Commentary, analysis and opinion.

Pitiable Capitulating Pro-family Leaders, part 1

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By Marsha West

Religious Right, Christian Right, religious conservatives, “values voters” and evangelicals  are a few of the titles given to the social and or political groups that wish to hang on to the “traditional family values” (TFV) that are passed on from one generation to the next.  These values are defined as “the moral and ethical principles traditionally upheld and transmitted within a family, [such as] honesty, loyalty, industry, and faith.”  How they go about this maintenance effort varies drastically.  The most radical of these believe they have a mandate from God to occupy all secular institutions and dominate the political process until Christ returns.  Unfortunately many evangelicals are participating in this seemingly godly effort, unaware of what’s going on behind the scenes.  They’re blindly following Christian Right (CR) leaders down some very dangerous paths.

All In The Family

TFV has its roots in the Bible and is derived from the Ten Commandments.  So for Christians there’s nothing wrong with having a desire to hang on to family values, especially when it comes to adopting ethical principles taught in Scripture.  In our post-modern culture, however, a growing number of liberal Americans are moral relativists.  For these folks there are no moral absolutes and culture, not the Bible, determines right from wrong.

The moral freefall America’s now in stems from the culture war of the 1960s.  Expressions such as “anything goes” “if it feels good do it” “sex, drugs and rock and roll” describe the mind-set of the hippie generation.  The counter culture movement grew legs in the 1960’s, sprinted into the 21st Century, and continues to gain momentum to this day.  The 60’s revolution was actually America’s rebellion against the God of the Bible.  Unfortunately much of what was generated then lives on today.  I’ll touch on that in a moment.

The problem isn’t with the folks who care about TFV; it lies with some—not all– of the organizations that are fighting on the front lines of the culture war battlefield.  In their zeal to defeat liberalism and to bring a modicum of sanity back to America, the CR joined forces with outright heretics, blurring the line that separates orthodoxy from heresy.  At one time evangelical was used to differentiate Protestantism from Roman Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity.

In today’s culture evangelicals are identified with far right Republicans.  It is true, this might be an accurate comparison for some, but by definition an evangelical is a believer who holds that Scripture is the infallible, inerrant, inspired Word of God and the authority by which they live their lives; likewise evangelicals believe in the Trinity, the deity of Christ, what the Bible says about sin, and of course salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. (Ephesians 2:8) In other words, evangelicals held to the fundamentals of the faith. They shared the Gospel of Christ with the lost as they were commanded to do. (Matthew 28:18–20; Acts 1:8, 1 Peter 3:15)  They believed that people are dead in their sins and in need of a Savior.  As I implied, for some self-professed evangelicals, these actions are no longer part of their mandate.  I say self-professed, mainly because the name evangelical has been hijacked by liberals who say they’re Christians even though they reject many of the fundamentals of the faith.  Liberals would never “push their religious views” on someone else.  You might ask why they choose not to share the gospel.  From their point of view, Christians don’t have a personal responsibility to share their faith because they believe it’s possible for the Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, etc., to remain in his/her religion and still be saved.  My point is, when someone says they’re an evangelical in today’s world, it doesn’t really tell you anything.

God Forbid!

“This is a revolutionary age,” said Ray Stedman several decades ago.  “The hurricane winds of change are blowing everywhere in our world. The race seethes with unrest and lawless rebellion. What are Christians to do in this hour? Should we surrender the greatest revolutionary message the world has ever heard, which can come to it from no other source, and content ourselves with doing what any worldling can do?

“Shall we become nothing more than another political action group or succumb to the fallacy that change, any kind of change, represents progress? God forbid!”

Stedman went on to say that as Christians we must “heed our calling…renew our commitment to the Lord, who is behind all things, to become individually responsible to tell this radical, revolutionary, life—transforming good news throughout society; that we should invade commercial and industrial life, education and learning, the arts and family life, morals and government with this tremendous, unequaled message.”

The pro-family movement has closed its collective ears to prophetic voices such as Ray Stedman’s.  What they’ve done instead is invade society with the not so transforming gospel of pragmatism.

Pro-family Movement Teaming With Wolves

So in essence isn’t the pro-family movement spreading this unequaled message Stedman referred to so long ago?  To a limited degree yes, but the sacrifices they’ve made to achieve their goals are significant.  Pro-family groups are rife with wolves in sheep’s clothing.  Some of them are celebrities who have, not only name recognition that draw crowds to events, they also have oodles of money that they generously share…especially when it comes to mustering additional support for their own private agendas.

Scripture has plenty to say about cavorting with false teachers.  The Lord Jesus went after them, calling them “white washed tombs full of dead men’s bones,” even worse “ravenous wolves.”  He made it clear that His followers are to have nothing to do with wolves.  “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them” (Ephesians 5:11).  Rather than exposing evil doers, many pro-family leaders promote their unfruitful works as well as pray with and even pal around with them.

They’ve obviously forgotten the Apostle Paul’s warning:

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. (Galatians 1:6-8).

Don’t think pro-family leaders are unaware that they’re playing with fire.  They know!  In fact, they’ve been warned countless times. They’ve been challenged.  They’ve been chastised. They’ve been clobbered by discernment bloggers who’ve tried to get them to look at evidence that clearly demonstrates that they’ve joined forces with ravenous wolves, ironically to “Reclaim America.”

I have a question for “evangelical” leaders who say they represent “values voters”:  Have you ever read Isaiah 6:1-8?  No?  Well, I’ve provided a link to it.  After you’ve finished reading it, some of you may fall on your faces and cry, “Woe is me…” Why?  Because you haven’t had a clear picture of the God you claim to serve.  If you understood His holiness – His power and might and radiant glory–you’d heed His command: “Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership has righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?” ( 2 Corinthians 6:14)  Anyone who knowingly invites wolves into the sheep pen is walking in darkness – woe to you!  “If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth” (1 John 1:6).

Martyn Lloyd-Jones sums it up this way:

The real motive for living the holy life should be that it pleases God, and that sin is displeasing to Him. I must not set up my own little standard of holiness and rectitude and my little moral code, and pride myself that I am a man who always keeps his word and lives up to his own code and standard. That is ultimately unChristian. The world acts frequently from such a motive. The only true motive for holy living is that it grieves God and offends Him when I am not holy. My desire must be to please Him; not simply to obey the divine law, but to give joy to God and to the Lord Jesus Christ. That should be the motive in all our actions and activities. (H/T Glenn E. Chatfield)

Before I shed light on what’s at the root of the collapse of evangelicalism and why the pro-family movement is partly to blame for insisting on aligning with apostates and cultists who teach a false gospel, perhaps some background would be helpful.

I’m not a fan of Wikipedia, however for purposes of defining the Christian Right they’ve done an excellent job.  To paraphrase: CR evangelicals are Bible believing Christians; as such they oppose abortion on demand, euthanasia,  human embryonic stem cell research, both eugenics and human enhancement (transhumanism), and hold to the traditional definition of marriage as between one man and one woman.  Thus, CR opposes the expansion of civil marriage for same-sex couples and same-sex child adoption.  CR also opposes the legalization of drugs and prostitution.  They support censoring pornography, obscenity, indecency, the death penalty, the rule of law, and a defense of “Western civilization from the challenges of modernist culture and totalitarian governments.”  

