Monthly Archives: April 2016

Why I’m Dumping Christianity Today Magazine

Posted by Dan C. on

Through the years I’ve been an on again, off again reader of Christianity Today, often referred to these days as Christianity ‘Astray’. A few years ago I tried another subscription that gave me hard copy and online versions because id seemed like a good deal and after all, there was an occasional article that still contained sound doctrine. When my last renewal came around I opted for just the online version from which it was easier to extract information and save it in digital format for future reference. This week I received my May edition and if I could get a partial refund of the remaining issues due me I would – trust me. Here is a sampling of what CT had to offer:

1. Beyond Bono and Eugene Peterson: The Most Searched and Shared Psalms

Thanks to some earlier advertising I knew this one was coming. Fuller Theological Seminary is using the above two men, one an entertainment idol and social gospel guru, and the other the author of The Message Bible (not even a good paraphrase), to encourage people to read more of the Psalms.

2. Christians Can Hold Their Bladders and Still Shop at Target

This was a piece advising us to ‘consider the missional implications before you boycott’. If Target loses profit some peoples’ jobs could get cut. We shouldn’t b about boycotts, but about the gospel, which is true. It talked about other ‘Christian’ boycotts that had little impact on anything, which is also true. What the article didn’t address is the myriads of people who sign up to boycott Target (and other businesses) because the privacy and safety of their wives, sisters, and daughters is at stake. There’s a HUGE difference between getting upset about a store not saying “Merry Christmas” and biological men posing as women (call it what you will) using the women’s restroom. Anyone who cannot see that has lost the capacity for intelligent thought!

3.What Jen Hatmaker Gets Right about Christian Love: 

Jen Hatmaker’s article was about loving LGBT people, which we certainly should do. At the same time, to tell an LGBT person “You are loved, but……is a no-no. Instead our message should be:

“LGBT gang and all those who love you: You are loved and special and wanted and needed.”

In other words, we are not to tell people trapped in a sinful lifestyle (LGBT or otherwise) that there is sin to be dealt with. Sadly, minimizing sin just might be one of today’s evangelicalism’s main endeavor’s. We are supposed to just ‘love’ people into the kingdom because when they feel SOOOOOO loved they will embrace Jesus. It was hard to tell from the article whether or not she was ‘affirming’ LGBT lifestyles, but it sure sounded like it.

4. Remembering Prince: A Pop Music Priest in a Secular World:

Here’s the lead-in: “He seemed to defy mortal boundaries, but in fact, he showed us the glory of simply being made in God’s image.” The rest of the article was a glowing tribute to his music and his persona. The article finishes with:

“Prince took the raw material of the created world around him and made it into something new, and when he sent that new thing back into the world, it made us smile, made us want to fall in love, made us want to dance. Today, especially, it makes us weep.”

There were a couple of articles from Christian sources that while acknowledging Prince’s musical talent also remarked with sadness his having been a 7th Day Adventist turned Jehovah’s Witness (both are cults), as well as the morally challenging nature of  ‘sexuality’ that Prince espoused. CT completely failed in using the death of an icon to make any sort of ‘gospel’ point.

5. Cover Story: Inside the Popular, Controversial Bethel Church: “Some visitors claim to be healed. Others claim to receive direct words from God. Is it ‘real’–or dangerous?”

This was the kicker, if you will. This one was nine pages recounting a visit to Bethel by a Canadian man (PCA member in Canada) interspersed by some of the history of Bethel and it’s Pastor Bill Johnson. Sprinkled in were accounts of some of the ‘interesting’ things that happen at Bethel and accounts of tingly, fuzzy feelings. To be fair, some of the current criticism of Bethel was also included. and there was a short side article about the ‘theology’ that drives Bethel by none other than the Editor of CT, Mark Galli.

So why am I dumping Christianity Today?  Perhaps it’s just because I’m old and don’t yet suffer from Alzheimer’s. I remember well the CT of thirty years ago. CT has gone from being a beacon of orthodox Christianity and Biblical evangelicalism to being….well, spiritual milquetoast, if not downright junk food.

