Agglomeration Anew

In polygamy, should a man divorce his wives after becoming a Christian? I agree with the author — the answer is “no.”

8 WRONG reasons for staying in a church that teaches false doctrine.

Clint Eastwood Reads Praise Song Lyrics. Very funny — and makes a great point about what has invaded the church.

False Assumptions—the Consequences of False Teaching. A bit long, but good.

Spiritual Dumpster-Diving:

Disgusting, absolutely disgusting. They are trying their best to justify homosexuality.

Christianity Today Astray teaches heresy again.

Raphael Warnock has again proven he is a rank heretic.

Beth Moore continues her spiral to apostasy — and Karen Swallow Prior helps her on her way. It was Donald Trump who “broke” her.  Just take a look at this examination by another woman!

A Hillsong Easter. As bad as it gets.  And scandal in Dallas.

How about a sample of what nonsense is taught by the Mormons? If you ever get interested in learning more about the cult called “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints,” I have a blog devoted to exposing them.

Bishops and priests supporting the LGBT movement — why are the not excommunicate?  And why is this bishop, who supports same-sex fake marriage, still a member of the RCC?

Matt Chandler seems to have totally forgotten what the Christian faith is really about.

Christian schooling is joining the LEFTIST culture.

The Catholic Church should DEMAND that the school no longer claim to be Catholic.

Another false teacher, Dan Minor, abuses the Bible to promote the “social justice” movement.

The REAL Church needs to stand strong against the culture. This culture will continue to get more and more wicked and destructive in attacking the truth.

Apologetics News

I still have my daily readings to keep up with what’s happening in the realm of apologetics and there have been some articles I decided really needed to be shared with my readers.

Elizabeth Prata, over at The End Time blog, has written a two-part examination of false teacher Beth Moore. The first part asks if Beth Moore has only “drifted” only recently (no) while the second one examines Moore’s “spiritual biography.”

To go along with Elizabeth’s articles I discovered there is a new book examining Moore’s teachings. Written by G. Seth Dunn, the book is titled, “So Long Beth Moore, You’ve Been a Bad Friend to Us.”

So, the latest news about Moore again proves she is not qualified to teach; she claims white supremacy is rampant in much of the church.

Changing subject, Bethel Church casts out the demon of racism! Of course they use occult means to do so.

I’ve never heard of Bob Goff, let alone his book, Everybody Always. Clinton Adams wrote an excellent review.

Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry has an excellent article exposing the false teachings about “transubstantiation.”

Answers In Genesis explains why 2 Samuel 12 does not support polygamy.

Finally, the apostate ELCA denomination is changing its name; it must be true because I read it on the Internet.

Another Agglomeration

The Good - For Education and/or Edification

Why does God allow polygamy in the Bible.

No, Jesus was not a refugee.

HMMMM

German Catholic bishops are saying homosexuality is normal?

More Wolves and False Teachings

Pat Robertson continues to spew his false teachings. There is no such thing as a man in a woman’s body or a woman in a man’s body.

Hillsong’s Carnal Christmas.

Then there is the death of a Bethel child. Yet they still think they can raise this child from the dead. The video is absolutely disgusting. Bill Johnson teaches they can do it because Jesus did it; but they’ve finally decided to have a memorial service. I like the WWUTT video condemning them. And now Bethel is doing damage control.

Another perfect example as to why women shouldn’t be preaching!  It also is more evidence of the horrid false teaching at Village Church. Elizabeth Prata has a 3-part series examining Jen Wilkin. Part 1 is an introduction, Part 2 begins to get into her bizarre teaching about women’s perspective of the Gospel being aided by menstrual periods as well as some feminist ideology, and Part 3 is questioning whether Wilkin really is a complementarian. 

Beth Moore— She really does need to shut her mouth/Twitter/etc and GO HOME.

The Pope really proves that he is an anti-Christ.

Good, Bad, and Ugly

I’m really getting behind on my blog!  Busy summer—that’s my excuse!  Meanwhile, I try to keep up with my reading, so here are things I felt needed to be shared.

The Good:

To their own destruction--Jehovah's Witnesses.

Was the thief on the cross justified by works, as claimed by the Roman Catholic Church?

Old Testament polygamy does not justify same-sex “marriage.”  I previously wrote an article demonstrating God’s attitude towards polygamy.

5 non-negotiable from the church fathers on the incarnation.

Educational Limbo: How Low Can You Go?

Was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil good or evil?

When did churches stop baptizing by immersion?

Is the KJV the most accurate translation?

John MacArthur has a series, “The Long Struggle to Preserve the Gospel.” Part one here, part two here.

The Bad and/or Ugly—Things you need to be alerted about!

When a Christian university capitulates to the culture for money (i.e. accreditation).  They could have kept their morals and people could still get educated there, but approval of man seems to be more important.

Kenneth Copeland: why, oh why, are there still people listening to this horrid wolf!?!? He is a false teacher, false prophet, and bald-faced liar. Nothing he says is even remotely true or based in reality.

