Category Archives: Discernment

Hillsong and Worship

Posted by Dan C. on

by Cameron Buettel & Jeremiah Johnson, GTY

 

hillsong-and-worship

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is no performance
Lord, I pray it’s worship
Empty words I can’t afford
I’m not chasing feelings
That’s not why I’m singing
You’re the reason for my song

And I only wanna sing
If I sing with everything
If I sing for you, my King

I can’t imagine why
I would do this all for hype
Cause it’s all to lift You high

At this point in the song—titled “Only Wanna Sing”—the music soars, the strobe lights fire up, and everyone on stage and in the crowd begins to dance with reckless abandon.

The irony is hard to miss.

That song—by the band Hillsong Young and Free—epitomizes many of the issues with much of Hillsong’s worship music: vague lyrical content, confused doctrinal perspectives, and an emphasis on style over substance.

Appeal Through Ambiguity

Hillsong’s philosophy fits well with the zeitgeist of our day. The social scientists now tell us that morality is subjective, gender is fluid, and truth is an illusion. Clearly, the precise theology espoused in ancient hymns won’t get the job done anymore.

Hillsong has probably done a better job than anyone else in filling the musical void that many modern churches have experienced. Their songs are catchy, their musicians are excellent, and their songwriters know how to “sound Christian” enough to salve the consciences of all in attendance. Consequently, their music permeates the Christian world, and their album sales are huge—even by secular standards.

Lest you anticipate some fundamentalist rant at this point, we need to be clear: This is not a screed against modern music infiltrating the church.

But we should be wary when our ancient and exclusive faith is overrun with modern songs featuring a fluid and indistinct message. In many instances, Hillsong lyrics are so vague they could be embraced by most religions.

At break of day, in hope we rise
We speak Your Name, we lift our eyes
Tune our hearts into Your beat
Where we walk, there You’ll be

With fire in our eyes, our lives a-light
Your love untamed, it’s blazing out
The streets will glow forever bright
Your glory’s breaking through the night

You will never fade away, Your love is here to stay
By my side, in my life, shining through me everyday

You wake within me, wake within me
You’re in my heart forever

Those lyrics come from “Wake,” a song with no distinctive Christian element. In fact, there’s little to distinguish it from the forlorn ramblings of a junior high love letter.

Hillsong pastors readily point out that all their songs are reviewed for theological accuracy. But when it comes to songs like “Wake” and “Only Wanna Sing,” what is there to review?

Doctrinal Gaps and Malpractice

Not all Hillsong worship songs suffer from ambiguity; some evidence attempts to be more theologically concrete. “What a Beautiful Name” is one example where the biblical themes are at least discernible.

The first verse references Christ’s eternality and deity: “You were the Word at the beginning / One with God the Lord Most High” (cf. John 1:1). Later, the song’s bridge refers to His resurrection: “Death could not hold You / The veil tore before You . . . For You are raised to life again.” And throughout the song, Christ is referred to as King.

However, the second verse is a great example of the doctrinal maladies that plague most of the Hillsong catalogue—malpractice, man-centeredness, and missing information.

You didn’t want heaven without us
So Jesus You brought heaven down
My sin was great, Your love was greater
What could separate us now . . .

The writer of “What a Beautiful Name” would have us believe that the reason for Christ’s life, death, and resurrection was because He “didn’t want heaven without us.” That’s a nice sentiment, but it’s not remotely biblical. In fact, it’s doctrinal malpractice by people who should know better. 

Nowhere does the Bible state that an unsatisfying solitude in heaven was God’s reason for redeeming people. Rather, the theme that resounds throughout Scripture is God’s desire to glorify Himself by redeeming sinners. Romans 3:21–26 explicitly describes Christ’s atonement as the display of God’s righteousness. Undoubtedly, the cross was also the demonstration of God’s great love for sinners (John 3:16), but that doesn’t mean He was lonely without us.

Furthermore, that unbiblical statement flows out of the man-centered worldview that permeates almost everything Hillsong does. Rather than seeing ourselves as the undeserving beneficiaries of God’s redemptive plan, we become the central characters in a story that’s meant to glorify God.

The other major problem that plagues even the best songs in the Hillsong library is also evident in “What a Beautiful Name.” Even when they get it theologically right, the missing information robs the lyrical content of any useful meaning. “My sin was great, Your love was greater” begs more questions than they’re willing to answer. It’s exceedingly rare for Hillsong worship to even mention sin, but even if they do it’s left completely undefined.

Similar subjects like God’s wrath, repentance, judgment, depravity, and personal holiness are virtually absent from the entire Hillsong catalog. But those biblical realities form the necessary background to explain most things Hillsong does talk about: grace, mercy, forgiveness, and salvation. If grace is unmerited favor, we need to know why we don’t merit it. Mercy is meaningless without understanding the wrath that we deserve. Forgiveness is incomprehensible without grasping our personal guilt before God. And salvation rings hollow when we’re never told what we’re saved from.

