at all that he’d ever lived. In the 1980s González asked an artisan in the neighborhood to create a plaster bust: “Make him sort of like Pedro Infante and sort of like Carlos Mariscal,” Infante being a famous movie star from Sinaloa and Mariscal a local politician.
And then there’s the skeletal idol of death known as La Santa Muerte reminiscent of the Grim Reaper:
Antonio explains what gives La Santa Muerte her powerful attraction: “La Muerte is always beside you—even if it’s just a little postage stamp that you put up above your cot, you know that she’s not going to move, that she’ll never leave.” . . . El Niño and Antonio say just that La Santa Muerte will grant your prayers—but only in exchange for payment, and that payment must be proportional to the size of the miracle requested, and the punishment for not meeting one’s debt to her is terrible.
I find it ironic that the official position of the Roman Catholic organization is in opposition to the worship of Jesús Malverde and La Santa Muerte when they are one of the worst offenders of idol worship around and seem to have no problem when the idol being worshiped is one that they’ve created.
Mexicans who retain a strong connection to the Roman Catholic faith might turn instead to St. Jude Thaddeus. At a time when no-win situations abound, he is experiencing a rise in popularity comparable only to that of La Santa Muerte, perhaps because he is known in the Catholic Church as the patron saint of desperate causes. . . . St. Jude’s official feast day is October 28, and thousands of his followers feel inspired to come and pray to him on that day every month. Sixteen Masses are celebrated in the parish from dawn to evening, and worshippers crawl to the statue of the saint on their knees, praying for help, protection, and survival.
But let me caution you, before we look down on these souls in Mexico who are steeped in idol worship, let us not forget that we in America are equally as guilty of this sin; our idols just come in different forms (cars, sports, money, status, possessions, self, etc.).
To read the entire National Geographic article (and to view more pictures) visit National Geographic online.
Your sermon of the week, Evangelizing Your World, is yet another fine message by John MacArthur that I encourage the readers of DefCon to check out.
Your sermon of the week is a great one by Akash Sant Singh on the fifth chapter of Revelation. This is a great message that lifts up our Lord and Savior, the Lamb that was slain, the only One worthy to open the scroll with the seven seals, and to whom all of creation will bow down and worship.
Worthy is the Lamb!
This is a fantastic and moving message in two parts. Enjoy!
A proper response to How to make a false convert.
This video portrays why my heart grieves for these precious souls and why Mormonism and Christianity never has and never will be compatible.
Source: GodNeverSinned.com
Imagine if you will, that you’ve been witnessing to your next door neighbor for years. Let’s call him Bob. Bob is a big burly biker who swears that he’ll never step foot in a church as long as he’s alive.
Then one Saturday night he knocks on your door and tells you that he’s been thinking a lot about life lately and that he’d like to come with you to church the following morning. You try to hide your over-exuberance and tell him it would be your honor and you’d even offer to pick him up.
After Bob leaves, you receive another knock at the door. It’s Adam, one of your other neighbors you’ve been witnessing to. Adam is an Atheist and not only rejects the idea of the existence of God, but in your conversations with him he’s even mocked your faith calling Christianity a “crutch” and a mindless religion best suited for wimps and sissies. So imagine your surprise when he’s on your doorstep and tells you he’d like go to church with you in the morning. After you recover from your shock you tell him you’ll pick him up in the morning.
You go to your bedroom to pray about what has just happened and thank God. And as soon as you get done, you hear another knock on your door. This time it’s your neighbor Mike the Mormon.
In the years you’ve spent sharing the gospel with Mike he’s always objected to Christianity because of the foolishness he used to see in the churches before converting to Mormonism. He tells you that he’s been thinking a lot about your conversations over the years and would like to attend church with you in the morning. After you regain your composure you tell him you’ll pick him up in the morning.
As you’re getting ready for bed the phone rings. It’s Mohammed from work. The Muslim you’ve been witnessing to for years is on the phone asking if he can come to church with you in the morning. Once again, you try to contain your excitement as you tell Mohammed that you’ll pick him up in the morning.
The next morning you arrive at the church with Bob, Adam, Mike, and Mohammed. All of you make your way inside and find seats in the sanctuary.
The pastor gets up and announces that they have a very special guest today. A well-dressed man steps onto the platform and the next thing that you, Bob, Adam, Mike, and Mohammed see is this:
Ingrid Schlueter appropriately asks:
What happened? How did it come to this? What kind of teachings or lack thereof would allow evangelicals to view this as Christian worship? In short, why?
HT: Crosstalk Blog
Let us often ask ourselves whether we are doing good or harm in the world. We cannot live to ourselves, if we are Christians. The eyes of many will always be upon us. Men will judge by what they see, far more than by what they hear. If they see the Christian contradicting by his practice what he professes to believe, they are justly stumbled and offended. For the world’s sake, as well as for our own, let us labor to be eminently holy. Let us endeavor to make our religion beautiful in the eyes of men, and to adorn the doctrine of Christ in all things.
