Category: discernment

Posted in discernment, false teachers, joel osteen

What Joyce Meyer believes & teaches, what Joel Osteen believes & teaches

Posted on by elizabethprata

On Twitter, A Call for Discernment ‏( @call4discern) posted a few pictorial cheat sheets on what several of the false teachers believes and teaches. I asked permission to post two of them here, What Joyce Meyer believes and teacher,s and what Joel Osteen believes and teaches.

A Call for Discernment’s bio blurb states that it “calls for Believers to stand and contend for the Faith. Our ministry is to expose the wolves that have infiltrated the flock.”

Click to enlarge

A Call 4 Discernment posted; “The teachings of Joel Osteen compared to Scripture. #falseteachers pic.twitter.com/Cp7AHlSzL9”. Click to enlarge

Note: the falseteachers.org website at the bottom of Joyce Meyers photo is a redirect to a church in Orlando FL.

Posted in bishop, discernment, gender roles, lifeway, ordained women, propel

First female Bishop; "Propelling" women beyond their roles, people with discernment called "disgruntled serial protesters"

Posted on by elizabethprata

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, (2 Timothy 4:3)

The ‘passions’ discussed today are the passions of usurping women and the men who let them.

Eve was originally created to be a helpmeet. Hers was the supportive role in helping the man. (Genesis 2:18, 20). It still is, despite cultural pressure and widespread disobedience. But because the man listened to the voice of the woman, (Genesis 3:17) who was rebelling against God and urging her mate to do so as well (Genesis 3:6) all mankind was cursed with bearing a sin nature. (Until the Redeemer came Genesis 3:15).

In addition, the woman was cursed with wanting to rule her husband. This is one of the “passions” we are to guard against, as mentioned so many times in scripture. Passions are also known as ungodly desires. (1 Timothy 1:10, Jude 1:18, etc). Women will want the man’s role.

“Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” (Genesis 3:16)

It is a tragedy when we see this played out in the home. When it is played out in the church it’s worse. And worst of all is institutionalizing the disobedience of male and female leaders within the church, as seen here in this article today from the LA Times.

Church of England consecrates Libby Lane as its first female bishop

More than 1,000 people attended the service inside York Minster, the cathedral in the northern city of York, but a lone male priest who interrupted proceedings to protest the appointment served as a reminder the move is not universally welcomed. … “No. Not in the Bible,” the Rev. Paul Williamson said when Archbishop of York John Sentamu asked the members of the congregation whether it was their will that she should be ordained. … The church later said it was prepared for the outburst because Williamson is a known “serial protester.” … “There will be a few people who will be disgruntled, but most people in the church will welcome this;”

According to the numbers given in the article, of the people present at Ms Libby Lane’s ordination ceremony, 999 people accepted it without protest, and 1 did not.

The bible is clear that leadership in the church is reserved for men. Not even all men are called to leadership positions, so this is not an issue of equality as the article presents it. It is about submission to the roles God has reserved for men, women, and children.

In 2 Timothy 2:17, Paul charges Timothy not to let his flock listen to Hymenaeus and Philetus’ worldly and godless chatter, lest their teaching spread like gangrene among them. I have always loved Paul’s vivid allusion here. It’s graphic and apt. Gangrene is a disease that spreads rapidly and if untreated, fatally. As Pulpit Commentary explains,

spread, like a gangrene, which gradually enlarges its area, corrupting the flesh that was sound before. So these heretical opinions spread in the body of the Church which is affected by them.

In case we don’t get the point, Gill’s Exposition is even more graphic,

The word “gangrene” is Greek (g), and is derived by some authors from the Paphlagonian “gangra”, a goat; it being the character of a goat to browse the grass all around without shifting. It is more correct, perhaps, to derive it from the Greek word “manduco”, “consumo”, I eat, I consume. The “gangrene” is a disease in the flesh of the part which it corrupts, consumes, and turns black, spreading and seizing itself of the adjoining parts, and is rarely cured without amputation. By the microscope, a gangrene has been discovered to contain an infinite number of little worms engendered in the morbid flesh; and which continually producing new broods, they swarm, and overrun the adjacent parts: if the gangrene proceed to an utter sphacelation (or mortification), and be seated in any of the limbs, or extreme parts, recourse must be had to the operation of amputation”

And so the errors and heresies of false teachers worm and spread, and feed upon the souls of men, and eat up the vitals of religion

How has the spread of the myth of female leadership roles spread like a cancer? Well, it was only 20 years ago, the LA Times article reports, that the Church of England allowed female priests. Unless repented of and rectified, it was a certainty that the gangrene would spread to the next level, the gangrene here being the heresy of women pastors.

Lest we think this is a problem far away across the ocean, let us look within our own ranks of “conservative” denominations to see where our own gangrene is eating away at the body. Beth Moore has been allowed to teach men, then to attain leadership prominence unrebuked alongside John Piper and Francis Chan on stage, and then as the sin of usurpation spread, to solely lead services on Sunday from the pulpit. Read the essay from Ken Fryer about The Strange Case of Brenda Maxwell to see how this particular rebellion heresy spread.

Joyce Meyer, who has for many years has had millions of followers, has not been firmly called out as a false teacher, and her example of being an ordained Minister has both excited and ignited the passions of many women, Christine Caine for example. Of course Caine is not going to gravitate to a woman who submits to the role ordained for her by God, like Nancy Guthrie, for example, because that does not suit her passion. Of course she is going to gravitate to a woman like Meyer who sails on a wide ocean of disobedience in leadership roles reserved for men. Caine calls Meyer her ‘spiritual mother.“

This kind of pattern is outlined for us in Revelation 2, where we see just what happens to the spiritual mothers who practice heresy, their spiritual daughters, and the people to tolerated it.

But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. 21I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. 22Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, 23and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works. (Revelation 2:20-23)

Gangrene does not respect boundaries. It does not care that a particular person calls himself or herself Conservative, or Baptist, or evangelical. If it is tolerated for one moment, its leaven will spoil the whole lump. Up until recently, LifeWay was considered to have a good reputation. LifeWay Christian Resources is based in Nashville, Tennessee, and is one of the largest providers of religious and Christian resources in the world, according to its business blurb.