At the Strange Fire conference, John MacArthur had this to say about another popular Christian band, and what passes for worship music in many churches today:

Let me explain worship in a simple way. The deeper your understanding of the truth of God, the deeper your understanding of God Himself, the higher your worship goes. Worship is directly correlated to understanding. The richer your theology, the more full your grasp of biblical truth, the more elevated your worship becomes. You don’t have to turn the music on for me to worship.  Low understanding of God—superficial, shallow, understanding of God—leads to shallow, superficial, content-less hysteria. You can whip that up, you can create that kind of frenzy. It has nothing to do with worship; it isn’t worship; it’s not connected to worship; it is sheer hysteria in a mindless expression. You’ve been singing hymns this week. Why? Because there’s rich theology in hymns. We don’t have to go hysterical; we want your mind fully engaged. . . . I don’t need 7-11 choruses, seven words eleven times over. I need to advance the doctrine. I need to advance the richness. I need to deepen the truth and broaden the truth. And hymns have verses, not just five words repeated and repeated and repeated and repeated and repeated but never really with the nuances of theology. So, yeah . . . that’s not worship, that’s not even Christian. That’s no different than a rock concert. There’s a lot of ways to manipulate people’s minds, and they have figured out how do that.

Doctrine matters. At best, a steady diet of Hillsong music will leave you with an incomplete theology of salvation. At worst, it promotes unbiblical falsehoods about God, us, and how we can be reconciled to Him.  

Style over Substance

It’s worth pointing out that we did not cherry-pick the lyrics referenced above. In a musical catalogue as vast as Hillsong’s, it wouldn’t be hard to find a few weak songs to critique.

Instead, the songs mentioned above come directly from our visits to Hillsong church services. For a few months now, we’ve been visiting Hillsong Los Angeles—one of the ministry’s most recent church plants. While the American audience is primarily familiar with Hillsong’s worship bands, CDs, and concerts, throughout most of the rest of the world, they are one of evangelicalism’s fastest-growing church networks. With franchises established all around the world, they’ve recently begun to expand into the US.

In our estimation, Hillsong represents the next wave of the kind of seeker sensitivity John MacArthur has warned about throughout his ministry. They are cut from the same cloth as Robert Schuller, Bill Hybels, and Rick Warren—they’re just aiming for a younger, hipper audience.

Hillsong LA’s church services are virtually indistinguishable from rock concerts. From the moment you walk in, your eyes and ears are assaulted by incoherent multimedia displays, with vague artistry passing for profundity.

While the familiar elements of a church service are there—prayer, worship, teaching, etc.—they’re usually designed and deployed as an appeal to your senses, not your soul. It makes you wonder what people think they’re committing to during the pseudo-alter call that ends every service.

In the end, Hillsong’s carelessness and ambiguity extend beyond their lyrics, touching every element of their global ministry. In the days ahead, we’re going to look at the practical theology they proclaim, and compare it to their own doctrinal statements and ultimately to Scripture.

What you’re going to see—as we have seen firsthand—is that the significant influence Hillsong wields is sowing confusion and corruption into the next generation of the church.  

Online Source

What if there’s a power outage at Hillsong?

Posted by Dan C. on

. . .or any other ‘church’ where the big attraction is the music?

Think about that for a minute. I know Christians who choose a church based on how much they like the ‘worship’ music, and I’m sure you do also. But what if the power went out and there were no more electric instruments, lights, smoke, etc.? All we would have left are lyrics.

If all we have left are the lyrics, would we ‘feel’ the Spirit come down, or is all that excitement generated from the stage and those great ‘worship’ feelings pretty much the same as a good U2 concert (name your band)? Is today’s ‘worship’ more about us than God?

And if all we have are the lyrics, what are they saying and teaching? Something to think about.

Fighting For The Faith discussed that very thing – lyrics – this last week titled “Heresy Hiding in Plain Sight” .

Enjoy, or not. The segment discusses some of the lyrics to specific worship songs from Hillsong. Protect your toes.

Discernment Troubles?

Posted by Dan C. on

In the facility where I work there is a Wednesday lunch time fellowship/Bible study. I am not a frequent Visitor, for a variety of reasons, but I’m on the distribution list the study facilitator maintains and I receive the Wednesday morning announcements confirming that it will indeed take place, along with the topic of discussion. Yesterday morning I received this one:

“Today, we’ll continue our new study of Psalm 91: God’s Umbrella of Protection, from the book by Peggy Joyce Ruth. We’ll look at Chapter 2 which looks at verse 2, “I will say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!’” Peggy says to circle the word ‘say’ in verse 2 in your Bible, “because we must learn to verbalize our trust.” She believes that the more we say verses 1 and 2 out loud, “the more confident we become in His protection.” Do you believe as she does? Bring examples of when speaking Scripture out loud boosted your confidence. Peggy also says that in times of trouble, “Take notice of what flies out of your mouth.” “The worst thing that can happen is for something to come out that brings death. Cursing gives God nothing to work with. This Psalm tells us to do just the opposite – to speak life!” What comes out of your mouth in times of trouble, death or life? I think this will be a great day of discussion. See you at noon! Bring your lunch.”

The first questions that came to mind were 1) Who is Peggy Joyce Ruth? 2) Am I looking at Word of Faith (ala Kenneth Copeland) teaching? And 3) Is Psalm 91 really about our needing to “verbalize our trust”?

1) Peggy Joyce Ruth. Well, at first I couldn’t find out a lot about Peggy Joyce Ruth other than a short bio on her ministry website and a few transcripts of interviews with Sid Roth, of “It’s Supernatural” fame. It seems that she spent about eight years in psychological torment, including electric shock treatments, received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit at a Pepsi Cola meeting in New Orleans, had peace for two years and the spirit of fear came back to torment her again.

