Evangelical gullibility fuels the flames of "fairy tales as truth"

It has happened to all of us. Some person with a so-called testimony akin to Paul's Damascus experience visits your church and tells you his story. The story is extremely well told, interspersed with tear-jerking sad stories and side-splitting funny anecdotes, with a smattering of heroics.

The person seems to be so nice that we just can't help ourselves liking and believing this person. If we don't believe him, then our subjective ideas of salvation to Christianity will not be confirmed. So, we believe, because it is so great that a satanist or a Muslim had come to Christ and now have such an awesome testimony for Christ! Surely, this is the person God had been waiting for to get those amazing in-roads among satanists and Muslims!

Scientology Dismantled

HT: Doubt Free Living

End Times nuttiness!

Every now and again a new 'prophet' comes on the scene. Now, whenever a person builds his whole ministry around the end times I become skeptical. That skepticism sometimes turns into hysterics, from laughter.

It is no different with Ronald Weinland. Here is a guy who has it all together. According to him, he is one of the two witnesses mentioned in the book of Revelation (11:3-12). Further, he claims that the First Trumpet of the 7th Seal will sound on April 17. Yes, the April 17 coming up in 10 days..., of 2008! So, put your seat belts on, because the ride of your life will be starting soon!

Weinland also claims to know who the 2nd witness is, whom he will reveal in a sermon on the Sabbath, 19 April, from Jerusalem. Of course, Weinland is so important in this scenario that he is also the spokesman for both of them!

He claims that Jesus will actually return on Thursday, September 29, 2011. The countdown of the last 1335 days started on 2 Feb 2008.

Of course, this is all a bunch of nonsense. Jesus made it clear that no-one will know when He is going to return.

Isn't it odd that according to the book of Revelation these two witnesses will display amazing miracles, yet, Weinland can't heal himself of a little laryngitis!

People like Weinland are the false prophets of our day.

Rick Warren shows lack of discernment

It happens to all of us. Somewhere along the line we meet people who claim to be Christians, and we accept that claim at face value. It usually happens to young Christians who have not studied the Bible enough to know what real Christians believe.

It happens to most of us. I remember, when I was but a young Christian with not much knowledge of others who claimed to be Christians, that I, together with my youth group here in South Africa, ran into the ZCCs (Zion Christian Church). To us it was very simple. "Look, it is a Christian church!" However,... these people have merged Christianity with their ancestor worship, and ended up with something that is not Christianity at all! How can you worship the ancestors and Christ together? That is an abomination. It is like worshipping the devil and Jesus while claiming that you are a Christian!

Now this is what I do not understand in Rick Warren's case. He wants mainline churches to reconcile with evangelical churches to stop their decline in membership.

According to Warren:
“100 years ago the phrase ‘social gospel’ first came out. Some people took that to mean only if we reform the social government and society and not personal faith in Christ Jesus – that is, if we make the world a better place – we don’t need personal redemption.”

Warren feels that the mainline churches went one way and evangelical churches went another. He continued:
“Who’s right? The fact is both are right. Somehow we got divided like Jesus didn’t care about society or members of society didn’t need Jesus. I think we need both.”

Warren's idea here is ignoratio elenchi. As "Seven of Nine" from Star Trek: Voyager would have said, "Irrelevant!" Warren's conclusion here is simply irrelevant. It may be right, but it is irrelevant. Sure, we need "personal redemption" and we need to be involved in society. However, Warren misses the point.

While speaking with the dean of the Washington National Cathedral, Samuel T. Lloyd III, Warren said, “The reconciliation is that in a pluralistic world…we (Christians) need to be on the same team because we share the same savior.” This is where many in evangelicalism differ with Warren. It is this very belief of Warren's that make his statement above ignoratio elenchi.

The fact is that among the mainline churches there is gross apostasy. They either deny all or some of the fundamentals of Christianity. From denying the virgin birth, to denying the death of Christ, to denying the resurrection of Christ, to denying that the Bible is the inerrant inspired Word of God, these people have walked away from what the Bible clearly teaches on almost every facet the Bible touches on, whether doctrinal or moral!

The fact is, contrary to what Mr. Warren has said, we do not "share the same savior." The fact is that these people cannot call themselves Christians when they deny the very faith they claim to hold onto.

Which brings me back to Rick Warren. Is this man so Biblically inept, that he will welcome anyone into the Christian fold? Who's next? The Mormons? The Jehovah's Witnesses? It seems to me that Warren wants to become all things to all people. Yet, contrary to the apostle Paul, it certainly is not to win some. He went to Iran... to pat Ahmedinejad on the back. He went to Jewish synagogues... to help them grow their membership. Now he goes to mainline churches... to reconcile with them. Based on what? That we have the same "savior." Think again!

