Huffington Post: Elevation Church’s ‘Spontaneous Baptisms’ Are Planned By Pastor Steven Furtick In Advance A Southern Baptist megachurch pastor in North Carolina, already under fire for buying a $1.6 million house, is in the spotlight again for “spontaneous baptisms” that turn out to be not nearly so spontaneous. Steven Furtick, 34, routinely draws about 14,000 worshippers to several campuses of Elevation Church in and around Charlotte. The church, launched in 2006, have been listed by Outreach magazine as one of the top 100 fastest-growing churches in the country. Part of that growth has been attributed to Elevation’s flashy baptism ceremonies, particularly as the Southern Baptist Convention grows increasingly concerned about declining baptism rates as a key measure of evangelism and church vitality. But a new report from NBC Charlotte suggests that Elevation’s supposedly spontaneous baptisms are carefully planned ahead of time, with people planted in the congregation to start the walk down the aisle.”
The article goes on to explain the ‘How-To’ of Elevation Church’s ‘spontaneous’ baptism, right down to the percentages of what sized clothes to order to give to the wet baptizees after they come up from the water.
I knew about Furtick’s Elevation Church’s non-spontaneous baptism before. I wrote about Furtick’s deception last November. What hurts is the shame we feel by sharing the name ‘Christian’ with such a one as Mr Furtick, and having that shame exposed to the mocking, unbelieving world. What hurts is the harm done to the name of Jesus, and the unbelievers who turn from our precious Savior in scorn.
I wasn’t saved until I was 43 years old. I lived through the televangelist scandals of the 80s and 90s. Jimmy Swaggart, Jim Bakker, Oral Roberts (remember his 900 foot tall Jesus vision?) all were fodder for me to be convinced that Christianity was a crock. The arrival of cable television in the 80s and the rise of money grubbing televangelists beamed into my home didn’t help my attitude. Never having been inside a church, the cable programs and the newspaper headlines were the church. At least they were the face of it, for me.
“Someone needs to say this plainly: The faith healers and health-and-wealth preachers who dominate religious television are shameless frauds. Their message is not the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. There is nothing spiritual or miraculous about their on-stage chicanery. It is all a devious ruse designed to take advantage of desperate people. They are not Godly ministers but greedy impostors who corrupt the Word of God for money’s sake. They are not real pastors who shepherd the flock of God but hirelings whose only design is to fleece the sheep. Their love of money is glaringly obvious in what they say as well as how they live. They claim to possess great spiritual power, but in reality they are rank materialists and enemies of everything holy. —John MacArthur
Now we have Furtick deceiving the people, and himself, of course. There’s a reason for these verses:
“Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil. (1 Timothy 3:7)
But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. (2 Corinthians 4:2)
“We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry,” (2 Corinthians 6:3)
Chicanery, greed, and deceit exhibited in these Christians were certainly obstacles for me to come to Christ. Who wants to become a part of a religion where people were always falling from grace, exposed as liars, shown to be deceptive, and say and do ridiculous things all the time? Now, I know that in His sovereign way, He elected me to salvation and the moment was ordained from before the foundation of the world. (Ephesians 1:4). But on the other hand, schemes and wiles such as Mr Furtick’s are a stumbling block.
And the larger issue, now that I’m saved, is shame that the name of Jesus is associated with tricks like Furtick’s and done in church no less.
In researching this post, I came across a How-To from the internationally-known speech-making organization- the Toastmasters. It is called “How to Plant a Shill in the Audience“. It should be noted that at least the Toastmasters admit that planting a shill is a “trick”, “deceptive”, and “sneaky.” They also advise revealing to the audience at the end of the trick that the shill was indeed a plant. It should be noted that the supposed Christian, ‘Pastor’ Furtick, makes no such admission about his shills. Click the image to enlarge. You will see eerily similar language between the Toastmasters how-to for manipulating an audience by using shills during speeches, and Furtick’s manipulation of his audience by using plants during the spontaneous baptisms.