Then one night God appeared to her in a prophetic dream/vision one night and spoke to her audibly and said ‘‘in your day of trouble call on Me, and I will answer.’ To make a long story short, she said this was God leading her to Psalm 91, which she has been studying for about thirty years while receiving ‘divine’ insight to its meaning. She now has published a series of books about Psalm 91, with editions for toddlers, youth, teens, mothers, and military members (regular and pocket sized editions), as well as a collection of testimonies of those who come through some really tough stuff and were miraculously delivered thanks to clinging to the promises of Psalm 91 and quoting it a lot.

2) The Kenneth Copeland Connection. A day after looking into her ‘ministry’ and reading Sid Roth Interviews I discovered the August 2015 edition of Kenneth Copeland’s Believer’s Voice of Victory magazine. She was the cover story for that edition and there was a lengthy article about her inside which focused more on all of the ‘taking spiritual authority over demons and dark forces’, as is to be expected from Kenneth Copeland. While Sid Roth was all about the “Supernatural”, Kenneth Copeland was all about “taking authority”.

3) Psalm 91. The other thing I did was read Psalm 91 again to see if it was teaching anywhere that we “must speak/verbalize” Psalm 91 to see miraculous deliverance(s) when we are in a pickle. (Especially verse 2, the crux of Ms Ruth’s ‘divine’ revelation). Turns out from my plain reading in context and ALL of the commentaries I consulted (10 or so); Ms. Ruth’s teaching is nowhere to be found. The Psalm certainly promised divine protection for those who trust in the Lord, in all manner of circumstances, but no way does it teach any “Word/Faith” techniques/practices.

Discernment Troubles?

All this brings us to the crux of this post – discernment. You see, after my initial questions and first round of research, I sent an email to the Wednesday Bible study facilitator with my concerns:

“It might be profitable to actually examine Ps 91:2 to see if it is actually teaching “we must learn to verbalize our trust”, or is it an expression of a heart sentiment, knowing and trusting that God is a refuge and strength. Don’t take my word for it. Here is a link to several commentaries concerning Psalm 91:2.

http://biblehub.com/commentaries/psalms/91-2.htm

This a wonderful Psalm concerning God’s protection in all the circumstances and storms of life, and one in which we can take great solace and comfort, but is it really teaching about personally verbalizing a passage for better confidence. Personally, the more I read and study scripture the more confidence I have in its truth. In this case, reading and studying other passages that speak about God’s protection for his children will go much farther in that regard.”

I received a hearty “Thanks for your input!” reply and sent another short email asking if anyone had looked into Peggy Joyce’s credentials as a Bible teacher. Here is the reply from my friend:

“I did a little bit and nothing jumped out as questionable.”

At that point, and mostly because I had not been attending the Bible study and been part of the process in selecting something new after the previous topic being discussed, I could only wonder why my friend found nothing questionable about this woman’s teaching if he had looked into her. Was it because his ‘little bit’ of investigating was very, very little, or he found the same stuff I had found (since there was little to find anyway) and was clueless concerning bad doctrine? Did he get sucked in by the novelty of new revelation that was pleasing to itching ears? What?

This is not a personal criticism, but rather an observation. After all, my friend might have a LOT of company. While I am sure that there is a certain amount of truth in Ruth’s books and teachings, I am equally sure that lies always ride in on the horseback of truth. I don’t remember when I first heard it or who said it, but someone said that sound discernment isn’t so much knowing the difference between truth and lies, but it’s being able to tell the difference between truth and ‘almost’ truth. Perhaps he was right.

On the other hand, maybe the disease technically termed “itchingearitis” causes the desire for plain Biblical truth (inherent in the new heart of a believer) to fly out the window. If that’s an accurate statement, there is a single and 100% effective solution for that believer. Read the Book for what it says, and be cautious concerning ‘extra’ material. First and foremost, let scripture interpret scripture. When we do that, our ears become sensitive to little clues that something might be amiss, and are less susceptible to being tickled.

Yes, I would say that ‘discernment troubles’ abound in the ranks of professing Christians, given the amount of very questionable ‘teaching’ these days.

And remember. . .lies come prancing in on the horseback of truth.

“Degrees of Separation”

Posted by Dan C. on

How do we, as believers, handle ‘relationship’ issues with other Christians? There are certainly times when we can and should walk in fellowship with other believers and times when we should part, or ‘separate’ from them to some degree. Some issues are clear and some are not. If other professing believers are caught up in unrepentant sin, we are not to hang around them. In matters of doctrine things can be a bit more difficult. The article below, from Ligonier Ministries, offers some really good principles to follow.  At the end of the day, however, it can also be a matter of one’s personal faith and conscience. Here’s the article:

Degrees of Separation

by David Murray

One of the most difficult challenges to address in the Christian life is our relationships with other Christians. It’s like walking a tightrope with heavy weights on each end of our pole. On the one side is the biblical command to unite with professing Christians, while on the other is the biblical demand to separate—at times—from professing Christians.

“Unite!” and “Divide!” Complicated and challenging, isn’t it? Wouldn’t it be so much easier if we could just choose one or the other? Some do. They decide to separate from everyone who does not agree with them on everything, producing sinful schism and division in the body of Christ. Others decide there is virtually nothing that justifies separation from anyone and unite in unholy alliance with anyone who says he is a Christian, no matter what he believes.

