An Agglomeration for "Pride Month"

“Pride Month” has all the heretics/apostates coming out of the woodwork as they mock God.

First, let’s start out with learning what “Pride Month” is.  It’s really about rebelling against God and His desires for human sexuality.

“Pride Month” is something with which no Christian should have any sympathy whatsoever.

Ah, but even a well-known Christian publisher, from where I’ve purchased many books, has decided to thumb their collective noses at God and endorse the perversion.

Then we have the “Hymn Society” blaspheming God with hymns sanctifying what God calls an abomination!

The Southern Baptist Convention is spiraling out of control.

A Mennonite denomination is now affirming fake marriage and promoting the “inclusion” of LGBTQ+ practitioners. 

Then we have a Catholic Church joining in on LGBTQ+ events.

A drag queen event, including children, in Texas was partially sponsored by a Catholic health ministry!

A ray of light is the news that a Catholic bishop said a Catholic school can no longer call themselves Catholic because they flew the LGBTQ+ flag and the Black Lives Matter flag. A man with guts!

Now let’s look at some items of regular apostasy and heresy outside of “Pride Month” celebrations, as well as wolves to avoid.

An ELCA university commencement had a prayer to Allah. Since Allah is a false Muslim god, this is just more proof of the apostate condition of the ELCA. Ah, but they are “inclusive.”

Elizabeth Prata has a whole dossier on why Richard Warren is an apostate and false teacher.

Holly Pivic exposes the New Apostolic Reformation false teachings.

With that unbiblical series “The Chosen,” you need to get used to a different Jesus.

A somewhat lengthy, but excellent, article teaches why we shouldn’t use songs from Bethel, Hillsong or Elevation Churches: doing so supports false teachers and their teachings.

Together 2022 convention will “sacrifice truth on the altar of unity.”

Lastly, Russell Moore proves he is an unworthy teacher who idolizes false teacher Beth Moore; he makes me almost nauseous.

Good, Bad, and Ugly

The Good:

When sin goes from shocking to amusing.  Excellent article address a huge problem in the culture and invading the church.

When communicating with members of cults (and followers of false teachings) be sure to define your terms.

The Apostolic Fathers and the Deity of Christ.  Good information for defending against those who claim Christ was made God by the Nicene council.

Is Hell eternal?  Yes, because that is what the Bible says.

Women and False Teachers.

The Bad:

No, Jesus didn’t tell her to do this, and that statue isn’t Jesus; but it seems to have become her idol.

Mennonites are spiraling quickly into total apostasy.

The Ugly:

The abject heresy and apostasy which you get when put women in leadership positions in the Church.  Of course the ELCA went apostate decades ago anyway.

More proof of the heretical and apostate nature of the United Methodist Church.

The New Apostolic Reformation:  A very nutty, cultic group.

A female preacher’s conference will, by definition, be a collection of false teachers.  It’s worse than you think.

Todd White — teaches Word of Faith heresy, praises and admires arch-heretic Kenneth Copeland, and wears cultic Rastafarian hair style.  I truly think he is demon-possessed.

The Shack movie is slightly less heretical than the book.

Kenneth Copeland—false teacher/prophet extraordinaire.  Side note: Copeland is thrilled that President Trump has regular visits with “Christians,” yet those so-called Christians are all false teachers who have no clue about the real Gospel, which is why apparently Trump doesn’t either!

The Humorous:

Joel Osteen’s new fashion line hides the wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Random Aberrations, Apostasies, and Heresies

Horrible news this morning.  Thrivent Financial Services, which is the financial services for Lutherans (LCMS, ELCA, and WELS) has been funding Planned Parenthood!!!! [link gone by 7/14/18]  I’ve used Thrivent for life insurance for almost 30 years (from when we were still Lutherans, and it was originally Aid Association for Lutherans), and still have 12 years left on my policy.  I’m sort of stuck, since I can’t afford to start a new life policy at my age, but it you are participating in Thrivent and are able to drop them, do so!