My only comfort in all this is that Jesus is King. He will repay. And I’m looking forward to it. I long for the day when His name will be besmirched in word or deed no more.
There is definitely an art to shill-planting, but it can be a highly useful tool in your bag of speaking tricks. Use it sparingly and wisely. Plan it out carefully and it will serve you well.
With all the world’s attention focused on the coup in Kiev, Ukraine right now, and the ongoing problem of Syria’s civil war, little news attention has been paid to uprisings in two other places: Caracas, Venezuela and Bangkok, Thailand.
Francisco Toro at the Caracas Chronicles wrote on February 20th,
The above was an analysis opinion, though backed with links. What do other news outlets say is happening in Caracas?
The Financial Times reports that “Caracas Protesters vow to turn Venezuela into another Ukraine“ “As the death toll from 10 days of violence rose to at least eight, at dusk on Saturday he was among the demonstrators in Caracas’s Plaza Altamira, an opposition stronghold, hurling rocks at security forces at the end of a march that drew in tens of thousands of people.”
Bloomberg news reports that Opposition Agrees to talks as Unrest rocks Caracas Anti-government demonstrations are in their second week after Lopez’s Voluntad Popular party on Feb. 12 organized marches to speak out against rising crime, the world’s fastest inflation and shortages of everything from milk to medicine. The protests have turned violent on a nightly basis as police clash with students, resulting in at least eight deaths.
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Meanwhile in Bangkok
Thai PM rules out resigning as bombs, gunfire punctuate unrest Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, the target of anti-government protests in Bangkok, has been staying outside the city and on Monday ruled out resigning despite a series of deadly attacks heaping pressure on her administration. The protests have been punctuated by gunfire and bomb blasts, including one on Sunday that killed a woman and a young brother and sister. They are aimed at unseating Yingluck and erasing the influence of her brother, former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who is seen by many as the power behind the government.
All this unrest in various nations is creating refugees and asylum seekers, who themselves are subjected to sometimes horrific conditions. Protests have been occurring where violence often breaks out. At the Australian-run asylum center on Papua New Guinea there was a riot to protest conditions, but authoritarian secrecy has locked the facility down, and there are at best conflicting reports of what actually happened. All they know is an Iranian woman seeking asylum died.
Of the unrest ongoing in the northern tier of Africa, many refugees flee to the island off Italy called Lampedusa, as they had been since the outbreak of the Arab Spring in Morocco and Tunisia in 2011. However, these facilities were never meant to handle the hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing nations in unrest. Again, tragedies occur.
Turkey has set up refugee camps where more than half a million Syrians fleeing the three-year unrest in their native country have been living. Yet for many, there is no escape from the violence, there, either.
6.5 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Syria; 2.4 million Syrians Displaced to Neighboring Countries.
50 largest refugee camps “The legacy of the world’s conflicts can be seen in the scores of camps for refugees around the world. This story profiles the 50 most populous settlements administered by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. Contrary to popular belief, many of these settlements are far from temporary, and most of the largest ones are in Africa and South Asia. In total, these camps are home to over 1.9 million uprooted people.“
The world’s unrest is making a restless population. Not only are those within the nations affected but also the ones who flee are affected, and the places they flee to are affected. I am reminded of the prophecy:
“Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.” (Luke 21:10)
Nation against nation means two things. The word for nations as it is used here is ‘ethnos’ meaning nation, as in Syria against Israel, for example. It also means a race of people, as in Sunni against Shia, or Tutsi against Hutu.
There is another verse which comes to mind also.
“And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves,” (Luke 21:25)
I’ve often thought that the reference to the sea here is to peoples. It absolutely could mean actual sea. No doubt. But I always wondered why the peoples will be perplexed as to why the seas are roaring. So I began to believe that the restless sea (peoples) are being referred to. There is precedent that sea means mass of people as a metaphor. In Isaiah, the sea is actually defined as a metaphor of restless peoples.
