Theology

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Sermon of the week: “Why Church Discipline” by Chuck Betters.

October is “Church Discipline Month” on DefCon. All of our featured Wednesday sermons of the week (there are a total of 5 in October) will be on the much neglected subject of Church discipline.

Last week we began with part one of a 3 part series on the lost art of Church discipline by Pastor Church Betters (you can check it out here). This week we continue with Pastor Betters’ series with part two entitled Why Church Discipline?

Chuck Betters is pastor of Glasgow Reformed Presbyterian Church in Bear, Delaware.

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Tickling ears is big business . . . and business is good.

Portfolio.com is reporting in this article that megachurch ear-tickler Joel Osteen, aka “Reverend Feelgood,” and his wife Victoria (whose new book Love Your Life which is in direct contradiction to Jesus’ command not to love your life) are reportedly taking in $75 million dollars a year through their Lakewood church (not counting his $13 million dollar advance for his latest book). Here’s a quote from the article:

We are a nation stumbling through our worst financial crisis in a generation and our worst housing market in a lifetime. And so we come, seeking gentle salvation, inspiring prayers, steadying words, soothing notions, and calming thoughts that will allow us to become, in Joel Osteen’s words, “victors, not victims.”

And Time.com is reporting that the prosperity “gospel” may have actually contributed to the current economic crisis. Read their article here.

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Quotes (387)

yahannan.jpg

How can we preach the Gospel to a man with an empty stomach?

A man’s stomach has nothing to do with his heart’s condition of being a rebel against the holy God. A rich American on Fifth Avenue in New York City or a poor beggar on the streets of Bombay are both rebels against God Almighty, according to the Bible. The result of this lie is the fact that, during the past 100 years, the majority of mission money has been invested in social work. I am not saying we should not care for the poor and needy. The issue I am taking to task is losing our primary focus of preaching the Gospel.

– K.P. Yohannan

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A special message entitled “Politcally Incorrect” by Phil Johnson.

DefCon interrupts our normally scheduled Saturday sermon series Studies in Ephesians to bring you this very important message from Phil Johnson Politically Incorrect: How to Shepherd Your Congregation in an Election. The elections are just a month away and this message should be heard by all Christians.

Phil Johnson hits so many nails on the head in regards to the Christian’s role in the political process that if I didn’t know better I’d think he’d been listening to my conversations over the past year when he prepared this sermon.

This was a message delivered earlier this year to pastors at the 2008 Shepherd’s Conference but every Christian (in leadership or layperson) should hear this message as well.

I’m grateful that Phil Johnson addressed this issue. It’s refreshing to hear someone else saying the same thing I’ve been saying for over a year now. Something that has sadly fallen on so many deaf ears.

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Quotes (384)

The supreme authority of the Bible is established both by its divine origin and inspiration (2 Pet. 1:21). It is the infallible Word of God, and it will accomplish God’s purpose (Isaiah 55:11). It is the very foundation upon which all Christian truths rest. For followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Bible is the final court of appeal in all matters pertaining to faith and godliness.

– Mike Gendron

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The White Horse Inn: “What Does It Mean To Worship?”

This episode of the White Horse Inn is a perfect cap for the Desert Pastor’s series on music in worship (see part one of his ten-part series here). This podcast, What Does it Mean to Worship, deals with the purpose of Christian worship and the issue of music in our worship services.

Why do we go to Church? What is the purpose of worship? Are we there to serve God, or to be served? These questions and more will be discussed on this edition of the White Horse Inn with special guest Harold Senkbeil, author of Dying to Live and Sanctification: Christ in Action.

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Quotes (383)

awpink.jpg And what about apostate Christendom, where every possible form of sin is now tolerated and practiced under cover of the holy name of Christ? Why does not the righteous wrath of Heaven make an end of such abominations? Only one answer is possible: because God bears with “much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction.”

– A. W. Pink

1886 – 1952

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Sermon of the week: “The Mandate of Church Discipline” by Chuck Betters.

October is “Church Discipline Month” on DefCon. All our featured Wednesday sermons of the week (there are 5 in October) will be on the much neglected subject of Church discipline.

We start off with part one of a three part series on the lost art of Church discipline by Pastor Church Betters entitled The Mandate of Church Discipline.

Chuck Betters is pastor of Glasgow Reformed Presbyterian Church in Bear, Delaware.

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Who will be sharing the stage with John Piper?

The list of those invited to speak at John Piper’s 2008 National Conference includes Mark Driscoll (see this post from Coram Deo). In the following video of John Piper, he does his best to “defend” and “justify” why he has invited Mark Driscoll.

