Forgiveness and perseverance

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

17 One day He was teaching; and there were some Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing. 18 And some men were carrying on a bed a man who was paralyzed; and they were trying to bring him in and to set him down in front of Him. 19 But not finding any way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down through the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus. 20 Seeing their faith, He said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven you.” 21 The scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?” Luke 5:17-21 (NASB) 

I have known many people over the years who professed to be Christians, but who held to doctrines that placed the burden and veracity of their salvation on themselves. For the first 20 or so years of my walk with the Lord, I was a member in 4 different Southern Baptist churches in two states. The SBC is not a denomination of churches that are consistent across the board on doctrine. There are Reformed and Arminian Churches in the convention along with everything in between. In fact, until God woke me up and drew me into the light in 2004 I really had no idea what the difference was. I had never heard of Arminianism. I had only heard of Calvinism in World History classes.  However, as I studied doctrine I found to my great surprise that my own personal doctrine of salvation was a mishmash of Calvinism and Arminianism. Most non-Reformed Southern Baptists believe in a ‘doctrine’ of ‘Once Saved, Always Saved.’ It is not the same thing as the Reformed doctrine of ‘The Perseverance of the Saints.’ The former appears to be a holdover from the old days of the Baptist churches that were predominately Reformed in their doctrine. View article →

What Do I See? False Prophets Everywhere — Not a Lucid Word to Spare

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , , ,

From Berean Research:

According to false prophetess Jennifer LeClaire, “If you can see it, you can have it. Once you see My [referring to God] promises through the eyes of faith–really see them–you can obtain them; you can pull them down from the spirit realm into your life’s reality.” And this is in the Bible…where, exactly? What does that even mean?  What the self-professed prophetess is telling her followers is that they can visualize God’s promises and somehow “pull them down from the spirit realm” and what they “pull down” will become a reality. Where on earth does she come up with this stuff?  Oh, I know. She heard the Lord say it: “What do you see? If you can see it, you can have it,” saith the LORD.

Shouldn’t all new prophetic words that people like LeClaire credit God with saying become a part of His written Word? Assuming that what God allegedly says to modern day prophets was to be added to the Bible, would we then title this new book New Revelations of Jesus Christ?

Joking aside, because NAR prophets prophesy falsely, a more appropriate title would be: Fake News.

With this in mind, Anthony Wade of 8:28 Ministries brings to light a few false prophecies uttered by Jennifer LeClaire and Mark Taylor for Fake News consideration: 

The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel, who are prophesying, and say to those who prophesy from their own hearts: ‘Hear the word of the Lord!’ Thus says the Lord God, Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! Your prophets have been like jackals among ruins, O Israel. You have not gone up into the breaches, or built up a wall for the house of Israel, that it might stand in battle in the day of the Lord. They have seen false visions and lying divinations. They say, ‘Declares the Lord,’ when the Lord has not sent them, and yet they expect him to fulfill their word. Have you not seen a false vision and uttered a lying divination, whenever you have said, ‘Declares the Lord,’ although I have not spoken?” — Ezekiel 13: 1-7 (ESV)

The Bible provides us with so many parallels to draw from and learn. Ecclesiastes says there is nothing new under the sun. … [continue reading]  View article →

Former Facebook president Sean Parker: ‘God only knows what it’s doing to our children’s brains’

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ ,

Matthew Field of The Telegraph explains:

Facebook has been attacked by one of its founding members for “exploiting a vulnerability in human psychology” and putting children’s mental health at risk.

Sean Parker, the former president of Facebook who joined Mark Zuckerberg’s company in its first months, said the company’s founders intentionally built the site to consume as much human attention as possible.

Parker, who has made billions as an early shareholder in the social network, also criticised Facebook’s effect on children. “It literally changes your relationship with society, with each other,” he told newsite Axios. “It probably interferes with productivity in weird ways. God only knows what it’s doing to our children’s brains.”

