“and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.” (Acts 11:26)
Yes the term was given to us by a contemptuous world. Adopting a new name will never escape that derision. Further, we should not try. Peter said,
“However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.” (1 Peter 4:16)
“I used to wonder why it is that so many of the false teachers tend to speak freely of God but not so much of Jesus. They rarely say the name of Jesus when they are teaching but instead they often say “God.“
Joel Osteen
You’ve seen it too, I’m sure. So many pastors, teachers, lay-people will freely say God but not Jesus. Well, someone else was wondering that too, and he quantified it. Here are his results:
I often talk about the Christ-less Gospel of Joel Osteen. Whenever people ask me what I mean by that, I always tell them this; Joel Osteen does not talk about the Christian Gospel.
That being said, there is something very important to understand about Joel Osteen: He does talk about God. A lot. You cannot accuse the man of not mentioning him because he’s all over that. Here’s the thing though- Its never really in a personal sense. Joel talk about God, but its always in a vague amorphous sense. There is certainly nothing distinctly Christian or Biblical about it. There’s nothing doctrinal or theological about the way he talks about God. Rather is an ethereal, shapeless, formless, customizable, singular being thing that is out there called God that functions like a cosmic vending machine whose sole purpose is seemingly to bless you and make your life better. Even when he mentions God, it’s not ABOUT God, but it’s about what God can do for YOU.
Why do I say “singular being”? Simple. While mention of a “God” may be plastered all over his twitter feed, Jesus is Not. Joel Osteen rarely, if ever, mentioned Jesus. He rarely, if ever, mentions Christ. This is true when you listen to his sermons, read his tweets, and listen to him on whatever talk show he’s touring. Let me give you some basic numbers
Just for kicks I did a quick survey of all Joel Osteen tweets in the last year. I can’t go further back, so we’ll stick with going back to July 8, 2013, which is a little more than a year ago. Out of Joel Osteens 806 tweets, not including any of his replies to other people, he mentions “God”…
Go to the link to read the numerical results. In my essay, I’d proposed a reason why so many of the false teachers speak of God but not of Jesus when they are teaching,
“Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:3)
If they don’t have the Holy Spirit they can’t teach Jesus is Lord because they can’t say it. Like when Jesus said at the Last Supper that one of them will betray Him, all 11 of the Disciples said Is it I, Lord? but Judas could not say that because he was apostate and he said “Is it I, Rabbi?” (Matthew 26:21-25)”
Now let’s go to the positive in verse 3. I was going to get through verse 11. Can you believe that? Verse 3… yes, you can believe that. Verse 3, And the other side…here’s the positive test…”That no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Spirit.” This is the positive. When somebody comes into your midst with all of his faculties, and with all of his mind, and with all of his heart, and with all of his being, says, “Jesus is Lord,” you know that’s of the Holy Spirit. Now it isn’t simply the words, it’s the commitment. No man can say…and the word say here doesn’t just mean to pair. A skeptic can say, “Jesus is Lord.” You can pay a guy ten dollars and say, “Would you say Jesus is Lord, Jesus is Lord. Here’s your ten dollars.” That isn’t the point. It’s not quite that simplistic. No man can truly say, no man can truly confess, no man can truly acknowledge, “Jesus is the Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. When that deep conviction of genuine understanding about who He is comes forth it is of the Spirit. … So the Spirit prompted confession is distinguished from the counterfeit, by the acknowledgement that Jesus, the Man, is, in fact, God.
Just food for thought. As a person who loves to quantify things I appreciated the Twitter survey! In discernment it is not only what a person says, but what he doesn’t say. And noticing an absence takes time and skill. Listen for what a person fails to speak of as much as you’re listening to what they do say.
A few days ago I wrote about the trend of the young millennials calling themselves Jesus followers instead of Christians. Jesus followers are almost uniformly young, claim that the ‘baggage’ of the label ‘Christian’ weighs down their walk, and they’d rather be in a relationship than in a religion with rules.
I liked the essay I wrote and I posted it, but I still did some research, feeling like a piece was missing from my thought process. Turns out there was. And here it is:
Church. The Body.
Millennials who claim to be following Jesus almost always leave the ecclesiology out of their walk.
This term today of ‘following Jesus’ is so common out in the world! Most millennials are spouting this. Of course there is baggage in the term Christian. Of course there are rules. That is the point, but most Millennials want the soft, gentle parts of the relationship without the hard parts of the religion. And they bristle at the doctrines of sin and judgment. Most are not saved.
Here is a short essay on the subject of Christ follower or Christian by Tyler Braun, who wrote “Why Holiness Matters” from Moody Press. His thoughts crystallized some things for me.
Spend some time on Facebook and look at the religious views of many and you will quickly learn that there is a trend to be a “Christ Follower,” “Follower of Christ,” or “Follower of Jesus” rather than a “Christian.” You might be asking why… I think this is something common in the younger generations who are unhappy with the way Christians have represented their faith in the past. So rather than being grouped with the “Christians” they’d rather keep the religion out of it in order to only follow Jesus.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say this practice of denying being a “Christian” in order to be a “Christ follower” is completely wrong. About the only positive I can see is the extra emphasis on following Jesus. There are many people who do not hold to any of the basic tenets of the Christian faith who are “following Jesus.” Why is it wrong?
–It isolates. Meaning that part of being a Christ follower is being in relationship with fellow Christians, not just those who follow Jesus the way we do.
–It segregates. The Christian faith has enough division. There is no need for there to be a division in how we state what we are as believers.
That’s good. Very good.
Here is a snippet from Time Magazine reporting on the trend that also crystallized the final thoughts about this trend for me:
…some also worry that “follower of Jesus” diverts people from the fundamentals. “Two questions constantly come up,” says Richard Mouw, president of Fuller Theological Seminary. “The first is Christology. What about the full divinity of Christ? How much can you keep that in the background? Second, what’s the role of the church in all this?”
Again, very good. Many ‘Christ followers’ are like the horse with blinders, following only the straight line ahead, one horse unto itself, unmindful of those who are next to him or behind him. To some extent we adults have caused this. Millennials go to large para-church conferences like Passion, which they believe is church but is not church. Except for their youth minister, Passion doesn’t even allow parents or adults to attend with their children! Millennials attend Rock the Universe concerts that are promoted as Praise weekends, which they believe is church but is not church. The Mars Hill mentality of music as worship they believe is church but is not church. An even to some extent, separating the youths from the regular congregation as an entity unto themselves, sequestered in their own buildings, without the benefit of older role models to view and interact with, they believe is church but often is not church.
“The church itself is a dark and modern giant auditorium, with theater-style seats, an impressive sound system, and big flat-screen TV’s everywhere. It looks like the kind of place you might see a concert in, but not somewhere you’d expect to go to church. The prominently featured indie-style rock band felt right at home here, as did the theatrics that followed.” Millennial aged Mars Hill church goer. We’ve given them para-church, home groups, praise group weekends, Walks to Emmaus and Chrysalis, and rock concerts, so is it any wonder they reject rules, religion, worship, and submission to the church leadership? Is it any wonder they eschew the word Christian as baggage, want to ‘follow’ Christ, and go off on their own? Is it any wonder they have no clue of what it means to be part of a body submitting to leadership, and not just a singular follower blissfully doing their own thing?
