Good, Bad, and Ugly

The Good:

Just last week I had a discussion about this topic with Pulpit & Pen on Facebook.  I came to the very same conclusion as does Michelle!  No, a nativity scene is NOT idolatry.

A fellow blogger pointed me to this excellent resource for responding to skeptics. I skimmed a lot of areas and there are a few places where I disagree with the author (such as the Sabbath and whether it was ever for Christians), but overall I think it is beneficial.

Another excellent resource is “Answering Catholic Claims.” This blogger does excellent work exposing the false teachings of Roman Catholicism.

Alexander Hislop’s book, The Two Babylons, published in 1858, is a favorite text of KJV Onlyers and other legalists, who very often use Hislop’s material to “prove” that Easter and Christmas — and all the associated decorations, etc — are from pagan origin.  As well, the book is a rant against Roman Catholicism but misrepresents a lot about that organization.  I used to have my own copy but finally tossed it as being worthless.  A good, but short, examination of Hislop is by Ralph Woodrow.  I recommend you order his book, about which you can find information at the bottom of the page of this article.

Christmas time also brings out the myths of pagan origin from many sources.  Here’s one helpful source to counter some of the nonsensical claims.

Is Jesus Simply a Retelling of the Horus Mythology?

Who is Jesus, according to other religions?

Wayne Grudem has an excellent article about angels.  (even though, as a charismatic, he has many bad teachings)

The Bad:

James White has long been a good apologist (even if he is a 5-point Calvinist), but lately he’s been doing some weird things.  Something really surprising is his unqualified support for Michael Brown’s false teachings.

The Ugly:

Charismatic Tarot cards and “Christalignment”. This is about as occult and heretical it gets.

A “Top Twenty” list of “Christians” to follow on social media is predominantly a list of false teachers and heretics.

More warnings about Michael Brown, Todd White, et al.

Bethel Redding is really a very ugly institution pretending to be a Christian assembly. And if this isn’t enough information for proof, try this one.  Then the plot thickens.  And thickens again.

Random Aberrations, Apostasies, and Heresies.

Some big news over the past week or so has been about Rick Warren’s capitulation to Rome.  A YouTube video has been posted, showing Warren’s discussion.  It takes 41 minutes, but is enlightening.  Aside from him calling the Pope, “Holy Father,” quoting the horrid “The Message,” and his much bragging about Saddleback, his books, courses, etc, he has some good things to say about marriage.  If only he had stuck to the subject of marriage and self!

Elizabeth Prata posted a couple 15-minute videos of James White examining Warren’s capitulation to Rome.  Find them here and here.

Oh, and since I mentioned Warren’s use of “The Message,” you might want to look at the new tract booklet about this corruption of the Bible at Lighthouse Trails Research Ministry.  It should be enough to prove how corrupt The Message is.

Erin Benziger has some more comments about Ann Voskamp’s book, “One Thousand Gifts.”  The book is rife with false teachings.

Christine Pack over at Sola Sisters posted an article about the Hebrew Roots Movement and Christmas.

But, “Is Christmas Day Rooted in Paganism?”  Nope.  However, another humorous view of the same question might just give you a chuckle.

Answers In Genesis has many times posted articles about the dangerous and compromising teachings coming from the BioLogos organization.  This week I found another site examining why BioLogos is dangerous to Christian education.

Don’t let anyone tell you that “Allah” is an acceptable name for the God of the Bible.

I have previously posted information about the apostasy of the Disciples of Christ denomination, but Neil has added another log onto that fire.

Just when you think that the seeker-sensitive and market-driven church mentality has reached its limit for worldliness, you come across an article like this — which add more fuel to the fire of the apostasy at the Disciples of Christ!

A hat tip now to Erin for pointing us to this video, “Christian Girl Instagram.”  Good humor to end this post with!

Random Apostasies and Heresies

Well, it has been a busy week for me, with little time at home, so I haven’t worked on any articles as I wanted to do.  And here it is already time for another “Random” collection.

