Distressing Things Within the Church

Let’s start with a look at the investigation into Ravi Zacharias’ “Decades of Sexual Abuse.” On top of this report we have learned that he lied about his credentials. Although he was a brilliant teacher, I could never, ever again recommend anything he has written.  Here’s another article on the topic.  No one should try to defend him.  The last word about Ravi from Elizabeth Prata.

The only evidence you need to prove Tim Keller is a false teacher.

STOP using satanic practices; don’t even play with them!

Todd Bently is back. This heretic, blasphemer of God, and false prophet continues to prove how bad he really is. These claims of visions are either bald-faced lies or from the demonic world. At any rate he certainly isn’t a believer.

More on the cult of Hillsong. And still more.

NO CHURCH should allow Hillsong, Bethel, or Elevation music into their assembly.

Thabiti Anyabwile has become “woke.” And it you don’t agree with him you are “ravaging churches” and causing “re-segregation.” Stay away from him.

Yes, Joyce Meyer is a horrid false teacher.

The “gospel” of the New Apostolic Reformation. Keep away from this heresy.

Watch out for pro-sodomy theology.

Several times on the blog I have warned about the false teachings of Max Lucado. This article is another perfect example of how Lucado seeks to appease sinners.

Beware the false prophets and false apostles!

Let’s end with an excellent sermon about discernment, and the pastor doesn’t shy away from naming names!

Where Is DISCERNMENT?!?!

What Is Discernment?

STOP misrepresenting/co-opting Jesus!

The Mediocrity of Christian Men.

Watch out for William Lane Craig’s false teaching about Genesis.

Another popular Christian, Phil Vischer, denies the Genesis creation record.

Hillsong again. Even former members agree with me that it is a cult! It just goes from bad to worse. Don’t forget I’m offering to send you a copy of my full article on Hillsong at no charge.

Some of the most infamous false prophets/false teachers are exposed by the ATHEIST media!

The Ravi Zacharias situation. Very sad to realize how this man had deceived so many people.

An example of all that is wrong with The Gospel Coalition. What “gospel” are they teaching?

This is about as blasphemous and stupid as it gets. But what else can you expect from a United Methodist Church “minister”?

Another “minister” who worships a satanic god; he is anti-Semitic, pro-abortion, pro-same-sex fake marriage, pro-homosexuality an “transgender” in general, says one can’t serve in the military and serve God (what about Israel’s O.T. army raised by God?), is pro-Marxist, anti-white racist and has “credible accusations of spousal and child abuse” against him. He’s a wolf.

It must be true; I saw it on the Internet.

Critical Race Theory is invading the church; it is a horrid teaching.  Stay tuned for Part 2.

More Stuff to Think About

I keep telling you Hillsong is a cult and Carl Lentz is a cult leader. And this is what cult leaders do. His wife also got fired. Some other information says Lentz was unfaithful as early as 2014!

3 Reasons Sunday Is Not the Christian Sabbath. Something from The Gospel Coalition I actually agree with!  But then they also include this article about the need to be Sabbatarians!?!  Sorry, but I have proven conclusively that the Sabbath was only for the nation of Israel.

More Scripture-twisting by LEFTIST so-called “Christians.”

The Catholic Church: sex trafficking and homosexual predation. Has history for them really changed since the days where popes were immersed in sexual debauchery?

A perfect example of all that is wrong with the church. As the author points out, David Platt is guilty of teaching Christians that it is okay to vote Democrat. You cannot honor God as a Democrat. 

It’s disappointing and disheartening to learn that Ravi Zacharias was essentially a con man, even though he had some excellent teachings. I often wondered about his discernment based on who he associated with. Check out the videos on this site.

Agglomeration

The Good - For Education and/or Edification

The Source of Adventism’s  Physical God.  Reminds one of Mormonism.

Why the Gospel of Thomas is not in the Bible.

Four Myths About the Crusades.

Although somewhat lengthy for those who don’t like to read much, Gary Gilley has written an excellent article about the state of the Church and how we got here.