From a Wikipedia article about Christianity Today:

“The first issue of Christianity Today was mailed October 15, 1956, and the opening editorial, Why ‘Christianity Today’?, stated "Christianity Today has its origin in a deep-felt desire to express historical Christianity to the present generation. Neglected, slighted, misrepresented—evangelical Christianity needs a clear voice, to speak with conviction and love, and to state its true position and its relevance to the world crisis. A generation has grown up unaware of the basic truths of the Christian faith taught in the Scriptures and expressed in the creeds of the historic evangelical churches." “

Sadly, today’s version is almost completely void of anything seriously doctrinal or theological. It contains a plethora of intellectually vacuous material devoid of, or afraid of taking a Biblical stance on anything! The article about Bethel didn’t even offer any scripture references for the reader to use for critically examining some of Bethel’s doctrine or practices. The short article about Bethel doctrine only offered one of the ‘proof’ texts ripped out of context used to support signs, wonders and miracles as normal for every believer.

“Is it real or dangerous?” – Give me a break!

Of course there were other other articles including some I didn’t take time to read. Even if one or two contained decent theology, the overall tone of CT is an affront to orthodox Christianity and the precious gospel of Jesus Christ.

Well,. I’ve said my piece. I needed to get it off my chest. I feel better now.

When Tolerance is a One Way Street

Posted by Dan C. on

By David Fiorazo on April 22, 2016 in David’s Blog, LGBTQ, Religious Freedom

left turn onlySome call it hypocrisy, others call it a double standard. I call it a sad sign of the times when those in society claiming to be tolerant fail to exercise the very tolerance they espouse.

Calling all truth defenders and proclaimers: report for active duty!

People generally do not hear both sides of religious and social issues reported by the liberal media. As a result, many are confused and uninformed about the most pressing, controversial issues being discussed today. What used to be known as common sense and reason are now buried under the lies of moral relativism.

Enter the “bathroom bill” aka HB2, the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act.

March 31 was the “International Transgender Day of Visibility,” and DNC Chair, Debbie Wasserman Schultz made a statement about fighting “the discriminatory laws” of Republicans when our nation has worked so hard to “distance ourselves from the ugliest chapters in our history” regarding discrimination. Did she make a civil rights comparison with the plight of a transgender person not having a bathroom to call their own?

Actor James Woods was one voice of reason putting this in perspective when he tweeted:

The world is fighting Islamic terrorism, starvation, and disease, but Democrats are fighting for men to pee in the ladies’ room. #Insanity.

The Obama administration definitely took the lead by working to advance the LGBT cause and raise more awareness of the transgender issue by adding a “gender-neutral” restroom to the Eisenhower Building of the White House.

The president also had the audacity to salute the struggles of gay and lesbian Americans during his speech in Selma, Alabama, marking the 50th anniversary of an important civil rights march. LGBT issues are all about advancing behaviors that violate the morals and religious beliefs of many Americans, but is race a behavior?

Regarding North Carolina: there are over 21,000 convicted sex-offenders in the state; is it bigotry and discriminatory to protect women and children from them?

In an excellent article by Dr, Frank Turek, “Six Reasons North Carolina Got it Right,” he states:

Good laws treat all people equally, but not all of their behaviors equally. In fact, the very reason laws exist at all is because all behaviors are not equal and must be treated differently for the benefit of individuals and society… Are we to risk the safety of millions of women and children in public restrooms because an extremely small number of people are experiencing a mismatch between their psychology and their biology?

Who needs the truth when you make so much “progress” by ignoring the truth and engaging in the very bigotry and name-calling you claim to oppose?”

Bruce Springsteen and Bryan Adams cancelled their concert performances in the state, and even Ringo Starr said he won’t perform in North Carolina now, but he had no problems touring “anti-gay” Russia in 1998. I don’t have a problem with them refusing to perform based on their personal beliefs; I do have a problem with them saying a baker, florist, pastor, photographer, etc. cannot also deny service due to their personal beliefs!