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Here I Am to Worhsip (with Heretics): Chris Tomlin Plans Worship Night with Cultists

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Pulpit & Pen News reports:

We Fall Down. Your Grace is Enough. Here I am to Worship.

These are all songs that Chris Tomlin has written and/or performed. Some of them are very, very good songs. Tomlin is the Texas-based Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) star who was once a staff member at Austin Stone Community Church and is currently the worship leader at Louie Giglio’s Passion City Church in Atlanta. He is, by all accounts, a wonderful performer.

However, Tomlin is headlining a “worship night” sponsored by KLOVE and AiR1, and is partnering in the process with several cultists and non-Christians. His website says the point of the the night is to “bring unity to the church” and is actually part of a larger tour in April and May. Performers include a number of CCM stars. However, several of those CCM stars fail at the middle “C” and do not represent the Biblical church, which Tomlin ostensibly seeks to unify.

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Be ready for every good deed

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

1 Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. Romans 13:1-2 (NASB) 

There are some who teach that our salvation is something of a crapshoot. Oh, they don’t ‘use words like crapshoot to describe their Soteriology, but their insistence that a person’s salvation is a mere decision means that their approach to the Gospel is one of mood and emotion manipulation that can be resisted by a person and, therefore, results in nothing more than some emotional decisions amidst many equally emotional rejections. Is this the means that God uses in the building of His Church? View article →

Humility is the mark of a genuine disciple

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

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; 20 always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; 21 and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ. Ephesians 5:17-21 (NASB) 

Arrogance, boasting, retaliation, and self-protection are just a few of the fruits of Human pride. The natural mind exalts pride while demeaning humility. Timidity is often confused with humility. Timidity is actually a fruit of pride and is a form of fear. It is the method pride uses for self-protection. On the other hand, boldness is often confused with pride. Biblical boldness is actually a fruit of humility. Biblical boldness is the method humility utilizes in our obedience to God. It is an expression of self-denial as our flesh is crucified as we submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

When we are bold as we obey our Lord we are often accused of being full of pride. Those opposed to our message use this argument as we proclaim the truth and refuse to compromise with those insisting that Christianity must contain multiple versions of “truth.” As Elijah stood in the gap against overwhelming numbers as well as spiritual oppression, we must remain humble and bold. If we become timid then we are operating from a base of fear and will become self-protective and will not obey God nor stand for His truth. View article →

Perry Noble Threatens Pulpit & Pen With Legal Action

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From Berean Research:

UPDATE: There have been some significant developments in this story. According to P&P, the original post regarding Perry Noble’s “public relations and crisis manager” threatening legal action against P&P  has mysteriously disappeared from the site.

P&P describes what happened in the past few hours here, and includes the original article that was removed:

“That’s a first. A post we published about Perry Noble threatening us with legal action completely disappeared from our website. It has also been taken down from Church Watch Central, a site that also ran the story. We reached out to Church Watch Central, and they were told that we (that is, Pulpit & Pen) removed the article because they brought legal action against us and we agreed it was erroneous. That did not happen. Not only did they not bring legal action (they only threatened it), we did not take the article down. Frederick’s outfit lied. The article they threatened us about, in fact, is still up online.”   READ MORE HERE

This is a developing story. Whatever your opinion on the elements of the article, the most disturbing of all is the idea that anyone could remove a blogger’s post from his or her site without that blogger or site owner knowing. Updates will be posted here.

Posted 11/11/17

From Berean Research:

Berean Research has done some research into the “public relations and crisis manager” that’s threatening Pulpit & Pen with legal action, Hunter Frederick. According to  P&P:

She explains in her post, “Crisis Managed?,” that Frederick needs “to know they are repentant before [he] will work with them.”…“I called Frederick yesterday to ask him about his newest client, Tullian Tchividjian. After losing his ministry job last week, the former pastor contacted the agency, and on Monday, Frederick took him under counsel.”