Yet LifeWay promotes the false doctrines held by false teacher Beth Moore and TD Jakes and Mark Driscoll and Sarah Young and Henry Blackaby and William P. Young (The Shack) and Mark Batterson. LifeWay engages in selling heaven tourism to the gullible, dismisses legitimate biblical concerns from pastors who question their business model as balanced against their doctrinal model, provides a platform for atheist contemporary music bands, and is now actually propelling women into leadership roles reserved for men.

It is sad that undiscerning women are propelling other undiscerning women beyond their scripturally ordained role as wifely helpmeet, teacher of younger women and children and submissive servant. I am sad about this, but I am not discouraged.

Nice alliteration, Propel People. How about this: Service, Submission, Silence.
1 Peter 3:3-6, 1 Timothy 2:11, 1 Corinthians 14:34

Sin left unchecked always spreads. The sins of Sodom spread to Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim. The sins of Hymenaeus and Philetus would spread unless Timothy confronted them. The next generation is always worse, (Matthew 23:15 and Revelation 2:20-23.)

For people fond of saying “God told me”, here is something God told us, a woman will desire her husband’s position and usurp. He said that in Genesis 3 and then caused it to be recorded for all succeeding generations to be warned about. Paul told Timothy that he does not allow a woman to teach OR exercise authority over a man. Teaching leads to other areas where women exercise authority (Greek meaning of the word, domineer, exercise authority over, have mastery over, just as Genesis 2:15 says).

Ruling over, such as being ordained a Bishop in the Church of England, where Reverend Bishop Libby Lane will rule over men in the leadership hierarchy, but it’s also where one lone man stood up for Jesus.

In another place and time, Germany, May 2014, Heidi Mund stood up in her Christian church specifically built to honor Martin Luther and opposed the singing of a Muslim Imam at the pulpit in an interfaith concert. She was seen as a disgruntled protester and hustled out by police.

When we stand for Christ, we will be called these names. Don’t fear them, these names like disgruntled, negative, critical, judgmental, or this new one to me, serial protester.

If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. (John 15:18)

As upsetting or uncomfortable as it is at the time, later we will be glad we had participated in Christ’s sufferings, even momentarily. We will be glad we glorified Him. We will be grateful we stood for truth and not the lies and schemes of the devil.

There are some things we can do to diminish, but never avoiding the charge, of being a serial protester.

–do not scream in all caps on Facebook at every outrage. The Holy Spirit has all things in hand, and each of us are burdened to address one or a few, not all wrong things. In other words we don’t have to do it all. Pick your battles.

–be prayerful about where and when to address things of concern, whether they are in church (submissively and carefully to your pastor) or online. Online comment sections are bastions of poor doctrine, with many honest and solid women, undiscerning but earnest women and others outright destroyers mixing truth with lies to confuse the young. Usually the solid women are drowned out and thus online blogs, comment sections and newspapers quickly go beyond the discernment level of many people. Be careful.

–be teachable. I’m not right about everything and other sisters are not right about everything, so if  you’re approaching a leader or pastor, be ready to learn.

–be encouraging sometimes. There is much that is right with the church. Let people know it.

–be repentant. Pray for forgiveness of all known and unknown sins. Sin left unaddressed will be easily matched by satan to lead you to a place of uncertain doctrine or even of falling prey to wolves for long periods, polluting your witness. For example, the doctrinal sin discussed today is one of women’s leadership beyond the scriptural boundary. This desire stems mainly from the sin of pride. These women who want to lead are prideful and arrogant. Many who fall prey to prosperity doctrines are greedy or jealous. The cleaner we are before Jesus the stronger our armor. (Ephesians 6:10-20)

Always stay in the word, pray, and congregate with brethren so we can stay sharp, clear, and submissive. Then when the time comes, as it did for Heidi Mund and the Rev. Paul Williamson, whether publicly or privately …

…in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, (1 Peter 3:15)

He deserves so much more, but this, this, is something we all can do.

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Further Reading

Why the Malarkey/Tyndale/Lifeway Scandal Matters

Can a woman be a pastor or preacher?

And in a sad bit of irony, the Southern Baptist Convention (LifeWay’s functional boss) has a lengthy article describing the theological reasons why a woman is not biblically ordained the role of pastor or church leader and concludes: Women Pastors: What Does the Bible Say?

Therefore, based upon these texts and models, a woman’s spiritual service is to be in those roles assigned her by God. These do not include the role of pastor.

Posted in discernment, glorify, jesus, paul

Philippians 1:10- Why do we want to abound in all discernment?

Posted on by elizabethprata

And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, 10so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; (Philippians 1:9-10)

Let’s look specifically at verse 10. Whenever there is a ‘so that’ or a ‘in order to’ it means there is a causal relationship. We are supposed to DO something in order that a result can come about.

Here I’d like to focus on the “all discernment”. Why does Paul want the Philippians (and us) to have all discernment? Because discernment is a critical ingredient in an important process. The result Paul is praying for his people to have is to be pure and blameless on the day we stand before Jesus. So now let’s look at this process and see how in honing our discernment it helps us strive toward this end.

Literally, “With a view to your proving (and so approving and embracing) the things that excel” (Ro 2:18); not merely things not bad, but the things best among those that are good; the things of more advanced excellence. Ask as to things, not merely, Is there no harm, but is there any good, and which is the best?

Source: Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 2, p. 361). 

Now this is interesting. There are three questions the Commenter said we ask in discerning.

–Is there harm?
–Is there any good?
–Which is the best?

We already know that at the basic level, discernment means sifting between what is good and what is bad. That’s the part in asking ‘is there harm?’ In addition, as Spurgeon said, “Discernment is not simply a matter of telling the difference between what is right and wrong; rather it is the difference between right and almost right.” That’s the second question.

And now here we have a third part of the process of discernment, distinguishing between what is good and what is best. This is an often overlooked part of discernment.

If your son or daughter is choosing a college to attend, if you’re able, don’t you want them to choose the best? If you’re buying a book to read, all other things being equal, don’t you choose the one with the best reviews? If you are a Sunday School Superintendent choosing new material to use in class, don’t you want the best? No one says, ‘Nah, I’ll pass over the best and settle for the merely good.’

It’s like if a tsunami is coming. The waters are rising and you’ve gotten to high ground. It’s good ground. You’re pretty sure it’s good enough. But you still have time to reach the best ground, where you can be sure you won’t get swept away. Do you stay put? Of course not. To save your life you strive for the best and highest ground.

Discernment is like that. I remember reading a Christian woman’s essay about this very thing in practical terms. Sunny Shell, on why she chose to no longer follow John Piper.

