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, March 9, 2017

Random Things Needing Discernment



Rick Warren’s wife Kay is now professing to have a vision from God.  She’ll tell you all about it for a fee.

Transubstantiation — what did Jesus really mean?

The Shack.  Book, now a movie, is about as heretical of a story as you can get.  I know the video is long, but very educational and eye-opening about how garbage like this spreads.  (Incidentally, Kent Hovind, a KJVO creationist teacher, promotes this heresy; Hovind is one I’ve long said was a bad teacher, and this proves it.)

Watchman Fellowship profile on The Shack demonstrates why the book and movie are theologically problematic.

Another excellent examination of The Shack.  It’s a 55 minute sermon, but well worth it. H/T to Mary Dalke
Doing missions without the gospel?!?

More evidence proving Jennifer LeClaire is a horridly false teacher — and what a totally unbiblical mess is Charisma Magazine!


A cornucopia of Beth Moore’s false teachings.  I love it when people put all this stuff in one place.  The sad thing is that she’s coming to Cedar Rapids and many local churches are advertising for her!  No discernment at all in the leadership of these places.

Wow - Clayton Jennings’ victims are being blackmailed and threatened!

Be very careful about getting any theological teachings from celebrities such as Tim Tebow.  Like Tim, these celebrities usually have no discernment and no concern for protecting the flock.

Which Jesus does your Roman Catholic friend believe in?

The very sad state of so many churches out there today; it is no longer about Christ.
An atheist saw my article about Ravi Zacharias and emailed me about my concern.  This man has also been concerned about Ravi, but his concern is with Ravi’s credential claims.  He has a site dedicated to exposing false claims by Ravi; I reviewed his material and I have grave concerns over what he has exposed.  Ravi isn’t the first popular teacher to embellish his credentials, but it is really sad to see that he has done this.  For all his good teachings, I can’t see recommending him or his ministry as long as they don’t come totally clean; if you can’t trust him in such actions, how can you trust anything he says?

Some very good reasons to avoid any teaching by Sam Storms.



11 comments:

David Chung said...

Which heresy were you referring to in your comments on Kent Hovind?

Glenn E. Chatfield said...

Hi David,

In this post the heresy is his promotion of The Shack book and movie. I consider him a false teacher firstly because he teaches the KJV Only position.

He also has a lot of whacky teachings/claims. For example:
I believe the Great Pyramid was built to be the Bible in stone. The Egyptians did not build it.
Really? Where does he find this in the Bible? And what about the historical evidence that the Egyptians built it?

There has been research that indicates nearly all homosexuals come from families that have a weak father figure, and a dominant mother ... research shows that there is a social link where the children are raised to be wimps or whatever.
My research shows that most “homosexuals” were sexually abused when young.

Microchips may play an important part in the mark of the beast. One example of technology is the UPC, or bar code. . . . the two skinny lines at the beginning, middle, and end of every barcode stand for '6' in binary code: 666. . . . four people have called me from Arkansas and Missouri to report seeing customers at the grocery store pay for purchases by scanning their hand.
Really!?!

Hovind teaches that lizards (from the time of Creation) became dinosaurs. The problem is that dinosaurs ARE lizards, just big ones. And he also claims all were wiped out in the Flood, but then that would contradict the Bible when it says Noah had representatives of ALL creatures.

These are just a few of Hovind’s wacky teachings. I’ve read lots and lots more over the years.

Anonymous said...

The article about "dictatorship" churches, unfortunately true. My husband and I have experienced that. The most common situation where one can experience this happening in their church is when one has disagreement with something preached from the pulpit (even if that which is preached was incorrect, and you're questioning that error). How you are treated by leadership speaks volumes.

When it comes to the brass tacks, "dictatorship" churches are about control. Is doctrinal purity important? YES! But there is a difference - big difference - between a godly leadership teaching the flock the truth and being desirous of their genuine spiritual growth, and a controlling/manipulative leadership that uses bullying, intimidation, silencing, and those other "dictatorial" traits/tactics to "compel" unity. It's not unity of the Spirit, in those circumstances, that is for sure!!!

Thanks for the follow up on Hovind. He always concerned me; something about his comportment was off-putting. That and the whole tax/money situation that landed him in prison never made any sense. I think other creation science ministries are far more professional and correct in both their public image as well as their scientific information.

That said, I didn't know Hovind was KJVO nor that he promoted the Shack. The first, can be ignored easily enough. The latter, utterly inexcusable!!!!! And for your readers, who want a fast forward to Kent Hovind recommending the Shack, watch the youtube link and start at time stamp 7:31.