The more I read about the Pennsylvania priest sex scandal, the more I see how horrid is the Papist church.  The organization has been rife with perverts from the beginning and the RCC just continues to protect them.  The only time they do anything is when they get “caught with their hand in the cookie jar.” And contrary to what the author of this article claims, this did NOT start in the 1960s and is NOT just a thing in the USA.  An archbishop is calling for the Pope’s resignation, claiming the Pope was involved in the cover-up of the crimes.

When Catholics deny reality—which really demonstrates the reason that sexual abuse is rampant in the Catholic Church, and always has been.

But if you haven’t had enough proof that the Pope does not represent Christ or God, take a gander at this.

The Mormons are trying to escape their history. It seems “God” has spoken to them again.

Mormons were NOT persecuted, contrary to the claims of President Trump.

Remember, this is what the apostate ELCA denomination has become.  How can a true Christian continue being a member of this group?!?!

A cult to be aware of, and warn others about, is The Twelve Tribes.

I’ve mentioned the name Ed Stetzer in prior posts, but I think you need to know more about him so as to mark and avoid him.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything about Joyce Meyer, so let me remind you of what a horrid false teacher she is.

Rachel Held Evans gets worse all the time.

More evidence that Tim Keller is a WOLF.  Mark and avoid him!

Mark and avoid this wolf and his goat pen, Greater Purpose Community Church. They are instruments of Satan.

Random Aberrations, Apostasies, and Heresies

Well ladies and gents, it is time for another episode of providing you with information as to what to avoid in the realm of false teachings, and providing you with resources to respond to such teachings when you come across them.  I have to give a hat-tip to Erin Benziger for pointing me towards the first five items.

A “pastor” who affirms homosexuality now believes in polyamory.  Once you’ve rebelled against God in regards to what marriage is, then there really is nothing stopping you from affirming any and all perverse unions as being right and proper.

For those “old earth” creationists, here is another reason to believe what the Bible actually says about the days of Genesis 1.

Goatherd Ed Young is playing off the pornographic “Fifty Shades of Gray” with a book titled “Fifty Shades of They,” and apparently will be doing a sermon about it [link gone by 7/12/18] this weekend where he will “baptize” a copy of “Fifty Shades of Grey.”  So, will baptizing the book clean it up? The man never seems to be able to pass up a chance to use sex as a subject for his antics.

An interesting article about the violation of the 2nd Commandment by Sarah Young and Ann Voskamp.

Can you believe such false teachings as “90 Minutes in Heaven” is being made into a movie by Family Christian Stores?   I have to agree with Erin Benziger when she says “This is such a bad idea. Such a horrible, terrible idea.”  Family Christian Stores long ago became minefields of almost every imaginable false teachings, and now will spread such garbage to even larger audiences.

When discussion the issue of same-sex fake marriage the subject of polygamy often comes up.  I’ve previously written why God’s view of marriage cannot include polygamy — contrary to Mormon theology.   This week I came across this old article from Answers in Genesis which gives another viewpoint confirming God’s intent for one-man/one-woman unions.

Entertainer Katy Perry, who I’ve never bothered to watch or hear, has stated that, just before her Super Bowl performance of a song promoting lesbianism, she actually got a word from God — a direct revelation telling her that her performance was going to be okay.

“I was praying and I got a word from God and he says, ‘You got this and I got you,’” Perry said. “And then I was on top of the lion and a guy — a  random guy — looked at me with a headset that I’d never communicated with before. He looked me straight in the eyes and said ‘You got this.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, that’s God confirming I can do this!’”

Katy also “tweeted” a message that day, citing Psalm 118:24.   I did not see her performance, but from reports it sounds like it was fairly raunchy, especially when one reads the lyrics of the song.   While she grew up in a Christian home, Katy claims she is not a Christian.  Since she rebels against God with her lack of faith in Christ and her promotion of homosexuality, I think it is very safe to say that, contrary to Katy’s claims, she did NOT hear from God.

A friend pointed me to this abomination pretending to be Christian teaching for children.  Right off the bat I have to point out that it violates the commandment against making images of God; their “God” looks like Santa Claus.  I saw a lot of trivialization of the Christian faith and its teachings; it is nothing more than simplistic religious entertainment. I wonder how many churches, and Christian families, will buy into this?

I wonder if there is a connection between the “GO! Join the Story” reported in the previous paragraph and “The Story” Bible version?  It wouldn’t surprise me.  I wrote an article about “The Story” three years ago, demonstrating some of the dangers of this version.  This month’s issue of The Berean Call newsletter has an article examining more serious problems with this “Bible.”

If you are not knowledgable on what the Jehovah’s Witnesses cult teaches, you may find “Why I’m Not a Jehovah’s Witness” to be a good primer.

