Michelle Malkin warns that the Obama administration’s ultimate goal is to shut down health care providers. She begins her piece:
President Obama and his radical feminist enforcers have had it in for Catholic medical providers from the get-go. It’s about time all people of faith fought back against this unprecedented encroachment on religious liberty. First, they came for the Catholics. Who’s next? Read more
ABC News reports:
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is losing a record number of its membership. A new report quotes an LDS general authority who said more members are falling away today than any time in the past 175 years. Read more
In this piece Phil Johnson of Pyromaniacs addresses a video of a discussion James MacDonald had with 3 African American pastors after ER2 ended:
This is probably the most blatantly racist presentation I have ever witnessed from an ostensibly “mainstream” evangelical source.
The take-away message is this: If you’re an old white guy with any hint of Reformed theology in your confessional statement and you don’t think T. D. Jakes’s equivocations at Elephant Room 2 were sufficient to erase decades of concern about his Oneness leanings and his relentless proclamation of a false Prosperity Gospel—then you must be a racist. And even if you don’t think you’re a racist, you should shut up anyway. Because in the black community relationships are more important than any doctrine, including the gospel and the Trinity. We all should strive to subjugate doctrine to relationships anyway.
James White addresses the Elephant Room 2 event:
I need to be brief, as I have many pressing duties.
Reading the commentary on the Elephant Room 2 events, and in particular, the alleged rehabilitation (repentance?) of TD Jakes has truly been brought me sadness. Sure, I know that very few Evangelicals, even scholars, have much experience with modalists and Oneness advocates, but still, the general ease with which many have been taken in by such a shallow and brief discussion does not speak well of the depth of understanding of many today. It also speaks loudly to the fact that many in Evangelicalism disconnect the honor and glory of God from the truth He has revealed about Himself. That is, they do not see that to worship and honor God demands from us our utmost effort to accurately hear and to follow what He has revealed about Himself, primarily in Jesus Christ, and the holy Scriptures. To take lightly God’s self-revelation is an affront to the divine majesty, and would not be the action of a heart that is consumed with passion for its Lord. The true source of a passion for sound doctrine comes first and foremost from a heart that has singular attention to the glory and honor of the object of its passion. Those who “argue doctrine” simply for the sake of ego or self-gratification do so to their own destruction. Sound doctrine isn’t about personalities or men, it is about truth that transcends our brief time on earth.
The Christian Post reports:
The Archbishop of York, the second highest figure in the Church of England, has spoken out in opposition to gay marriage weeks ahead of a government consultation on the issue, saying it is not the role of the state to redefine marriage.
Dr John Sentamu has told The Daily Telegraph that marriage is a union between one man and one woman, and suggested that the government would be acting like “dictators” if they tried to change it.
“Marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman,” says Sentamu. “I don’t think it is the role of the state to define what marriage is. It is set in tradition and history and you can’t just [change it] overnight, no matter how powerful you are. Read more
CRN does not endorse Religious Dispatches or leftwing blogger Sarah Posner. The Left likes to keep an eye on the Christian Right and who they’re uniting with. In this case Sarah reported that Newt Gingrich visited the church of the man responsible for the “laughing revival,” controversial prosperity preacher Rodney Howard Browne. She begins her piece:
Today Newt Gingrich made an appearance at River Church in Tampa, Florida, pastored by Rodney Howard Browne. Slate’s Dave Weigel tweeted that in introducing Gingrich, Browne prayed that America “will not allow the killing of unborn babies, and the takeover of Islam” and “the Constitution that we have, and your word, and Jesus is the only way we can be delivered from this plight.”
Browne is no inconsequential—or uncontroversial—figure in the world of charismatic Christianity. He’s been described by Christianity Today as the “often flamboyant Pentecostal preacher.” He’s associated with the “holy laughter” manifestation of charismatic gifts, which the same CT piece characterized as “rang[ing] from uncontrollable laughter to the noises of animals.” Read more
Life News reports:
A new estimate published by the National Right to Life Committee indicates there have been an estimated 54,559,615 abortions since the Supreme Court handed down its 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision allowing virtually unlimited abortions.