Please tell me you see the double standard here. It is irresponsible, misdirected moral outrage.

The CEO of PayPal said they would no longer expand in North Carolina, but they won’t explain why their international headquarters is in Singapore, a country where homosexual behavior can lead to two years in jail.

What about corporations such as Apple, IBM, and Starbucks joining dozens of companies in warning North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory to repeal the bathroom safety bill? Why aren’t they also threatening to pull their business from Iran and Saudi Arabia where homosexuals are being murdered?

Starbucks actually caved to religious extremists in Saudi Arabia (where adulterers are beheaded and gays are imprisoned) to the point of changing its corporate logo so as not to offend Muslims with the image of the Mermaid. The same company CEO said Christians believing in God-ordained marriage can get their coffee elsewhere, and introduced “Holiday” cups last year in place of Christmas cups.

The hypocrisy is blinding – just not to the entertainment industry and those on the Left controlling the media.

These businesses and corporations are free to do what they want – and we as consumers are also free to spend our money elsewhere.

Target was the first proud retailer to announce transgender employees and customers can now use the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity, you know; however a person feels on a particular day. Almost immediately, the backlash began and in a matter of days, nearly 200,000 customers have signed a petition opposing Target’s move.

Bathroom practices being debated have been established throughout history as common sense, proper, moral, and practical. Suddenly however, we’re in a public uproar because a fraction of a fraction (0.3%) of the population decides to identify themselves different from how God created them, use a bathroom that does not align with their biological gender, and demand our compliance.

Rush Limbaugh rightfully stated this whole culture war is about obliterating morality. This battle has good people scratching their heads because they don’t know how to defend their position without getting shouted down.

Limbaugh said liberalism is determined to wipe out the concept of morality, believing that no one has the right to define it:

Nobody can write laws that are based on morality and have them apply to everybody, because your morality may differ from mine, and there isn’t any universal morality; there isn’t any universal right and wrong…

So something as simple as morality and right and wrong has now become politicized, and therefore illegitimate, ’cause you don’t have the right to tell somebody what’s right and wrong… “The only way they can win this war is by obliterating the concepts of right versus wrong, ’cause they are wrong, and they know it…

I wrote about this five years ago in Eradicate: Blotting Out God in America.

Less than a year after the judicial tyranny carried out by the U.S. Supreme Court in passing the landmark ruling that legalized same sex “marriage,” at least thirty-four states are now considering new religious freedom bills that would protect Christians and others from lawsuits and other threats.

Is it intolerant to pass legislation to protect American citizens who have rights under the Constitution?

Christian business owners, Dick and Betty Odgaard don’t think so. After a two-year court battle in which a gay couple sued them for discrimination, the Odgaard’s paid the fine and were forced to stop hosting weddings. After months of negative publicity, hate mail, death threats and loss of income, the Gortz Haus Gallery went out of business last year.

What do you call this if not intolerance, fascism, or liberal hypocrisy? Make no mistake; it won’t stop here unless people rise up in bold, loving, respectful protest.

How on earth did we arrive at this point in American history in which ambiguity trumps truth, sexual confusion is promoted, and God’s moral Law is no longer relevant?

First, though we have consciences, we must be reminded the heart of mankind is bent toward evil and desperately sick. We are without cure, sinful from birth and having no hope apart from faith in Jesus Christ for salvation.

Second, anti-Christian agendas have been implemented for many decades during which religious folks were comfortable and silent, failing to preach the gospel of repentance and speak the truth in love. Therefore, we’ve reached a tipping point in which political correctness refuses to coexist with religious freedom. Christians who do speak up and defend God’s Word are now called hateful, intolerant, or judgmental.

But what are we living for and who are we trying to please, God or man?

Today, we’re living with the consequences of Christians taking the path of least resistance. We cannot reverse the cultural decay, but we are here for this time in history to be the salt and light Jesus called us to be. He is the way and the truth, and the path is narrow. We must choose to pray for revival and stand up for righteousness and truth – even when taking a stand is unpopular.

