I hate it when this happens.  Fortunately, it only happens once in a great while.  But when it does, I have to make it known to you; especially when it involves doctrine and the visitors to this site. 

Last week I presented a quote from Derrick the Gladiator (dated Jul 28, 7:35 AM ) and, based on that quote concluded he promoted a soul sleep kind of doctrine.  Here’s the quote:

In other words, the Bible does not teach the doctrine of “disembodied spirits” from the time we die physically until the supposedly future resurrection day.  

What I failed to include in my conclusion was this quote:

Be we receive a heavenly, glorified spirit body like Christ’s when we die. This is immediate. There is no waiting in Sheol/Hades until a yet future physical resurrection of our decayed bodies in the ground where our spirits would be reunited with our reconstituted physical bodies.

And the kicker is - this one was right before the verse I quoted. 

Let this be a lesson to you.  Don’t be so anxious to prove someone wrong that you thoughtlessly pounce on something you THOUGHT they said. 

Preterism is still whacked.  But I have no right to increase it’s whackedness by having them say something they didn’t say.

Many thanks to an astute reader who sent me an e-mail to pin my ears back. 

Pulpit Pimps | 40 Comments »

 Have you ever noticed how the pimps usually want to have stuff both ways?  Paula White wasn’t satisfied to be the pastor of the Church Without Walls.  She also became a life coach and started working with Tyra Banks.   I have to admit though, I haven’t been keeping track of how many times she has appeared on Tyra’s show (if any) since her first appearance well over a year ago.  I guess being a “life coach” gives you access to a larger pool of money than if you limit yourself to taking money from the sheeple.  And apparently, her example has inspired other people to get on the Life Coach bandwagon.   Click on the thumbnail below and see who, besides Paula and Joel “Willow Boy” Osteen has joined the ranks of life coach. 

 

 

 

You may or may not have heard of Donald Hilliard.  He has been developing for at least the last fifteen years.  I first ran across him at First Baptist Church of Glenarden on the Kettering – before it was on the Kettering, led by John K. Jenkins.  He seems to be a step or two up from John K. but nowhere near the star power of T. Dexter, Cashflow, or Kenny Copeland.  If I remember correctly, he made it to bishophood five or six years ago. 

 

Now that he’s a bishop at the Church of More Money and Power in Perth Amboy (okay, I lied.  The church is actually called the Cathedral International —The Historic Second Baptist Church in Perth Amboy), New Jersey, perhaps he has decided to expand his repertoire and become a life coach as well.  Of course, since he’s a bishop in his real job, he can’t just be a life coach like Paula.  Donnie H.  is an EXECUTIVE life coach and a PROFESSIONAL mentor. 

 

Here’s what Donnie H. says about “mentoring“.

 

 “This is where visions become reality!” says Hilliard. “Even the most successful people in the world have mentors and coaches from Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Oprah Winfrey and Ken Chenault to Debra Lee, Melody Hobson, Dick Parsons and Kevin Liles. They are all incredibly accomplished people. Each of them have mentors who guided and helped navigate them to the next level in business and other areas of their lives. It’s not always easy to find someone who is willing to make the commitment to be a mentor. My heart leads me to share the gift of vision that GOD has given to me with anyone who desires to establish a secure course in their business and personal lives.”

Maybe I’m not getting it.  But it seems to me folks who claim to be Christian leaders (you know, the bishop thing) would be more Christ-centric.  But if you take a look at the original ad, you notice an interesting thing.  There is no mention of God.  There is, however, a big appeal to “ME”. 

 

First, a triple of questions:

 

1.  How many of you believe mentoring can be done in a week end?  Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems to me mentoring is a years long process.  It’s something you accomplish over a period of years as you are involved in another person’s life.  You could even say it’s a little like discipling.   Even T. Dexter knows this.  He has a long term mentoring relationship with John K. Jenkins.

2.  Do any of you really believe that by sending this pimp $175 and listening to him and several other folks speak for a week-end I’ll be mentored?  I doubt it.  The only things I’ll have accomplished at the end of the weekend will be the loss of $175 and the weekend.  Let’s ay one hundred people show up for the seminar.  Are all one hundred going to be mentored by him?  Or let’s say twenty show up this time and eighty over the previous three seminars.  Again, is he going to mentor all one hundred of these dudes and dudettes?

 

Third question:  What is vision casting?  I guess it sounds pretty good, but so does most of the techno-babble they spout on Star Trek:  The Next Generation.  If you’ve watched ST:TNG even a couple of times, you’ve heard Geordi or Data explain to the Captain Picard that the ship is a sitting duck because the Ion Flux Modulator is stuck in the manual position, or the High Energy Tachyon Conduit has developed a leak in the Magnetic Link Collimator. 