And the effort to uproot Jesus from the church makes as much sense as loving someone’s head, but not their body; or admiring Thomas Jefferson and sneering at the Constitution. Jesus is the foundation and cornerstone and head of the church. Without the people Jesus comes from, without the people Jesus births into the world, there is no Jesus. The people Jesus births into the world are called “Christian.”
We’re either all Christ followers or none of us are. We are all in a body, with Jesus as its Head. That body is called church, and church has rules as does our life. The relationship we have is to Christ, but it is also to each other. Christ followers, please heed this passage:
Unity in the Body of Christ
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:1-6)
The cults are infamous for perverting historically accepted biblical terms. “Is it any wonder then,” said the late Christian apologist/polemicist Dr. Walter Martin in The Riddle of Semantics, “that orthodox Christians feel called upon to openly denounce such perversions of clearly defined and historically accepted biblical terminology, and claim that the cults have no rights — scholastically, biblically, or linguistically — to redefine biblical terms as they do?” (Source)
People today are starting to say “I follow Jesus.” Or, “I’m a Jesus follower.” I’m sure you’ve seen this.
People used to say “I’m saved by Jesus.” Or, “Jesus saved me.”
I don’t like saying ‘I follow Jesus’. I’ll tell you why.
Saying “I follow Jesus” puts me as the subject. ‘Look at meeee, I follow.” The verb is about me too. The verb alerts the hearer to something I am doing, following. It puts a picture in the mind of the hearer on two people walking, the second one being the follower, and that is where you’re mind’s eye rests in forming the picture of the words spoken to you. On the one doing the following and not on the One doing the leading.
EPrata photo
It is also kind of boasting. If one is saved by the atoning work of Jesus Christ, it stands to reason that a person would then follow His commands and abide by His statutes. No one says, “I’m saved by Jesus but I don’t follow Him.” The following is tacitly understood by one and all.
But one can say “I follow Jesus” and not be saved. Mormons follow Jesus and are not saved. Catholics follow Jesus and are not saved. Judas followed Jesus for three years and he was not saved. I understand that saying “I’m saved by Jesus” doesn’t guarantee a person is saved, but at least it includes the acknowledgement of sin and the need for a savior. Following Jesus is something a lot of people do, and saying so only increases the likelihood that what they are doing is simply an activity. When you decide to call yourself a Jesus follower, in my opinion it increases the likelihood that are one of the people DOING things for Christ and not actually saved by Christ.
All these people followed Christ, too:
On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ (Matthew 7:22-23)
Saying that “Jesus saved me” puts the emphasis on Him. Referencing my salvation by constantly saying “I follow Jesus” puts a boasting aspect to the phrase the speaker may not have intended, but is there nonetheless.
Now, someone could reply that the comment is not about salvation, but is about sanctification. Sanctification is the growth we experience in Christ after we are saved (justified). They could argue that they were saved by Jesus and now they follow Him in His statutes, ever growing in sanctification. After all, Jesus said, “Follow me”.
Yes, Jesus said “Follow me” many times. He said it in Matthew 4:19, Matthew 16:24, John 8:12, Luke 5:11, 1 Peter 2:21, John 10:27, etc. It is biblical to say that one is a follower of Jesus. I cannot categorically condemn the phrase.
I can make a statement that it is unwise to speak solely of one’s salvation OR sanctification in terms of the self. The growth we experience when we follow Jesus is partly done under our own steam but not fully. The Holy Spirit grows us. Our part is aggressive obedience, fervent pursuit, and a total submission. Therefore saying “I follow” seems just so…anemic.
‘Following’ as opposed to submitting, pursuing, or obeying is one step away from Jesus. Who are we following? Why? That small shift in emphasis is incremental but dangerous nonetheless. Once the shift is made away from the object of our pursuit, then the following becomes the main theme. And one can easily go astray. One can follow your bliss.
One can follow a leader. Paul addressed this in 1 Corinthians 1:12-13, because errant ‘following’ was causing divisions.
What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
The members at Corinth were split along doctrinal lines and had shifted their eyes from Jesus and their unity in Him to personal preferences among different teachers and the doctrines these teachers were teaching.
Erin McCrum wrote about the “why” this trend eschews the name ‘Christian’ in favor of ‘Follower of Jesus:
…proponents of the “follower” lingo claim two advantages over the label “Christian” or “evangelical.” “First, it doesn’t carry baggage. You can wear it abroad, in Islamic countries, or at home with your Jewish or Buddhist friends, without causing offense. Second, it distances the bearer from the culture wars that have made American politics so divisive.”
In this scenario, one can envision saying to a Muslim, “I’m a follower of Jesus!” and they reply “I’m a follower of Isa!” Hugs all around. It is precisely the offense which makes a Christian a Christian. Paul said if there is no offense then the cross has been taken away (Galatians 5:11). If claiming Jesus as our Christ doesn’t offend, there is something wrong. There should be love in witnessing, but there should be no attempt to cloak, diminish or otherwise distort who we are and who Christ is. Of course the term “Christian” carries baggage. That is the point. The ‘baggage’ is the cross which offends everyone.
Satan is so subtle and so skillful. Satan managed to convince a third of the holy angels who saw the face of God every day, to follow him instead. He convinced Eve to bite the forbidden fruit just by asking a question. It is unwise to allow incremental creep into our language regarding who we are or what we do. Satan will quickly take advantage of it. Instead, we must be mindful, biblical, and vigilant in our language about Jesus and in our active holy walk. See the difference:
The Jesus Follower: I am a pretty good person who just made some mistakes and so I decided to follow Jesus and I want to live out His plan for me because after all, He loves me.
The Christian Saved by Grace: I am a totally depraved sinner saved by unmerited grace of the Son of Man who came to live a sinless life, die as the atoning sacrifice for my sin, and endure all God’s wrath for it. I pursue the resurrected Jesus who has holy standards for the ones He has saved, and am living by those standards to the best of my craven ability, by submission to and obedience in the Holy Spirit. I rest on the promises Jesus the Christ has made to His chosen ones to both activate the faith He has given me, and to empower me to live in ever-growing sanctification. I’m looking forward to obeying him all the days of my life until He deems it the time to bring me home.
I have a very small leak in the tub faucet. A tiny drop comes out every few seconds. One day, the cat had tripped the drain shut. I went into the bathroom a few hours later and there was an inch of water on the bottom of the tub. The litter box was floating. Small doctrinal leaks add up. Explosively wrong doctrine can pop a balloon or a tiny leak of slowly shifting language can drain it. The result is the same.
I’m not a Christian. I’m a Jesus follower.
The terms Christian, sinner, salvation, justification, sanctification etc have lasted so long and been so understandable to everyone for centuries is because they are biblical. These terms transcend time. Be mindful of falling into a trap of exchanging words attached to known and commonly understood concepts with new terms that are nebulous, temporary, cultural and lack Spirit power. Sometimes synonyms aren’t synonyms, but a subtle trick of satan to drain power from our witness.
The cults are infamous for perverting historically accepted biblical terms. “Is it any wonder then,” said the late Christian apologist/polemicist Dr. Walter Martin in The Riddle of Semantics, “that orthodox Christians feel called upon to openly denounce such perversions of clearly defined and historically accepted biblical terminology, and claim that the cults have no rights — scholastically, biblically, or linguistically — to redefine biblical terms as they do?” (Source)
A so-called Christian heavy metal band whose frontman was convicted of attempting to hire a hitman to murder his estranged wife has admitted that it duped fans into believing that they were Christian in order to sell their music. “Truthfully, I was an atheist,” Tim Lambesis, the lead singer and founder of As I Lay Dying told the Alternative Press in a recent interview. “I actually wasn’t the first guy in As I Lay Dying to stop being a Christian. In fact, I think I was the third.