I’ve found the teachings from John Piper and “Desiring God” (after testing it with God’s word) requires more discernment than I currently possess. And since there are other Christian teachers/ministries I can learn from (e.g., John MacArthur/Grace to You, Alistair Begg/Truth for Life, R.C. Sproul and son, R.C. Sproul, Jr./Ligonier Ministries) that don’t give me tired-head, I’ve chosen to only follow those who are clearly and faithfully following the Lord (Heb 13:7).

Discernment includes searching out the best holy ground we possibly can, so that Jesus is MORE glorified rather than LESS glorified. Seek out what you know to be the best, and stick with that.

Keep going up and up

Our ultimate aim always is to glorify Jesus. However there are several additional reasons why we want to “abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, 10so that you may approve the things that are excellent”. The first reason is so that others will benefit.

all discernment – The term aisthēsis refers to the ability to make decisions for the benefit of others. 1:10 what is superior When the Philippians’ love abounds, they will be able to determine what is most valuable or beneficial to the community of believers.

Barry, J. D., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Mangum, D., & Whitehead, M. M. (2012). Faithlife Study Bible (Php 1:9–10). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.

What if you were running from the rising waters of the tsunami again. And you were not too familiar with the ground and you thought you’d reached the highest you could go, and sat down to see if the waters would reach you or not. But along came someone who had hiked that hill before and knew there was a narrow pass that led to even higher ground? Would you stay put? Of course not, you’d be grateful someone came along and showed you that though where you were was good, it was beneficial to move to where it was best.

The second reason we discern is so that our minds can be renewed. And here we have the most critical reason why discernment is important. (along with the other items Paul prayed for us to have). The process of discernment helps to sharpen the mind and to renew it according to Christ’s likeness. This is the process I spoke of at the beginning.

Gills Exposition explains this aspect of the Philippians 1:10 verse

Or “try things that differ”. There are some things that differ one from other; as morality and grace, earthly things and heavenly things, carnal and spiritual, temporal and eternal things, law and Gospel, the doctrines of men and the doctrines of Christ; all which differ as much as chaff and wheat, as gold, silver, precious stones, and wood, hay, stubble.

These are to be tried and proved; they are not to be received without distinction, but should be examined, which is right and best to be chosen and preferred; and to such trial and examination it is necessary that a man should be transformed, by the renewing of his mind, that he should have spiritual light, knowledge, and experience, have his spiritual senses exercised to discern the difference of things.

Let Jesus freshen and open your mind
as you practice discernment. EPrata photo

Gill said these things are not to be received without distinction. In today’s Christianity we are barraged with the notion that we are to let the false teachers alone. We are not to point out the false doctrine. We are not to say this or that is a bad book. ‘Let God judge’ they say. ‘It will be taken care of in the end’ they say. However, failure to participate in the important process of discernment means you are choosing deliberately NOT to renew your mind.

The process of choosing, testing, weighing, examining, reading, comparing…all these are part of the process of how the Lord transforms our mind. As we hear a teaching and go back to the word, He transforms our mind. Through hard work, trial and error, we gain experience.

It would be nice if we were sitting around and Jesus simply plopped discernment and experience into our minds. This is what many of the false teachers say happens to them. They sit on their porch or sequester themselves in a cabin or shell peas and all of a sudden presto, a new revelation from God and a new ‘level’ of ‘fresh experience.’ They say, “God told me.” “God wrote the book for me.” “I saw Jesus and He said…” But that is not how it works.

When Paul said ‘persevere in the struggle’ and ‘run the race’, he didn’t mean as a sidelines armchair quarterback waiting for a personally dove-delivered epiphany. LOL, that is hardly running, now, is it? The practice of discernment is part of the struggle and through it, we gain experience and a transformed mind.

The more I practice discernment the more my love for Christ abounds, because that means I see Him more clearly than the day before. We still see through a glass dimly, but in practicing discernment, it’s like when we walk into a dark room, instead of choosing to turn on only a flashlight, we are using a floodlight.

So we end as we began, with Paul’s prayer:

And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, 10so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; (Philippians 1:9-10)

Posted in atheism, discernment, encouragement, Perry Noble, prophecy

A few good links: ‘One True God’ free download workbook; Meaning of Pastor, Atheism, CT quake swarm, more

Posted on by elizabethprata

Here are a few good links.

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One True God

Justin Peters wrote on Facebook this week,

If you are looking for something to do this weekend, download this free Bible study and tear into the Book. For your edification:

One True God – workbook PDF

Written by Paul Washer. I haven’t looked at the content, but I trust Peters and Washer to know good material. Take a look and see it if suits you.

Thank you Pastor, for developing good materials for us. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. (Romans 12:11)

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What does Pastor mean anymore?

A Pastor friend of mine from Maine posted this. I read it and I thought it was excellent. I don’t know the pastor who wrote it nor his church, but this particular article was very good.

Disembodied Bodies, Mark Driscoll, and How “Pastor” Has Lost All Meaning

With one simple click of the mouse, Christians can be pastored by their favorite pastor. Regardless of the miles between them, open your web browser and in just a few keystrokes, your preferred preacher is pastoring your soul…except, not really.

This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. (1 Corinthians 4:1)

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Hail Satan

Tory MP comes out as atheist.
A Minister of Parliament (MP) of the Tory Party ‘came out’ as an atheist. He said that there is much pressure to at least pretend to believe in God. He said he can ‘come out’ now because his term is ending and he will not run again.

The MP was speaking at a debate on a private members bill which calls for prayers to be read at the start of council meetings. At the start of his speech, he noted that,

At a meeting of Lake Worth City Commission last month, the invocation was given by an atheist called Preston Smith. And he began his invocation with the words, ‘May the efforts of this Council blend the righteousness of Allah with the all-knowing wisdom of satan.’ The fact that the effect of the public sector equality duty on this bill is at local authority’s choosing to hold religious observance in their meetings will not then be able lawfully to discriminate against the observances of the religion of Satanism.

What the MP does not realize is that he is in exactly the same camp as the people who worship Allah and satan.

Therefore you are great, O LORD God. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. (2 Samuel 2:22)

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Earthquakes in Diverse places!

4th straight day of earthquakes in Conn.

