Anything but that!

Have you ever known anyone who needed to lose a few pounds?  I could stand to lose a few myself.  I know what it takes to lose weight – you must decrease the intake of calories and increase the expenditure of energy – in other words: diet and exercise.  Watching the late night infomercials has amused me.  People are willing to fork over money for this product and that  – diet pills and home gyms but aren’t willing to put on a pair of sneakers and go for a walk or say no thanks to the chips and dip in front of the TV.

In the spiritual realm, I see a similar situation – we know we are supposed to do the basics – read the bible and pray – but we don’t want to do that.  We want flash over substance, dessert before dinner – anything but what we know to do.

You know you should read your bible – and it’s not as though it’s unavailable – you probably have more than five copies at your house.  One excuse after another flows through your mind until you settle on a “one minute devotional” and hope that is good enough.  Some may even watch 22 minutes of a show on TV of a preacher who may quote one verse in the whole 22 minutes.  Wow – really full now aren’t you?

We know we should pray and we really mean to – as soon as this show is over – or as soon as I finish this project.  We tell people we will pray for them – but do we?  How long do you spend in prayer every day?  Prayer – not listening to a worship CD – but prayer.

Our flesh cries out “Anything but that!”  We’ll do a high powered conference, read a book about Christianity or even talk about prayer – but actually read the bible and pray?  How about a seeker sensitive welcome group or a class on social relevance?  Maybe if we buy a mug with a verse on it from the Christian bookstore – will that do it?

Read the bible and pray – diet and exercise.  We know what to do – we just don’t want to do it.  The problem isn’t that you don’t know the “Five Steps to a More Prosperous You” or that you haven’t heard the latest “Defining your Destiny” sermon.  The problem is that you don’t read your bible and pray.

Say it isn’t so…

Todd Bentley is back

The Shotgun blog announced today that Todd Bentley has re-launched his ministry.  His new website is here.  Complete with a video from Rick Joyner endorsing him.

Here’s the lesson for all you wanna be ministers: live any old way you want to, sin if you want to.  Then just go to Rick Joyner’s compound and enjoy a sabbatical and be re-launched into ministry without ever having to say “I repent”.

Personally, I can’t wait to see how quickly Charisma magazine starts endorsing him again.

Sigh…

False Prophet, False Prophecy

The following is from a Charisma newsletter

The Manifestation of the Sons of God

Monday, 15 June 2009 10:43 Kim Clement Newsletters – Prophetic Insight

Editor’s Note: The following prophetic word is part of a longer message given by Kim Clement at The Master’s Touch International Church (tmtic.com) in Longwood, Florida, on June 6, 2009. It was transcribed from a recording of that Saturday evening service.

 Kim Clement: Some have said, "Summer is going to be filled with judgment." God says, "Though there be earthquakes, though there be hurricanes, I will turn them into signs. I will turn them into signs of wonderment, signs of experience, where people say, ‘Why did the people not die? Why were there so few lives not taken?’

"They will say, ‘Is this truly judgment, or is the earth beginning to sound, is the earth beginning to rebel, is the earth beginning to say, "We want the manifestation of the glory of God; we want the manifestation of God’s sons on the earth"’? "

That’s what it is. This is what it is," says the Spirit of God.

The Spirit of God says, "Draw near to Me because there will be things that will take place that will be completely different." When Paul was in the prison … at the midnight hour, the voice of God was heard through the sound of the praises of Paul and Silas, [and] light came into that place.

And God said, "There is going to be a shaking during the summer, but the shaking shall be a sign that the earth is awaiting the manifestation of God’s sons and daughters. For there shall be a glory that shall come forth with unusual signs, unusual miracles, unusual manifestations—that shall come as a result of this shout that is coming from the earth," says the Spirit of the living God. "

Even though the earth shall shake, and even though the heavens may rumble, and even though the winds may blow and hurricanes may come," God said, "It shall be a sign that I am coming to this country like a mighty, rushing wind, about to raise you up and give you one sound, with one voice," says the Lord.