But both of these are unbiblical extremes that throw us off balance, tipping us into dangerous and damaging sin. Although we might prefer a simpler life, God calls us to walk this precarious tightrope carrying both weights on the ends of our pole.

DEFAULT TO UNITY

Having said that, the balance of Scripture suggests that the heavier weight is on the side of unity rather than division. That makes sense because one of sin’s great consequences has been to divide people from God and people from people. Our innate, sinful default is separation. That’s why there are so many verses in the Bible that are weighted toward strengthening love and unity between Christians. God calls us to make unity our starting point, our instinct, our default. We look for reasons to trust and unite before reasons to distrust and divide.

As we do, we will make different decisions about the nature of our relationships with other Christians. And it’s not just our relationships with individual Christians to consider. We also have to decide how to relate to individual churches, denominations, or associations of churches (for example, the Presbyterian Church in America, Southern Baptist Convention, and so on), as well as Christian ministries such as Ligonier, The Gospel Coalition, and others.

CRITERIA FOR SEPARATION

So, we begin with biblical balance, weighted somewhat toward unity, and then we start coming into contact with Christians, churches, and ministries about which we must make relationship decisions. Before we look at the different kinds of relationships and associations that may result from this, we need some criteria to help us decide which way to go.

There are four areas to consider when deciding the nature of a relationship with other Christians. The most important area is doctrine. As Christian unity is unity in the truth, we must ask what this Christian or church believes.

However, even before that, we have to ask, what doctrines are fundamental and nonnegotiable? Do we insist on complete agreement on every single truth before we have any kind of association with any Christian or church? If so, one will end up uniting only with oneself.

That’s why we need a sliding scale of biblical truths and principles that will determine to what degree we unite or separate. At the top of that scale, we might put the inerrancy of Scripture, the Trinity, the deity of Christ, justification by faith alone, Jesus as the only way to God, and other primary truths. Without the basic foundation that such truths provide, there can be no spiritual relationship of any kind.

Then, as we go down the list, we will come to issues like baptism, the role of women, eschatology, and others that, while important, might not warrant total separation. Obviously, the further down the list we can go with someone, the greater the degree of Christian unity and the closer our relationship can be.

Apart from doctrine, another area we will want to look at is practice. Regardless of what the church or person says they believe, what do they actually do?

A third area of concern is the church’s or Christian’s relationships with others. We’ll look at this further under “secondary separation” below, but it might be that a person’s or group’s relationships with others who deny cardinal truths and doctrines may cause us to decide not to fellowship with that person or group.

Fourth, church discipline also affects whether and how to relate to someone. If a person has sinned and is under the discipline of his church, we will have to decide how best we can support that discipline by our relationship with the offender.

SEVEN DIFFERENT RELATIONSHIPS AND ASSOCIATIONS

With these criteria in mind, here are the main categories of relationships we might have with other Christians.

SPIRITUAL UNITY: This is the essential union that every Christian has with God and with other Christians through the Spirit of Christ. There may be much visible and vocal disagreement and division among Christians, but there is an invisible and unbreakable spiritual union that connects every believer in the spiritual body of Christ.

ECUMENISM: The Greek word oikoumenē means “the whole inhabited world,” and it originally referred to the Roman Empire. The church took over this word and used it to describe the visible worldwide unity among Christian churches. That’s why some of the early church councils produced ecumenical creeds, reflecting the visible unity in the truth throughout the worldwide church.

More recently, the Roman Catholic church has promoted ecumenism as a way of bringing Christians and churches back into the Roman Catholic Church, usually at the expense of the truth.

However, just because the word has been perverted and abused does not make it a bad word. Every Christian and every church has the duty to seek and promote true ecumenicity—visible unity in the truth. When done well, it is a persuasive witness to the nature and power of the gospel.

ASSOCIATION: Despite valiant attempts to promote biblical ecumenism, sometimes the differences between churches are too great to produce ecclesiastical union. But even when churches decide not to unite, they can still enjoy some level of relationship, often called association. This can vary from accepting one another’s ministers, working together on joint projects, financial support, and even simple recognition and correspondence.

However, great care is usually required to navigate this, as there is always the danger of ignoring fundamental disagreement on the nature of the gospel when we unite to work on less-important issues. In a formal association, all should agree on the major truths, and disagreements should be limited to less-vital areas of doctrine.

ENDORSEMENT: But what if there is not enough common ground to unite or even associate formally? Does that mean the only option left is separation? No, it’s possible to endorse some aspects of a church or person’s witness without agreeing with them in everything. Perhaps a pastor from a church writes an excellent book on justification, but we disagree with his view on the millennium. We can endorse the book while being careful not to give blanket approval to everything else.

FRIENDSHIP: Even if there can be no formal, visible union or association on the institutional or organizational level, that does not mean there can be no unity at all on a personal level. On the contrary, informal Christian relationships and friendships can be a powerful reminder of our underlying unity and the practical love we have for one another.

SEPARATION: Sadly, the doctrinal and practical disagreements between churches and Christians are sometimes so serious and substantial that there is really no option but to separate on both an institutional and personal level. We cannot unite, we cannot associate, we cannot endorse, and we cannot even remain friends.