Although the March for Life took place today, yesterday was the 39th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton decisions — companion cases from Texas and Georgia that struck down pro-life laws protecting unborn children across the country. Read more
The Christian Post reports:
With the Christian Right’s failure to rally behind a presidential candidate early in the campaign and the infighting on display after a supermajority of its leaders decided last Saturday to back Rick Santorum, many have argued that the country is witnessing the end of the Christian Right. Read more
The sight of the giant cruise ship Costa Concordia listing in the deadly embrace of the sea is now a graphic symbol of failure. Its timing is absolutely eerie, coming so close to the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. But, unlike the Titanic, this disaster did not take place in the middle of the ocean, far from the range of observation. The Costa Concordia appears to be almost touching the rocky Italian coastline. The digital revolution ensures that we are all able to see the wreck of the ship in living color. Read more
By Marsha West
It really doesn’t matter whether or not people believe in angels and demons. And it doesn’t matter if skeptics think those who do are wingnuts. The fact remains that a large number of educated, intelligent people believe in supernatural beings such as angels, demons, spirit guides, fairies, ghosts, poltergeists and whatnot.
It’s no secret that Christians believe in angels and demons. Sadly, for many Christians battling demons has taken center stage. For example, the Spiritual Warfare movement (SWM) spends an inordinate amount of time dueling with demons. Google “spiritual warfare” and one of the first sites on the list is demonbusters.com which is one of many deliverance ministries. Following are a few spiritual warfare prayers the site recommends:
When entering your office, grocery store, anyone else’s home, etc., pray this before entering:
In Jesus name, I cover myself and this place with the blood of Jesus. I bind up every demon in here, and I ask for giant warrior angels to protect me.
And,
After hanging up the phone, leaving work, grocery store, neighbors, or visitors leave your home, etc. pray this immediately:
In Jesus name, I command every demon that has followed me, was sent to me, or transferred to me, to leave now.
Lastly,
Any sharp pain that comes on you suddenly is almost always witchcraft. When this happens, pray this immediately as you use your index finger and thumb on the spot of the pain, like you were pulling out a voodoo pin:
In Jesus name, I pull out all fiery darts, pins, needles, spears, voodoo, all witchcraft and curses and anything else, and I return it to the sender, one hundredfold. (Then motion with your hand towards a window or door like you were throwing it out.) If it is witchcraft, the pain will go immediately. This is a highly effective Spiritual Weapon.
Why not just hold a rabbit’s foot with your right hand, stand on your left foot, circle the rabbit’s foot around your head 3 times and holler at the top of your voice, “DEPART MEAN EVIL SPIRIT!”
In Part 1 I promised to expose some of the false teachers who invented spiritual warfare prayer, so here goes. To recap, Kingdom Theology and deliverance/spiritual warfare prayer stem from the New Apostolic Reformation/Dominionists (NAR/DOM). NAR/DOM’s leaders are highly suspect individuals. Even so, they have managed to weasel their way into high places through their involvement in politics. As a result they have credibility and a lot of clout.
I urge believers and nonbelievers alike to familiarize yourselves with the NAR/DOM because they have managed to mainstream themselves into the pro-family movement aka the Christian (religious) Right (CR). One quick example is “apostle” Rick Joyner who heads the Oak Initiative (OI), a “social justice movement” that is doing political action work with the CR. The OI is a member of the CR’s “supergroup” known as The Freedom Federation. The “basic strategy of The Oak Initiative [is] to be a grassroots movement to find and help develop principled and effective Christian leaders who can mobilize and organize a cohesive force of activated Christians.”