So now Hunter Frederick has taken disgraced former pastor Perry Noble under counsel and, as you will see, Frederick’s now threatening P&P with legal action if they refuse to back off from telling the truth about Mr. Noble. Here’s what’s going on:

Perry Noble is the (formerly?) drunken pastor who played Highway to Hell on Easter Sunday, cussed at his church members for wanting discipleship, was rebuked by his denomination for butchering the Ten Commandments, and who was released from his megachurch ministry position for unrepentance regarding alcohol and what appears to be marital indiscretions. Recently, we brought to you news of his divorce. Prior to that, we brought to you news that he was launching a ministry to help pastors grow their churches through what is essentially a business model.

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Michael Brown Lends Lentz A Spine?

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , , ,

Noted apologist Dr. Michael Brown has a habit of appealing to the personal relationship he has with false teachers to justify their unbiblical teachings, practices and behaviors, often standing with them in their error. Now Dr. Brown feels the need to try and justify Hillsong New York “pastor” Carl Lentz’s comment on whether or not abortion is a sin. When asked by Joy Bahar of ABC’s “The View” if abortion is a sin, the hip cool shepherd of the sheep’s responded by saying that “God is the judge.” Lentz remarked that he would prefer knowing a person’s name and beliefs before determining whether or not they have sinned.

Churchwatch Central chides Dr. Brown for trying to justify Lentz’s lack of spine when responding to the abortion question:

“You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.” Luke 16:8

Michael Brown recently defended Carl Lentz’ recent unjustifiable comments on ‘The View’ over the issue of abortion. Lentz compromised himself discussing the Christian stance of murdering infants in the womb. After being soundly lambasted on social media by fellow Christians, Lentz did not apologize (as most Christians would) – he simply JUSTIFIED his behavior.

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America’s Veterans: Six Ways They Unite Us

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙

Harry Wedewer, who is a retired U.S. Navy Commander, says that when he researched his father’s WWII combat experience and his recovery from grievous wounds it gave him a whole new perspective. Wedewer hopes his father’s story will resonate on this solemn occasion:

It’s been said that our nation’s military is detached from the citizenry it serves. This is not something I previously thought about, although I am a second-generation veteran, and my son and a nephew are currently on active duty. But researching my father’s World War II combat experience and his subsequent recovery from grievous wounds — he is a double amputee and blind — has given me a different perspective.

If my father’s experience is any guide, a veteran’s life is one that embodies unifying, uniquely American themes.

So in addition to a day of remembrance, Veterans Day can also be a celebration of at least six themes that unite us with our military and, more broadly, with our families and fellow citizens — themes I discovered while researching my father’s story and that I hope resonate on this solemn occasion.

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What Is the Greatest of All Protestant ‘Heresies’?

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

Let us begin with a church history exam question. Cardinal Robert Bellarmine (1542–1621) was a figure not to be taken lightly. He was Pope Clement VIII’s personal theologian and one of the most able figures in the Counter-Reformation movement within sixteenth-century Roman Catholicism. On one occasion, he wrote: “The greatest of all Protestant heresies is _______ .” Complete, explain, and discuss Bellarmine’s statement.

How would you answer? What is the greatest of all Protestant heresies? Perhaps justification by faith? Perhaps Scripture alone, or one of the other Reformation watchwords?

Those answers make logical sense. But none of them completes Bellarmine’s sentence. What he wrote was: “The greatest of all Protestant heresies is assurance.”  View article →

Season of the Witch

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , ,

From Berean Research:

I’m adding this piece by Michelle Goldberg to Berean Research’s ever growing list of White Paper articles on Occult – Sorcery. According to Goldberg, people’s interest in organized religion is waning while occultism, i.e. witchcraft and astrology, is becoming normalized, especially among millennials. What she finds interesting is that more and more people are using occult practices to deal with their woes. “When traditional institutions and beliefs collapse and people are caught between cultural despair and cosmic hopes, they often turn to magic.” And when people are in a state of despair during times of social crisis, occultism gains currency, says Goldberg.  She goes on to say that today’s social crisis has a growing number of people embracing new forms of mysticism, especially those who see the election of Donald J. Trump as a calamity. In other words, liberals.