So you can see that evangelicalism is the antithesis of the Secular Humanist religion (yes, it’s a religion, the religion of atheism).  Those who identify as secularists are vehemently non-theistic.   Without getting too far afield, under the guise of separation of church and state, they’ve made great strides in pushing their godless religion and values on society.  The way they see it, organized religion is the enemy of freedom – the freedom to do anything you wish “as long as you’re not hurting anyone.”  The anti-God crowd has been chipping away at the “free exercise of religion” guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution for decades.

Collapse Of Evangelicalism

The media as well as evangelicals have been snookered by Social Justice Christians (SJC) who have put on the cloak of evangelical Christianity. Social justice is a euphemism for socialism.  And whether SJC realize it or not, they’ve bought into a belief system that’s deeply rooted in Marxism.  These so-called evangelicals desire to see people free of starvation, sickness and suffering.  To that end, they think it’s necessary to level the playing field.  In other words, redistribute wealth.  To put it in the common man’s vernacular, robbing Peter to pay Paul.  Biblical Christianity has nothing in common with socialism, as it’s a wicked system.  Likewise, biblical Christianity has nothing in common with liberalism.  In fact, “liberal Christian” is an oxymoron in the same way that original copy…awfully good…gay Christian is an oxymoron.

The media and evangelicals are also unaware that many “Christians” in the social justice movement reject the fundamentals of the faith!  For example, some reject Jesus Christ as the only Savior of the world (John 14:6); salvation as God’s free gift to those who believe in Christ apart from good works (Romans 3:24, 28) and the inspiration and authority of the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16).  Because of these and many other decidedly unbiblical beliefs, those who buy into this movement are no more Christians than a wolf wearing fleece is a lamb.

As I previously said, Biblical Christianity is all about sharing the gospel of Christ and discipling the lost.  (Matthew 28:18-20)

So – why are professing Christians drawn into unbiblical movements like social justice?  For the reason that they don’t read/study their bibles to see what God says.  Instead they get their marching orders from sinful men.  And because of their willful ignorance and their willingness to cast the Bible aside and fall in line behind personalities, a growing number of evangelicals don’t know enough about their faith to share what they believe and why they believe it with someone who asks them probing questions.  The term I coined to describe professing Christians such as these is “low-information evangelical” (LIE).  Space does not allow for a detailed explanation of LIE, so those who wish to know more will find my articles here.  I’ll use variations of LIE such as LIE-celeb throughout the remainder of this series.

Who are the LIE-celebs by name and how have they gone wrong?  I’ll name names in part 2.

Resources:

The Religious Right uniting with Religious Renegades (naming names)—By Marsha West

Christian leaders: It’s about time you test false teachers (naming names)—By Marsha West

Copyright 2015 by Marsha West

 

 

Brian Houston & Mark Driscoll: the ‘disgraceful’ invites the ‘disgraced’ to further disgrace Christ and Christianity

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Church Watch Central pulls no punches in bringing to light what’s going on with celebrity preachers:

When you have popular leaders of movements who appear to HATE God’s Word by rejecting what God says the qualifications are for leaders/elders, you have unrepentant men in positions of power. Both Brian Houston and Mark Driscoll (among others speaking this year) are serious threats to the global Christian Church unless people start voting with their feet on issues of Christian integrity.

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The dreadful loneliness of life without Scripture

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Dr. Peter Jones, who is Director of truthXchange and Adjunct Professor of New Testament at Westminster Seminary, examines former megachurch pastor and emergent guru Rob Bell’s misleading defense of same-sex marriage. For one thing, Bell picks and chooses between Bible texts that seemingly agree with him, and those that do not. Jones says “he dismisses Paul’s teaching as mere letters from 2000 years ago that no longer apply, and then chooses a 3500 years-old text with which he agrees, namely Genesis 2:18.” Jones goes on to say that, “In a sentimentalizing interpretation of this foundational text, Bell launches into an emotive appeal for companionship, perfectly suited to his Oprah-taught audience.” View article →

Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure

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His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. 2 Peter 1:3–4, ESV

We have spent a large amount of time lately looking at forms of “Christianity” that are really forms of apostasy or heresy. We have also compared their false beliefs with those of other aberrant forms of our faith, such as the Emergent movement and “liberal Christianity.” There are others to be sure, but what has been amazing is how they all do the same thing. They elevate man and demote God. They teach salvation by works instead of by grace through faith as a gift from God.

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Andy Stanley: even if you don’t believe that Jesus is the Son of God, you will have a better life by following his teachings

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There are concerns about the path popular seeker-friendly pastor Andy Stanley is taking. Stand Up For The Truth writes:

When we compare some of Andy Stanley’s teachings lately to Scripture, we’re seeing some discrepancies. We encourage you to do the comparative work for yourself (as the Bereans did), listening carefully to what all teachers teach.

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Jonathan Welton’s gift of discernment of … human spirits?

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For those who are unfamiliar with the name Jonathan Welton, he’s one of the contributors to The Physics of Heaven along with Bill Johnson, who claims to be a modern day “Super Apostle”, and Johnson’s wife Beni. Apostle Bill runs the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry in Redding, CA that trains its students “to enjoy the presence of God, say what He is saying, and do what He is doing.” According to John Lanagan, the book serves as a roadmap to Christian entanglement with the New Age and quantum mysticism. Lanagan writes:

While writing a booklet concerning The Physics of Heaven, I was fascinated to learn Jonathan Welton states, “I have found throughout Scripture at least 75 examples of things that the New Age has counterfeited, such as having a spirit guide, trances, meditation, auras, power objects, clairvoyance, clairaudience, and more. These actually belong to the church, but they have been stolen and cleverly repackaged.”

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Finding God’s will is no deep dark secret

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“Is it possible for a Christian to know God’s will and not have to agonize over it?” asks CRN contributor Marsha West. Moreover, “Should a believer make a decision without first spending hours in prayer, asking God to reveal His will? Must a Christian avoid making a decision until he or she has a ‘peace about it’? What about waiting for a ‘sign’ from God?” In this piece Marsha addresses the visible Church’s slide into mysticism to find the answers to these questions.

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What is Coptic Christianity, and what do Coptic Christians believe?

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Over the weekend, a video surfaced showing Islamic terrorists beheading 21 Coptic Christians for no other reason than for their religious beliefs. There are anywhere from 10 million to 60 million Coptic Christians worldwide. What do Coptics believe? According to Christian apologetics site GotQuestions.org, Coptic Christianity is similar to Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy in that it emphasizes faith-plus-works in salvation as well as liturgical ritual.

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Rick Warren: Protestants, Catholics must unite to defend life, sex, marriage – ‘we’re on the same team’

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Rick Warren is on a mission to unite with the apostate Church of Rome in an effort to solve society’s social ills. As usual, Warren downplays the wide divide between Rome and biblical Christianity. CNS News writes:

Evangelical pastor Rick Warren, who leads the eighth largest church in America, Saddleback Church, and is the author of the hugely popular book The Purpose Driven Life, said that Protestants and Catholics must form a “unity of missions” to defend the sanctity of life, sex, and the family, stressing that, “If you love Jesus, we’re on the same team.”

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Obama says Christians as guilty as Muslims: ‘People committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ’

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Christian News Network reports:

During the National Prayer Breakfast held in Washington on Thursday, Barack Obama spoke against violence committed in the name of religion, and stated that Christians have been just as guilty as Muslims and other terror groups of this crime.

“It’s not unique to one group or one religion,” he said. “There is a tendency in us—a sinful tendency—that can pervert and distort our faith.”

