T.D. Jakes’ Word Faith Pastors and Leadership Conference 2012

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Apprising Ministries reminds you again that syncretism because of the love of man (cf. 2 Timothy 3:2) is really beginning to get out of hand within contemporary evangelicalism. Here’s a vivid example in this new article.

Since the fiasco of the ecumenical Elephant Room 2 in late January Word Faith mogul and reputed modalist T.D. Jakes has been given an evangelical okay. This by some men who simply elected themselves to speak for that community.

You’re about to see, again, that the evidence just does not back up the implied idea that Jakes has repented of his WF/self help unbiblical preaching. Wait until you see the video clips of some of the speakers, and their shenanigans that went on, at Jakes’ recently concluded P&L 2012.

See if you think you’d wish to be led by such as these. And if T.D. Jakes is not a Word Faith prosperity preacher then I am well-loved in the Elephant Room. View article →

The Sermon on the Mount, Part 13

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4 Do not weary yourself to gain wealth, Cease from your consideration of it. 5 When you set your eyes on it, it is gone. For wealth certainly makes itself wings Like an eagle that flies toward the heavens. Prov. 23:4–5, NASB

Happiness is a temporal condition of ‘rightness’ based upon circumstances. On the other hand, Christians are taught all through God’s Word to pursue the Joy of the Lord, which is not based in the temporal, therefore, it is in no way based upon our circumstances. Instead, “Joy is both an outcome of our relationship with the Lord and our source of strength for our obedience of Him.” This is a quote from my post What is Joy? from January 2006. However, in my many years as a Christian, I have known countless professing believers who sought their fulfillment completely in the temporal and, because of that, were easy prey of those false teachers of the ‘Health, Wealth, and Prosperity “Gospel”.’ As we have seen as we have dug deep into our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, there are many forms of religion that men create that they insist are ‘Christian,’ but they are another religion and their ‘Jesus’ is not Jesus Christ because they are man-made, not God ordained. View article →

The Roman Catholic Church Hasn’t Changed Its Condemnation Of The Gospel

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As ecumenicism slithers deeper and deeper into the mainstream of the Protestant evangelical community, and with it, we’re seeing a romanticizing of the apostate Roman Catholic Church.

One of the fruits of practicing contemplative spirituality is convincing people that the Church of Rome is now part of the Body of Christ.

Apprising Ministries encourages those who want to know the truth to make the time to look at the facts from the Vatican library in this well-documented and must read article.  View article →

The Sermon on the Mount, Part 12

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1 “But be careful of demonstrating your righteousness before men with the aim to be seen by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father in heaven.” 2 “Therefore, whenever you do give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets so that they may be glorified by men. Amen I say to you, they have their reward. 3 But when you do give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand does, 4 so that your alms may be in secret and your Father, the one seeing in secret, will repay you.” Matt. 6:1–4, Possessing the Treasure New Testament v1

We come now to Matthew 6:16–18, which is like the second slice of bread of a sandwich around the meat of our Lord’s teaching on prayer and forgiveness in Matthew 6:5-15 with the top slice of bread being Matthew 6:1-4 (above). Most “Study Bibles” with outline sections will correctly label Matthew 6:16-18 as “Fasting,” but if you read it in the context of what comes before, it is a continuation of our Lord’s teaching against pietistic efforts by the religious to approach God according to their own efforts and, in their hypocrisy, use their visible piety to elevate themselves in the eyes of others. As we saw in Understanding the Basics of Pietism, “There are no extraordinary Christians; but being an ordinary Christian is an extraordinary thing.” View article →

The Gay Divorcees

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙

Charles C. W. Cooke, an editorial associate for National Review, reports that research indicates that there are more homosexuals divorcing than one may think. He writes:

Announcing the results of his long-term “evolution” on the subject last week, President Obama revived the debate over gay marriage. In the widespread discussion, however, there is one question that’s rarely asked: How interested are gay couples in getting married?

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The Sermon on the Mount, Part 11

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36 Τότε ἔρχεται μετ᾽ αὐτῶν ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἰς χωρίον λεγόμενον Γεθσημανὶ καὶ λέγει τοῖς μαθηταῖς· καθίσατε αὐτοῦ ἕως [οὗ] ἀπελθὼν ἐκεῖ προσεύξωμαι. 37 καὶ παραλαβὼν τὸν Πέτρον καὶ τοὺς δύο υἱοὺς Ζεβεδαίου ἤρξατο λυπεῖσθαι καὶ ἀδημονεῖν. 38 τότε λέγει αὐτοῖς· περίλυπός ἐστιν ἡ ψυχή μου ἕως θανάτου· μείνατε ὧδε καὶ γρηγορεῖτε μετ᾽ ἐμοῦ. 39 καὶ προελθὼν μικρὸν ἔπεσεν ἐπὶ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ προσευχόμενος καὶ λέγων· πάτερ μου, εἰ δυνατόν ἐστιν, παρελθάτω ἀπ᾽ ἐμοῦ τὸ ποτήριον τοῦτο· πλὴν οὐχ ὡς ἐγὼ θέλω ἀλλ᾽ ὡς σύ. Matthew 26:36–39, NA27

36 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go there to pray.” 37 And having taken Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be grieved and to be distressed. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is very sad to the point of death. Remain here and keep awake with me.” 39 And having gone forward a little, he fell upon his face praying and saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me, but not as I will, but as you will.” Matthew 26:36–39, Possessing the Treasure New Testament v1