For example, if a church or Christian denies justification by faith alone or the exclusive claims of Christ, these heresies go to the heart of the Christian faith and cannot be played down. In such instances, we may and must separate completely. This kind of separation, though, should be a last resort, and it should be reserved for the most serious of cases. Usually it will also be necessary to publicly explain the reasons for separation and even to issue warnings about the matter.

SECONDARY SEPARATION: In 1963, Billy Graham asked D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones if he would chair the first Worldwide Congress on Evangelism. Lloyd-Jones said he would gladly do it if Graham stopped including liberals and Roman Catholics on his crusade platform and staff. They talked for three hours, but when Graham refused to agree to this, Lloyd-Jones said he could not o”er any support or endorse Graham’s campaigns. Lloyd-Jones had a high regard for Billy Graham but separated from him formally because of his associations with others.

That’s secondary separation, and again, it should be limited to denial of primary biblical truths, or else we will end up in a church of one, isolated and completely alone.

PRAYERFUL DISCERNMENT

The nature of our relationships with others is one of the most challenging areas in our Christian life and witness. We need to be prayerfully searching the Scriptures to remain sensitive to the Spirit of truth if we want to safely traverse this high wire of holiness.

Online Source:  http://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/degrees-separation/

If a personal word of prophecy spoken over you fails, it’s YOUR fault!

Posted by Dan C. on

In an article published 11 August at the ‘Jennifer LeClaire Ministries’ website titled “Why Some Would-Be Life-Changing Prophetic Words Don’t Come to Pass” (also published in Charisma Magazine and via the Chrisma podcast), Jennifer LeClaire has this to say to us concerning the ‘prophetic word(s)’ over our lives:

“At the end of the day, it really does boil down to this: There is a war over the prophetic word over your life. Sometimes that war comes from the wicked one. Sometimes that war comes from our own carnal nature that wars against the Spirit (Gal. 5:17). Either way—and whether in Scripture or via prophecy judged accurate—we must fight the good fight of faith so we can walk in the fullness of God’s promises.”

I see a couple of problems with the above declaration. First of all it assumes that extra biblical ‘prophetic words’ over our lives are part of ‘the fullness of God’s promises’. Of course, as Jennifer tells us concerning these prophetic words, “you need a certain maturity to walk out the word by faith”. In other words, your spiritual immaturity could cause these ‘prophetic words’ to fail. Neither of these two points is taught in Scripture, but must be read into the text.

What is her scriptural support for this? What is the Biblical text into which Ms. LeClaire tries to fit her assertions? The parable of the sower, the seed, and the different types of ground upon which the seed falls (Matthew 13:3-23)! Jennifer tells us (prophetically?) that “In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus explains some spiritual truth about the Word of God. But it can also apply to prophecies that come straight from His heart.” (emphasis mine). In other words, the ‘prophetic words’ that others can speak over us, that we can speak over ourselves, or that we can receive in dreams (more about that in a bit), are straight from Jesus’ heart. So how do we know that a ‘prophetic word’ is from Jesus’ heart or an imperfect and still sinful human heart? I have no idea and Jennifer doesn’t explain that one.

Then we have the ‘spiritual warfare’ that takes place in the spiritual realm and/or in our own flesh that can thwart that the parable describes (because Jennifer says so, of course):

“When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the one who received seed beside the path” (Matt. 13:19-20). It’s important you understand exactly what God is saying prophetically. Many people miss it on the interpretation or application, especially in the dream realm. Of course, some prophecies are hard to misinterpret, especially ones about having babies or operating in some spiritual gift.”

Jennifer’s concluding advice is this:

“Continue to declare the prophetic word over your life. Remember, the enemy doesn’t really care about you. He hates you, yes, but ultimately he just doesn’t want the prophetic word to come to pass because, when it does, God’s will comes to the Earth.

If you are in a season of waiting and warring, hold on. Keep in mind it was at least 15 years between David’s prophetic anointing and David’s kingship. And it was about 13 years in between Joseph’s dream and his promotion to Egypt’s prime minister.

Chances are, it won’t take that long for you to see the first fruits of life-changing prophetic words spoken over your life. But even if it does, don’t give in to the enemy’s strategies. Ultimately, this is the Lord’s battle. Declare the prophetic word over your life and keep fighting the good fight of faith.”

Really? What the bible tells us about the possibility of genuine prophecies failing seems to disagree with Jennifer:

“If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him” (Deut. 18:22).

Not surprisingly, Jennifer never touches that passage, nor can she without suffering a huge loss of credibility, at least with the Biblically literate among us.

Furthermore, the penalty for prophesying falsely, in the name of the one true God or any other false god, was death (Deut 18:20). Period. End of story.

Ms. Leclaire, as well as other false prophets among us would have far fewer followers, not to mention ‘students’ at their “Schools for Prophets” (they’re out there) if God’s true word concerning claiming to speak directly for Him were read and heeded. While we don’t actually see false prophets being executed at the hand of man, or God for that matter, they will all face judgment. Perhaps if one were to drop dead, perhaps at a ‘prophecy open mic night’ (they are out there too), some of their mouths would quickly become silent as they repented and begged God for mercy. That is not the case however.