 

It’s the same thing with these people.  They put together a bunch of words until they come up with something that sounds impressive, even if it doesn’t mean anything at all.  In this case they settled on the words “Vision Casting.”  Yes, it’s the name of his company, but the combinations of words don’t mean anything as far as I can tell.  Maybe one of you Hilliard drones can help me out here. I used to locate people who had liens against them and collect on them for the owners of the liens and judgments.  My company was called Wolf Recoveries.  The name meant something.

 

Oh, and of course it’s not enough for this to be Vision Casting weekend.  The one they held in Atlanta (the greatest city in the South and my hometown, by the way) was a SUPER Vision Casting Weekend.  I’m not sure what the difference is between the two.

 

I’m still trying to figure out if this is a religious event or a secular one.  In the item I refer to by hypertext, Donnie H. mentions God.  But on the e-flyer, there is nothing but an emphasis on “me”, an experience, and promises of super vision casting. 

 

You know, I’m becoming more and more convinced that I am in the wrong business.  I mean, only in pastoring a bunch of sheeple can you go from being a humble shepherd to being the bishop of a big, multi-thousand member church, a professional mentor, and an executive coach, able to charge people nearly two hundred dollars a pop so they can learn how to cast visions.   Maybe I should go to that International Friends place, buy my doctorate and start making a few bucks.

Pulpit Pimps | 131 Comments »

 

If you’ll recall, toward the end of last month, Aubrey Thomas present several gentlemen as real live, authentic prophets. During the discussion, he directed us to a couple of sites. At those sites, the authentic prophets stated that there would be a couple of massive explosions, one on the West Coast and another on the East Coast. In fact, said part of the prophecy, the people would be running in the streets as they did at 9/11.Some place in the dialog, I agreed to wait until the end of the month (June is over) before I passed judgment on the authentic prophets. In fact, here is a quote from one of the authentic prophets:

The Lord showed me in a very sober way that the White House, The Capitol building and the president of the United States are coming under a severe attack. The inhabitants of Washington D.C. will run through the streets as did the inhabitants of New York City on 9-11.

The last day o f June was two weeks ago. I just checked the paper and guess what? No one is running through the streets in Washington DC (I live right outside of DC). As a result, I can confidently state that the authentic prophet’s prophecy DID NOT COME TRUE. That means he is a false prophet.

A question: Will Aubrey man up and dump these clowns? Or is he going to find a way to explain away their false prophecy? Though I would love for him to prove me wrong, I’m betting he’s going to find a way to explain away their failure.

We’ll see. I’ll post any comment he has as soon as he makes it.

Christian Living, Pulpit Pimps | 93 Comments »

And so it starts.  Zondervan and Thomas Nelson are being sued by a practicing homosexual (oh, excuse me, he objects to that term), they are being sued by an effiminate man out of Carlton Michigan.  The basis of the suit?  The two major Christian publisher are violating his constitutional rights and causing him emotional pain.  How are they doing this?  They publish Bibles that refer to homosexuality as a sin. 

Now I’m not a legal authority and I don’t even play one on television.  But it seems to me that law suits (now one of America’s favorite passtimes) may be the way for the secularists to shut us up and shut down the supply of bibles. 

Unless the judge dismisses the suit as frivolous (I think that’s the term), Zondervon and Nelson are going to have to spend money on addressing the suit.  And the homosexual/leftist camp has proven itself to be quite capable of tying up activities of which they disapprove.  For instance, when is the last time we built a nuclear power plant or a petroleum refinery? 

Here’s a rather depressing view of the future.  Just as leftists have worked at trying to sue gun manufacturers when their products are used in a crime, I can see these same leftists and secularists suing publishing companies to shut down the production of bibles. 

There really seems to be something about the homosexual activists.  They do indeed rail at not being accepted as normal.  Tolerance is not good enough for them.  They demand approval and the mantle of normalcy.  Adulterers are generally satisfied at not being stoned.  And none of them announce that they are in an adulterous relationship and expect people to praise them.  None of them flaunt their adulterous behavior (unless they are Hollywood actors and the such).   The homosexuals insist on flaunting their sin - and insisting that we approve of their sin and call it normal. 

Count on these people, and people who they support (Leftists like Obama) trying to do even more along these lines.  

Oh, and start memorizing your Bible.   

Note:  I should poitnt out that so far (as of 10 July), Mr. Fowler has not published anything in the blog he maintains on Obama’s site. 

