A warning about Hillsong’s Facebook marketing ‘con job’.

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , , ,

(Churchwatch Central) Brian Houston often says that it’s by the grace of God he is where he is today. This is completely fraudulent on so many levels. With that in mind and given its wordwide impact, it is worth examining the marketing arm of Hillsong.

While biblical Christianity trusts that Jesus will grow His church through the preaching of His gospel, Hillsong has relied heavily on marketing research and innovations to grow their empire. In this example, we highlight their latest marketing ploy. Continue reading →

A Naked Emperor in the Southern Baptist Convention

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How long will it take before the Southern Baptist Convention disqualifies and/or disciplines some of its leaders such as Rick Warren, Andy Stanley & Beth Moore who are in blatant unrepentant sin, wonders Bible study author, speaker and blogger Michelle Lesley. “Is there any amount of sin these pastors and teachers, and those like them, can commit that will cause those in SBC leadership to pull their materials off the shelves of LifeWay, deny them a seat at the table, and urge them to repent and step down from their positions?” The answer is that the SBC has chosen to let sleeping dogs lie. So it appears that SBC celebs who remain in unrepentant sin will not suffer any consequences whatsoever. At least not from the SBC’s hierarchy. Continue reading →

Secular Humanism and genuine Christian faith

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

1 Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. 2 But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. 3 Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. Luke 24:1-7 (NKJV)  (Read verses 5-7 on the site)

Secularism is a philosophy. When he was still living and ministering R.C. Sproul taught a series titled Secularism. In this teaching series Sproul contended that the philosophy of Secularism is the driving force behind the collapse of the Christian World View with it being replaced with that of Secular Humanism. This view contends that there is no possibility of any person knowing or finding absolute truth. View article →

What is Biblical salvation?

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16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. Romans 1:16 (NKJV) 

Back in 2006 when God opened my eyes to what the leadership at our church was doing with the Purpose Driven stuff and I raised the alarm I was rebuked with argument that I should just kick back and cooperate so that the church could peacefully go Purpose Driven so that God could work there and people’s lives could be changed. When I began commenting on the old Slice of Laodicea blog about that same time, those PDC apologists who hated our firm stance against it said very much the same thing. If you listen to Rick Warren speak when talking about what a great ministry Saddleback Church is, he will always try to emphasize the thousands of people whose lives have been transformed or changed. Continue reading →

The American Cultural Revolution

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(Erick Erickson – Dailywire) “What we are seeing is an American Culture Revolution, unleashed by a narrow-minded group of leftists who have more in common with Mao than Washington. They have become dominant in the American media and have systematically purged conservative voices from the air and print. Conservative thought is more and more relegated to a ghetto and should any prominent conservative try to leave the ghetto, the leftwing mob will take action to destroy them.”

Kevin Williamson has been fired by The Atlantic. Williamson is one of the great conservative intellectuals of our times. He has a keen wit and frequently engages in heterodox opinions that make his writing and thinking intriguing. For a decade he wrote at William F. Buckley’s National Review until hired away last week by Jeffrey Goldberg, the Editor of The Atlantic. Continue reading →

Unintentional Sin

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching ∙

“The Lord said to Moses: When anyone is unfaithful to the Lord by sinning unintentionally in regard to any of the Lord’s holy things, they are to bring to the Lord as a penalty a ram from the flock, one without defect and of the proper value in silver, according to the sanctuary shekel. It is a guilt offering. Lev 5:14-15

A distinction of the sin offering is that often the sin was said to be unintentional. It is dealing not with acts of deliberate evil, which all of us commit from time to time, but it is dealing with the nature which prompts those acts, and which takes us by surprise. Continue reading on Ray Stedman Daily Devotions

U.S. Cardinal: Pope’s ‘No Hell’ Comments a ‘Profound Scandal’

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(Michael W. Chapman – CNSNews)  Commenting on the worldwide reaction to Pope Francis’ interview with his longtime atheist friend, Eugenio Scalfari, in which the latter claimed the Pope said there is no Hell and that the souls of the damned are not eternal, Cardinal Burke, an American who serves on the Vatican’s highest court, said the situation was “beyond tolerable” and “a source of profound scandal.”