Oh yes, and the Babylon Bee - hilarious!

-Carolyn

Glenn E. Chatfield said...

Carolyn,

Hovind was falsely charge with tax evasion, and the IRS later apologized for some of the actions leading to his arrest. Of course if he had done a better job of bookkeeping, the problem may not have arisen. So I find that incident irrelevant overall.

I always found Hovind to be very arrogant in his approach to teaching creation vs evolution; he often condescended rather than critiquing. I know Ken Ham finds him to be an affront to creation ministries!

Anonymous said...

Hi Glenn,

Thanks for the clarifications on KH. I never could follow exactly what happened re: tax situation.

Arrogant/condescending - YES! That's it. I was searching for the right words to express how he came across. That's exactly it. Thank you, that was his attitude, which I found off putting.

-Carolyn

Martha said...

Glen,

Kent Hovind's statement, "There has been research that indicates nearly all homosexuals come from families with a weak father figure, and a dominant mother.... research shows that there is a social link where the children are raised to be wimps or whatever."

Unfortunately, I heard this same lie via the Focus on the Family Broadcasting with James Dobson when I was a follower of his psychology movement. The exact same false research, with the exact same blame the weak father and the overbearing mother. I quit listening to James Dobson at this point and am thankful to have never regretted nor looked back at missing his false teachings. I grew tired in hearing the woman was to blame for every societal dysfunction, instead of each individual claiming full responsibility for their own sin, their own mistakes, and their own behavioral choices.

The very first ministry (?) I was instructed to listen too, by the Baptist women of our church, was in fact, Focus on the Family.....not God's Word, the Bible for all truth. Truly fascinating!

Martha

Glenn E. Chatfield said...

Hi Martha,

Focus on the Family is like a Christian book store -- a minefield of false teaching mixed with good.

FOF has a lot of good teachings but too much is nothing but secular psychology dressed up as "Christian." Too much of their family teaching is nothing more than self-esteem psychobabble.

When it comes to discernment with FOF, it's difficult to find. Just look at their reviews of "Christian" movies: They were ga-ga over "The Passion of Christ," which was nothing but Roman Catholic doctrinal training; they thought "Courageous" was just top-notch (see my review for problems with it); they also thought "War Room" was the next best thing to sliced bread (again, see my review); and just recently they are really soft on "The Shack," acknowledging some theological problems but overall praise it.

So I find FOF as nothing much more than useless.

Alec said...

Hi Glenn,

Thanks very much for the link to the Chris Quintana sermon/lecture on The Shack. Clear, solid teaching from Pastor Quintana. It was a delight to hear him.

Alec

Glenn E. Chatfield said...

You're quite welcome Alec. That's what these reports are for.

JM1999 said...

I can't speak for the book The Shack, but I've seen the movie, and it isn't heretical. The only possibly problematic statement is that God doesn't go punishing everyone who disobeys Him - but then clarifies that "Sin is a punishment in itself". While I'm uncertain about that, it's only one statement, and the rest is pretty much great. With regards to the claims made in the graphic (remember, I've seen the movie - recently):
1. It never claims that God the Father was crucified with Jesus
2. It never claims that He can't practice justice
3. It never claims that God forgives everyone without repentance; it encourages us to forgive unconditionally though, as the Bible commands
4. The only thing that can be construed as relating to hierarchial structures (that I remember) in the movie is Jesus' comment that "religion is too much work". Man-made religion (e.g. Catholocism) IS too much work!
5. It never claims people won't be judged for their sins.
6. That's reading too much into it.
7. No, God doesn't submit to human wishes and choiced - as evidenced by His not letting the main character get his revenge on his daughter's killer
8. Again, it never claims justice will never take place.
9. It never claims there's no eternal torment/eternal hell
10. A misrepresentation. We all come to God - and walk with God - in different ways, but it never endorses ecumenicalism, or claims that how we walk (or come to God) "doesn't matter".
11. It never claims that Jesus is transformed with us. (Seriously!? How on earth did the person who created the graphic come up with THAT one?! Nothing remotely like it in the movie!)
12. It NEVER claims that everyone will make it to Heaven. Or come close to it.
13. It never makes any such claims about the Bible.
I would suggest seeing it for yourself, even if you wind up still not liking it.

Glenn E. Chatfield said...

JM1999,

The book DOES claim these various heresies, and many reviewers have noted heresies in the movie also. Why promote a movie based on an heretical work of fiction? The book has been examined by many, many solid scholars as well as excellent Christian apologists, and there is no redeeming the story from the heresy it teaches.