A 2.2-magnitude earthquake has rattled eastern Connecticut again. In what’s becoming a daily seismic event, the Weston Observatory of Boston College said the earthquake occurred at about 4:40 a.m. Thursday near Plainfield, where previous earthquakes were recorded. It says two minor earthquakes were recorded on Wednesday and another on Tuesday. Several were recorded on Monday and last week, too.

Connecticut officials coordinate earthquake preparation

After daily earthquakes in eastern Connecticut over the past week, officials have met to discuss ways the state can respond and residents can prepare.

For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. (Matthew 24:7-8)

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SBC in full-on meltdown?

SBC-affiliated Beth Moore is allowed to speak God’s alleged prophetic word with no rebuke from the allegedly most conservative denomination. Perry Noble of the Southern Baptist Convention’s NewSpring church in SC re-wrote the ten commandments in a Christmas Eve sermon he delivered. As James Duncan at The Pajama Pages wrote,

On Christmas Eve, Perry Noble gifted the world a rewritten Ten Commandments. In so doing, he contradicted Scripture, celebrated his ignorance of the Bible, and ultimately rejected the gospel.

And LifeWay engages in fraud by trading on God’s word in heaven tourism for filthy lucre, causing an outcry and forced to pull one of the heaven tourism books, The Onion weighs in with a (deservedly) mocking opinion:

Publisher Pulls Book after Boy Admits He didn’t Go To Heaven

And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. (2 Peter 2:2)

PS: Phil Johnson has published further statements from Tyndale related to the Heaven book which show demonstrably the publishing house knew the boy had repeatedly said he not gone to heaven and are lying about not knowing.

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And just in case you ever need it,

How to Give a Pill to a Cat

Posted in discernment, false teacher, joel osteen

I avidly used to watch Joel Osteen every week

Posted on by elizabethprata
Source

This is a testimony to the faithfulness of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said He would keep and protect His sheep, and He has done so with me.

He imparts spiritual life to the person who has faith in Jesus (2 Timothy 3:5; Ephesians 2:1; I John 5:11-12). He is the very Spirit of Truth,

that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. (John 14:17)

The Holy Spirit teaches us, and He has taught me faithfully since the moment of my conversion.

“These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” (John 14:25-26).

I was saved at age 42. I lived in New England. I had gone though several years of a trial, and I reached my wit’s end. Never had I not been able to figure things out myself, teach myself, handle things myself. But at rock bottom, I came to the realization that I couldn’t. This was the Holy Spirit convicting me, and through His work, I realized I was a sinner. I had always thought I was a good person, but now I knew I was not good. All those Christians talking about Jesus were right! Only He could make me ‘good’ as I clumsily called my sin. I cried out to Jesus and I was saved.

New England is the most godless place in America.

A 2012 Gallup Poll found that the five least religious states in the country, based on the percentage of self-identified “very religious” Americans living there, are all in New England. Vermont is the least religious, followed immediately by New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. At number 11, Connecticut might as well be New England’s shining beacon of faith. (source)

The landing place of the Puritans has been ceded to the devil. What is it like to grow up in a place like that? It means a person can live and work and never see a bible. Never see someone reading it. Never hear the name “Jesus.” Never go to a church. Never even have it cross your mind.

Oh, there were moments when I was stuffed into a Methodist church basement and given a workbook and gone through the motions in some weak accession to a pale and long evaporated cultural vapor. I remember guitars and sitting in a circle in a Unitarian church. One or two Catholic visits. But church, bible, religion was never part of a strong upbringing. It was decades-long self-glorification-fest punctuated by occasional spots of “religion.” Sundays were for Sunday car rides to Newport, picnics, and be quiet because Dad was napping.

So when the conversion happened (2004) it was a few months before it even occurred to me to get a bible. I’d never even seen a bible store. A male friend had suggested “You ought to think about getting a bible.” I was stumped. I didn’t have a clue even to where to get one. I called a female friend, and 20 minutes later she arrived at my office door with one to give me. [Lesson for me: Always respond immediately to anyone asking about anything related to Jesus.]

I wasn’t in a church yet.  I thought it was just as good to watch Joel Osteen. He was on TV during Sunday mornings at that time, in my area. 2004 was a big year for Osteen and Lakewood. I remember Joel speaking about how God was moving in their lives because after many bumps in the road, they had acquired the Compaq Center. I thought he must be a good preacher because of the size of the Lakewood’s growing congregation and how much money was pouring in.

I remember settling in on my big couch, with a notebook, an unopened bible on the coffee table in
front of me. I felt very good that I never missed Joel. For the next 6 months, every Sunday, unopened bible, listening to speeches that made me feel very self-satisfied. The rest of the week I went on as before my conversion. Yet I felt I was now a religious person.

I’d scribble down the biblical addresses as Joel spoke, and after a few months I began a pattern of scanning back over what notes I’d written. I frowned, because they were scanty. Not just the notes, but I noticed that there weren’t many biblical addresses jotted down. There is nothing like quantitative evidence staring you in the face.

So for the next few months I’d settle on the couch, still with a notebook, but this time with open bible, and listen religiously to Joel. Things went by too fast for me to both write and read the bible while he was speaking, so I’d jot down the main concepts in his speech. I had been an academic researcher and writer, and was at that time a journalist. I could grasp the main thought, and I paired it with every biblical address and reference Joel mentioned. I began to notice he mentioned people or events in the bible a lot, but not the address.

Screen capture from Osteen sermon,
audience repeating Osteen bible mantra

I began looking up the people and events he was mentioning in order to get a wider perspective. I used the internet for this, to Google names and events like this- “David, Saul, on the run.” Remember, I was coming from a completely godless society, tabula rasa, babe in Christ by a few months. ALL this was new to me. I did not have a discipler and I was not in a church.

After some months, almost a year now, I noticed a distinct pattern in Joel’s speeches. First, on the practical level, they were some of the best speeches I’d ever heard. The academic in me was interested in the high quality of their structure, the speech’s cadence, and their obvious intent: to make you feel good. I was amazed Joel had the ability to sustain this same rhythm and cadence every week. When it came time for the inevitable moment of climax, I always knew at least 30 seconds prior. You can see it coming. You know what he is going to say at minute 15, minute 22. It was spell-binding. Emphasis on spell. The academic in me liked this. The growing Christian in me was put off by this. It was confusing.

I began to get a kind of mental queasy feeling. Things weren’t adding up. Biblically, I mean. Rather than be carried along by the spell, it helped to have the notes, main ideas, and biblical addresses written down. This anchored me and kept me from being swept.