Cardinal Burke also criticized the Vatican’s response to the scandal as “strongly inadequate” because the Vatican did not say Pope Francis rejcts these “heretical ideas.” Continue reading →

Parents Stage Walkout Over Planned Parenthood’s Graphic, Violent Sex Ed in Public Schools

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What you’re about to read will shock and disgust you. Sadly, our society is becoming more sick, twisted and perverted by the minute. Tax-payer funded Planned Parenthood aims to sexualize young children and they’re doing it through tax-payer funded public schools. Megan Fox of PJ Media has the story:

WARNING, graphic content.  Scroll past the first photo in the article, a Tweet by homosexual activist @TheParisHilton!  

Planned Parenthood has already been caught on video by Live Action advising a girl they think is 15 years old to allow her boyfriend to beat, whip, and gag her. These are the same people that taxpayers want educating their kids in schools? I can’t imagine why anyone would want this, and neither can a group of fed up parents who have organized a walkout later this month. Continue reading →

Grace Community Church Venue CANCELED for Gospel Coalition Conference

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Pulpit & Pen informs us that The Gospel Coalition‘s west coast conference, Enduring Faithfulness, that was to be held at Grace Community Church will now be held elsewhere. (P&P posted a graphic from TGC’s website that has yet to be updated with the change of venue.) Here’s P&P’s report:

Developing: Grace Community Church (GCC), home congregation of Pastor John MacArthur, has canceled the church property and facilities as a venue for the West Coast Gospel Coalition Conference. Continue reading →

God is Holy

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” (Isaiah 6:1-3 ESV)

In the English translations of the Old Testament when we encounter the word “Lord” we are actually reading the Hebrew word “Adhōnāy.” On the other hand, when we read the word “LORD,” it is is completely different Hebrew word, “Yehōwāh.” “Adhōnāy” is actually a title for God meaning “sovereign one.” “Yehōwāh” is the sacred name of God. It was the name He used to reveal Himself to Moses at the burning bush. “Yehōwāh” is the unspeakable name, the holy name of God.  View article →

Megachurch Pastor John Ortberg Calls Bill Hybels’ Misconduct Investigation ‘Poorly Designed’

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The piece over at Christian Post is a follow up to an investigative report conducted by the Chicago Tribune entitled “After Years of Inquiries, Willow Creek Pastor Denies Misconduct Allegations.”  CP reporter Leonardo Blair has the latest:

Megachurch pastor John Ortberg insisted Monday that the investigation of multiple sexual misconduct allegations by several women against Bill Hybels, founder and senior pastor of the multi-campus Willow Creek Community Church in Illinois, was “poorly designed” and exposed the women to “grave risks.” Continue reading →

Driscoll to Use Charismatic Publishing House for New Book

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(Pulpit & Pen News) Where would an author go if portions of their previous books have been allegedly plagiarized, ghost-written, and their ranking on the bestseller’s list paid for with pilfered congregational funds? They would go pitch their tent in the charismatic camp, of course, as charismaticism is the proverbial City of Refuge for virtually any disgraced or defrocked pastor. They will accept just about anybody.

According to Charisma Mag:   View article →

Conversion and regeneration

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

12 “While thus occupied, as I journeyed to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, 13 at midday, O king, along the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me. 14 And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ Acts 26:12-18 (NKJV) (Read 15-18 on the site)

I am sure most of you have heard Jeff Foxworthy’s ‘You may be a redneck if…” comedy routine. There is another form of it from Mr. Foxworthy with the word “redneck” replaced with the word “hypocrite.” This is, of course, an attempt at “Church humor.” View article →

Invalid reasons for staying in a church you know teaches false doctrine

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Recently we posted “10 invalid arguments in defense of false teachers” by Rick Becker. Now Becker lays out 8 reasons believers shouldn’t remain in a church. One of the reasons people often cite for staying is that they feel they play a valuable role in the church, such as secretary, worship leader, Bible teacher, or even one of the pastors. Becker isn’t buying it.  He believes that those who stay are compromising. So, your choice “is between contending for the faith, or remaining content with a distortion of the faith.” You can read Becker’s piece over at Famine In The Land: Continue reading →

Scammed by a Black, a Woman, and Now a 17-Year-Old

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(Lloyd Marcus – American Thinker) “My fellow Americans, leftists view you only as pawns.  Your lives are mere tools to use to further their anti-God, anti-freedom, and anti-America agendas.  Leftists are willing to sacrifice your well-being, best interests, and lives to further their extreme causes and ideas.  This is why leftists use everything that happens in life – every accident, every tragic event, even the weather, to move the ball toward their goal.”

