Rick Perry and The New Apostolic Reformation

By Justin Edwards

There have been many warnings over the last few weeks with regards to Rick Perry's The Response prayer event in Houston, Texas on August 6, 2011.  I shared Brannon Howse's warning on the blog a couple of weeks ago, and other warnings can be seen at Sola Sisters, an extensively detailed piece from Apprising Ministries entitled IHOP Enters Dominion/Christian Rights Politics, another piece from Howse titled The Emergence of The New Religious Right And Its Threat To The Church, Chrystal Witt's piece Divorcing America from Baal?, and Marsha West's response post-prayer event that offers great insight to the good, the bad, and the ugly that took place at The Response.

What, or who, exactly has Rick Perry aligned himself with?  The links above clearly show what is taking place behind the scenes unbeknownst to many conservative Christians.  Many participated or supported Perry's prayer event  last week, including best-selling author and watchman on the wall, Joel Rosenberg.  In fact, Rosenberg said in this article the day after the prayer event,

Some evangelicals were critical of ”The Response.” They urged people not to attend because they have serious and fundamental theological differences with some of those involved in the event. A few emailed me and urged me not to participate. I heard those concerns and I have strong disagreements with some of the participants, too. But the truth is the vast majority of organizers and participants of this prayer meeting were theologically, morally and ethically solid evangelical, Bible believing followers of Jesus Christ.

It is unfortunate that Rosenberg has not done his research and cannot see the undercurrent of deception that is taking place.  What's more, despite the "serious and fundamental theological differences" and having "strong disagreements with some of the participants", he chose to endorse the event anyway.  Those whom we have serious and fundamental theological differences with happen to believe that before Christ will return to this earth, it is the church's mandate to pave the way for the Kingdom, that Christ won't return until the Kingdom has been established by Christian world domination.  This domination, according to dominionists, will occur by taking over the government and cultural landscape.  Lighthouse Trails has a recent piece titled, Will the Evangelical Church Sell Out the Gospel for a Dominionist Political Agenda? that offers the following definition:

The Gospel of Salvation [according to dominionism] is achieved by setting up the “Kingdom of God” as a literal and physical kingdom to be “advanced” on Earth in the present age. Some dominionists liken the New Testament Kingdom to the Old Testament Israel in ways that justify taking up the sword, or other methods of punitive judgment, to war against enemies of their kingdom. Dominionists teach that men can be coerced or compelled to enter the kingdom. They assign to the Church duties and rights that belong Scripturally only to Jesus Christ.

These, then, are not merely "strong disagreements" that we can just push to the side for the sake of unity as Rosenberg has suggested.  The compromise at hand is one that is centered on the Gospel and has major implications for the Body of Christ, of which many believers are being deceived into co-mingling, or even substituting, patriotism and moralism with our mandate in the Great Commission.  As was said in this article concerning Glenn Beck and Evangelicals from last year, "we must not compromise the Gospel on the alter of ecumenical patriotism!"
    
With this background, I now share with you something from the secular media.  I by no means am a fan of Rachel Maddow, but she brings up some very serious concerns even though the root of her concerns are not the same for Christians.  The following video shows just who Rick Perry has aligned himself with, and that the New Apostolic Reformation has chosen him to be their vessel to establish the Kingdom of God on earth.  After showing various clips of C. Peter Wagner, Mike Bickle, Cindy Jacobs, and John Benefiel, Maddow closes with the following:

Rick Perry did not just do a prayer event in Texas that was a no-non Christians allowed event, Rick Perry did a prayer event that involved a specific Christian political movement, a movement that has political goals, and wants a political vehicle, and that seems to want a Rick Perry presidential candidacy to be their political vehicle.  The Texas Observer begins its story about these new self-styled apostles with a story about a visit two of them paid to Governor Perry in Austin in 2009, quote, "The pastors told Perry of God's grand plan for Texas.  A chain of powerful prophecies had proclaimed that Texas was "The Prophet State," anointed by God to lead the United States into revival and Godly government.  And the governor would have a special role."  The New Apostolic Reformation appears to have chosen Rick Perry as their candidate, as their vehicle for their political goal, which is of course, world domination, blah blah blah.  Rick Perry is announcing his unofficial start to his presidential campaign this weekend in New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Iowa, after hosting a stadium prayer event with all of these folks, and frankly, getting away with no one in the beltway media reporting on who those folks are or why they did just this stadium prayer event with Rick Perry.

Here's the video in full:

So the secular media is picking up that these self-appointed prophets and apostles are getting behind the presidential candidacy of Governor Rick Perry.  They have seemingly "chosen Rick Perry as their candidate, as their vehicle for their political goal, which is of course, world domination".  This is not just something to have "strong disagreement" with, but to accept that we indeed have "serious and fundamental theological differences" that include the Gospel itself.  As such, we have clear guidance from Scripture as to what to do in this type of situation:

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15 What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,  “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17 Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, 18 and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.” - 2 Corinthians 6:14-18

We must separate ourselves from these false teachers, and continue to admonish, rebuke, and warn our brothers and sisters in Christ who are being caught up in the deception of ecumenical patriotism.

At this point, I do not see myself getting behind Rick Perry, even if he is a born again believer.  He is clearly deceived and lacks discernment, and if his candidacy has any role in the NAR, Joel's Army, the Manifests Sons of God, Latter Rain, etc., gaining a foothold stronghold, then I want nothing to do with it and will continue to sound the alarm against it.

Is the Oslo Terrorist a Christian?

By Justin Edwards

Is Anders Behring Breivik a Christian?  Not be a long shot:

(HT: Grace in the Triad)

You Do Not Believe Because...

By Justin Edwards

You do not believe because you are not part of my flock. - John 10:26

Last Friday's post Atheists Hate Jesus, but Some Don't Realize It has created quite the stir in the comment section.  Many Atheists have commented asking many questions about "the Christian God" (as they say), but the answers given have not satisfied them.  I do not blame them since the Bible clearly states it is impossible for them to understand:

The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. - 1 Corinthians 2:14

My experience has been that quoting such a verse only serves to make them more angry.  Not only does it anger Atheists, but it angers professing christians who do not accept the Bible as the infallible Word of God.  Such would be the case from a fellow that goes by the name of Former Conservative (FC) who runs a blog titled Confessions of a Former Conservative.  Most, if not all, of the commenters came from his blog, which serves to attack Christian websites/blogs of whom he disagrees with ridicule and snarkiness.  FC holds much disdain and contempt for fundamental evangelical Christianity, and the fruit that he shows can be described in no other way than this:

If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother. - 1 John 4:20-21

Examples of this hatred have come through many blog posts at the Former Conservative website.  He has ridiculed many of my own blog posts, in addition to posts by Tony Miano, Defending. Contending., Trisha Ramos, and Steve Sanchez.  FC abhors the Holy Bible and Jesus' command to "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation" (Mark 16:15).  Although I have never mentioned FC on airō before now, he has been the inspiration for a few blog posts including Jesus Died for Me and the recent 4-part series Jesus: Holy and Righteous God of Love and Wrath.