I have been a Christian quite a long time (since January 1986). Even though I began serving first as a Bible teacher then as a deacon while still teaching only a few years after God had mercy on me, I must confess to everyone that as I evaluate my walk prior to 2004 in light of my pilgrimage on the narrow path since then, I shudder. Of course we cannot go back and change our past. We can’t travel back to some specific point in time to meet ourselves in the midst of some self-focused nonsense and ask the poignant, “What are you thinking?” There were high points to be sure, but these were followed by long stretches of self-focused living with my religiosity just being part of that. View article →

God’s Opinion of You Lasts Forever

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙

American televangelist Joyce Meyer has a large number of devoted fans, not only in America, but also worldwide. Joyce’s critics claim she is a false teacher who has charmed tens of thousands of unsuspecting Christians into Word of Faith heresy. Marsha West is one such critic. She writes:

A Christian friend of mine is reading one of Joyce Meyer’s books. If you haven’t heard of Meyer, she is a popular health and wealth author/radio & TV teacher/conference speaker who believes God is our sugar daddy. The evangelist has been criticized for her “conspicuously prosperous lifestyle.” According to my friend, Joyce’s books are “uplifting.” She didn’t like hearing that some of her favorite author’s teaching is theological heresy. To my friend’s way of thinking, if a book makes you feel good, doctrine isn’t all that important.

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Shane Hipps teaching a “Spirit of Reality” at Willow Creek

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A couple of weeks back CRN Associate Editor Erin Benziger covered the story of Mars Hill Bible Church “pastor” Shane Hipps preaching at Willow Creek Community Church.

I actually assisted her with the video clips and had them up at You Tube. Apparently Willow Creek wanted to keep a lid on what Emerging Church apostate Shane Hipps taught there.

They complained to You Tube and got the video pulled. Because these clips are within fair use Apprising Ministries has now republished Benziger’s insightful article complete with the illustrative video clips. View article →

The Sermon on the Mount, Part 10

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17 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. 18 For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter or one stroke may pass from the law until everything is fulfilled.  19 Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and thus teaches men, he will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever practices and teaches them, this one will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I say to you that unless your righteousness exceeds beyond that of the scribes and Pharisees, you may never enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Matt. 5:17–20, Possessing the Treasure New Testament v1

We now enter the next section of our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6 where Jesus expands upon Matthew 5:17-20 showing how the Pharisees’ righteousness was deficient, as is all who are self-righteous, by exposing their hypocrisy in the matter of giving to the poor (vv1-4); prayer (vv5-15); and fasting (vv16-18). God’s people are to do these things as acts of worship rendered to God, but the self-righteous use them as displays to gain the admiration of others. In this post we will look Matthew 6:1-4. View article →

What the Bible Really Still Says About Homosexuality

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Kevin DeYoung, Senior Pastor at University Reformed Church, dismantles an article written by Catholic priest Daniel Helminiak wherein it is asserted that “nowhere does the Bible actually oppose homosexuality.” DeYoung writes:

On Tuesday afternoon, CNN ran an article on its Belief Blog by Catholic priest (sort of) Daniel Helminiak entitled “My Take: What the Bible really says about homosexuality.” The article is amazing for including so many bad arguments in so little space. A quick trip through the piece will show you what I mean.

View article →

White House 'Strongly Objects' to Legislation Protecting Military Chaplains from Doing Same-Sex Weddings

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News

CNS News Reports:

The Obama administration “strongly objects” to provisions in a House defense authorization bill that would prohibit the use of military property for same-sex “marriage or marriage-like” ceremonies, and protect military chaplains from negative repercussions for refusing to act against their consciences, as, for example, in being ordered to perform a same-sex marriage ceremony.

In a policy statement released Wednesday, the White House Office of Management and Budget outlined numerous objections to aspects of the fiscal year 2013 National Defense Authorization Bill (H.R. 4310). The bill was reported out of the House Armed Services Committee last week and is set to be debated in the House, beginning Wednesday.

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The Sermon on the Mount, Part 9

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18 ‘You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD. Lev. 19:18, NASB

21 If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink; 22 For you will heap burning coals on his head, And the LORD will reward you. Proverbs 25:21–22, NASB

I listened to part of a presentation today via podcast from Alpha & Omega Ministries’ The Dividing Line broadcast from 3 May 2012 by a young man claiming to be a “Christian Gay.” The definition of terms this young man used for “love,” for instance, was not Biblical, but was based in the same self-focused, narcissistic bent that all have who have not first become regenerate, that is, saved by grace through faith according to the mercy of God, and then learned to deny self under the sanctifying hand of God. His version of love was self-centered and all about self-fulfillment. That is not Christian love nor is it how any who are truly in Christ will operate in this world on a consistent basis. How did our Lord define it?  View article →

Southern Baptist David Jeremiah Praises "vision God" gave to TBN’s Paul Crouch

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Apprising Ministries has been telling you that sectors of the professing Christian community are now coming together in ways we’d never have imagined before.

In this new article you will see video clips of Jeremiah preaching on this year’s March 5 edition of TBN’s Praise-A-Thon fundraiser. Not only is he pitching for pledges, but this well-respected SBC statesman lavishes praise upon the heretical Paul Crouch. View article →

At A Glance: Spiritual Formation

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CRN research articles give a concise overview of a specific topic and provide links to resources for further study. The most recently published research article examines spiritual formation, and offers a brief history and overview, as well as a discussion of some potential dangers. View article →