The United Methodist Church General Board of Church & Society still thinks abortion is okay is some circumstances, [link gone by 7/14/18] yet the circumstances they claim have been denied to exist for the most part by the medical field.  They talk of “reproductive justice” as if it is “justice” to murder the unborn.  Oh, they have the same lies and excuses promoted by the “pro-choice” (pro-abortion) crowd, so why do they claim to have a Christian view?  They are just like Democrats with a platform promoting “access to modern contraception” — as if there is anyone without access to contraception? (Like don’t have sex?)  And of course there is that demand for sex indoctrination in the government school system.  The UMC leadership has no concept of the value of life.  Apostasy, pure and simple.

Elizabeth Prata has a pretty good article about modern mystics who have “visions” from God; you know who they are— the “usual suspects.”  She also has a good article about the right kind of Jesus to worship, and He isn’t the sissified boyfriend version so many false teachers promote.

More supposed Christian colleges bow to the homosexualists.  Two Mennonite colleges will now employ “married” homosexuals (which is an oxymoron, since two people of the same sex aren’t married).  More apostasy.

Neil explains the problem with “affirming churches” — those who think we should forget that homosexual behavior is a sin.  It is really amazing how many “Christians” are  apostatizing FOR homosexuality!  Why don’t they do the same for fornication and divorce and adultery and prostitution, etc?  OH, wait, they already did!  Which is how homosexuality left Pandora’s box.

Mormons are always trying to get real Christians to “pray” about the Book of Mormon so we will supposedly get a “burning in the bosom” from the “Holy Ghost” telling us it is true.  But should anyone pray about the BOM?  Of course not; and here’s why.

Joe Kovacs is an editor at Joseph Farah’s World Net Daily, a Christian Internet news source, but he is also a promoter of the teachings of heretic Herbert W. Armstrong.  The problem is that WND has long promoted Kovac’s books, which mislead many who follow the site.  In 2012 The Berean Call reported on the situation, and reports now that there is no improvement in that WND still promotes Kovac’s material.  A sad thing is that when Joseph Farah was alerted this week by James Kieferdorf, Farah’s response was to denigrate The Berean Call and claiming the issue is just “guilt by association”!  Then he pulled the old “follow Matthew 18” for charges, which, of course is abusing that passage.  What is the problem with these media people that they can’t just acknowledge that they’ve erred in promoting false teaching they were unaware of?!?  So be careful of theology you find at World Net Daily!

Hip and Thigh has part 2 of their review of “Which Bible Would Jesus Use”?  Very interesting stuff, demonstrating the lengths to which KJV Onlyers will go to stand by their cultic teachings.

Lastly, Doug has an excellent article summarizing the history and some of the false teachings of the Seventh-day Adventist cult.

Random Aberrations, Apostasies, and Heresies

The big news this week was about Rob Bell on Oprah Winfrey’s show, and how he denigrated the Bible and proved himself to be a bonafide heretic.  Matt Walsh has an excellent commentary on megachurch false teachers in general, and also on Rob Bell in particular!

“Speaking” of false teachers, A Lutheran Layman reminds us that the Bible warns us to exercise discernment while being on guard against them.  He has some good “billboard” examples exposing a variety of false teachers.

A new booklet is available from Lighthouse Trails Research Project, all about Roma Downey.  Roma has deceived many people with her character on the television program, “Touched By An Angel,” with it’s New Age theology.  More deception came from her with last year with her miniseries, “The Bible” — which was quite unbiblical!  From that series came the movie, “Son of God,” which gave a false teaching about who Jesus is.  Roma has become quite popular, but her teachings are dangerous.   Read the booklet on-line.