The reason for this post is to address in more detail a comment from one of the commenters (named "depizan") from Friday's article, who said:

"All of His sheep will hear His voice and follow Him, and all who come to Him He will never cast out."

Some of the people questioning your take on the Christian God are, er, His sheep. Are you really that certain that your take is correct and not theirs? How can you say they haven't come to him? I'm pretty sure only God would know that, yes?

I assumed "depizan" is referring to FC, and perhaps one or two others commenters on the post who share an equal disdain for fundamental evangelical Christianity as FC.  Ultimately this is a disdain for the God of the Bible.  Whether admitted Atheist, liberal christian, or anyone else who does not believe the God of Scripture, there is a reason for this given by Jesus Himself (who liberal christians claim to believe yet oftentimes reject or seek to deconstruct the rest of Scripture.  Some call themselves "red letter christians").

Jesus did not shy away from the doctrines of grace (commonly called "Calvinism" today), but rather He was bold in their proclamation.  Take, for instance, the verse posted at the top of this article where Jesus said,

You do not believe because you are not part of my flock.

Note that this does not say,

Because you do not believe you are not part of my flock.

It is important to understand that Jesus is saying the reason they do not believe is because they are not one of His sheep, for if they were one of His sheep, they would indeed believe.  The verse follows Jesus' parable of the sheepfold and the testimony of the Good Shepherd.  In John 10:26, Jesus was speaking to the Jews who rejected Him and accused Him of blasphemy by claiming to be God.

Going back to the beginning of the chapter, Jesus gives the parable:

Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers (John 10:1-5).

The thieves and robbers Jesus is referring to are the blind Scribes and Pharisees who do not exalt Christ, but rather exalt their own self-righteousness and promote their man-centered agendas.  This would also apply to any modern/postmodern preacher whose motives are anything but of God.  To this end, J.C. Ryle comments,

The false shepherd of souls is he who enters the clerical office with little or no thought about Christ, from worldly and self-exalting motives, but from no desire to exalt Jesus, and the great salvation that is in Him.

These false shepherds will scatter the sheep.  When a sheep, a born again believer, hears the truth of God's Word, he is drawn by it in such a way that it soothes his soul.  When the Gospel is proclaimed, they are stirred and excited, never growing tired of hearing about the love of God to save men and women from their sin.  These do not follow the voice of a stranger, but rather they know and follow the voice of their shepherd.  

Jesus continues in John 10:11, 14-15:

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep...I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.

Here Jesus makes the unpopular claim that He, as the Good Shepherd, laid down His life for His sheep.  He did not lay His life down for all, for all are not His own.  Christ laid His life down for those the Father gave Him from eternity past (John 6:37; Ephesians 1:4).  Christ laid His life down for His sheep, and He knows them each by name (verse 4).  When they hears His voice, they will follow Him without exception, and they will love Him and obey Him, being sanctified in the truth of God's Word (John 17:17).  Amazingly, just as the Father knows the Son and the Son knows the Father, so too does the Son know each of His sheep the same.

Speaking of these truths found in the Gospel of John (in addition to pointing out that God's sheep have been commissioned to call His remaining sheep through the proclamation of the Gospel), my friend John Samson comments,

From John’s Gospel, we can make the following scriptural statements: All that the Father has chosen to be His from eternity, He has given to the Son (John 6:37); and all whom He has given to the Son, the Son knows (John 10:3); and calls (John 10:3-5); and all whom He calls, know Him (John 10:14) and recognize His voice (John 10:4-5) and they come to Him (John 6:37) and follow Him (John 10:4, 27); and the Son lays down His life for His sheep (John 10:11); and He gives them eternal life (John 10:28) and keeps them in the Father’s word (John 17:6), so that not even one of them is lost (John 6:39), to glorify the Son forever (John 17:10). This is the indestructible foundation for an infallible salvation that rebounds in the end to the glory of both the Father and the Son.

None of Christ’s sheep finally reject His word. Though He allows some of His sheep to resist the word for a long time, never do they reject it finally. Jesus said, “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me.” (John 6:37). What a promise! And what a privilege we have in sharing the Gospel with people, as we witness the Good Shepherd rounding up His sheep.

So what of those who are not part of Christ's flock?  Returning back to John 10:26, they do not believe because they are not of the sheepfold of the Good Shepherd.  Even more bluntly in John 8:39-47, Jesus said of those who do not believe:

...Now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God...If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here...Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires...because I tell the truth, you do not believe me...Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.

What is the cause and effect?  People who reject the God of the Bible and do so until death do not understand the things of God because they cannot hear the voice of Christ.  They are spiritually deaf.  Because the truth is spoken, they do not believe.  It is because they are not of God, but of the father of lies, Satan.  They are in bondage to their sin and the devil has blinded them so they cannot see the Kingdom of God (2 Corinthians 4:4).  It is only those who are of God, who are of His sheepfold, who can hear the words of God and be changed into a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).

When praying to His Father in John 17:1-26, Jesus interceded for His sheep:

I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. 8 For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 13 But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.

According to Christ Himself, the world hates you when you love the truth, namely Jesus and His Holy Word to us, which includes the infallible writings of the Old and New Testament.  Believers were given by the Father to the Son, and it is these for whom He laid down His life.  Jesus does not intercede for anyone other than the sheep of His flock.  He guides us and guards us and will sanctify us in and by His Truth found in the inerrant Word of God, the Bible.  The world hates us because we are not of the world, but God has called us out of the world to no longer be like the world.  

This leads me into a biblical warning for "Former Conservative":

If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. - John 15:18-19

FC, it is clear the world loves you as its own.  I say this for no other reason but to call you to examine yourself per 2 Corinthians 13:5 through the Word of God. I encourage you to begin in the book of 1 John. You have managed to build a following of people who reject, deny, and hate the God of the Bible, and they commend you for your attacks against born again believers.  Satan has further deceived you into thinking you are journeying a worthy cause.  Not only is this confirmed in your hatred for the Body of Christ as evidenced in your writings, but it is further established by the following from 1 John 4:5-6:

They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

The world listens to you and loves you, FC.  That is a major red flag, one that you must heed.  Whether or not you will heed the warning I do not know - that will depend upon whether or not you are of God for God's children love the truth, love the brethren, and love the holy and righteous God of love and wrath.  Plead for mercy from God, FC.  Until you know you've been born again and have received eternal life, plead with Him day and night that He would make His truth known to you, that He would sanctify you by His Word.  Plead with Christ to give you eyes to see and ears to hear that you would love all of the attributes of God, to receive Him as your Lord and Savior, that you would receive God Himself to spend eternity with Him in glory.  

