Religion

by

Sarcasm at its finest: Happy spots and Hollywood.

Sometimes you can just use a good laugh.

The following video is a great follow-up of the post Woe Unto You.

And this video is a great follow-up to The Idolatry of Celebrity Worship.


by

True Christian Love

Love is the Queen of the Christian graces. It is a holy disposition given to us when we are born again by God. It is the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. True spiritual love is characterized by meekness and gentleness, yet it is vastly superior to the courtesies and kindnesses of the flesh.

We must be careful not to confuse human sentimentality, carnal pleasantries, human amiability and affability with true spiritual love. The love God commands, first to Himself and then to others, is not human love. It is not the indulgent, self-seeking love which is in us by nature. If we indulgently allow our children to grow up with little or, no Scriptural discipline, Proverbs plainly says we do not love them, regardless of the human sentimentality and affection we may feel for them. Love is not a sentimental pampering of one another with a loose indifference as to our walk and obedience before the Lord. Glossing over one another’s faults to ingratiate ourselves in their esteem is not spiritual love.

The true nature of Christian love is a righteous principle which seeks the highest good of others. It is a powerful desire to promote their welfare. The exercise of love is to be in strict conformity to the revealed will of God. We must love in the truth. Love among the brethren is far more than an agreeable society where views are the same. It is loving them for what we see of Christ in them, loving them for Christ’s sake.

The Lord Jesus Himself is our example. He was not only thoughtful, gentle, self-sacrificing and patient, but He also corrected His mother, used a whip in the Temple, Severely scolded His doubting disciples, and denounced hypocrites. True spiritual love is above all faithful to God and uncompromising towards all that is evil. We cannot declare, ‘Peace and Safety’ when in reality there is spiritual decay and ruin!

True spiritual love is very difficult to exercise because it is not our natural love. By nature we would rather love sentimentally and engender good feelings. Also many times true spiritual love is not received in love, but is hated as the Pharisees hated it. We must pray that God will fill us with His love and enable us to exercise it without dissimulation toward all.

A.W. Pink
1886 – 1952

by

Youth ministry: A “50-year failed experiment.”

Like placing a trampoline next to a spiked fence, sometimes you just have to admit when a bad idea is a bad idea (especially when it’s very harmful to children).

The Christian Post recently reported on a message from Scott T. Brown of the National Center for Family-Integrated Churches (NCFIC.org) in which he bravely went where few church leaders will go and criticized the sacred golden calf of youth ministry calling it “indisputably unbiblical.”

Brown gave this speech at the Sufficiency of Scripture Conference in Kentucky earlier this month which also featured Paul Washer, Voddie Baucham, Ken Ham, Doug Phillips, and others. Brown was optimistic though, hoping that “we are now at the end of this 50-year failed experiment.”

Ingrid Schlueter also weighed in on Brown’s lecture in this post when she said the following:

Youth groups that follow the fun and foolishness model of ministry have been an outstanding success—if by success you mean creating at least two generations of biblically illiterate, immature, and conscience-free consumers of American pop culture. As for training up disciplined, mature soldiers of Jesus Christ who possess a comprehensive knowledge of the Scriptures, most evangelical youth groups get an F.

Laodicean parents are concerned that their children will turn out badly. Turning out badly to Christians now means things like doing drugs, getting drunk or holding up the local QuickTrip. In terms of encouraging teens to avoid sex, drugs, booze and armed robbery, youth groups at evangelical churches probably get a few points. But when did avoiding procreation and police contact become the measure of success among Christian youth? Shouldn’t we be aiming a little higher than that? A working knowledge of sound Christian doctrine, knowledge of the Scriptures and the history of Christianity are now considered the arcane specialties of theologians, not tweens and teens.

The real issue is that evangelical parents are too busy servicing their debt providing iPhones and iPods and laptops for their offspring to worry about the biblical training of their children. Fathers are too involved watching the NFL on their large television screens to lead family worship. Mothers are too busy working out to achieve age-defying abs to teach children Scriptures when they rise up and when they lie down. That’s what youth group is for, they think. Except youth groups aren’t doing these things either. Youth pastors, even those well into middle-age, are bent on proving their coolness to the students in their care. They got krunk, see? They like dance-offs and air guitar competitions and having food items lobbed at their heads for entertainment purposes. Biblical training? Catechesis? Ha Ha Ha. Right.