How is that so many hold Warren in such high esteem (for some just below God Himself), yet he does not know why evangelicals parted ways with the mainline churches almost 100 years ago? Liberalism flooded what is now called the mainline churches. It came to be accepted in these churches to deny the fundamental doctrines of the faith and to basically become "social clubs" with the name of Christ somewhere close.

Evangelicalism did not part with mainline churches over something like community involvement. It was a doctrinal parting. The evangelical church continued with following the fundamentals of the faith and caring for the poor, etc. Several surveys over the years have concluded that evangelicals give and care more than mainline churches or the world do. Yet, people continue to hold onto the modern media caricature of evangelicals as uncaring. That is simply false!

Ingrid Schlueter wrote:
"Rick Warren’s presence in the pulpit of National Cathedral on January 27, and his call for 'reconciliation' with such churches should disgust every Christian who believes in the authority of Holy Scripture and who understands the critical importance of the foundational doctrines of the Christian faith. National Cathedral is a New Age pantheon to the gods of the world religions. That's why the church can feature goddess theology proponents teaching women how to dance in 'sacred circles', welcome the worship of Tibetan monks, teach Buddhist meditation techniques and introduce attendees to the Jewish Kabbalah. Where is Rick Warren's concern about the people who are on their way to hell in these churches that blaspheme the Lord Jesus Christ with goddess worship, homosexuality, a rejection of Christ’s penal substitutionary atonement, a denial of the authority of Scripture, and the promotion of the doctrines of anti-Christ?"

The point is that Rick Warren does not seem to exercise any discernment. How can this man want to merge truth and heresy? Truth and apostasy?

To read more on the essentials or fundamentals of the faith, read "What is the Gospel? What is the foundation to the Gospel?"

Some posts on the importance of truth and doctrine:
Without truth - empty, heartless gestures to God
The Relevancy of Doctrine
The Gospel: Diluted and non-Saving
Is the preacher a "reliable carrier" of God's truth?

Media nuisance

I wonder how you respond to the media when they "reveal" the "latest" in scholarly research on Jesus, especially when it contradicts everything Christianity has believed for the last 2000 years?

Darrell Bock has written a short article addressing this issue. Even though it is not an in-depth look at the issues, it certainly gets one thinking.

"Not long ago, topics like textual criticism and the extra-biblical Gospels elicited yawns from my seminary students. I went through the obligatory motions of covering these staples of New Testament study, knowing that no matter how hard I tried, questions would be rare and engagement minimal.

"All that has changed. Topics like the James ossuary and the Gospel of Judas have hit Times Square, not only pricking the attention of seminary students, but also garnering coverage from journalists and culture-watchers, from CBS News's traditional news team to 360 Degrees's Anderson Cooper."

Continue reading here...

HT: Justin Taylor

Charismatic nuttiness

Phil Johnson, one of the PYROMANIACS, has written a two-part blog post on the nuttiness of the charismatic movement.

Even though I will be seen as a charismatic, (yeah, I do believe that the gifts continue today), I do think that Phil's assessment has great value. It is for this very reason I do NOT like to be labelled a Reformed Charismatic, since the term "charismatic" has the meaning "charismaniac" in my mind. Simply think of all the heretics that are very acceptable within the charismaniac movement, and you immediately know why I would rather see myself as a continuationist and NOT a charismatic.

Anyhow, Phil's two posts are as follows:
If You Can't Say Something Nice...
Something "Nice"?

Sex-change minister reappointed to lead church

Apostasy is rife in the church. I am talking about churches that are supposed to be evangelical. They allow heretics such as T.D. Jakes, Benny Hinn, Kenneth Copeland, and others like them to grace their pulpits and their bookstores!

However, there are churches out there that simply no longer deserve the term "church" in the name of their liberal, ungodly institutions! One such church reappointed a minister that had a sex change operation since being appointed there initially!

A United Methodist minister who has changed gender since being chosen to lead a congregation in Baltimore will be reappointed there, church officials announced Thursday at a regional convocation.

The Rev. Drew Phoenix told the church's Baltimore-Washington conference that he had gone through "spiritual transformation" in the past year, since changing his name from Ann Gordon and receiving medical treatment to become a man.

Continue reading...

What is that you're wearing?

Dan Phillips has written a couple of thought proving blog posts on the issue of dressing modestly.

In this post he points to a post by Jim Jordan simply called "On Dressing Modestly." This is an excellent post for dads who have daughters (and sons). Here is an excerpt:

While reading a post over at Pyromaniacs on this subject I was reminded that I had intended to write about something that happened when my daughter first dressed too immodestly. She had just shy of 10 years old and had decided she was going to wear her 5-year old Power Puff Girls shirt [is that still around?], which didn't cover anything below her rib cage. She combined that with a pair of low riding shorts. Prancing around the room, she asked, "Daddy, what do you think?"