Back to the original question posed by "depizan", a conclusive question might be asked:  

is Former Conservative one of God's sheep?

At this point, FC may be one of God's sheep, but his fruit indicates he has yet to hear the voice of the Good Shepherd. I pray God does indeed call FC by name that he would repent and follow the Lord Jesus Christ of the Bible.

In closing, I post the following message to any of the sheep who frequent Former Conservative's website or any other person who is not yet born again.  Perhaps there is only one of you reading, but know this:  the Good Shepherd knows you by name and He is calling you to come into the fold.  Listen to His voice and follow Him.  He declares for you to repent and trust in Him alone for your salvation, and when you do, He promises you abundant life (John 10:10).  The world loves its own, and they hate the Lord Jesus Christ and His sheep, but the Good Shepherd is calling you out from among them.  He did not die for the world, but He did die for you.  God stepped down from His throne in heaven that you would be reconciled to Himself through the blood of Jesus Christ, that you would receive the riches of His mercy and grace and reign with Him forever! 

Listen to the voice of your Shepherd as He calls you forth from among the spiritually dead.  Forsake everything that has kept you from the Lord.  Leave the crowd behind, lay down your pride, and never look back.  If you desire to know who Jesus really is, if you feel the draw of the Holy Spirit, if you want to know exactly what Christ did and why He did it for His sheep, then please read about The Suffering Servant.  If you have any questions about anything, I offer you the same as I offered Jon in the comment section of this post. 

One of God's lost sheep is out there somewhere, perhaps amongst the readers of Confessions of a Former Conservative.  If that is you, come to Christ.  Come to the Lamb and be healed.  Come to the King and receive the reward of your inheritance.  Come to Lord of the Harvest, and live!

The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price. - Revelation 22:17

Oh little sheep, fix your eyes on the cross: 

Todd Friel on Challies/Piper/Warren

By Justin Edwards

Todd Friel discusses Tim Challies' review of the John Piper interview with Rick Warren: 

Open Letter Rebuke and Call to Repentance for Harold Camping

By Justin Edwards

Dr. James White of Alpha and Omega Ministries has just posted an open letter calling for the repentance of false teacher Harold Camping of Family Radio, who as expected failed in his prediction of judgment day on May 21, 2011.  If you were deceived by Camping's cult through Family Radio, wecanknow.com, or through any other means, please know today is also the day for you to repent.  I encourage you to begin with the following link:  Eternal Life

Do not take for granted that you already know how to go to heaven, for if you were deceived by Harold Camping, there's a good chance you are deceived into believing a false gospel and remain under the wrath of God.  Please do post a comment or contact me privately if you need someone to speak with regarding your salvation.

Dr. White begins his rebuke with the following:

Dear Mr. Camping:

In July of 2009 you and I engaged in a debate on the Iron Sharpens Iron radio program concerning your teaching that the church age had ended and that Christ would return on May 21, 2011. I trust you recall our exchange. I am also aware that you have at least seen my book, Dangerous Airwaves: Harold Camping Refuted and Christ's Church Defended. I have been seeking to warn people about your teachings, sir, for about a decade. I know others have been warning the church about you longer than I.

Mr. Camping I am writing to seek your repentance and the most God-glorifying outcome of the debacle of your failed May 21, 2011 prophecy/teaching. I am not writing to engage in debate with you. The time for debate ended on May 22, 2011. It is now time for you to repent and seek to undo the massive damage you have done, first and foremost, to the cause of Christ.

Let me first list the items you need to repent of, openly and publicly (for you are a public person, and your teachings were disseminated all around the world). 

Continue reading this call for repentance here:  An Open Letter to Harold Camping of Family Radio

UPDATE:  Per his Family Radio show last night, Harold Camping remains unrepentant.  Click here for details: Harold Camping: Unrepentant False Prophet Refuses to Stop Dragging Christ's Name Through the Mud

Camping Cultists Yield Scoffers Against True Christianity

By Justin Edwards

Thanks to Trisha Ramos from Fish with Trish for posting this yesterday.  It pretty much sums up the consequences of Harold Camping's false prophecy as a cult leader, which will ultimately tarnish the truth of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.  We certainly have our work cut out for us - let us begin and stay on our knees.

Scoffing and Harold Camping's May 21st Cult

By Justin Edwards

The hype of Harold Camping's false prophecy will continue to get louder as we approach this Saturday, May 21, 2011.  In the audio and brief article below, Christian apologist Dr. James White of Alpha and Omega Ministries addresses some of the issues regarding the fallout from Camping's failed prophecy.  What can Christians do in response to the certain scoffing (2 Peter 3:3-4) that will follow on May 22 and beyond?  What should our response be to those who have been so deceived by Camping and the wecanknow.com cult?  How do we protect our churches from their heresies and influence within the Body of Christ?

These questions and more are answered by Dr. James White:

Harold Camping and May 21st - Sermon Audio

In addition, you can listen to Dr. White's debate with Harold Camping from 2009:

Harold Camping Debates Dr. James White - Part 1

Harold Camping Debates Dr. James White - Part 2

James White Reviews His Debate with Harold Camping

Harold Camping Reviews His Debate with Dr. James White


Some Thoughts on the End of the World

05/14/2011 - James White

Can you imagine what it will be like for Campingites around the world a week from today? Listening to the news, waiting to hear about earthquakes at 6pm all around the world? Maybe saying goodbye to loved ones? Giving away personal items, all the time, wondering….

I listened to two NPR reports on Camping's prophecy today, and it was truly disheartening to listen to these folks. One lady had been about to enroll in medical college, but did not, so that she could warn people about "Judgment Day." Another man had left wife and children behind, as they did not "believe." A couple, the woman expecting their second child in June, were interviewed. They had given up everything, and had just enough money to make it till May 21. After that…well, they will be destitute. The New York Post just reported on a man who squandered his $140,000 life's savings to buy advertisements in the New York area promoting the May 21 prophecy. Can you imagine the chuckles of all those going to work on Monday the 23rd as they pass those advertisements? Thanks, Mr. Camping.

Well, are you ready? Even those living in a pretty sheltered world are starting to hear about May 21 now. The date is met with chuckles and smiles by most. Another end times prophet, more reason to question those nutty Christians. Atheists are planning Rapture Parties. Documentaries will be made about what happens on May 22nd. Disappointed followers will be looked at closely. Concerns, quite valid concerns, exist about some choosing to depart this world forcibly should they live to see May 22nd. Some of Camping's callers have been calling to ask about euthanizing their pets before May 21, and an atheist group has set up a pet rescue program where, for only $135, they will come get your dog or cat after you are raptured (the offer is good for ten years!).