What can we do to stem the advancing tide of false prophets claiming to speak directly from God’s lips to our ears? If the spiritual tsunami of apostasy lead by false teachers and lying prophets is part of the end times great delusion, maybe nothing. It could get worse and worse. We can however, stand up for truth and the sufficiency of scripture for all things in our lives. We can expose the lies and falsehoods out of a love for God’s revealed word, a burden for lost souls, and the spiritual welfare of believers we know who have bought into the lie.

__________________________________________

The Jennifer LeClaire Ministries article can be read here. The same article is in Charisma Magazine here. I mention Charisma Magazine because Ms. LeClaire is a Senior Editor at CM, which is the ‘flagship’ publication for Charismatics everywhere. I also have Christian friends who are Charismatic/Pentecostal and for whom I care deeply. I used to be one.

As a final note, Chris Rosebrough over at Pirate Christian Radio Episode addressed the same article/issue in a recent ‘Issues, Etc.’ podcast you can listen to here. It was listening to the podcast that led to more research. It was hard to believe that someone would twist scripture as badly as Ms. Leclair (I’m thinking giant pretzel).

A Prophet for an Un-discerning Church

Posted by Dan C. on

Posted on Monday, January 12, 2015 by Todd Pruitt on 1517

Online Source

If you want to get people mad at you (I mean really mad) just criticize Beth Moore’s teaching. Trust me on this. Many a young pastor has found himself being roasted over the rhetorical bonfire of women’s ministry meetings for daring to raise concerns about Beth Moore’s rather exotic approach to biblical interpretation. 

But those who don’t much care about popularity or physical safety have in recent years been willing to challenge some of the outrageous claims and troubling teachings coming from Beth Moore. It would be one thing if Beth’s claims of direct revelation, sloppy exegesis, and squishy ecumenism were confined to a small corner of the church. The trouble is that Beth Moore is hugely popular which means she has a lot of influence. 

If you are wondering why I am writing something critical of a popular Bible teacher then you must be new here. Remember the name of the website – “Mortification of Spin.” Keep in mind also that Beth Moore is a public and highly influential teacher. That means that her errors must be confronted publicly. If you study the Bible you will see the prophets, Jesus and apostles doing the very same thing in their own day. 

Beth Moore has been pushing for a kind of ecumenism between Baptists and Charismatics and Roman Catholics and Prosperity heretics that ignores essential Christian doctrines. In Beth’s ecumenism, the doctrines of God, Scripture, salvation, and the church do not seem to matter nearly as much as her vision of “unity”. Hers is an unbearably light unity for it cannot bear the weight of biblical distinctions. And to make matters worse, if you disagree with her ecumenism you are standing in the way of Jesus’ vision for the church. How do we know that Beth’s vision is Jesus’ vision for the church? Because she told us so HERE.

It is, I suppose this shallow ecumenism which explains Beth’s willingness to praise and partner with false teachers such as Joyce Meyer. If you are wondering why this is a problem then I assume it is because you do not know what Joyce Meyer preaches. 

Beth also claims direct revelation from God. Her claims that God speaks to her are ubiquitous throughout her books and preaching. It is these divine revelations that supply the gravitas for Beth’s extravagant claims. If you watched the video clip above you have already seen her claim to have received a prophetic vision directly from Jesus concerning the future of the church. 

The following is an excerpt from Beth’s book The Beloved Disciple which captures once again her ease in receiving revelation from God. In this case Beth and God come up with a whole new term to add to the church’s lexicon (You may want to contrast Beth’s casual reception of revelation with that of the apostles and prophets). 

Beloved, I am convinced one of our severest needs is pure rest. Not only sleep, but refreshment and recreation. Recently God spoke to me about capturing what He and I are calling “Sabbath moments.” Like many of yours, my schedule right now is particularly tough, and I see no time in the near future for a number of days off. God spoke to my heart one Saturday morning while I was preparing for Sunday school: “My child, in between more intense rests, I want to teach you to take Sabbath moments.” I wasn’t certain what He meant. Just that morning God confirmed His desire for me to drive all the way to the other side of Houston to the medical center to visit a patient with brain cancer. I was very thankful for the privilege of visiting this patient, but I knew in advance it would be tough emotionally and far from restful.

I fought the traffic across Houston, then visited with my new friend and her husband while choking back the tears. They have two young sons, and unless God performs a miracle, their mother will go home to be with the Lord before they are grown. I got in my car and prayed. I pulled out of the parking garage, fighting the tears. A few blocks later as if on autopilot, I turned my steering wheel straight into the parking lot of the Houston Zoo!

Christ seemed to say, “Let’s go play.” And that we did. I hadn’t been to the zoo in years. I heard about all the improvements, but I never expected the ultimate: Starbucks coffee! (OK, so I don’t have all my health issues down pat.) Can you imagine watching a baby koala take a nap in a tree on a rare cold day in Houston with a Starbucks grande cappuccino in your hand? Now that’s a Sabbath moment! God and I had a blast.

– Beth Moore, The Beloved Disciple, (B&H Publishing: 2003), 220.

Just as Sarah Young’s Jesus in Jesus Calling sounds much like an American woman steeped in contemporary therapeutic language, so the Jesus of Beth Moore’s vision seems to suit an affluent American demographic. As you consider the condition of the church in the prosperous west alongside the persecution and suffering of so many Christians in the majority world do you think that “one of our severest needs is pure rest” along the lines of playdates with God to Starbucks and the zoo? 