(A tip of the hat to Search4Truth  for spotting the article and bringing it to my attention. )

Christian Living | 80 Comments »

(MN:  GaryV actually sent this in at least a week ago.  But I had to find a source to make sure the bejeweled ear was not, in fact, a modified photo.  I did.  I went an album apparently approved by T. Dexter.  And sure enough, he had his earring in his left ear in many of the photographs.  Sorry it took so long GaryV.  )

Apparently Jakes has caught some SERIOUS flack for his bling-bling, because he actually went to the trouble to have his enormous diamond earring AIRBRUSHED OUT of the wedding photos viewable to the public.  The following picture is a ”Before Criticism” shot.  Follow the link for the “After Criticism” photos…

And here is evidence that the “After” photo was done at Jakes’ behest by “Essence”, to which Jakes gave exclusive permission to disseminate the photos (likely for a sizable “offering”).

Essence Photo

I’ll just say that this action says quite a lot about Jakes as a man and a minister. Does having the earring AIRBRUSHED OUT mean he didn’t wear it?? No, all it does is give the APPEARANCE he didn’t wear it, thereby stopping CRITICISM.

Now, is there anything WRONG with wearing an earring?? Nope. So, why would he not simply stand up against the criticism?? Why is this man so weak-kneed?? Why is he willing to be blatantly deceptive rather than bear just some mild salvos from a few legalists??

Is it any wonder he crumbled like a stale cookie when confronted about homosexuality by the Gay “Christian” group SoulForce recently by allowing this unrepentant group to meet with top staff for “discussions” and a meal at the Potter’s House rather than abide by Scripture??

9 I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. 10 Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. 11 But now I have written to you not to keep company WITH ANYONE NAMED A BROTHER, who is SEXUALLY IMMORAL, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner–NOT TO EVEN EAT WITH SUCH A PERSON.”

So what Does Jakes do to keep from having the world criticize him?? He tosses out the Bible and not only allows them to “keep company” with the high level staff at the Potters Outhouse, he has a meal with them too just to be certain he violated the ENTIRE command of Scripture.

Is it any wonder he can’t stand up Biblically to “Christian” homosexuals when he can’t even stand up against those who criticize his earring??

Is it any wonder he jumps on the secular AIDS prevention bandwagon rather than abide criticism for proclaiming Biblical call to abstinence when he can’t even handle his earring situation like a man??

Is it any wonder we can’t get a definitive statement on the Trinity from Jakes which would entail genuine criticism for his Oneness beliefs when he folds like an accordion over a mere earring??

Where are the MEN of God these days like Stephen, and Polycarp, and Agapius, and Wycliff, and Tynedale, and Ridley, and Cranmer, and women like Apollonia, and Blandina and a host of others who not only endured mere CRITICISM for Christ, but endure torture unto death rather than deny Him??

No, today we have willows like Joel Osteen and Rick Warren and TD Jakes rather than oaks like Luther and Spurgeon and Athanasius.

I know it’s just an earring, but it’s indicative of so much more, and makes so many of his other refusals to stand for Christ clear. He wants the adulation of the world rather than the reproach of the Cross. And he’s willing to airbrush ANYTHING out of the picture, including the Bible and Christ, to keep it.

Pulpit Pimps, T. Dexter Jakes | 112 Comments »

 

The following post was written by John Green in 1998. It was presented as a comment by Andrew Strom, a former Follower of Prophets (like Todd Bentley).

“Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed;  as they are in almost every kingdom in Europe.”

Noah Webster of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 1787

“[W]hen the resolution of enslaving America was formed in Great Britain, the British Parliament was advised by an artful man, who was governor of Pennsylvania, to disarm the people; that it was the best and most effectual way to enslave them; but that they should not do it openly, but weaken them, and let them sink gradually.”

George Mason of Virginia, 1788

As history has shown, it is a common tactic for the oppressing force to gain control of a nation by seizing the means by which individuals might defend themselves. Once the citizenry are disarmed, it is a relatively easy matter to exert complete tyrannical control. It seems to me that the same principal holds true in the spiritual realm.

The New Testament is replete with warnings of false teachers and teachings, of lying signs and wonders, and of corrupt men who would seek to draw followers after themselves. God has not left His people defenseless. He has indwelt us with His Spirit of Truth, provided us with the example of Christ, His teachings, the teachings of the apostles, and all the other writings found in the Bible. There is a gift of the discerning of spirits given to some, but more importantly, there the ability to test all things and to be discerning, which is the responsibility of all believers.

