That's Not Prayer!

"Any prayers that are self-consuming, self-indulgent, self- aggrandizing; any prayers that seek whatever I want no matter what God wants; any prayers that suggest God must deliver because I have demanded it—those are prayers that take His name in vain. Such praying is an egregious sin against the nature of God, against the will of God, and against the Word of God.

"Name it, claim it" prayers; the notion that God wants you always healthy, wealthy, prosperous, and successful; and lists of selfish requests are all quite at odds with the spirit of Jesus’ model prayer. Such requests are expressly excluded from the many promises that God will hear and answer our prayers (James 4:3). The faulty belief that underlies all such praying is no small error. It is rooted in a serious misunderstanding about the nature of God.

Because prayer is an act of worship, to offer a prayer based on such a heinous perversion of God’s character is tantamount to worshiping a false god. To put it bluntly, when someone presents God with a wish list rooted in greed, materialism, or other expressions of pure self-interest, then demands that God deliver the goods as if He were a genie, that is no prayer at all. It is an act of blasphemy. It is as abominable as the crassest form of pagan worship." —John MacArthur

Common Delusions

"Am I to fancy that I enjoy some special revelation, and am I to order my life by voices, dreams, and impressions? Brethren, fall not into this common delusion. God's word to us is in Holy Scripture. All the truth that sanctifies men is in God's Word. Do not listen to those who cry, "Lo here!" and "Lo there!" I am plucked by the sleeve almost every day by crazy persons and pretenders who have revelations. One man tells me that God has sent a message to me by him; and I reply, "No, sir, the Lord knows where I dwell, and he is so near to me that he would not need to send to me by you." Another man announces in God's name a dogma which, on the face of it, is a lie against the Holy Ghost. He says the Spirit of God told him so-and-so; but we know that the Holy Ghost never contradicts himself. If your imaginary revelation is not according to this Word, it has no weight with us; and if it is according to this Word, it is no new thing. Brethren, this Bible is enough if the Lord does but use it, and quicken it by his Spirit in our hearts. Truth is neither your opinion, nor mine; your message, nor mine. Jesus says, "Thy word is truth." That which sanctifies men is not only truth, but it is the particular truth which is revealed in God's Word—"Thy word is truth." What a blessing it is that all the truth that is necessary to sanctify us is revealed in the Word of God, so that we have not to expend our energies upon discovering truth, but may, to our far greater profit, use revealed truth for its divine ends and purposes! There will be no more revelations; no more are needed." —C. H. Spurgeon (1834-1892)

A Grain of Grace

"Hast thou, my brother, ever learned to distinguish between grace and gifts? For know that they are marvellously dissimilar. A man may be saved who has not a grain of gifts; but no man can be saved who hath no grace... for one grain of grace outweighs a pound of gifts;" —C. H. Spurgeon (1834-1892)

Gifts Without Grace

"Spiritual gifts are for the confirmation of the gospel and the spiritual edification of the church. But gifts do not bring salvation and can be given to those who know nothing of grace in their hearts. So it is incumbent on all who have received spiritual gifts not to look to them as evidences of being truly regenerated, but to spiritual graces. Some have been deceived into thinking they have grace when they only have gifts. So the presence of spiritual gifts can mislead us into thinking that all is well when great apostasy is taking place.

Gifts, without grace, have no influence on the soul and they work only at special times and on special occasions. But grace affects the whole person at all times and in all duties. Grace works holy obedience in the soul. Gifts do not. Gifts are not, and can never be, the measure of our growth in grace..." —John Owen (1616-1683)

Quote taken from "Apostasy from the Gospel" by John Owen, The Banner of Truth Trust; 1992 p. 160

The Danger of Lakeland!

"Every attempt at revival of religion which proves a failure,—and fail it must without the presence of God,—leaves the Church in a worse condition than it was before; because, if it should prove a failure, from the want of any stir at all; then God's people fall back into their former lethargy, with an excuse for continuing in it; or if a false stir be made, a reaction follows of a most injurious character. I suppose the worst time in the Christian Church is generally that which follows the excitement of a revival; and if that revival has had no reality in it, the mischief which is done is awful and incalulable. If no excitement shall come at all, the mischief is still as great; God's people, being disappointed, have little heart to listen to further exhortations to future zealous action, become contented with their Laodicean lukewarmness, and it becomes impossible to bestir them again. If a revival should apparently have success and yet God be not in it, perhaps this is even worse. The wild-fire and madness of some revivals have been a perfect disgrace to the common sense of the age, let alone the spirituality of the Church." —C. H. Spurgeon (1834-1892)

Spineless Christianity

One does have to applaud Thomas E. Trask for some of his recent comments at the 52nd General Council in Indianapolis, where he made an emotional plea to tens of thousands of "brothers and sisters" not to let a 'Spineless' Christianity enter the Assemblies of God. But he is sadly mistaken if he thinks that it isn't already in his denomination, though it may not be in the form of a seeker-friendly, liberal, or social gospel as he clearly described, but any form of Christianity that lives in direct opposition to the Word of God is a Spineless Christianity.