R U Hungry 4 More? 

Posted by Dan C. on

That was the title of a blog post I came across today. All I could reply was “If I am seated in the heavenlies in Christ, if all my needs are being met out of God’s riches in Glory, and I have scripture that is sufficient for EVERYTHING I need to be a faithful worker in the Kingdom, more what exactly?”

“Be About The Cure:” Sye Ten Bruggencate in JeremiahCry Ministries Conference 2016

Posted by Dan C. on

SLIMJIM's avatarThe Domain for Truth

Sye Ten Bruggencate is an encouraging brother in the Lord who has taken Presuppositional apologetics to the streets and have taught it in a way most people can understand.

In a recent message he speaks about the importance of also giving the Gospel.  Several brothers told me to watch this when I came back home from my missions trip.

Here’s the message:

Enjoy!

View original post

“Be About The Cure:” Sye Ten Bruggencate in JeremiahCry Ministries Conference 2016

Posted by Dan C. on

Sye Ten Bruggencate is an encouraging brother in the Lord who has taken Presuppositional apologetics to the streets and have taught it in a way most people can understand. In a recent message he sp…

Source: “Be About The Cure:” Sye Ten Bruggencate in JeremiahCry Ministries Conference 2016

The Sovereignty of God in the Affairs of Men

Posted by Dan C. on

In my opinion, it might be a gross understatement to say that we are living in a time of intense turmoil on nearly all fronts, both nationality and internationally, and in every arena (political, cultural, social), the impacts of which are seen and felt inside and outside of the body of Christ, the church. And of course just about everybody has an opinion about what’s causing all the turmoil as well as possible solutions. If you ask the ‘man on the street’ in ‘Anytown’ U.S.A. which issue is the most important you will get all sorts of answers depending on the demographic of the interviewee.

Add a Christian worldview to the mix and we are faced with all of above in light of all what are provided in scripture that speaks to our time, from Old Testament prophecy through Revelation, and all that the Bible speaks of concerning ‘end times’ and the return of Christ to our beleaguered planet. And of course there are various interpretations of just about all of it, from the rapture of the church to the timing of the 2nd coming of Christ. While the Bible doesn’t give us all the details, we sure like to try and figure it all out!

To try and make sense of it all, I had to boil it down to two questions.

1. As a Christian, how am I to think about it?

2. As a Christian, how am I to behave in the midst of it?

As to my thought life, I can ignore it all and just go about my merry way , which is impossible, obsess about, which is unhealthy, or I can remember and take great comfort that God is in complete control of the affairs of men.

19 The LORD has established His throne in the heavens; And His sovereignty rules over all (Psalm 103:19).

3 But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases (Psalm 115:3).

5 For I know that the LORD is great, And that our Lord is above all gods. 6 Whatever the LORD pleases, He does, In heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps (Psalm 135:5-6)

“He (God) changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; (Daniel 2:21)

English Bible teacher and theologian A. W. Pink (1 April 1886 – 15 July 1952) had this to say about God’s sovereignty:

“Subject to none, influenced by none, absolutely independent; God does as He pleases, only as He pleases, always as He pleases. None can thwart Him, none can hinder Him. So His own Word expressly declares: ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure’ (Isa. 46:10); ‘He doeth according to His will in the army of heaven, and the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay His hand’ (Dan. 4:34). Divine sovereignty means that God is God in fact, as well as in name, that He is on the Throne of the universe, directing all things, working all things ‘after the counsel of His own will’ (Eph. 1:11).” – A. W. Pink, The Attributes of God (Swengel, Pa.: Reiner Publications, 1968), p. 27.