I thought for a second, then answered,"It looks like you want all the boys at school to know that your dying to have sex with them." Her face turned beat red and her her mouth formed into a Mr. Bill-style "Oh, no!" expression.

Continue reading...

Of course, this goes against everything this "Britney Spears/Lindsay Lohan/Pussycat Dolls" culture is trying to force onto our sons and daughters!

Well said Dan and Jim!

Are you not glad this guy never became a preacher!

The devil did not approve of Joshua wanting to become a preacher, so he told the unsuspecting preacher wannabe to microwave his daughter... And, Joshua did as the devil commanded!

No wonder the world takes Christianity so seriously!

This video proves why the world takes Christianity so seriously! I do not mean seriously as in a viable alternative worldview with answers to life, but seriously as in need of psychiatric treatment. No wonder in some circles Christianity is seen as a psychological disorder!

But then, if the non-discerning keep supporting these quacks--this is the nicest word I could think up for them--then these quacks will keep on multiplying like rabbits!

This is not REAL Christianity, but Hey!, this is all the world really sees of Christianity. And, we all know that TV is not a good medium of presenting anything the way it actually is!



HT: Irish Calvinist

Letters to a Young Evangelical

After reading what some have to say about Tony Campolo's book, "Letters to a Young Evangelical," I have to come to the conclusion that Campolo is an evangelical in garb only. In fact, it seems like he is a raging liberal trying to get Christians to follow his wayward ideas!

Reviewer Douglas LeBlanc writes, "Campolo writes that evangelical has taken on too much baggage and ought to be replaced with red-letter Christian, especially for believers who call themselves progressives but reject the label of Religious Left. Have fun with that semantic game, brother, but don't expect the evangelicals you caricature to play it with you." [italics provided by LeBlanc]

Jordan Hayden from First Things wrote A Letter to Tony Campolo in which he writes, "You start off by accusing conservative Christians of uncritically baptizing the Republican agenda, and you claim to offer a biblical outlook that "transcends party politics." But then you turn around and support nearly every plank in the Democratic party’s platform. I tried to keep track: You make an argument (liberally peppered with Bible verses) for the Democratic position on abortion, gay marriage, tax cuts, trade policy, Iraq, nuclear disarmament, school vouchers, racial profiling, the closing of Guantanamo Bay, capital punishment, and global warming.

"I have no problem with politically liberal Christians, but why do you claim to be beyond party politics when you so clearly aren’t? Do you really expect us to believe that Jesus just happens to have the same politics as Nancy Pelosi?"

HT: Justin Taylor.

U2: Christian?

Many seem to think that the band, U2, is Christian, especially their lead man Bono.

In my mind, the jury is still out, since it is almost impossible to simply use the words of their songs as an indicator of their status concerning salvation. I many times wonder if some explicit Christian bands are really Christian! How much more when a world famous personality like Bono claims to be Christian!

Well, here are some links to get you started:
Why I Would Follow Bono Into Hell...
Mock the Devil
U2 Sermons (I know... it does sound like an oxymoron!)
Get Up Off Your Knees: Preaching the U2 Catalog

Prophets for our profit?

It seems that the in-thing these days is to be known as a prophet! They are really coming out of the wood-work! I sometimes wonder if they listen to themselves at all?! If they had any theological savvy, they would come to realize that they speak a lot of nonsense most of the time.

With a little bit of Bible history they can avoid a lot of embarrassment!

In fact, churches that play up this type of nonsensical ministry might just avoid embarrassment for themselves!

Why do I say this? Well, a so-called prophet recognized by many as a prophet prophesied at church on Sunday. In his prophecy he spoke of the events of Joshua being 3000 years before Christ. Well, do you see the problem here?

The events surrounding Joshua's life are about 1400 years before Christ. To put it simply, either God was wrong in His words to this prophet, or this prophet did not hear God! We know God cannot be wrong; so, it is self-evident that this man did not hear from God and neither is he a prophet!

What is so amazing is that he gave his prophecy with this factual error intact and no-one even raised an eyebrow! Of course, I did! I immediately told my wife that this "prophecy" was in error.So, in fact, the whole church was duped!

It seems that prophets are not just hanging around our churches these days. They are setting up "shop" in suburban areas too where they advertise their services. Free, of course! There is a disclaimer! "The Lord cannot help those who fail to show appreciation to the prophets he sent to help them.”

The problem with many of these profits prophets, is that they think that because they are prophets, they do not need to study the Bible at all.

No REAL prophet of God will side-line the Bible like that!