The band got together in 2000-1 at the end of the height of Contemporary Christian Music’s most lucrative year. They smelled money. The bible says,
“And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.” (2 Peter 2:3 KJV)
“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 ESV)
The publication noted that his wife, Meggan, had likewise divulged in divorce papers that Lambesis had become an atheist. Lambesis, in admitting his atheism, outlined that he turned away from Christianity as he majored in religious studies while attending college through a long distance program. “In the process of trying to defend my faith, I started thinking the other point of view was the stronger one,” he said.
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none who does good. (Psalm 14:1)
See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. (Colossians 2:8)
Their CD covers. A clue maybe they weren’t Christian
And one sin led to another, turning his renunciation of Christ into justification for his actions. “The first time I cheated on my wife, my interpretation of morality was now convenient for me,” Lambesis explained. “I felt less guilty if I decided, “Well, marriage isn’t a real thing, because Christianity isn’t real. God isn’t real. Therefore, marriage is just a stupid piece of paper with the government.”
And he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God. (Luke 16:15)
But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29)
But he continued to profess to be a Christian, as did others in the band, in order to sell records to Christian music fans.
And we’re back to the beginning:
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 ESV)
Wikipedia describes the band’s sound as “Heavy metal writer Garry Sharpe-Young described the band as a “Christian Hardcore act employing the Grind edged vocals of singer Tim Lambesis and a distinct hint of Scandinavian guitar chug” and parents, youths, the words ‘Christian’ and ‘hardcore’ do not mix. Ever. That should have been a clue. Here is the second clue
They are described “as being in the metalcore genre, not Christian metal. This is largely because the band’s lyrics do not directly focus on pro-Christian themes the way many praise music bands do nor do they treat their music as a direct extension of their private Christian worship or proselytizing efforts. For example, not once do the names God or Jesus appear in any As I Lay Dying song, nor do any of their songs explicitly invoke Christian doctrine or quote the Bible.”
Lambesis said in an interview, “I believe that change should start with me first, and as a result, our lyrics do not come across very ‘preachy.’ Many of our songs are about life, struggles, mistakes, relationships and other issues that don’t fit entirely in the spiritual category.” Jesus is not a category in your life, He IS life. If Jesus is not at the center of our lives, every aspect of it, we are not Christian. A person who has the Holy Spirit in them cannot compartmentalize Him into segments and then marginalize Him to the side. He is the very lifespring from which our entire new being, the new creature, flows.
The band members state that they lost their faith, or that they departed from the Christianity they’d once professed. People, this is not possible. One does not fall away. That is the third clue-
They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. (1 John 2:19)
Always pray for discernment, stay in the word, and guard your children.
At the following website it is being reported that at a recent Joel Osteen venue, (Yankee Stadium, June 7) scalpers were charging $850 per ticket to hear the (false) preacher speak-
According to Essence Music Festival – a 3 day pass to see Prince, Lionel Richie, Mary J Blige, Erykah Badu and more on (July 4-6, 2014) in New Orleans is only $249, with 111 tickets remaining. Considering that lineup of Superstar Talent, how much would you pay to hear “Christian Superstar” Joel Osteen preach the Gospel of Jesus? According to StubHub.com, ticket scalpers are selling tickets for The Joel Osteen Tour for as much as $850. SEE COST PER SEAT! On the StubHub.com site, tickets for this event are being resold by Ticket Scalpers therefore the price is currently ranging from $18 in the Nose Bleed Seats, all the way up to $850 if you desire to look directly up Joel Osteen’s Nose. Stubhub.com is also reporting that the normal cost of tickets in Delta Suit B without the Scalper mark up is $592. Since when did scalpers start scalping church tickets you ask? Since 2005, when Joel Osteen proved he could sellout a stadium. Traditionally ticket scalpers are only interested in sold out events. Apparently the scalpers feel this event will sell out, and fans of Joel Osteen are willing to pay their asking premium. Regardless of the Performer on the stage – even if that performer just so happens to be a Preacher, the scalpers somehow seem to know how to make a profit, and they’re planning to profit as Joel profits.
Mammon, n.: The god of the world’s leading religion. ~Ambrose Bierce For some crazy reason Christians are willing to pay the high cost of these tickets just to get a front row view of Joel Osteen, prices that even tower above “A List” performers like Beyoncé.
As reported here, Osteen feels that preaching the whole counsel of God is not his niche. Osteen believes that to preach sin or wrath or judgment is not “his calling”. Instead, he preaches feel-good messages, because everybody’s on a journey.
HuffPost Live’s Marc Lamont Hill asked whether gay marriage is against the fundamental “rules” of Christianity. “It would be, but I don’t really focus on a lot of those things,” Osteen said. “I try to stay in my lane of what I feel called to do. [Gay marriage] does come up in interviews and things, but that’s not my core message.” What his message does include, Osteen said, is advising his congregation on how to let go of the past, raise good children and achieve their dreams.
Of course it seems good to the people attending to hear such smooth speech as that. Smooth as butter.
“His speech was smooth as butter,
yet war was in his heart;
his words were softer than oil,
yet they were drawn swords.”
~Psalm 55:21
S. Lewis Johnson preached on Hosea 10 in 1984. Though he was not speaking of Osteen in particular, in the quote below he was speaking of all who have a divided heart, a theme recurring in both Hosea 10:2 and the Psalm 55 verse.
“You ever met any individuals like that? They have a wonderful way of speaking smoothly, and if you’re not on your guard, you’ll be taken in by their deceptiveness, their falsity, their trickiness. And so what he is saying is, their heart is smooth, their heart is false, their heart is tricky; it is divided. In other words, outwardly they are followers of Yahweh, the true God, but really they’re followers of Baal and of their own selves.”
Gill’s Exposition explains the Psalm 55 verse, the heart is divided, and one only outwardly follows God, like Judas: “such the words of Judas, when he said to Christ, “hail, master”, and kissed him, Matthew 26:49; … but war was in his heart; even a civil war, rebellion against his prince;”
Make no mistake. Joel Osteen is at war with Christ. ‘His calling’ is to lead many sons into rebellion with him. Beware this false wolf.
In fairness, though, I can’t blame Osteen personally for the ticket prices. In order to minimize scalping, the Joel Osteen Organization does not sell tickets in large blocks. However, what does an $850 ticket say about us as people? As the article above stated, “For some crazy reason Christians are willing to pay…” Scalpers can only command the price if people are willing to pay it.
I think of Charles Spurgeon, dubbed “The Prince of Preachers” in the 1800s. He preached widely and constantly in the UK and in Europe. In 1876 however, he hadn’t had time to preach in America, despite the Redpath Lyceum Bureau having invited Spurgeon many times. When the Bureau noticed an advertisement in another newspaper trumpeting Spurgeon’s imminent arrival in the US, the Bureau write to Spurgeon asking Spurgeon to engage with them instead. The Bureau offered “one thousand dollars in gold for every lecture you deliver in America, and pay all your expenses to and from your home, and put you in the most popular auspices in the country.”
