Has Hillsong conquered the Australian Government/Law Mountain?

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , , , ,

“What needs to be understood is that those in the New Apostolic Reformation pride themselves in not being bound by rule or regulation. Their message is about freedom from man’s rules, expectations and opinions. Nevertheless, Apostolic Centers (as they are also called) like Hillsong, see it as their mandate to ‘infiltrate’ and take over governments to influence culture. That any culture allows a ‘dominionist’ cult, rife with sexual and financial scandal, influence their top leaders (particularly the now newly elected Prime Minister Scott Morrison here in Australia) is a problem that needs to be seriously addressed.”

(Churchwatch Central)  For decades Australian media has portrayed Hillsong as a prosperity or word of faith cult. As former members once involved in Australia’s biggest cult, we know this is not an accurate representation. In reality, Hillsong is part of a global network known as the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) – with its roots beginning with the New Order of the Latter Rain (NOLR) cult at Sharon Orphanage in North Battleford, Saskatchewan, Canada in 1948. Continue reading →

The testing of your faith produces endurance

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

2 Consider it all joy my brothers whenever you fall into various trials 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its full effect that you may be mature and complete lacking in nothing. James 1:2-4 (translated from the NA28 Greek text) 

The man-centered religions that claim to be “Christian” in our time could never take James 1:2-4 literally. No, instead, they must demand from their own man-made Jesus that they have their best life now and that the Sun stand still so that they can fulfill the vision that they claim to have received from him. This whole idea of a faith that is self-renouncing while submitting to Christ as Lord in all things, taking up our crosses, bearing his reproach outside the gates because he bore our reproach to pay the price to atone for our sins is totally alien to those “so-called Christians” in those “religions.” Add to that the fiery trials of sanctification and they claim that we are taking the Bible too literally and that since God is love, he would never do that to anyone. View article →

The Sexual Revolution Hits Another Speed Bump

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ ,

“A person today can wave the rainbow flag and march in the parade but still be considered a bigot if he or she or ze does not feel sexual attraction to transgendered people.”

(Tim Challies)  Well, it looks like the sexual revolution has hit another speed bump. As it continues its long press toward completely redefining all we’ve ever believed about gender and sexuality, it has encountered a pretty significant issue. This issue appears to prove that many people are expressing loyalty to the revolution outwardly while actually denying it with their deepest and truest desires. Let’s take a quick look, then consider some of the implications. Continue reading →

Vatican Bombshell: McCarrick Conspiracy Uncovered!

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“I have posted the entire text below. I’ve read it twice now, and I’m telling you, this story is as big as it gets.”

(Rod Dreher – The American Conservative)  Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, who served at the papal nuncio (that is, Vatican ambassador) to the United States from 2011-2016, has dropped an atomic bomb on Francis’s papacy, charging that “corruption has reached the very top of the Church’s hierarchy.”

In a lengthy statement, Vigano says that Francis has known for years about Cardinal Theodore McCarrick’s sexual abuse, but brought him into the pontifical inner circle anyway, and sent him around the world on papal missions. Continue reading →

Walking Circumspectly

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

21 Folly is joy to him who is destitute of discernment, But a man of understanding walks uprightly. Proverbs 15:21 (NKJV) 

Read Ephesians 5:15-21 on the site.

This “walking,” this περιπατεῖτε is the present, indicative, active form of the verb περιπατέω, which, in this context, is speaking of ‘walking concerning something.’ It is describing a certain way in which a Christian walks through each day. It has to do with relationships and how he or she responds and reacts both outwardly and inwardly to all of life’s circumstances. Paul tells us to do this ἀκριβῶς or akribōs. I and the NKJV translated this as “circumspectly.” The idea is to walk through this life looking all around, being on the lookout.    View article →

He lead captivity captive

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

18 You have ascended on high, You have led captive Your captives; You have received gifts among men, Even among the rebellious also, that the Lord God may dwell there. Psalms 68:18 (NASB) (Read Ephesians 4:8 on the site)

I confess that Ephesians 4:8 has always puzzled me. It became even stranger when I began to read it in Greek. As you can see, Ephesians 4:8 is actually a “semi-quotation” of Psalm 68:18, which was a victory hymn celebrating God’s conquest of the Jebusites and His ascent (represented by the Ark of the Covenant) up Mount Zion (2 Samuel 6-7, 1 Chronicles 13). Soldiers captured by the enemy became “re-captured captives” and the spoils of war became the property of the conqueror to give as he wished. However, is that the context Paul has in mind in Ephesians 4:8? View article →

Oprah Shouts For Abortion

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ ,

One woman said of her abortion: “I never did think of the cell cluster as ‘my baby,’ nor the sperm donor as ‘the father.’ … My whole view on the thing was quite neutral. Scientific.” Somehow it’s “neutral” and “scientific” to deny the humanity of “the thing.”