But the wicked are like the tossing sea; for it cannot be quiet, and its waters toss up mire and dirt.” (Isaiah 57:20)
In Revelation 13:1 the first beast (antichrist) is described as coming out of the sea.
“And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads.” (Revelation 13:1)
The first beast rises out of the sea. In that verse it is obvious that it is a metaphor, because it is highly unlikely that the antichrist rises from the actual sea as a man, dripping with sea water and entwined with seaweed.
So I believe the word sea there is a use of the old metaphor for the restless nations. I don’t think it is too far a stretch to say that the ‘distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, are the wicked in the nations.
In any case, there is global unrest that is prolonged and affecting millions upon millions at this moment. Entire nations are almost being uprooted and masses of people expelled. The wicked, teeming mass of humanity in many nations is being oppressed and displaced. The global psyche is very tenuous right now.
“Again I saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun. And behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they had no one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power, and there was no one to comfort them.” (Ecclesiastes 4:1)
There are many blessings about living in this time. We see the Spirit at work, we see prophecies unfolding, we can pray in joyous anticipation for the Lord’s return. However there are also many sad parts to living in this time also. We mourn for these displaced people and for the children affected by all this national and sectarian violence. We know that many don’t have the joy of resting in Jesus, they don’t know Him. We mourn those who die, and are in hell right now because they didn’t know Jesus. We know that it is only going to be harder each day. Our brethren are persecuted and killed at a rate unheard of in any previous time. It is going to continue to get darker before it gets better.
Because the Church won’t be going through the Tribulation, we know the Lord will call for us any time. We may have one day left on earth or several more years. At least we know that we have a great joy to look forward to. You can have great joy as well.
If you don’t know Jesus and are depressed at the way the world is going, then repent of your sins. Jesus will save you from the wrath to come- both the wrath on this earth (1 Thessalonians 5:9, Romans 5:9) and the wrath in hell. (John 3:36). Repent and turn to Jesus, the only One who can save. He is building His church, He is preparing a place for His bride, and will return soon to take us to where He is.
“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” (John 14:3)
“But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” (John 5:17)
God and Jesus and the Spirit are always working. We know this. But we forget that satan is always working too.
I’m not equating satan with Jesus, but I’m reminding us that satan is restless, relentless, and remorseless.
Satan prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8). Satan roams the earth (Job 1:7). Satan schemes. (2 Corinthians 2:11). Satan blinds. (2 Corinthians 4:4). Satan sifts. (Luke 22:31). Satan deceives. (2 Corinthians 11:3)
I have recently published a review of Rend Collective Experiment‘s music, a contemporary music-worship band. Some contemporary music sung in church as praise music is theologically OK, much of it is not. I’ve been concerned with the appearance of theologically weak adult contemporary music and its rapid embeddedness into worship. I’m also concerned of course with the outright biblically aberrant adult contemporary music.
However, where we think satan has been resisted successfully in one area, he appears in another. Like children’s music.
Thank the Lord we are in a body and working as a unit, each of us operating in the gifts He has given us. I read a very good essay by Tom Chantry this morning about the theology of some children’s music sung in church.
Here is an excerpt. I recommend reading the full essay at Mr Chantry’s blog
I am no advocate of the full-throttle family-integrated approach, but I have been concerned by what is now the well-established trend of separate worship for kids. Parents accept the idea that children’s ministries do a better job than church of introducing their kids to Jesus. What they fail to ask themselves is just who this “Jesus” is that their kids will meet.
His essay is a good reminder to me that there is no sphere satan will overlook in his attempts to weaken the Bride. He even attacks children! So let us remember that we work too. It is a never-ending work in which we are not to become weary. We’re not only working, but we are in a battle. Keep up your sword! If your arms become weary, let another help you lift them! (Exodus 17:12). We can do it until He comes!
We resist satan. (James 4:7, 1 Peter 5:9) We humble ourselves. (1 Peter 5:6) We obey. (Colossians 3:22) We fight the good fight of the faith. (1 Timothy 6:12) We wrestle. (Ephesians 6:12).