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An incomplete and unofficial guide to pointing to the truth in 2015

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Millions are going to perish in 2015, says Stephen John. And, while this is going on, the dying world will be keeping an eye on professing Christians. What will they see? Will they see superficial, self-absorbed “Christians” having a hand in the spiritual demise of the lost, or will they see believers actually doing what they are supposed to do – pointing to the Truth, to the only One who can bring eternal life to those dying?

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Aborting black America

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The slogan “black lives matter” excludes the unborn says Washington Times columnist Kenneth Blackwell. He wonders if the civil rights leaders really care when a black life is lost, or whether they simply exploit situations for political gain. Blackwell writes:

Today, on the somber anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision, it’s time for black leaders to face up to the real danger threatening black lives in America. It isn’t the police. According to an anti-police brutality organization, the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, 313 blacks were killed by “police, security guards and vigilantes” in 2013. It isn’t even black criminals, who, as Rudy Giuliani famously pointed out on “Meet the Press,” are responsible for 93 percent of violent deaths among blacks. Sources estimate that between 6,000 and 8,000 blacks are murdered each year.

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Be skeptical of Dr. Oz’s remedies and Rick Warren’s “plans”

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In 2011 Rick Warren, who is the pastor of a megachurch in California and the author of the popular “Purpose-Driven” books chose to enter into a partnership with a man who is steeped in New Age/New Thought spirituality. Warren elicited the aid of Dr. Mehmet Oz to come up with a health and fitness plan for his church. Marsha West has learned that a recent study by the British Medical Journal showed that “Half of Dr. Oz’s health advice is bad.” View article →

New Age pandemic in the church

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Many Christians today are partaking in astrology, unbiblical meditation, so-called Christian yoga, and calling on angels, in spite of the fact that Scripture clearly teaches that believers must not do as the pagans do. Marsha West lays out for us some of the many of the practices God deems evil. View article →

Fight the spiritual forces of wickedness – and win!

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By Marsha West – 2014

Some of the news headlines this past week gave me reason for concern. Here are a few of them:

  • Satanic Temple Approved for [Florida] Capitol Holiday Display
  • Legal group: repeal of D.C. amendment will have ‘severe impact on religious liberty’
  • ‘We love Jesus!’ – Iraqi children proclaim love for Christ in face of Islamic beheading
  • Court orders school district to pay $75,000 for denying boy use of girls’ restroom
  • Rick Warren’s call for Christians to unite with Catholics, ‘Holy Father’ raising concerns

Satanism…religious liberty…beheadings…gender confusion…ecumenicalism. My tendency is to fret about such things, even though God reminds us in His Word:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.(Phil 4:6-7)

Likewise, 1 Peter 5:7 commands believers not to be anxious but to lay all our worries on God because He cares for us. So is there any question that His people are to go to Him with the hard things, lay them at His feet, and trust that we can literally “let go and let God”?

Listen to the comforting words our Lord Jesus:

And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? (Luke 12:22-26 Also see Matthew 6:25-34)

And…

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30)

Black Clouds

What must the believer do when a black cloud forms over her head and follows her wherever she goes? If you’re a black cloud magnet, keep in mind that when you find yourself in a situation where you’ve been utterly and completely robbed of all joy, chances are the spiritual forces of evil have something to do with this dreary mood. I mean, think about it. Satan’s main aim is to take his victim’s mind off her Heavenly Father and turn her focus on the unholy trinity of Me, Myself and I.

Evil entities can and will camp out in their target’s mind and offer unbiblical advice to those who are willing to listen:

Life’s no picnic, Agnes! Anyone in your situation would worry about this terrible thing that’s happened to you – and don’t feel one bit guilty about worrying! God understands.

You lost your job for Pete’s sake! With Christmas right around the corner, it’s going to be rough on the kids. The thought of seeing those disappointed faces Christmas morning would make anyone feel anxious! God understands.

Your desire for vengeance is reasonable, dude. You deserve to hold on to your anger… resentment…hatred. That’s perfectly normal. Now go and retaliate! God understands.

Because of all the wickedness in the world your children and grandchildren are going to suffer, big time. So of course you’re fearful about the kind of world they’re growing up in – that’s normal. God understands.

You get the picture.

Several years ago I came to the realization that a large number of professing Christians were not using biblical principles when handling society’s slide into moral chaos. In fact they were doing just the opposite. For instance, many were getting angry and upset, worrying and fretting over how the God hating secular humanists’ vice grip on almost every facet of society, including the Church, was growing stronger by the day. So I penned a piece to shed light on what the Bible teaches on fighting the world, the flesh and the devil. Believers face an enemy far more diabolical and cunning than any secular humanist or malevolent ruler that has ever lived. The Bible tells us that since the fall of mankind a battle has been raging in the invisible realm between two opposing forces – good and evil. Without getting too far afield, there was a rebellion in heaven and its leader, Lucifer, and his followers were told to leave. Ever since then Lucifer aka Satan (the devil) and the other turncoat angels (demons) have been at war with God’s holy elect angels. (For more details go here.) Not surprisingly one target of the evil forces is anyone who professes a belief in Christ.

Never fear! God has given believers a way to protect themselves. Paul describes how to do it in Ephesians 6. (I’ll share the particulars in a moment.) After doing a thorough study on this subject, it became apparent to me that my brothers and sisters had been unarmed while fighting a vicious enemy – and so had I! I came to realize that those of us in the thick of the battle to “reclaim America” had to lay our worries and woes aside (worry is sin) and do battle God’s way. But before we could face the enemy, like any soldier going into battle, we had to go into it with helmets, breastplates, shields, swords and, most importantly, the Gospel of Christ that changes minds and hearts! So – I wrote a piece to share what I had learned about fighting the good fight and how to win. What I wrote is even more pertinent today than it was umpteen years ago. My hope in reposting it here is that the serious Christian will take Paul’s words literally when he says “put on the whole armor of God!”

Are You Armed for Battle?

I am amazed by how many Christians are unfamiliar with the Armor of God the Apostle Paul spoke about in Ephesians 6:10. “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” Yes, the devil is real, he’s a schemer, and he’s out to get you! If you don’t believe he’s real, then read the Gospels. Take Mark 9:25 for example. Jesus actually spoke to a demon. “You deaf and mute spirit, I command you, come out of him and do not enter him again.” It would be a little ridiculous for Jesus to talk to demons if they didn’t exist. There are plenty of other examples but my point is that Christians are failing to arm themselves for battle against these spiritual powers of darkness.

So, how can you defend yourself against demonic attacks? You must get dressed! In Ephesians 6:10-19 Paul tells you what you should wear. First, buckle the Belt of Truth around your waist. Truth is a deep knowledge of God’s character and will as applied to our lives. Second, the Breastplate of Righteousness must be firmly in place. This refers to the righteousness of Christ, not your own! The breastplate protects your heart from the attacks of Satan. Third, you must have on the proper shoes if you’re going to resist Satan’s attacks. He is an expert at keeping you off balance! Solid footing is provided by the gospel of peace. (Peace comes when you learn to rest in God’s promises.) With the right shoes on you’ll be prepared to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Your feet must always be ready to move! Fourth, take up the Shield of Faith. Faith is complete trust in Christ. When you have faith in God, Satan will be unable to worm his way into your life because Christ offers adequate protection. Fifth, take the hope of the helmet of salvation – look forward to the day of Christ’s return, when the wicked will be judged and you’ll have peace. In the meantime, the helmet will protect your mind from temptation and from believing false doctrine. Feel confident that the moral depravity taking place throughout the world will “ultimately be resolved by God’s program.” Moreover “live unafraid in a world of fear and terror.” And remember that “God is moving in history, and nothing that happens can upset or delay His plan.” (Source) Sixth, you must wield a very sharp and deadly sword – the Sword of the Spirit. The Word of God is a Christian’s sword. The Bible is “living and active and sharper than any two edged sword” (Hebrews 4:12). When you’re tempted, do as Jesus did and use Scripture as a weapon to fight off the Adversary. Lastly, pray! The Sword of the Spirit and Prayer are offensive weapons. Use them!