Meanwhile, the Spirit was doing a mighty work inside me. As He came to indwell my flesh, glimmers of holiness were growing. Tendrils of Holy Ghost smoke were encircling my mind, pushing away the pollution and giving it clearing from a lifetime of corruption.

After a while the Spirit had given me enough of a footing to be able to think about the verses as Joel was speaking. I distinctly remember the day that the Spirit’s sun broke through my mind. I was listening to Joel, open bible on my lap, knowing by now thanks to the Spirit to read above and below the mentioned verse. Joel ramped up to one of his main points, mentioned the verse, and as I looked at the bible and then looked back up at Joel, I shouted out loud, “THAT’S NOT WHAT IT MEANS!”

Eleven years later I still remember how deeply betrayed I’d felt when that moment came. It was as if I was looking at the great gulf fixed itself. On the one hand I was looking at my bible and what it was saying, and on the other hand looking at Joel across the room in the TV saying what he says the bible says. The two didn’t match up. I was shocked to the core and thoroughly horrified.

I remember muttering, “What a gyp.” It was exactly like the scene in Wizard of Oz when the curtain was drawn back to reveal not a powerful being but a crumbly old man with a squeaky voice. What a gyp.

It was exactly like the scene in A Christmas Story when Ralphie eagerly used the secret decoder ring to decode the secret message from the Radio program and it turned out to be an ad for Ovaltine. Ralphie said, “A crummy commercial?” The moment on the couch was my Ovaltine moment.

It had never once occurred to me that a famous preacher, such a capable speaker, would not be able or willing to present biblical verses simply and with conviction, explaining what they meant. It wasn’t a matter of his ignorance. No one can write such deft speeches week after week who didn’t have some mental chops. The man is obviously intelligent. That he used his intelligence to obfuscate the Word rather than illuminate it was devastating to me. I felt unhinged. I was angry and felt personally betrayed.

The precious and wonderful Holy Spirit kept me growing from there. He grew me rapidly. The entire period was about a year and a half. A year of watching naively and a half year of growing discernment. I never looked back. I moved to the Bible Belt and got into a Baptist church. A good solid, little rural church that sings hymns and meets on Wednesday nights for supper, and who prays together and who really care.

I personally believe that not only did the Spirit hold me but He allowed this to happen in order to teach me discernment. I lived the entire discernment process from my conversion to the eventual epiphany. There were many lessons. This is all to God’s glory and His Spirit who keeps us in His hand.

#5: False teachers obscure their false doctrine behind eloquent speech and what appears to be impressive logic. Just as a prostitute paints and perfumes herself to appear more attractive and more alluring, the false teacher hides his blasphemies and dangerous doctrine behind powerful arguments and eloquent use of language. He offers to his listeners the spiritual equivalent of a poisonous pill coated in gold; though it may appear beautiful and valuable, it is still deadly. Tim Challies, 7 Marks of a False Teacher

That thing Joel does at the beginning of each speech, where he holds the bible aloft and says the mantra “This is my Bible. I am what it says I am. I have what it says I have. I can do what it says I can do. Today I will be taught the Word of God. I boldly confess, my mind is alert, my heart is receptive. I will never be the same, in Jesus’ name.” It’s brainwashing.

Source No Compromise Radio

Of course he has to brainwash us in saying ‘we will be taught the word of God.’ Because he doesn’t. What he says and what he does doesn’t match up. Lesson learned.

There are preachers out there who give speeches that they call sermons and say they’re giving the truth but it’s lies. That liars existed within a place they call the church was new news to me.

Large congregations and money pouring in and smooth talkers and popularity don’t equate to meaningful biblical exposition. Lesson learned. Don’t forget how easy it is for the babes in Christ to believe these things. Often, they don’t talk about them but they believe them nonetheless. I was so naive.

For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. (Romans 16:18)

The key was, the absolute key, was that nothing happened to break me of Joel’s spell until I opened the bible for myself.

Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. (Acts 17:11)

What a wonderful lessons the Spirit gave me. The lesson was that there is nothing like the bible to explain the bible, that there is nothing more precious than the Word of God. However, as precious as it is, the Word of God does no Christian any good if it stays unopened on the coffee table.

Discipling: it’s critical. I was already older when I came to Christ, and then I went ahead and spent another year failing to glorify Him. I know that Jesus is in complete control and He allowed this for His reasons, but I still feel terrible of the wasted time.

Though this experience was ten and eleven years ago, I still remember the sense of personal betrayal and my spiritual horror when the scales fell from my eyes. The revulsion I felt was seeing that a person could use the bible for personal gain. This may seem a obvious conclusion to some people, but to a babe in Christ, this was a new thought. Oh, I knew there were religious charlatans out there, I saw their empires crumble all through the 1980s and ’90s with the successive televangelist scandals. I thought Joel was good because no such scandal had happened and after all, he held up his bible.

I have a sense of righteous anger over Osteen, a feeling of repugnance and hatred for what he does in God’s name. I feel the same about Beth Moore and what she does to women in God’s name. I agonize in white-hot fervency when I see those two do what they do to pollute, cast mud on Jesus’ name, draw away the babes, use God’s word for personal gain. I also feel a sense of relief and gratitude to the Holy Spirit, my Savior and Holy Father for allowing me that season of following a false teacher so I could repent and love Him even more. I went through a season of undiscernment-to-discernment very quickly. I still stand amazed at the power of the Spirit to clear my mind and illuminate the Word so clearly and powerfully. I am in awe of His power. I am eternally grateful for His ministry.

Now you know why I always urge prayer. Now you know why I always urge us to stay in the Word. I’m not immune to life’s distractions. I include myself in that urging.

In Galatians 5:12 Paul was urging the people in the Galatian church to beware of the circumcision group, who said one must be circumcised to be fully in the faith. Paul said,

“I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!”

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary explains,

“were even cut off—even as they desire your foreskin to be cut off and cast away by circumcision, so would that they were even cut off from your communion, being worthless as a castaway foreskin (Ga 1:7, 8; compare Php 3:2). … if circumcision be not enough for them, then let them have excision also; an outburst hardly suitable to the gravity of an apostle. But Ga 5:9, 10 plainly point to excommunication as the judgment threatened against the troublers: and danger of the bad “leaven” spreading, as the reason for it.”