I have thought a good deal about the whole thing lately, being one of those who have sought to expose Camping over the past decade. One thing is for sure, no one will be able to accuse me of having ignored the issue. It has never been a prime focus, it has never been a top priority, but there are few major ministries who have been "on target" with Camping's false teachings any longer than we have. My debate with him left no questions in the minds of any who were willing to listen, but, of course, that's the problem. Campingites are an odd bunch.

Now, I firmly believe Jesus is coming again. He could come today, He could even come on the 21st---no one on earth, even a false prophet, can keep Jesus from coming back for His bride. But He is not coming back only for Campingites (and they have surely added belief in May 21 as part of what one must believe to be saved). Every time some maverick like Camping decides to go off the reservation and promote a prophecy like this, scorn is brought on all of us who believe Jesus is coming again. The mockery factor will be quite high come Monday the 23rd.

I do not know what Camping is going to do on Monday the 23rd. He has closed every door on his options. He has said the Bible guarantees it. There is no plan B. This is it, plain and simple, no question marks after May 21, 2011? or the like to fall back on. I have thought he might spiritualize it, like Miller did back in 1844 or so, but he has really not left that option open either. He could always claim a blown calculation (we provided him with examples of errors in his numbers last year, in fact), but that would leave him without much credibility as a number-cruncher, and his system is nothing if it isn't based on number-crunching. Will he even show up on Open Forum on Monday? I mean, at 89 years of age, you'd think retirement would all of a sudden become a very viable option.

I can't imagine what a Monday, May 23rd, 2011 Open Forum broadcast would be like, however. Can you imagine the calls? Not only the mockery from unbelievers, but the anger from his own followers? It would probably be the highest rated program ever, to be sure. Their servers would melt down on the Internet side. But that would be temporary, and one can surely predict the collapse of Family Radio as a result of Camping's second major prophetic failure. One would hope, at least, that finally he would be removed and taken off the air so as to deceive no more. But, you would have thought that would have happened back in 1994. It didn't. There is always an audience for false prophets.

And of course there is the issue of what Campingites will do in the future. Let's be brutally honest: Campingites are, in the main, very odd people. As a whole they reject authority. They tend to be loners who do not like being around others. That's why they bought his attack on the church so easily. Many will not want to repent of their following a false prophet, embracing false doctrine, and attacking Christ's church. And I should emphasize this, that is exactly what must be demanded of any and every follower of Harold Camping after the May 21 date passes---repentance. If they show up at your church, be warned! They have engaged in sinful slander of Christ's church and the gospel, and they should be exhorted to repent and confess their errors before being given, over a period of time, access to the fellowship of believers once again. They should be watched carefully by elders to see if they have truly repented or whether they are just putting on a show so that they can once again bring their odd views and beliefs into the church.

At the same time, some of these folks will be absolutely positively devastated when their clock shows them it is May 22nd and the sun will rise in a matter of hours. They will have nothing left, and, given that Camping lied to them and said "the Bible guarantees it," many, many will abandon all belief in the Bible as Scripture. Atheist groups will be touting former Campingites who "saw the light" in the coming months. Remember that in the years after the failed 1975 prophecy of Jehovah's Witnesses, about a million people left the Watchtower. But, they did not join any other religious organization. They became the religiously abused, the burned out, the "don't talk to me about that stuff" crowd. And while I doubt Camping has that many followers, there will still be a large number who will throw it all away, saying the Bible is not worthy to be believed, all because Camping twisted it and distorted it and lied to his followers. He will have much to answer for on the real judgment day, which, at age 89, is very close at hand for him.

So once again, many thanks, Harold Camping. You will once again make the Bible, the Gospel, and the cross, a mockery, all because of your insatiable pride and arrogance. This time, the Lord allowed you to fall into more rank heresy in the process, but still, you say enough "right things" to bring mockery and disrepute upon all who hold the Bible to be the Word of God. Your followers will stand to condemn you on judgment day, to be sure, but more importantly, God well knows how many of us have tried to reason with you, tried to show you the error of your ways. You refused, and now the time is coming for judgment indeed. May 21st is judgment day after all: for Harold Camping, for Family Radio, and for all who have followed Camping into heresy and error.

(HT to John Samson for the video below)

Countdown to Deception - Harold Camping and the May 21st Cult

By Justin Edwards

Millions of professing Christians are set to be woefully deceived 7 days from today on May 21, 2011.  This is the date that false prophet Harold Camping of Family Radio has predicted the end of the world.  In my article on January 4th titled May 21, 2011 and the Harold Camping Cult "Prophecy", I explained some of the heretical teachings of Camping, which have established him as a damned false teacher and cult leader.  Here's a short video from Hank Hanegraff on this false prophecy:

When May 22 comes, what will his followers from the wecanknow.com cult say?  Might this contribute to further apostasy leading up to 2 Thessalonians 2:3:

Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first...

There are many other things taking place around the world that are setting the stage for Christ's return, and I think this day of deception on May 21, 2011 just might be one of them.  We shall see - even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!

If you are reading this post as one of Camping's followers, please take a moment to read the simple message of salvation at the following link - God's plan is not nearly as complicated as the false prophet Harold Camping has taught:  Eternal Life

Please do post your comments, questions, or concerns below.

1914 False Prophecy from The Watchtower

By Justin Edwards

Dr. James White of Alpha and Omega Ministries has posted an excellent illustration, based on a 1984 Watchtower publication, that clearly shows the Watchtower Society to be a false prophet organization.  Make sure you read Dr. White's explanation, then consider printing this image to keep in your Bible for the Jehovah's Witness that knocks on your door.  A brother and I are meeting with a JW in a few weeks, Lord willing, and I will be sure to have this handy.  Make sure you click the image for full size.

As another false prophecy is about to NOT be fulfilled, please see the following article: May 21, 2011 and the Harold Camping Cult "Prophecy"

For additional resources on Jehovah’s Witnesses, see:  Cults and World Religions

A Fascinating Reminder of the 1914 False Prophecy

I used to spend a lot of time on the subject of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. It was the second major group I tackled and studied. I still have a huge number of their old, old books, shelves of them, actually. I also have a whole set of what are called "bound volumes," yearly compilations of all of the Watchtower and Awake! magazines. Of course, much of this is now available digitally on the Watchtower Library CD Rom (which isn't easy to get hold of, but not impossible). Anyway, I just checked the dark corner of one of my shelves and pulled out the bound volume for the Watchtowers of 1984. On the cover of the May 15, 1984 publication (repeated on page 4) is a picture of a group of elderly people, all looking upward. The title give is "1914: The Generation That Will Not Pass Away." You will look in vain for such confident promises in today's Watchtower publications, as they have effectively buried the 1914 prophecy, but it was front and center for many decades. In fact, on page 5 of this same publication we read, "If Jesus used 'generation' in that sense and we apply it to 1914, then the babies of that generation are now 70 years old or older. And others alive in 1914 are in their 80's or 90's, a few even having reached a hundred. There are still many millions of that generation alive. Some of them 'will by no means pass away until all things occur.'---Luke 21:32."