"Many churches in America today are offering ... new religion that guarantees no hell, requires no holiness, It is a limp, Spineless Christianity that does not confront sin for fear of being judgmental. It is an impotent gospel that tells people everything is okay." Thomas E. Trask

Trask listed several causes of what he calls 'Spineless' Christianity one of these issues is situational ethics in which biblical absolutes are rejected. How ironic that the general superintendent of the largest Pentecostal denomination in the nation would point to what is running so rampant within his on denomination to describe what 'Spineless Christianity' is and then denys it by saying "May it never ... invade this church!", this reminds me of Luke 6:42 "How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye?"

If Pentecostals truly want to kill 'Spineless' Christianity they might want to start with purging their own churches of 'Word Faith' false teachings and expose all the heretics that parade the 'Prosperity Gospel' on TBN who attach themselves to the Pentecostal statement of faith. Second it would also be a bright idea to condemn Roman Catholicism as a false religion, even if they do claim to speak in tongues. Third they should repent of allowing women to take the role of pastoral leadership in the church as 1 Corinthians 14:33-34 says "for God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints. The women are to keep silent in the churches; for they are not permitted to speak, but are to subject themselves, just as the Law also says." Fourth they should stop being unequally yoked with unbelievers as they tend to align themselves with Roman Catholics, but 2 Corinthians 6:14 says "Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?". Fifth they should stop teaching a second helping of the baptism which divides Christians into the haves and have not's and elevates some Christians into 'All Star' status. I truly believe Trask statement was dead-on describing a 'Seeker Friendly' gospel but not to the extent that it should have be directed to the Pentecostal denomination, their issues were not addressed at all.

God Told Me?

Objective Ignorance

With all the widespread claims by so called "Christians" who believe that God is speaking directly to them through dreams, visions, and personal prophecies or even the audible voice of the Almighty. You know you've heard them say things like "I heard the voice of the Lord," "The voice of God spoke to me," or "I received a word from the Lord" and my favorite "God told me," and then they begin to tell you some bizarre story that could never be back up by Scripture. So the question is should Christians really buy into any revelation of God that comes from a subjective source?

"It seems particularly unfortunate that there would be such an affinity for subjective "revelations" in an era when the average "born-again Christian" is so ignorant of the objective revelation God has given us in the Bible. When knowledge of Scripture is at such an ebb, this is the worst possible time for believers to be seeking divine truth in dreams, visions, and subjective impressions." - John MacArthur

Excerpt taken from "Reckless Faith: When the Church Loses Its Will To Discern" Copyright 1994 by John F. MacArthur, Jr. , pg.180-181

Crossing the Lines

After thinking about today's event in Nashville (The Call) I couldn't help but think what a theological mess of different beliefs are being represented at this event, some are sure to be orthodox while others are surely to be heretical, or even other religions may be present as Mormons or Jehovah’s Witnesses are sure to believe they too are Christians. Any and possibly all doctrinal belief systems in Christianity are surely being compromised under the guise of unity in prayer and fasting instead of gathering under the basis of biblical truth. I find this to be very troubling and profoundly historical as I will let Dr. John MacArthur explain.

You know, the Bible predicts in Revelations 17 that there will be a one-world church (in the last days). I used to wonder how in the world that would ever happen, when everybody’s got their own theology. But there’s something happening today that for the first time in history is just tearing across all the denominational lines. 30,000 Catholics are now at least involved in the inner workings of the charismatic movement. Eight to 14 million people are involved in this right here.

It’s crossing all the denominational lines. People are getting together sans doctrine, you know. It doesn’t matter what your doctrine is as long as you have this. It could well be that this could be that which could be the catalyst to bring the ecumenical movement that results in the false church in Revelations.

Pentecostalism was estimated to number around 115 million followers worldwide in 2000; lower estimates place the figure near to 22 million (eg. Cambridge Encyclopedia), while the highest estimates apparently place the figure between 400 and 600 million. According to a Spring 1998 article in Christian History, there are about 11,000 different Pentecostal or charismatic denominations worldwide.

Excerpt taken from a sermon titled "Miracles, Healings, and Tongues" preached by Pastor John MacArthur. You can read the entire article here.