We stand!
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.
To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints…“ (Ephesians 6:12-18)
And it might do to take a look at the lyrics of the songs your children are singing in your church. The controversy surrounding Steven Furtick and Elevation Church’s children’s ministry, his cult-like exhortations in his church’s children’s coloring book, is even moreevidence that satan will not overlook children’s ministries in order to do his hellish work.
But if we resist the devil, he will flee from us, and the Light of Jesus’s glory will shine so brightly! May all that we do be for Your glory, Jesus, now and forever.
When Adam and Eve trusted the words of the serpent instead of GOD and stepped out into disobedience, they fell from grace.
To the woman God said,
“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” (Genesis 3:16).
Then God made His prophetic pronouncements to Adam (the ground is cursed because of you, labor will be painful, you’ll sweat and toil, the serpent will be bruised under the heel of the woman’s offspring)
When God was finished speaking, the man called his wife’s name Eve, “because she was the mother of all living.” (Genesis 3:20)
God Judging Adam, cropped, by Wm. Blake, 1795
Was Eve a mother yet? No. Adam’s naming of Eve was a step into faith based on the future promises of God.
If Adam’s faith was so great based on such little revelation, how much more faith should we have based on the incarnation of Christ, the indwelling work of the Holy Spirit, and the completed revelation of God?
“For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:17)
In January of 2012 I wrote a report of the global sky sounds people have been hearing. Variously called sky hums, sounds of the apocalypse, or sky quakes, they have appeared recently and have not only been heard by many, but have been recorded and reported on by mainstream news. I wrote:
Strange noises in the sky: hums, booms, and other apocalyptic escapades
“The noises are usually a low pitched hum that veritably drives the residents crazy, or a boom from the sky that people liken to a sonic boom. When they occur, the authorities receive dozens to hundreds of phone calls asking if there had been an earthquake. In most cases, the boom is not related to a military activity nor aeronautic exercise, not to a quake, and not to drilling or explosives. These things are checked out and the usual explanation is usually absent, leaving residents to wonder what is the cause of the noise. That’s why they are termed mysterious.”
Since the general emergence of these sounds; a few years ago, they have continued to perplex and frighten. Just this week in St. Paul, Minnesota, another spate of sounds frightened the residents there.
St. Paul Residents Ponder Loud, Mysterious Noise Heard Thursday Morning
“A loud, strange noise early Thursday morning woke up some residents in St. Paul and frightened others. People heard it for about an hour, in and around the Highland Park and Mac Groveland neighborhoods. KSTP called Ramsey County dispatch and sent a crew to investigate. Dispatch said they received about 10 calls from homeowners wondering what the noise was. They sent out a few officers to investigate but they couldn’t find anything. The howling traveled for miles, right through the walls of homes.”
Now, there is a difference between these particular sounds, and other sounds that normally occur and startle residents. For example, the transformer in front of my house was struck by lightning and blew up, and it made an enormous sound which scared me (and the cats) like to death. However, it was the suddenness of the sound and the loudness of the sound and not the sound itself which was startling. I recognized it as a normal, if very loud sound. The same with a thunderclap and the same with the boom associated with the earthquake that happened near GA this week, and the same with sonic booms that occasionally happen as jets takeoff at the Air Force Base some distance away. We have a catalog of sounds in our head and when we hear one we classify it. The brain immediately categorizes those sounds as infrequent but normal.
Not so with these sky booms. They aren’t even particularly loud, but it seems that is it the quality of the sound that spooks people. They are unclassifiable. Here are some quotes from people who heard the St. Paul noise-
Howling sound ‘creeps out’ St. Paul –“It was kind of a howling, kind of a scraping, kind of a metallic sound,” said Aaron Buesing. –Trudy Moloney explained it as “kind of a somber music and eerie sounding.”
Quite often, the noises are described as metallic, spooky, and eerie. They describe them as chains clanking or sometimes, something straight from hell.