In my intro to More students, young Americans turn to paganism I explained what witches believe:

those who practice witchcraft (Wicca) have “monistic and pantheistic beliefs that all living things are of equal value. … Humans have no special place, nor are they made in God’s image. … Wiccans believe that they possess divine power within themselves and that they are gods and goddesses. …Consciousness can and should be altered through rite and ritual.”

Therefore, Christians must flee from any sort of pagan practice. Deut 18:10-14

Goldberg’s piece is published over at the liberal New York Times:

On a Wednesday evening last week, I sat in on a class called “Witchcraft 101: Curses, Hexes and Jinxes,” at Catland, a fashionable occult boutique in Bushwick, Brooklyn. More than a dozen people, most of them young women, sat in folding chairs in the store’s black-walled event space. The instructor was one of Catland’s co-owners, Dakota Bracciale, a charismatic, foul-mouthed 28-year-old former M.A.C. makeup artist dressed in flowing black, with a beard and long, lavender nails.

View article →

Paula White Asks God What He’s Hungry For, How She Can Feed Him

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ , ,

According to Pulpit & Pen News:

Paul White, who claims to have led President Trump to Christ, asked God on Facebook yesterday what he’s hungry for and how she might feed him.

White is newly married to her third husband, Journey rock musician, Jonathan Cain. As her marriage to Randy White ended, Paula was having a rather public affair with Benny Hinn, and as a result, it ruined his marriage as well. Nonetheless, “White-Cain” is still a prominent feature in charismaticism, and recently appeared on rapist and convicted felon Jim Bakker’s survival food infomercial.

Some gave obvious criticism to the ridiculous notion that God (the Father) eats, that God the Father is hungry, or that we are capable of feeding Him.

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TBN Sues Brittany Crouch Davidson 21 Times

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Barry Bowen of The Christian Sentinel has the story:

Brittany Crouch Davidson, the granddaughter of Trinity Broadcasting Network founders Paul Sr. and Jan Crouch, and niece to current TBN President Matthew Crouch, has been sued by the religious TV network 21 times.

TBN has sued Davidson in California, New York and New Jersey. Davidson has given up fighting these legal battles. In a letter to Judge Scott Clarkson, Davidson lists the 21 lawsuits and writes, “I would like to be respectful of the Court and give notice that I will no longer be appearing or participating in this litigation, and I leave it up to the Court to decide what to do from here. I have been litigating with the Plaintiffs, who are also my family members for over 6 years …”

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Pride goes before destruction

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

18 Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before stumbling. Proverbs 16:18 (NASB) 

8 To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, Ephesians 3:8 (NASB) 

At the root of hypocrisy is, of course, pride. Pride is the antithesis of humility, which is exemplified for us by Paul’s attitude to the Ephesian church in Ephesians 3:8 (above). On the other hand, pride is absolutely never portrayed in the Bible in a positive way. Never is pride tolerated. Never is it praised as it is today. However, in the visible church in our time don’t we hear sermons and read teachings about “positive pride” and the building up of self or the searching inside to find that real “you” that God is deeply in love with and only wants you to find it so He can show you what a fantastic you that you really are? Well, I have a Greek word for that, σκύβαλον. In any case, let’s look at the Greek words in the New Testament translated as “pride,” “proud,” and “puffed up.” View article →

Bethel Teaches to Declare God is in a Good Mood and Other Insanities

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , , ,

Anthony Wade examines the dead mess known as Bethel Church in Redding, CA. Those who know about NAR “Super Apostle” Bill Johnson and the church he pastors have watched some of the Youtube videos and seen for themselves the bizarre goings on during a typical Sunday morning service. According to Wade, Bethel’s “over-spiritualized notions of dreams, visions, angelic visitations, impartations, anointings, giftings and calls…are all biblically themed but not actually supported by the Word of God the way they are being taught.”