Scott Brown is right. The neglect of biblical training of young people by their own fathers, in their own homes, is seen everywhere. Most frighteningly, we are seeing the increasing acceptance of things God clearly condemns in His Word. Kids today don’t know the Word. That’s why homosexuality is now seen as just another lifestyle option in a growing number of evangelical churches and colleges. Young people don’t know the Word because their fathers have failed them. Next, their “youth leaders” have failed them by perpetuating foolishness and buffoonery in the name of ministry.

Fathers, mothers, take back your roles as the primary disciplers of your children. Stop delegating the job to fools who are leading your children off a cliff spiritually. The times are dark and getting darker all the time, but the evangelicals party on, seemingly oblivious. The enemy is walking boldly into the church and subverting entire congregations with error of every description, not the least of which is an endemic spirit of frivolity and fun at the expense of teaching Biblical truth. But if evangelicals would look up from their revels, they would see the finger of God writing clearly on the walls of their churches.

“You have been tried in the balances and found wanting.”

_______________________________________________________________

See related:

– Peanut butter salvation and other stupid church tricks

– Whos’ pastoring the youth pastors?

– The problem with youth ministry today.

– A story of injured clowns and evil chickens.

– Another church sanctuary turned into a stage for a worldly dance exhibition.

by

Sermon of the week: “Hell” by Don Kistler.

Similar to the impact of Tim Conway’s message on Hell (found on this post), your sermon of the week is another sobering one. Hell by Pastor Don Kistler is one of those sermons that everyone should hear if they take God and His wrath seriously–but prepare to be very uncomfortable.

by

Why evangelism is so difficult in the United States.

Anyone who has spent any time doing street evangelism knows how discouraging it can be at times. A book I’m reading by Ken Ham and Brit Beemer entitled Already Gone: Why Your Kids Will Quit Church And What You Can Do To Stop It helps us to better understand just why evangelism in America is like pushing water up a hill.

For this book 1,000 people in their twenties who used to regularly attend church–as kids and teens (including Sunday school and youth groups) but who no longer darken the door of a church–were polled on the various reasons they no longer attend. Those polled were asked 78 questions in all but one of the more revealing responses came from this question:

Do you believe you are saved and will go to heaven upon death?

Of the group who never attends church: 58.7% said yes.

Of the group who attends church on Christmas and Easter only: 72.2% said yes.

Perhaps this sheds a little light on why it is so difficult to reach the “churched” and “unchurched” with the true gospel of Jesus Christ. You can’t convince a sick man to have an operation if he fails to recognize his illness.


by

Quotes (675)

voddie-baucham It is not the job of the youth pastor to evangelize my child—that’s my job. It is not the youth pastor’s job to equip (disciple) my child—it’s mine. And it is not the youth pastor’s job to send my child out to engage the world; you guessed it—that’s my job too.

– Voddie Baucham

by

A Rebuke from Russia

Mosh pit from Planetshakers "Christian" conference in Sydney, AUS

Over ten years ago, persecuted Christians in Russia sent an urgent plea to the churches of America to stop sending their demonic rock music under the ruse that it is supposedly Christian.  It addition to this plea, they also issued a sharp rebuke to the blindness and worldliness of the countless ministers and ministries that promote this music as being Christian. 

Yet has this plea been heard and has the rebuke yielded fruits of repentance?  Maybe for a select few but by in large the church has only further sunk into the morass of the world’s music whereby even thrash metal, rap, goth and a host of other forms of “music” are not only defended but welcomed into the church with open arms.  What a disgrace and shame that so many self-professed shepherds cannot separate the holy from the profane, the clean from the unclean.  And that the lost and unregenerate, as noted in his letter, have better discernment! 

For those who have eyes to see with and ears to hear I include the letter below.  At some point in the future I hope to write more about this subject. 

For thirty years we have suffered intense persecution. Now freedom is bringing another great harm to our churches. This damage is coming from Christians in America who are sending rock music and evangelists accompanied by rock bands. Our young people do not attend those meetings because we have all committed not to participate in secular entertainment. 

This is a great burden to our hearts. Many come with Bible in hand and rock music. We are embarrassed by this image of Christianity. We do not know what words to use in urging that this be stopped. We abhor all Christian rock music coming to our country. 

Rock music has nothing in common with ministry or the service to God. We are very much against Christian Americans bringing to our country this false image of “ministry” to God. We need spiritual bread… not false cakes. It is true that rock music attracts people to the church, but not to Godly living. 