If the believer is to be armed against the deceptions of the enemy, and to remain free from his oppressive regime, then he must exercise discernment with continual vigilance. If this defensive weapon is seized and taken from you, then you are easy prey for any who would desire to take you captive.

Because of these things, it is very disturbing to me to observe a trend in the Body of Christ today. This trend is to scorn and belittle those who would exercise their God-given self-defense weapon of discernment. Those who would obey scripture and “test all things” are mocked and ridiculed and labeled ‘Pharisees.’

It seems that the Church has fallen prey to the pluralistic, non-judgmental mindset of our present age. The one unpardonable sin is to question someone’s belief, or dare to say that it might be wrong. These new leaders demand you climb on the bandwagon, and if you cannot agree, then you must remain silent at all costs. They call for us to experience now, and evaluate later.

Adam and Eve had no experiential knowledge of good and evil. The Serpent called their attention to the attractiveness and desirability of the fruit, and enticed them to experience for themselves. In their later evaluation, they knew that they had been wrong to ignore what God had said on the matter, but by then the damage had been done.

Those who would remove the defensive weapon of discernment are binding the hands of the Church. They are preparing God’s people for the slaughter. Why are they doing this? Why would they want to expose millions to the myriad deceptions of the enemy with no protection? Why do they take away what the Father has given?

The Church is becoming a slaughterhouse slick with the spilled blood of saints who have been seduced by false teachers. The faithful plod forward to the killing floor, their trusting eyes fixed on their leaders. Error and deception runs rampant. Charlatans rule the bestseller list. Pseudo-knowledge is dispersed around the world, speeding through electrical synapses. Make no mistake. It is a battle, and much is at stake.

Let us examine the logic (or lack of it) behind what some of these leaders are saying:

“You have to experience it yourself before you judge it.”

This is pure nonsense. It is the method the Mormons use to get people hooked in (pray about the Book of Mormon and see if you get a ‘burning in your bosom’). You don’t have to experience suicide to know that it is bad for you. Christians are never commanded to authenticate a questionable spiritual experience by submitting themselves to it.

“If you don’t jump in the River, then you may miss out on the move of God.”

If you don’t exercise your duty to test everything and hold on to what is good, then you may be deceived. God is not in a hurry. If you are walking with Him, seeking to please Him, then He will guide you into all He desires for you. Just because someone proclaims something is a move of God, doesn’t make it so. Beware of the salesman who pushes you to make a decision on the spot. He may have something to hide.

“God offends the mind to reveal the heart.”

I don’t know what this is, but it is not Scripture. It is true that God’s ways may be offensive to human wisdom. Often though, this quote is used to say that if you are offended by something going on in the Church, then your heart isn’t right. The real issue is are you offended because what is going on is unscriptural? If so, then stand fast.

“Don’t oppose what is going on, in case it turns out to be a move of God.”

This is the argument used by Gamaliel in Acts chapter 5. Although this argument worked in favor of the apostles, it must be pointed out that Gamaliel was a Pharisee making a pragmatic argument. His was not a directive from the Lord on how believers should conduct their discernment. If something is not from God, ultimately, it is true that it will not succeed. In the time that it takes for a false movement to runs its course however, many lives will be damaged, and many souls deceived and damned. Look at the phenomenal growth and apparent success of Mormonism. Christians rightly oppose Mormonism on a basis that it twists and deviates from Scripture. Things which occur within Christianity should receive no less scrutiny. Or consider the works of Satan. We know that he will not succeed, but we certainly do not sit back and allow him to do his work unhindered. When souls are at stake, we cannot afford to sit back and do nothing.

“Don’t you want more of God in your life?”

This is a sneaky one. Of course, any sincere Christian realizes that they need to grow closer to God, and they desire to do so. This should not lead us to embrace everything that comes down the pike however. Part of growing closer to God includes obeying His commands to test and be discerning. The desperation of some Christians reminds me of King Saul turning to the witch of Endor. He wanted an answer at any price. The price he ended up paying was his own destruction.

Look for yourself. See how many times the New Testament references false teachers, false teaching. Using your concordance, look up the commands to discern and test, to not be deceived. Shake off the chains of those who would seek to bind you. Exercise your “Right to bear arms” as a believer.

“The healthy soul, like the healthy blood system, has its proper proportion of white and red blood cells. The red corpuscles are like faith: they carry the life giving oxygen to every part of the body. The white cells are like discernment: they pounce upon dead and toxic matter and carry it out to the drain. In the healthy heart there must be provision for keeping dead and poisonous matter out of the life stream.”

A.W. Tozer

Christian Living | 46 Comments »