More news from last weekend told us that 21 Coptic Christians were executed by barbaric Muslims.  I find it sad that some Christian bloggers say these people were not Christians; it’s like saying Roman Catholics aren’t Christians.  While both organizations have brought in heresy and various apostate teachings, there are indeed individuals within those organizations who have come to saving faith in spite of the organizations’ teachings, because among all the weeds there are the basics of the Christian doctrine.  I wouldn’t claim to know whether these 21 Copts were indeed saved, but the possibility is there.  Here’s a summary look at their teachings, so you can see the problem areas.

Now that I mentioned Roman Catholicism, it seems their leadership needs to clean out those who don’t adhere to their faith.  First, a Catholic University in California is promoting homosexual dating!  Then we have a Cardinal in New York has decided that homosexual activists can march in the Catholic St. Patrick’s Day parade!

Last week I linked to an article at the Cripplegate about the beliefs of the Jehovah’s Witnesses.  This week they gave the same treatment to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  I’m sure you will see from this article why Mormons are not Christians.  For more information on the Mormon church, feel free to skim through my new blog about them.

I stumbled across a blog new to me this week, but it looks like a good one to use for examining the false teachings of the Word of Faith cult.  This article demonstrates how many top faith fake healers all died of some disease.  If their faith was true, why did this happen?

The Mennonites in Canada are becoming more and more apostate.

Random Aberrations, Apostasies, and Heresies

Let’s just start with New Spring Church and the Perry Noble fiasco and his claim that there is no Hebrew word for “command,” along with his re-interpretation of the Ten Commandments.  The Cripplegate was the first I read critiquing Noble’s claim.  Then one of the sites I follow (I forgot which one I got the link from) pointed me to this article which is a round-up of links to responses against Noble’s poor teaching.  Then, of course, Noble “apologized” for his teaching; Hip and Thigh did a great examination of Noble’s “sorry.”  Suffice it to say that Noble is just a wolf in sheep’s clothing.  He appears to be a goatherd with followers who are seeking to have their ears tickled.

Maryland’s first female Episcopal “bishop” is on administrative leave due to various criminal charges stemming from drunk driving.  Jack Morrow had a pretty good article about the issue.  Of course, biblically-speaking, she should never have been a bishop anyway.  Since the Episcopal Church is an apostate body, I sincerely doubt that she will be given church discipline and defrocked.

If anyone ever had any doubts as to whether the Roman Catholic Church is an apostate organization, then the fact that their pope wants all religions to work together should eliminate any doubts remaining.

The Mennonites have also gone the apostate path with same-sex fake marriage.  I realize that Mennonites, as a religious body, are quite diverse, but I have been seeing more and more movement in the USA in this direction, as well as movement into the whole contemplative/mystical arena.

An article in Christianity Today Astray promotes false teachers Beth Moore and Christine Caine.  I agree that it is good for women to be teaching the Bible to other less mature women in the body of Christ, but this should be done by women who actually know what they are talking about and who don’t claim direct revelation from God!  The women this magazine puts on a pedestal have long been exposed as false teachers, and yet CT is promoting them.  Just another example of what is wrong with that publication!

As for women teachers in general, there are some poor teachings being promulgated which are really subtly harmful.  Elizabeth Prata did a four-part examination of “She Reads Truth.”  This link goes directly to part one, from where you can link to the rest.  There is a lot to peruse, but I hope women especially will take heed of what Elizabeth says in her critiques.

Can you believe that a Catholic bishop thinks same-sex relationships can be “marked” by “holiness”?!?  Will the Pope correct him?

The assembly at where we’ve worshiped the past 13 years brought in a “Pastor of Worship” who is more of a performer than a worship leader.  Some of the material he’s been having us learn leaves a lot to be desired.  I know from information I’ve seen about him prior to arriving late last summer that he has even written his own songs, although so far he hasn’t brought them in our assembly.  Because of this issue, I’ve read quite a few articles about what should or should not be used in corporate worship because, after all, the songs we sing are actually teaching us.  I have previously linked to some of these articles, but this week I was looking through an old Christian Research Journal and came across this excellent article by John MacArthur and decided to see if it was available on the ‘net — and there it was.  I think a main point worth mulling over is this statement:    “Like it or not, songwriters are teachers as well. Many of the lyrics they write will be far more deeply and permanently ingrained in the minds of Christians than anything pastors teach from the pulpit. How many songwriters are skilled enough in theology and Scripture to qualify for such a vital role in the catechesis of our people?"