– J. C. Ryle
1816 – 1900
Want to help get doctrinally sound theology books into the hands of pastors in Africa? Here are two ways:
1). There’s the Portuguese Adopt a Pastor program for Mozambique, Africa (along with video introduction) here.
2). You can also support indigenous pastors in Liberia, Africa with books and other resources and learn more about the work of Village Church Planters by visiting their website here.
Not only are they desperate for help in sound doctrinal teaching, and not only are they in a spiritual battle against native pagan religions and the spread of Islam, but they also have the proliferation of cults to tend with (for more on cults in Africa see the Africa Center for Apologetics Research). These pastors are poor and can’t afford to attend the conferences that pastors in the West attend, nor can they afford to purchase the theological books that line our bookshelves and that we take for granted.
Will you consider helping the saints today?
The charismatic movement is largely the reason the church is in the mess it’s in today. In virtually every area where church life is unbiblical, you can attribute it to the charismatic movement. In virtually every area — bad theology, superficial worship, ego, prosperity gospel, personality elevation — all of that comes out of the charismatic movement.
– John MacArthur
If I had a nickel for every time a Mormon cited Christendom’s presence of denominations as proof that Christianity is apostate while citing their Mormon unity as proof that they’re the one true church, I’d have . . . well, an awful lot of nickels.
Chances are, if you’ve ever engaged Mormons in a debate you too have experienced this erroneous LDS apologetics tactic. But do not feel at a loss on how to cut through this smokescreen, for below is a list posted by 4 Mormon.org citing the plethora of Mormon splits, divisions, and denominations.
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MORMON SPLINTER GROUPS
Sects that broke away from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Proponents of the Salt Lake City based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (also known as LDS or Mormons) boast of the alleged “unity” of their 12 million membership. Pointing to multiple denominations of Christian churches, Mormons attribute their “unity” (i.e., uniform church structure and belief) to latter-day revelation and to additional books they regard as Scripture.
They challenge the potential convert to read and pray about the Book of Mormon in order to gain a “testimony” of the truthfulness of the book. This “testimony” (consisting of a “burning in the bosom” sensation) is alleged to be the main test for determining whether the potential convert should become a member of the LDS Church. Given the fact that over 100 splinter groups have developed on the foundation of the Prophet Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, we question the validity of the Mormon “testimony” in solidifying the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the sole possessor of the “restored gospel.” Since all of these movements base their authority on the Book of Mormon and the Prophet Joseph Smith, how can a “testimony” gained through praying about the Book of Mormon be sufficient to prove which church of all of these movements one should join? The following list of dissident groups is taken from the book Divergent Paths of Restoration:
FOUNDED BETWEEN 1830 AND 1844
NON-EXTANT MOVEMENTS FOUNDED 1844-1860
EXTANT MOVEMENTS
Splinter Groups and Sub-movements of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, James J. Strang, 1844
Splinter Groups and Sub-movements of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Brigham Young, 1847
Splinter Groups and Sub-movements of The Church of Jesus Christ, Alpheus Cutler, 1853
Splinter Groups and Sub-movements of The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 1851-1860
Splinter Groups and Sub-movements of The Church of Jesus Christ, William Bickerton, 1862
Splinter Groups and Sub-movements of Church of Christ (Temple Lot), Granville Hedrick, 1863
Ingrid Schlueter hits the nail on the head with her article (reprinted in its entirety below) about pop sensation Justin Bieber and the Christian conservatives who now have a “legitimate” reason to fawn over him because of his announcement that he’s opposed to abortion.
I suppose that since Bieber has been Christianized merely because he’s pro-life and claims to be a Christian (even though he’s not opposed to sex outside of marriage) there’s no longer a need to come up with a Christian version of Biebler for Christian preteens to idolize as has been done in this video.
At the end of her piece Ingrid links to a Christianity Today article that asks:
Has your pastor caught Bieber fever? Your preteen daughter surely knows that Justin Bieber’s first feature film is opening this Friday, Feb. 11, in theaters everywhere. But does your pastor know? Or your church’s youth leaders?
Why? Why is the “church” so fascinated with all things worldly? Why is the “church” always found singing the same songs of the world, watching the same movies of the world, dressing in the same fashions of the world, placing the same level of interest in the celebrities of the world, and having the same worldview of the world? Aren’t we supposed to be separate? Aren’t we commanded to not love the world and the things in the world (James 4:4 and 1 John 2:15-16)?
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Bieber Fever Strikes Conservatives
by Ingrid Schlueter
It doesn’t take much to impress conservatives these days. It doesn’t matter if you stand on a stage with only postage stamps for a covering as long as you state your support for family values. Just ask Carrie Prejean, Miss USA from a couple of years ago, who overnight became the instant pin-up girl for conservatives who were sent into spasms of delight as she defended traditional marriage while flaunting her surgically enhanced bosom. (This was before the sex tape scandal came out.)