Rough speech about these usurpers? Pitched holy anger? Yes. Just as it should be.

In Titus 1:11, we read of false teachers,

They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach.

The Commentary again, explains that silencing them means “mouths … stopped—literally, “muzzled,” “bridled” as an unruly beast (compare Ps 32:9).”

Alternately, seeing the purity of the Holy Spirit and His gentle leading me away from such unruly beasts, these dogs who must be muzzled, is so awe-inspiring. The Light the Spirit brings to the Word, His answer to prayer for discernment, His keeping us in Jesus hand, pointing to Jesus always, oh, what glory and blessing.

He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. (John 16:14)

He does, dear brethren, He does. This is my testimony of discernment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Further Reading

What is the Role of the Holy Spirit Today?

The Ministry of the Holy Spirit

January 2014: Watch Joel Osteen on ‘Larry King Now’ to Learn Why Megachurch Pastor Attracts Muslim and Atheist Followers
Larry King: Osteen has largest church, 10 million people see Osteen on TV every week, his broadcast is in 100 countries, 10.5 million people download the podcast every week, the arena itself has 16,000 seats.

Posted in beth moore, discernment, encouragement

Discernment: Flatteries of false teachers

Posted on by elizabethprata

We are told in many verses about the false prophets and false teachers coming to deceive the people. They use false words, flatteries, and smooth speech. The antichrist will be the most full version of a false prophet ever, being full of sin. His name will be Man of Sin. (2 Thess. 2:3)

All the false prophets and teachers that come before the Man of Sin will be less potent, but no less dangerous. They use the same methods. Satan sticks with what works.

Sometimes I discuss false teachers with friends. I might mention Beth Moore or Billy Graham etc. One thing that I hear most often when I discuss this with people is “But they talk about Jesus!”

This tells me we need to look at how false teaches deceive by using rhetoric, oratory and speech. Earlier this week I looked at false teachers’ motivations. Now let’s look at their methods.

For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. (Romans 16:18)

In Greek smooth talk means a kind speech, from the word chrēstologias
In Greek flattery means praise and adulation, from the word eulogias. It’s our word eulogy, the kind and flattering speech given at funerals for the dearly departed.

Gill’s Exposition says,

“by good words and fair speeches”; either by making use of the words of Scripture, and a show of arguments taken from thence; … by using words and phrases that faithful ministers of Christ use, such as the grace of God, the righteousness of Christ, the Spirit of Christ, but in a different sense…or by an elegant style, a set of fine words, a flow of rhetorical expressions, great swelling words of vanity, which such men generally affect, and so work themselves into the admiration of the common people.

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 2:3)

Here the term false words is from the Greek plastois, meaning made up, contrived, something artificial; from which we get our word plastic.

Gill’s Exposition says,
made words, words of their own devising, and not which the Holy Ghost teacheth…new words and phrases are always to be suspected and guarded against, great swelling words of vanity, having men’s persons in admiration

As Gill’s says, “they make use of scripture”. They use it, to further their own ends and satisfy their own appetites and to get money. Those are the motivations of the false teachers. They use scripture. That know scripture but they use it by twisting it, ripping it from context, referring to it but stripping the meaning from it.

Gill’s said, “They use words and phrases that faithful ministers of Christ use”. Every group has jargon. Christianity does too. False teachers will talk the same talk that pastors and ministers use. “Praise the Lord!” they’ll say when someone has a breakthrough,. “Bless your heart!” “I’m missional.” “You’ll receive a blessing.” “Gifted for ministry.” In other words, as wolves come in sheep’s clothing, they will imitate the sheep, right down to adopting the same phrases and terms we use every day. This makes them blend in.

Gill’s said they will use these terms but in a different sense. When a prosperity preacher talks about sending money to him or her, he or she will use the word blessing. ‘Sow a seed and get a blessing’ they will say. In the eternal words of Inigo Montoya, “You Keep Using That Word, I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means”.

Gill’s says also of the Romans 16:17-18 verse, false teachers will have an elegant style. They are good at what they do. Salesmen are salesmen because they’re talkers. If you’re not a talker, you’re usually a writer or a hermit, lol. False teachers’ apply their gift for talking to their dastardly work inside a church. Or within Christianity, as is the case with so many of them these days. Many are not even associated with a church. They’re smooth, plausible, facile with words and skilled at linguistic nuance.

People sometimes speak of sins of commission and sins of omission. Sins of commission are those sinful actions that are proactively done. Lying or stealing are examples of sins of commission. A sin of omission is a sin that takes place because of not doing something that is right. Examples could include not praying, not standing up for what is right, or not sharing Christ with others. James 4:17 is often used as a key verse regarding sins of omission: “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” This overarching theme provides the basis for the concept of a sin of omission. Read more: source

There is one sort of sin that is a half-kind of sin of omission. It is not a sin of commission. It’s called being disingenuous. Here’s the definition:

The definition of disingenuous is: “not candid or sincere, typically by pretending that one knows less about something than one really does. …giving a false appearance of simple frankness … Pretending to be unaware or unsophisticated“

A “good” example of smooth speech designed to flatter and praise is rife in Beth Moore’s Heresy Hunting article and also in her emails to the woman she was writing about. Remember, compare what they say with what they do. Do not be deceived naively by smooth words. Moore said of the 22 year old woman she was writing negatively about,

Anyway, the odd thing of it is, I loved her immediately. My calling is discipleship and my focus is women. 

But the actions didn’t match up. Moore condescended about the woman’s age, her ability to discern, her ability to think for herself, and blocked her from commenting on Moore’s twitter stream, not to mention the entire article was uncalled for to begin with. That’s not love. But it is smooth speech.

Let me share one small example of how a false teacher can be disingenuous, by performing a half sin of omission. Let’s look at how a false teacher uses smooth language to present a different appearance to the naive. This is from Beth Moore’s recent blog essay about heretic hunting. Moore wrote:

I only have one small desk from which to watch our world so I miss a lot but, among the things in my eyeshot…

Not Beth Moore. However, it’s the impression Moore’s scene sets
in your mind. Just a small desk and a sliver of a view. Source.

Really think about the words here. This is the woman who has a 2000+ square foot home in a nice subdivision in Houston. Her corporate office is three floors and 8000 square feet. The first floor is where the workers pack and ship. There is also a conference room with candles and pillows and tissues. Moore’s private office is on the third floor. (source) The entire property, including the 18,000 sf land, is worth $673,397.