In this report from the UK, also from last week,
Coventry residents left baffled by mystery ‘Independence Day’ noise
“Reports have come in describing a loud noise in the sky which lasted around one minute and was heard by residents in Whitley, Walsgrave, Stoke and Wyken. Mitch Wise, 19, from Walsgrave, said the noise was so loud he could hear it inside his house despite all the windows and doors being closed. He said: “I did think it sounded like something out of Independence Day, that kind of noise.” [Independence Day, the alien invasion movie]
Or this from Kentucky, also this week:
Booms in the Night; Officials scurry to locate source; MSU professor offers explanation for strange sounds
“A series of strange noises awakened Murray-area residents in the pre-dawn hours Friday, causing law enforcement agencies to answer several calls related to mysterious sounds that were being reported. Dr. George Kipphut, chairman of the Murray State University Department of Geosciences, said he is relatively certain that a phenomenon known as a frost quake is the cause of the eerie resonance…. I’ve never heard one, and this is unusual for this climate we live in,” Kipphut said. Kipphut said frost quakes — officially known in the geological community as cryoseisms — are more associated with the extreme northern portions of the United States into Canada.”
Even when the loud booms and explosions are heard and there is likely a natural explanation, like cryoseisms, it seems that there exists something weird with these, as well. In the above story, they are happening in places where they don’t usually. In the article below, they are happening much more frequently than they ever have.
A cryoseism is a frost quake. As Wikipedia explains, “They may be caused by a sudden cracking action in frozen soil or rock saturated with water or ice. As water drains into ground, it may eventually freeze and expand under colder temperatures, putting stress on its surroundings. This stress builds up until relieved explosively in the form of a cryoseism.”
This past January in Vermont, apparently several cryoseisms occurred. As Gib Brown, who works as both a geology and physics educator, explains, “I thought a tree fell on my house,” Brown recalled. “I looked outside, I looked up and down the street, couldn’t see anything. It had to have been a cryoseism.” Brown likened the phenomenon to the way potholes can be formed by freezing water, except under the earth, where their invisibility adds to their mystery. Brown called the frost quakes fairly rare but not wildly unusual. “I would say the numbers this year are way above average,” Brown said.” [underline mine]
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Let’s turn from the fact of these noises and the reaction to them … to the Bible. I’d said in the blog essay I wrote two years ago that the Bible specifically does not address the noises as a sign. Though officials have searched for an explanation (airplanes, drilling, ice, etc) they have come up empty. Neither biblical nor secular explanations seem to be coming to the fore. So from this paragraph forward there is only speculation on my part. However there is perhaps an application to the end times that I want to share.
First, there are these verses from Jeremiah 25:30-31
You, therefore, shall prophesy against them all these words, and say to them:
“‘The Lord will roar from on high,
and from his holy habitation utter his voice;
he will roar mightily against his fold,
and shout, like those who tread grapes,
against all the inhabitants of the earth.
31The clamor will resound to the ends of the earth,
for the Lord has an indictment against the nations;
he is entering into judgment with all flesh,
and the wicked he will put to the sword,
declares the Lord.”
Verse 31, ‘the clamor’ also is translated ‘a noise.’ Pulpit Commentary says of ‘a noise’, the word is used elsewhere for the tumultuous sound of a marching army, or the roar of waters.
Many people say that the noise they’ve been hearing includes a clanking or a metallic sound. I’ve said before that I often wonder if it is leak-through from the unholy angels gathering for the great unleashing upon the world. When prophet Elisha asked God to open his servant’s eyes, I wonder if in addition to seeing the angelic army … if he heard anything too.
Then Elisha prayed and said, “O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. (2 Kings 6:17)
The fear.
There is fear of the LORD, which isn’t a scary fear for a Christian. CARM says of the fear of God:
Yes, we should fear God because He is the Almighty Creator who can discipline us should we rebel against Him. He is so holy and so awesome that being in His presence brings an inspiring fear. … When anyone experiences the Majesty of the Lord, he naturally is humbled and the awesome greatness of God automatically produces a normal and healthy fear.