In his piece over at 8:28 Mnistries, Wade adds to the growing list of Bethel leadership’s  unbiblical–and quite frankly diabolical–teaching. He writes:

Beloved, we have covered the many heresies emanating from the cesspool known as Bethel Church in Redding California. This is the church operated by Bill Johnson, who never met a false teaching he didn’t like. The co-leader is the wildly heretical Kris Vallotton. Their resident “hipster prophet dude” is Shan Bolz who does psychic cold readings with his smart phone. They even have their own heretical worship act in Jesus Culture who are leading countless kids away from the real Christ with a false gospel. They operate a school of the supernatural where they actually teach people how to manifest the gifts of the Spirit, which completely usurps God’s power. Bethel is ground zero for experiential Christianity which eschews the Bible for our own personal experiences. They teach their adherents to “listen for God” and whatever pops into their minds is assumed to be God instead of their wickedly deceitful hearts. They operate a “dead raising team” that claims 15 resurrections to their credit without a shred of proof. The infamous “grave sucking” heresy also originated from Bethel. They teach that God always must heal us, that He is never angry with us, and the quid pro quo blessing theology of prosperity. If this sounds like a lot, there is even more, including dominionism, seven mountains theology, false signs and lying wonders, and word faith teachings. This information is hardly hidden as Bethel brags about their heresy and deems anyone who disagrees as needing a deeper revelation of the Spirit. We came across the above linked page on their website that states: “We love to declare promises and truth as we give our tithes and offerings. Below are declarations that we make during the offering time of our weekend services.”

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Christianity is in a serious crisis

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching ∙ , ,

Pelagianism? What is it and why should believers be concerned that it has become pervasive in the visible Church? Listen to Michael Horton and the White Horse Inn panel examine the “Heresy of American Pelagianism.” Following is Mike Horton’s intro:

The fact that recent polls indicate that 77% of the evangelicals today believe that human beings are basically good and 84% of these conservative Protestants believe that in salvation “God helps those who help themselves” demonstrates incontrovertibly that contemporary Christianity is in a serious crisis. No longer can conservative, “Bible-believing” evangelicals smugly hurl insults at mainline Protestants and Roman Catholics for doctrinal treason. It is evangelicals today, every bit as much as anyone else, who have embraced the assumptions of the Pelagian heresy. It is this heresy that lies at the bottom of much of popular psychology (human nature, basically good, is warped by its environment), political crusades (we are going to bring about salvation and revival through this campaign), and evangelism and church growth (seeing conversion as a natural process, just like changing from one brand of soap to another, and seeing the evangelist or entrepreneurial pastor as the one who actually adds to the church those to be saved).

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Two Men Who Identify as Women Elected to Government Offices as Days Grow Darker

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Christian News reports:

Democrat Daniel “Danica” Roem was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates

Two men who identify as women were elected by voters on Tuesday, one running for city council in Minnesota and another seeking to serve in Virginia’s House of Delegates.

Andrea Jenkins, whose birth name has not been cited in reports, was elected to the Minneapolis City Council with 73 percent of the vote. Jenkins began presenting as a female 26 years ago at age 30, and has been working as the senior policy aide for Councilmember Elizabeth Glidden for the past 12 years.

He also is active as a poet and a transgender activist, working with the Transgender Oral History Project (TOHP) at the University of Minnesota.

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Clothe yourselves with humility

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

25 But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. 26 It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, 27 and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:25-28 (NASB) 

There are a group of men who I do not allow to comment on my blog, but who attempt to do so anyway. Their comments go immediately into the SPAM folder. I usually just dump it once a day without reading them. However, once in a while when I know that, through the discernment ministry God has given me, I have hit a precious target of our enemy, certain men in that group start commenting in direct, vicious attacks meant to do one thing alone. That one thing is to discourage me and thwart me from continuing obeying my Lord as His δοῦλος in exposing false teachers and their doctrines to the Body of Christ. It is an interesting way to gauge whether I am on target or not at times. I also find it very interesting that the accusations in those attacks are always meant to rouse me to some sort of self-defense or rebuttal type of response meant to “put them in their place.” When my anger reaches that point I know that my flesh has taken over and it is time to spend some time in humble repentance with my Lord before the Throne of Grace. What is my response to the attacks after that? I simply erase the SPAM and move on. View article →