We were in prison for fifteen years for Christ’s sake. We were not allowed to have Christian music, but ROCK MUSIC was used as a weapon against us day and night to destroy our souls. We could only resist with much prayer. 

Now, we have a time of more openness. We are no longer taken to prison. However, now it is Christians from America who damage our souls. We do not allow this music in our church, but these “evangelists” rent big stadiums and infect teenagers and adults with their rock music. We, the leadership and congregations of the Unregistered churches urge you to join with us, and we advise you to remove rock music from America. 

Do not desecrate our teenagers with it. Even the unbelievers recognize it is unholy music. We call this music, “music from hell.” We urge all Americans to stop giving money for the organizations of such concerts in Russia. We only want traditional Christian music in our churches. This is the unanimous decision of all our leaders. 

Peter Peters and Vasilij Ryzhuk, Unregistered Union of Churches, Moscow, Russia, April 15, 1992 (Bold added) 

by

Time-wasters by Richard Baxter.

I found the following at Berean Wife.

Thief I: One of the greatest time-wasting sins consists of idleness or sloth.

Thief II: The next thief or time-waster is excess of sleep.

Thief III: The next thief or time-waster is an inordinate adorning of the body.

Thief IV: Another time-wasting thief is unnecessary pomp and curiosity in retinue, attendance, house furniture, provision and entertainments, together with excess of compliment and ceremony, and servitude to the humors and expectations of time-wasters.

Thief V: Another time-wasting sin is needless and tedious feastings, gluttony, and tippling. (Tippling – drinking)

Thief VI: Another time-waster is idle talk.

Thief VII: Another thief which by the aforesaid means would steal your time, is vain and sinful company.

Thief VIII: Another notorious time-wasting thief, is needless, inordinate sports and games, which are stigmatized by the offenders themselves, with the infamous name of pastimes, and masked with deceitful title of recreations;

Thief IX: Another time-wasting thief is excess of worldly cares and business.

Thief X: Another time-waster is vain ungoverned and sinful thoughts.

Thief XI: Another dangerous time-waster sin is the reading of vain books, play-books, romances, and feigned histories; and also unprofitable studies, undertaken but for vain-glory, or the pleasing of a carnal or curious mind.

Thief XII: But the master-thief that robs men of their time is an unsancitified, ungodly heart; for this loseth time whatever men are doing; because they never intend the glory of God.

by

Sin: The reason for the season.

I recently heard Don Kistler make the statement that “sin is the reason for the season” and he is absolutely right. Christ coming to earth as a human wasn’t for . . .

Your self-esteem . . .

Your personal finances . . .

Your financial success . . .

Your gift exchange party . . .

Your social status . . .

Your temporal happiness . . .

Nope, Jesus came because of your sin and mine. He was the perfect substitution for the object of God’s righteous wrath that we so justly deserve. So this holiday, remember sin is the real reason for the season!

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many. Mark 10:45

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21

Merry Christmas!

by

A Roman Catholic with univeralist leanings vs. an Atheist on the topic of Christmas.

I found this short and interesting video debate between a Roman Catholic (who includes Evangelicals, Catholics, and Mormons under the umbrella of “Christian”) and an Atheist on the subject of Christmas.

The Roman Catholic is a Foxnews anchor, and the Atheist is from the Freedom From Religion Foundation. Yes, the same Freedom From Religion Foundation that honors the bloodthirsty racist Margaret Sanger as a great “Free Thinker.”

All in all, a very entertaining video.


by

Christmas Perspectives.

Similar to the previous post Thanksgiving Perspectives, I wanted to take the opportunity to recommend that you keep the Christmas holiday in perspective. I offer the following two things I believe will help you to do this: Download and listen to this sobering message by Bill Wilson and view the video on this post.


by

Straw men should not play with fire.

There’s a new purveyor of false doctrine in town, and they’re using the same argument often used by Atheists to deny God’s justice and punishment of the wicked. The New Covenant Group argues against Hell using a famous but woefully ignorant line of argumentation commonly employed by those who deny God’s existence. Before I address this and show you not only the absurdity of the argument but how to easily dismantle it, I want you to watch the following video from NCG to better understand the problem:

I originally found the above video on The Museum of Idolatry and the following was Chris Rosebrough’s commentary:

Here’s a nifty trick used by almost ALL false teachers. Ignore the clear teaching of the Bible and build a straw man argument based upon a distorted view of the evidence (in this case via suppression of clear Biblical data). Then beat up on the straw man that you’ve constructed (that shouldn’t be because hard [sic] straw men don’t fight back).  Once the straw man is good and dead then assert your own position as if it were the truth.

