"Think on These Things"

You Do Err…  Think about Pharisees, legalists and cults.

The Broken Logic of Infant Baptism.  Excellent study!

Didaché - Are We Worse Than The Pharisees?!?

The Beth Moores vs. the Mary ‘Polly’ Careys.  Good, thought-provoking article.

Are there modern-day Apostles? Short answer, NO!

The Gospel Coalition just keeps getting worse and more satanic.

JD Greear, Ex-president of the Southern Baptist Convention as well as a pastor, has a bizarre take on homosexuality and other cultural issues. Certainly not proper for even a pastor!

Bethel ’s children’s ministry is disgusting and heretical.

More reasons to avoid Jen Wilkin.

Why do people still follow Kenneth Copeland? He is not a Christian—he is a rank heretic and fraud.

Another warning against Priscilla Shirer!

Rick Joyner continues to prove what a false teacher—let alone a false apostle—he is.

Kathryn Krick is as bad as it gets.

RECLAIMING the true meaning of 2 CHRONICLES 7:14  I addressed this back in 2020.

If you’ve liked Veggie Tales, as we did with our kids, you may have noticed them being not so good as the years went by. Well, the creator of Veggie Tale, Phil Vischer, has become a rank heretic; don’t give him any more of your money!!!

Interesting review of Kendrick Brothers’ films. I like the first three (and saw the same issues Elizabeth notes) but Courageous seemed too contrived (more so than the others) and War Room went so far out of whack that we didn’t bother with any further movies.

Examining a Gothard Book, Part 6

This post is part four of examining Chapter 3: To Inspire Mighty Men! of Bill Gothard’s book, 7 Basic Needs of a Wife. 

With the last post I ended with number 7 of Gothard’s 21 “secrets for successful child rearing.” 

Eighth secret: Boundaries for Exploration. (pg.32). Children who have no boundaries become emotionally insecure and mentally unstable.
I wonder what studies Gothard has made to come to such a conclusion. This is where “blanket training” come in: A playpen or a “play rug” is an example of a boundary. I’ve known one family using this method and have read a lot of testimonies from parents and grown children. A playpen isn’t something a baby is usually able to climb out of, but when they are put on a rug or a blanket it is normal for them to want to crawl around. Child abuse comes in when “training” the baby/toddler to say within that boundary—their hands or feet are smacked whenever extended past the boundary.

Ninth secret: Feeding by Wise Schedules. (pg.32) A strong controversy has developed over the manner in which a new-born should be fed. Should the child be fed “on-demand” or on a schedule? Those who argue for on-demand feeding need to realize the by so doing they are training their child to get what he or she wants by simply crying out. … The goal of scheduled feeding is to bring the child’s will into conformity to the parents’ authority. … Feeding on demand will produce a demanding child.

Now remember, this man has never been married, nor has he had children! We had two children, both nursed by mom unless mom was unable and then we used a bottle with mother’s milk. My wife fed on demand—i.e. when the child was hungry! No—it did not producing demanding children. All those we know who fed on demand did not produce demanding children. It does NOT train a child to “get what he or she wants by simply crying out.” The foolishness and ignorance of such teaching is damaging to those who listen to it.

AH, but let’s look at what Gothard uses to demonstrate how his teaching is correct:

God meets our needs as a Father who loves His children. However, HE does not always give us what we want when we demand it [um, I don’t know any Christian who “demands” from God]. David expressed his experience of learning to wait on God by saying, “O LORD God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee: Let my prayer come before thee: incline thine ear unto my cry” (Psalm 88:1-2).
Talk about twisting Scripture to support a belief!!!! This passage has nothing to do with feeding a baby!

Tenth secret: Birth-Order Tendencies. (Pg.33).  Gothard uses Cain and Able, and “the prodigal son” as examples of the “tendency of the firstborn to reject the second born son”  as proof of a standard/general enmity between first-born and second-born sons, and therefore, Mothers who want to train up mighty sons and daughters must understand and respond to birth-order tendencies. Maybe I’m ignorant, but I’ve never met families with this sort of trouble, so to make it as a general claim is erroneous.