With the above passages of scripture in mind, and regardless of what I think about specific issues, I am to think about it all in terms of the Sovereignty of God. We can take comfort that God is not an absentee landlord, nor is he just a bystander who steps in now and again to make sure we don’t blow ourselves up. In the midst of all the turmoil it is God “…who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.” (Eph 1:11-12, NIV)

Concerning my behavior, I suppose I could run away to a survivalist community far from the maddening crowd, grow my own food, keeps lots of guns and ammo while adopting an EMP proof lifestyle (no electricity). I could get involved in any number of causes that have been set up and designed to ‘save the world’. Or I could see what the Bible tells me what I should be doing. The courses of action mentioned in this paragraph are not specifically discussed in the Bible; at least that I can see. At the same time, we are not left in the dark.

First of all, we are to pray; not only for those nearest and dearest to us, but for all men:

“I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior.” (1 Tim 1-3, NIV)

The Bible also tells us that as believers we are the salt of the earth and light of the world, in Matthew 5:13-16. We are to let our light shine before others so that they might see our good works and glorify God. So much for going into survivalist mode.

Secondly, as His servants we are follow the guidance the nobleman gave to his servants in the parable of the 10 minas in Luke 19.:

“He (Jesus) said therefore, “A nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return. Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Engage in business until I come.’ – (Luke 19:12-13)

Our ’10 minas’ is the gospel that we have received and believed, and that we are called to share with the lost world around us.

Yes, we are living in times of intense turmoil, but we can take comfort knowing that, in the end God is working out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will and for his glory. As we continue to look forward to the return of Christ and the eternal Kingdom, we can confidently continue to share His gospel with a dying world.

Keep the faith and keep up the fight!

Azusa Street Redux?

Posted by Dan C. on

Not really. I know I was a bit sarcastic and snarky with that one, and considering there was a time when I was part of the Charismatic movement, perhaps I should have left it alone. I still have some close Christian friends who are in the Charismatic movement and post a lot of articles from Charisma magazine on Facebook.

I was sucked into the movement as a young prodigal having come back home after spending almost 10 years in the wilderness. I was hungry for everything God had for me and I eagerly latched onto anyone and everyone who, claiming to be ministers of the gospel, told me that God had so much more than Bible reading, church attending, praying Christianity.

Well, since I was into reading and studying the Bible I gradually moved away from that which seemed to be more about my ‘experience’ than objective Bible truth.

So when I see something like the ‘prophet’ with his smartphone and the rest of the false prophet crowd all over God TV (and elsewhere) it bugs me. And someone I have known for years advertises ‘Dead Raising’ training at the church where he is a leader, led by a crew from Bethel Church I want to scream, cry or both.

By now I’ve read and studied the Charismatic/Pentecostal movement from it’s birth in 2nd century Gnosticism to the present day. Since I was there I’m not just one of those low information ‘bashers’.

What bothers me even more than the false prophets at the Azusa Now event was the complete lack of the gospel call to repentance of sin and belief in what I listened to from the speakers, and that’s a problem across most of today’s Protestant evangelicalism. C’ H. Spurgeon summed it up well when he said:

“I do believe that we slander Christ when we think that we are to draw the people by something else but the preaching of Christ Crucified.” – From a sermon preached at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London, October 6, 1889

I’ll leave you with that thought.

The ‘Azusa Now’ Conference and Prophetic Extravaganza

Posted by Dan C. on

Hat Tip in advance to Chris Rosebrough of ‘Fighting for the Faith’, whose podcast audio so enthralled me that I had to listen to the Azusa report three times and take notes!

I knew about the Azusa Now event from having read about it already, but I don’t remember where I found the article. It all went down this last Saturday, 9 April. Fighting for the Faith reported on it and I regularly listen to F4F podcasts.

The podcast began by providing a quote from Jeff Jansen of Global Fire Ministries who had a fantastic experience while driving to the Los Angeles conference site. Says Jansen:

“As we were driving on Interstate 5 to the Azusa Now event on April 9, I saw a large, gold angel standing over LA,” Jansen says. “The Lord said, ‘Just as the 1849 gold rush drew people to California … So 4/9 2016 will mark a new gold rush of divine proportion that will once again draw the nations into revival.” (Charisma News)

The F4F podcast focused on several personalities from various ministries and the pronouncements / revelations / prophesies they delivered to the ecstatic crowd.