But we do not need to fear God’s judgment. As for satan, we need not fear him because Jesus has already overcome satan. We only need resist satan and he will flee from us. (James 4:7).
The unsaved don’t fear God. They do not fear satan either. They unknowingly serve satan. If they happen to have encounters with the supernatural, often times satan’s ministers appear as angels of light, (2 Corinthians 11:14-15) or in new age terms, ‘spirit guides.’ Since satan chooses either to allow himself to be culturally diminished (as in a pointy horns and a red tail made fun of on Halloween) or as a gentle spirit guide, muse, or another kind of other worldly helper, the unsaved don’t fear satan.
What would people think whose incorrect notion of satan or spirit guides were to be unmasked and they say the demons as they really are?
I believe they are getting a taste of it with these sky noises. If these people who heard the sky noise for one second and were frightened out of their wits, what will happen when they see the very demons of hell unleashed?
And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit.a 2He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. 3Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. (Revelation 9:1-3)
Read the rest of Revelation 9.
These demons are allowed to torment any person during the Tribulation who does not have the seal of God on their foreheads. How would you feel to see a demon chasing you? Biting you? Tormenting you? The Greek word for torment in the verse is literally “torture”.
These sky booms have no liken in the world. They aren’t made naturally. They frighten people, and I believe the sounds are made supernaturally.
Matthew Henry said of the Jeremiah verse, “Who can avoid trembling when God speaks in displeasure?” And who among the unsaved can avoid trembling when the demons of hell sound their chains their appearance?
You know how it energizes the arena when Queen’s “We will rock you” STOMP STOMP CLAP comes over the loudspeakers? Of course it would incite the demons’ maniacal glee to know the time is near. Because they know. (Matthew 8:29). I wonder if the restless demons in gloomy dungeons (Jude 1:6, 2 Peter 2:4) are chanting “we will, we will bite you!” CLANK CLANK CLAP
It’s interesting to think hypothetically of the sky booms as a demonic version of this:
The GOOD NEWS is that Jesus paid it all, and we no longer need fear God in a bad way nor fear what satan can do to us. If you repent, nothing on earth can frighten you. Not an eerie noise, not a demon masquerading as an angel of light, not even satan.
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:28)
Yesterday I wrote a blog essay covering the news that a “first of its kind earthquake” had hit Oman. I also reported about the large-ish quake that had struck the UK, where quakes occur, but not all that frequently.
Today KOCO of Oklahoma City published a news article about the earthquake swarm that has been going on in Oklahoma. The KOCO article had the following headline:
OGS: 150+ quakes in one week in Oklahoma “There have been more than 150 earthquakes in the past week in Oklahoma, according to the Oklahoma Geological Survey (OGS). That’s not normal. Before 2009, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported Oklahoma would typically get three or fewer 3.0+ magnitude quakes a year. In the last few years, the average jumped up to about 40 significant quakes a year. Less than 2 months into 2014, Oklahoma has had more than 25 quakes registering 3.0+ magnitude in Oklahoma. Michael Lewchuk, an earthquake expert with Casady School, told KOCO, “For Oklahoma that is an unusually large amount. We typically have somewhere between 50-100 in one full year.”
The quake swarm is so perplexing and problematic (for geologists AND for homeowners/residents) that the Oklahoma Geological Survey has released a position paperspecifically addressing it.