Eleventh secret: One-Accord Power (pg.33) A family that has and maintains one-accord unity will have sons and daughters who are mighty in Spirit. What if a family does as he says and yet not all their children are “might in Spirit”? The periodic observance of the Lord’s Table and Communion in the home is an essential aspect of maintaining a one-accord power…. Well, I’ve never known any family who regularly, if at all, practice this observance in their home. I guess most families are at risk!

Twelfth secret: The Fear of God (pg.33-34). Other than some rambling, I can’t disagree.

Thirteenth secret: “Day Tight” Schedules. (pg.34). God designed the day to begin in the evening. As we meditate on Scripture when going to sleep and also asks God for wisdom for the projects of the day, our “reins also instruct me in the night seasons” (Psalm 16:7).

I can’t disagree with keeping schedules for activities, but one must also be flexible enough to make adjustments, but to abuse a passage of scripture to make a point is inexcusable.

Fourteenth secret: Verbal Blessings (pg.34). Gothard begins with his usual habit of an anecdote, supposedly of a real incident. Then he writes, A verbal blessing of the father [not also the mother?] has great power in setting the goals and desires of his sons and daughters. A blessing involves asking God out loud to impart a son or daughter with the qualities that he or she needs to become successful. 

Can anyone show me from scripture this recipe for blessings? Can not BOTH parents bless their children? Can not the parents, in their own prayers, ask God to bless their children. That’s part of the problem with Gothard’s ideology—it’s so formulated for everything.

Fifteenth secret: Justice vs. Fairness (pg.35). God is a God of compensation. If He withholds a benefit from one person, He will compensate with other benefits which, in the long run, turn out to be more valuable.. This compensation is illustrated in the Body of Christ, where one member is given greater attractiveness and another who is less attractive is given greater importance. Another example is with those who are born in a poor family and yet are made rich in faith, and through faith they are able to acquire what is needed. (See James 2:5.).

Please show me from Scripture where this nonsense found—and James 2:5 has nothing to do with Gothard’s claims!!! Gothard just makes stuff up!!!

Sixteenth secret: Melodious and Triumphant Music (pg.35). Unclean music is produced by taking the corrupt music of the world, which promotes rebellion, immorality, and drug abuse, and combining it with Christian words. This music is the doorway through which unclean spirits are entering the hearts and souls of Christian teenagers and drawing them into the addictions of pornography, eating disorders , immorality, anger, lust, etc. Music and light are related, and Satan appears as an angel of light to deceive. (See Matthew 24:24).

First, who determines what music is “corrupt”? Just because it is secular? We sang a hymn which is to the tune of Auld Lang Syne—is that corrupt? The hymn, Hail the Glorious, Golden City is to the tune of the Austrian Hymn, used by the Nazis! I fully agree that there are some secular song which are trash, and some music sounds like it’s of the devil and not good for praising God with, but who makes that decision? Where is the evidence that such “unclean” music gives a “doorway” to unclean spirits so they can enter the “hearts and souls” of Christian youth—where does the Bible say unclean spirits can enter the “hearts and souls” of Christians? And just what has Matthew 24:24 have to do with music—It’s about false prophets!!! And where does it say, in Scripture or anywhere else, that light and music are related?!?  Bill Gothard just makes up stuff as he goes!

God forced the unclean spirit in Saul to flee as David played melodious music on his harp. (See 1 Samuel 16:23).

The Bible doesn’t say God forced the spirit to leave Saul, it just says the spirit left as David played. 

Stay tuned for the remaining “secrets” in future posts.

Examining a Gothard Book, Part 5

This post is part three of examining Chapter 3: To Inspire Mighty Men! of Bill Gothard’s book, 7 Basic Needs of a Wife. 

In the section titled, 3. A God-Given Life Message Gothard has the following (pg.24):

1. A law system for one family—Adam’s

God gave Adam ten specific commandments that Adam was to obey and teach to his wife and children.

Yet Gothard gave no reference and no hint of such commandments, and I certainly haven’t been able to find them in Genesis!

Training Children Who Will Not Depart.

Many pastors are actually embarrassed over this promise in Proverbs: “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6). These pastors try to explain away this verse, because they know of Godly couples who trained up their children and when those children went to college, they rejected what they had been taught and followed the ways of the world.

Rather than looking for loopholes in the promise, we should evaluate they way in which we train up sons and daughters. We no doubt will discover significant areas of neglect, which will explain why they departed from the Lord.