Most Charismatics Are Closet Cessationists

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , ,

According to Eternity Matters (EM), charismatics have redefined healings, tongues and fallability of prophets from the original biblical definitions and even the nature of what a gift is. Adding to the problem, says EM, we have evangelical leaders like Dr. John Piper allow the charismatics’ redefinition of a prophet to stand; thus, “they can’t be dismissed even when they get loads of prophesies wrong.”

EM contends that both sides are cessationists…with one side being less so than the other. Here’s how they reached this conclusion:

Until recently I was a fence-sitter on the continuation/cessation of spiritual gifts debate topic, never really researching it enough to pick a side.  My position was that while the gifts could continue, I’d never seen them done properly (e.g., those enamored with the gift of tongues never obeyed the handful of verses governing their use).  Other than some “sloppy God talk” that I’ve addressed many times, I never went to a church where leaders took things too far (e.g., the Benny Hinn / Bill Johnson – Bethel / etc. nonsense).

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Believers Are Not Out On Bail

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Dr. R. Scott Clark explains the rudiments of the justice system “in order to appreciate what God’s Word means when it says that believers in the Lord Jesus Christ have been ‘justified.’” Dr. Clark’s piece is published on The Heidelblog:

In the American criminal justice system, for many charges, after one has been arrested and booked (photographed for a “mug shot,” fingerprinted, and paperwork completed) one goes to jail to await a preliminary hearing and after that a trial of the charge. The only way to be released from jail is to “post bond.” That is the process of paying a percentage of a substantial sum of money to the court as a guarantee that the person charged will appear as needed for hearings and especially for the trial.

A person out of jail on bail, who has been charged with a crime, is in a legal limbo. Legall is still innocent but a cloud hangs over his head. He has been charged but he has not been either convicted or cleared. He is waiting for a future adjudication of his case. He is still subject to criminal penalties (e.g., fines) and punishment e.g., prison or even death).

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The difference between apostolic gift vs apostolic office and how to recognize NAR apostles

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , , ,

From Churchwatch Central:

When starting to examine cults, one quickly realizes that their nature is to mainstream their teachings and leaders. Most importantly, their drive is to be accepted and affirmed as a legitimate Christian group.

This quest for affirmation can be seen in the New Order of the Latter Rain cult.

The NOLR were thrilled to be embraced as a legitimate group through their Charismatic Movement in the early 1960s. In 1967 and later again in 1977, they were also happy to be affirmed by Roman Catholics .

C. Peter Wagner has often written about the rise of the New Apostolic Reformation that was emerging from the Charismatic Movement, he himself acknowledging the roots stemming back to the NOLR. Below, we have a quote from a section of his book ‘Apostles Today’ that has him teaching on the difference between the ‘apostolic gift and the apostolic office’ then proceeds to teach people how to recognize NAR apostles.

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Check out Berean Research’s White Paper on the New Apostolic Reformation/NAR

The loneliness of the Christian results from his walk with God in an ungodly world

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

3 For we have wasted enough time participating in the desires of the Gentiles, having proceeded in licentiousness, lusts, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties and unlawful idolatry. 4 Wherein they think it strange you are not running with them into the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you. 1 Peter 4:3-4 (translated from the NA28 Greek text)

I got the following A.W. Tozer quote from a friend.

The Loneliness of the Christian

“The loneliness of the Christian results from his walk with God in an ungodly world, a walk that must often take him away from the fellowship of good Christians as well as from that of the unregenerate world. His God-given instincts cry out for companionship with others of his kind, others who can understand his longings, his aspirations, his absorption in the love of Christ; and because within his circle of friends there are so few who share his inner experiences he is forced to walk alone. The unsatisfied longings of the prophets for human understanding caused them to cry out in their complaint, and even our Lord Himself suffered in the same way.