(Brent Bozell & Tim Graham – CNSNews)  Over the years, Oprah Winfrey has seemingly evolved into America’s mom. After her TV career, she sounds like an evangelist preaching a feminist substitute to replace religion in her monthly Oprah Magazine. Her August issue carries this motivational nugget of Oprah wisdom on the cover: “We all want to feel radiant, joyful, and alive. It starts with choosing love — in any form.” No mention of faith, but no surprise there. Continue reading →

Russell Moore to Speak at George Soros Event

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , , , ,

“As the links above demonstrate, the National Immigration Forum is directly funded by George Soros. Its initiative, Bibles, Badges, and Businesses, is an explicit strategy to get evangelical churches (Bibles), law enforcement (badges) and corporations (businesses) to coalesce for the purpose of ending national sovereign borders.”

(Pulpit & Pen)  Russell Moore will be a plenary speaker at the National Immigration Forum, an organization formed and funded by Democrat financier, George Soros. The purpose of the National Immigration Forum is to advance the cause of amnesty for illegal aliens, demolish national sovereign borders, and establish a global government. … Continue reading →

God’s Faithfulness

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching ∙

But the Lord is with me like a mighty warrior; so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced; their dishonor will never be forgotten. Lord Almighty, you who examine the righteous and probe the heart and mind, let me see your vengeance on them, for to you I have committed my cause. Jeremiah 20:11-12

Previously in this chapter, Jeremiah poured out his complaint to the Lord while he was in the stocks. But now faith comes to Jeremiah’s rescue and begins to strengthen him. Faith counterattacks to uphold the tottering prophet. Jeremiah is now fighting back against the assault he is victim of. He begins now to reckon on reality, to count as truth what God had made known to him.    View article →

New False Prophets to the Old False Prophets — Time for you to Step Off

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“The message is clear and the gauntlet has been thrown down. If you are part of the old regime that has fleeced God’s flock through lying about what He says — time to step off! Have some humility to let the new batch of wolves into the pen.”

Read Jeremiah 23:16-32

(Anthony Wade – 8:28 Ministries) It seems there is a civil war brewing within the apostate church. For the sake of their master, I am sure they will remember how to sing Kumbaya but in the interim the irony is gratifying. R. Loren Sandford is a pastor in Colorado and apparently he thinks it is time the old guard goes off to that false prophet retirement ranch. What is delicious is he takes their own false prophet network language, weaponizes it and uses it against them. Thus get ready get ready get ready because there is a shift coming in the prophetic atmosphere! Let us reason together through above linked article: Continue reading →

The glorious Gospel vs the contextualized gospel

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but suffer together in the Gospel by the power of God, 9 the one having saved us and having called us to a holy calling, not by our works, but by His own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began 2 Timothy 1:8,9 (translated from the NA28 Greek text)

The Apostle Paul’s understanding of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and that of most of what we refer to as the visible church in our time is quite different. I’m not talking about Reformed Theology as opposed to Arminianism or Semi-Pelagianism or even Pelagianism here.  View article →

Steven Furtick is the Most Dangerous Kind of False Teacher

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , , ,

“The issue here stems from the fact that Steven Furtick is not qualified to teach in any capacity, nor does he heed the harsh warnings for teachers. With respect to this, one can only conclude he willingly embraces his role as a false teacher.”

(Grayson Gilbert – Patheos) Steven Furtick has long been a bane to the Evangelical church on the basis of his own self-admission: he’s unqualified for the pastorate. He literally wrote the book on it in response to MacArthur’s one word answer when asked what his thoughts were on Furtick. Yet, rather than reassess whether or not he would be qualified per Scripture’s own stance, Steven Furtick doubled down in his pride with a publishing deal. Continue reading →

Saddleback Church youth mentor convicted of lewd acts with teen boys

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ , , ,

When Ruven a.k.a. Ruben Muelenberg was arrested in May 2018 on child molestation charges, Saddleback Church, whose senior pastor is Rick Warren, downplayed Muelenberg’s role at the church. As it turns out, he was not just a mentor to troubled youth, he was on staff at Warren’s church. On August 22 the jury found Muelenberg guilty of the charges against him. The Orange County Register has the details:

A Saddleback Church youth mentor was convicted Wednesday of molesting twin teenage boys on two occasions when they were 13 and 14 years old. Continue reading →

When Should I Leave My Church?