Well, I was sent this graphic a few days ago. It contains that same cover picture (I double checked it in my own printed edition), but identifies each and every person in the picture by name, and gives the date when they all passed away. A tremendous testimony to the status of the Watchtower Society as a false prophet---just like Harold Camping already is (1994), and will be proven yet again in about three weeks. False prophets come, false prophets go, but Christ continues to build His church, not by the popularity of His teachings, but by the changing of the heart.

(HT:  John Samson)

"God Has Forgiven You" Church Sign

By Justin Edwards

"God Has Forgiven You" were the words of a church sign I passed by in March on the way to our weekly evangelism outreach at UNC-Charlotte.  As I drove passed the sign, I could hardly believe what I read, so I made a U-turn to make sure I read it correctly.  As you can see in the picture, my eyes did not deceive me.

I had never heard of Metropolitan Community Church of Charlotte or its parent organization, The Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches. With a church sign that read, "God has forgiven you", and seeing the term "universal", my initial thoughts were that it was some kind of Christian Universalist organization. I did not, however, expect to learn what I did through research, but more on that later.

Obviously, what struck me the most was that a church had the audacity to suggest that God has forgiven every person who would read this church sign, which would logically extend to all of humanity.  How do they know this is true?  Certainly, they do not, as Scripture is clear that God has only forgiven those who are by grace covered by the blood of Jesus Christ through faith (Ephesians 2:1-10).  While the leaders of this church are no doubt sincere in their desire to comfort people, they are deceived and they are deceiving (2 Timothy 3:13), and sadly for them, they are mere slaves to their father the devil (John 8:44).

It is true that God has a common love for mankind (John 3:16), just as He shows common mercy (Psalm 145:9) and common grace to the world (Titus 2:11).  In fact, it is common love, mercy, and grace that people live by every day, lest they be judged immediately and receive the just penalty for their sin (Romans 2:5).  Moreover, this common grace and mercy restrains men and women from being as evil as they could possibly be. Otherwise, we would all be much worse than Hitler.  It is also by this common grace that people are able to act in righteous ways, thus performing good deeds and being kind and charitable to their neighbor (Romans 2:14).  We as humans are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26), so we are like Him mentally, socially, and morally, although sin has corrupted our created likeness of Him (Romans 5:12).

But this common love, grace, and mercy does not equal forgiveness for all people. It is only a specific love (1 John 4:9-10; Romans 5:8; John 10:11; 1 John 3:16), a specific grace (John 6:37, 39, 44, 65; 17:2), and a specific mercy (John 1:12-13; Romans 9:15-18; Ephesians 2:4-5) that leads individuals to repent from their sin and turn to God through faith in Jesus Christ (John 3:36).  So while God's love is unconditional toward mankind, forgiveness from God is conditional upon faith and repentance (Acts 3:19; 17:30; 20:21; Mark 1:15).

Upon my research into Metropolitan Community Church, I immediately discovered this church is more than seemingly a Christian Universalist organization, but it is primarily a church for homosexuals and their allies. From the Charlotte church's page What Is MCC?, they state:

Refusing to accept that God did not love lesbian and gay people, Reverend Troy
Perry founded Metropolitan Community Church on October 6, 1968 when 12
brave lesbian and gay Christians met for worship in Rev. Perry's living room in Los Angeles, California. Today, there are thousands of worshippers in hundreds of Metropolitan Community Churches found all over the world.

MCC Charlotte, founded in 1980, continues to share the Good News of God's
transformational love and acceptance with everyone, including those of every
ability, race, creed, gender, age, national origin, lifestyle, sexual orientation or
tradition.

As one might expect, the rest of the Charlotte church's website is absent of anything resembling the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.  There is no mention of the holiness of God, nor mention of His righteousness, His justice, or His wrath.  In respect to these aforementioned attributes of God, there is no mention of His grace, mercy, love, or kindness toward sinners.  And as there is no mention of sin anywhere on the website, there is no mention of the wages of sin - eternal hell.  Instead of proclaiming Christ and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2) and the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16), Metropolitan Community Church of Charlotte preaches a social justice jesus who embraces all people into the family of God, especially unrepentant homosexuals.  This false gospel preached by MCC is, unfortunately, only "loving" people to eternal hell, and these false teachers will experience severe judgment should they not repent from their destructive heresies (Galatians 1:6-9; 2 Peter 2; Jude 1).

The truth is, God has commanded all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30) from their lifestyle of sin.  Just as He has commanded the repentance of drunkards, fornicators and adulterers, so to He commands the repentance of homosexuals:

Or do you not know that the unrighteous  will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality [or women], 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. - 1 Corinthians 6:9-10

If you are reading this article as a practicing homosexual and perhaps one who is a member of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, this message has not been written to espouse hate or bigotry or intolerance.  I want you to know the Truth that is found in Christ Jesus, the biblical Jesus who is not preached in churches such as this Metropolitan organization.  Because God is holy, He hates sin, and He demands perfection from any who would enter the kingdom of heaven.  This righteousness that He demands of all men cannot be found within us, but only through the perfect righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. By grace through faith, God can pronounce the sinner not guilty and forgive their sins through the righteousness of Christ.

If you believe that God forgives people by just overlooking their sin, then you are deceiving yourself.  I do not have to tell you that homosexuality is a destructive lifestyle. It is as destructive as any sinful lifestyle, and this sin has you enslaved to the god of this world (John 8:34; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 2:1-3).  But in Jesus Christ, the biblical Jesus, there is Life!  In Him there is true freedom (John 8:36; 2 Corinthians 3:17), and if you cry out to God to deliver you from this lifestyle, confessing your sin before Him out of a contrite heart (2 Corinthians 7:10; Psalm 51:17), seeking to be covered by His precious blood, He will save you from your sin, from spiritual death, and the torment of His just and holy wrath (Romans 10:9-10, 13; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; Colossians 2:13).

It is no coincidence that you discovered this article.  If God is drawing you into His grace and out from the clutches of sin, then don't wait another minute. Today is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2).

The following video excerpt shows that salvation is just as possible for homosexuals as any other sinner who recognizes himself as such (Mark 2:17).  David has been set free from his sin and has become a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17), and God can do the same for you if you just cry out to Him. You can see the video in its entirety here:  Jesus Christ Saved Me from 27 Years of Homosexuality.