For a couple of decades Sarah Leslie of Discernment Ministries has been reporting on the NAR, which has gone by many different names over the years such as Latter Rain, Manifest Sons of God, Kingdom Now, and most recently the New Apostolic Reformation. According to Sarah,
“The NAR leaders are jumping on the bandwagon political Right issues, which neutralizes much of their potential opposition because people then are fooled into thinking that they are conservative Right. But they have a whole other agenda. They are a cult that descended from the old Latter Rain cult, and as such they have aberrant beliefs that make them very volatile political bedfellows. Cults don’t accommodate pluralism and freedom, especially not religious freedom. They simply want to impose their view on society and turn it into binding law.” (Used by permission)
The person we have to thank for the SWM/NAR is the “Super Apostle” of the International Coalition of Apostles (ICoA), C. Peter Wagner. This demon-battling gladiator has done enormous damage to the cause of Christ. He and his “apostles” and “prophets” have made a mockery of the good news of the gospel and are spreading a false gospel. A few of Wagner’s fellow gladiators are: Cindy Jacobs, Chuck Pierce, Rick Joyner, Lance Wallnau (7-mountains), Lou Engle (TheCall), Samuel Rodriguez, Che Ahn, John and Carol Arnott, Bill Johnson, Dutch Sheets, Todd Bentley, Mike Bickle (IHOP), Patricia King, and Kim Clement. Remember their names. Flee from them!
These people are theological revisionists. All of them claim they’re receiving “new revelation” from Almighty God. “We can hear God’s voice,” proclaims Peter Wagner. “He also reveals new things to prophets as we have seen.”
“We” means modern-day prophets!
Wagner outright rejects the completeness of Scripture. How else can he tempt people into shunning historic orthodox Christianity but to dazzle them with “now” revelation? He knows perfectly well his belief that “super apostles” are coming to lay a new foundation is unorthodox. Moreover it’s just plain fiction. Let me stress that there is no “new revelation” that can replace the revelations of Jesus and the legitimate New Testament apostles.
Contrary to God’s truth, the NAR/DOM presents a man inspired fairy tale. For example, disciples are taught that God is pouring out “new wine.” Why is God doing this? This is a humdinger…. the old wineskins (Scripture) must be replaced with new wineskins (new revelation). That way they can declare that every prophecy uttered by one of their self-proclaimed prophets supersedes Scripture. How convenient!
Take a moment to mull over in your mind the fact that for two centuries tens of thousands of followers of Jesus Christ have been persecuted and murdered in the most monstrous ways imaginable because they understood God’s commanded to “earnestly contend for the faith (purity of the good news) which was once (not to be done again; nothing to be added to it) delivered unto to the saints.” (Jude 1:3) (emphasis added)
That said, the old wine isn’t intoxicating enough for these deceivers. They demand more, more, more of the Holy Ghost through supernatural experiences. They are intent on “experiencing God” even if it means becoming involved in “Christian spiritism” and all sorts of other occult pagan practices forbidden by God.
A big fad in some Pentecostal and Charismatic churches is getting “drunk on the Spirit” and for that you need the “Holy Ghost bartender” that serves up “new wine.”
But even worse, false teachers are pushing the blasphemous practice of “toking the Ghost” which one Ghost toking pusher alleges “doesn’t disturb the Holy Spirit.”
Really?
Speaking of false teachers, Emerging Church leader Brian McLaren believes that the Church must change with the culture and the times. The way he sees it, what the Church desperately needs is a “new paradigm,” “A New Kind of Christian.” Christian apologist Sandy Simpson warns that the “emerging new heretics” are willing to make this happen “using fabrication, exaggeration, disinformation, misrepresentation, vilification, prevarication and even falsification to achieve a complete brainwash in their followers.” (Online source)
Peter Wagner also believes the Church must change. Only his idea of a new paradigm differs from McLaren’s. John F. Hart, Professor of Bible, Moody Bible Institute, explains it thusly:
Traditionally, Evangelicals have argued that experience and ministry ought to flow out of theology and Scripture. Wagner offers us a paradigm shift: theology must flow out of ministry (à la experience in exorcisms and healings)! Correspondingly, emphasis is placed on subjective experience over the objective Word of God. Personal experience becomes the verifiable proof of new doctrines about the spirit world. Theology is defined as “a human attempt to explain God’s Word and God’s works in a reasonable and systematic way.” (Online source)
In a piece titled C. Peter Wagner’s “theology” Herescope sheds light on the man behind the NAR/DOM curtain:
He has opened traditional orthodoxy to new words, new understandings, new doctrines, new practices, new eschatologies, and new gospels. For example, in his 1988 book The Third Wave of the Holy Spirit Wagner admits that he obtained his doctrines about spiritual warfare from extra-biblical sources outside of the Canon of Scripture. He cites the apocryphal Acts of Peter where he says there were highly vivid descriptions of “a spiritual ‘shootout'” and “confrontational theatrics” in the forum, and the apocryphal Acts of John where there was a “power encounter… in the temple of the goddess Artemis” resulting in it splitting in pieces “and half of the whole temple” falling down. (pp. 80-81). He says that including such extra-biblical supernatural stories can be “used to bring people to conversion to Christianity.”
Wagner has been at the helm of strategic level spiritual warfare since the 1990’s. One of his Bible shredding cohorts, Cindy Jacobs, always seems to be drunk on the “new wine” as she utters false prophesies. Ironically this poor misguided woman “prophesies” without the foggiest notion that her utterances most likely come, not from the Holy Spirit, but from demonic spirits.
Many in the NAR/DOM are clueless that their leaders hold that the enemies of God must be conquered and ruled over by self-appointed “super-apostles and prophets” associated with Wagner’s ICoA. “Dominion has to do with control,” says Peter Wagner. “Dominion has to do with rulership. Dominion has to do with authority and subduing and it relates to society. In other words, what the values are in Heaven need to be made manifest here on earth. Dominion means being the head and not the tail. Dominion means ruling as kings. It says in Revelation Chapter 1:6 that He has made us kings and priests — and check the rest of that verse; it says for dominion. So we are kings for dominion.” (There’s not enough space to explain the orthodox view of Rev. 1:6, so read Matthew Henry’s commentary here.)
Now listen to what “Apostle” Rick Joyner said on July 19, 2007:
The kingdom of God will not be socialism, but a freedom even greater than anyone on earth knows at this time. At first it may seem like totalitarianism, as the Lord will destroy the antichrist spirit now dominating the world with “the sword of His mouth” and will shatter many nations like pottery. However, fundamental to His rule is II Corinthians 3:17, “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” Instead of taking away liberties and becoming more domineering, the kingdom will move from a point of necessary control while people are learning truth, integrity, honor, and how to make decisions, to increasing liberty so that they can. (emphasis in original) (Online source)
Here Joyner takes us from “necessary control” over people’s lives to eventually giving them liberty — but only after they’ve been sufficiently brainwashed into the beliefs of the neo apostles and prophets who, by the way, are the “kings” over the Kingdom they’ve established here on earth.
The obvious question is will neo apostles and prophets set up the Kingdom of God on earth by using force which would include killing those who rebel against their authority?
Following is excerpted from The Destiny of Enforcing a Kingdom:
THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND APOSTOLIC GOVERNMENT — We serve a King who is advancing a Kingdom. The King has chosen to position His Kingdom within humankind. He sends those who have His Kingdom within them into every aspect of society’s culture. The Kingdom of God is here now! The seven mountains of society are meant to be influenced and dominated by the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom has Jesus Christ as the cornerstone and apostles properly related to prophets’ form the foundation of the Kingdom. Apostles create and execute God’s prototype plan in the earth and through each nation of the earth until there is a house of prayer built for every people group. Jesus taught us to pray that God’s Kingdom would come to earth as it is in heaven….
SPIRITUAL WARFARE — Because we represent a Kingdom, we are at war to enforce Kingdom principles and plans in the earth. We are at war and must be equipped to stand against the enemy. Accomplishing God’s purposes on earth is not without opposition. . . . [emphasis added]
THE COMMISSION TO DISCIPLE and HEAL NATIONS — From the beginning of God’s covenant with Abraham, His plan was to bless all the nations. One of the purposes of the nation of Israel was to show the other nations how they could relate to God. They were to live in such a way that the glory of the Lord would be on them and Gentiles would be drawn to them (Is. 60). His House was to be a joyful House of Prayer for all the nations (Is. 56:6-7). When the Jews rejected Jesus, they missed fulfilling this portion of their destiny…. Jesus sent His disciples out to fulfill this promise and commanded them to disciple the nations — helping whole nations to be disciples of the Lord. From generation to generation, the Lord develops His Church to disciple the nations until the fullness of His plan has been completed and all nations have been restored.
In closing, it is important to understand that the NAR/DOM’s agenda. Their intent is to take “dominion” over societal institutions and government…and then they will take over the kingdoms of this world and build a literal Kingdom of God on earth. Peter Wagner boasts:
Once we have the apostles in place we will then bring the intercessors and the prophets into the inner circle, and we will end up with the spiritual core we need to move ahead for retaking the dominion that is rightfully ours.
HELPFUL INFORMATION
To learn more about conservative Christian groups that have united with the NAR/DOM as a way of furthering their political agenda, read Christian leaders: It’s about time you test false teachers.
© Marsha West 2012
As incredible as it may sound, the above phrase was seen on a bumper sticker several years ago. It represents a popular Catholic belief, centuries old, one that is ever growing throughout the world: that to get to Jesus, you must go through Mary.
“As we have access to the Eternal Father
only through Jesus Christ, so we have access
to Jesus Christ only through Mary. By
thee we have access to the Son, O blessed
finder of grace, bearer of life, and mother
of salvation …” — St. Bernard
This belief is spelled out by a modern Catholic website, defining “Mary as Coredemptrix and Mediatrix of All Graces.” Read more of Christian J. Pinto’s piece
For years, those of us doing ministry in the area of unwanted same-sex attraction and outreach to the gay community have worked diligently to help the church see that homosexual behavior is no different than any sin.
For those of us who struggled with same-sex attraction, the church’s seeming placement of homosexuality at the top of some created “sin hierarchy” was frustrating and hurtful to us. And we worried that as long as the church treated homosexual behavior as the worst of all sins, people would continue to fear the church instead of finding hope in the church. Read more
(Marsha West – Christian Research Network) A large number of Christians throughout the world consider themselves to be spiritual warfare prayer warriors. What they do is known as “intercessory prayer.” Most likely these prayer warriors are connected to a deliverance ministry. Deliverance ministers use “strategic level prayer” to “bind” the “territorial spirits” to remove demons who are in control of organizations, communities, cities and in some cases entire nations so that evangelism will go unimpeded. These demon fighting gladiators believe that poverty and other societal troubles will not be eliminated until “demonic strongholds” are torn down and demons are “bound.”
The aim of the Spiritual Warfare movement (SWM) is to take “dominion” over societal institutions and government. Once they have accomplished this lofty goal they’ll take over the kingdoms of this world and build a literal Kingdom of God on earth. This is known as Kingdom Theology.
What is the basic premise of Kingdom Theology?
[M]an lost dominion over the earth when Adam and Eve succumbed to Satan’s temptation in the Garden of Eden. God “lost control” of the earth to Satan at that time, and has since been looking for a “covenant people” who will be His “extension,” or “expression,” in the earth and take dominion back from Satan. This is to be accomplished through certain “overcomers” who, by yielding themselves to the authority of God’s apostles and prophets for the Kingdom Age, will take control of the kingdoms of this world. (Online source)
Kingdom Theology and deliverance/spiritual warfare prayer stem from the New Apostolic Reformation/Dominionism (NAR/DOM). I’ve covered NAR/DOM in other articles that can be read here. The purpose of this piece is the SWM, as this false teaching has spread through Charismatic and Pentecostal churches like a wildfire on a gusty day and it’s rearing its ugly head in conservative churches.
Many spiritual warfare prayer warriors are sincere people who believe what they’re doing is serious work, thus they don’t enter into it lightly and are very cautious when they engage in intercessory prayer. They also admit that they’re still learning the process of warfare prayer. The process they go through to rid the “client” of demons is called “therapy.” A person who’s cleansed of “cosmic beings” is deemed a “survivor.”
Some in the deliverance ministries put their focus on so-called demon possessed people. As I said, many of them are serious sincere people who do not take exorcism lightly — but the fact remains that they’re involved in an unbiblical practice.
So — imagine for a moment a sixty-five year-old woman who has never seen the inside of a gym, toe to toe with a burly man she believes to be possessed, body and soul, by a cosmic being. After a lengthy conversation with the man, she has determined that he’s possessed by a “demon of alcohol.” So the diminutive woman musters up her courage and glares into the drunk’s blood-shot eyes, “In the Name of Jesus Christ,” she bellows, ” I command you, demon of alcohol, depart from this man!” fully believing she has just sent a demon to the pit of hell. She also believes that the drunk has been set free from the demon once and for all.
You may be asking, “If a ‘demon of alcohol’ exists, how could the woman know with certainty that it had packed its bags and fled the scene never to return again?”
Before I answer the question, I need to provide some background on angels and demons. For the Christian to get the facts on creatures that dwell in the spiritual realm he or she must go to the final authority on these sorts of things — the Holy Bible. God reveals what He wants us to know about the supernatural world in the pages of Scripture. Anything beyond what the scriptures expressly teach on angels and demons is nothing more than pure speculation. Those in the SWM have taken speculation to a whole new level for the simple reason that much of their doctrine is based on just that — speculation. Also, they claim they’re receiving “new revelation” that replaces the Word of God even though Paul clearly taught that the revelation he and the other apostles received was the complete and final revelation from Jesus Christ. Paul even cursed those who brought a different gospel:
But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. (Gal. 1:8)
So, what does Scripture tell us about angels and demons? In Heb. 1:14 it says they are personal spiritual beings. Because they don’t have physical limitations they’re not bound by the laws of physics. Angels possess intellect (Mat. 8:29, 2 Cor. 11:3), emotions (James 2:19, Rev. 12:17), and will (Luke 8:28-31, 2 Tim. 2:26).
From the book of Genesis we learn that there was a rebellion in heaven led by the angel Lucifer who wanted to exalt himself above God. The rebel didn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell against Almighty God and he lost the battle, big time. Thereafter Lucifer and one third of the angels who fought alongside him were expelled from the throne room of God. That’s the nutshell version!
There are over 40 names for Lucifer. He is the chief of demons…the god of this world (Earth)…Satan, serpent, devil, evil one, accuser, adversary, dragon, devourer, destroyer, tempter and the wicked one. Some of the names describe his character, i.e. deceiver.
When his time is up Satan won’t just cease to exist, he will be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where he will be tormented for eternity. (Rev. 20:10)
Scripture refers to demons as spiritual forces of evil. These creatures are highly intelligent. They’re also vengeful, hateful, cruel, cunning and deceptive, with incredible supernatural powers. Demons are capable of causing physical harm and mental anguish. They have no regard for human life, marriage or the family. They can cause dumbness, deafness and suicide. They can possess the human body as well as animals and influence bodies and minds for evil. (Dabbling in the occult invites demon possession, and for the Christian, demon oppression.)
Demons recognize Christ as “the Son of God” and appeal to Him (Mark 5: 6-7).
One of the ways demons actively oppose the plans of God is by promoting false doctrine.
Ephesians 6:12 states Satan has a hierarchy of demons in his kingdom, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” In verse 15 Paul warns of the “fiery darts of the wicked.” Paul’s fiery dart metaphor was his way of warning believers to “put on the full armor of God” because evil spirits can inflame human emotions. Often times a demon will manipulate its target’s emotions causing him/her to fall into sinful behavior. Wearing the armor of God is the way Christians defend themselves against the forces of evil. (More on the armor of God here)
Satan is not omnipresent which means he cannot be everywhere. Only God is omnipresent. Noted theologian J. I. Packer explains omnipresence thusly:
“God is here, there, and everywhere, and his mind and hand are on everything. We are never out of his sight (Psalm 139), and we cannot get away from him (John 1).”
Which brings me to my point: “Binding Satan” is a complete waste of time and energy. Odds are that the prayer warrior will have a much greater chance of winning the lottery than binding Satan.
Satan is indeed a force to be reckoned with, but his powers are limited. Even so, after his fall from heaven Michael the archangel would not confront him without seeking the Lord’s help (Jude 1:9).
The following is an excerpt from Biblical Discernment Ministries (BDM) essay entitled Spiritual Warfare: Can a Believer Be Demon Possessed?:
[T]he only legitimate casting out of demons happened in the time of Christ and the apostles. This demonstrated that Jesus truly was the Messiah the Old Testament predicted would come. The Jews at that time would recognize that casting out of demons meant that the Messiah was present and offering the kingdom to the nation Israel. The apostles were given this authority to cast out demons as representatives of Christ. This authority cannot be transferred to anyone else.
The sign miracles Jesus performed were special and unique. No one has ever duplicated the miracles Jesus performed to confirm his messianic claims. Every false teacher and cult leader today claims “sign miracles” as a way of confirming their false teaching. None of them has walked on water. None of them has called a person who has been dead four days out of the grave with the words, “Come forth!” Moreover, no so-called miracle worker has been resurrected after death — not even famed faith-healer Kathryn Kuhlman.
Not only did Jesus raise the dead, after He was beaten to a bloody pulp, crucified and died, He came out of the tomb very much alive. His face was no longer disfigured from the beating he took, and there wasn’t a speck of blood on His resurrected body, only marks in His hands and feet where spikes were driven through flesh and bone and an opening where a Roman soldier drove a spear into His body. Moreover, after the resurrection Jesus appeared to more than 500 people at one time. (More on the resurrection account here)
What many Christians fail to realize is that although God continues to perform miracles today the “signs and wonders” we find in the Bible are not the norm today.
Earlier in the article we learned that when Satan was allowed to run Job through the ringer, he did not “speak to Satan, bind him, or send him to the pit. Job’s responsibility was to be faithful, resist, and stand firm.”
Later BDM says:
In the book of Revelation, demonic activity picks up again. But even in the sections which are addressed to the churches (chapters 1-3), there are no directions for speaking to demons. Even with the Church living under demonic pressure, where Satan’s throne was (Rev. 2:13), there were no commands to bind and/or cast out Satan and his demons. When Jesus spoke to the church at Thyatira, He did not say, “Bind Satan” or “You have a territorial demon, drive him out.” Even those believers who were under the influence of the wicked Jezebel were not told to break her demonic power. Revelation gives us a glimpse into the demonic world and what is taking place behind the scenes. However, we do not have any situation where believers are running around binding and casting out demons.
More from BDM:
It is all too common today for a spiritual warfare teacher to get up and bombard his listeners with story after story, experience after experience, from which he draws conclusions that form his views on spiritual warfare. More often than not, this kind of “skyscraper preaching” (sermons with one story stacked upon another) results in an approach to spiritual warfare that is built upon practices and techniques which do not measure up to God’s Word.
For example: often one begins to teach that Christians can be demon-possessed or something similar; Christians can inherit curses from parents; Christians need deliverance from certain kinds of sins in addition to the forgiveness received at salvation; Christians need to speak or do things to protect themselves and their loved ones from the demonic; Christians can boss Satan around by rebuking, binding, taking authority over him, or running him out of town, usually by sundown, all in the name of Jesus; demons occupy territories because of specific sins of those people which supposedly have given a basis for the demonic stronghold, instead of by permission of the sovereign will of God. These kinds of beliefs are mere superstition, the product of false mystical experiences which do not match up with the teaching of Holy Writ.
Getting back to the question posed earlier, would the “spirit of alcohol” flee when confronted by an exorcist, never to return? No — for the simple reason that there is no such thing as a “spirit of alcohol.”
Rest assured there is no spirit of any sinful human trait. Our peccadillos are works of the flesh:
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, strife, jealousy, wrath, selfishness, divisions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like. (Galatians 5:19-21)
Paul states that “they who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”
The fruits of the Spirit are:
“love, joy, peace, longsuffering [patience], gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness [humility], self-control.” (Galatians 5:22, 23)
In part 2 I’ll expose some of the false teachers who invented spiritual warfare prayer out of their fertile imaginations.
Helpful Information:
Angels, Demons and Spiritual Warfare
Scriptures on angels from Sola Scriptura Project website
Cosmic Hierarchy — By Dr. Tom R. Hawkins, International Society of Deliverance Ministries website. Here you will find a plethora of unbiblical teaching.
© Marsha West, 2012.
Colin Gunn, a feisty Scottish filmmaker, and Joaquin Fernandez, an American cinematographer, have produced a powerful and highly provocative film called IndoctriNation: Public Schools and the Decline of Christianity in America. (See trailer, below.) Having become aware of the horrors that go on in our pagan government schools, these two film makers, who also happen to be Christian homeschooling Dads, decided to make a hard-hitting documentary film that would wake up the Christian parents of America and show them what is happening to their children in the public schools. Ninety percent of Christian parents send their children to these pagan schools, and after twelve years of indoctrination in the philosophy of secular humanism, 88 percent of those Christian children come out no longer believing in the religion of their parents.
The Examiner has posted four videos of the Oprah-Osteen interview. Watch them here
Well, the Code Orange Revival is set to erupt in just two days. Since Code Orange visionary Steven Furtick needs no introduction, this post will conclude our examination of each of the speakers. Here we will look at Pastor James MacDonald, senior pastor of Harvest Bible Chapel in the Chicagoland area. There has been much discussion surrounding James MacDonald in recent months. This post will serve, then, as a bird’s eye view of some of the concerns that already have been widely discussed, as well as some that have been largely overlooked.
The Christian Post reports this sad state of affairs:
Ed and Lisa Young, founders of Texas-based Fellowship Church, will spend 24 hours in bed on the church roof next week and stream themselves live on the Internet to encourage married couples to see firsthand the power of a healthy sex life as prescribed in their new book, Sexperiment.
Two days after their book, Sexperiment: 7 Days to Lasting Intimacy with Your Spouse, is released Tuesday, the Youngs will take part in a 24-hour “bed-in,” which will be streamed on the book’s website as they engage the audience on issues related to intimacy in marriage. Read more
Some predictions are rather safe to make. 2012 is almost certain to be a determinative year on the issue of same-sex marriage. Multiple courts appear poised to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act [DOMA] and, even more urgently, the appeal on California’s Proposition 8 at the Ninth Circuit U. S. Court of Appeals will set up a certain appeal to the U. S. Supreme Court. Given the facts of this case and the significance of the nation’s most populous state, the Supreme Court is almost certain to take the case. This sets the stage for the courts to make some determinative statement on same-sex marriage within the next several months — a decision that will go a long way toward setting the direction of the larger culture.
At the same time, the same-sex marriage issue will play a part in the 2012 presidential campaign. The reason for this is quite simple. The issue of same-sex marriage is about far more than marriage as a legal institution and about more than sexuality and personal autonomy. It is the great inescapable issue, and we will know in fairly short order what all the candidates believe about the issue.
Then again, maybe not. Read more
CNS News reports:
According to its latest annual report, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) received $487.4 million in tax dollars over a twelve-month period and performed 329,455 abortions.
In addition, the number of adoption referrals made by the organization continued to decline.
The latest annual report covers the period from July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010, the PPFA’s fiscal year. The report states that the organization received “government health services grants and reimbursements” totaling $487.4 million. Read more
Herescope reports:
Welcome to the year 2012—the much-publicized year of the Mayan writings that prophesy the End of the World as we know it. But what is our spiritual adversary really up to? And how does he attempt to accomplish his plan to infiltrate and overturn Biblical Christianity, replacing it with his “new” worldview—a worldview that will attempt to scientifically prove through quantum physics that “we are all God” because God is “in” everything—a new worldview that states that humanity is about to take a “quantum leap” into a newly evolved state of being (counterfeit of “born again”) that will usher in a “New Age” of world peace. The Devil’s “Christ” —Antichrist—will, of course, be the centerpiece of this counterfeit millennium—this New World Order.
Who would have believed even just a short time ago, that today’s professing evangelical Church would be buying into this New Age deception and exponentially imploding the way it is—literally catapulting a once biblical church into the heretical panentheistic teachings of the New Age? Read more