“The man who has passed on into the divine Presence in actual inner experience will not find many who understand him. He finds few who care to talk about that which is the supreme object of his interest, so he is often silent and preoccupied in the midst of noisy religious shoptalk. For this he earns the reputation of being dull and over-serious, so he is avoided and the gulf between him and society widens. He searches for friends upon whose garments he can detect the smell of myrrh and aloes and cassia out of the ivory palaces, and finding few or none he, like Mary of old, keeps these things in his heart.

“It is this very loneliness that throws him back upon God. His inability to find human companionship drives him to seek in God what he can find nowhere else.”

AW Tozer

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Does Jesus love you more if you send your pastor a thousand bucks?

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , , ,

In an interview on CNN, Costi Hinn, nephew of televangelist Benny Hinn, explains what changed his mind about heretical Word of Faith/prosperity/health & wealth teaching and why he now believes that, as a child, he was introduced to false teaching. Costi is now an outspoken critic of the prosperity gospel and speaks out against it. As a result, he is estranged from his family. The video is followed by an exposé on the Hinn family empire written by liberal CNN news anchor Carol Costello who also conducted the interview:

Head of the Hinn Family Empire, Benny Hinn

We use Jesus’s name in twisted — and often awful — ways to make points that are more about us and less about Jesus and his teachings. Pro-life and want to pack heat? Numerous articles are dedicated to which gun Jesus would carry to protect the “weak and defenseless.”

Certain leaders, who claim to be religious, are dedicated to a greedy notion of Jesus who just wants one thing for his loyal followers: money, money and more money.
My interest in this exploitation of Jesus deepened after I met Costi Hinn. His uncle, Pastor Benny Hinn, claims God uses him as a conduit to cure disease: He simply “lays hands,” Jesus-like, on a chronically ill person, pushes them to the ground and — bam! — the person bounces back to health.

Christians, We Need To Talk About Hollywood

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , , ,

From Berean Research:

Tim Challies addresses the Hollywood crisis. He reminds us that there is a lack of godly character in the entertainment industry. In light of the serious allegations, Christians must consider our relationship to Tinseltown, says Challies. “I think we as believers need to think seriously at this juncture about our participation in this world, this world which is proving itself to be absolutely vile, absolutely full of the worst kind of sin and depravity.”  Tim has done a short video and includes a transcript. So you can watch or read — or both!

These have been some dark days for Hollywood. I’m not talking about box office receipts. I’m not talking about Rotten Tomatoes reviews. I’m talking about scandal. A few weeks ago, a scandal erupted in Hollywood. Since then, it’s risen, it’s grown, and it’s threatened to become a full-blown crisis that might disrupt the whole industry there in Hollywood. I think it’s important that we as Christian at a place like this start to think about our relationship to Hollywood. Christians, I think we need to talk about Tinseltown.

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Who Will Go Into the ‘Furnace of Fire’ Jesus warned about? – Part 2

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , ,

Following is part 2 of a series we published entitled “Hell Interrupted” by Tim Barnett and Greg Koukl of Stand to Reason. Barnett and Koukl go to the scriptures to answer the burning question: Is the future punishment of the wicked a place of eternal fire?

Hell is not a pleasant topic. It’s an ugly, unsettling, dangerous reality—expedient to dismiss, easy to avoid serious discussion about, convenient to disregard by joking about in a way that trivializes it.

This will not do, though, because the sobering certainty about Hell is this: One day every person who has ever lived will stand in judgment for their conduct in this life. For multitudes, that will not go well because for them, when the final gavel falls, Hell will be their sentence.

The nature of that sentence is our concern here. However, regardless of how one construes what happens in Hell, one point is clear: Hell is the end of the line. It is the final state. It is the ultimate destination for the damned. Hell’s door is shut forever, and its sentence can never be undone, revoked, or reversed. Ever.

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Read part 1 here