There you have it. The Armor of God is a symbolic description of the Lord Himself. You must put on Jesus Christ. Trust completely in His power! It’s a mistake to try to live for Christ in your own strength. You must receive and utilize Christ’s power. He wants His people to live as He did, in complete reliance on God. He will work through us by the power of His Holy Spirit indwelling in us. So, when the devil comes knocking on your door, let Jesus answer it!

Whoever reads this knows what they must do to withstand the attacks of the enemy. Stand firm! Rely on God and His mighty power! What’s unbelievable to me is that a growing number of professing Christians fail to grasp the reality that the One who hung the moon and stars says He will fight for His people. He told Abram, “Do not be afraid … I am your shield, your very great reward.”

Remember brethren, God wins!

I’ll close with a quote from a sermon given by the late Ray C. Stedman entitled Advice When Attacked:

There is a very strong and powerful relationship between putting on the armor of God and praying. These two things belong together; in fact, one grows out of the other. It is not enough to put on the armor of God; you must also pray. It is not enough to pray; you must also have put on the armor of God. It is impossible to divide these two. As we have been attempting to see, putting on the armor of God is not something merely figurative, it is an actual thing you do. It is remembering what Christ is to you, and thinking through the implications of it in terms of your present struggle and experience. Putting on the armor is essentially something that is done in the realm of your thought life. We have been trying to make that clear. It is an adjustment of the attitude of your heart to reality, to things as they really are. It is thinking through the implications of the fact which revelation discloses. This is always the necessary thing to do in trying to face life.

Recommended:

The Old Serpent and the Slacker – An allegory By Marsha West

Spiritual Warfare – On Solid Rock Resources

© Marsha West

Kirk Cameron, former evangelical pastor-turned-Catholic take to TBN to make case for Santa Claus

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According to Christian News Network:

Actor and filmmaker Kirk Cameron recently invited a former evangelical pastor who converted to Roman Catholicism to TBN to make the case for Santa Claus as Cameron promotes his new film “Saving Christmas,” which seeks to convince Christians who choose not to celebrate the holiday.

Cameron shared a segment of the interview on his Facebook page on Tuesday, in which he spoke with historian William Federer, a former evangelical minister who now identifies as Roman Catholic. Sporting the Liberty University logo embroidered on his shirt, Cameron invited Federer to outline the history of Saint Nicholas and other items found in his book “There Really Is a Santa Claus: The History of Saint Nicholas & Christmas Holiday Traditions.”

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Rob Bell gets his “OWN” TV show

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Stand Up For The Truth writes:

OWN television has just announced the premiere of its new series titled, The Rob Bell Show. The same Rob Bell who challenges the truth of the Bible and continues to influence millions of fans around the world (having just returned from a national tour with New Agers Deepak Chopra and Oprah), despite his fall from biblical Christianity. The same former pastor of Mars Hill church who denies the doctrine of a real Hell (making him a heretic in the true sense of the word). He is the author of many books pushing unscriptural doctrine including Velvet Elvis, Love Wins and his new The Zimzum of Love, giving people a “startling new way of looking at marriage.” (Bell has come out in support of homosexual marriage.)

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Roma Downey casts Victoria Osteen, Kay Warren, Joyce Meyer in TV show

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Berean Research reports:

Roma Downey and her husband Mark Burnett, who gave us the unbiblical The Bible and The Son of God films, is now making a 2-hour Lifetime Television series, “The Women of the Bible.”

Stop. (Just stop.) Back up to The Bible and The Son of God. These two programs were so error-filled, that we need to review just how far off Downey and Burnett are from biblical truth…

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Bethel Church’s “apostle” Bill Johnson: a comedy of errors, part 1

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By Marsha West

Bill Johnson is no stranger to controversy. For one thing, he claims to be an apostle, as in the unique position held by the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ. He was given this high honor by C. Peter Wagner who holds many titles himself, including president of Global Harvest Ministries, chancellor of Wagner Leadership Institute, convening apostle of the New Apostolic Roundtable, and my personal favorite: presiding apostle of International Coalition of Apostles (ICA). So for the purpose of this article I’ll dub him Presiding Apostle Peter or PA Peter for short. What’s important to know about him is that he’s sort of like the pope of the “new apostolic-prophetic movement.”

Following is ICA’s definition of modern day apostle:

An apostle is a Christian leader gifted, taught, commissioned, and sent by God with the authority to establish the foundational government of the church within an assigned sphere of ministry by hearing what the Spirit is saying to the churches and by setting things in order accordingly for the growth and maturity of the church.

What role do the so-called apostles play? There are a couple of tasks, says PA Peter. First, apostles are to “set things in order” and “they’re to assure that the body of Christ is operating on the basis of sound, biblical doctrine.”

Sound biblical doctrine my Aunt Fanny!

PA Peter and his self-proclaimed apostles and prophets are out-and-out false teachers! These men and women (yes, there are women apostles) are well aware that accusations of heresy have been leveled against them by a large number of highly regarded orthodox Bible scholars and still they continue the pretense.

In this two part series you’ll discover the many twists and turns the new apostolic-prophetic movement has taken over the years and why those of us who are in an online discernment ministry believe it is a clear and present danger to the Body of Christ, thus we will continue warning the brethren. (Acts 20:31)

Now, keep in mind that the men and women involved in this heretical movement are sincere in their belief that they’re in the same league as the Old Testament prophets and the Lord’s hand-picked disciples who later became the Twelve Apostles. The leaders have convinced their followers that the office of apostleship is not reserved for a select few, as the Bible teaches. Moreover, they’ve led people to believe that Christ is once again choosing apostles and prophets to preside over His Church. Listen to Got Questions‘ dire warning:

Those claiming the office of apostle seek authority equal to, or at least rivaling, the authority of the original twelve apostles. There is absolutely no biblical evidence to support such an understanding of the role of apostle today. This would fit with the New Testament’s warning against false apostles (2 Corinthians 11:13).

So – if it’s true that Christ is giving authority to a select few apostles and prophets why, pray tell, would our Lord give it to individuals who possess questionable character? I’ll have more on this in a moment.

Suffice it to say C. Peter Wagner and Bill Johnson believe that the Lord has given them the authority to rule over the Church. So – if it’s also true that the so-called apostles are called by Christ to form a government to control the Church and that they will hold Church leaders accountable then who, pray tell, is going to hold them accountable?

Itching Ears

Without getting too far afield, since the new apostolic-prophetic movement’s inception it has been referred to in a number of different ways, i.e. Dominionism…Latter Rain…Joel’s Army…Manifest[ed] Sons of God…Kingdom Now…Charismatic Renewal…Positive Confession and a few others. Its current handle, New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), was coined by Presiding Apostle Peter in the 1990s. He “reinvigorated the Latter Rain/Manifest Sons of God false prophecies about a great endtime revival accompanied by signs and wonders.” As I said, NAR leaders teach that God is restoring the lost offices of church governance – and they are His chosen ones to bring it to fruition!