The I.D. (Investigation Discovery) channel re-enacts real-life crime stories.  I watched two stories in which single female homeowners heard men breaking into their homes. … Continue reading →

Temple’s faculty is ‘unlearning’ the gender binary system

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(Claire Wolters – The Temple News)  At the beginning of each semester, political science professor Heath Fogg Davis asks his students to write down their personal pronouns on note cards so he doesn’t misgender anyone.

Misgendering is the act of blatantly or unintentionally referring to someone by incorrect gender pronouns.

Davis, a transgender man, took up this approach this year to promote gender diversity and inclusivity in the classroom. He puts a lot of thought into the way he asks students about their gender identities. View article →

Unbelief and the hardened heart

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

20 Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent: 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. Matthew 11:20-24 (NKJV)  (Read  verses 22-24 on the site)

Compromise and tolerance in our day are seen as ultimate virtues. While our flesh-bound reason agrees with this, there is the problem of our Lord’s own words from Sacred Scripture which say the very opposite. In these early years of the 21st Century, the mindset seems to be that we must never take a stand if it can be criticized by anyone. … View article →

Beth Moore’s Legalism: A Discernment Lesson applicable to any teacher

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Elizabeth Prata of The End Time reminds us that popular Bible study teacher, author, and speaker Beth Moore’s theology is off the rails. (Prata has a page on her blog that contains past critiques of Mrs. Moore’s teaching.)  In this piece she addresses Moore’s legalism and admonishes us not to listen to Moore “or any teacher who imposes conditions on your walk that are absent from the Bible. Or who uses absolute words like unless, can’t, always, never, all the time, and so on.”  In this “refresher course” Elizabeth Prata once again takes on Beth Moore:

I have written about Beth Moore’s legalism in the past (2011). It’s hard to believe that was 7 years ago. Here is a refresher course on how, while seeming to speak a Gospel-infused sermon, Beth Moore’s speeches are really just a try harder legalism. This is a lesson in discernment. Continue reading →

‘Super-gonorrhoea’ is not the only sexually transmitted infection becoming drug resistant

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(Anne Gulland – The Telegraph) The report of the first ever case of  “super-gonorrhoea” – a bug which is resistant to frontline antibiotics – comes as no surprise to experts in sexually transmitted diseases.

Syphilis, HIV and a relatively new sexually transmitted disease – Mycoplasma genitalium – are also developing resistance to antimicrobial treatments.

Yesterday, Public Health England announced the world’s “worst ever” case of super-gonorrhea, contracted by a British man after a sexual encounter with a woman in South East Asia. The main antibiotic combination failed to cure the infection and doctors are hoping that one final treatment may work. View article →

But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

21 “Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Matthew 7:21 (NKJV) 

There are many false teachings in our time within the visible Church. What we must never forget is that there is nothing new under the Sun. The heresies we encounter now are actually very old. Some have been around a long time in their current form while others are recycled versions of an older heresy that was dealt with hundreds of years ago. Why should our enemy and his seed come up with new attacks when the old ones wreak havoc, deepen spiritual blindness, and keep people mired in man-made religiosity instead of becoming spirit-filled, obedient Christians? View article →

ACLU, Lambda Legal Sue Ohio to Obtain Birth Certificate Change for Those With Gender Dysphoria

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(Heather Clark – Christian News Network) The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Ohio and the transgender advocacy group Lambda Legal have filed a lawsuit against the Ohio Department of Health and the Office of Vital Statistics in an effort to force the State to allow those with gender dysphoria to change the sex on their birth certificate.

The organizations claim that the State’s practice of declining to issue an amended document deprives the person of an “accurate” birth certificate. View article →

MLM-ing Essential Oils at Church

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Bible study author, speaker and blogger, Michelle Lesley, responds to a question from her Mailbag: Our church has recently had a visitor come who is now promoting essential oils to the women who are flocking to a class she is having in one of their homes. This makes me very uncomfortable as it appears (to me) that she has visited to increase her MLM [multi-level marketing] customer base while touting medicinal cures via essential oils. Do you have any research on this?

Sounds like a multi-level mess! There are several different issues going on here, so let’s dig in… Continue reading →