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How do you know if you should stay or go?  What theological and practical guidelines should be considered before moving to another church?

(Josh Buice – Delivered By Grace)  Far too many people leave their church prematurely and without biblical warrant.  The evangelical church today is infected with a disease called—church consumerism.  People often choose a church based on what the particular congregation can do for them.  In other cases, people are too quick to abandon their church on the basis of unbiblical or superficial rationale. This is not a new problem and it likely will remain a problem until genuine reform happens on a local church level in the area of biblical ecclesiology. Continue reading →

How Do You Know if Your Church is Healthy?

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There are healthy churches and unhealthy churches (so, so many unhealthy churches). How would you know the difference?

(Tim Challies)  Today I want to talk about the health of a local church. Are there ways we can know that a church is healthy or a way we can know it’s unhealthy? And this comes from a question I received from somebody who’s been watching these videos. Let me read the question:

“I’m curious to know how you might go about evaluating the spiritual health of the congregation? Here’s the key; are there objective ways of identifying whether a congregation is growing or stagnant and is there a clear set of biblical markers or indicators that you would use to assess whether the congregation is spiritually healthy?”  Continue reading →

Are you on the right path?

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

23 And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. 24 For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. 25 For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?  Luke 9:23-26 (NASB)  (Read verse 26 on the site)

When I was in my 20’s I made a commitment to become fit enough to run one mile in under 5 minutes, run 5 Kilometers in under 18 minutes, run 5 miles in under 30 minutes, run 10 Kilometers in under 37 minutes, and run 10 miles in under an hour. By the time I was 33 years old I had accomplished the first three. I had missed my goal for the 10K by less than a minute, however, my best time for a 10 mile race was 1 hour and 4 minutes. Continue reading →

‘Raise the Rainbow Flag, We Surrender’

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , , ,

Pope Francis “definitely got his nerve purging his message to a shell-shocked American Catholic community of anything that could
vaguely comfort her amid this storm.”

“Facts are notoriously stark, and numbers don’t lie: that homosexuality at all levels of the [RCC] hierarchy is a huge part of the problem is not debatable anymore.”  

(Alessandro Marinelli – The American Thinker)  These are stormy times for the Catholic Church in North America.  First, Theodore McCarrick, whose resignation as cardinal Pope Francis accepted in July.  Then the Pennsylvania grand jury report, which is having the effects of the detonation of an atomic bomb with its subsequent devastating shockwave and radioactive fallout.  As a Catholic, I would be lying if I said the mind-blowing revelations over the extent and the creepy deep-rootedness of sexual promiscuity and perversity in the clergy have not taken a toll on my trust in the Church.  As many of us are still reeling from the shock and the disgust, rage and exasperation mount. Continue reading →

Study: Children of Same-sex couples do less well than those of married couples

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“Adults should NOT be thinking about how to duct-tape a child onto any old relationship that doesn’t offer the same safety and stability that opposite sex marriage offers. We should be passing laws to strengthen marriage in order to protect children, not to weaken it.” 

(Wintery Knight) The Public Discourse reports on a recent study out of Canada.

Excerpt:

A new academic study based on the Canadian census suggests that a married mom and dad matter for children. Children of same-sex coupled households do not fare as well. Continue reading →

Consequences of Sexual Sin

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“When sexual impurity moves in, joy moves out (Ps. 51:8). The two cannot coexist in the heart at the same time. They are mutually exclusive. Joy and gladness will not move in until the lust has moved out and there has been repentance and confession.”

(Eric Davis – The Cripplegate) Life can get dicey this side of Genesis 3. Crops fail. Weather fails. Nations fail. Health fails. Resolve fails. Much of life is simply about learning to navigate disappointment and pain. But there is one thing which perhaps causes more pain than anything else; sexual sin. There’s the betrayal; the lying; the deception. There’s the severing of trust; severing of families; severing of relationships. Sexual sin in spiritual leadership packs an added severity. Churches are damaged; ministries are damaged; witness is damaged. Continue reading →

Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

15 Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, 16 making the most of your time, because the days are evil. 17 So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;(NASB)  (Read verses 20-21 on this site.)

William Carey (1761-1834) was a Baptist missionary to India. He was a pastor in England before going to the mission field where he served the Lord for 41 years translating the Scriptures. He never returned to England. When he became ill with the disease that would kill him, he was asked to select the Biblical text to be used at his funeral. View article →