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

Thursday, January 28, 2016

Random Aberrations, Apostasies, and Heresies


It often really gets disheartening to see all the false teachings followed by Christians who refuse to use discernment!  Yet here we go with another episode exposing the WOLVES -- false teachers and groups who are leading so many to spiritual dangers.

My first example is Jen Hatmaker, who is just as dangerous as Beth Moore.  Avoid her like the plague.

A follow-up on Ronnie Floyd’s IHOP visit.  HT to Marsha

Examining Tommy Tenney’s book, The God Chasers.

Why do the leadership of the United Methodist Church even allow these people to remain as members?  If they are sanctioning homosexuality, excommunicate them.  Period.  This has been a growing apostasy in the UMC and they don’t do a thing to stop it because the are more interested in preaching the false social gospel!

One of the heresies of the United Church of Christ Satan:

Are other religious writings of from God?  NO!

Who are the children of God?  Not everyone, as the liberal theologians and other religions claim.

Jim Bakker is still a false teacher.  Too bad he wasn’t kept in prison.

More on David Barton, who is a favorite with many homeschoolers.  He is NOT to be trusted for historical information, and now he even has own show on the heretical Trinity Broadcasting Network.  The fact that Barton thinks Mormon Glenn Beck is a Christian says a lot about Barton’s ignorance of history.  Even worse is his praying an anointing over Beck!  So, along with not being able to trusted with things historical, he also can’t be trusted with things spiritual.

Systematic Deception: Speaking in Tongues.  Long article, but worthwhile.

This is what passes for “tongues and other manifestations of the Holy Spirit in so much of the charismatic world.  I’d say these are actually manifestations of demonic spirits.

Along this line, Gary Gilley has a good examination of the Word of Faith cult.

Doug Evans has a short examination of the Disciples of Christ denomination as he exposes “The Christian Left.”  The “C Left” say they agree with DoC theology, which is liberal enough for them as they try in vain to maintain their claim to real Christianity.

“Pray for ‘traveling mercies’” is a request which has always driven me crazy.  What does it mean?!?!  What is a “traveling mercy”?!?  Please, Christians, quit using this fad phrase.

I’ve been warning about false teacher Jonathan Cahn for quite some time.  He just gets worse.

While cleaning out some files I came across this excellent critique of Rick Warren’s Purpose-Driven Life.

Another reason to avoid Francis Chan’s teachings — he has no discernment.

Charisma magazine has long been known for promoting false teachings of every kind.  Now they think Jesus wants to give you golden tickets.

False teachers don’t know what real “church” is for.  This is a perfect example of the demonic ideas false teachers come up with.  I have to really wonder what sort of “pastor” she was married to.

Lastly for today, Liberty University really should confess that they couldn’t care less about the true Christian faith.  They were upset about the professor’s statements about Christianity and Islam worshipping the same God, but they are excited about continually bringing in false teachers [link gone by 7/16/18] of every ilk!  HT to Marsha.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, Glenn, after reading TBCs critique of Purpose Driven, I must admit I was shaking my head wondering how so many Christians (pastors, especially) were bamboozled into following that deception. I honestly didn't know that much about the book, though I've certainly known for years that Warren is a false teacher.

You said (regarding another post): "False teachers don’t know what real “church” is for." Apparently neither do many who we call true believers. That includes pastors/preachers/teachers who promoted PDL and who think church is for unbelievers.

Matthew 23... how many times are false teachers mentioned???

-Carolyn

Alec said...

Glenn,

Did you happen to read the comments after the Frances Chan post? They show the true state of a good part of the professing American church. I would love to hear their responses to these questions:

Is it really "slander" to publicly correct those who are teaching error and/or misleading others by their example?

Is it really "speaking evil of a brother" and "judging the law" in an evil way (James 4.11) when one checks a teacher against the Word of God and questions things that violate that Word?

One of the commenters quoted Isaiah 5.20 against Marsha West (Berean Research):

Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil;
that put darkness for light and light for darkness;
that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes,
and prudent in their own sight!


That's exactly what Marsha is calling out with her post!

Alec

Glenn E. Chatfield said...

Alec,

Yes I read the comments, and just shook my head at the ignorance of these people. They are so upset about people exposing false teachings and could care less about the false teachings being exposed! I just picked up a quote from Facebook which I'm going to use on a future post. It's by Os Guinness: "In our day it's worse to judge evil than to do evil."

Discernment in the church is terribly lacking.

Anonymous said...

Hi Glenn,

Regarding Chan - this is why celebrity 'c'hristianity needs to come to an end.

These big name teachers "can do no wrong" in the eyes of many believers, and have become idols, to be defended unto the bitter end. It doesn't matter what error these big name teachers speak, what heretics they befriend, what egregious behavior they engage in, they are idols. Pure and simple.

-Carolyn

Wayne said...

Glenn,

Nice roundup of articles. I especially found interesting the tenets of the Christian Left/DOC. My late aunt was part of the DOC in a small town, yet had a very conservative faith. Although she was a delegate to their annual conference, I suspect she really didn't understand the scope of their leftist leanings back in the 70s and 80s. If she had read this article, I'm certain this would have changed her mind about DOC.

As for the Church of Christ, you referred to them as "cultish" in the article. I believe that is only one strain of CoC. Many CoC churches are very conservative in their theology and align with orthodox theology. Could you clarify, in case I missed something here? Thanks.

Wayne

Glenn E. Chatfield said...

Hi Wayne,

The CoC are very conservative in their theology, but their application of it is where the legalism comes in to play. Take a look at the article I wrote about their doctrine:
http://watchmansbagpipes.blogspot.com/2010/10/cultic-doctrines-of-churches-of-christ.html

Wayne said...

Glenn,

Thanks for the clarification. Your article was very informative about CoC. You have certainly done more research on the subject than have I.


Wayne

Glenn E. Chatfield said...

Wayne,

Several years ago I have long theological discussions with a member of the CoC and learned how legalistic they were. In 2008 I was asked by some homeschool families to write an introductory apologetics course for high schoolers, so I included the CoC under "cultic" groups. I finished the course in early 2010, and this section on their doctrine was taken from that course (as were all those other posts in 2010 examining various cults and cultic groups including Catholicism).

I also wrote a history section about each group, and if you are interested in what I wrote about the CoC and their connection with the Disciples, send me an email.

Alec said...

Glenn,

Would you consider putting up a post about the CoC and their connection with the Disciples?

Alec

Glenn E. Chatfield said...

Alec,

Well, I guess I could post the history section from my apologetics course. I'll see if I can get to that today.