Some interesting history, if you take the time to read it all.

Are there really “ten lost tribes” of Israel?

Is the Book of Enoch Inspired Scripture?

What are demons? A thought-provoking follow-up on the article “Angels Unawares” which I linked to on August 29th.

HMMMM

Good summation of the teachings of Ravi Zacharias. He’s not really a wolf, but there are some questionable things about his teachings.

Bible Study Fellowship now using “vision casting”

Wolves and False Teachings

The Gospel Coalition is about a false gospel.

Another reason why Campus Crusade for Christ, a.k.a. CRU, needs to be avoided: they are promoting the occultic false teaching of Enneagram.  The Enneagram has absolutely NO Christian origins. And if that isn’t enough reason to disassociate with CRU, perhaps this is.  Or this.  Or even this!

Rick Joyner: Not only is he  false teacher deluxe, but he is also grossly ignorant of history when it comes to his “vision.”

Just when you thought Bill Johnson couldn’t get any more ridiculous.

This man’s total lack of discernment proves he should not be a pastor. It looks like he’s been “off base” for a very long time, and yet he’s accepted as a Southern Baptist Pastor?!?

Net Church, led by a wolf who does interviews at his “church.” It appears that this takes place before whatever “worship” services they have. This article is focused on his interview of lesbians—who certainly are NOT Christians (at about 28 minute mark), but I thought his blather about a horrid child’s book demonstrated what sort of “pastor” he is. The couple he first interviewed talked about how THEY pastored a church — yes, a woman “pastor.”  They seemed to think heretic Rob Bell is great, but they also have no clue about what a church is for and totally misrepresent Scripture. The whole video (if you have time to spend listening while doing something else) goes to show what sort of wolves pass for “pastors” and what passes for “churches” today. Beware!

The United Methodist Church continues to demonstrate their apostasy and rebellion against God.

A Bible version I just learned about, and it is one to be avoided: One New Man Bible.  Part of the charismatic, Hebrew Roots Movement nonsense.

Random Things Needing Discernment

Eight signs that your church is becoming a dictatorship.

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!

The corruption of Christianity.

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?

Why you shouldn’t observe Lent.

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.

And lastly, Megachurch Stage Collapses Under Pastor’s Massive Ego.

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.”

Ravi Zacharias

 Ravi Zacharias has long been one of my favorite apologists ever since I first heard him on radio broadcasts while I lived in the Chicago area.   He has always been a solid defender of the faith.

I don’t know what has gotten into Mr. Zacharias, but he is now compromising the faith by praising and otherwise sanctioning false teachers.  Ken Silva, over at Apprising Ministries, has been following a story about Zacharias giving praise to Joyce Meyer and her teachings.  Zacharias has called Meyer, who is a Word of Faith heretic, “a great Bible teacher.”  This is really a very sad situation.

The following links will take you to the various articles posted by Silva as the story was coming out:

Joyce Meyer as “a great teacher,” with Zacharias giving giving her credence on her show.

A reader’s exchange with Ravi Zacharias International Ministries and the further tacit support of Meyer.

Ken Silva’s contact with RZIM.

The reason for compromise given by RZIM.

Other problems with RZIM:

Ordained women ministers, and Ravi calling Henri Nouwen “one of the greatest Christian saints.”

This particular article links to this one excusing the praise of Nouwen.

Ravi praises The Alpha Course and claims God inspired Gumbel in his work with Alpha.

A question is raised as to whether Silva is too hard on Zacharias, and Silva responds.

Here is the crux of the matter: Teachers of the Word are held to be more accountable than the everyday Christian (James 3:1).  As Silva notes, Ravi is not untouchable, nor is any other popular Christian leader/speaker.  In fact, they are in a position to do more damage than anyone else, which is why it is important that they not be giving even tacit approval to false teachers and false teachings.

My hope and prayer is that Ravi will cease promoting these false teachers and expose their teaching instead.