How can a church call themselves “Christian” while fighting to have a monument removed because it depicts a soldier praying?  Americans United for Separation of Church and State is led by a “minister” of the United Church of Christ, and they got the memorial removed.  Of course anyone reading about anything this group does should realize that this group has no idea of what the Constitution of the USA actually says in the First Amendment.  The UCC is probably the most apostate and heretical body to still claim to be a Christian denomination, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised when one of their members leads a crusade to rid public displays of faith.

Did you know that “God is waiting on YOU!”?  Neither did I, but Jesse Duplantis says so.  Perhaps he should read his Bible a wee bit closer.  (HT to Erin Benziger)

David Jeremiah is getting to be more and more of a concern to me.

Finally, if you thought that the Seventh-day Adventists as a denomination were giving up on Ellen G. White’s false teachings, you are going to be disappointed.  The SDA is still a cult.

Random Aberrations, Apostasies, and Heresies

Notice that I changed my heading for these weekly reports; it was due to someone pointing out an item wasn’t really a heresy, and there could be some debate as to whether it was even an apostasy.  So I decided to add “Aberrations” and let YOU decide which label best fits.

First up, a hat tip to Erin Benziger for pointing me to this one.  Perry Noble, a bonafide false teacher, has “Four Things That Are Essential For a Healthy Children’s Ministry”; and please note that the teaching of the Gospel isn’t included.   Well, what do you expect for a seeker-sensitive, entertainment-oriented emerging church like Noble’s?

I have quite often dealt with pacifist Christians who really like to twist what Jesus said about turning the other cheek.  These people use the reference to refuse to join the military, for example.  I worked with a fellow believer who said if someone broke into his home and was attacking his children and his wife, even sexually, he would not try to defend them because that would be using violence!  It is impossible for me to accept such rationale, let alone using Jesus’ words to support it!  At any rate, here is a good teaching on what Jesus meant.  Perhaps you will find it beneficial for the next time you encounter someone abusing this passage of Scripture.

Whatever happened to the Mennonites having mostly fundamental doctrines?  How in the world did they get to the point of teaching contemplative prayer to children?!?

Two years ago I linked to an article at Sola Sisters which reviewed the horrible book by Ann Voskamp, “One Thousand Gifts.” Sola Sisters has posted another article about this book, which demonstrates the bizarre sexuality/sensuality that Ann teaches about her relationship with God.

Charismatics have a lot of aberrational teachings in general, and addressing such nonsense was really what the “Strange Fire Conference” was all about.  Hip and Thigh has a good article exposing some of these really aberrant teachings.

What about the apostate teachings of the mystical movement, including lectio divina.   Tim Challies explains the danger of such teachings.

Finally, again in reference to Mormonism, Liberty University is actually defending its stance in regards to allowing Mormon Glenn Beck to speak there.  Let me address some specifics.
This is the excuse given for allowing Beck to preach a sermon (for that really is what it was): “College is about learning. How can you defend what you believe if you don’t understand what others believe?”  The problem here is that the students DIDN’T understand what Beck believes because he sounded just like a Christian!  Let’s look at some of Beck’s teachings in this sermon:

1.  “I am Mormon and share your faith,… Training Champions for Christ.”  NO, a Mormon does NOT share the same faith as Christians, so they cannot train anyone for Christ.

2.  “Days before Joseph Smith was martyred he was taken out by the sheriff;…”  Smith was not martyred.  He died in a shoot-out.  Martyrs don’t shoot back.  This is one of the big fables that Mormons like to teach to show how they have been persecuted.