But while the debate rages over Mark Driscoll’s appearance at this conference, it seems that there’s much less  discussion over another individual who is scheduled to speak at this same conference. His name is Paul Tripp. And Paul Tripp has a little video in which he discusses What makes bad language bad?

I was hesitant to post the video of Paul Tripp due to its nature (I refused to watch the whole thing myself) but I think it illustrates for people the severity by which John Piper is compromising by having people like Driscoll and Tripp at his conference.

I have reservations about posting the video on DefCon, but for those who simply wouldn’t believe it if I told them about it, here’s the link to the video of Paul Tripp’s flippant use of profanity (you have been warned).

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Longing for the preachers of old.

Be prepared to witness one of the most pointless, narcissistic, self-centered, and shallow preaching testimony drivel in just under six minutes that you’ll ever subject your senses to.

This monologue is completely devoid of any reference to Jesus Christ and not supported by even one shred of Scripture, but it fits perfectly in today’s mile-wide, inch-deep church of “entertain me.”

After watching this video you will long even that much more for the preachers of old.

For some background and to better understand the foolishness that she’s talking about, see this post, this post and this post.

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Book review: “Justification and Regeneration” by Charles Leiter.

I recently completed the book Justification and Regeneration by Charles Leiter (with a forward by Paul Washer). This was a great book that explained in the simplest of terms the difference between justification and regeneration in the life of a believer.

It’s a quick and easy read and I highly recommend this book, especially to those who struggle to understand the difference between justification and regeneration.

You can purchase the book from Monergism. Thanks to Tom Rayborn from Christ Church Alton for sending me this book.

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Quotes (381)

Do you know why it says at the end of the age that the Lamb will take wrath on the world? I think it’s because there will be a crystal clear reminder—he didn’t always show up this way, He showed up once in the middle of history as a real Lamb; let Himself be ripped to shreds, mocked, spit upon, dishonored, hung on a stick, treated like dirt in order to rescue us from the wrath of His Father and it was God’s idea. And when He comes the second time it will be so plain: This is the crucified Lamb with the sword coming out of His mouth hewing people in pieces who would not have Him. Know your Christ, Christian, and tremble, with joy.

– John Piper

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Your Sermon of the week: “Romans 3” by Paul Washer.

Your sermon of the week is Romans 3 by Paul Washer. Many of the sermons featured on DefCon are directed toward those already converted (or at least warming a pew). I have been looking for a good sermon for the lost and I think this one may be it.

I think this message provides a clear presentation of the gospel, one that the unconverted outisde the church needs to hear as well as the unconverted inside the church.

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Ravi’s crash and burn.

I’ve previously reported on Ravi Zacharias’ failure to preach the Gospel to those following a counterfeit Christ after he was invited to speak at the Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City (see here). Then I posted on Ravi’s descent into the abyss of compromise (see here) when he refused to pray in the name of Jesus Christ at the latest National Day of Prayer (Coram Deo even wrote a piece on Ravi’s compromise here).

And now Ravi Zacharias is proving yet again that compromise will always take a man where he never intended to go.

RAVI’S CRASH:

Ravi speaks favorably of Henri Nouwen and can be seen in the following video (at the 5:47 mark) calling this Roman Catholic mystic “one of the greatest saints of recent memory.”


Ken Silva has also weighed in on this here.

RAVI’S BURN:

And what started as a little compromise here and there, seems to have started a snowball rolling for Ravi. Slaughter of the Sheep is reporting that Ravi Zacharias will now be speaking at none other than the Crystal Cathedral at Robert Schuller’s infamous ReThink Conference scheduled for February 2009. Lighthouse Trails is also on top of Ravi’s latest compromise with the rank heretic Schuller in a piece they did here.

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Jeff Noblit on Church discipline coming to South Carolina.

Wendi from Declared Righteous by Christ Alone asked if I would be willing to publish an advertisement on an upcoming Church discipline conference by Pastor Jeff Noblit. Knowing Pastor Noblit’s uncompromising preaching, I am honored to get the word out.

Exactly one month from today, Pastor Jeff Noblit will be at Holly Ridge Baptist Church in Blacksburg, South Carolina speaking on Church discipline.

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Would a Christian vote for Barack Hussein Obama?

Not could a Christian vote for Barack Hussein Obama, but would a Christian vote for Barack Hussein Obama?

When I say “Christian” I don’t mean a lukewarm, name-only, self-deceived “Christian,” but a true, born-again, regenerated Christian (think: the Apostle Paul vs Brian McLaren).

So what are those professing Christians of the Matthew 25 Network in the previous video endorsing?