Spurgeon replied that the competing article was a “deliberate invention from a hard-up editor”, for he had no plans whatsoever to arrive in the US for a tour. He clarified that he was not a lecturer, and most importantly, “nor would I receive money for preaching.”
There are so many subjects I have on deck to write and discuss. But today this subject bumped them all away and made it to the top of the list.
Justin Peters
I know he is the kind of man who would be excessively embarrassed at having a blog entry devoted to him, even from an obscure woman in a lonely corner of the internet like myself. He is a humble man, and totally devoted to praising Jesus, all the time. But that is why I want to highlight this man and his ministry. That, and something that happened yesterday which has already blessed many people.
Regular readers of this blog know that I enjoy John MacArthur’s preaching tremendously. He is a grace-filled, steady, wise man of God, and he has been for 50 years. His over 3000 sermons are available for free, in audio or transcribed. His study bibles and commentaries are wonderful, his devotionals are helpful, his Radio Ministry wide-spread, his books are invariably full of wisdom, and his Master’s Seminary sow solidly doctrinal men of God into the world. I believe he is the Spurgeon of our day.
Speaking of Spurgeon, we all owe him a great debt. I frequently quote him on this blog. His exposition lines my heart, having read many of his sermons. I read at least a sermon, a sermon excerpt, or devotional of his every day. For months at a time, Spurgeon preached 12 sermons a week. You heard me. He preached at the royal courts of the Dutch monarchs and the Royals of England, and he preached to the homeless warming themselves in his boiler room. His sermons were printed one per week for over thirty years. He is called the Prince of Preachers and rightly so. You’ve undoubtedly heard of Spurgeon and will hear more about him in an upcoming blog entry here.
Regular readers also know I enjoy the sermons of Phil Johnson, Steve Lawson, Don Green, and especially S. Lewis Johnson and Martyn Lloyd Jones.
The key here is that MacArthur, Spurgeon, Phil Johnson, Steve Lawson, Don Green, S. Lewis Johnson, and Martyn Lloyd Jones are or were all expositors, preaching to one congregation they pastored verse-by-verse. These men are given double honor by me. Pastoring is hard, heartbreaking work. Expositional preaching is out of favor now. Long-term pastorates like the ones these men enjoy are nearly extinct.
“Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching.” (1 Timothy 5:17)
But there are there preachers out there without regular pastorate. Paul Washer is an itinerant missionary. Tony Miano is a street preacher. Ray Comfort and Todd Friel are …well, lol, I don’t know what to call those fine men except faithful to be out among the people reaching many with the Gospel.
Justin Peters is a pastor without a church as far as I know, but he is also another of these faithful men of God being used in a mighty way. Pr. Peters has two seminary degrees and is ordained. He preaches on call, he fills pulpits, he leads teaching conferences, and he does apologetics. His niche is a discernment ministry focused on Word-Faith lies.
Pastor Peters is kind, compassionate, humble, gentle, sensitive to the grace of God, wise, and kind. I know I said kind twice. I want to highlight it.
Being in a discernment ministry for so many years, leading seminars on how to detect lies in false doctrine, means Pr Peters must be involved in negativity for long stretches. He studies the word, of course, intensively, but then he must go out and attend a revival, or a charismatic conference, or a prophetic outpouring, and be among false teachers and listen to lies, in order to be able to refute. It is a muddy, dirty, potentially defeating business.
Even if one maintains one’s nose above the muck, many discernment ministers tend to become snarky, or caustic and sarcastic, or just plain arrogant. When men fall into those discernment sins it’s not because they aren’t earnest and they are usually right, but the attitude infiltrating a discernment minister’s mind and heart can often become less than graceful. Sarcasm, snark, caustic comments, derision, contempt, and scorn often accompany discernment. I combat that myself all the time. It is born of a righteous anger, but it degenerates into something that sometimes can come out as less than righteous.
It is only by clinging severely to the grace of God that one can swim in such dark waters for so many years, and yet remain humble and filled with compassion, and still declare the beauty of the Gospel with clarity and simplicity, like Pr. Peters has.
His ministry not only teaches us in apologetics how and why the Word-Faith or other doctrines are false, and in so doing, teaches how to be discerning in general, but his very example is a testament to the ample ability the Holy Spirit has to enrich a ministry while protecting a soul.
What happened yesterday is an example of how these diligent men of God, especially the ones not in front of a congregation that are seen by many, go about their work declaring the word of the Lord. They protect the sheep. They confront sin and sinners in love and with hope and prayer they will repent.
Todd Bentley is a charismatic “preacher” known for being rough, looking rough, and speaking rough.
His “healing” services have included kicking a 4th stage cancer patient in the stomach, and kneeing an elderly woman. He is covered in tattoos, many of them obtained after his “conversion.” He preaches healing if you have enough faith- AND if you sow a seed into his ministry. He is a false preacher of God, employed firmly in satan’s camp. Yet he is big in the US and bigger overseas. Bentley is deceiving many. He brings shame and reproach onto Jesus’ name. Bentley made the mistake of preaching near where Justin Peters lives.
Peters, who has cerebral palsy and walks with a large crutch, or moves in a wheelchair, went with his friend Michael Miller to hear Bentley ‘preach’ in Tulsa. Peters is well familiar with charismatic events, attending many himself in search of healing when he was a youth, and attending as a mature Christian in order to observe and learn. He and Miller had asked for prayer prior to attending Bentley’s service. This was the prayer request on Peters’ Facebook ministry page, from Mike Miller:
Brothers and sisters in Christ, I would ask for your earnest prayers for Justin and I tomorrow. We need boldness to present the truth in love with precision, Divine encounters, wisdom and to put it frankly, we are in great need of every sort of grace. No details yet but the Lord knows where we are going, and He knows how much I appreciate your prayers! We definitely need them! More info later. Grace and peace, Mike
The response of the faithful to this precious pastor and his friend was huge, and thus bathed in prayer, the pair drove from Oklahoma City to Bentley’s Tulsa “Healing and Debt Cancellation Service.” I am not kidding about the title. The service was live streamed internationally, which turned out to be a blessing for Peters. Miller was also video recording Peters’ interaction. Peters is in the cammo cap.
There Miller and Peters sat for two and a half hours, listening, praying, seeking an opportunity to speak to Bentley and also on behalf of the unwittingly deluded congregation. There was music playing constantly, and Bentley was constantly talking. It was difficult to know when to speak. Yet Peters’ conscience would not let him remain silent. Pastor Peters recounted his experience on the JD Hall Show and it is archived at sermon audio- the link is below. I encourage you to listen. Hall for the most part simply lets Peters explain what happened before, during, and after the event.
Suddenly for some reason the music stopped. Peters knew this was the moment. He got up and said out loud, “I have a word.” Peters said that at Charismatic services when someone says they have a word they always stop what they are doing and eagerly listen to man’s word. However as proof is shown in a moment, they are not always so eager to listen to God’s word. Peters then recited Matthew 7:21-23.
““Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”
Bentley looked confused for a moment, Peters said later, and asked Peters, “Who…who is the worker of iniquity?” Peters looked Bentley in the eye and said,
“You are.”