3.  “Later in his message, the Mormon talk show host told the students that ‘no one in the Grand Councils’ sent them to earth just to make a living. Beck was referring to the Mormon belief that human souls pre-existed in heaven, and that a gathering of heavenly beings known as the Grand Councils, send certain individuals to earth to accomplish a special purpose.  ‘You didn’t come down for a job. You came to this university maybe thinking, “I have to have an education to get a job.” You need this education from Liberty University because of your only true job, the purpose you were sent here for.’”

Beck is actually teaching them nothing less than the Mormon doctrine of eternal progression!  Why was there no rebuttal given?!?!

The article claimed that there were those who believe Beck has had a “born again experience.”  Since Beck still teaches LDS doctrine, I’d say that is impossible for him to be “born again.”

Beck later made a typical Mormon whine about those who disagreed with his speaking there: “This is why your churches are dwindling.  You think you’re standing for something, when indeed, you’re standing for hate and bigotry. I think Jesus was hanging out with prostitutes and sinners, wasn’t He?”

So it is “hate and bigotry” to make a truth statement that having a Mormon preach a sermon at a “Christian” university is wrong?!?  Yes, just marginalize the opponents as hateful and bigoted so you don’t have to actually deal with their arguments.  And just what does the fact that Jesus was “hanging out with prostitutes and sinners” have to do with allowing a sermon full of false teachings being taught at a Christian university - does Beck really believe Jesus would have thought it was okay for a pagan Canaanite to be teaching in the temple?

If Beck had been there simply as a conservative commentator, and made no references to religion, then there would have been no problem.   Read James Duncan’s statement in the last couple paragraphs - he sums up the problem quite nicely.

Random Apostasies and Heresies

Well, the Mennonites seem to be leaving their fundamental traditions behind.  It seems that 150 Mennonite pastors and other ministers are wanting to change the church policy to “welcome and bless” those who practice sexual perversions.  I’m sure Menno Simons would excommunicate the entire bunch.

More about the Mormons from “Mormon Coffee.”  Glenn Beck has been perpetrating Mormon myths; I don’t think he really understands the Mormon church - at least no better than he understood the Catholic Church.

Next, they posted a video showing the very sad teachings of works-based salvation in the Mormon Church.

Finally, today they posted irrefutable evidence that Joseph Smith is indeed the originator of LDS racism.  I’m looking forward to part 2 of this series.

Speaking of the Mormon church, a couple weeks ago a fellow blogger alerted me about Ravi Zacharias again speaking in a joint session with Mormons.  Of course, I was saddened to hear of such compromise.  I came across an excellent review of the subject, and have to agree with the author.

Lengthy, but excellent, article about IHOP - and I don’t mean the pancake restaurant!  I’m talking about the cult in Kansas City, as well as all the satellites around the nation.  The amount of false teaching originating with that bunch is astounding.

The Evangelical Free Church in America has been one of the more fundamental denominations, but now it appears that they are jumping on the contemplative bandwagon.  It seems everyone wants to be a mystic nowadays.

CARM has a good, short, article on Arnold Murray and the Shepherd’s Chapel.  Another false teacher to avoid.

Rachel Held Evans seems to have a typical left-wing, liberal theological worldview.  Not only is she woefully ignorant about proper hermeneutical understanding of Scripture, but now she has show what poor understanding she has about socio-political issues, such as birth control.  Evans has seemingly come from out of nowhere and has become a media darling as someone representing Christianity.

Two bloggers are taking turns writing chapter reviews of Michael Brown’s book, “Authentic Fire.”  As of today, four chapters have been reviewed, beginning with an overview here, followed by the chapter reviews here, here, here, and here.  Of course these reviews are in defense of the Strange Fire conference, but they really do a good job of refuting Brown’s assertions.

The Cripplegate posted an article about “holy fire” - a “holy fire” totally unlike that promoted by the charismaniacs.  Of course the author also argues against the charismatic “fire.”