Do not be surprised:

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions,; and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths 2 Timothy 4:3

In Paul’s final warning to the Church he never suggested that they embrace new movements. On the contrary, he warned that they would not listen to the truth. Commentator Matthew Poole clarifies:

Having itching ears; for their ears itch, and they must have those that will scratch them. The disease of lust in their souls brings forth an itch in their ears, that they will have a mind to hear only such as will by scratching please them.

Shall they heap to themselves teachers, will be finding out teachers, not according to God’s, but to their own hearts; and there will be plenty of them to be found, they shall heap them up, choosing them without any judgment, regarding nothing but whether they will not be smart upon their lusts. (emphasis in original)

Paul’s message throughout his entire letter was that the church must “follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me” (1:13); “guard the good deposit entrusted to you (1:14); “what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also” (2:2).

Unity Over Doctrine

Now to Bill Johnson, head pastor of Bethel Church (BC). BC’s leadership holds to the theology of the Word of Faith (WoF) movement. WoF doctrine teaches the occult belief that:

He [God] framed the world with His words. You can’t build without substance. He took words – faith-Filled words were God’s substance. Here, essentially, is what God did. God filled His words with faith. He used His words as containers to hold His faith and contain that spiritual force and transport it out there into the vast darkness by saying ‘Light be!’ That’s the way God transported His faith causing creation and transformation. (Source)

One word: unscriptural!

BC also has its roots in the early1980s movement dubbed by C. Peter Wagner the Third Wave (TW).

Following is an excerpt from Apologetics Index. What they’ve laid out here should help prevent people from getting drawn into TW:

[D]istinctives of the Third Wave movement include – but are not limited to – the following:

  • The baptism with the Holy Spirit is identified with conversion. This is unlike other Pentecostal movements, in which the baptism with the Spirit is either a separate and/or a recurring experience.
  • the belief that the spiritual gifts are valid for today; that Christians can ask for, receive and learn how to use these spiritual gifts (and become better at using them with practice.
  • the belief that the primary use of the spiritual gifts is for ministry in the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit – both to bless and heal those inside the church and to minister to those outside the church (“Power Evangelism.”). This ministry includes healing the sick, casting out demons, prophesying, etcetera.
  • active promotion of unity – sometimes at any cost (e.g. the Toronto Blessing Movement ‘s acceptance of certain Word-Faith teachers. “Unity over doctrine“
  • the belief that people, Christians included, can be possessed (or ‘demonized’ – or ‘oppressed,’ something seen as a lesser form of possession) by evil spirits with or without their consent
  • the belief that objects or places can project evil influence and act as conduits for demonic oppression
  • the belief that traumatic events, either in our lives or in our ancestral past, can make us particularly vulnerable to demonic influence, possession or oppression
  • the belief that some Christians – using appropriate spiritual gifts – can identify and cast out demonic spirits
  • a general acceptance of Kingdom Now theology, which has led to the practice of so-called ‘Strategic Level Spiritual Warfare‘ or SLSW – an unbiblical concept in which Christians identify (through ‘spiritual mapping‘) and then target (with SLSW) ‘Territorial Spirits.’ (all links are AI’s) (Source)

WoF and TW leaders are false teachers. (You’ll find the names of these as well as many other false teachers on my website.) Over the years self-proclaimed apostles and prophets have managed to coax undiscerning individuals to involve themselves in some of the strangest physical manifestations imaginable. Those who participate in church services where “signs and wonders” take place like to blame their crude behavior on the Holy Spirit. Now, try to imagine giants of the faith such as John, Peter, James or even Paul “drunk in the spirit,” crawling on all fours barking like a dog, clucking like a chicken, jerking and twitching, rolling on the floor, laughing themselves into a convulsive state. People involved in NAR have done these things in the past and continue them to this day. When I think about it, it really wouldn’t surprise me to witness Apostle Bill on all fours, nose in the air, howling like a wolf. But I digress.

Two Super Apostles Restore A Fraud

During the alleged Lakeland Outpouring aka Lakeland Revival in Florida, a story hit the news that put NAR evangelist Todd Bentley in a bad light. It was revealed that that the rock-star evangelist was in an adulterous relationship with a female intern – and suddenly all hell broke loose. In my column “We have had enough of false prophets” I scrutinized the NAR’s leaders and pointed out that Apostle Bill,

calls those who exposed Todd Bentley as a false prophet “sharks.” He also says:

“I’ll never blame the opponents [sharks] of this outpouring for Todd’s choices [sin]. However, it had a greater effect on the outcome than any of his critics will likely own up to in this lifetime. History proves this.”

(More on the Bentley brouhaha here, here and here.)

Apostle Bill and fellow apostate – oops! – apostle-prophet Rick Joyner decided to involve themselves in Bentley’s “restoration process.” Just so you know, Rick Joyner’s the founder and Executive Director of MorningStar Publications and Ministries and is a big promoter of the “new breed” of apostles and prophets.

Both Bill Johnson and Rick Joyner, who are seasoned apostle-prophets, claim to hold the title “Super-Apostle” and/or “Super-Prophet” which is comparable to holding the high office of cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church. Chew on that for a moment. As an aside I should mention that some “Super-Apostles” have been accused of using cultic mind control techniques on those they prey upon.

Listen to Apostle Rick pontificate about how he sees himself:

Even though I have not been able to go to journalism school, or even Bible school, in many ways I would not trade my education for anyone’s. Like Paul, I can say that what I received I did not receive from men.

I mean, really, are we supposed to believe him? And why would we?

Now, back to Bentley. Bringing this man under submission took place following his divorce and after he married the Proverbs 7 woman, who, by the way, wasn’t the only woman he had an extra marital affair with. Apostle Bill was well aware that the fraud-evangelist had had a prior dalliance. Both “Super-Apostles” knew that he was drunk during his Lakeland stage act yet they chose to return him to ministry. But, then, no one has ever accused NAR leaders of doing much of anything by The Book.

Todd Bentley is no more qualified for ministry than is disgraced televangelist/prosperity preacher Jim Bakker, who was incarcerated for fleecing the flock (fraud). After his release from prison, what did Bakker do? Still craving attention, he returned to public ministry.

So – how should churches handle a person in a leadership role when he/she brings shame on the Name of our Lord Jesus? I’ve already addressed this topic in my column entitled Does the Bible Really Say We’re Not to Judge? In a nutshell the biblical way to handle it is for the church hierarchy to apply an appropriate level of discipline necessary to bring the person to true repentance. Church leaders who have a “moral failing” must publically repent of his/her sin against God. They then must seek spiritual guidance and accountability and move out of the limelight altogether. Once the person’s restored, he/she’s most often encouraged to serve the Lord behind the scenes. Sadly, this hasn’t been the case with Todd Bentley. And the reason for this is that the self-appointed Super Apostles Bill and Rick found it in their hearts – not in the Bible – to reinstate the man to public ministry.

I’ll close part 1 with a plea from a genuine apostle:

I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. (Romans 16:17-18)

Part 2 

Resources:

Strange Fire Conference Q&A – Phil Johnson interviews John MacArthur

The New Age Propensities of Bethel Church’s Bill Johnson – By John Lanagan

C. Peter Wagner launches WLI Seattle, Sonrise Chapel, Feb. 3, 2008 – Around 54:00 into the session, Wagner responds to a question during the Q&A. He tells the audience that when the Holy Spirit stopped revealing things through the written Word, He kept on revealing new things to us through the “Rhema Word.” He claims that the Holy Spirit still speaks to us today by giving us information that you cannot find in the 66 books of the Bible, info that the Bible doesn’t address, but it’s not contradictory.