Another nearly naked values warrior, Teresa Scalan, strutted her stuff in a black bikini and then warmed the hearts of (mostly male) conservatives nationwide after she announced she was headed to a Christian college. She gave God the credit for her winning the Miss America pageant. News comment sections were immediately filled with conservative wolf-whistles. “Another red-hot Republican babe ready to launch,” crowed one devoted fan.
Now conservatives have really hit the jackpot as Justin Bieber, adolescent pop star, announced in a Rolling Stone interview that he was opposed to abortion. That’s all it took for pro-life groups to vault him to the top of their lists within hours. Press releases were immediately forthcoming as pro-lifers eagerly claimed him as their own.
But wait! In the same interview in Rolling Stone, Bieber was asked about his views on sex before marriage. In that Bieber identifies as an evangelical Christian, it was a valid question, and given the millions of hormonally-charged females biting their fists worldwide at his photo, an interesting one. But Bieber disappoints.
“I don’t think you should have sex with anyone unless you love them. … I think you should just wait for the person you’re … in love with,” he said.
In that babies conceived out of wedlock are at the highest risk of being murdered in the womb, Bieber’s views on premarital sex are hardly conservative and hardly helping the pro-life cause.
That hasn’t stopped pro-life groups from seizing at this crumb hurled from the celebrity table, regardless of how contradictory his interview was.
When naked beauty queens and boy pop stars not old enough to shave are seen as bright lights in the conservative values crusade, our problems in this country are clearly deeper than abortion.
As a side note, Christianity Today Entertainment (you read that correctly) last week asked readers if their pastors and churches were getting “Bieber fever?” Undoubtedly they are. God has given American evangelicals the kind of leadership they crave: girly men whose god is their own reflection.
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See DefCon’s previous related post The idolatry of celebrity worship: Giving to man what rightly belongs to God.
The ladder is long enough to reach from Jacob prostrate on the earth to Jehovah reigning in heaven. To bring another ladder would be to suppose that He failed to bridge the distance, which would grievously dishonor Him. If to add to His words is to draw a curse upon ourselves, what must it be to pretend to add to Himself? Remember that He Himself is the Way. To suppose that we must, in some manner, add to the divine road is to be arrogant enough to think of adding to Him. Away with such a notion! Loathe it as you would blasphemy, for in essence it is the worst of blasphemy against the Lord of love.
– C. H. Spurgeon
1834 – 1892
In response to Chuck Smith’s worldly and utterly unbiblical counsel to Nikki, I offer this video of baby Elliot who (according to doctors) wasn’t supposed to make it to birth. I pray that this video finds its way to Nikki before it’s too late.
First posted on DefCon on July 7, 2008
The primacy of the Word of God during [the early decades of the 1700s] was seen in the highly doctrinal sermons, which were addressed to both the heart and the mind. The plain-style worship services ensured that the focus was neither on the minister nor on the surroundings but on the God who addressed them in the Word.
– Gary Gilley
Rick Warren’s Daniel Plan has begun and Jennifer Pekich was there for its inception. Her report from inside the lion’s den (pun intended) can be found here.
Here’s a quote from her article:
Following Dr. Hyman’s talk my best friend arrived to observe the day with me, only to hear Dr. Amen mention in his presentation that he did a brain scan on one of his clients who had a habit of cheating on his wife. The brain scan showed that there were “holes in the pre-frontal cortex of his brain” which controls the impulses. In other words, this man wasn’t sinful, he was “mentally ill.” All he needed was to get on the “Change Your Brain, Change Your Body” program and his personal struggles with sin were remedied. Once again Jesus was removed from the equation. My friend and I were dumbfounded when we listened to the Saddleback crowd cheer. My best friend couldn’t contain it any longer and let out a, “You’ve got to be kidding me!”
The best quote from Jennifer’s article, however, was when she made this observation of the event:
I have to admit that visions of the masses being manipulated by Adolf Hitler’s oratory skills came to my mind, only this particular crowd had just been manipulated by a really bad infomercial.
You can listen to Jennifer’s interview about her visit to Saddleback here on the Crosstalk radio show. You can also read an article on this event by Lighthouse Trails here and another article by Marsha West here.
Chuck Smith’s advice: God will be with you while you kill your child and He won’t condemn you for it.
Voddie Baucham’s reaction to this ungodly counsel (from Facebook):
I must admit that this one made me ANGRY! I’m on the road preaching at a pro-life banquet and someone sent me this YouTube video of Chuck Smith (founder of Calvary Chapel) giving abortion advice that made me want to throw something (or someone). This woman is agonizing right now over this decision, and a pastor just told her Jesus would be alright with her killing her children. Please pray for her.
Here is a video for Nikki to help encourage her to do the right thing in her decision; and this same video is for Chuck Smith to encourage him to repent and retract his worldly, unbiblical position: