Commentary, analysis and opinion.

Heaven, Hillsong, and Heresy

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Costi Hinn has a warning for parents: Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be…..targets.  Targets? Yes.  Young people are being targeted by “Christian” bands like Hillsong and Jesus Culture.  Jesus Culture is known for their “prophetic worship.” Their aim is to “ignite revival in the nations of the earth” through global events. But how will this come about when their message obscures the true Gospel of Jesus Christ?

What are groups like Hillsong and Jesus Culture actually accomplishing through their music?  Multitudes are being drawn into counterfeit Christianity!

As the nephew of Word of Faith televangelist Benny Hinn, Costi knows first hand what it is like to be lured into a heretical movement at an early age. But the Lord in His mercy delivered Costi Hinn out of Satan’s clutches and now Costi’s on a mission to prevent others from being manipulated the way he was.  “Christians who are clueless to enemy strategies are sitting ducks,” he warns, “and churches who can’t confidently explain to their young people why they must avoid these types of conferences are unable to effectively keep watch over the souls of their sheep (Hebrews 13:17).”

In his piece over at Pulpit & Pen, Costi Hinn lists five ways pastors and parents can protect young people, and the rest of the church, from being enticed by the enemy of God.

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Related: Jesus Culture’s Kim Walker Smith’s Alleged Encounter With Jesus Christ And God the Father by Ken Silva

Marriage Doctrine Alone Disqualifies Pro-Gay Theology

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Alan Shlemon of Stand to Reason reminds us that, “There have been different understandings of the Lord’s supper, baptism, eschatology, etc. When it comes to marriage, however, there is universal agreement on its definition as a heterosexual union. That’s amazing and significant.” He writes:

I really appreciate a point that Preston Sprinkle made when I interviewed him on the Stand to Reason broadcast recently. Even if you set aside the (at least) five biblical texts that prohibit same-sex relations, you can still make a solid case against pro-gay theology by simply looking at Scripture’s teaching on marriage.

It turns out that 3,500 years of Judaic teaching and nearly 2,000 years of Christian teaching have unequivocally upheld that marriage is only between a man and a woman. The Genesis account of creation, where God establishes marriage as a heterosexual union (Gen. 1:27–28, 2:22–24), alone rules out the possibility of man-man or woman-woman marriage. Jesus even cited the Genesis definition and upheld this view during the New Testament era (Matt. 19:4–6). Since the closing of the canon, the Church uniformly taught that marriage was between a man and a woman.

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‘Sanctuary’ mayors have American blood on their hands

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Those are strong words.  Todd Starnes, host of Fox News and Commentary, feels justified in saying them.  Here’s why:

In 2015 Kate Steinle was gunned down by an illegal alien in San Francisco – a sanctuary city. The man charged with her murder was a seven-time felon who had been deported five times.

Five times.

There was an immigration hold on the suspect, meaning the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement wanted to come get him and ship him out of the country. But San Francisco authorities set the man free. Just a few months later, Steinle was dead.

Steinle’s blood is not only on the hands of her killer, it’s also on the hands of San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee.

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Hillsong’s Brian Houston faces sex abuse cover-up inquiry

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Berean Research has the latest on the sex abuse cover-up inquiry involving Hillsong Church’s celebrity pastor Brian Houston.  According to BR, Houston once blamed a victim of Frank Houston’s sexual assault saying, “It’s your fault this happened, you tempted my father.”  Here’s the story:

Brian Houston’s hearings before the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse are underway, as Houston faces questions about the safety of his Hillsong empire after the original charge: that Houston failed to tell police his father was a child sex abuser.

“Frank Houston had abused up to nine boys in Australia and New Zealand, and in its final report on the case released on Monday, the commission found multiple failings within the church executive – at the time led by Frank Houston’s son Brian – in responding.   Source

Many of you remember this from 2014:

“After the allegations became public within the church during 1999, Frank Houston met his victim offering him $10,000 and saying: “I want your forgiveness for this. I don’t want to die and have to face God with this on my head,” the commission heard.

Months later, when the money had not arrived, his victim called Frank Houston’s son Brian, who was then the national president of the Assemblies of God in Australia Pentecostal movement.

The victim said Brian told him: “You know, it’s your fault all this happened. You tempted my father”.

“Brian got very angry after that. He slammed the phone down after saying words to the effect of ‘You’ll be getting your money’,” the victim told the commission. He received a cheque for $10,000 about two weeks later. 

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7 False Teachers in the Church Today

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“Satan’s greatest ambassadors are not pimps, politicians, or power-brokers, but pastors,” warns Tim Challies. “His priests do not peddle a different religion, but a deadly perversion of the true one. His troops do not make a full-out frontal assault, but work as agents, sneaking into the opposing army. Satan’s tactics are studied, clever, predictable, effective.”

Who are the heretics, charlatans, abusers, etc.? Hint: Popes, Pentecostals, prominent scholars and prophets who prophesy falsely.

The following is from Tim Challies’ Deadly Doctrines series:

The history of Christ’s church is inseparable from the history of Satan’s attempts to destroy her. While difficult challenges have arisen from outside the church, the most dangerous have always been from within. For from within arise the false teachers, the peddlers of error who masquerade as teachers of truth. False teachers take on many forms, custom-crafted to times, cultures, and contexts. Here are seven of them you will find carrying out their deceptive, destructive work in the church today. Please note that while I have followed the biblical texts in describing them in masculine terms, each of these false teachers can as easily be female.

The Heretic

The Heretic is the most prominent and perhaps the most dangerous of the false teachers. Peter warned against him in his second letter. “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction” (2 Peter 2:1). The Heretic is the person who teaches what blatantly contradicts an essential teaching of the Christian faith. He is a gregarious figure, a natural leader teaching just enough truth to mask his deadly error. Yet in denying the faith and celebrating what is false, he leads his followers from the safety of orthodoxy to the peril of heresy.

From the church’s earliest days, she has been afflicted by the Heretic in his various forms. He continues his evil work today, sometimes by contradicting the truth and sometimes by adding to it. He may reframe the doctrine of the Trinity, as Arius did in the third century and as Oneness Pentecostals do today. He may, like Marcus Borg and other prominent scholars, deny the virgin birth or the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Like Jehovah’s Witnesses, he may alter God’s finished word, or like Mormons, he may add to it. Always, he boldly tampers with “the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3).

The Charlatan

The Charlatan is only interested in the Christian faith to the extent that it can fill his wallet.

The Charlatan is the person who uses Christianity as a means of personal enrichment. Paul charged Timothy to be on guard against him. “If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain” (1 Timothy 6:3-5). The Charlatan is only interested in the Christian faith to the extent that it can fill his wallet. He uses his leadership position to benefit from others’ wealth.

Simon Magus was motivated by the love of money when he tried to purchase the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:9-24). Since him, the Charlatan has appeared in many forms, always seeking prominence in the church so that he can live in extravagance. When Pope Leo X famously commissioned Tetzel to sell indulgences, the profits not only funded the reconstruction of St. Peter’s Basilica, but also his luxurious lifestyle. In the 1990s, televangelist Robert Tilton brought in tens of millions of dollars each year by exploiting the vulnerable and gullible. Today Benny Hinn, Creflo Dollar, and a host of others peddle the prosperity gospel to enrich themselves from their followers’ gifts.

The Prophet

The Prophet claims to be gifted by God to speak fresh revelation outside of Scripture—new, authoritative words of prediction, teaching, rebuke, or encouragement. In reality, though, he is commissioned and empowered by Satan for the purpose of misleading and disrupting Christ’s church. John offered an urgent warning about him. “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). Christians must “test the spirits” to determine if they originate with the Holy Spirit or with a demonic spirit. Later, John declared that God has spoken fully and finally in Scripture and offered the most solemn warning against anyone who claims to bring revelation equal or contrary to Scripture. “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book” (Revelation 22:18-19).

The Prophet appears throughout the history of the church. As early as the second century, Montanus and his disciples claimed to speak on behalf of the Holy Spirit. In the nineteenth century, Joseph Smith claimed to receive The Book of Mormon from the angel Moroni. Today the airwaves are chock-full of people claiming to speak in the name of God through the power of the Spirit. Personal prophecies are just a phone call away. Sarah Young, author of the top Christian bestseller of the decade, boldly claims that her book contains the very words of Jesus. The Prophet continues to speak, to lead astray.  Continue reading

 

 

Preemptive Discernment Alert! New Heretic-Authored Book Forthcoming

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In a piece over at Pulpit & Pen, Bud Ahlheim gives us a glimpse of “rock star icon of the Emerging Church” Rob Bell’s latest attempt to rewrite the Bible. In his new book, the former pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville, MI looks at the Bible in a “fresh, new way.”

One of Rob Bell’s annoying traits is to ask questions in order to “drive his hearer to a pre-determined position,” says Ahlheim. “And, most often with Bell, that position has been known in the annals of orthodox Christian history as HERESY.”  So with this in mind, would it surprise you to learn that in 2011 Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church used Bell’s heretical teaching?

But this is not about Rick Warren corrupting the minds of his congregants; it’s about what Bud Alheim refers to as “Bell-eneutics.” He writes:

Check the batteries in your heresy detectors!

Sound the Berean warning bells!

Let the discernment warning tocsins be sounded!

Signal all to take Caution! Caution! Caution!

There’s a new Rob Bell book soon to be released.

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Learn more about Rob Bell over at Apprising Ministries

Health-Care Reform Won’t Fix What Really Hurts American Health

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According to David French of National Review “deaths of despair” are “surging” in the United States among middle-aged white non-hispanics.  French includes some stunning statistics:

In 2016, two truths were revealed at once. First, the percentage of uninsured Americans hit a record low — a mere 8.6 percent. In 2010, almost 50 million Americans lacked health insurance. By the beginning of 2016 that number had plunged to 27.3 million. This is, truth be told, the fruit of Obamacare and indeed is the very reason why the GOP is having so much difficulty in its struggle to repeal and replace it. People like having health insurance, and health insurance makes us healthier, right?

But that brings us to the second truth that was revealed in 2016. Even though Americans allegedly enjoyed unprecedented access to insured health care, the nation’s death rate in 2015 actually increased. More Americans were insured, but more Americans died. Why?

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How Does the Holy Spirit Lead Us?

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It is not uncommon to hear Christians say that they’re hearing from God via whispers…leadings…prompts…impressions…or even angels. What we need to understand is that when people claim “God told me very clearly that…” they’re claiming prophet status “which elevates the person to a position they do not have,” reminds Elizabeth Prata. “Moreover,” says Prata, “it discourages other[s] who have not had the privilege of ‘hearing directly from God’. They begin to doubt their situations when they aren’t given such personal, clear commands.”

In this piece over at The End Time, Elizabeth Prata addresses a disturbing tweet sent from Beth Moore to her adoring fans. She writes:

On Facebook last night I’d posted a mini-discernment lesson regarding a tweet Beth Moore had written advocating a process for distilling whether a prompt from the Holy Spirit is legitimate or if it’s your own imagination. I wrote the following in response to her tweet:

Beth Moore is an alleged ‘Bible teacher’. She has 753,000 followers on Twitter alone. The following comment is something she taught a few hours ago on Twitter. Nothing in the Bible says what she taught and teaches. What solid and credible Bible teachers do is teach their pupils to go externally and seek the source of all truth, the Word of God. Moore teachers women to go internally and rely on mystical warnings, feelings, and prompts. What Moore is actually teaching is the insufficiency of scripture and the sufficiency of ourselves in obeying personal feelings.

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Research Shows Majority of Americans Want to Read the Bible

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Ken Ham of Answers In Genesis has some advice for Bible believing Christians: Don’t shy away from boldly yet gently appealing to the Bible as your source of authority for issues of morality, history, philosophy, science, and theology. According to Ham:

Biblical illiteracy has been growing here in America. Most people don’t know what the Bible says. They may know a few isolated Bible “stories” here and there, but they don’t understand the scope or flow of the biblical text, largely because they have never read most of it! Though the growing biblical illiteracy epidemic is very sobering, here’s an encouraging report from new research—the majority of Americans still want to read their Bibles.

According to a recent study, 61% of Americans answered “yes” to the question, “Do you wish that you read the Bible more or not?” Surprisingly, this number has remained fairly stable for over half a decade now. And when the respondents were asked, “Would you say that your own personal use of the Bible has increased, decreased or is about the same as one year ago?” 66% answered “stayed the same.”

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‘Is Aglow affiliated with the New Apostolic Reformation?’

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Yes! says Berean Research: 

Aglow International is full-on New Apostolic Reformation, with president Jane Hansen Hoyt being a member of C. Peter Wagner’s “International Coalition of Apostles.” Its international advisors include prominent “apostles” and “prophets” like Che Ahn, Rick Joyner, Cindy Jacobs and the late Wagner.

AGLOW  has more than 200,000 members meeting together each month through local Aglow groups in 171 nations. More than 21,000 Aglow leaders worldwide minister in their communities. Within the United States, local Aglow groups are called Lighthouses. Outside the US, these groups are called Candlelight groups.

Now to the letter that prompted Amy’s response, along with some must watch videos:

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School orders boy to ‘tolerate’ undressing with girl and make it ‘natural’

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Todd Starnes, host of Fox News and Commentary, reports that a teenage boy was in his underwear inside a locker room preparing to change for a PE class when he noticed a girl close by wearing nothing but shorts and a bra. According to Starnes, when the boy reported the incident “he was told by school leaders that he had to ‘tolerate’ undressing in front of a female student and to make it as ‘natural’ as possible, according to a blockbuster lawsuit filed in a Pennsylvania federal district court.”

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday by Alliance Defending Freedom and Independence Law Center, alleges the Boyertown Area School District shamed the teenage boy and violated his personal privacy. They are also alleging sexual harassment.

“No school should rob any student of this legally protected personal privacy,” ILC attorney Randall Wenger said. “We trust that our children won’t be forced into emotionally vulnerable situations like this when they are in the care of our schools because it’s a school’s duty to protect and respect the bodily privacy and dignity of all students.”

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Furtick, Elevation Church activate NAR Apostles

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According to Berean Research:

“Prophetic Activations” will happen next week at Steven Furtick’s Elevation Church, a clear indicator that Furtick is not just affiliating, but becoming one with the heretical New Apostolic Reformation.

I first noticed Furtick dipping his toe into the signs-and-wonders New Apostolic Reformation movement five years ago when he traveled to Australia for the Presence 2012 Conference with John Bevere, for “a golden fire of anointing, vision and miracles.”

Next Thursday, Friday and Saturday (March 30 – April 1), Elevation’s downtown location is hosting RESET Charlotte, multi-city Apostles and Prophets tour for RESET/ACTIVATE AMERICA. Attendees will be exposed to the activations and prophetic utterances of Apostle John Eckhardt, Pastorix and Apostle G. Marie Carroll, and several other Apostles.

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More Hillsong victims appearing at Royal Commission: Brian Houston summoned again?

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Churchwatch Central reports:

More victims of Frank Houston are coming forward and appearing this Friday (the 24th) at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse as well as the Australian Christian Church (ACC) (formerly known as the Assemblies of God (AOG)) and other “Pentecostal” churches. This means there is a high probability that Brian Houston will be there again.

Before looking at the details of the upcoming case study at the Royal Commission, it is important people understand what the AOG actually is.

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Scientific atheism: a frivolous exercise in intellectual contempt

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Jesse Johnson of The Cripplegate reminds creationists that we’re not the ones who have to prove or disprove evolutionist’s theories because we’re not making substantive claims. “The burden of proof is on those postulating with certainty that they know the scientific secrets of life,” says Johnson.  He writes:

Last week I reviewed The Kingdom of Speech, by Tom Wolfe. Wolfe is not religious (the New York Times calls him an atheist, for whatever that’s worth), but he delivers a stunning critique of modern evolutionary theory as being entirely devoid of substantial evidence.

Which in turn reminded me of David Berlinski’s book The Devils Delusion: Atheism and its Scientific Pretensions. Berlinski, despite himself being an atheist, cannot tolerate the intellectual arrogance demonstrated by today’s atheistic evolutionists. While I don’t want to review the whole book, I will pass on its main point: a scientific theory should only claim what it can prove. The problem with evolution is that it claims to explain everything, while it actually is able to prove nothing.

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Army of Bots Constantly Building Your Digital Profile

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Steve King warns that social media, apps, smart devices, etc. are collecting data and invading our privacy. Is your TV in the “Fake Off” mode? LifeZette has the story:

If you are worried about your smart TV recording your most intimate conversations in its “Fake Off” mode and sending those over the internet to a covert CIA server, you are right to be worried.

As we saw in the WikiLeaks’ Vault 7 dump, the CIA’s malware known as “Weeping Angel” places the target television in a “Fake Off” mode, so that the owner falsely believes the TV is off when it is on. In “Fake Off” mode, the TV operates as a “wiretap,” recording conversations in the room and streaming them back to the CIA.

But as worried as you may be right now, the future will be far more frightening.

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T.D. Jakes and Joyce Meyer Teaching Word of Faith ‘Little Gods’

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The late Ken Silva of Apprising Ministries penned this piece in 2014. In it he deals with the word-faith “little gods” doctrine. (Follow the link to his piece and scroll down to the end and check out the video of wolves teaching “little gods” heresy.)  Ken also reveals the names of several highly regarded evangelicals who have had no problem promoting word-faith prosperity preachers such as Jakes and Meyer.

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”

And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’”

But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God.” (Genesis 3:1-5)

This Type Of Lunacy In The Lord’s Name Is On Its Way Into The Heart Of The Visible Church

Apprising Ministries has long been sounding the warning about the growing acceptance of straight-up Word Faith prosperity preachers even within the very mainstream of rapidly apostatizing evangelicalism itself.

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The Pharisees Weren’t Concerned With Sound Doctrine

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Were the Pharisees Jesus confronted concerned with keeping God’s law and doing good as some people think? According to Brandon Hines of Pulpit & Pen, that isn’t necessarily the case. He writes:

Whenever someone plays the Pharisee Card, they often seem to think that the Pharisees were more concerned with sound doctrine and personal holiness than loving God and loving people. For one thing, loving God and loving people is a part of personal holiness, so this idea is already a self-refuting idea. However, if we look deeper into Scripture, we can see that the Pharisees, for the most part, were not doctrinally sound at all.

The Pharisees Did Not Understand Regeneration

In John 3, Jesus famously expresses the doctrine of Regeneration and being born again to the Pharisee named Nicodemus. When Jesus says in verse 3 (ESV), “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God,” Nicodemus responds by asking, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Interestingly enough, it is actually Jesus who seems more concerned with doctrinal accuracy. In verse 10 (ESV), Jesus says, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?” implying both that regeneration is a doctrine that should’ve been understood even at that time and that Nicodemus, a Pharisee, did not know it.

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Reclaiming Patrick for Protestants

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Was Saint Patrick a Roman Catholic?  Was he even Irish?  According to JD Hall of Polemics Report, neither one of these things is true about Patrick. Hall writes:

This Friday, revelers from across the western world will gather with their Irish friends, clad in green, to celebrate the “Patron Saint” of Ireland. Wherever the Irish diaspora can be found, you’ll be able to smell the wafting odor of corned beef, Guinness beer and hear the sound of raucous laughter or perhaps an Irish drinking song. “Kiss me, I’m Irish” will be said more times than ladies will have interest, and shamrocks will hang from tavern ceilings. In spite of the popularity of this holiday, few grasp the significance of its namesake.

In irony, the Saint who by God’s power expelled paganism from Ireland will be celebrated by displays of pagan celebratory rituals around the world. It’s time to reclaim Patrick for Christianity, and furthermore, it’s time to reclaim Patrick for Protestantism.

A high-ranking Irish politician in the Democractic Unionist Party (DUP) called Patrick a Protestant back in January, and it was scandalous enough a claim to make the national papers. Granted, Patrick lived a millennium before the Reformation – and thus the chortles and snickers from the Roman Catholic Irish majority – but the ‘social development minister’ was only trying to make the point that their Patron Saint wasn’t beholden to the Pope or the Pope’s religion. A similar comment by another notable DUP politician in Ireland came the same month, and it was equally as scandalous. Of course, the Presbyterian Church in Ireland has made the claim for years, and perhaps none as articulate as one of our most favorite fiery Protestants, Ian Paisley.

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See our Research Paper on Roman Catholicism

Children, Mums, Dads and the Gender Benders

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“It is not just religious conservatives who have problems with the transgender revolutionaries,” says Bill Muehlenberg. “Many others also have some valid concerns about it, and how it impacts our culture and our kids.” In this piece over at Culture Watch, Muehlenberg offers examples of non-religious people who have problems with the trans agenda. He writes:

That the trans revolution is causing massive devastation to countless families and children, as well as to society and culture as a whole, is something I have now documented numerous times. So too have many others. But our concerns are often dismissed as mere ‘religious bigotry’ and the like.

However I can assure you that there are plenty of non-religious folks who also have problems with the trans agenda and their radical take on gender (that it is fluid and a social construct, and has no biological basis, etc). Non-Christians, feminists and even lesbians among others have all expressed real concerns about the gender activists.

There would be plenty of these folks out there, but let me just highlight four of them who have spoken on these issues at various times. Consider as my first exhibit the lesbian academic and social commentator Camille Paglia. She has often been critical of feminist excesses, and is not too keen about the trans mania as well.

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Namaste, Satan

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Na-ma-stay is the pronunciation. It’s a Hindu salutation that is said at the beginning and end of most yoga classes. Participants place their palms together before the heart, bow their heads, and utter “Namaste,” which means “The divine in me bows to the divine in you.” But wait! We all know professing Christians who participate in yoga classes.  Many of them have been warned that there are spiritual dangers associated with yoga and are not concerned in the least. According to Baptist Theological Seminary president Albert Mohler, who has warned of the spiritual dangers for years, “The bare fact is that yoga is a spiritual discipline by which the adherent is trained to use the body as a vehicle for achieving consciousness of the divine.”

So, should believers avoid yoga altogether?  What about “Christian yoga“?  And what is the association between yoga and Satan? Pam Frost answers these questions in a piece she penned for truthXchange.  Some of what Frost reveals about this Hindu practice is chilling. She writes:

Photo credit: truthXchange

Namaste, Satan.

These are surely shocking words to the ears of most yoga enthusiasts, who find the association of yoga with Satan to be both disturbing and incongruous with their own understanding and experience of yoga. Yet, so begins an article announcing yoga classes to be held in the Satanic Temple of Salem, Massachusetts. How could something so widely considered beneficial in every way suddenly be associated with the devil? After all, yoga has achieved status in the West as the seemingly ubiquitous answer for the general well-being of just about everyone—from children in our public schools to the elderly in assisted living, from those with robust health in the prime of their lives to those with terminal illnesses nearing the end of their lives, and everyone in between. Many healthcare professionals recommend yoga for purported benefits such as the increased strength, flexibility and balance attributed to yoga’s postures; for the reduced blood pressure and heart rate attributed to yoga’s breathing techniques; and for the inner peace and global harmony attributed to yoga’s meditative spirituality. Yet, while most acclaim what they believe to be the positive benefits of yoga, William J. Broad, in his New York Times Magazine article How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body, warns that it can actually cause serious physical injuries such as trauma to the back, neck and head, as well as brain injuries and even stroke. But as Christians, we also need to ask whether there could be real spiritual dangers associated with the practice of yoga. We need to understand what the essence of yoga really is.

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A Manifesto of Christian Discernment

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Steven Kozar of Messed Up Church penned some guidelines aimed at Church leaders that deal with the monumental lack of spiritual discernment in the Church visible. Included in the Kozar manifesto are several video clips of celebrity “pastors” jumping, skipping and flouncing around on church stages in an effort to entertain parishioners who expect their pastor to deliver a fabulous show each and every Sunday. Also included is a photo of Word of Faith prosperity preacher T.D. Jakes’ “ridiculous and obscene mansion.”

Steve Kozar offers some no holds barred–and biblical–advice for Church leaders, plus this reminder: You’re a sinner that deserves God’s wrath, just like the rest of us. Jesus took the punishment we deserve upon Himself to set us free from sin and death; you didn’t do anything.

We will maintain a healthy skepticism towards all the big-name leaders in the church. No matter how famous a Christian celebrity might be, we refuse to be gullible just because someone has become a “brand name.”

We will check everything any pastor/teacher says against God’s Word, and when it comes to the most powerful, multimillionaire “Super Pastors,” we will assume the worst until convinced otherwise.

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How Jesus Called Out False Teachers and Deadly Doctrine

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What did the Lord Jesus do to expose the deadly doctrine and unrighteous actions of the false teachers of His day? Well, for one thing, He exposed their error publicly and then taught them the truth!  What are God’s people to do about all the deadly doctrines the Church visible is awash in?  We’re to “contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed … ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. Jude 1:3

Blogger, author and book reviewer Tim Challies examines the way in which our Lord dealt with those He referred to as “ravenous wolves” in Matthew 7:15.  Challies reminds us that in Matthew 23, Jesus rebuked the scribes and Pharisees and called them “hypocrites,” “blind guides,” “blind fools” … even worse, “you brood of vipers.”  So, while God’s people are contending/defending with false teachers who are spreading their manure all over the globe, is it appropriate to call them out, rebuke them, and do some name calling ourselves?

Let’s listen to Tim Challies’ advice on how to handle a wolf.  He writes:

It’s a good time to be a false teacher and to espouse deadly doctrine. It seems that today’s most brazen heretic will be granted a hearing and, in all likelihood, a book deal. Novelty is appealing, orthodoxy boring. It’s the ones who sound the warning and issue the challenge that bear the risk—the risk of being labelled “haters.” There’s more patience for those who smilingly subvert the truth than for those who boldly defend it. Conviction is a sign of arrogance, while humility is expressed in uncertainty. Love, it seems, requires us to bear patiently with any amount of error. And this kind of love, we are told, is modeled after Jesus. Jesus did not judge, Jesus welcomed all opinions, Jesus would have accepted different kinds of teachings—so long as those teachings contained love and hints of truth.

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Post-Shack Christianity: The Lesson We Must Learn About Vigilant Discernment

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“For close to a decade, a few discerning Christians have been warning about The Shack,” says Gideon Knox. “Unlike other books that are equally as bad, this one even attracted the ire of more prominent men like [Albert] Mohler and [Tim] Challies. And yet, few listened.” Dr. Mohler charged that the book contains “undiluted heresy.”  And he’s right. There are 13 heresies in the book.  Even so, a large number of professing Christians read the book and had no problem recommending it to friends and family.  Putting aside the controversy over the book, they rushed to theaters and filled their mouths with popcorn while enjoying Hollywood’s trashing of the Trinity on the silver screen.

Thanks largely to those who claim to follow Jesus, the movie’s a box office success.

In his piece over at Pulpit & Pen, Gideon Knox argues that discernment within the church is not vigilant and it must be. With this in mind, he has some excellent advice for pastors and church leaders. He writes:

While we should be thankful for the plethora of warnings about The Shack that have been published in recent weeks, there is still a cause for concern in Zion. Pastors and concerned laypeople have done an admirable job, by my estimation, of sharing articles on their social media pages, providing a polemical view of both the movie and the book. And even if the articles don’t include the word polemical, they nonetheless are, and they are obligatory warnings for our friends being carried away by the novelty and sensuality of a cinematic, modalistic, patripassian, whore-god who is an imaginary graven image of Yahweh, created and promoted by the money changers of the Christian book industry.

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Beauty and the Beast: Why Christians Can Calm Down

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Sara Wallace of The Gospel-Centered Mom reminds Christians not to panic. “Yes, Hollywood has an agenda,” says Wallace “but so do we. If Hollywood is trying to indoctrinate our kids then we must indoctrinate them first. You must speak of God’s word to your children ‘when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up.’ (Deuteronomy 11:19)”

On March 1st my newsfeed exploded with angry moms. Our beloved Beauty and the Beast is GAY.
 
Well, not exactly. And perhaps that’s where we should start. Is this a “Gay” movie? Or is this just another worldly movie made by worldly people with worldly agendas? Believe me, I’m upset, too. But there is an important difference here worthy of a second look.
 
Al Mohler, at the recent Shepherd’s Conference, summarized this distinction well. He said there’s a difference between culture being infused into a movie and a movie glorifying a particular sin. Gay characters will be the norm in movies from now on. That’s the agenda. The question we should ask is: Does it glorify the sin, or does it discuss/portray an aspect of culture?
 
This is the culture God has appointed for us to raise our children in. We need to know how to live in it and interact with it. Our kids are watching us. Our response to this issue will shape how they live within this culture. As we respond to Beauty and the Beast there are two words that should not characterize us as Christian parents.