NAR “Apostle C. Peter Wagner teaching its key doctrine of Dominionism

Todd Friel of Wretched Radio/TV on Bill Johnson – 2:14 min.

Why I Must Speak Out Against the NAR and Bethel Church – Tony Miano, host of Cross Encounters radio, discusses, among other things, the music of BC’s music team Jesus Culture (more below). Listen to Tony tell of his Twitter chat with Beni Johnson, Bill’s pastorette wife.

Bill Johnson…scroll down – Apologetics Index

New Apostolic Reformation/Dominionism – On Solid Rock Resources

Bethel Church’s Music & Entertainment:

Jesus Culture of Bethel Church and Practicing Raising the Dead – Ken Silva

The “Jesus Culture” – a petri dish for growing young new heretics?

Watch And Weep:

Try this Bethel Redding Snack Pack – My Word Like Fire

Gold dust rains at Bethel service

Bethel Church Dance

Bethel Church children’s director and “trips to heaven, with kids”

Creative Miracles at Bethel

Bethel Church Dance

Kundalini Spirit at Redding

School of Worship – Prophetic Song

Mark Driscoll: I made the mistake of trying to be under the authority of my elders

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙

Psychology professor Warren Throckmorton, who writes for Patheos, has the latest on the Mark Driscoll saga. He has included a video that shows Mark and Grace Driscoll acknowledging mistakes they’ve made in ministry. “Driscoll makes revealing statements about his views of his elders,” says Throckmorton. “These opinions give insight into the changes in governance at Mars Hill since 2007…” View article →

Christian meditation: what’s Biblical and what’s not

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By Marsha West

In Joshua 1:8 God said: “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it.” So, what exactly did God have in mind when He told Joshua to meditate on His word? Well, we can be certain of one thing. The Lord was not suggesting that Joshua sit in the lotus position repeating a mantra until he attained an altered state of consciousness.  “These help bring one into states other than normal waking consciousness, in which a person becomes open to mystical experience, the spirit realm, or cosmic consciousness,” warns Bill Muehlenberg.

The sort of meditation God had in mind was not Eastern meditation. He has made it clear that His people are not to adopt pagan practices and those who do are out of His will. The purpose of eastern-style meditation is to “seek the God within.”

That’s pantheism, brethren. People who hold this view believe that God is all and all is God. “A tree is God, a rock is God, an animal is God, the sky is God, the sun is God, you are God, etc.” The biblical view is that God is separate from His creation.  Genesis 1:1-30

More on biblical meditation in a moment, but first…

Sit Still!

Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still and know that I am God.” There’s been a huge misunderstanding in the Christian community as to what this verse means. Let’s take a look at noted Bible teacher Kay Arthur’s Precept Ministries International (PMI) website to see if she has it right:

Can you remember the last time you sat in total silence except for the sounds of nature – listening intently to hear the voice of God. It is time to:

Be still and know that I am God. – Psalm 46:10

Be still (cease striving)

Rest, relax, chill out, stop fighting, drop your weapons

Know that I am God

Learn that I am God, or “see that I am God,” “Get to know me better”

God is telling His children who are living in a busy world to stop, get quiet so that they can listen and get to know Him. It is only in stillness, the quiet, that we can hear the voice of God. (Bold PMI’s – Source)

Ken Silva of Apprising Ministries penned a piece entitled Kay Arthur With Erroneous Contemplative Interpretation of Psalm 46:10, which is where I came across the above quote. It could be a coincidence that right after Silva wrote his blog post and upbraided Mrs. Arthur for her erroneous teaching on Psalm 46:10, PMI’s webmaster changed the paragraph that begins with God is telling His children to As children of God, who are living in a busy world, we need to stop, get quiet and listen for His voice as we read His Word. God most often speaks in that small still voice. (Bold mine)

So, was Kay Arthur correct in explaining what be still means in context? Not according to Silva:

This passage isn’t about any kind of meditation; and it has absolutely nothing to do with sitting in some lotus position and subjectively trying to “hear” God’s voice in creeping crickets or inner burblings of bellies. Rather, this is a firm admonition and warning for all nations – particularly His people Israel – to stop worrying and to recognize God’s sovereignty. (Source)

What do Bible scholars say the meaning is? One source, Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, states, among other things, that be still is “the idea of leaving matters with God, or of being without anxiety about the issue.” (Source – follow this link to discover what several Bible scholars say the meaning of be still is)

Low-Information Evangelical (LIE)

A growing number of low-information evangelicals (low-information people with high-profile power and/or influence) endorse meditation, or what’s known as contemplative/centering prayer (CP). This is bad news for the evangelical community as it’s easily provable that CP has its roots in paganism. In spite of this well-known fact, many LIE-celebs continue to lead people into eastern-style meditation. Yes, you read that right. Eastern, as in Buddhism. Now, some of you are thinking, “Seriously? Christian leaders are pointing people to Buddhism?” Bingo! (Source)

Paganism Unfortunately many LIE’s promote problematic pagan practices even though God adamantly says:

When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. And because of these abominations the Lord your God is driving them out before you. You shall be blameless before the Lord your God, for these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to fortune-tellers and to diviners. But as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do this. (Deut. 18:9-14)

There’s no question that God’s warning to Israel still pertains today. His people are not to indulge in pagan idolatry. This means that Christians who practice a form of meditation that brings him/her into the alpha state is actually defying the God they profess their love for! That alone should scare the bejeebers out of believers who take that approach to prayer. And it matters not what the reason is – even if it’s to go “deeper with God.”

Biblical meditation always includes a fully engaged mind.  Listen to Professor of Philosophy Doug Groothuis’ advice on biblical prayer:

The biblical concept of prayer assumes that rational and meaningful communication between God and humans is possible. There is no summons to suspend rational judgment even when prayer through the Holy Spirit is ‘with groans that words cannot express’ (Rom. 8:26).

The manner in which the Christian shall meditate on it day and night is through the reading and study of the Bible.  (Space does not allow for a comprehensive explanation of Eastern mysticism.  Those who wish to learn more on this subject will find my articles here.)

Christian Meditation Made Clear

BibleNow to the subject at hand – biblical prayer. It’s important that born again believers begin each day with the Lord. What we call “quiet time” involves finding a place to read and pray where there are no distractions – so turn off that cell phone! Before reading, ask the Holy Spirit to illuminate your mind and reveal truth. Also ask Him to help you make the biblical principles you’re learning meaningful and practical in your life. In Charles Spurgeon’s sermon “Pray Without Ceasing,” he asks four important questions:

What do these words imply? Secondly, What do they actually mean? Thirdly, How shall we obey them? And, fourthly, Why should WE especially obey them?

These are the sort of questions we should be asking as we read our bibles. We must stop and ponder what God has spoken through the words on the page. It may be necessary to read a passage repeatedly, reflect on it, analyze it, and listen while the Holy Spirit guides us into all truth. (John 16:13)

And always consider the context! Apologist Greg Koukl explains how this is done:

I read the paragraph, not just the verse. I take stock of the relevant material above and below. Since the context frames the verse and gives it specific meaning, I let it tell me what’s going on.