[America] is going to shake with the power of the living God.

The first and most obvious question one must ask is why is Charisma publishing anything Kim Clement says?  On one page Lee Grady says in an editorial that we need to clean up the charismatic mess and on the next page we have Kim Clement?

There are two possible explanations – neither of which is good.  The first is that Stephen Strang is in deception and actually believes that Clement is really a prophet.  The second is money – itching ears want to hear this kind of drivel and so it is published.

The second question or rather observation is concerning the “Manifest Sons of God” doctrine.  The bible clearly states in:

3:1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.

2 Timothy 3:1 (ESV)

The only universal church spoken of in the bible is headed up by the false prophet in the book of Revelation.  Anyone who reads the bible knows that the true Church of Jesus Christ will face growing persecution and hardships before the Tribulation begins.

Paul goes on to tell us:

4:1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 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, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 5 As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

2 Timothy 4:1-5 (ESV)

People want to hear that there will be some great big revival but not a revival of repentance leading to salvation – what they want is signs and wonders, falling on the floor and having goose bumps.  Yet Paul tells us to be “sober-minded” not drunk.  He tells us to endure suffering not be blissed out in a drunken stupor.

Judgment will come – but to the false prophets and those who financially support them.  Charisma – you should be ashamed of yourselves.

ABC’s or Excuses?

The following is an article from Charisma.  My comments follow.

The ABCs of the Prophetic

James Goll

Charisma Channels – SpiritLed Living

You see, we must understand some basic things concerning the nature of the prophetic. Few, in fact very few, prophetic words are ever sovereign declarations that will come to pass without any conditions being met. Most prophetic words are invitations into a process of becoming. Often, the Lord is more interested in our becoming a word and not just getting, releasing or receiving a word.

The prophetic at its best is partial, progressive and conditional. That is not the fault of the prophetic person – it is the way it works biblically, historically and how it works today.

Let me run that by you one more time – the gift of prophecy is partial, progressive and conditional and the conditions are rarely revealed at that time. This is where personal responsibility takes over and each believer must search out the King’s heart for the keys to unlocking the revelation.

There is a big difference between the revelation and the manifestation! As I have said many times before, the gap between the revelation and the manifestation is called the “until clause.”

I sit here wondering if this is the best bible teaching we can expect from Charisma or the NAR prophets (NAR being New Apostolic Reformation or New Age – really!!).  Not one scripture is offered to support his views.

Let’s begin from the top down.  “Few, in fact very few, prophetic words are ever sovereign declarations that will come to pass without any conditions being met. “  Of the 109 prophecies concerning the first coming of Jesus – how many had preconditions?  Did Jesus pre-arrange to be born in Bethlehem of a virgin?  Did He engineer it to be born of the bloodline of David?

In fact, very few prophecies in the bible require action on the part of the recipients.  A call to repentance is not a prophecy.  The bible has a unique track record among sacred writings – it’s prophecies are fulfilled literally and precisely even to naming a person a hundred years before their birth (Darius Cyrus by Isaiah[44:28]).

“Most prophetic words are invitations into a process of becoming.” Uh, what?  Since I have never been into New Age thinking or been into word games I might not be able to decipher that one.  Let’s take a look at an actual biblical prophecy and see what it looks like:

9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Zechariah 9:9 (ESV)

This was literally fulfilled in the following verse:

21:1 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” 4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,

5 “Say to the daughter of Zion,
‘Behold, your king is coming to you,
humble, and mounted on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”

6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. 8 Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”

Matthew 21:1-9 (ESV)

If you see an “invitation to becoming” anywhere in those verses – please let me know!

“The prophetic at its best is partial, progressive and conditional.” At its best…the prophetic is accurate, literal and easily understood.   As we can see from the above example – it is plain and easily understood by the common man.