Lastly, Andy Stanley has a new book.  As with so much of his teaching lately, it is subtly dangerous.  However, even more dangerous is his beliefs about how a Christians should respond to being asked to provide services for a fake marriage:  Evangelical pastor Andy Stanley leads North Point Ministries, the second largest church in the U.S. He told me he finds it "offensive that Christians would leverage faith to support the Kansas law." He said, "Serving people we don't see eye to eye with is the essence of Christianity. Jesus died for a world with which he didn't see eye to eye. If a bakery doesn't want to sell its products to a gay couple, it's their business. Literally. But leave Jesus out of it.”   No, Jesus is very much a part of it.  Nowhere in the Bible does He even hint at condoning participating in sinful activities.

God's View of Polygamy

The idea for this post came about for two reasons: 1) The Mormons still have D&C 132 in their Scripture and it says every man must have more than one wife for exaltation. 2) When discussing same-sex marriage I often point out that redefining marriage would include legalizing polygamy, and sometimes the response is, "What's wrong with that?"

While the Old Testament tells of many persons who have more than one wife, the Bible gives no evidence that God has ever sanctioned this practice. God’s view of marriage was established at the very beginning when He instituted the relationship (all Scripture is from the Holman Christian Standard Bible):

So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to come over the man, and he slept. God took one of his ribs and closed the flesh at that place. Then the LORD God made the rib He had taken from the man into a woman and brought her to the man. And the man said, "This one, at last, is bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh; this one will be called woman, for she was taken from man." This is why a man leaves his father and mother and bonds with his wife, and they become one flesh. Genesis 2:21-24

Notice that God gave Adam only one wife, with the intent that two become one, not three or four, etc.

The Bible’s first mention of polygamy is in reference to Cain’s son Lamech in Gen. 4:19. Cain was the sinful man who was marked, and his sons learned his wickedness. From that point on it became cultural for some of fallen man to become polygamous. But notice that when God saved Noah and his wife, and their sons and their wives, they were all monogamous; if God felt the need for plural wives to propagate the earth, He would have given them more before sending them aboard the ark.

As sinful man began to multiply many men of means became polygamous (the average man didn’t, because it took wealth to support more than one wife). However, when Moses led Israel out of Egypt and God’s laws were brought forth, one thing God made a point of was that, when Israel wanted an earthly king he was to be of higher character than the average man. Of him God said, He must not acquire many wives for himself so that his heart won't go astray. Deut. 17:17.

In the Proverbs we have a couple passages to consider. In the first the context is keeping away from women who are not one’s wife.

...take pleasure in the wife of your youth. A loving doe, a graceful fawn - let her breasts satisfy you; be lost in her love forever. Prov. 5:18b-19. Notice that the writer did not say “wives of your youth,” the implication being that there is only one. And it is that one wife who is to satisfy the man, that he be “ravished with her love.” (KJV)

The next passage is among many general proverbs:

A man who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD. Prov. 18:22 Again notice that the proverb does not say “who finds wives finds a good thing,” the implication again being that a good thing is one wife.

Ecclesiastes has one passage that can shed some light also. Chapter 9, verse 9 says, Enjoy life with the wife you love all the days of your fleeting life.... Again the word is “wife” and not “wives.”

Proverbs and Ecclesiastes both approach the marital relationship from the viewpoint of one wife.

In the New Testament Jesus discussed marriage and how the Jews messed up the original plan. He gave the following teaching:

"Haven't you read," He replied, "that He who created them in the beginning made them male and female, and He also said: For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, man must not separate." Matt. 19:4-6  Notice that Jesus refers right back to Genesis to demonstrate the one man/one woman desire of God.

We can next look at what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 7:2: But because of sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband. Notice that Paul did not say “wives” or “husbands”; the meaning is clear that each man is to have but one wife.

When Paul was laying down qualifications for Elders and Deacons, part of the qualification of their character was that they only had one wife (harking back to God’s command for the king to have but one wife):
1 Tim. 3:2 An overseer, therefore must be above reproach, the husband of one wife...
1 Tim. 3:12 Deacons must be husbands of one wife...
Tit. 1:5b-6 ...appoint elders in every town, someone who is blameless, the husband of one wife...

So God’s law has always been one wife per man, but He permitted polygamy as he permits divorce; neither is the original intent for marriage. The depiction of plural marriages in the Bible always show marital troubles, which is expected to happen because women are not wired to share their man!

UPDATE 9/29/16:

The following is a footnote on p.109 of the book, The Way of a Man with a Maid, by Robin Phillips.  I thought it was a good summation of what my article says. 

While polygamy is not forbidden in the Old Testament, the implication can be drawn that monogamy was still God’s ideal from verses such as Ps. 28; Prov. 12:4; 18:22; 19:14; 31:10-31; Is. 62:5.  “…because God created just one woman for Adam, the pattern of monogamy is clearly set and displayed to us.  The polygamy found in the Old Testament among the saints of God does not alter this.  Polygamy was instituted by man, and not by God.  The first record of a polygamous union was Lamech (Gen 4:19), with no hint of divine approval.  But most important, polygamy does not fit with the creation ordinance of marriage or with the picture given in the New Testament of Christ and the church.”  Douglas Wilson, Reforming Marriage (Moscow, ID: Canon Press, 1995), pp. 16-17.