What do you think about presenting Jesus as a “Son of Allah” in order to use the “Camel Method” to evangelize to Muslims?  I’m hoping you have the same though as I do - that Allah is NOT the same as the God of the Bible, and that we do NOT compromise truth to make the Gospel more palatable.

The latest about Sarah Young’s book, “Jesus Calling.”  

A Church Of England cathedral in the U.K. has taken apostasy and heresy to a new level.  They screened the movie, “The Last Temptation of Christ.”  The excuses given are outrageous.

To end today’s episode, take a look at Gary Gilley’s article on real “spiritual formation.”

Random Apostasies and Heresies

I decided since we are now in a new year, my first post of the year should be a report on “Random” things.  Watch out for these wolves eating the sheep.

How about a quick look at one of Mormonism’s more bizarre teachings - that Jesus was  born from sexual intercourse between Mary and “God.”  This was a big problem for me as a Mormon when I first learned of it.  The whole idea of Mary not being a virgin when Jesus was born didn’t make sense to me, but I was told that Jesus was a virgin to “mortal man” while “God” was an “immortal man.”  My response was that it didn’t matter who she had sex with, if she had sex to have a baby, then she wasn’t a virgin and the Bible would be lying!  And that is what started me on my studies of the LDS history which, after about 18 months, led me to denounce the Mormon faith.  What is amusing to me is how the LDS now tries to downplay this teaching, and I have even been told by LDS missionaries that the church didn’t teach it.

More on Sarah Young’s book, “Jesus Calling” comes from the Lighthouse Trails Research ministry, as they tell you “10 Things You Might Not Know” about the book.  For LTR’s first post of the year they give some details about specific false teachings about Abraham.
And yet there are Christian people out there, especially women, who are fighting tooth and nail against anyone who dares to call Young a false teacher.

A young missionary we know, who is serving in Mexico, has been grieving about many of the Christian youth down there heading for a conference this week put on by IHOP.  She has a family member in Iowa who is wrapped up with this cultic group, so it is very personal for her.

Why is it that so many Christian teachers think we have to have “Bible” studies based on movies?  I learned a couple weeks ago about “The Harry Potter Bible Study,” and just shook my head over what I consider the stupidity of such “studies.”  My comment on the post reporting it was as follows:

So the author wants you to waste precious time watching four movies about occultic practices so that we can then learn how to interact “redemptively” within our culture?!?!?
I understand that the author does raise some valid questions about learning discernment, and such, but how about we not call his book a “Bible Study,” because it certainly isn’t.
I’m a firm believer in the adage, “what you win them with is what you win them too.” I will never feel the need to use a movie to teach biblical truths. I think the whole idea is about as wrong-headed as it gets.

If you have encounters with Jehovah’s Witnesses, you might find the article, “A Twisted View Of God With A Jehovah’s Witness Elder,” to be enlightening.

The United Methodist Church continues to have perversion within the ranks of their “pastors” because they don’t take a firm stance on such sin.  Oh, sure, they de-frocked a minister recently, but they didn’t excommunicate him.  So what is going to happen with these two lesbian ministers who “married”?  The UMC started down this road long ago when they allow women to be “pastors” contrary to solid biblical teaching.  Every church which does this soon becomes another liberal, left-leaning house of apostasy.

Surprisingly, there are Mennonite churches who ordain women as “pastors,” and this week we have another example of the turn to apostasy when they did this - the Mennonite Church USA has just ordained a lesbian “pastor.”

And speaking about homosexuality, I was surprised to learn that the Vatican has hired pro-homosexual corporations as advisors!!!

Lastly, the news about Utah’s anti-polygamy law being struck down by a Federal Court was just as many of us have said about the slippery slope of same-sex fake marriage, especially since the court used that in the argument.  Well, it wasn’t long before an Episcopal priest cheered the ruling!  Another example of a denomination which put women in then pastoral role going quickly down the path of perversion.