First up, Tim Challies posted the second part of his review of Debi Pearl’s book, “Created to Be His Help Meet.”  Well worth reading.  As usual when dealing with false teachers, the comment string does have some supporters who think Challies is wrong in his assessment.

Erin reports on “The Resurgence” conference, which promotes Rick Warren’s “man-centered mythology.”  This is the type of stuff which is destroying the Church from within.

Speaking of Rick Warren, his self-esteem theology makes for some wonderful satire.  Apprising Ministries demonstrates this as they give an example of a daily devotion by one of Warren’s staff.

Years ago I first read Alexander Hislop’s “The Two Babylons,” and immediately had some problems with his claims against the Roman Catholic Church.  As years have gone by I have learned much more about how poorly the book was written, based mainly on speculation and poor logic - and bigotry.  This book has become the mainstay of those who want to “prove” just how horrid Romanism is.  However, one doesn’t need to misrepresent and lie about Romanism to prove how apostate and heretical it is, so promoting the stuff in this book just backfires on those using it.  Sola Sisters has a good article about this book.

Ed Young, Jr continues to demonstrate how unbiblical he is as a teacher.  Now he is pandering for “tithes” via automatic withdrawal.  He seems more and more like the Word of Faith hawkers looking for money from the gullible.  This man is definitely a goatherd.

I’ve never been fond of Max Lucado because everything I’ve seen from him is touchy-feely, and that’s just not my cup of tea.  He also participated in the Be Still video, which has contemplative teachings.  Well, now I have another reason to dislike him:  He has now come to the conclusion that Christine Caine is just like Paul, Mary and Esther, and has endorsed her new book, “Undaunted.”   Caine’s promotion of various Word of Faith heretics certainly eliminates her from comparisons to these Biblical persons.

Roman Catholics have another recent demonstration as to how apostate they are.  It seems there is a relic of a “saint’s” heart which has been traveling around, with Catholic venerating it (read, “worshiping”).  The whole teaching of worshiping relics - including body parts - is nothing less than idolatry, as well as being totally nonsensical.

The ELCA Lutheran denomination long ago left any semblance of orthodoxy, especially when they began supporting homosexuality.   A good example of how far down to the pit the ELCA has gone is the fact that “pastor” Nadia Bolz-Weber has not been excommunicated.  This woman is a rank heretic, besides being a false teacher.

Hank Hanegraaff is really starting to bug me.  I have previously written about some theological problems of Hanegraaff’s, including his preterist view of eschatology, his support for the Local Church, and his low view of the book of Genesis.   Then there was his joining up with OWS in Iran.  Now Hank, and his cohort Gary Burge, attacks Christian supporters of Israel as being “racist and supporting ethnic cleansing.”  In this article, Hanegraaff demonstrates his complete lack of understanding of the mid-east conflict, as well as what Dispensationalism teaches about the end times.  They also have unbiblical ideas of Israel’s place in history.  Hank has been a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Rich Mouw, president of the liberal Fuller Theological Seminary, has spent too much time supporting the Mormon church.  Back in 2004 he made a stir when he suggested Christians have sinned against Mormons by exposing their false teachings.  His new book seems to be much of the same about how we just need to understand Mormons, and they really aren’t a cult, etc.  I agree with Mouw that we have to understand Mormonism in order to effectively deal with it, and the same could be said for any other cult.  But Mouw’s soft-peddling around the real issues of Mormonism, and his seeming lack of understanding of their teachings, makes his teachings on the subject dangerous.  I guess I shouldn’t expect any better from the president of Fuller.

Rob Bell once again proves he is a heretic and a dangerous teacher to follow.  He now has come out as “gay affirming,” who doesn’t see the need to tell homosexuals that their behavior is sin.

Meanwhile, the United Methodist Church has decided to take another step into the political area (aside from preaching the social gospel) and put out the call to ban all handguns. [link gone by 12/5/15]  Explain to me where in the Bible one finds God being against handguns?  Actually, I guess they have been anti-gun since 1972, but the latest shooting in Colorado is bringing them out of the closet again.  Perhaps the UMC should start reading their Bibles and leave the social gospel behind instead of promoting the banning of legal personal property.