We who preach the gospel must not think of ourselves as public relations agents sent to establish good will between Christ and the world. We must not imagine ourselves commissioned to make Christ acceptable to big business, the press, the world of sports or modern education. We are not diplomats but prophets, and our message is not a compromise but an ultimatum. A.W. Tozer
Therefore let God-inspired Scripture decide between us; and on whichever side be found doctrines in harmony with the word of God, in favor of that side will be cast the vote of truth. --Basil of Caesarea
Once you learn to discern, there's no going back. You will begin to spot the lie everywhere it appears.

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service. 1 Timothy 1:12

Friday, January 15, 2016

Random Aberrations, Apostasies, and Heresies

Too late for this Christmas, but some good apologetic information for future use is a series by Tekton Apologetics Ministries:
Christmas is Pagan and other myths.  Good short video warning about crazy sites.
In the series, Part 1: is it unbiblical to celebrate birthdays? And were pagan gods born on Dec. 25th?
Part 2: why December 25th?
Part 3:  Stuffing the tree up
Part 4:  Christmas Tree Potpourri

Some good discernment articles by Gary Gilley:

Mormonism Research Ministry has several videos available for free viewing on-line.  I own all but one of these and can vouch for the accuracy of the information provided, as well as recommending them for viewing by Mormons as well as by those who want to learn more about proving that Mormonism is a false belief system.


A former nun speaks out.

This video clinches the fact that the Pope does NOT represent Jesus Christ.

John Piper shared preaching duties with heretic Christine Caine at Passion 2016.  In the past he shared with false teacher Beth Moore.  So why is he still being held in such high esteem as a great teacher?!?  To make matters worse, he is also promoting the racist “Black Lives Matter” movement!

The NAR is getting more and more bizarre.  Avoid their teachings at all costs.


Alec has another episode in his series, “Biblical Christianity.”

Thanks to Alec’s comments on another blog, I was led to this site where you can get come good information about the mysticism entering the Church and how to counter it.

A site with good examinations of the Word of Faith and other charismatic excesses (and other stuff now and then) is by Robert Liichow.  Liichow is ex-WOF who ended up going to seminary and is now a Lutheran (LCMS) Pastor.  I met Bob 14 years ago at the first apologetics conference we attended, and he’s got some good stuff.  One thing you have to look out for when he’s discussing true Christianity is the Lutheran stuff which is almost like Calvinism.  Otherwise he’s okay :oD.  His site isn’t up-to-date, and I think he probably just ended up not having time for it, but the articles are still good reference.  “Truth Matters” is 

The modern Church and “The Sin That Became An Evangelistic Technique.”  The major problem is that too many church leaders have forgotten that the assembly is NOT an evangelistic event and was never meant to be.

Another good response to those who say Christians should not have guns, let alone use them or any weapon for self-defense.

David Barton, known for lots of books on various historical issues, really can’t be trusted.

A list of names to be familiar with - so as to avoid their teachings!

Lastly, just when you though Joel Osteen’s heresy couldn’t get any worse he now claims God is NOT omnipotent!!!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Glenn,

Wow, the article "The Sin That Became An Evangelistic Technique" was SPOT ON. Your past article was a good complement to it.

Alec's series has been to the point. Good. So was GTYs blog.

American Vision article on self defense, good.

Piper has lost it. Sadly, some elders at our church like both Driscoll and Piper. It concerns my husband and I that we can not only discern the problems with Piper and Driscoll, but that pastors and elders do not listen when we bring those problems to their attention.

-Carolyn

Glenn E. Chatfield said...

I'm good friends with a retired pastor (he'll be 84 this year) who is still in prison ministry and a few years back he thought Driscoll was great, and his son attended Driscoll's church. He received a video of one of the sermons and invited me over to watch it with him because I had told him Driscoll was problematic. Let's just say he got an eye-opener, and from then on he wanted every bit of information I had on Driscoll. They just need their eyes opened.

Anonymous said...

Hi Glenn, so glad to hear that pastor friend of yours had his eyes opened and that he was humble enough to listen.

When we brought the evidence of Driscoll to one of our pastors, he blew us off, and said "Well, Driscoll repented". Of course there is no evidence of that... only evidence to the contrary, which is what we said in response. The pastor blew us off again, with a "let's just agree to disagree" attitude. That ended that conversation.

Over the years, we've warned many leaders in our area about horrible "big name" teachers like Driscoll, Warren, Hybels, etc. Only one pastor ever listened - an Assembly of God pastor - who immediately thanked us for bringing the information to his attention. He took it seriously.

So I guess some listen. In our experience, most do not.

-Carolyn

Glenn E. Chatfield said...

They suffer deception by investment.

Wayne said...

HI Glenn, FYI: The link to Joel Osteen appears to be broken. RE: Joel, on Sirius radio, there are distinct stations in their listings labeled as "Christian". Joel Osteen Radio is not one of them and is listed as "Entertainment". To get a feel for his preaching style I listened to him over the course of several days. His sermons all tend to run together and sound alike with fluff content. His wife misinterpreted a Bible verse that is pretty easy to understand. So sad that 40,000 people go to hear him each Sunday for fluff theology. As the old 80's commercial used to say, "Where's the beef?"

Glenn E. Chatfield said...

Wayne,

Thanks for the head's up about the broken link. It's fixed now.

Funny that he's listed as "entertainment." In my book, though, he's not even entertaining.

Wayne said...

Glenn,

Thanks for fixing that link. You're right-but I'll add that it's like listening to a lot of personal stories with a little Bible thrown in to make it sound nice.