So has God forgiven you?  I pray that He has or will, but it will only be by the grace of God alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone.  It will only be because you have been born again (John 3:3-5).  You can learn more about this here:  Eternal Life

For additional resources for homosexuality rooted in the love and grace of Christ, please see:

Rodgers Christian Counseling

Exodus Global Alliance

Stephen Bennett Ministries

Preach Hell with Agonizing Vigor

By Justin Edwards

This article was originally posted at The Speak:Truth Project

A man who realizes in any measure the awful force of the words eternal hell won't shut up about it, but will speak with all tenderness. - A.A. Hodge

These last few weeks have generated much buzz about the doctrine of hell since Rob Bell released his promo video of his latest book, Love Wins (reviewed here by Kevin DeYoung), which hit store shelves this week.  In his creative and seductive literary abilities, Bell has roused the defenses of fundamental evangelicals and has unleashed another wave of deception to the masses of the non-discerning visible church of this age. Touting that he has written nothing new as many before him have questioned the idea of an eternal hell for sinners, Bell has firmly established himself as a Christian Universalists, or Universal Reconciliationist. What this means is that Rob Bell believes that while Jesus died for the sins of the world, His sacrifice reconciled all of humanity to God. In the end, all humanity will enter into heaven because God is merciful, and because in the end, “love wins.”

In this one-hour interview with HarperColllins Publishers, Rob Bell closes with:

Millions, and millions, and millions of people – the fundamental way they were taught about Jesus was:  “God loves you, God has a wonderful plan for your life, um, God loves you so much that God sent Jesus because God wants to have a relationship with you. And, all you have to do is accept, trust, and believe. If tonight, you reject what I’m saying to you right now, and you were hit by a car on the way home,” which is always an awkward way to start a conversation, “God would then, have no choice, but to punish you, eternally, with torment and fire and hell.” So God would in that split second would become a totally different being. Um, if there was an earthly father who is like that, this one moment, this the next, we would call the authorities. Correct? And, my experience as a pastor, answering real questions from real people, is that lots of people have really, really, toxic dangerous, psychologically devastating images of God in their head. Images of a God that is not, good. And so my experience has been that lots of people go to church and sing the songs, and tell the story, they hand out pamphlets, they really want, but to be honest, deep down, they have profound ambivalence, about God…but at its core, they have a view of a God, who’s…terrible…and can’t even imagine being loving or wanting anything to do with…

My dear friends, this can be broken down into just a few words such as those spoken by a certain serpent in the Garden of Eden – “Did God really say?”.  Rob Bell has twisted the Scriptures, and as Martin Bashir so accurately pointed out in this MSNBC interview with Bell, has created

a Christian message that’s warm, kind, and popular for contemporary culture… What you’ve done is you’re amending the gospel, the Christian message, so that it’s palatable to contemporary people who find, for example, the idea of hell and heaven very difficult to stomach. So here comes Rob Bell, he’s made a Christian gospel for you, and it’s perfectly palatable, it’s much easier to swallow. That’s what you’ve done, haven’t you?

Do not be deceived, my brethren.  Rob Bell is tickling the ears of those who have raised him up as their teacher. They desired a person to quench their theological palates and are reaping what their sinful hearts desire.  The doctrine of hell is under attack and is being trivialized or redefined as something only a monster god could create to send people to hell for eternal punishment. The reality is, however, that hell does exist, and though it was created for the devil and his angels, it will be the final abode for those who have broken God’s Law and disobeyed the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 25:41, Revelation 14:9-11, Revelation 20:10-15, Revelation 19:14-16, 2 Thessalonians 2:8-10, Matthew 5:29-30, Matthew 10:28, Mark 9:48).

We must, now more than ever, proclaim the reality of hell with agonizing vigor. This is to say, our evangelism must not shy away from the certainty that men and women will perish in hell, being tormented day and night forever, gnashing their teeth, having no drink, where their worm does not die, eternally burning in fire and brimstone, and suffering in the hands of an angry God should they continue in their rebellion and die in their sins.  Can the lost see desperation in our eyes? Can they see our hearts are anguished over the path of destruction they are on? Can they see the pain in our plea to persuade them to the glory of God’s grace?

In response to Rob Bell’s book, Albert Mohler states,

We dare not retreat from all that the Bible says about hell. We must never confuse the Gospel, nor offer suggestions that there may be any way of salvation outside of conscious faith in Jesus Christ. We must never believe that we can do a public relations job on the Gospel or on the character of God. We must never be unclear and subversively suggestive about what the Bible teaches.

We must not retreat! We must emphasize hell and the wrath of God so the lost can understand the wages of their sin.  We must plead with them with compassion and humility, even with tears in our eyes, that hell is no place they want to go. For the darker the hellish reality before them seems, and the darker they see their sins against a holy God, the brighter the light of the Gospel will be and the brighter the offer of grace and mercy to be justified unto life everlasting.

So do not succumb to the ploys of deceptive wolves like Rob Bell. Quite frankly, there is nothing more you need to know about Rob Bell than turning to 2 Peter 2, Galatians 1:9, 2 Timothy 4:4-5, 2 Corinthians 11:13-15, Jude 1:5-11, 1 John 2:18-19, and 2 Peter 3:16.  Instead, take this opportunity that Bell has given us to reflect on how you present hell to your hearers.

Be vigilant in how you preach the doctrine of hell.  Use every word your imagination allows you to paint a biblical picture of everlasting punishment, and in doing so, your hearers might understand how desperately they need a Savior to escape its flames and the wrath to come.

My friend, John Samson, posted an excellent article yesterday titled, A Few Hellish Thoughts. I recommend you read it in its entirety, but I want to share his portion from John Piper here. As you read Piper’s words from a message titled, “How Willingly Do People Go to Hell? Does Anyone Standing by the Lake of Fire Jump In?”, really let it sink in that hell is no place the lost want to go if they knew of its reality. As he says, “no one standing on the shore of the lake of fire jumps in.”  How could they? After seeing its horrible torments intended for them?

For an exhaustive list of resources on hell and Universalism, please see Monergism.

John Piper:

C.S. Lewis is one of the top 5 dead people who have shaped the way I see and respond to the world. But he is not a reliable guide on a number of important theological matters. Hell is one of them. His stress is relentlessly that people are not “sent” to hell but become their own hell. His emphasis is that we should think of “a bad man’s perdition not as a sentence imposed on him but as the mere fact of being what he is.” (For all the relevant quotes, see Martindale and Root, The Quotable Lewis, 288-295.)

This inclines him to say, “All that are in hell choose it.” And this leads some who follow Lewis in this emphasis to say things like, “All God does in the end with people is give them what they most want.”

I come from the words of Jesus to this way of talking and find myself in a different world of discourse and sentiment. I think it is misleading to say that hell is giving people what they most want. I’m not saying you can’t find a meaning for that statement that’s true, perhaps in Romans 1:24-28. I’m saying that it’s not a meaning that most people would give to it in light of what hell really is. I’m saying that the way Lewis deals with hell and the way Jesus deals with it are very different. And we would do well to follow Jesus.