That’s precisely what’s happening in this video put out by the “New Covenant Group” that claims there is no hell.  Pay REAL CLOSE attention to the fact that NONE of the passages where Jesus teaches the doctrines of God’s wrath and eternal punishment are discussed. Instead, there is only an appeal to an artificially constructed Jesus that was built using only partial data and warped human reasoning.

Chris certainly hit the nail on the head and now  I would like to explore this straw man that the thespian and his pastor in the above video concocted.

First of all I want to make it clear that the sovereign, glorious, majestic, holy God of all creation isn’t a grovelling middle-aged, balding man like the theatrical blasphemer in the above video. Secondly, God begs and grovels for no man! Until you begin to understand the infinite holiness and unparalleled awesomeness of God you won’t begin to understand the fallacy of their argument.

The proposition that God wants us to love Him but if we don’t He will then send us to Hell for all eternity is a misrepresentation of the Gospel and is the product of this very poorly constructed straw man.

It’s not a matter of if we don’t love Him then He’ll cast us into Hell, mankind is already going there. There is no neutrality in the issue of man standing before God. God is not wringing His hands hoping someone, somewhere, will love Him. We are born into iniquity, there is no good in us, we are always doing evil, and we do not seek after God (Ecclesiastes 7:20, Romans 3:11, 23).

Secondly, we are already in judgment. The Bible is clear that the wrath of God already abides on sinners (John 3:36) and that those who do not believe in the Son of God are already judged (John 3:18). We are not floating around this life in a state of neutrality and after our death we’ll then find out if we are going to receive Heaven or Hell.  No, we are drudging around this life with the fetters of sin constantly about us. We are tethered to the abyss of Hell from birth because we are born unregenerate and hostile to God; it is our very nature.

Thirdly, their argument is absolutely fallacious because God knows that unless He calls us, we aren’t going to love Him anyway (John 6:44, John 17:2). And every one of us who are His elect, His chosen, His children were on that same road. It wasn’t until God in His infinite grace, mercy, and love toward us (while we were yet still sinners) rescued us from our rebellious and hostile stance against Him.

The concept that God wants us to love Him or He’ll throw us into Hell is a concept absolutely foreign to Scripture and any serious Bible student should know that. This warped depiction of the holy Triune God of all creation by these mockers in the above video is based solely on their blatant misrepresentation of Scripture (or more specifically a total absence of Scripture). And the furtherance of their lie is wholly dependent upon the biblical illiteracy of their church members.

We are not saved by our act of choosing to love God, and conversely we don’t have to refuse to love God to be found guilty and thus be cast into Hell. Without Christ we already stand condemned!

But the good news is that God loved us so much that He offered His only Son as a propitiation for our sins. Jesus Christ took on human form and willingly gave up His life as a perfect substitute to save us from the wrath of God and from the Hell that we so justly deserve. The condition of escaping Hell is not based on our loving God, it is based on the finished work of Christ at Calvary.


_________________________________________________________________

See also Denying Hell: The bandwagon is getting quite full and Hell is necessary




by

Catholic Apologists and Excommunication

The deeper you dig into the mire of Catholicism the more gems you discover.  Here is one I would like to share with you about how all the “layman” Catholic apologists of YouTube fame, the Web and elsewhere should be “bound in the fetters of excommunication” as they are violating one of their papal decrees.  A decree that is still on the books that forbids public and private disputatations (i.e. debates) with heretics on the Catholic faith.  This law of the Catholic land being given by decree of Alexander IV (1254-1261) in “Sextus Decretalium”, Lib. V, c. ii.  We read:

We furthermore forbid any lay person to engage in dispute, either private or public, concerning the Catholic Faith. Whosoever shall act contrary to this decree, let him be bound in the fetters of excommunication. [Online source]

So, the next time you are earnestly contending for the faith once delivered unto the saints with a Roman Catholic, you might want to point this little tidbit out to them and see how they react. 

by

Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible

Text from YouTube:

“Dr. Patton is the staff Geologist for the Qumran Plateu excavation in Israel, the site that produced the Dead Sea Scrolls some 2,000 years ago. These scrolls, perhaps the most significant archeological discovery of all time, have changed the way we view the Bible.