There was a split second of shock that went through Bentley and the audience. As one biblically wise person on Peters Facebook page said, it was a moment like when Nathan the Prophet rebuked David the King in 2 Samuel 12:1-15. In verse 7, “Nathan said to David, “You are the man!“
In the next second, Bentley whirled, took the microphone from Peters, muscle men leaped in to physically remove Peters, and Bentley cued the music again. The muscle men attempted to remove Peters, who was not resisting, by arm, but he has crutches attached at his elbows and if you move his arm, he’ll fall. At one point Bentley moved in to take hold of Peters, but Peters said he did not want Bentley to touch him. Peters instinctively raised his hand a bit to stop the touch. It was then that Bentley said loudly “Don’t you hit me with your crutch!”
This is ironic given that Bentley is a large, burly man and Peters is weak and unsteady.
Left, Peters with his crutch in his motorized scooter, Bentley on rt.
Peters continued to preach as he was hustled up the aisle and out the door, reminding the assembled that Bentley is a divorced man, having abandoned his handicapped wife and children. Peters advised them they were being deceived by a wolf. Though Peters and Miller left immediately when told, the Bentley team still called the police on them. The blessing was that the event was live streamed as I mentioned. This means that Peters’ preaching of the Matthew verse and the ensuing activity was broadcast live around the world.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, thank you for your prayers. The Lord graciously gave brother Justin an opportunity to publicly and personally call a false teacher out on a live streaming broadcast in front of a congregation, and Justin gave the false prophet a true “word” from God reading Matthew 7:21-23.
Justin asked me to be discreet about this lest he receive any acclaim which should only go to the Lord. God is the one that made this public rebuke possible, and who protected us. Soli Deo Gloria. So I am not going to post the video or give details, but I did want to thank you for your prayers because this situation would not have occurred without the gracious provision of the Holy Spirit and the prayers of God’s people.
Yes, they did remove Justin from the premises under force, and they did call the cops on us, but no harm was done. We did get to testify to quite a few people about this false prophet and warn them, and we got to sow the true Gospel of Jesus Christ in this heretical church. Please pray that God will have mercy on these people and save them from a very dark deception. The ones we talked to were willingly ignorant and unwilling to listen to any truth for more than a few seconds. Grace and peace to you all. Sincerely in Christ, Mike
Changing gears just a bit, Peters said on JD Hall’s interview show that in Peters’ long career as a discernment minister, there are a few false teachers who he feels are directly possessed by satan. All false teachers are under satan’s influence, being lost, but a few are directly invaded in body. Yes, possession still happens, friends. Peters said that he feels Kenneth Copeland is so dark, that he is possessed by a demon, and also Bentley is so dark that he also has a demon. This was the main reason he did not want Bentley to touch him. Now think about this:
In Peters’ work, he must attend services in places which proclaim a false gospel, tell lies, grab for greed, and in a few cases, directly confront a demon-possessed person. These spiritual soldiers are the D-Day soldiers of Omaha Beach, in the mud, in the trenches, first off the boat. The face enemy fire first and directly. They often become casualties, but if one remains in Christ, in prayer, and submits their very ego, soul, strength, and mind to Christ, they are spared the bullets and make it to the woods.
1944 D-Day invasion of Normandy
Like our precious soldiers who went to Omaha Beach on D-Day, these spiritual soldiers do it for freedom. They do it because foremost the name of Jesus must be proclaimed and protected. But they do it for the hostages. The people filling the services like Bentley’s are in bondage to a false gospel, they have no hope. Wading in to such places, Peters and men like him (Miano, Friel, Comfort, Kirk) bring the light and hope of freedom.
The men at D-Day were attempting to gain back ground for the cause of freedom, and while noble in the extreme, it was a temporal endeavor. While it brings tears to my eyes just thinking about that day 70 years ago, and the soldiers’ sacrifices, pastors like Peters are attempting to gain back ground by gathering souls for Christ, an eternal endeavor.
Peters pleaded with Hall on the interview show never to ascribe any particular honor to him. He doesn’t want limelight. Peters said it was all for the glory of God, and done by the strength of the Spirit. This is true, and it is one reason why we love Pastor Justin Peters. But we also are advised in the bible to give double honor to our soldiers on the front lines: pastors-
“Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching.” (1 Timothy 5:17)
When you pray for your pastor and deacons, please also pray for the pastors who don’t have a regular flock. These men minister to the lost, bewildered, and wandering via a discernment ministry, a street ministry, or a media ministry. Spiritual warfare is sometimes more evident and more palpable in those realms, on spiritual hamburger hills all over the globe. The charismatic prosperity healing service or the public street in a gay city is the Omaha Beach of Christ. Preaching there is like D-Day. Every time.
Please also give praise to the Holy Spirit who obviously has Peters well protected, and is growing him in Christ-likeness in leaps and bounds. This is an example of a gentle, grace-filled pastor who loves Jesus. Let’s cherish these men. The Lord certainly does.
One of the spiritual gifts is “discerning of spirits” (1 Corinthians 12:10 KJV). Other translations say “distinguishing between spirits” (ESV, HSB) while the NAS says “distinguishing of spirits.” They generally mean the same thing. The word distinguishing in the Greek carries with it a meaning that someone judges, a passing of a sentence, a thorough conclusion, to detect look-alikes of things that appear to be the same. This is what Charles Spurgeon meant when he said “Discernment is not knowing the difference between right and wrong. It is knowing the difference between right and almost right.”
To a degree, all Christians have been given an ability to discern. That comes with the Spirit who resides in us. We’re all supposed to ask for discernment, and wisdom, too. We are supposed to practice it and develop it. (Hebrews 5:14). The Spirit delivers this discernment, we don’t obtain it at seminary or by study with an elder or any man-made means. It is the Spirit ultimately Who gives us the ability to detect error and truth.
While all Christians have at least the ability todiscern, some have been given a Spiritual Gift of Discernment. It means some have been given an extra dose. Picture an army. All the encamped men listen for the enemy. However, some have been stationed at the edge of the camp and are on patrol. If the enemy makes a move, it is the men on patrol who hear it first. They sound the alarm. Soon the enemy is close enough f the main army to hear it themselves. However it is the guard on patrol who hear the enemy first and earliest.
Civil War Dictionary of terms explains the Picket Duty: “An advance outpost or guard for a large force was called a picket. Ordered to form a scattered line far in advance of the main army’s encampment, but within supporting distance, a picket guard was made up of a lieutenant, 2 sergeants, 4 corporals, and 40 privates from each regiment. Picket duty constituted the most hazardous work of infantrymen in the field. Being the first to feel any major enemy movement, they were also the first liable to be killed, wounded, or captured. And he most likely targets of snipers. Picket duty, by regulation, was rotated regularly in a regiment.“
It is like that with believers who have been given discernment as a gift. We are usually the watchmen, on guard, patrolling the section of ground we have encamped by. The Lord our General has stationed us in a place, given us the ability to hear the different moves of the enemy, and we raise the cry when we hear him slithering, crouching at the door, or otherwise making a move. We also detect spies (Galatians 2:4, Jude 1:4).
I don’t often talk about my own experience, because my own experience doesn’t matter. Also, the process of discernment is a mystery even to me, who experiences it every day. However I’d like to press your patience this one time and share something personal, with a tie-in to the Mark 4:9 verse,
“And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Ears of a Watchman with discernment
I’ve mentioned briefly in passing that our former pastor was let go for serial plagiarism. He had been memorizing other men’s sermons and delivering them as his own, even relating the other pastor’s personal anecdotes as if he had lived them himself. Apparently this had been going on for four years or more. I arrived at my church in January of 2012. After a few months, little things were said or done by the pastor didn’t set right with me, spiritually. I watched, prayed, and watched some more. I had an open mind. I call this phase, the “Hunh” phase, as in “Huhn, what’s up with that?” Or, “Huhn, what does that mean?” Or, “Huhn, did I see/hear what I thought I saw/heard?”