Context, context, context!

Because many Christians lead busy lives they fail to put aside time to spend with the Lord. In point of fact, data shows that most believers spend very little time in their bibles – but there is certainly a whole lotta prayin’ goin’ on. In this fast food nation in which we live Christians continually fire off bullet prayers hoping God will answer them quickly. Especially if they want the God who grants their wishes to see to it that they find a parking space at the mall during the Christmas rush or stop a torrential downpour when they’re sitting in the stands at an outdoor sporting event.

Now, don’t get me wrong. God loves it when His people pray umpteen times a day. Moreover, we’re commanded to “pray without ceasing.” (1 Thes. 5:17) We’re also commanded to abide in Christ:

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:5).

So, not only are we to begin our day with the Lord reading the Bible and praying, we’re also to abide in (stay around) Christ throughout the day for the reason that there’s an ongoing relationship between the Vine and the branches. Got Questions reminds us:

We need to fill our minds constantly with the things of God; God should always be on our mind, and everything we do should be done with reference to Him (Colossians 3:17; 1 Corinthians 10:31).

When we fail to abide in Christ – fill our minds with the things of God – the fruit we bear, no matter how appealing it appears, is not off Christ’s vine! In other words, it’s done apart from Him.

There’s a story in Luke 10:38 of two sisters, Mary and Martha, who thought differently about how to serve their Master. When Jesus came to their home Martha stayed in the kitchen preparing food for their guests. She had developed her own agenda for serving Christ. Martha became vexed that Mary wasn’t helping with the meal. What was her sister doing that caused Martha’s consternation? She was sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening to His words.

It’s certainly no crime to prepare a nice meal for a guest; however, we must remember that we are children of God before we’re servants of God. Like Mary, we must take time to sit at our Lord’s feet. Martha was so busy serving Jesus that she neglected Him!

Have I hit a nerve?

Why Pray?

If your prayers are mainly the bullet variety then it would be wise to develop the biblical model of praying. Biblical prayer is intended for praise, confession and repentance, thanksgiving and asking for others. In our quiet time with the Lord we find His love. Through prayer believers are conformed to God’s will.

Prayer isn’t meant to be an esoteric experience. Nowhere in Scripture does it say that we are to go into altered states of consciousness to commune with God. As I said above, biblical meditation does not seek the “God within.” This is the purpose of those who cling to Eastern religion and New Age spirituality!

The Christian who truly wishes to please God will let “the words of [your] mouth and the meditation of [your] heart be acceptable in [the LORD’s] sight …” (Psalm 19:14 paraphrased)

Recommended:

Psalm 46:10 Does Not Teach Contemplative-Centering Prayer – By Ken Silva

Research:

Contemplative Prayer 

New Age “Spirituality”

Occult-Sorcery

 

The Osteen predicament – mere happiness cannot bear the weight of the Gospel

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Dr. Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, addresses the absurd comments made by Victoria Osteen, wife of prosperity preacher Joel Osteen, during a recent talk she gave at his church. Victoria Osteen said:

I just want to encourage every one of us to realize when we obey God, we’re not doing it for God—I mean, that’s one way to look at it – we’re doing it for ourselves, because God takes pleasure when we’re happy. That’s the thing that gives Him the greatest joy. So, I want you to know this morning: Just do good for your own self. Do good because God wants you to be happy. When you come to church, when you worship Him, you’re not doing it for God really. You’re doing it for yourself, because that’s what makes God happy. Amen?

Mohler offers valid reasons why Joel and Victoria Osteen’s slick version of Prosperity Theology is a heresy that is spreading throughout much of the world. “The important issue is this,” says Mohler, “Prosperity Theology is a false Gospel”.

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The prosperity priestess and the pied piper of IHOP

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Well lookie here. Joyce Meyer, popular women’s conference speaker; health and wealth author; radio & TV teacher (whew!) has been invited to speak at the Onething Conference that will be held this December. The 4 day weekend supposedly draws 25,000 young adults. Visit Onething and you will find that the conference is “a gathering of believers who are setting their hearts to live with passion for Jesus.” Sounds like a conference most Christians would love to attend. What sincere believer wouldn’t want to share his/her passion for Jesus?

Not so fast.

The group behind the event is none other than the International House of Prayer (IHOP) an evangelical mission organization that has its home base in Kansas City. IHOP-KC’s founder, Mike Bickle, has ties to the New Apostolic Reformation  a.k.a Dominionists; Kingdom Now; Latter Rain; Joel’s Army; Manifest Sons of God – the name has been changed to protect the guilty. Their aim is to transform society into the kingdom of God on earth. How? By controlling various aspects of society.

Before I fill you in on Meyer, you’ll need a bit of background on Bickle. A couple of decades ago he was in a heretical group known as the Kansas City Prophets, who brought grandiose claims that a “new breed” of super prophets were beginning to arrive on planet earth who would change the world forever. These so-called prophets were a group of men that coalesced around a church known as the Kansas City Fellowship, pastored by Mike Bickle, that attracted a following of other likeminded churches in that region. (H/T Pastor Ken Silva)

So it’s not surprising that this self-professed “prophet” has been under scrutiny for his false teaching. Google his name and you’ll discover that he believes God speaks to him in an audible voice and claims that he’s been to heaven twice.

It’s important to note that last year Reformed pastor; author; conference speaker Francis Chan spoke at Onething where he declared “I love Mike Bickle.” Chan took a lot of heat for agreeing to speak at the conference. When friends and fans urged him to decline the invite, he admitted that he didn’t know much about Mike Bickle and IHOP so,

I kinda went on the Internet and started looking things up.

Whatever he found caused him to fall in love:

I go, man, there’s a lot of great things going on [at IHOP]. And today was the first time I ever met Mike Bickle. And, I love that guy. I do. And Mike knows – we talked about this – you know, there’s people who told me not to hang out with him.

Like, you know, words like “creepy” came up. And yet, I get to know this guy and I’m going, “Man, I love his heart. And I just want to publicly say I love Mike Bickle. (Source)

As you can see, Chan professed his love for the sort of person Jesus referred to as a ravenous wolf. (Mat. 7:15)

What Francis Chan failed to turn up in his investigation is that Mike Bickle has led countless young people astray. He’s a sort of a Pied Piper to those who journey to Kansas City from all over the globe to be a part of something “significant.” Once there, they stay for days, months…even years. You’ll find them in the prayer room praying. Prayer “led from a stage full of musicians and readers chanting repetitive phrasings of faith” goes on ’round the clock.

The false prophet has filled the young sojourners’ heads with untruths such as “an elite end-time church defeats God’s enemies, and Jesus is ‘held in the heavens’ until it happens.” So they most “go forth and make ready.”

Apologist Matt Slick tells us that the major draw of IHOP is experience:

People often come to me citing their experience and go back again and again to experience “God” and the “Spirit” – [which is] no different than an emotional high. This is analogous to mysticism, which is defined as “the pursuit of deeper or higher subjective religious experience,” and “that spiritual reality is perceived apart from the human intellect and natural senses.”

