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

Monday, August 21, 2017

Good, Bad, and Ugly


The Good:

Josephus and John the Baptist — is Josephus correct or are the Gospels?


The Bad:
Beth Moore just keeps getting worse.

Andy Stanley — again.

More horrid stuff from Bethel Redding’s Kris Vallotton.

The false gospel of felt-needs.

Carl Lentz and Justin Bieber — their actions briefly examined, but really well done.
A little bit more about the two men.

More proof that Steve Chalke is a dangerous false teacher.


How much more evidence do you need to accept the fact that Joyce Meyer is a rank heretic?

Dallas Willard, John Ortberg, Richard Foster – Are We Wrong in Calling Them Emergent/Contemplative?

The Ugly
Perry Noble, Chris Hill, and T.D. Jakes.  An 11-minute video exposing these horrid “pastors.”

Jennifer LeClaire keeps getting worse and worse.  She is a good reason (among many) to never read Charisma Magazine.

Jen Hatmaker — sigh.

Crooked Televangelists never die, they just descend further down the rabbit hole of Deceit


10 comments:

Martha said...

Not to cause argument here, but I disagree with the football industrial complex being a leading idol here in the west. It is my assessment that food has become our nation's leading idol within both the Christian and non-Christian venues. Try and eliminate the coffee and donuts in a church environment, especially where over 90% of the pew sitters are obese and suffering from various side effects, and you would think that you are taking the bottle away from the baby! Or try and take away the muffin and snack time away from the Sunday School curriculum, and the gates of leadership's disapproval will weigh heavily upon the teacher!

Personally, I'm not worried about football, or any other sport for that matter as religious leaders have been preaching against sports replacing their form of Christianity for ages. But what I am concerned about is how our so called Christian churches have transgressed into strange forms of entertainment cultural centers that I would not have recognized in my youth. Want to see a great play....go to the charismatic church down the road. Want to sing some groovy, happening songs with an amazing drummer and guitarist.... speed over to your local church where all you have to do is watch, listen, and applaud (no participation necessary any longer, simply "observe"). Want to taste the best mocha latte and pastries in town.....speed over to that church over there early, so you can purchase your tasty treats from their coffee bar (of course all profits go to cleaning the carpets and missions of course). Want to be hip, cool, and with it within the Christian industrial complex....make sure you are wearing the latest T-shirt from the Christian concert you attended while speaking Christianese as you greet people at the door....meanwhile.......

that person from your church that just had surgery for cancer, is resting at home alone, recuperating, awaiting a visit from one of those football players that knows you need to hear a good word and be encouraged in your faith in Jesus, the Living Christ. And that football player brought over a casserole and a salad, so that child of God would have an easy day resting in Him.....feeding Jesus' sheep.

Ministry begins in the home, folks, as it did in the book of Acts. How we have transgressed quickly in such a short period of time. May our LORD have mercy upon our souls as we seek ways to share Jesus with a lonely world.

Martha.....who has witnessed far more entertainment, applause and pomp and circumstance in church buildings than on a football field!

Glenn E. Chatfield said...

Martha,

What goes on in the churches is not part of the outside world, while sports is. So when speaking of a leading idol, we have to note something which affects the majority of the population. While I think football is the most popular, sports in general has been the greatest idol in the Western world. People schedule their lives around sports, and quadrillions of dollars are spent in the industry, from the schools to the city teams to the professional teams to Olympics, sports is on just about everyone's minds 24/7. We teach our kids that sports are more important than academics.

Yes the church has developed its own idols as you well note, and I address that here on this blog all the time. But when speaking of the world in general, nothing outdoes sports as a national -- and international -- idol.

Anonymous said...

"Ministry begins in the home, folks, as it did in the book of Acts."

Beautifully put Martha.

I do agree with you as well Glenn, that sports is a major idol in the world... especially when it results in teaching children to place emphasis on sports rather than academics. We can see that carryover in to the church, unfortunately. Hm, let's take game time out of AWANA, VBS, etc, and see who still comes...???!!!

That Beth Moore article was disturbing. I won't even participate in "women's ministry" because all they seem to want to do is material by the likes of Moore et al. Those "women teachers" aren't even sound in doctrine. The lack of discernment in the body can be disheartening. Frankly, just give me Scripture alone.

-Carolyn

Jesse Albrecht said...

Glenn,

Thanks for the great link on the Jehovah's Witnesses!

Anonymous said...

I'd like to add one more thought. When my husband and I have served in children's ministry (various sorts, over the years), we've noticed that the children were always eager for all the fun and games, but when it came to everything else (work... including academic work... Bible study, etc), the eagerness subsided (sometimes rather quickly). Hence why I said what I said. If you take the fun and games out of all these programs, would there still be participation?

I remember distinctly one VBS where it was crystal clear to me that there were some who were ONLY there for the food, games, fun, and prizes/toys they received, and the Bible teaching was a massive inconvenience at best (or a means to an end, i.e., memorize Scriptures to get goodies). Shouldn't surprise us though. How many followed Jesus because He gave them 'things'? But when it came to the teaching of the word, the listeners were few...