Satan is Sovereign

When you think of the Charismatic movement, you may think of speaking in tongues, or healings, or Benny Hinn knocking people down, or Oral Roberts begging for money and other strange things like that. But there are some underlying things in the Charismatic worldview that are really very, very terrifying. For instance in this movement there is one thing that really dominates their worldview, and it is that Satan is sovereign. If you get sick, it was the devil. If your child gets sick, it was the devil. And even if your child dies Satan somehow got the victory. If your spouse, your husband or your wife gets cancer, the devil must have done that. If you had an accident, the devil did it. If you lost your job, the devil caused that to happen. If things don't go the way you want them to go in your company or your family or you loose your job or get a divorce then the devil is to blame for all that is wrong in your life.

The devil dominates everything, and he is assisted by this massive force of demons who also have to be dealt with, and you have got to do everything you can to try and overcome these spiritual powers, and they are powerful, and they are really impossible for you to deal with on any permanent basis, so it is a never ending ongoing struggle with the devil and his demons. So now you are force to deal with the devil and so you have got to learn all these little formulas on how to bind the devil in Jesus name, because if you don't bind the devil then he is really going to get control of everything in your life.

Christians who buy into this false biblical teaching are really being held captive to a spirit of fear and terror, they think that everything that has gone wrong in the entire universe was basically because of the devil. They hold to the belief that the devil is really sovereign in everything and even God is struggling like crazy to overcome him. The fact is, God is in control of everything! This is the total opposite of the worldview presented under Charismatic teachings. God is in control of everything. When you get sick, or when somebody gets cancer, or when something goes wrong in the world, or when you lose your job. This is not outside the purposes of God, in fact, 'God works all things together for good' (Romans 8:28). This teaching is absolutely earth shaking to the uneducated Charismatic. Satan is not in charge of history; God is in charge of everything and at all times, God is the one who is Sovereignty not Satan.

Excerpt modeled after a message delivered at The Master's College, by John MacArthur, titled "Laying the Foundations of Eschatology, Part 3".

The Gospel of Greed

Ecstatic Baptist? Part 5

The Rev. Dwight McKissic who has been at odds with the leadership of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary over the practice of speaking in tongues has resigned from the school's board of trustees. McKissic said in a resignation letter that he has been "distracted and consumed" by the controversy and needs to refocus on his family and church, The Dallas Morning News reported on its Web site Thursday night. ( Full Article )

In October, trustees voted 36-1 against any promotion of "private prayer language" at the school. McKissic, was the lone dissenter. I guess it's 36-0 now. I would suggest that the Rev. refocus on the Word of God.

The Prosperity Gospel

Watch Out!

This quote brings to mind so many of the so called televangelists that we see today that one must understand that behind their plausible speech and the smooth demeanor that they display is a serious false teaching that promotes worldly passions that will inevitably enslave the minds of all those that follow them.

"Watch out for smooth talkers who pastor large churches, write many books, lead wide ministries, and do not manifestly prize above their earthly good the whole counsel of God." - John Piper

Doctrines of Contradiction

I have heard many Pentecostals preach some of these false doctrines first hand and they have no idea the damage that they may cause in a young believers life. How someone can teach that Jesus is the only way of salvation and then deny that His Grace is Sufficient enough to keep you is beyond me. As I read more articles on the history of the Pentecostal Movement I find it to be a very strange rabbit hole indeed.

"…Many Pentecostals believe that Baptism is necessary for salvation and that eternal life may be lost due to sin in ones personal life. Speaking in tongues is often said to be the evidence of Salvation. A denomination which believes that speaking in tongues is a necessary part of or the evidence of salvation has fallen into the same trap as Romanism. THINGS whether Tongues or Sacraments are not necessary for Salvation. Giving approval to Pentecostal or Charismatic participants condones their Church and the errors that accompany them,… The statement that most ex-Catholics were in the Pentecostal or Charismatic denominations could mean that they still need salvation... it therefore becomes imperative that the plain Gospel be preached to all, especially those who claim to be saved and yet continue to associate themselves with unbiblical positions that contradict the doctrines of salvation, Romanism and Pentecostalism.…." (Read the full article)

Sins of The Father

In my pursuit of the origins of the beginning of the Pentecostal movement and it's founding leaders I have come across some very disturbing articles at the Seek God website and anyone who is involved in a Pentecostal or Charismatic church should read these articles and then seriously re-think the wisdom of staying in a church who's origins come from such men as Charles Fox Parham.

Depending upon which reports one reads, Charles Fox Parham’s sins and errors are partially discussed, totally ignored, excused, obscured or glossed over. Understanding that most people neither know the history nor the beliefs would explain why many have been snared into adhering to such as Parham and hence the Pentecostal and Charismatic movement. Many who endorse him as “father of the Pentecostal movement” generally say he started out good but developed some problems. However, facts dictate otherwise and the foundations which these many denominations have been built upon are not the Gospel of Jesus Christ and obedience to the Word of God. Many of those who associated and aligned with Parham can also be evaluated in this same manner. (Read the full article titled "The Sins of The Father")

Presumptuous Preachers

1 Corinthians 14:34-35 "Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive, as the law also says. And if they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is shameful for women to speak in church."