I’m in favor of rest. More importantly God is in favor of rest. He created a cycle of days with the wonderful gift of rest in mind. God gave man the Sabbath day as a gift precisely for the purposes of ministering rest to our bodies and minds. I’m not sure when God decided to add “Sabbath Moments” to the mix. Is it God’s way of recognizing that most American Christians do not take their rest on the day God has set apart and made holy for that very purpose? Beth does not tell us. She simply claims that God chose to speak to her directly and together they coined a new term. 

I’m not saying that we cannot enjoy good gifts from God. I am as grateful for good coffee and cute koalas as the next guy. But the words quoted above illustrate well the utter weightlessness of contemporary evangelicalism, particularly that which is peddled to Christian women. If I were a woman I believe I would be insulted by such nauseating triviality. 

What Beth Moore is describing in her experiences is what we call “direct revelation.” Revelation means to unveil or make known. The doctrine of direct revelation means that God speaks directly to someone apart from any mediation. We understand that direct revelation was given by God to the prophets and apostles and was ultimately inscripturated as God’s written word. Protestants have historically denied continuing revelation. We believe that God’s Word is His chosen and sufficient means to speak to his people. Indeed the Southern Baptist Convention has clearly denied continuing revelation and affirmed the sufficiency of Scripture.

And yet Beth Moore’s books and studies are published by Broadman & Hollman (B&H) and sold in Lifeway stores. Both Lifeway and B&H are Southern Baptist entities and Beth Moore a member of a Southern Baptist Church. So why does the Southern Baptist Convention publish, promote, and sell teaching that clearly departs from historic Protestantism and is against its own doctrinal positions? Follow the money my friends. Follow the money.

“So, what do you think about Todd Friel’s questions to ask someone who says they are a Christian?”

Posted by Dan C. on

That title is in quotes because it was taken directly from a blog post over at the Spiritual Sounding Board and I wouldn’t want the host over there to think I had stolen something. The rest of the blog post was a statement :

“Todd Friel wants you to question whether or not a person is really a Christian.”

A graphic taken from Todd Friel’s Web site:

image

and the following:

“Julie Anne (SSB Host) posted this picture on the SSB Facebook page and wonders, “Should we be testing people when they tell us they are Christians?” What do you think?”

“As far as Kathi (post author?) is concerned, I cannot get past the name “Wretched.” To me it suggests guilt and shame. I’ve watched a few of Friel’s videos and I get that impression from him as well. If you don’t have the right doctrine, you are wretched.”

Not only is the above comment concerning Todd Friel and his ministry a complete fabrication, the majority of the 71 comments that follow are equally vacuous and frankly ,really embarrassing in terms of intellectual honesty. They mostly attack Todd Friel from the foot of a vary large straw man that is sure that the questions are direct challenges to the professed salvation of the Christian to whom they are addressed.  I believe all three to be very reasonable questions for a couple of reasons.

First of all, not everyone who ‘professes’ Christ ‘possesses’ Christ. The preciousness of Christ to the professing Christian is an indicator of the depth of his or her faith . Spending time in personal Bible reading and study also indicates the depth of one’s faith, as well as being a genuine disciple who wants to learn from his/her master teacher.

None of the above questions would bother me. In fact, I would welcome them as opportunities to share with another believer what I believe and why I believe it, and at the same time grow closer to a brother. On the other hand, if I didn’t know what being ‘born again’ really meant, realized that Jesus wasn’t really very precious to me, or I rarely spent time alone with my Bible I would be offended, much like many of the commenters at the original blog at SSB.

Also I can envision asking all three questions from a heart burdened with the knowledge that many, many young people these days are coming to Christ for all of the wrong reasons and have been deceived into believing they are saved when they are far from it. They come to Christ because of the ‘worldly attractiveness’ of a local ‘seeker friendly’ church, from ‘’preachers in torn blue jeans and t-shirts to ‘worship ‘ that more closely resembles a rock concert , to being sold a bill of goods promising their ‘best life now’ or  achieving their special purpose and/or ‘dream destiny’.

So yes, asking intuitive questions of a professing Christian is not necessarily bad, and in fact serves a couple of really good purposes, none of which are directly ‘challenging’ someone’s claim to be a Christian. 

I only wish I had been able to comment at SSB. I seem to have been banned from SSB for quite some time, after I posted favorable comments concerning things I am supposed to dislike (Calvinism, John MacArthur, complementarianism, and a few others). At least I don’t get a ‘Comment’ option when I visit, which is actually rarely. It’s only because something from SSB popped up in my inbox that I ended up there early this morning.

At any rate, I did take the opportunity to answer the question about Todd Friel’s questions, just not at SSB (what spirit?), but here at The Battle Cry.

False Teachers and Itching Ears – A Match Made in Hell

Posted by Dan C. on

Some things never change, and the topic of false teachers arising from within the church spoken of in 2 Peter is one of those timeless lessons:

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.  And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed.  And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. (2 Peter 2:1-3)

Also just as relevant today as when it was penned is the Apostle Paul’s advice to young Timothy:

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:  preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.  For the time is coming when people will not endure sound. teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions,  and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. (2 Timothy 4: 1-4)

Combine false teachers and itching ears and you have the perfect match. The false teachers in our midst peddle destructive man centered heresies, and people with itching ears flock to them to have their passions validated and listen to promises of their fulfillment.