This is the woman who travels the country on a constant basis. She is President of a multi-million dollar corporation, one which employs 16 people (or did in 2010.) Perhaps her desk is small in fact. Likely not. Her ‘eyeshot’ is certainly not small. However, think about the picture Moore’s sentence creates in your mind  – and then compare it to the reality. It’s the exact definition of disingenuous.

BTW here is the reality.

Actual property at Living Proof offices

Another example of being disingenuous, by using speech to appear to be transparent but actually obfuscating, was Diana stone from the She Reads Truth Editorial Board. I also wrote about this recently.

With a sweet daughter in tow, Diana clings to God’s Word daily through the struggles and beauty of being a woman who loves her Lord. You can find her in the mornings with a cup of coffee and her Bible flung open, preparing for the day ahead.

The website She Reads Truth is a mommy oriented site, lots of bible studies and devotionals for ‘busy moms’. (I do NOT recommend their studies or devotionals). The impression the women want to give is they’re harried moms just like you. Just like you! doing the mommy thing and trying to get the laundry done and making sure to read our bible every day. And all that is no doubt true. Except in order to have enough time to write about all this stuff, Diana drops her kids off at daycare first. A stay at home mom with out of the house kids. Now, she didn’t lie, she wrote about switching from having a nanny to to using daycare (First world problems!) on her blog. But the disingenuous impression put forth, especially in the bio, is the overwhelming mommy appearance. The nanny-day care appearance…you have to dig for it.

This is what it means by having sheep’s clothing. Sheep’s clothing is not skin. You’ll see frays, tears,

it might be ill-fitting. Sheep’s clothing is a disguise. At some point, their mask slips.

The Romans 16:18 verse also said that false teachers use language to deceive the naive. The Bereans were not naive. They listened to Paul but then eagerly went home and compared what Paul said to scripture to see if it was so. He was an effective speaker, certainly knowledgeable. The Bereans were called noble, because they checked it out. There were lots of apostles in Paul’s day, some true and many false. What if the Bereans did not check to see if it was so, but instead were impressed with his speaking ability, his ability to connect with audiences, his charisma or his sincerity.

Now let’s say that next comes along Hymenaeus and Philetus. (2 Timothy 2:1). They preached that the resurrection had already taken place. The duo had gone astray from the truth. No doubt they were also effective speakers, charismatic, plausible, sincere. Failing to check against scripture meant that they easily upset some in the faith. Titus wrote that in Crete, whole families were being upset by the false teachers over there.

Check any teacher’s words against the bible! Dig! Pray! Check again! Look at their lives to see if it is above reproach!

No matter how many scriptures they use, no matter how long they carry a bible around in their hand, no matter how charismatic and fervent ‘for the Lord’ they may sound, don’t be deceived by being naive. Not all who claim Christ are one of His. Beware. As Matthew Henry said, “it is an easy thing to be godly from the teeth outward.”

But do you know what else is easy? Praying to the Holy Spirit for discernment after hearing a teacher. Opening the bible to check. Asking a trusted elder for advice on the credibility of teacher so-and-so.

The Lord’s glorious Word is so precious, wonderful, filling, and good. When a false teacher USES God’s word to deceive, get money, destroy people, or lie about Jesus, it is one of the very worst things I can think of. What a terrible thing to do, take the holy word and pollute it for carnal gain.

But we can use it for its intended purpose- to point to Christ, to edify , encourage, build up, and train. We can use it to know Jesus better. We can use it to cut a heart to the quick, unto salvation. (Acts 2:37).

As precious as the word is, O joyous day when we see Him glorified, in person, in holy heaven! No more false teachers. His blessings are manifold.

Posted in discernment, false doctrine, false teachers

"But you can’t know that [false teacher’s] heart! You can’t ascribe motivations!" Yes. Yes we can.

Posted on by elizabethprata

One of the common accusations from defenders of false teachers lodged against Christians who make the claim, is that no one can know their heart. That no one can know their motives. They say therefore it is not fair to make such claims. Only God can judge.

Once you know how to spot them, the fakes are easy to see.

That’s a synopsis of their argument, an increasingly frequent one. But is it true? Let’s look at the Bible.

First, in order to make a determination whether a teacher is teaching according to the bible or is straying from Christ’s doctrines, we test them. (1 John 4:1). We test what they teach against the bible- no matter who they are! (Acts 17:11). If they preach a different Jesus, (1 Timothy 1:3-4; 2 Corinthians 11:4) fail to affirm His word, deny what the bible says (or that God said it), bear no fruit, or has a life that is below reproach, among other identifiers, they are false. They must accurately teach the full counsel of God through a life that stands up to scrutiny.

Once you’ve tested a teacher and they have fallen short, you know that they’re false. Now we can look at bible verses about false teachers to learn more about what motivates them and how they operate.

Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery— Galatians 2:4 (cf. 2 Peter 2:1).

  • Their motivation is jealousy.
  • Their purpose is destruction of the true brethren.
  • Their method is by adding works.

[The above in context were the Judaizers preaching works, circumcision].


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 2:3)

  • Their motivation is greed.
  • Their purpose is exploitation.
  • Their method is oratory.

Trivia: the Greek word for the term “false” above is from a root of plastós –  which is the root of the English term, “plastic”


Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them. For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting. (Romans 16:17-18)

  • Their motivation is their own appetites.
  • Their purpose is personal satisfaction.
  • Their method is flattery.

Conclusion:

Once a person has been deemed a false teacher, we DO know their heart. We DO know their motivations. The bible states them, not just in those three verses, but in many others too. A false teacher’s motivations and heart are evil and at enmity against God. They do not seek to glorify God and worship Jesus in His authority (they hate authority) but they seek to–
  • Blight Jesus’ name
  • Destroy you
  • Satisfy themselves
  • Get money

FMI on false teachers, these New Testament books were written to educate us as to the false teachers’ methods: Please read Galatians, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, and Jude

False teachers and their plastic words … one after another. Beware.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Further Reading-

How to Treat False Teachers

The Strange Case of Brenda Maxwell

Posted in annunciation, catholics, discernment, esther, immaculate

Comparing Mary’s "Yes" to Esther’s "Yes"

Posted on by elizabethprata

There is a doctrine in the Roman Catholic Church that has to do with Mary and the Annunciation. When the angel Gabriel came to announce the impending conception of Christ in Mary’s womb, Mary said yes. By the way, did you know that Catholics do not refer to this as the Immaculate Conception? The Immaculate Conception is Mary’s conception, they say she was conceived without sin. Catholics believe Mary was supernaturally preserved from all sin, and so was sinless throughout her life.