Slick goes on to say:

One of the highest criticisms would be IHOP’s insidious Gnosticism. Gnosticism is derived from the Greek word gnosis, meaning “knowledge.” The hallmark of Gnosticism is the idea of having “hidden knowledge” of the spiritual realm that is unavailable to others. This knowledge comes via prophecies, visions, and dreams that God specifically gives to a certain privileged group of people – in this case IHOP. In fact, IHOP has their own “prophecy rooms” where one can receive “prophecies,” and they used to have a practice of mailing out recorded tapes, of which I was asked by my friend’s mother to translate! (emphasis mine – Source)

One last comment about Francis Chan. The name may not be familiar but he’s without question a popular speaker and author whose books sell like hot cakes. Sadly, when it comes to the questionable goings on at IHOP, Chan has shown an astonishing lack of discernment. It goes without saying that: (1) He must change direction and move away from those who involve themselves with the metaphysical cults. (2) He must spend more time researching the people he associates with.

More On Meyer

For decades Joyce Meyer has been called a false teacher. Why? Because she holds to Word of Faith/prosperity/health and wealth heresy. She mixes error with good practical information for women, which is why she’s so popular. There’s plenty of proof for those who wish to know the truth (follow the links below), and still many women choose to believe that those who say she’s a false teacher are wrong.

Some of her fans know what’s going on at IHOP-KC, so she’s bound to get blow back both before and after her appearance at Onething. People will wonder: If I know about Mike Bickle and IHOP, how could Joyce not know? They may even conclude that it’s a sign that her ministry is about to align with the modern day “apostles and prophets” movement.

So why in heaven’s name is she hitching herself to a wagon loaded with theological garbage. As I pointed out earlier, “prophet” Mike Bickle is heavily into the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR). That group’s theology is a load of garbage that should be hauled to the trash dump and burned.

But before I address the reasons Meyer has chosen to put her name on the marquee with Bickle’s, let’s follow the example set by the Bereans and compare her teaching to Scripture.

Truth Or Error, That Is The Question

One of the reasons Joyce Meyer is considered a false teacher is because she has taught that Jesus Christ atoned for our sins in hell:

The following quote is from her 1991 booklet, The Most Important Decision You Will Ever Make, she teaches a hallmark doctrine of Faith theology, namely, that Christ had to suffer in hell to atone for our sins and be born again:

“During that time He entered hell, where you and I deserved to go (legally) because of our sin…He paid the price there….no plan was too extreme…Jesus paid on the cross and in hell….God rose up from His throne and said to demon powers tormenting the sinless Son of God, “Let Him go.” Then the resurrection power of Almighty God went through hell and filled Jesus…He was resurrected from the dead ¾ the first born-again man.” (Source)

What she said here is not the view traditional orthodox Christianity holds. The Bible says that Jesus atoned for our sins on the cross. Listen to John 19:30:

When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, ‘It is finished,’ and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Orthodox Christianity teaches that Jesus’ shed blood was sufficient for the atonement of our sins. The moment Jesus uttered the words “It is finished” our sin debt was paid in full.

As to her teaching on prosperity and success, listen to Joshua 1:8:

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

So, does being prosperous mean Christians will be influential and financially secure? According to one commentary:

Many people think that prosperity and success come from having power, influential personal contacts, and a relentless desire to get ahead. But the strategy for gaining prosperity that God taught Joshua goes against such criteria. He said that to succeed Joshua must (1) be strong and courageous because the task ahead would not be easy, (2) obey God’s law, and (3) constantly read and study the Book of the Law – God’s Word. To be successful, follow God’s words to Joshua. You may not succeed by the world’s standards, but you will be a success in God’s eyes – and his opinion lasts forever.

For all you scoffers – it’s an undeniable fact that Joyce Meyer is a prosperity preacher, thus she’s a false teacher, a ravenous wolf.

Lifestyle Of The Rich And Famous

It’s no secret that Meyer has been criticized for many things but first and foremost for her “conspicuously prosperous lifestyle.” The money her ministry rakes in doesn’t bother her fans in the least which is obvious as scores of them purchase her books, tune into her TV/radio shows, and flock to her conferences. They say her message is “uplifting.” For them doctrine isn’t important – hearing a positive message is what counts. And Joyce is all about making her fans feel good. She knows that they prefer a feel-good message over hearing the gospel preached. I mean, isn’t Christianity all about feeling good? Doesn’t becoming a believer mean we’ll be happy, healthy and wealthy? God loves us, yes He does. And because of His great love for His kids, He’s going to provide us with several homes – Joyce has several homes – and perhaps our own private jet so that we can fly all over the globe like she does.

Joyce Meyer’s prosperity preaching is right out of the Word of Faith (WoF) play book. That a person can create his/her own reality is the fairy tale Christianity she teaches and with no apology. So, it’s not helpful when a prominent Christian leader joins her on her TV show and instead of pointing out errors in her teaching he tells her (and the audience) that she’s a “great Bible teacher.”

Well, nothing could be further from the truth, and Ravi Zacharias, who gave her the compliment, should have known better. He of all people should know that she holds to WoF heresy. The compliment he gave her made it clear that he was oblivious to the fact that he was sitting next to a heretic. So, Ravi did for her what she’s doing for Mike Bickle, lending creditability when none is deserved.

Like Chan, if he would have done his homework before agreeing to the interview, it would have been patently obvious that he was going to be the guest of the Prosperity Priestess. It’s shocking that high-profile celebs such as Francis Chan and Ravi Zacharias don’t know who the wolves in the hen house are. Moreover, how could men of their stature not be aware that the NAR and WoF movements are at best aberrant and at worst cults?

Cults? you say with steam coming out of your ears. Let there be no doubt. These movements are viewed by some as cults for the reason that they’re “false, unorthodox, extremist” sects of Christianity (dictionary.com). In a word: counterfeit.

Now getting back the primary purpose for this article, why would Joyce Meyer agree to speak at a hugely controversial event with a notorious false teacher? Perhaps it’s because the Prosperity Priestess and the Pied Piper hold the same unbiblical theology, thus they’re birds of a feather. So it’s no big deal when they sit on a wire together.

Or perhaps it’s all about prosperity – hers! After hearing Joyce’s “uplifting” message people will flock to the book table to purchase her merchandise.

But that’s speculation. The point I want to drive home is this. More and more professing Christians are uniting with wolves in sheep’s clothing. Likewise, wolves and she-wolves are joining forces with wolves from different wolf packs. The pack is growing. It’s getting stronger – and they’re cunning! False teachers now play a major role in the Christian community. As I mentioned above, in order to transform society into the kingdom of God on earth, wolves and she-wolves must control things, such as entertainment; government; education; business/economy; media; and family – they’re heavily involved in pro-family organizations.

I’ll close with the words of a wise man, Pastor Ray Stedman:

So in this day of confusion, of uncertainty, which voice will you listen to? The voices of the occult world around us? The false prophets who are telling visions which they claim to be coming from the voice of God? The secular voices which tell us that things are not the way the Bible says they are? Which voice will you listen to? Whom will you follow? What will be the guideline for your actions?

Research Mike Bickle:

Update, February 2024: Mike Bickle has been permanently disqualified from ministry.

The Dangers of the International House of Prayer (IHOP) – By John Park

Mike Bickle/IHOP research links – Apostasy Watch

New Apostolic Reformation research links

Research Joyce Meyer:

In her own words…listen to Meyer preach the prosperity gospel. Hank Hanegraaff plays the clip and responds.

Joyce Meyer – Let Us Reason Ministries

The True Origins of the Prosperity Gospel AKA Word of Faith Theology – By Anton Bosch

Word of Faith/Televangelists research links

Francis Chan:

Francis Chan Is Wrong for Endorsing NAR teacher Mike Bickle – By Ken Silva

© Marsha West