Nothing new here……move along?

Not just yet – not without a word concerning ‘destructive heresies’.

The above scripture connects destructive heresies to sinful human passions In other words, tell people how they can have all of their temporal wishes and desires and you have a winner. You can start your own church in your living room, and if you repackage the same old lies, you might even end up a megachurch with campuses all over town!

So what do these heresies look like today? Good question. The term ‘dream destiny’ comes almost immediately to mind. I hear it quite a lot these days. We are even told that the dream destiny/personal vision we have in our hearts and minds is God given! Furthermore, if we don’t yet have a personal dream destiny, we probably haven’t had a real encounter with God (but that’s a separate subject). If you are old like me (mid-60s) and have been paying attention to trends in today’s churches (especially megachurches), you might observed the same thing I have. Or, you might think I’ve been smoking whacky weed (I do live in Colorado, after all).

I think that today’s ‘dream destiny’ is yesterday’s ‘purpose’. Although personal ambition has always been a part of the human construct, I think that ‘self-centered’ Christianity was kicked into high gear when “The Purpose Driven Life” was first published in 2002. The author, Rick Warren, was slick. In the first few pages he tells us that life’s all about God. With that thought in the back of our minds, helped along with a gentle reminder now and again, the book proceeds to help us, and center on, discovering our individual, tailor made, God given purpose for living.

The book became the second best seller in human history, we are told. An small ‘industry’ was spawned that included a partnership with Reader’s Digest in order to “provide a suite of bundled multimedia tools: The Purpose Driven Connection, a quarterly magazine; small group study materials delivered in DVDs, workbooks and downloadable discussion guides; and a state-of-the-art Christian social networking Web site.”

Fast forward to 2015. While we don’t hear so much about being ‘purpose driven’ anymore, we sure hear about ‘personal visions’ and ‘dream destinies’, even from Pastor Rick. Terminology has changed, and quite naturally! Once we have our God designed special purpose figured out we need to move on and grow into something ‘more’, something ‘bigger’ – our personal ‘destiny’!

Our need for Christ is no longer based on the need for a savior from our sin (its penalty, power over us in this life, and its very presence in the future), but it’s based on fulfilling our own special purpose and destiny in this life.

We now have a form of ‘Christianity’ so self-centered it hardly resembles the New Testament church or the teaching of the Apostles, to which early believers were so devoted. (See Acts, Chapter 2). In fact, it opposes many of the teachings of Christ himself! In other words, the combination of ‘false teachers’ and ‘itching ears’ has turned Christianity completely on its head! A match made in Hell, indeed!

______________

As an afterthought (not really), consider for a few moments the following passages of scripture and what our attitude should be concerning things temporal:

Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. (John 12:25)

If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. (Matthew 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23)

 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Rom 12: 2)

You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. (James 4:4)

“What did God say to you today?”

Posted by Dan C. on

I listened to a teaching this last Sunday morning, in which direct and personal extra-Biblical encounters with God were again spoken much of, while the God in the Bible was referred to as “the idea God” opposed to the ‘manifest presence’ and ‘relational presence’ of God that are more personal and direct encounters with God and therefore somehow more intimate than just the written Word. We heard about things like ‘divine gravity’ (Jesus being lifted up and drawing men) and ‘trans-generational anointing’ (Ezekial to John the Baptist) and how we can also experience/see both in our own lives as we ‘turn’ to see the ‘manifest presence’ and enter the ‘relational presence’ of God. Se have been told in previous sermons in the ‘Encountering God’ series that if we sit quietly with our pens journals in the morning and write what the voices we hear are saying we will eventually be able to identify ‘God’s voice’ and have wonderful encounters that will “increase our relationship with God”, something we all need to do.

After the teaching (to be continued next week) we were asked “What did God say to you today?” Here is my answer.

  • That while I dead in sin He made me Alive in Christ and I am seated with Christ in the Heavenly realm. Eph 2:1-6
  • That He has baptized me in the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit lives in me. Eph 4:5
  • That I am declared righteous in Christ . Rom 8:1-4
  • That all my sins have been forgiven because I have trusted in Christ as my substitute. Eph 1:7
  • That He gave me as a love gift to his Son and I shall never perish. John 10:28
  • That since I believe in Christ I will not be condemned for unbelief. John 3:18
  • That scripture is sufficient for every good work.2 Tim 3:16-17
  • That he works in me to desire and do what pleases him. Phil 2:1

That’s how God spoke to me from His Word this last Sunday morning. These passages tell me who I am in Christ, and how I interact with God on a regular basis. The question that arose in my heart was “With all God has given me already, why would I need to have these extra-Biblical encounters?” 

A few more passages came to mind after the morning teaching:

  • God has already spoken. Heb 1:1-3
  • Don’t go beyond what is written. 1 Cor 4:6
  • Don’t add to the words of scripture. Rev 22:18

Well, those are my thoughts. Sadly (to me, anyway) many are going after extra-Biblical encounters these days, treating them as if they are some form of ‘higher’ spirituality. Subjective experiences rather than objective truth rules the day.

But like I said, these are my thoughts, not yours. They have been on my mind for quite some time now, but have become more significant and closer to home of late. If you are reading this I only ask that you consider them for a moment or two.

And have a blessed day!