Pg. 25

Firstly, the Proverbs are not promises—the are “proverbs,” i.e. general statements of how things normally go. Many, many parents raise up their children in the Lord in every way possible but they cannot FORCE their children to do as they were taught. College is well-known for having destructive teachings to lead students astray and away from the Lord. Yes, SOME parents neglect proper training, but I know too many who did just about everything right and yet one or more of their children, once on their own, turned their backs on what they were taught. Mr. Gothard has to twist this Proverb into a promise in order to denigrate parents who have children who go astray. It must be remembered the Gothard has never been married and never had children and yet insolently decides he knows better than real parents.

Under the section of, “How to Train up Mighty Men!”, there are 21 “secrets for successful child rearing” to be found in Scripture. As we look over what he calls “secrets,” keep remembering that this is from a man who never married or had children. Let’s look at some highlights of these secrets.

First secret: Desire for Children (pg.27)

A mother was puzzled and frustrated because her son had reacted to her from the day he had been born. When she was asked if she wanted to have that child, she answered, “No, I was not ready to have a child, and I actually resented the fact that I was with child.” 

This mother was informed that babies in the womb can sense in their spirit whether they are desired or unwanted. This discernment will affect their responses after birth. 

She asked God to forgive her for her wrong attitude toward His blessing, and when her son was old enough to understand, she asked him to also forgive her for her wrong attitude toward him before he was born.

Where in Scripture does it say that the spirit of the child is able to discern whether it is wanted, or where does science tell us this? The idea that a child in the womb can sense whether it is wanted is just plain outlandish.

Second secret: Dedication Before Conception.(pg.27)

Every son should know that even before he was born, he was dedicated to God for His service and that before he was formed in the womb God planned for him to impact nations for God’s glory.
Gothard then cites Jeremiah 1:5 as his evidence. Just one problem—that passage is only about Jeremiah. What if the Christian parents don’t dedicate the boy (not a girl?) before birth? What if God doesn’t have plan for the child to “impact nations”? How many Christian actually “impact nations” with service? So how could Gothard say this?

Third secret: Abstinence From Wine. (Pg. 28, Cites Judges 13:3-4)

If a mother wants to train up mighty men, she must eliminate wine and unclean meats from her home and diet.

Mark 7:19 says there are no unclean meats for Christians. The laws against clean and unclean foods were specifically for Jews to begin with. There is nothing in Scripture condemning the drinking of wine—only the excessive use of it. A mother should not drink alcohol when with child because of possible damage to the child, but otherwise there is no need to eliminate wine from the home.

Fourth secret: Pre-Birth Training.(pg.29)

It is now a well-established fact that an unborn child can recognize voices outside the womb and discern what is being said. The unborn child’s mind is not yet developed, but his spirit is given at conception and is capable of discernment. (Cites John the Baptist response when he heard Mary’s voice.)

The reaction of the Baptist to Mary’s voice was a special gift of God. If babies in the womb can discern what people say, then why can’t they understand what is said immediately after birth?

Fifth secret: Proper Birth Procedures (pg.30-31)

Gothard decries a hospital birth as “counterproductive to a healthy birth” due to stress and trauma for mother and child and other procedures he lists which are used only with troubled births. His reasoning for avoiding hospitals is because of Isaiah 66:9 and Jeremiah 32:27, which of course have nothing to do with birth procedures. He does confess that “There may be certain conditions in the mother or the baby that will require medial assistance,” which is good, but then he states that, “in general, a well-planned home birth with an experienced midwife and a wise hospital backup plan is the best way to bring a child into the world.”

Again, a man who has never been married or had children has decided that he KNOWS the “best way.”

Sixth secret: Bonding at Birth (pg. 31)

There is an important event that should take place at birth that will bond the baby with his or her parents and other family members. It involves breathing on the baby.

Gothard cites as “precedent” God breathing into Adam’s nostrils (Gen. 2:7) and Jesus breathing on his disciples after rising from the dead (John 20:22). God breathed LIFE into Adam and Jesus’ breathing was giving them the Holy Spirit!!!!. Holding a baby is bonding with it, especially when the mother breastfeeds.