Many have been led to believe that the original text of the Bible has deteriorated over years of copying and recopying. The Dead Sea Schrolls provide a test of that hypothesis, allowing us to compare modern versions with recently discovered manuscripts written over 2,000 years ago.

Dr. Patton will take you to the same scene of the original caves where the scrolls were discovered with one of the Bedouins who made the discovery. This is a fascinating story with eternal implications.

Dr. Patton has a broad educational background; four years at Florida College, Temple Terrace, FL (Bible); two years at Austin Peay State University, Clarksville, TN (Geology); two years at Indiana Univ./Purdue Univ., Indianapolis, IN (Geology); two years, Pacific School of Graduate Studies. He has worked as Geologist in US, Canada, Australia, England, Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, Cambodia, Israel, and Jordan. Dr. Patton has participated in dinosaur excavations in Colorado, Texas, Utah, Wyoming and Canada. He is credited with excavating the longest consecutive dinosaur trail in North America, totaling 157 tracks, extending over 500 feet. He is a member of the Geological Society of America and was a speaker at their 1997 annual convention. Dr. Patton lectures at universities across the United States. He has conducted up to twelve Creation/Evolution Seminaries a year for twenty five years. He has participated in numerous public debates on creation/evolution including radio and TV debates. He has testified three times before Texas State Textbook Committee, Austin, TX. Presently, Dr. Patton is consulting geologist & partner in Mazada Corporation, Dallas, TX. He is a staff geologist of the Creation Evidence Museum, Glen Rose, TX, staff geologist for the Qumran Plateau excavation in Israel, an area supervisor at the City of David excavation in Jerusalem and chairman of the Metroplex Institute of Origon Science. He preaches for the Melrose church of Christ in Richardson, Texas.”

 

 

by

Quotes (672)

Paganism was a system of deceivableness. It was the worship of a false god, under the pretence of being the worship of the true God. But popery [Roman Catholicism] is a deceivableness on a scale far beyond that of paganism. The one was a counterfeit of the religion of the Gospel. Popery has … a saviour of its own -the Church, to wit. It has a sacrifice of it own -the Mass. It has a mediator of its own -the Priesthood. It has a sanctifier of its own -the Sacrament. It has a justification of its own -that even of infused righteousness. It has a pardon of its own -the pardon of the Confessional; and it has in the heavens an infallible, all-prevailing advocate unknown to the Gospel -the “Mother of God.” It thus presents to the world a spiritual and saving apparatus for the salvation of men, and yet it neither sanctifies nor saves anyone. It looks like a church; it professes to have all that a church ought to have; and yet, it is not a church. It is a grand deception -“the all-deceivableness of unrighteousness.”

– J.A. Wylie (from The Papacy is the Antichrist)
– 1808 – 1890

by

Rick Warren’s Radicalis Conference

I want to give all of the DefCon contributors and readers enough time to get tickets for Saddleback’s latest conference, Radicalis (i.e “Radical Is” which you will find with a backward “R” on their website).  Here, in case reading your Bible, sound exposition, prayer, and a study of church history were not enough, you can now learn from the movers and shakers in Christdom about absolute surrender, sacrificial lifestyle and authentic Christianity.  All as Rick Warren and his team extend an invidation to radicals only to attend this conference that is billed as,

…a unique hands-on, comprehensive experience that will enhance each member of your team’s role in your church and build and inspire them to serve God in your community and the world. Rick Warren, the Saddleback Team and leading national pastors will challenge, develop, and expand your vision to be a moving force for God in today’s world.

They’ll help you understand the paradigm, learn the process and build relationships for expanding your ministry. They’ll enlarge your understanding of what “church” and “ministry” mean to enable you to affect positive, purposeful change for God. Imagine what would happen in your community, in your church and in our world if your church team collectively shared an experience guided by the Spirit of God in which we saw His calling and His will for your ministry.

And who will be the speakers that will teach you about “church” and “ministry”?  Well, well, I’m sure you are sitting at the edge of your seat in rapt anticipation.  Without further delay, some key speakers from the entire speaker list include:

  • Rick Warren
  • Andy Stanley
  • Mark Driscoll
  • Perry Noble
  • Dino Rizzo
  • Kerry Shook

So there you have it.   Any takers?  For a few insights, you can check out what Ken Silva has to say on his blog.