First there was Heidi Baker (Iris Global Ministries), who has revelations and visions on a fairly regular basis. She was introduced by Bill Johnson of Bethel Church (home of ‘dead raising teams’ who will train your church). Ms. Baker’s revelation was that God was healing “digestinal” problems/diseases of all sorts (small and large intestines), as well as lots of allergies. Having heard ‘John 6’ in her spirit continually she told the crowd that “some of you feel like you are starving” and can’t eat regular food. The Lord told her that he was going to heal them as they ‘ate Jesus’.

She then prayed that the inflicted ones would rid themselves of the “poison, fluff, and puff”. God was also healing all sorts of addictions from alcoholism to drug addiction, to addiction to medicines (prescription and non-prescription.

She also said there was someone being healed from a twisted knee and a skateboarder being healed of a broken wrist. Those last pronouncements were accompanied by a sudden ‘shakaraba’ utterance while she was prophesying. Such utterances are common with her, actually. She’s a regular on Fighting for the Faith.

Next we had Kris Vallotton (Bethel Church) who began by saying God was breaking the power of suicide that was caused by a ’spirit of insanity’ that put suicidal thoughts into people’s minds. He specifically mentioned a 17 year old named Thompson. God would break the spirit of suicide from him, as well as all from the God TV watchers similarly suffering. He ‘came against’ the evil spirit of suicide afflicting them and an entire generation! In the name of Jesus he released ‘life, visions, dreams, and promises of peace’. He ‘broke the bad visions’ some were having that were caused by the ‘spirit of foreboding’.

Then we were treated to Shawn Bolz from Morningstar Ministries. Morningstar Ministries is led by Rick Joyner, who was instrumental in the ‘restoration’ of Todd Bently (Lakeland Revival) after Todd’s adulterous affair with his nanny, divorce from his wife and marriage to the nanny. Joyner was also one of the NAR prophets who anointed Todd as an ‘Apostle’ at Lakeland.

Back to Shawn……

Shawn appeared on stage to dispense ‘words of knowledge’ and prophesy over some of the thousands in attendance. He even called out people by name and revealed specific things about them and their families! I think he must have received the ‘words of knowledge’ in advance and recorded them on his smart phone because he read from it for the whole 15 minutes he ‘prophesied’. Never mind that thousands of people had registered online and given names and that Facebook can tell us all sorts of things. I actually found the video showing him reading from his smart phone as he was prophesying. I had a hard time believing the F4F account!

Cindy Jacobs, prophetess and founder of Generals International, treated the crowd with a genuine ‘thus sayeth the Lord’ moment by saying “This is that which the prophets foretold!”, referring to the Asuza Now event as a direct fulfillment of OT prophesy.

Todd White, renowned street healer (specializes in lengthening short legs) then prophesied that there is coming a time of great revival where every believer is going to have a ‘prophetic anointing, and perform great signs and miracles wherever we go, even drug stores and other places we go shooing. He kept shouting “Do you want this?” over and over again, along with “The time is now!!!!!” reminiscent of a High School pep rally.

Lou Engle, leader of The Call spoke during the ‘tithes and offerings’ interlude, talking about a new movement called SAFA (Spiritual Air Force Academy) that was birthed at the Colorado Springs Air Force Academy where a group of cadets were very much into fasting and intercessory prayer. An exciting video clip accompanied the short presentation. The SAFA is mostly young people specializing in fasting and prayer who will be removing demons from the heavens and from the darkest places on the Earth. Divine encounters would abound. It was an invitation to ‘sow’ into the SAFA movement.

_________________________

So there you have it………..It was all too fantastic to keep to myself!

Sarcasm aside, I have to say that all of the above are part of the Charismatic/Pentecostal movement and all regularly receive great press from ‘Charisma Magazine’, and thousands of professing Christians buy into it all.