Seventh secret: Circumcision on the Eighth Day (pg.31)

In order to train up mighty men, we must follow God’s instructions for good health. Circumcision was established by God long before the Law was given to Moses…. It is…a practice that has definitive health benefits and is associated with Godly young men, whereas uncircumcised men are associated with immorality throughout Scripture.

Circumcision was/is a sign of a covenant between God and Abraham and Abraham’s descendants. Christians are not part of that covenant, and that sign had nothing to do with health. Furthermore, in the O.T. where the uncircumcised are associated with immorality it was because the comparisons were between Jews (who were circumscribed by covenant with God) and the gentiles. Gothard has a love affair with O.T. laws that were part of covenants with specific people!!

I will continue next time with part 6 of examining Chapter 3: To Inspire Mighty Men! of Bill Gothard’s book, 7 Basic Needs of a Wife.

Good, Bad, and Ugly

Way too much stuff collected to wait any longer!  And it has been a very busy week away from home with ER visit, doctor visit, wedding rehearsal and the wedding later today!  But the apologetics ministry never sleeps.  Lets look at what I’ve come across this week.

The Good:

Falling From Grace.  Good article about the false teachings of the need for Christians to follow O.T. laws.

Why we call out false teachers by name.

The pastor SHOULD BE overseeing the worship music!!

Responding to skeptics’ attack on Mark 2:26.  Part 1 and Part 2.

A good history of false teacher Aimee Semple McPherson, the person who originated the Four Square Gospel Church.

An outstanding resource!!!

What verse is Hebrews 1:6 citing?

What’s the purpose of pastors?

The Bad:

Beth Moore called down fire from heaven.

Another reason to distance oneself from John Piper’s teachings.

The Ugly:

Ah, the heresy and apostasy of the UMC.

The Philadelphia Church of God is a non-Christian cult.

For those who doubt the full-blown apostasy of the Church of England.

Mark Driscoll — Sigh.  This narcissist really needs to leave the limelight and quit disgracing the Christian faith.

An example of all that has been wrong about Roman Catholicism — murdering people who disagree with Catholic dogma.

Legalism — A Heart Issue

Legalism is a way of covering hypocrisy, because it creates external rules that can be kept regardless of the state of the heart—at least in the eyes of others.  It allows people to look good outwardly even when their hearts are rotten.  But legalism also causes hypocrisy, because people learn to keep the external rules without being changed internally.  And they also learn to live a life of deceit, in which the way they look to others is more important than how they look to God.

Dave Swavely, Who Are You To Judge?, pg.96-97

Random Aberrations, Apostasies, and Heresies

Do Seventh-day Adventist teach Trinity or tritheism?

What’s So Bad About Christian Radio? Well, I could go on for quite a while as to why I quit listening to it over 20 years ago, but I’ll let the article give you good reasons.

Excellent response to all those popular evangelical men jumping on the “police are racists” bandwagon.

I think I’ve encountered this guy.

Catholic Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles is now promoting the “LGBT” agenda.  So will the University be ousted from affiliation with Rome?  Will the leaders be excommunicated?  Nope.  Rome seems to turn a blind eye to this stuff, proving again that the Pope is not a representative of Christ.

Part 3 and part 4 of the series examining the incidents in Orlando with Pastor David Uth’s collection of false teachers and false teachings.

THIS is why they will remain only a “Potential Church.”  They have “worshiptainment” rather than any semblance of worship.  These are goats, not sheep.

With this sort of wordiness, it didn’t surprise me that this goat-pen is led by a husband and wife “pastor” team.  Jesus will certainly tell them, “I never knew you.”

Beth Moore — EGAD, she gets worse and worse with her direct revelations from God.  She is more and more narcissistic every time I see something about her.  And yet she is still the darling of the SBC.  I do have to agree with her statement she said over and over: “I know absolutely nothing.”  She knows absolutely nothing about reality.  OH, and notice that the woman she gave money to ALSO had a revelation from God!

Berean Research has an interesting article regarding the shenanigans of Donald Trump’s “Christian” advisors.

Here is another excellent “Everything you need to know about the New Apostolic Reformation” article.

Andy Stanley’s church is getting to be worse and worse.  Talk about a goat pen!!!  I can’t help but wonder how much time was spent practicing and rehearsing this nonsense instead of actually doing something constructive.

More nonsense from false prophet/teacher Heidi Baker.

Finally, IF ONLY!