Back to the annunciation. Catholics believe that due to free-will, if Mary had said “No” then Jesus would not have been born and the entire Plan of God would have been thwarted. Mary is exalted and elevated to a position that is unscriptural, because really, the Catholics are all breathing a huge sigh of relief that she said ‘yes’. Here are quotes from various Catholic Doctrine sites:

Catholic.com

God permitted the Redemption of mankind to depend on the free-will decision of a human being. Whether or not we would have a mediator was dependent on Mary’s “yes.” Had there been no “yes” from Mary, there would have been no mediator.

EWTN, Global Catholic Network:

St. Irenaeus (late second century): “By obeying, she became a cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race.”

From the Archdiocese of Perth, Australia:

“Without Mary’s “yes”,” the Archbishop said, “without her “let it be done to me as God wills”, the Lord Jesus would not have been born and we would not now be preparing to celebrate his birth in just a few weeks’ time.”

In this way, the Catholic Church denies the sovereignty of God.

I’d like to bring your attention to a book of the Old Testament that has some parallels to the Annunciation scenes in Luke. In Esther, we have a young girl, put into a dramatic position with weighty consequences to herself personally and to her nation of people, the Israelites, just as Mary was. Esther is presented with a choice, to become engaged in God’s work in the saving of all Israel, or to decline. Would Esther say yes? Or would she say no?

ESTHER: Andrea Del Castagno (~1450).
Esther was actually a Queen

Esther is an interesting book because it is the only book that has no mention of God. Yet His providential works via His total sovereignty are saturated throughout the book. God’s plan did not depend on Esther. If she had said no…well read the scripture yourself.

For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14)

Deliverance will come from another place. Will. Not “if.” Nothing was dependent on Esther, except her personal obedience and trust of the LORD in whom she had declared faith. She was providentially put into an important moment of time and her answer would say more about her faith than any disruption of God’s plan, which was going to come to pass anyway.

Besides, I don’t recall that the angel Gabriel asked Mary anything. He arrived to tell her what God said will happen.

And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” (Luke 1:31-33)

There are seven “wills” in those verses. Not seven “pleases.” If Mary had said no, would Gabriel have had to return to heaven and say, “Sorry God, what you said will happen…won’t happen after all?”

The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations. (Psalm 33:10-11)

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. (Proverbs 19:21)

Mary with the Child 1520-25,
Albrecht Altdorfer.
The biblical Mary is not a queen.

In the same way, nothing about God’s plan was dependent on Mary’s yes. Of course, God’s omniscience was such that He already knew her answer. In addition, His will is irresistible. (Romans 9:19a). His plans will come to pass. (Lamentations 3:37). God hadn’t spent a thousand years organizing the genealogies of each man and each woman and hadn’t providentially preserved each baby birthed in that line of Mary’s forefathers and foremothers from each tribe so Jesus would emerge as the Lion from the Tribe of Judah, just so it could boil down to one teenager’s answer. God wasn’t in the balcony of heaven wringing His hands and wondering if Plan B was going to have to be drafted.

Please have compassion for Catholic believers. If their entire salvation throughout all the ages depended on one girl’s yes then they must not have very much peace of mind, or security. If their god can be thwarted by one moment of time, by one girl, by one answer, then what kind of god do they have faith in? A god that perhaps cannot hold them to His plan, either. Or hold the earth. Or be sovereign over anything.

Do they believe Job when Job says I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. (Job 42:2)

Do they believe Isaiah’s words speaking for God, when it was written, Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’ (Isaiah 46:9-10)

I’ve read several of the Catholic Apologetics sites. The Catholic apologists do a good job of using scripture to support their unscriptural stances. They make reasonable answers to these very questions and are well written enough to confuse a weak Protestant or strengthen a weak Catholic. So what is the key to evangelizing Catholics?

Mike Gendron was a Catholic for many years before the grace of God opened his eyes to the truth. His apologetics site is aimed at Catholics and discussing in Catholic issues & doctrines. Under the heading on this “Articles” page, is the essay Evangelizing Catholics.

We have the faith in a sovereign God who providentially makes His will come to pass. There is enormous security and comfort in knowing this God. The Catholic god is not one who completely saves, not one who is strong enough to withstand a girl’s no, and is not strong enough to bring His will to earth. Share our Mighty God with them, in the ways advised at the site above. Show them this God-

The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe. (Proverbs 18:10)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Further Reading

The Counterfeit Mary of Catholicism

Posted in billy graham, discernment, false teacher

Why does the world love Billy Graham?

Posted on by elizabethprata

Gallup: Billy Graham Among 10 Most Admired Men in World–for 58th Time

Ninety-six-year-old pastor Billy Graham, arguably the most influential Christian preacher of the last 60 years, was ranked No. 4 in Gallup’s Most Admired Man List for 2014, the survey group reported, adding that Billy Graham has been in its top ten list 58 times between 1946 and 2014, the most appearances of any man in the world since Gallup started the survey.

What comes to mind when I read this are several things.

1. He is not a Christian, that’s why the world loves him. “If you were of the world, the world would love its own;but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.” (John 15:19)

2. The mark of popularity is a curse and a warning. “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.” (Luke 6:26)

“Woe unto you; that is, it would be a bad sign that you were not faithful to your trust, and to the souls of men, if you preached so as that nobody would be disgusted; for your business is to tell people of their faults, and, if you do that as you ought, you will get that ill will which never speaks well.

Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume

3. Lauding a man as Christian who denies the exclusivity of Christ as sole entry to heaven, exalts Mary beyond her place, partners with Catholics, sends seekers to counselors of false religions, fails to preach the whole counsel of God, and gives credence to evolution, brings to mind Hosea 4:6, “my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.“

Though this isn’t in the bible, I thought of the old saying from poet Thomas Gray: “all that glitters is not gold”.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Further Reading

Exposing the False Teachers: Galatians 5 exegesis & commentary

In his exposure of these false teachers, Paul gives us six identifying marks that can guide us to discern the presence of “wolves in sheep’s clothing” in our midst today

.