The misery of hell will be so great that no one will want to be there. They will be weeping and gnashing their teeth (Matthew 8:12). Between their sobs, they will not speak the words, “I want this.” They will not be able to say amid the flames of the lake of fire (Revelation 20:14), “I want this.” “The smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night” (Revelation 14:11). No one wants this.

When there are only two choices, and you choose against one, it does not mean that you want the other, if you are ignorant of the outcome of both. Unbelieving people know neither God nor hell. This ignorance is not innocent. Apart from regenerating grace, all people “suppress the truth in unrighteousness” (Rom 1:18).

The person who rejects God does not know the real horrors of hell. This may be because he does not believe hell exists, or it may be because he convinces himself that it would be tolerably preferable to heaven.

But whatever he believes or does not believe, when he chooses against God, he is wrong about God and about hell. He is not, at that point, preferring the real hell over the real God. He is blind to both. He does not perceive the true glories of God, and he does not perceive the true horrors of hell.

So when a person chooses against God and, therefore, de facto chooses hell—or when he jokes about preferring hell with his friends over heaven with boring religious people—he does not know what he is doing. What he rejects is not the real heaven (nobody will be boring in heaven), and what he “wants” is not the real hell, but the tolerable hell of his imagination.

When he dies, he will be shocked beyond words. The miseries are so great he would do anything in his power to escape. That it is not in his power to repent does not mean he wants to be there. Esau wept bitterly that he could not repent (Hebrew 12:17). The hell he was entering into he found to be totally miserable, and he wanted out. The meaning of hell is the scream: “I hate this, and I want out.”

What sinners want is not hell but sin. That hell is the inevitable consequence of unforgiven sin does not make the consequence desirable. It is not what people want—certainly not what they “most want.” Wanting sin is no more equal to wanting hell than wanting chocolate is equal to wanting obesity. Or wanting cigarettes is equal to wanting cancer.

Beneath this misleading emphasis on hell being what people “most want” is the notion that God does not “send” people to hell. But this is simply unbiblical. God certainly does send people to hell. He does pass sentence, and he executes it. Indeed, worse than that. God does not just “send,” he “throws.” “If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown (Greek eblethe) into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:15; cf. Mark 9:47; Matthew 13:42; 25:30).

The reason the Bible speaks of people being “thrown” into hell is that no one will willingly go there, once they see what it really is. No one standing on the shore of the lake of fire jumps in. They do not choose it, and they will not want it. They have chosen sin. They have wanted sin. They do not want the punishment. When they come to the shore of this fiery lake, they must be thrown in.

When someone says that no one is in hell who doesn’t want to be there, they give the false impression that hell is within the limits of what humans can tolerate. It inevitably gives the impression that hell is less horrible than Jesus says it is.

We should ask: How did Jesus expect his audience to think and feel about the way he spoke of hell? The words he chose were not chosen to soften the horror by being accommodating to cultural sensibilities. He spoke of a “fiery furnace” (Matthew 13:42), and “weeping and gnashing teeth” (Luke 13:28), and “outer darkness” (Matthew 25:30), and “their worm [that] does not die” (Mark 9:48), and “eternal punishment” (Matthew 25:46), and “unquenchable fire” (Mark 9:43), and being “cut in pieces” (Matthew 24:51).

These words are chosen to portray hell as an eternal, conscious experience that no one would or could ever “want” if they knew what they were choosing. Therefore, if someone is going to emphasize that people freely “choose” hell, or that no one is there who doesn’t “want” to be there, surely he should make every effort to clarify that, when they get there, they will not want this.

Surely the pattern of Jesus—who used blazing words to blast the hell-bent blindness out of everyone— should be followed. Surely, we will grope for words that show no one, no one, no one will want to be in hell when they experience what it really is. Surely everyone who desires to save people from hell will not mainly stress that it is “wantable” or “chooseable,” but that it is horrible beyond description—weeping, gnashing teeth, darkness, worm-eaten, fiery, furnace-like, dismembering, eternal, punishment, “an abhorrence to all flesh” (Isaiah 66:24).

I thank God, as a hell-deserving sinner, for Jesus Christ my Savior, who became a curse for me and suffered hellish pain that he might deliver me from the wrath to come. While there is time, he will do that for anyone who turns from sin and treasures him and his work above all.

Trembling before such realities, and trusting Jesus,

Pastor John Piper

Rick Warren Daniel Plan News - Dr. Oz Hypnotizes America

By Justin Edwards

As was announced on Friday, February 4th, Dr. Oz hosted British hypnotist Paul McKenna on his Dr.  Oz Show Monday. From Friday's announcement:

Hypnosis for weight loss with Paul McKenna - Hypnosis has profound powers that can help you. On Monday, Feb. 7, Dr. Oz is unlocking its powers to show viewers how to use hypnosis to combat overeating. With hypnotist Paul McKenna, Dr. Oz will explain how hypnosis works, whether anyone can be hypnotized and why it can help in losing weight.

Yes, this is the same Dr. Oz who hosted pantheist New Ager Deepak Chopra on his show a few weeks ago, and it's the same Dr. Oz who has been embraced, along with New Age Drs. Amen and Hyman, by Rick Warren of Saddleback Church to promote and implement Warren's so-called "Daniel Plan".  What's more, and quite sadly and disturbing enough, this is the same Rick Warren who has been endorsed, promoted, praised, and welcomed as a biblical pastor who "at root...is theological and doctrinal and sound" by none other than Dr. John Piper (article here).

The question must be asked of Saddleback Church - is there any among you who has an ounce, no, a gram of discernment, to see that this Trojan Horse of New Age and mystical deception has entered your courts? Can you not see that your pastor, so-called "America's pastor", has opened this door of contemplative spirituality and Eastern meditative mysticism (CSM) into your church? Please, do yourself a favor - do your family a favor - and research what is happening here. Check out the three links above to see why your pastor is leading you down the path of ecumenical destruction. Unless he separates himself from the works of Belial, we have no choice but to believe he is of Belial. Years of Warren's pragmatic, moralistic, man-centered messages; flirtations with CSM; interfaith fellowship; and ecumenical compromise have led him and your church to this moment.

It is time for you to wake up and smell the incense.

Under no circumstances should Christians ever be hypnotized, yet, Rick Warren has partnered with "America's Doctor" who promotes and endorses this mind-altering pagan practice. Gotquestions provides an excellent list for why hypnotism is problematic for Christians. I've summed the article as follows:

1) Through hypnosis, we transfer the ability to control ourselves to someone else, which is contrary to the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:21 that gives us self-control by His power.

2) We are to yield ourselves to God and He alone. It is His power alone, once we yield ourselves to His will, that helps us overcome sin (Romans 6:12-13). Hypnosis causes us to yield ourselves to someone else (or something else).