Along same summer and then fall of 2013, and my “Huhn” phase morphed into a low alarm phase. I’d leave the sermon feeling unsettled. What was happening as I listened to the sermons during this time is the crux of this essay. I’d never heard anyone speak to this process or never have seen it written about, until one comment recently by Pastor Justin Peters caught my attention. During this phase of listening to my former pastor preach, I’d have the strong sense that behind what I was hearing was…nothing. There was nothing behind the words.
WWI: “The most interesting of the special instruments employed for the defense of Paris from aerial attack are the “listening posts”, as shown in the illustration. This consists of four huge horns, which gather up the slightest sound and magnify it by means of a microphone, so it is impossible for an airplane to approach unheard.” Wikimedia Commons
See, when the Living God sends His Spirit to fill the words spoken from His word via a preacher or a teacher, they are heavy in my ears. It is like the words themselves are edged with neon, weightier, heavier…like there is something behind them. Alternately, when there is no Spirit carrying the words, it is like they are pale, dead, like brown leaves drifting to the ground rather than arrows piercing the heart. I can’t explain it better than that. Here is a visual.
Hearing regular words:
Hearing Spirit-filled words:
Hearing dead & empty words that are supposed to be alive:
Dead words are empty, they whisper weakly and then fall to the ground. They litter the floor of the sanctuary and flutter only when kicked while walking out the doors when the sermon is done. Jesus was explaining this to Nicodemus in John 3:8, when He likened the Spirit to wind, and said,
“The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
In the 1 Corinthians 12:10 verse about distinguishing of spirits, the word is pneúma . Depending on context, it means wind. Without the word “Holy” in front of it, the word means just spirits, not The Holy Spirit. (source)
As each week progressed through the summer, fall and then winter of 2013, I’d leave church increasingly unsettled. My mind would react to the sermon by saying, “It feels empty.” “It feels canned”. “There’s nothing there.”
As Gertrude Stein famously said about Oakland CA, “There’s no there there.”
When I couldn’t shake the feeling and the unsettlement grew to prickling proportions, I decided to investigate, and by March of 2013 I’d made the discovery that each and every sermon was plagiarized. That was why the words I’d heard had no power. They were not carried by the pneuma, the Holy Spirit. They were a lie.
“The tragedy of this last hour is that we have too many dead men in the pulpits giving out too many dead sermons to too many dead people. There is a strange thing that I have seen even in the fundamentalist circles: it is preaching without unction. What is unction? I hardly know what it is, but I know what it is not, or at least I know when it is not upon my own soul. Preaching without unction kills instead of giving life. The unctionless preacher is a savor of death unto death. The Word does not live unless the unction is upon the preacher. Preacher, with all thy getting, get unction.” ~Leonard Ravenhill
When the movie Heaven is Real was released, discernment minister Justin Peters was reviewing it on his radio program. (Link below). He was referring to a video interview of the father and son, Todd and Colton Burpo. Peters was describing how Colton looked and sounded when Colton was telling the interviewer of his alleged trip to heaven.
Peters was attempting to describe the lack of verve in Colton’s voice and the lack of animation on his face. Peters was saying that IF Colton had actually gone to heaven, there would be a liveliness on his face and a power behind his words. Peters was struggling to articulate the feeling of having ears that hear the pneuma power. He said, frustrated, “Where is the unction? There is nothing behind the words!”
I understand! Gratefully, I finally heard someone else say what I was also struggling to put into words.
Easton’s Bible Dictionary explains unction: “Unction- (1 John 2:20 1 John 2:27; RSV, “anointing”). Kings, prophets, and priests were anointed, in token of receiving divine grace. All believers are, in a secondary sense, what Christ was in a primary sense, “the Lord’s anointed.“
All believers have an unction, or an anointing, to hear the Spirit and be moved by His power. Those of us who have received the gift of discerning of spirits perhaps have a radar that is tuned to a longer frequency, or who have a greater range and hear earlier than others.
I personally believe this is partly what Jesus meant when He said of understanding the parable in Mark 4:9, “And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Jesus said it again in Mark 4:23, Matthew 11:15, Revelation 2:7, Revelation 2:11, Revelation 3:22. It is said in Deuteronomy 29:4 and Ezekiel 12:2. In the Deuteronomy verse, Moses said to Israel,
“Yet the Lord has not given you a heart to perceive and eyes to see and ears to hear, to this very day.”
Having ears to hear is obviously important.
Pulpit Commentary on Mark 4:9 says: “He has “ears to hear” who diligently attends to the words of Christ, that he may ponder and obey them. Many heard him out of curiosity, that they might bear something new, or learned, or brilliant; not that they might lay to heart the things which they heard, and endeavor to practice them in their lives. And so it is with those who go to hear sermons on account of the fame of the preacher, and not that they may learn to amend their lives; and thus the words of Jehovah to Ezekiel (Ezekiel 33:32) are fulfilled, “And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not.”
Acoustic listening devices developed for the Dutch army as part of air defense systems research between WWI & WWII. Source
We all have ears to hear, if we are a believer. However those ears need to be kept clear (Acts 28:27, Matthew 13:15). If you do not have discernment as a gift, you still have a responsibility to practice the skill. Matthew 13:15 explains the first steps in keeping our ears open and receptive:
“for this people’s heart has grown callous, their ears are dull of hearing, they have closed their eyes; or else perhaps they might perceive with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and should turn again; and I would heal them.”
When the heart grows callous, the eyes and the ears also dim. Keep the heart soft by continual study of the word, prayer, and repentance of personal sins.
Also, are the fruits of the spirit—love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance—apparent in the words you’re hearing? If those are present they are from God. If they are not, the words are not from God.
Third, if there is no Spirit power behind their words, there will be a difference between what people say and what they do. If you hear one thing said but observe that the above fruits are not in the person’s actions, then their words are not anointed. In other words, anyone can parrot love, peace, joy, gentleness in their speech but do they demonstrate it, too? One who speaks with unction will speak and act in alignment with God’s word. One who speaks without anointing will always show themselves Spirit-less by their actions at some point. (Proverbs 5:22; Isaiah 59:12).
While it is dangerous to base our spiritual life on feelings, the fact is, we do experience things by the Spirit. If you feel something is “off” in a sermon or a teaching, if you feel that it is pale, or lacking something, it could be that it lacks the pneuma or the unction and the Spirit is alerting you to that fact. It takes much prayer and discernment to detect the difference between a personal feeling and the Spirit’s warning bell.
Even then, the alert isn’t the end, it is the beginning. My role was not just to rely on a feeling, but to prayerfully investigate. When the cold hard facts come in is when we move ahead. The guard on patrol doesn’t come running to the encamped army saying, “I think something may be out there!” Something is always out there. The guard comes to the army and says “I saw a flashlight and heard the cocking of a gun.” Facts.
While the devices posted above where man experimented with various means of amplification and acoustic listening, our spiritual listening devices are the Word and prayer. That’s all we need. Hone your listening skills and ask for increased discernment, whether or not you have the specific gift.