The argument, whether any woman may or may not be a preacher of the word should be primarily one of Scripture. The seeming fitness of some women, by their gifts and graces, to edify the churches by preaching, is then useless and false. When God endows a woman with the ability to understand and teach His Word, it may be safely assumed that he has some wise end in view; he has some area or sphere in which her gifts will come into proper play. But surely it is far from reverent for the creature to decide, against God's Word, that this sphere is the pulpit. God’s wisdom is better than man's. The sin involves the presumption of Uzzah. He was right in thinking that it would be a bad thing to have the sacred ark fall into the dirt, and in thinking that he had the physical strength to steady it, just like any Levite; but he was wrong in presuming to serve God in a way that God had not prescribed. So when men lament the “unemployed spiritual power,” which they suppose exists in many gifted females, as a great loss to the church, they are reasoning with Uzzah; they are presumptuously setting their human wisdom above God's wisdom.

Excerpt taken from an article by Robert Lewis Dabney (1820-1898) titled "Women Preachers (The Public Preaching of Women)" October, 1879. You can read the whole article here.

Scary Stuff

If you haven't been to the world famous website www.youtube.com lately you might be shocked to see what is there under the search of Church, it's really embarrassing. There is also some clips exposing the false teachers of today that gather on TBN, you can really spend hours watching these heretics being exposed. Just do a search for Circus Church, TBN, Creflo Dollar, Benny Hinn, Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Hagin and any such names you see on TV and you'll see what I mean. Also check out Benny Hinn's wife in rare form, this one really makes me want to spew. There is even one where Benny Hinn talks about blowing the head off one of the heretic hunters (John MacArthur and/or Mike Horton). I can't help but wonder where is the Gospel message in all this stuff? Any way the video I have linked to on the picture is flat out scary you will have to see it to believe it.

Update: Benny Hinn and his lawyers are actively pursuing removal of all damaging video of his heretical behavior and teachings on YouTube.com so with that said it is getting more and more difficult to view this video of Mr. Hinn and his bizarre antics.

Ecstatic Baptist? Part 4

Dear Mr. McKissic
It has become apparent that you must have never heard the Biblical truth on the subject of the gift of tongues, because if you had I am sure the Holy Spirit would have confirmed it's truth with the Holy scriptures. So with your recent statements about the Southern Baptist stance being "out of touch with the text and the times", is proof enough that you are the one who is out of touch, and now I believe it's time for you to hear the other side of your argument. Denis Lyle is in touch with the Holy text as he preaches his sermon titled "Is the Gift of Tongues for Today?" Please take the time to download it for free, it will only cost you 48 minutes of your time but it's truth will impact your life for all of eternity. If for some reason you still want to argue with the scriptures, let me refer you to a quote by A. W. Tozer

"The scholar has a vitally important task to perform within a carefully prescribed precinct. His task is to guarantee the purity of the text, to get as close as possible to the Word as originally given. He may compare Scripture with Scripture until he has discovered the true meaning of the text. But right there his authority ends. He must never sit in judgment upon what is written. He dare not bring the meaning of the Word before the bar of his reason or his experience. He dare not commend or condemn the Word as reasonable or unreasonable, scientific or unscientific. After the meaning is discovered, that meaning judges him; never does he judge it."

Excerpt taken from "The Knowledge of The Holy" by A. W. Tozer (1897-1963), Emphasis added.

Ecstatic Baptist? Part 3

Well it looks like the Babbling Baptist is crying foul again, you may remember when Arlington, Texas, pastor Dwight McKissic spoke out last August about his private prayer language or his so called ability to speaking in tongues, and the Southern Baptist community fired back with a Biblical response. Well he’s still talking. He said quote “They’re out of touch with the text and the times,” he said of denomination leaders who have taken an “anti-tongues” line. McKissic also complained of censorship, which just brings more attention to the subject as he tries to smear the denomination in the mainstream media for it's true Biblical view on speaking in tongues. As recently as Oct. 25, McKissic offered to resign, but in a recent interview he said that he changed his mind about resigning, based on encouragement. McKissic has made headlines in the past by leaving the Baptist General Convention of Texas before becoming a Southern Baptists. If Mr. McKissic wants to babble in an unknown tongue that by passes his mind, and puffs him up, please by all means go for it, but first please be sure to leave more headlines in the media about leaving another Baptists organization for a Church that is more in touch with the times. Read full article