3) Hypnosis leads people into an altered state of consciousness, thus making the mind susceptible to outside influence, which may not be restricted to the hypnotist. Scripture tells us to be self-controlled and alert because Satan prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). We are not able to be watchful if our minds have been swept away by hypnosis.

4) Hypnosis, just like CSM and Eastern religious meditative practices (Hinduism and Buddhism), causes one to look at self, or their inner self, to find the solution. Taken to the extreme, which is where CSM always leads, it causes us to find the inner light within us, or the god within us, or that perfect state that is immune to sin within us. Essentially, this leads to the idea that God is within us all, regardless of whether one is a Christian (pantheism). Scripture, on the other hand, teaches us to look to Christ alone (Hebrews 12:2), for the answers do not lie within us (Romans 7:18) and our only solution is found in Christ (Romans 8:2).

5) As mentioned, hypnosis is shared by mystical and religious systems, including the occult, New Age transcendental meditation, Hindu (yoga) and Buddhist meditation, and contemplative spirituality. All of these are linked to spiritual darkness and the Christian must flee from such idol worship of self.

Even so, Rick Warren has yoked himself with this New Age practitioner, Dr. Oz.

I hesitate to post the following video from the Dr. Oz Show, which is available on his website. I trust that you will only view this video with extreme caution, capable of distracting your mind from the intended hypnosis. This is posted for informational purposes only. Do not watch this without praying first, and if you do not believe you are capable of resisting the hypnosis, then please skip to the transcript below.

Paul Mckenna Hypnosis: Supercharge Your Metabolism

(Click to view - embed code not working)

Partial Transcipt beginning at about the 2:55 mark:

...as you relax my voice will go with you , and you might hear it in many different ways, and you don't even have to think about it, just let the focus sink deeper and deeper towards your own inner stillness, and you can notice words, and you can notice noticing words, and you can notice noticing your body can relax, and your mind can relax, and your mind has become very sensitive to my suggestions that help you most, your breathing carries on all by itself, your mind carries on all by itself, and you can watch it wonder away, your experience, your understanding, your awareness can just detach and slow down. Relax the muscles around your eyes again, relax your jaw, ease off the muscles in your neck, and let your shoulders drop, and with each out breath, let them drop a little more until all the tension is released, as you free your mind to concentrate on success, you build up the energy to take action. Every day you'll do something to move yourself toward your ideal weight, every day you'll take action, your unconscious mind will remind you you have the energy you need ready and waiting, you just stop to work and the energy will become available, you'll become more and more responsive to your situations and the people you work with, every day you'll understand more and more and respond more to the situations and the people around you, you'll become more flexible and adaptable so you can continue to work towards your ideal weight whatever happens around you. Everyday , your tenacity will increase, you can keep going, persevering, achieving, working, and pressing on so that every day you achieve something. And very soon, it will be time to awaken, and before you awaken, I'd like you to reinforce every positive thought you've ever had about yourself. And as you become awake, you can feel the wish to be active, you can find your self enjoying that. We all know we can day dream, we can all sleep, and we can all wake up, although we don't consciously know how we can wake up, yet we do, and you can awake now...

I am not an expert on the New Age or hypnotism, but I do know this is nothing short of self-worshiping idolatry. It is focused on man and his inner self, instead of Jesus Christ and what He has done and will do in the life of the born again believer. Instead of looking to the Lord Jesus Christ and His transforming power, hypnosis looks to what man can do for himself (just like all forms of meditation). This, of course, lines up perfectly with Rick Warren's Pelagian, moralistic tendencies for behavior modification. Warren believes that one can just change the way they think in order to change their behavior and their life. Scripture, on the other hand, tells us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2), which is achieved by the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit through the objective reading of the Word of God and through prayer. What's more, McKenna seeks to open your mind to his influence, which he clearly states will help you the most. Sounds a lot like a certain garden serpent, yes?

To those who follow, support, endorse, and/or are taught under the ministry of Rick Warren, how much more evidence do you need? How much longer will you travel down this road of destruction, and how much longer will you expose your family to this pagan idolatry? How much longer will you, purpose-driven pastor, continue to lead your flock into the darkness alongside Rick Warren? I call for you to repent and separate yourself from any and all associations with Rick Warren.

How much longer will you reject this warning?

Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? - 2 Corinthians 6:14-15

To be sure you know where to go next in your research, please see these links:

Dr. Oz and Deepak Chopra

Rick Warren's Daniel Plan, New Age, Mysticism, and More

Rick Warren Introduces "The Devil Plan"

Rick Warren knowingly exposes Saddleback congregants to New Age mysticism through The Daniel Plan

Personal Report on Saddleback Church Health and Fitness Seminar

A Look at Rick Warren's New Age Health Plan

What Is Contemplative Prayer and Mysticism?

What is "Christian Mysticism"?

What Is Soaking Prayer?

Daniel Plan News - Dr. Oz and Deepak Chopra Promote Meditation

By Justin Edwards

As thoroughly discussed in Rick Warren's Daniel Plan, New Age, Mysticism, Dr. Oz and More, Rick Warren is leading his Saddleback Church down the path of contemplative spirituality and mysticism. Recently, Dr. Oz invited Deepak Chopra on the Dr. Oz Show to suggest meditation as a means to lose weight. One can only wonder how long it will be when the Saddleback audience will be led to practice meditation just as Dr. Oz's audience was led in a short meditation as seen in the video.

Read about it here and watch (with caution) Deepak Chopra lead the audience in eastern-style meditation:  Rick Warren's Daniel Plan Embraces New Age Spirituality

Todd Bentley and Morningstar Apostasy

By Justin Edwards

Before I share the story about Todd Bentley, I wanted to take the opportunity to tell you about some exciting news - this week I began publishing for Examiner.com as the Charlotte Apologetics Examiner. Because this is a secular online publication, this will be a unique audience to reach with the Gospel as I post articles defending the faith and the Christian worldview, much like I do here, but with a local bent. You can subscribe to my articles on Examiner.com by email or RSS feed. I'm really looking forward to what God has in store for this new audience and I appreciate your support!

Now, to the matter at hand. Todd Bentley may be most well-known for the Florida Lakeland "Revival" of 2008, but he continues to operate as a wolf in sheep's clothing under false prophet Rick Joyner. Earlier this week, a video was uploaded by Michael Krysty showing the abominations Bentley and his ilk performed in front of their ear-tickled sheople at Morningstar. It is heartbreaking to think of how many people are being deceived by these "annointed" false teachers (yes, they're annointed alright, perhaps by Satan himself).

To see what the latest is from Todd Bentley and his Fresh Fire Ministries, please follow the link:

Todd Bentley and Morningstar Deception

Please also see: Charismania - When False Spirits Enter the Church