-Carolyn

Glenn E. Chatfield said...

For my readers,

I decided that those requesting I remove comments from an anonymous poster were worth considering. The cowardly anonymous' comments were more ad hominem than anything else, seeking to pick a fight where there should be none. So the comments have been removed.

I apologize to my readers for allowing these comments -- my only intent was to show people how legalistic some Christians can be.

Martha said...

I have to amicably disagree here folks. I'm not a "sportster" by any means and I have not excelled in sports in any way, shape or form, and to be perfectly honest, I DID condemn sports as an idol within the western cultural complex at one time, while I was a member of an abusive Baptist church system. We Baptists (no longer Baptist as Jesus has brought me out that religious system) loved to condemn others outside of our church system but could not pin point the speck within our own eyes, and the double standards weighed heavily upon the hearts of those people, but they just couldn't see that their double mindedness and double standards no longer witnessed to the community surrounding them.

Glen, I did not speak truth to start a "fight" or to "revile." I simply stated a fact. While the religious sect is complaining about sports being an idol, we are neglecting the other idols put before us, and even those that reside within our own hearts/lives. I am grieved to see "the church folk" working so hard on their buildings (exterior and fancy interiors), their landscaping/lawn mowing, their advertising campaigns within the community, the local church down the road spent $14,900 to hire a comedian to visit our community to "witness" for their particular church as a campaign to increase their dying membership, etc.,

all the while, not one person from those churches whose idols are "stuff, stuff, and more stuff" never visit those who are sick in the hospital, visit those who are home sick and suffering in need of a healthy meal, visit those who are lonely (some have contemplated committing suicide), let alone offer encouragement to the faith in Jesus Christ and simply say, "I love you and am here for you, because Jesus loved you first.

So please forgive me here if that nail hit the head squarely. I know first hand, that when I went through my illness and healing, it wasn't those holier than thou church members that brought food to my home, or offered any encouragement to me in my faith, in fact, those people abused and neglected me, for it was several folks who love the LORD (a couple of those sports fanatics) that cared and ministered to me in the name of Jesus, the Living Christ, in my home during my extended healing time.

I guess the church leadership (which is a horrible idol as far as I have understood Jesus' Words) are too busy worshiping themselves and lording it over other people, as it releases them from actually loving on and ministering people in their homes.

Martha - a non sportster, a non academic, just a believer in Jesus Christ, who actually loves and enjoys serving other people; buildings, and the junk we accumulate don't go to heaven or hell, people do. And I won't even touch upon the obesity idol that is visible within 'the church' and yet we don't see too many articles on this issue within "the church."

Glenn E. Chatfield said...

Martha,

I think you are still missing the point. The context of sports being an idol is for the world in general, not the church -- although it is one of the idols of the church.

This is not meant to negate the problems IN the church and all the specific issues you mention (and I agree with). But the church and the world are two different entities. In the world there appears to be no greater idol that sports; lives revolve around sports.

Martha said...

I'm sorry Glen, but I do understand the point of the article with regards to "the world" as we Christians love to call it. I get the point of "sports being an idol," and respect what the article and you have to say. My point is this and I will state it bluntly, with regards to "the world," anything and everything can be turned into an idol, even academia, so we must be very careful in looking over the fence and seeing the weeds in that other area of "the world."

In my business, I work with a genre of people and personalities, and even academia can become an idol.....I have to listen to the "intellectuals of 'the world'," boast and brag of their vast knowledge and credentials while working for them, so while the academia of this world condemns the idolic sports industrial complex, I have no doubt academia idolizes its vast knowledge, its accomplishments, and its golden calf of self praise. We experience this working under such pride and it's not very attractive either. In our neck of the woods, people send their children to music camps for big bucks, attend concerts on Saturday evenings, on Sundays in the big cities, and miss church to drive miles to participate in the parade on Sundays....buses sometimes leave at 6 in the morning.

Lives revolve around what is important to them Glen, whether its the academia of this world, the music and arts of this world, the sports of this world, the business(capitalism) of this world, anything and everything of this world. AND, since we believe the Christian church is different and separate and has "come out of her my people," I have though long a hard about that statement made by our LORD in the Book of Revelation, AND have come to the conclusion that I am far more persecuted and hated within the church when I speak about Jesus, my faith in Him alone for salvation, and the interesting truths that I am learning from God's Word in my own personal studies, than I am talking about Jesus at a football game with a newly introduced sister in Christ.

Some believe that we "worship America and its military" far more than we do sports. And I don't disagree with those folks either, because we do worship nationalism and violence.

I will cease from disagreeing with the article on your site as of now, Glen. I still disagree in a non-divisive, non-reviling way that sports is our country's main idol. I believe it's "pride."

Glenn E. Chatfield said...

"Pride" -- Well, that quite possibly is indeed a bigger idol than sports!