“That is not the fault of the prophetic person” – I beg to differ, but false prophecy is directly the responsibility of the false prophet (see Deuteronomy 13 and 18).  If the sign, wonder or prophetic word really happens but it leads people away from God or if the prophetic word doesn’t happen – then the person is a false prophet.

Not only does a true prophet give verifiable words from God about future events, he also confronts the sin in others (David and Nathan).  Based upon the scriptural evidence – those who stood on stage with Todd Bentley June 23, 2008 and prophesied falsely over him while failing to discern that he was in rampant sin – are false prophets.

God sperm? How perverse can they get?

Brandon Barthrop of Red Letter Ministries tells us how far the perversion and shame of those in the “toke baby Jesus” crowd can go.  He starts off by claiming the wrath of God (winepress) to be manifest.  It will be, Brandon, especially for those like you who mock God!

Around 2:05 of the video he says “the consummated bridal company filled with the God sperm.”  This my friends, is where the ungodly teaching about bridal paradigms takes you.

Note the unfocused staring of his eyes.  By his own testimony he was demon possessed and a hard core drug user before being “born in heaven” – whatever that means.

He also says “we will overcome by our bellies…” when Paul clearly said Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.) Phil 3:19

Next his girlfriend, who lives with him although they are not married, demonstrates what a “laid down lover” really is.  In the following video she is laying on the floor under a quilt, moaning and writhing and telling us about the “pleasures that her lover is giving her.”

If my great grandmother had seen such nonsense, she would have tanned that young lady’s legs from the barn to the house with a freshly cut peach switch.  “Trance evangelist”?  “Pleasureland”?  There are better words for such actions but being Christian, I won’t use them.

You may well say, what has this to do with me?  Our church doesn’t do this!  It doesn’t?  Look at the following list of people that Brandon and girlfriend regularly minister with:

• David and Stephanie Herzog
• Ben and Stephanie Dunn
• Bobby Conner
• Bob Jones
• Jill Austin (now deceased)
• Dave and Donna Vaughan
• Georgian and Winnie Banov
• Graham Cooke
• John Paul Jackson
• John Crowder
• John and Carol Arnott
• Paul Keith Davis
• Jeff Jansen
• Joshua & Janet Mills
• Patricia King
• Rick Joyner
• Rolland and Heidi Baker
• Randy Clark

Still think this is outside of the mainstream?  Think again!  You who follow these ministries now have no excuse for saying you didn’t know.

The Civil War begins…

Rick Joyner has fired the opening shot.  He now has a video on his website link here.  If you dare watch this video, please take Pepto-Bismal first and have a bucket nearby.

I am outraged, sickened and disgusted.  Joyner starts by admitting that he fired off his letter in anger and didn’t mean for it to be read in public.  Then he lobs out a few fake compliments for Grady before pronouncing him a “self-righteous Pharisee.”  He even tries to pit Grady against Steven Strang in this matter.

He goes on to attack Grady as being “just a journalist” and not a real minister.  Joyner is “oh so concerned with the self-righteous deception that Grady is in.”

Guess what Joyner?  We, the American Christian public, don’t buy it.  With our eyes wide open and watching, we saw you stand on stage June 23rd, 2008 and pronounce Todd Bentley as the latest, greatest money making thing in charismatic circles.  You have yet to repent of your false prophecies and for your lack of discernment in that fiasco.

It is you that needs to repent!  It is you that lacks discernment. It is you that needs to apologize for your outrageous behavior toward Lee Grady.

The gall of Rick Joyner

Yesterday, Lee Grady of Charisma Magazine, wrote an editorial titled “The Tragic Scandal of Greasy Grace”.   Today, Rick Joyner replied.

Here are my comments I posted at the charismamag.com website:

Dear Joyner,
You sir, are the one who lacks credibility. You stood on stage with Bentley on June 23rd, 2008 along with other false apostles and prophets and not one of you had the discernment to see that Bentley was living in flagrant sin. Drinking excessively in public, ministering in public with his mistress beside him, telling the world he was happily married – showing off his wife and kids then dumping them weeks later. Not ONE of you so-called “apostles” has one whit of discernment.
Todd deliberately stalled the “restoration process” so he could get his divorce and marry his mistress BEFORE he had to do any repenting. That’s just not unintentional sin – it is deliberate and flagrant.
So before you go threatening Grady with your “public accusations” – take a good hard look at yourself.

The unmitigated gall of Rick Joyner has me fuming! Threatening a fellow Christian in public! Joyner said:

I think you owe Todd, myself, Bill, and Jack apologies for your presumptuous judgments. I think they should be as public as this letter was. If not, I feel that I will have to address this publicly, and I don’t think that is in your best interest.

As well, the tired old accusation of being self-righteous should anyone disagree with you – again quoting Joyner:

I am deeply offended that you would call our work “a travesty.” The Lord had far more grace for sinners than for the self-righteous, who He had no grace for at all. I am personally far more concerned for you than for Todd.

Grady wasn’t being self-righteous at all. He was doing what a true prophet of God should do – point out sin in the camp. This time, the sin is located at Fort Mill, SC.

The Todd Bentley Affair

I’m sure you’ve all heard the latest – Todd has remarried while the ink was still drying on his divorce papers.  Miriam has a write up on her blog and Lee Grady of Charisma mentioned it in his weekly column here. 

My thoughts are these:

• Todd does need restored – but by a reputable Christian leader and a team of therapists. Rick Joyner does not qualify.
• Todd needs to repent publically.  His revival was broadcast to millions on God TV – he needs to repent publically on God TV.  The repentance should include: false doctrine, lying about miracles and resurrections, selling the gospel for money, false prophecies and full disclosure about his drinking and adultery.  No excuses – just say “I was wrong.”
• Every last one of the ministers on stage with Todd on June 23, 2008 should publically repent for being false prophets.  They publically endorsed a man who was excessively drinking and having an affair.
• There needs to be a radical cleanup of the charismatic movement from the top down. False doctrine, false prophecies, false prophets, selling the gospel for money, lack of integrity in the Christian lifestyle of so many ministers are but a few of the things that need straightened out.

It’s time for the truth to be told. No more covering up the sins of the leaders and hiding behind “touch not my anointed.” No more million dollar homes while begging for donations on Christian TV. We, the people, need to enforce this with our wallets. Refuse to support any ministry that does not hold to biblical standards in doctrine and financial integrity.

It’s time to clean house!!

Legislative Attack on Catholic Church in Connecticut

3/7/2009

On Thursday, March 5, a bill was introduced in the Connecticut state legislature, and immediately referred to the Joint Committee on the Judiciary.  It targets one – and only one – church in the state, the Catholic Church, and would strip the bishops and priests of the state of any power to exercise administrative authority over their parishes.

Raised Bill No. 1098  is a committee bill and does not bear the names of any individual sponsors. Both co-chairmen of the committee, State Sen. Andrew McDonald and State Rep. Michael Lawlor, are outspoken proponents of same-sex marriage in Connecticut and have been critical of the Catholic Church’s opposition to both civil unions and same-sex marriage.

The stated purpose of the bill is to “provide for the investigation of the misappropriation of funds by religious corporations,” but it deals only with the corporate structure of the Catholic Church. No other church is mentioned, or would be subject to the bill’s requirements. 

The measure has been put on a legislative fast track, with hearings scheduled for Wednesday, March 11, less than a week after its introduction. Knights of Columbus, and all concerned Connecticut Catholics, are encouraged to attend the hearing that day and express their opposition to the bill. They may also call or write the committee co-chairmen, State Sen. Andrew McDonald (800-842-1420 or McDonald@senatedems.ct.gov), and State Rep. Michael Lawlor (800-842-8267 or MLawlor99@juno.com.

Source: Free Public

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What in the name of God is going on in this country?  What right does any government have to interfere in the business affairs of a church?  And why are they singling out the Catholic Church other than for political reasons?

This is abuse of power at its very worst.  It’s time we all took a stand against this kind of tyranny!

Jesus is NOT your boyfriend!

William Fawcett at Beyond Grace Blog wrote an interesting piece on the profanity surrounding the current teaching that is circulating throughout the church today called “the bridal paradigm.”  In this teaching the metaphor of the Church being the bride of Christ is stretched to include a personal, physical relationship with Jesus for individuals.

Fawcett quotes Gibson in the following:

The second issue is that, while it is true that the metaphor of the Bride is used for the church as a whole, this same metaphor is never used for the individual believer. This may seem minor at first but it is actually very significant. It is the entire church that is the Bride of Christ. Each believer is a part but is not the Bride. It would appear that many of the prophetic teachers either misunderstand this or choose to ignore it. Due to this confusion, many of the statements of the prophetic teachers cause Jesus to sound like our personal boyfriend instead of our Lord. I have shared before of the man who claimed that he held Jesus for the first 30 minutes of his quiet time and then had Jesus hold him for the last 30 minutes. Jesus is not your boyfriend or lover. It is inappropriate to consider Him in this way.

This heresy is primarily being promoted out of IHOP’s ministry and Mike Bickle. 

In 2002 CBN news reported “Some 20,000 mostly young people packed the Kansas City Convention Center on New Year’s Eve for a wedding ceremony unlike any other… as each person who came embarked on a marriage covenant with the Bridegroom of Heaven… From noon until midnight they danced and sang, fasted and prayed, and got ready to get married to Jesus. One by one, thousands of men and women, young and old, made their vows and walked under the prayer shawl symbolizing their commitment to Jesus.”

It is also taught at Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship:

Sensuality, common in society, has indeed invaded the church. As noted previously, Teresa of Avila experienced “spiritual ecstasy” which was defined as “divine intimacy.” Many in the charismatic church, in a practice known as “soaking prayer” where one is directed to empty ones mind completely and trance-like states are not uncommon, have reported such experiences. According to Paul Gowdy, Carol Arnott, a leader at the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship, reports that “she had her bride experience where she was taken into the very presence of Jesus and said that the love that she experienced was even better than sex”. Gowdy, an acquaintance of mine, was formerly pastor of a Vineyard church in Toronto which was a sister church to TACF, then known as the Toronto Vineyard.
Others involved in this practice have equated the experience to orgasm. My wife has heard women in mainstream Charismatic churches talk about these experiences in these terms. An anecdotal story, posted in response to the aforementioned CBN report, states : “A woman whom I see to be very Spirit filled, was talking to us at the dinner table about being taken into the “upper chambers” where Jesus laid her down on a bed of roses (because He is the Rose of Sharon He can do that, she said), and that He made love to her. She described to me this whole scene as if it were out of a romance novel. The thought of Jesus actually making love to me made me sick… I was actually disheartened, grieved and shocked that she was talking about this. What gets me is that her friends who were with her all agreed as if this was sound biblical doctrine.”
I’ve heard reports from Kansas City of men being speaking of being “ravished in their hinder parts” by Jesus. While this may not be the viewpoint of leadership there, it reflects the sordid depravity behind the doctrine, and the logical end of such thinking.
Lee Grady, in a recent Charisma Magazine article, writes of the charismatic craze of Spiritual Ecstasy which often involves drug imagery such as “tokin’ the Holy Ghost”. He states “it won’t be long before we see some Christians having sexual experiences at the altar. “It’s already happening,” my friend said. He described a recent “worship concert” in which one of the musicians simulated sex while stroking a microphone and whispering sensual phrases to Jesus. What is next-orgasmic worship? God help us.”

This teaching is heresy – plain and simple and should be labeled as such.  Jesus is NOT your boyfriend!  He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and these poor, deluded souls would do well to fall on their face and repent of such vulgarity.