And don’t listen for only the words. Listen to what is behind the words.
Whoever has ears, let them hear. (Revelation 13:9)
“Sanctification is the process by which the Holy Spirit makes us more like Christ in all that we do, think, and desire. True sanctification is impossible apart from the atoning work of Christ on the cross because only after our sins are forgiven can we begin to lead a holy life.” (source)
The word process is important. When you are justified (declared by God righteous at the moment of your salvation) you instantly become a new creature. Yet, you are also being transformed over your lifetime. The Holy Spirit grows you in this process, with your willing submission and partnership.
The part in the definition of sanctification about leading a holy life is important too. Part of that holy life includes wisdom and understanding of God’s word. Understanding His word is essential to growth because it is by studying it we come to know Christ. It is His revealed word to us, and it includes His character, His nature, and His will for us. Apostle Paul urges us to press toward the prize, the prize being Christ. How can we know who He is or how to press forward if we do not mature and understand His word?
When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. (1 Corinthians 13:11)
In researching the “Christian” mommy blogger Glennon Melton, I came across a longer quote of hers. She wrote a hypothetical letter to a hypothetical person explaining why homosexuality is OK now. How it is unloving to disagree with a homosexual lifestyle but mor emature CHrisitans evolve toward a more “loving”stance about it. Here is a shorter excerpt of that quote.
“Your parents are Christians who believe that the Bible is inspired by God, just like people are. And since the Bible is a living thing, it is in its very nature to evolve toward becoming more loving.” ~Glennon Melton
I’m always amazed at the ways satan twists doctrines. Here, we see that the verse from Hebrews 4:12 has been masterfully twisted.
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
Let’s break it down. Satan is effective at melding a bit of truth to a lot of error or a lot of truth to a bit of error. Either way, the result is the same.
The word of God is living. We agree. The word of God is active. We agree. Active means change. The word of God, because it is active, must be changing (“evolving”). I disagree. The evolving word of God must therefore be growing more loving, since the logical trajectory of evolution is from less to more. I disagree.
The fatal mistake here is that the word does not change. God does not change. WE change. His stance on sin has not changed from the first moments the bible was inspired and penned. Our understanding of His word changes as we grow. The writers of the books of the bible show us this in several places.
“I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready,” (1 Corinthians 3:2)
Here Paul is speaking to the Corinthians of their arrested development. Babies need milk because they are not ready for a steak until they have teeth, fine motor skills to cut and chew meat, and a digestive system able to handle the load.
“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food,” (Hebrews 5:12).
Gill’s Exposition explains the above Hebrews verse–here it is used by way of reproach, and denotes levity and inconstancy, ignorance and non-proficiency, want of digestion of strong meat, and incapacity to take care of themselves, as standing in need of tutors and governors.
Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, (Hebrews 6:1)
So we see there is ample evidence that the living and active word causes a change in us, not the other way around.
It might be useful to take a look at the work of Jean Piaget, the Swiss developmental psychologist and philosopher who worked with children. Glennon Melton’s view of scripture as evolving from less loving to more loving means that God changes. However the true view of scripture is that while it stays the same, our understanding of it grows as the Spirit grows us in sanctification. I know many of you have had the experience of having read a verse many times but then one day, in reading it again, suddenly all new insights flood your mind and you have at once a deeper understanding, Have the words themselves changed on the page? No. But our understanding of them has.
Jean Piaget worked with children for many years and created a theory of cognitive development. “Cognition is the process by which the sensory input is transformed, reduced, elaborated, stored, recovered, and used. In science, cognition is the mental processing that includes the attention of working memory, comprehending and producing language, calculating, reasoning, problem solving, and decision making. In cognitive psychology and cognitive engineering, cognition is typically assumed to be information processing in a participant’s or operator’s mind or brain. In cognitive psychology and cognitive engineering, cognition is typically assumed to be information processing in a participant’s or operator’s mind or brain.“
Piaget placed an order on a child’s cognitive development and structured them into age groupings. We all know children develop. We all know children’s brains become more able to handle greater and more complex functions as they grow. It is the same with us as Christians. We start our learning the elementary doctrines and have a more childish relationship with Jesus. As we mature, we deepen our understanding and add layers of experience and complexity to our relationship with the Father. Here is Piaget:
A Quick Summary of Cognitive Development
The Sensorimotor Stage: During this stage, infants and toddlers acquire knowledge through sensory experiences and manipulating objects. The Preoperational Stage: At this stage, kids learn through pretend play but still struggle with logic and taking the point of view of other people. The Concrete Operational Stage: Kids at this point of development begin to think more logically, but their thinking can also be very rigid. They tend to struggle with abstract and hypothetical concepts. The Formal Operational Stage: The final stage of Piaget’s theory involves an increase in logic, the ability to use deductive reasoning, and an understanding of abstract ideas. It is important to note that Piaget did not view children’s intellectual development at a quantitative process; that is, kids do not just add more information and knowledge to their existing knowledge as they get older. Instead, Piaget suggested that there is a qualitative change in how children think as they gradually process through these four stages. A child at age 7 doesn’t just have more information about the world than he did at age 2; there is a fundamental change in how he thinks about the world. (source)
Can you see the parallels with how we interact with the doctrines of His word, with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and with each other? We don’t simply acquire more verses as we memorize, we develop in fundamental change in how we regard the Father as we experience His truths borne out in our Christian lives. This comparison is especially apt because we are children to the Father, no matter if we are 12 years old or 112 years old. He is renewing our minds, and we undergo fundamental change as the Spirit grows us into new creations. (Romans 12:2, 2 Corinthians 5:17).
I hope by now you can see two things:
1. How subtly satan takes a bible verse and twists it in the mind of an unsaved person such as Glennon Melton. It’s based on a truth and it sounds logical, but it isn’t either of those.
2. How God does not change but the Spirit changes us through the living and active word, with our partnership. It is a mystery on how we effect the changes or how far our efforts go in this glorious renewal, but we know we do have a part in it. We submit, we pray, we study, we appeal to the Father for wisdom. We work out our salvation in fear and trembling. Alongside within us, the Spirit is always working, to renew, transform, knit together a new creature whose finished product at the Marriage ceremony will be a glory unto Jesus.
But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, (Jude 1:20)
His living and active Word is evolving US into creations fit for heaven. Allow me to alter Mrs Melton’s lie into truth. A few well-chosen words here and there make such a difference. “You are Christians who believe that the Bible is inspired by God, just like people are when we submit to its precepts. And since the Bible is a living Word, it is in its very nature to evolve us toward becoming more loving.”
None of our understanding of His word would be possible without our precious Savior descending from above to live with us, teach, be rejected, punished, scourged, die, and rise again. He is the supreme Person of the Universe, please give Him all praise and glory. Dedicate yourself to His words, live them, exclaim them, guard them.
“Is not my word like fire,” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces? (Jeremiah 23:29)
I love boundaries. I love edges of things, particularly in geography. I’ve visited the halfway mark to the north pole, located in Perry Maine. I’ve stood on the Equator line at Quito Ecuador. I’ve seen the southernmost US point at Key West FL. There are places where the Rio Grande is a trickle and you can at once be in both the US and Mexico. The border of Maine and Canada in the Bay of Fundy is marked on the ocean by a buoy. At Lubec, Maine, it is marked by a narrow channel, with a lighthouse on one side.