There has been a significant increase in seismic activity (earthquakes) in Oklahoma since 2009. And although the majority of these earthquakes are not strong enough to be felt, the Oklahoma Geological Survey (OGS) recognizes that the increase in “felt” seismic activity is of interest to the citizens of the state. … –Since 2009, the earthquake activity in Oklahoma has been approximately 40 times higher than in the previous 30 years. –Based on reported “felt” earthquakes prior to the establishment of the OGS network, this recent level of seismicity is significantly greater than the past 100 years. –The energy released by earthquakes is thousands of times greater than the energy that may have been added by waterdisposal, which demonstrates that the earthquakes themselves are, ultimately, the result of the release of natural stresses. [Ed Note: as opposed to fracking] —The “Jones Earthquake Swarm” appears, in part, to have shown some activity that statistically deviates from the regional stresses and other general observations of seismicity in Oklahoma. “The earthquakes keep coming in Oklahoma. Many of Oklahoma’s temblors are too small to be felt by humans, but their frequency and intensity seems to be growing.” (source)
So the upshot is, since 2009 Oklahoma has had a monster increase in earthquakes. The Geologic Society recognizes that residents are spooked. They are looking into it. They haven’t come to a reasonable conclusion as to why OK is jumping and cracking.
“According to the Oklahoma Geological Survey (OGS), there were more than 2,800 earthquakes in Oklahoma in 2013. That’s twice the previous high, established in 2011.” (source)
If these unusual quakes aren’t part of the birth pangs, then I don’t know what! (Matthew 24:8).
Mrs Terrell explained what happened, and how many comments she had received. Some were positive, along the lines of ‘thank you for posting this discerning information about a false teacher.’ Others were rabidly angry that their idol had been poked.
I sympathized with her. I had previously quoted Mrs Terrell in one of my many, many, MANY essays about Beth Moore but I had not seen the follow up. Every other blogger that I’ve read who posted something negative about Beth Moore (and they were few & far between for a long while, whistling in the wind) ALL got the same reactions, the same content in the comments, even. One thing I read recently that hit me is “to see if something is an idol, poke it and see how the followers react.”
One comment that people who try to defend Moore’s teaching say a lot is that “you’re jealous.” The ‘you’re jealous’ comment perplexes me the most. Commenters reacting to my pieces on Moore also say that I’m inhibiting people from delving into the word, it’s just my opinion, and I need to stop being critical. Not one ever comes up with a biblical reason to rebut my biblical reason for taking issue with Moore’s teachings. That’s because there aren’t any.
Saying ANYTHING negative about Beth Moore provokes a rabid-push back. Lately though, and thankfully too, some men have been speaking out against her methods and her false theology. Todd Friel, Mike Abendroth, Justin Peters, Jim Murphy, Tim Challies and Matt Slick at Christian Research and Apologetics Ministry (all pastors) have all recently said negative things about Moore in one aspect or another, based on her handling of the bible and what/how she teaches. I wonder if these female commenters would say that the men are “jealous” too!
Moore makes weak disciples because her teachings promote straying from from sola scriptura, providing a poor model for the new Christians coming up. She makes doubters, offers legalism, and puts in lots of conditions to faith. As a result, people wander from Jesus-the-rock and becoming scared of their doubts (i.e ‘am I doing faith right?’) they go back to Moore. It’s why she has so many groupies.
It’s hard, as a discernment person, to see so vividly how the false ones are damaging the faith and striking the sheep. I worry deeply and almost every day for women in my own congregation. So my fears are not just for the women ‘out there’ but also ‘in here’.
Moore, Rick Warren and formerly Billy Graham have been the 20th century’s worst wolves, and I am sad to say I have to put Osteen in that category too now. I say ‘sad’ because it’s so OBVIOUS Osteen is false, but increasingly, people don’t see it. At least Moore, Graham and Warren hid their apostasy for so long that it took a keen eye and a God-delivered wisdom to detect it. In other words, props for subtle cunning. Osteen is just blatantly blasphemous. However the bible does say that apostasy will increase, and Osteen certainly is evidence of that.
“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (2 Timothy 4:3-4).My sadness with Moore is now she is passing into the grandma stage, an elder woman of the faith, meaning she has been around so long she has birthed spiritual daughters…just like Revelation 2:20-23 says of the false prophetess-type Jezebel.
This is a subject near to my heart. I just want to run around to every woman and put my arms around them to protect them. But my arms are too short. The way to do that is prayer. Jesus’s arms are long enough.