Perry, Maine EPrata photo
It’s always been of interest to me and an indescribable delight to be able to put one foot on one side of something and the other foot on the other side. Man needs to carve up the world so we can be organized, co-exist, know where we are at all times. This is logical. Even God made boundaries, as He declared in Genesis 1:9,
And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so.
And again in Jeremiah 5:22
I placed the sand as the boundary for the sea, a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass;
Rio Grande, border of TX-Mexico, Big Bend. EPrata photo
Man has used boundaries since the beginning of time. In Wikipedia’s article Boundaries in landscape history, it is explained,
“Boundaries- a real or imagined line that marks the limit of something. Many field boundaries in the central region of England originated with the enclosure of the previous open fields in the 18th or 19th centuries. In a few instances, current field boundaries (particularly in the west country) have been shown to have originated in the Bronze Age or Iron Age. In Scotland a march dyke is the boundary between farms or previously baronies.“
Quito, Ecuador, Equator Museum. EPrata photo
In Hosea 5:10 we read,
“The princes of Judah have become like those who move a boundary; On them I will pour out My wrath like water.”
Moving a boundary stone was a serious, serious offense. It is mentioned several times in Deuteronomy and also on Proverbs,
“Do not move your neighbor’s boundary stone set up by your predecessors in the inheritance you receive in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess.” (Deuteronomy 19:14)
“Cursed is anyone who moves their neighbor’s boundary stone.” Then all the people shall say, “Amen!” (Deuteronomy 27:17)
“Do not move the ancient landmark that your fathers have set.” (Proverbs 22:28)
Pulpit Commentary says of the prohibition against moving boundaries,
“In a country where property was defined by landmarks – stones or some such objects – nothing was easier than to remove these altogether, or to alter their position. That this was a common form of fraud and oppression we gather from the stringency of the enactments against the offence (see Deuteronomy 19:14; Deuteronomy 27:17; and comp. Job 24:2; Proverbs 22:28). In the Babylonian and Assyrian inscriptions which have been preserved, there are many invoking curses, curious and multifarious, against the disturbers of boundaries. Such marks were considered sacred and inviolable by the Greeks and Romans (see Plato, ‘De Leg.,’ 8:842, 843; Ovid, ‘Fast.,’ 2:639, etc.).”
I was a reporter for about 6 years, covering local governing bodies such as town councils and Selectmen. The second most important issue to people, where they would rise up and come to meetings to speak, write letters to the newspaper, and discuss at water coolers and diner counters…was taxes. Money. People care a great deal that their tax money is being judiciously handled. But there was one issue that roused the people to anger and frustration even more than money, if you can believe it. Land.
Any time there was a proposed change in land use, the people came out. Any time a prohibition was put into place that restricted their land use, they got angry. Town Zoning and land use ordinances were top concerns for people, and rightly so. Worse was any proposal that would directly involve a change or restriction to personal property. People work hard to buy property and once it is personally owned, they protect it with zeal. It is their life, their livelihood, their own.
Boundary disputes among nations cause wars. Boundary disputes among individuals cause neighborhood wars.
It was no different 3000 years ago, because people are no different. The Lord considers moving a person’s boundaries a cursed activity. Worse, the greedy defrauders moving stones used to do it surreptitiously. Jamieson Fausset Brown Commentary says of Deuteronomy 19:14,
“The Landmark Is Not to Be Removed. Thou shalt not remove thy neighbour’s landmark, which they of old have set in thine inheritance—The state of Palestine in regard to enclosures is very much the same now as it has always been. Though gardens and vineyards are surrounded by dry-stone walls or hedges of prickly pear, the boundaries of arable fields are marked by nothing but by a little trench, a small cairn, or a single erect stone, placed at certain intervals. It is manifest that a dishonest person could easily fill the gutter with earth, or remove these stones a few feet without much risk of detection and so enlarge his own field by a stealthy encroachment on his neighbor’s. This law, then, was made to prevent such trespasses.”
Boundaries are there for a reason, and usually there is no need to move them or change them. They alert people as to where to go, and not go. They divide one thing from another thing. Notice the excoriation for those who cunningly and secretly move boundaries. People who do that are the worst of the worst, because you are literally messing with their livelihood.
Back to Hosea 5:10, “The princes of Judah have become like those who move a boundary; On them I will pour out My wrath like water.”
The boundaries God is talking about are not only the physical boundaries. Note the language, the princes “have become like,” not that the princes are actually moving boundaries. “Israel’s leaders were moving spiritual lines established by God” as Dr MacArthur says in his commentary. People who move the doctrinal lines are the worst of the worst. Note that 2 Peter 2:21 says there are some who secretly bring in destructive heresies. False prophets and false teachers are like those leaders Hosea is speaking of who secretly move the doctrinal boundary stones!
The context of Hosea 5 is “Punishment Coming for Israel and Judah.” God will punish those who do this to the sheep. He will punish those sheep who accept their leaders’ erasing of the boundary lines of His word and His doctrines. When I was traveling, the boundary told me the answer to the question: Am I in Maine or Canada? The United States or Mexico? The Northern Hemisphere or the Southern?” Boundaries tell us where we are. It is the same with God’s boundaries. Am I on the right side of God or the wrong side? Am I within His bounds or outside the sheepfold?
When Adam transgressed, God asked, “Adam, where are you?” Of course God knew Adam was in the Garden of Eden. He know what Adam had done. He was rhetorically asking where are you? (Genesis 3:9). Outside of my outermost marker? Outside of the limits I set for you? Satan is the original boundary changer.
Adam, where are you? Israelites, where are you? “Those who by sin go astray from God, should seriously consider where they are; they are afar off from all good, in the midst of their enemies, in bondage to Satan, and in the high road to utter ruin” (Matthew Henry)
If we get so mad if someone moves a boundary marker on our land, how does God feel when we alter His spiritual lines of demarcation? Doctrinal boundaries matter. They certainly matter to God.
Set your mind on the things above, and ask the Spirit to give you wisdom to detect when satan is secretly moving the doctrinal lines in your heart or your church. Ask the Spirit to give you strength to stay within the boundaries. Ask Him to give you courage to protect them. Ask Him to show you if you are the one moving the boundary lines in your heart or your church. Are you pleading for a woman to teach or preach? Are you affirming of active homosexuals in positions or eldership? Are you accepting of visions and tongues? You are moving God’s boundary lines. This is serious, because of the next part of the Hosea verse:
The rest of the boundary moving verse in Hosea 5:10 says of those who do it, “upon them I will pour out my wrath like water.” The word pour out is Hebrew meaning overflow, like a dam bursting in fury. (Also Revelation 2:20-23)
God said to Job of His sovereignty in creation regarding the sea-sand boundary: “‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?” (Job 38:11)
Star Trek’s Captian Picard famously made a speech about drawing the line and going no farther. When he says “they assimilate entire worlds” substitute ‘they assimilate entire churches’ in your mind.
The doctrinal lines must be drawn and we must go NO FARTHER! Let no one move your boundary!
Boundary line between Butterworth and Crompton, in Greater Manchester England. By Michael Ely, Wikimedia Commons
How do we discern when new doctrinal boundaries are needed? False teaching changes, so old doctrinal boundaries do not always protect against new problems. But how can we know when we need new boundaries? We can discern when we need to erect new doctrinal boundaries when:
the-end-time.org 